Step out from behind the camera ~ day 5

Well folks, it's the last day of the step out from behind the camera daily challenge.

Personally, I think this was fun (and yay, Emily is going to do this EVERY Thursday)!

Day 5

Enter a riveting game of peek-a-boo
goofy faces (basically mine)
and lots of love

Have a great memorial day weekend ~ remember all those who have served and are serving our great country and their families!

WE HAVE A WINNER!

And the lucky person is.......

Check out why she started blogging by clicking here!

And, I'll be in contact to get your info!!

Oh, and fyi, Action thought he had to give one of his toys to the lucky winner.... he really is excited for you now that he knows you don't want one of his toys ☺!

Thanks everyone who commented and linked up ~ I had fun learning more about some of my favorite people and meeting some new friends!

Step out from behind the camera ~ day 4

Alrighty...

It's late.

It's been a long day.  Running here and there.  Baking this and that. 

When feeding our dog tonight I actually started to scoop laundry detergent into her dish.... then snapped back to reality and remembered her dog food ISN'T white and powdery.  No worries, she didn't eat it, no animals were harmed during this lapse of brain function.

As busy as today was, I never back down on a challenge, so here is day 4 of Emily's challenge.

Day 4

Finally...

Resting and being read to by my Sassy.

She LOVES to read

and

I LOVE to listen!

and just because I have nothing left to do....ha...

I made another version just for fun ☺

I think I maybe like this one better.

Check out Emily's blog, and join the challenge to step out from behind the camera.

Tomorrow...

A winner will be announced!

Step out from behind the camera ~ Day 3

Emily is challenging us mamas this week to get out from behind the camera

and get in front of it.

It is a week long daily challenge.

DAY 3

8 eyes

4 pairs of sunglasses

3 beautiful children

1 happy mama!

Do your children know who you are?

Take the challenge.

I missed day 1,

but you can see day 2 here.

ALSO,  Don't forget about my giveaway that ends TOMORROW May 27th at NOON! You can enter either by commenting on the giveaway post, or by linking up!

Step out from behind the camera ~ Day 2

Emily is challenging us mamas this week to get out from behind the camera and get in front of it.

It is a week long daily challenge.

And although I'm already a day late, I am taking the challenge:

Day 2 ~ For me: DAY 1

Action and I

94°

on our way to Sassy's softball game

Which her team won, and no one melted. ☺

Tomorrow ~ day 3 of the challenge ~ my day 2 (oops)

Read more about it here and take the challenge yourself!

ALSO,

Don't forget about my giveaway that ends on Thursday May 27th at NOON! You can enter either by commenting on the giveaway post, or by linking up!

The (mostly) Finished Product

Are you all tired of my laundry room yet?

(remember this and this?)

Good, because I'm not either.

(you did say "no" right?)

Anyway, I wanted to add a few more finishing touches (and have a few more to add later like a towel bar, but I will spare you all of those details!)

I started with a old frame and an old white board.  One was gold, one was white.  Neither color worked for me.  So, I sprayed them a fun turquoise-ish color, sanded them a bit and added some dark wood stain to age them a bit. 

Before:

After:

and

Then I made a skirt!

Before:

After:

But, my MOST favorite project, was making little chalkboards to lable my laundry baskets.

I found these little chipboard squares at a local scrappbooking store in their clearance section.

They are actually suppose to be put together and made into a book, so they already had holes in them.

I sprayed them with a couple coats of chalkboard paint.

Tied them onto my baskets with jute.

Wrote the name of the basket contents and

AMAZING!

Sassy and my hubby are putting their dirty clothes in the correct locations! 

  

I was so excited that I found some regular cardboard, cut it into rectangles, painted them and attached them to some smaller baskets above. 

Oh I love my organized and bright laundry/mud room!

 

Why I started, and a GIVEAWAY!

**Comments and Linky Now Closed**

Since my 1 year blog anniversary has arrived (actually come and gone, oops), I thought it would be fun to find out why you all started your blogs, what was the initial spark, and who out there in cyberspace inspires you?

And, what is an anniversary without a gift?

In honor of my little blog, and the gifts (non material) I have received from all of you,  I am having a little giveaway.

Ready for the details?
The big prize?
A surprise ☺!

But here is a hint.... there are 2 prizes and they are related to a couple of the items I wrote about in my FAVORITE THINGS post and in my what I'm into post. (I'm certain you will like them ☺)



Let me begin....

It all started when Smiley was born....................

(Cue twinkly, dreamy music and fade out present day  as I reminisce......)

It was December 2008

With my new baby girl in my arms I typed in the google search box: "20x20 frame with quote"  (something I had seen at a craft fair in the mall while Christmas shopping and kicked myself for not purchasing it then and there..... although now, thankful I didn't) It was to be a baptism gift for beautiful baby girl.

After a little searching, up popped Hope Studios.  Sure she had some cool frames, reasonable price, looked like good quality, she sold them via something called Etsy (yikes ~ another door opened, but that's a story for another day).  But what really caught my eye, were the words she wrote and the life she lived.  And it was all right there.  In pictures and words.  I went back a few days later, to look at frames again.  There were new words and new pictures.  Now, I don't remember what those words said, but it was probably something about her boys or hubby whom she adores, maybe a recipe, a cool Christmas party or a get together with her "soul sisters".  She was probably teaching me something ~ even something as simple as remembering to enjoy every moment with my children and I'm positive she was making me smile.

I'd never read a blog before, I was intrigued.

I kept going back to look at the frames.  I do this a lot when I am purchasing something.  I look at it over and over wanting it to be perfect.

When I was visiting ☺, I noticed a little thing called followers.  I wasn't one, well not officially, but wanted to know who those people were.  And thus the vacuum was turned on and I was sucked into the the world of blogging.  I would click on a follower and find new blogs to check out.  Pretty soon I had a list of blogs I liked to read that was beginning to take over my favorites folder.

I decided I wanted more of this world and signed up for my own google account.

As I read more and more, I decided I liked the idea of a blog.  Most of our family lives out of state and with Smiley (as well as Sassy and Action) changing before my eyes, what better way than this?

An idea was born!

A blog for my own life, my own kids , my own ideas, thoughts and projects.  A way to connect with our families, friends and maybe, just maybe inspire others to enjoy life, the simple, everyday, ordinary beauty of it and to create more beauty.

This is why I started my blog.

But this is what I've found.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Internet.

I "hate" it because it can be a bit of a time sucker and there are days when I feel I have nothing to put out there ~ nothing worthwhile to share.

BUT,

I love it because this is me, my life, my family, my world and through this little thing called the Internet and this teeny tiny thing called Ordinary Miracles of Life, I have found people I never knew were there.  People I now call friends.

My blog reader looks a lot like my iPod.  A little bit of everything.

A friend from college.
Friends who motivate me ~ physically and spiritually, like Nancy and Jennifer.
Those like Rhiannon and Emily who are beautiful inside and out.
People like Jami and Beth who are honest and crafty and fun.
Some who are MIA  ~ ummm Miss Treat Girl.... WHERE ARE YOU?  (ok, disregard.  After like 3 weeks of no posts she came BACK today! YEAAAA!)

I have so many favorites.  Too many to list, but I can't not mention Jen from Hope Studios.  She has all of the above qualities, and she is the one who unknowingly lit the match that started the fire I now call Ordinary Miracles of Life.  Oh, and she's a Steeler's football fan!  Now really, what could be better?

Oh, and did I mention I did end up purchasing a frame from her?  3 to be exact!

That's me, that's my story and a few of my favorites.

Now it's your turn!  Link up.
Tell me how and why you started your blog and who has inspired you along the way.

If you don't have a blog, leave a comment ~ tell me your favorite blogs you like to hang out at.  But, make sure you leave me an e-mail address so I can get a hold of you if you win!

A little incentive...
Those who link up get 5 entries, those who comment 1.

Mr. Linky and comments will close next Thursday (May 27th) at NOON.

AND, don't forget to check out the links.  You never know when you'll find a new friend.

A window where there wasn't

 

Yesterday, I showed all of you my "new" laundry room!

I.LOVE.IT.

BUT.....

It is lacking something.

For starters, a window.

Hubby and I talked about ripping out the wall to install a window.

These talks didn't last long.

Reasons?

#1 ~ Cost

#2 ~ The view

I really like my neighbor, but I don't want to look at this ~ every time I'm in my laundry room:

So, enter Jen from Hope Studios.

I was remembering a post she did using an old window and voila.... A PLAN WAS BORN!

I searched for old windows.  I was looking for a certain size, and I knew I wanted panels.  I looked at our local reuse center ~ nothing ~ well in regards to size, shape and look.

And then one day I was shopping.  And I spotted a window. It was new, unfinished and inexpensive!  JUST WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR!

I primed this baby.

Painted it black.

Gave it a couple of coats of white.

Sanded  a bit to weather it.

Wiped on some mahogany stain

and ......

Alrighty.

I have a window, now what?

I had a picture enlarged.

Cut it into pieces that would fill each panel,

then taped them in.

Flipped it over, hung it up and VOILA...

a  room

with a

View

The only bummer now is when I'm doing laundry, I look out my window and see my hubby pulling the kids in the tube behind the boat on a gorgeous summer evening while I'm stuck inside.

Not sure I like that idea.

HA!

Don't forget, today is Tuesday and that means PARTY DAY!

Come be inspired!

 AND  

don't forget about the linky party and giveaway that starts here on THURSDAY! In honor of my 1 yr blog anniversary, I want to know why YOU started your blog!

Go here for more details!

Don't forget, today is Tuesday and that means PARTY DAY!
Come be inspired!

Laundry Room Redo Reveal

We Have:

Torn out
Put in
Painted
Put together
Installed
and
Re installed

and NOW,

I think we are finally done!

Here are the before pictures:

Organized, yet messy looking shelves and hanging bars

(and those clothes hanging over the bar?  They are air drying)

The white standing baskets? Laundry

Lost of shoes and ugly flooring. 

It was peel and stick tile that was chipping off (and yes, that is duct tape in the above picture holding the flooring together!).

Another organized mess.

Ugly boring walls, more open shelves.

The "art wall"

And now?

I'm in LOVE!

Brightly painted walls

And cabinets.  OH HOW I LOVE THESE CABINETS!

The tall ones are part of the PAX system from Ikea.

Really customizable!

They have different widths, heights, door styles, handles, interior styles and colors.

The ones above the washer and dryer are kitchen uppers, also from Ikea.

And we were able to add shelves, baskets and hanging bars where and if we wanted.

Check out the insides of these babies! 

Hubby, Sassy and I each have our own.  Action and Smiley share one.

And instead of doing all "cubbies"  I designed one to just hold shelves without doors. 

Just for sorting laundry.

This ALMOST makes me WANT to do laundry.

 ☺

sort of.

Come back tomorrow to see some accessorizing!

AND

don't forget about the linky party and giveaway that starts here on THURSDAY!

in honor of my 1 yr blog anniversary, I want to know why YOU started your blog!

Go  here for more details!

Until Tomorrow....