Trash To Treasure - File Organizer

Back HERE I talked about starting to do five projects a month and sharing the results with you guys.  Since we were already a few weeks into June I decided three for this month would be good.  So here is my first one.  Not to long ago I was actually able to sift through a hoarders junk pile!! This is one of the items I found and had an immediate refreshed vision for it.

I found some leftover grey paint in the garage as well as some chalkboard paint that I always have on hand .... you never know what you want to turn into a chalkboard. 

 Since one of the "picture holders" were broken I just kept the glass pieces {and if there were no glass pieces I would have cut out some think wooden sheets to size}.  I clean each of the glass pieces up and wiped down the whole file holder.

I painted each glass panel with chalkboard paint and it took about 3 coats.  When I paint with chalkboard paint I alternate the directions I paint in with each coat to keep from streaky lines.  You can also use chalkboard spray paint for a cleaner look.

I then painted the file holder itself .. That took about three coats as well.  I was a little lazy {yes I admit it} and didn't paint ALL the way to the bottom on the back two slots .. because, well lets face it .. you wont ever see it.

Once everything was dry I used my handy E6000 glue and glued the "glass" chalkboard pieces in.

And there you have it! My final product. Quick, Easy, Cheap, Recycled and a useful touch to my desk!

Life Lately

**DISCLAIMER - I am a week behind posting this so if I say Saturday, I mean the Saturday before last Saturday ;) **

On a whim ... well not really on a whim at all ... just good timing - we painted our house.  We've been wanting to get it painted for some time now ... its just faded and blah.  I also wanted to move the house numbers but I can't because the sun had faded the paint around the numbers.

BEFORE

AFTER

We painted the door a deep red - our home is quite patriotic now.

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The other day I got a little taste of my dream!! Remember back {HERE} when I told you what my dream job was? Cleaning a hoarders house??? Well the house at the end of my parent's road was recently cleaned out from a hoarder that lived there! ... They piled everything outside in the front yard and it was a feeding frenzy for people that came by.

Of course my  mom and I were right in the middle of it.  I found a lot of great things to do some more Trash To Treasure posts that I'm excited to share with you.  We also found a huge box of records (45's I think) that we are going to try and sell.

Besides the overwhelming smell of cat / animal pee it was interesting to get into and validated that I would love to be the person to get rid of all this crap!

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This past weekend Mike was in Orlando visiting his friend Rob so I took the free time to have a girls dinner with Chelsea and Marie ... we went to Season's 52.  The drinks were awesome - I had some gin / jalapeno drink that left just the right bit of heat.  The food was OK .. nothing that I would write home about.

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On Saturday my littlest brother Luke graduated from High School ... he is all grown up now!

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And Lastly on what has been going on in my life ... I have completed {although it will be ongoing as the event come up} another website with SDE-TECH {my full time job}.  This one was actually quite fun because it was for a company that I used to work for so it was nice to see everyone when working on this project. 

Check Out The Site 

31 {fri}day Blog Challenge - My Worst Habits

My worst habits ... this could be a long list.  I'll stick to the top three.

1. Stick In My Ruts: I think I'm quite a motivated person and I usually have a plan for each day and it planned out a week in advanced {for work} along with a whole list of stuff to get done after work.  But sometimes I'll get in a little rut - lets say around 5 pm - where I just want to give up for the rest of the day.  Half the time I can get myself out of these little ruts but some times I just can't and I'll stay in the rut - on the couch - watching TV or reading.  I won't summon up the motivation until the next morning.  Sometimes I do this with weeks too - like with working out, if I don't follow the plan I had set forth, I give up for the rest of the week and get the motivation to start again on Monday ;) 

2. Eat WAY Too Much Sugar:  I try to tell myself all the time to cut back on sugar but I just CRAVE it sometimes.  My mom recently signed me up for this Live Cell Analysis thing and it showed my sugar addiction is not treating me well so I really need to cut back now.

3. Liter Box: I must admit ... I am really bad at cleaning out Wamp's liter box.  I'm not sure how often your supposed to clean a cats liter box but I'm sure that I don't do it often enough.  Every time my mom comes over she walks right to the liter box and cleans it out - or Marie will yell at me that I need to clean it out.  I must have good liter because I never smell it.  This is a bad habit I need to work on though.

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After a great response to my Trash to Treasure post I have decided that I'm going to start something new! {I still have to work out the graphic for this} but I'm going to begin to list FIVE projects that I'm going to do for the month.  Whether it is a Trash to Treasure idea or something I found on Pinterest I am going to try and complete FIVE projects per month and document them here so I can give you tips or let you know if it is worth it or how complex it is  - in case you want to try these too.

Since June has already begun I'm only going to do 3 this month:

This one might be easy ... BUT I'm going to do them both so that should count as a good one!  Since I have been keeping up on my resolution to read one book per month I am in need of a good book mark because folding the edges just isn't working for me {and it ruins your books}.  I am actually reading two books right now {one on my own and one with mike} so I want some options :)

This one I'm kinda excited about! - I have NEVER in all my crafting years made any sort of jewelry.  Most likely because I don't really wear jewelry - but recently I have been more inclined to wear some.  However I haven't been so inclined to spend the money on it.  When I came across this on Pinterest I loved the look and wanted to try it.  

Lastly this month I will be refurbishing this - I found it in someones trash {actually is was a hoarders front junk yard - my upcoming Life Lately will explain more} and I had an immediate vision for it and a use!

I'll be completing these projects and posting them for you as I go along - I'll also link to the pages that posted them initially. 

Father's Day Cards

With Father's Day right around the corner I have been filling the shop with cute, stylish, funny Father's Day Cards.  They are 5 x 7, fold over, blank inside cards.  The best part - they are Instant Downloads so even if it is the morning of Father's Day and you've totally forgot .. you're covered!

I also decided to change up the style of my listing images .. a fresher look with more information on the images for the Pinterest Pins and quick views.

31 {fri}day Blog Challenge - What Am I Afraid Of // May Book Review

What Am I Afraid Of?

I'm actually afraid of quite a few things but I thought I would elaborate on two.

Being Someplace I Can't Get Out Of

This one is a little hard to explain but basically I don't like being in a place or situation that I cannot get out of.  For example, a cruise ship ... when you are on a cruise ship you're stuck.  You cannot get off, get a flight home or drive.  You are on the ship until the next port.  I don't like that feeling.  I'm not afraid of being on the ship and having this feeling, I'm afraid of something actually happening to where I want to get off and I cant.  I think this has something to do with me being somewhat of a control freak .. I'm not in control of my whereabouts.

Bad Weather

This is something that I've been afraid of since I was little.  I used to be petrified of Thunder Storms, I used to sleep in my little brothers bed when they came because I hated them so much.  The beep that comes across the TV when there is a bad weather alert sent me to the bathroom about to throw up from nerves.  Now that I'm a little older I'm OK with the Thunder Storms and the TV alerts but I'm still afraid of Tornadoes {warning and watches} and Hurricanes.

That is two things that I'm afraid of the most - along with big hairy spiders, scary movies, and roller coasters :) 

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May Book Review - Big Little Lies

I picked this book because I LOVED {April's Book} and this was another one by the same author.  It had the same style as {The Husbands Secret} where there was a few story lines going on that ended up intermingling with each other.  This one was a tad bit more obvious as to how the story lines mashed together but it was still a fun read.  It held my attention and I finished it before the  month was up!  It is a little long but I would highly suggest it, especially if you read any of Liane Moriarty's books.

Book Rating: 9

Trash To Treasure - DIY Outdoor Table

One of my favorite things to do is take someone's trash and turn it into my treasure!  While it doesn't happen too often that I find good pieces in the trash ... when I do I'm so excited!!! I recently found this table put out to the road a few houses down and I snatched it up!  Here is what I did to turn it into my treasure:

First I sanded down the parts of the table where the paint was peeling

Then I got out my FAVORITE spray paint {here's another project where I used it}

Since the original color was dark, one coat was good.  Make sure to walk all around and look at the different angles so you get every nook and cranny with the spray paint 

{this took 1 1/2 cans of paint}

Once it dried I cleaned up the piece of glass and put it back.

{If you find a table without the top you can always cut a piece of plywood to size 

and place it in there as you will be covering the top anyways.}

Next you'll need mastic - which is what will basically glue the tiles to the table top.  I had some left over from when we refaced the fireplace, you wont need this big of a container,  just enough to cover the top of the table.

Spread a nice thin layer to start.  I would base the amount of mastic you use on the thickness of the tile.  The heartier the tile the more you should use.  The mastic does not dry too fast so if you plan to cover the whole thing in one sitting go ahead and spread all your mastic first.

I decided to use the pre-arranged tile squares from Home Depot.  This style was $10 per square and I used 3 total.  Simply lay the tile onto the mastic and press down to secure.

Only two full squares fit on the table so I peeled the tiles off the last square and fit them in.  I used a tile cutter to make the small squares to fit on the sides.

Once the whole table is covered let it dry.  I let my dry overnight.

Finally you need to grout the tiles.  I got premixed colored grout from Home Depot.  You can mix your own but this way is MUCH easier.

I used a grout sponge to push the grout in between the grooves {although you can use one of those plastic spatula things as well} 

I then cleaned it off with a wet sponge.  Keep a bucket of water close to continuously rinse the sponge.

Once the grout drys ... Ta-da! My treasure of a beautiful outdoor table for our deck.