On the Cheap

I have two fun and cheap crafts to show you today, but first- allow me to share one of my many pet peeves with you.

Free range shopping carts.

Cart corrals are there for a reason. Nothing makes me angrier that finding a cart bumped up against my vehicle! Ok, well maybe I'm exaggerating a bit- there are plenty of bigger problems in this world, but this is definitely high up on my list. It isn't hard! In fact, I'm going to share a little secret with you (and I promise this is all relevant!)- I'm as lazy as they come. This is precisely why I will circle the parking lot searching for a parking spot beside the cart corral. Yes, I'd rather walk a farther distance from my car to the front door if it means that I don't have to do more walking at the end of my trip just to put the cart up.

And this is how this ties in-

Today was grocery day. Normally I go to Target, but after seeing a friends $70ish haul last week, I decided to give the new Aldi in town a try. Upon entering the parking lot, the first thing I notice is... no cart corrals. "Great" I think to myself, "there are going to be carts all up in this parking lot by the time I get back out..." Then I look around- oddly, there are *no* carts to be found. They're all lined up nicely up by the store. I get closer, and they're all chained together, each cart locked to the cart in front of it. To unlock a cart, you put a quarter into the slot on the lock, which you get back at the end of your trip when you take the cart back up and lock it back in line. FREAKING GENIUS!!

I'll take this moment to pause and apologize if you know how Aldi works. You'll have to forgive me, I'm pretty freaking excited about this place!

Now the groceries- I won't bore you with a long drawn out explanation like I did with the shopping carts, but they are c h e a p. Its all generic brands, but so far we've liked everything we've tried. To help with overall costs, you have to pay for your grocery bags. Ten cents a bag isn't too bad (biiiig sturdy bag), but its a definite push to gather all those canvas grocery bags I've got laying around. (that I never use... insert sheepish smiley with *paper* bag over her head)

Long story short, I like the place. It's actually inspiring me to work a little harder on planning meal menus and thinking about freeze-ahead dinner. Perhaps material for future blogs? I think so!

Ok, ok- now onto my cheap crafts of the day.

This was inspired by one of many pins, but I finally got a few moments away from grabby toddler paws, so I painted this up as fast as I could! It is an "upcycled" photo frame I found at a yard sale for $.50 a few years back and its just kinda been hanging out waiting for it to speak to me. I painted it with Plaid paints. My photography skills leave a little to be desired, but you get the point-

And the second has actually been done for a while, but I wanted to post it for my sister in law to see since she just got back from the beach and has lots of pretty shells to do something with! The letter press drawer came from a seller on e-Bay for $20+shipping, and most of the shells were found on our honeymoon.

Holy huge picture Batman! I'm working on that. Something is up with Photobucket.

Pintervention

I need one.

If you haven't the slightest of what I am speaking, turn away now. Trust me, you'll thank me later.

Buuuuut if the suspense is killing you, Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that allows you to "pin" pictures, articles, recipes, DIY tutorials, videos, and pretty much anything you can find online that you can organize onto "boards" and share with other "pinners."

In terms of productivity, its quite possibly both the best and worst things in the history of ever to happen to the Dawson household. DIY crafts are at an all time high, while the housework is, well, consistent.

Consistently being put off.

On one hand, I have collected hundreds and hundreds of fun craft ideas, countless recipes, and pin after pin of home decoration and clothing inspirations that I refer to and use on a regular basis. On the other hand, I'll stay up well after midnight some nights, lost in a sea of pins- life sucking, zombie mommy making pins. Iced coffee has become my best friend, and yes, I got the recipe on Pinterest.


And what would this post be without some picto-brags?

Here are some necklaces I made for a dear friends wedding this past September, with the help of Little Birdie's Secrets Rosette Tutorial



And this project-- I'm still bragging about it. Its wall art made from a pallet. Another good friend of ours found three and saved them for me and here is what the first one has become-



What is even more exciting to me is that the entire project cost less than $10. The photos I printed out at Target for $.20 each and the frames? All from The Dollar Tree! One smackaroo!

OH! How could I forget this one? I've stabbed myself in the thumb with needle so many times this week I think I've finally started to lose feeling! They're Catherdral Windows- a quilting technique that I have long admired and feared. Turns out, they're kinda easy! If you can make a Cootie Catcher, you can make this quilt.



Each window is made from a piece of a woven wrap scrap that has lived here and snuggled my sweet boy.

And just for the record, I'm still laughing over the title of that fortune game, Cootie Catcher! I was never aware it had a real name until Google informed me only moments ago. LOL!

Yeah, my kid watches TV...

Sigh.

At least its not crack, right? Oh wait... I forgot about Super Why... shit.

So yeah, I let my kid watch TV. Much to the dismay of pediatricians and childless acquaintances offering unsolicited advice the world over, I let it sneak up on me and now its a permanent fixture in our day to day schedule. Cat In the Hat means its time for milk, Super Why means its time to clean up the kitchen from breakfast, Martha Speaks means its time for lunch, and Calliou means its time to change the channel.

Which leads me to the inspiration for this post.

I frequent a mommy-centered forum often, and today a thread titled "What Kids Shows Do You Ban" popped up. Ban? People do this? I kinda scoffed, but I opened the thread anyways.(Never open the stupid threads, Brooke!) People banning Barney and Spongebob left and right, people banning Yo Gabba Gabba because it is "inappropriate." (obviously we don't ban it, have you seen my kids sweet dance moves?!) One mom that bans Sid the Science Kid because they have an episode on vaccines. One bans Sesame Street because a few characters use magic.

What?? Whatever. It's not that deep around here.

I get that some of these shows are super annoying, but I just kind of find it silly to ban an educational television show from your child simply because it is nettlesome. (Yup, learned that word on APT today WHAAAAAT!) If I banned every annoying show, my child would be stuck watching ice melt. So in the spirit of annoying children's television, may I present to you the

Brooke Dawson's List of the Top Five Shows I Would Ban But I'm Not Because I Think Banning Is Silly and I Wouldn't Be Able To Get Stuff Done Around the House Without These Shows On A Daily Basis Oh Yeah and My Son Is Fine the Pediatrician Said So Today List

(I know I said List twice, I feel if I repeat myself often it really drives my point home. Or something like that.)

#1- Calliou. That kid needs a time out or SOMETHING. STOP WHINING, KID!! Jeezewhattabrat.
#2- Thomas the Train. Bunch of smug-ass trains. I really don't see any point behind this show other than to drive parents to collect every train, track, pajama set, sippy cup, and tennis shoe that has Thomas on it for obsessed toddlers. Plus, each Thomas action figure is like, $15. It doesn't make any noise (wow- really? Am I actually complaining about that?), it doesn't transform into a bumblebee or a VW Bug- it freaking rolls around. It only rolls on an $80 track, may I add. Several different $80 tracks- you can't just have ONE. AND they're die-cast metal, so they hurt like a... like a lot if you step on them barefooted. I think I counted 80 trains to collect? NOPE. Man, apparently I dislike Thomas more than I thought I did.
#3- Super Why. Super SHUTTY! Yes, another great educational show- Sidney really enjoys it. He sings along with the theme, he does their little dance along with them, but JEEZE enough already with the "Power to READ" and "DICTIONARY POOWEEEER!" Those aren't real super powers. Don't even pretend like they are. Yes, reading is important, but its a hell of a lot easier to learn how to read than it is to learn how to ohh, say develop human echolocation or make yourself INVISIBLE. Do some investigating on super powers, APT. I'm not impressed.
#4- Max and Ruby. Luckily, we don't have to bother with this one much since we don't have cable, but Ruby.is.a.bossy.bitch. And where are their parents? I've never seen them! Did they run away or something? I'd probably run away if my daughter was Ruby, too.
#5- Three words, Fresh. Beat. Band. If you've seen it, you know I don't need to explain a thing.

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen! The Brooke Dawson's List of yaddy yadda, I'm not typing that all out again, as I'm sure you don't want to read it all over again list. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I disenjoy each of these shows;)

Eat Your Heart Out, Martha Stewart.

I am a horrible tutorial developer. Case. In. Point.

Enjoy;)

The Marble Whisperer

A title jokingly given to me, but as long as I can remember, I've always had a funny knack for finding marbles in random places. The most notably random place I would have to say would be the bottom of the lake (which would also be the inspiration for the title of the ole' blog here)- I was probably 10 or 11 and was goofing off in a shallow area of Guntersville when I felt something between my toes in the sand- I reached down and sure enough, it was a swirly looking black and yellow marble. I haven't the slightest how it got there or why I found it, but I've kept it in my tackle box for years and years as a little good luck charm. Ever since then, I'll find stray marbles here and there, usually parking lots, parks, sometimes yards, but each time I find one it puts a smile on my face.

But to get why I am sharing this story with you.

We just put an above ground pool in the back yard, which required a bit of landscaping and dirt tilling, and that resulted in a small mound of extra dirt that had to be removed to make the ground level. It had been there for about a week or so and I hadn't really thought much of it. One day before getting in the pool I was watering the garden and let Sidney, now 23 months old, roam around while I finished that up. When I was done I noticed him pawing at something in that pile of dirt, so I walk over to see what he is getting into- so imagine my surprise (and the goosebumps on my arms!) when Sidney hands me a marble.

6th sense? Just know when to pay attention? I don't know, but a sweet friend offered what I think is my favorite explanation- its just a little hello from the angels looking over me:)

Oh wow. Yeah...

Really seems like it was last week that I said I was going to post a little more often.. that was in April! Time can get away from me time to time.

What we're doing on a Sunday night.

I'm on the computer "pinnin'" (thank you Pinterest...), Brian is on the couch snoozing, and Sidney is playing with his stacking cups over in the corner- best Family Dollar purchase I ever made! All is quiet here on a this Sunday evening and its a great end to a lovely week.

Goals for next week:

Sidney is going to consume less crayons. Be it me just taking them away or him finally just eating what is left of the nubs, this madness will STOP. He has gotten to be quite the connoisseur and prefers the large Crayola washable crayons over any others. I hope they aren't toxic. Fact: he prefers the taste of crayons over the taste of Play-Doh. I'm not sure this kid is related to me at all.

Give myself a pedicure. If I have to wake up 45 minutes earlier than everyone else in this house just to get it done, its going to happen. It NEEDS to happen.

Read at least one adult book. No, not a dirty book, just something that isn't compiled of cardboard pages and brightly colored pictures.

Keep up with ALL sippy cups.

Smile more. Bitch less.

Love deeply.

Well how 'bout that!

Seems I haven't updated in nearly a year- reckon I'll get on that soon!

Main updates? Well, apparently I've turned into a big ole hippie in my parent rearing ways, but its cool. I'm currently a stay at home mom, but hoping to find another 8 to 5 before the unemployment runs out. Some days I feel like I'm the only sane person left on this earth, and I still really like ice cream. That pretty much wraps up my updates! Looking forward to sharing fun stuff- come back by anytime!