Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Goodwill Chair...

While we were at our oldest daughter's house for our grandson's birthday, all the girls decided to go to Goodwill to see if we could score some deals.  My daughter was hoping to find a chair to refurbish for extra seating for her living room.  We stumbled across this great sturdy chair that has beautiful carvings.  And it was only $25!  What a deal!  We removed the stained seat and sanded the shiny finish.


After wiping down the chair, we painted the chair with a cream colored paint that had primer in it.  It took four coats, but turned out like this.


My daughter had been looking at some fabric at JoAnn's for a year that she really liked but couldn't figure out how she could use it.  Turns out, it was perfect for covering the seat.



The paint and fabric cost $35, bringing the total cost for this one-of-a-kind chair to $60.  Pretty sweet!

Monday, July 30, 2012

Home for a bit...

Have you ever traveled so much that you woke up in the middle of the night and wondered where you were?  That's happened to me a couple of times this summer since I've spent the night in six different homes during our trips to visit family over a span of five weeks.  We've had a blast and I thoroughly loved spending that much time with my grandkids.  But, I have to admit, I am partial to sleeping in my own bed!

The first trip we took was to be at our grandson's second birthday party.  Our whole family enjoyed some time together for a couple of days.  Sweet, sweet fellowship!  But, I digress...

Our grandson loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates so his momma decided on a pirate theme for his party.  The kiddos got to swim in kiddie pools and play on a water table while the adults visited.  My daughters are very creative when it comes to parties and this one was no exception.  Take a look at these pictures:



















The bones were an idea she got off a Pinterest halloween website.  You put a small marshmallow on each end of a pretzel stick and dip the whole thing in white candy coating. 

To make the hot dog "octupi", we cut one half of each hotdog into 6-8 legs.  Then we cooked them in a crockpot all morning with a little added water. 



The blue Kool-Aide had gummy sharks "swimming" in the bottom.

The cupcakes were baked in ice cream cones.  When they were cool, they were iced with white frosting then dipped into crushed Nilla Wafers.  Blue icing "waves" were piped on and a flag and gold coin were the finishing touches.  The cupcakes were served on trays covered in Nilla Wafer "sand" as were the Kool-Aide cups with orange "ships".







Our middle daughter made the cute parrot that is sitting on top of the treasure chest.  Our hostess daughter bought the unpainted chest at Hobby Lobby and painted it to look like a pirate chest. 


It was a fun party that everyone enjoyed - kids and adults, alike!

In a couple of weeks, we will be traveling again for our granddaughter's birthday.  It will be all about camping and smores.  Pictures will be coming!