Easter Bunny

the easter bunny knew exactly what my house needed

Cinderella aint got nothing on me!

No sleeping in for us this weekend! Got busy with the kitchen right away, in fact just moments after stepping in the kitchen dad was already making his first cut. He was probably sick of my not so subtle hints about getting the kitchen done. He worked on all the finish work while I put together Ikea furniture which I bought years ago but has been sitting in storage just waiting for a home. I also spent time moving some of my coupon spoils to the Laundry room, do you still call it a pantry when its not for food? Here are a couple looks at SOME of my coupon deals, keep in mind there is a lot I still have to move.

Those cleaning supplies are 3-4 deep, I am so proud of my stock pile, and I can't even imagine how much money it is saving me to have all that on hand.
Once dad declared the kitchen complete minus the microwave which I have to buy brackets for...
We went home and crashed!

The next day we went to church and had a quick lunch then I was off to my house for extreme cleaning!!
I started with getting all the tools and random nails and chips of wood and everything else that was all over my kitchen OUT! And Finally the table saw was removed and given a new more proper home in the garage!
Next was vacuum up all the saw dust, and OMG it was everywhere. So glad to have my amazing $10 vacuum Target was practically giving away a few months back.This thing was in every nook and cranny getting the dust out. Then I went to my cleaning supplies and got some all purpose cleaner and scrubbed everything down.
Next was to cut the drawer liners, I for once was smart enough to use paper as a template before cutting the actual liners, of course I ran out of liner very soon, and I want to keep using the amazing stuff from Ikea so guess there is another reason on the list to make a trip!!
Ok liners are in and kitchen is ready to be filled up with my stuff... So it begins, I lay out beach towels on the counter so I can just wash and wash and wash, I pile up boxes of pots, pans, dishes, utensils etc on the counter and get to work, 5 hours later I had everything washed. I did take breaks now and then to put stuff away mostly because I needed to open the counter for more stuff.
The picture represents the moment I realized I have a utensil buying problem... hey at least when one breaks I won't care...

Seriously who doesn't need at least 3 sets of the basic utensils plus a bunch of more fun extras??

My true pride of the kitchen is my "Tupperware" drawer, I don't know how you organize them at your home but I was determined to have them handy and in a somewhat orderly fashion. So I put them away and like a message from the heavens OR a clear sign I spend WAY to much time on Pinterest I grabbed the $1 Hobby Lobby magazine holder I had and put the lids in. WOW it was perfect!! So proud of "real woman of genius" moment.
What do you think??

Actually since that photo I moved them up a bit and added my Ziploc bags and Foil to the drawer and it works PERFECTLY!! Mom saw it and asked if she could steal the idea. OF COURSE, anyone can just remember me in your "most organized woman" award speech.
So in the end I was just beaming as I looked around my kitchen... Here is a photo of most of the drawers/cabinets full, I did about another hour or more of work so more was added but at least you can tell I was working my behind off!

Last before I left I had to get my 1st decoration on the wall I have been dying to put this up for ever!!

Can you remember where you have seen it before??
Check this out....

Yep it was in Monica's bedroom on Friends for all 10 seasons!

Snap, Clap and Floor!

Sunday morning 7am I roll out of bed after VERY little sleep thank you crazy overnight storms! Throw on my "read to work" gear and grab some breakfast. Then it was off to my house with my dad in tow. The mission was the kitchen floor.
The floor that was there looked fine but after my changes we needed to add a row of flooring, and after 2 months of trying to find something to match I gave up and bought all new. I can't complain because it was the 1st  problem we have had and it was a problem I made, so I just smiled as I handed the checkout lady my card...
So step one was tear out the old floor... BTW the whole floor day was something dad and I were both dreading... so we cut one piece to gain access to the floor. Because you know me I didn't want to tear it apart, you never know when I could find something to do with those floor pieces.
Dad pulled one one floor panel which leads to the next one, dad was pulling up panels as I was stacking them in the other room, suddenly he is moving so fast its hard for me to keep up the floor is just coming right up easy, the whole "demo" took like 2 minutes! It took me longer to carry it to the garage than to take it up. We just looked at each other shocked.
Old Floor

notice the hole under the cabinets...
This is what was under the old floor

Dad suggested I just leave this treasure... I disagreed HA!
So we rolled out the floating floor mat and got to work
I LOVE this floor, it snaps/slides together so quick and easy then  you just have to cut the last one to fit the spot which gives you the perfect size to start then next row. I mean DIY/HGTV would be so proud of us... so we are booking across this room, which happens to be a perfect square so no cut outs.

Then we get to the last row...
And all that celebrating came crashing down. The problem was we needed to tap the end of the floor to make it slide but the cabinets were in the way and not movable. So after a lot of wedging this and that and some stretching and reaching and one good kick...yes I said kick, the last one slide into place and we cheered!!
I LOVE the look of this floor it matches so much better and looks so pretty not one scratch on it! Then we added the toe kick and WOW, my kitchen looks GREAT!!!

About 1 day left of finish work, mostly trim around the room (we ran out I have to buy and stain more) and the kitchen will be complete and I get to clean the mountains of saw dust and move stuff into it!! I can't wait!!
Again all of this would not be possible without my dad he is really amazing I am so blessed to have a handy father who will take the time to teach me and do this for me. Its been really fun to try to learn this stuff and I try, good thing he is patient!

Crafty/decorations

My dad was once again busy working at their house so I took a little time to work on one of my crafts. I had this ugly old hanging lamp that I wanted to use in my laundry for more light but the colors did not work. So I bought some fabric and got to work.

I took off the old lamp border and beads. Then used spray adhesive. I think it looks great! I was very impressed with myself

Before

 After

Also got some Easter decorations up!

Not where I would normally put them but if I didn't get them out they were not going to make it this season!

Family Traditions

So this weekend we did our annual Butchering. How many of you just went "HUH!?" Yes that's right once a year my family/extended family gets together and makes our own summer sausage, called "Metvous" its an old German recipe where you mix pork and beef, seasonings, and liquid cure. Then you stuff it in natural casings, in this case we used cow intestines, then you smoke them in the smoke house for several days, then you let them hang until in a damp area. Let me make it clear YOU DO NOT eat the casing! You peel that off when you cut it. This summer sausage is beyond amazing! You can not find anything like this in a store. Besides the great food result you get to spend time with family. And you teach the younger kids, how things used to be done.
It was a blast!
Check them out at :
http://hermsmeat.com/ also on Facebook

Super dad!!

So my parents have been working like crazy on their place and WOW, I know I say that over and over but they have really done some amazing work and its all coming together so nice. Their kitchen just looks amazing! They did some great tile work and it really warmed the whole place, and its starting to feel very much like "home".
Because they have been working so hard my house was left untouched for the weekend. However my dad had jury duty on Monday and once he was dismissed I left work early to meet him at my place and get to work!!
Started with the laundry room... remember when it was just a laundry closet?

YUCK right! So I painted it awhile ago

Then we added a wall and made it a room not a closet

So yesterday we got a lot of finishing touches done! And its almost a complete room!

I know this is like a catch all of other stuff... like the old kitchen cabinets are now storage for the laundry, I think coupon deals will go in there...and other stuff you want to keep around but don't really have a place for.
But the counter top is really nice, will be a great folding/sorting area for clothes.
Really its a laundry room so it doesn't need to be spectacular but I need to do something with those cabinets!
I will do some sort of art thing on the wall, have to do that when I am feeling creative.
NEED YOUR HELP, what do you think I should do with the cabinets to make them fit in better?? HELP
Wondering about all brown paint job with new hardware...

So we also put in the door which I can't believe I forgot to take a photo because that door took a long time to put in. I never knew so much work went into a door!
I will have to remember to take a photo of it. But the whole room looks great and I love the turn out.

Also last night we started to add the trim in the kitchen and I have to say WOW, I think it really changes the look and just looks so nice... can't wait to get more done!
Here is a preview:

(the trim just above the light is what I am referring to)

More work to do, of course, but I can't believe we got so much done in one night!

Fast and Fantastic!

Hey followers long time, very sorry about the delay but my dad has been crazy busy working on their house and WOW! Have they made some major progress, the work they are doing in the kitchen is amazing!!

But I was able to steal him for about 2 hours this weekend and I am still amazing at how much we were able to get done in such a short time!

We took advantage of the amazing weather and moved all my stuff out of the storage unit, only took 2 loads! But that was my coach, washer, dryer, 2 arm chairs and a bunch of boxes.
Moving some furniture really make the house start to feel like a home, nothing is in its place but at least we have somewhere to sit now. Also one of the boxes had glasses so I was able to enjoy a nice glass of water!

There is a look at part of the mess

After moving so stuff my dad hooked up my washer and dryer, like I said they are not in place but at least there is an idea...

The shelf is starting to show just a few of my coupon spoils, that was only a few I have added more since, won't need to purchase laundry detergent for a while. Remember all of those were under $2, some were FREE!!

Last my dad was able to add the wall cabinets to the kitchen walls!

He will be making some knick knack shelf's to go on the side (that will butt up to the window)

But I think it looks GREAT!! Just need to do some paint touch up.

Still a lot of finishing work to be done but we are really making progress and I am so pumped about it!!