The Great Grow Out: Bangs.

Is it just me, or is hair a constant struggle for women? I have had bangs for six years now, and I am ready for a {change}. These pictures were taken right after I got a long "shag" cut with my heavy bangs. The cut looked good for about a week.

Then it started looking like it always looks and I decided I was tired of pushing hair back out of my face constantly.

When you were little and trying to grow out your bangs, did your mom pull them back with a big plastic goody barrette and it drove you crazy cuz it looked dorky?

Yeah. Not much has changed. We call this the "brontosaurus look."

So here we are today. Thank goodness for bobby pins and ponytails. This is what it looks like most days. A "momtail" if you will.

This is my "Barbie Momtail" shot.

What about you? Do you ever need variety? What do you do about it?

Father' Day

Check out my mad package decorating skills. Did you do this when you were little? Who knew there were so many great words describing "dad" in the Target ad?

Last summer, I stumbled across this super cute book at an antique store. I am always on the lookout for good Golden Books at garage sales, and given it's cheap price for a couple bucks, I had to get it. I wrapped it and gave it to my husband when my son was born. I thought I'd share it in honor of Father's day.

"Daddies All About the Work They Do" by Janet Frank A Golden Book

What do daddies do all day?

They go to work to earn their pay.

They work in offices and stores,

in factories and out of doors.

Farmer daddies keep us fed.

They grow the wheat we need for bread.

Dads build rockets.

Others fly

or drive the trucks you see roll by.

Daddies fix the shoes we wear.

Barber daddies cut our hair.

Dads are sailors dressed in blue.

And daddies are policemen, too.

Daddies paint and daddies sell.

Doctor daddies keep us well.

Daddies sit at desks and write

the books we read in bed at night.

A daddy might deliver mail.

Some teach science.

Some teach Braille.

Dads make steel and daddies sing.

Dads do almost everything.

But when they've worked the whole day through,

what do they really love to do?

By taxi, train, by car and bus,

daddies hurry home- to us!

Have Happy Father's Day weekend!

Goodwill Dresser and Dollar Store Bird: Before and After

We needed a small dresser or chest of some sort. But it had to be decent, not huge, and cheap. After searching Craigslist for a couple weeks and a few thrift stores, I finally found one at Goodwill for $11 total. Score! Solid wood, clean lines, classic look, no funky paint and extra bonus: I could get it in and out of the back of the van without my husband's help!

As you can see, there was some minor wear and tear....
And some {interesting} handles. (I thought they were ugly).

So I decided to take matters into my own hands. I bought two great handles off ebay for about a buck seventy. I grabbed some touch up paint, a drill, ruler, etc.... I have never used a drill before, it was so fun!
And the final result....
DOn't you think it looks Pottery Barn-esque?!

And another little number I picked up at the Dollar Tree...
And painted white.

And here they both are. AFTER.

This post was linked and FEATURED (!) on:

Weekend Crafty Project: Pinewood Derby

So at our church, they have the Pinewood Derby for the Boy Scouts. And then they have the Pinewood Derby for the men. The dads, the boy scout leaders, the families. There are no rules. And we all get together, bring our cars, eat delicious food, and try to pretend not to care whether their car is the awesomest or not.

Well, this is what happens when you are a single mom of three young children while your husband is gone 14 to 16 hours a day studying for the bar.....

It's supposed to look like our van but after I painted it yellow I realized it looks like a bus and, well, it just adds to the humor.
I was nervous they wouldnt let me enter it cuz it's just a block with wheels, but everyone was impressed that I even showed up!
It was great. Everyone humored me and the kids loved it. We all stood on the sidelines and rooted for our car. The other moms rooted for the "mom car" too! I didn't win, but I had a fun time putting it together and using my mad acrylic painting skills!

This is the other thing you do alot of when the weather gets hot with 3 little ones....

Hope you had a nice weekend!

A Couple Quick Projects

Check out this awesome picture I just bought! just kidding. I am always on the lookout for great, chunky, solid wood frames. Doesn't matter what color, or how ugly, as long as they're solid and good quality. I got this one for 50 cents at a thrift store. I needed an 8x10 frame for my baby announcements collection.

So here is the before:

And the after:

On another note, we have started summer vacation and need to find stuff for the kiddos to do. The girls keep asking me to braid their hair and their dolls hair, so I figured it was time they learn themselves. I just found some yarns scraps, knotted both ends, and taped one end to the table and set them to work! Voila!

Have you done any fun projects lately? Any plans for the summer?

Antique Side Tables Repainted and Updated

This is a table I inherited from my grandmother. I love this table. I think it is beautiful and it has sentimental value. I love how it looks old and is small and dainty but works well. I always thought it would be great to have two of them, so I could have a pair of matching end tables or nightstands. Being a garage saler and a thrifter, I always sort of kept this in the back of my mind and kept a look out for a similiar one.

Then, over a year ago, lo and behold, I FOUND ONE.

I brought them to my dad knowing he could help me refinish them since I knew nothing about this sort of thing. We originally wanted to restore their dark brown stain and original beauty, but the one I found was so far from it's original state with tons of cheap paint over it, etc and dad had spent so much more time than I ever expected or wanted him to working on this project, we decided to spray them white and lightly distress the edges after stripping them. I was really nervous at first since I'm not into painting lots of furniture, however.... I LOVE how they turned out. {Thank you dad for all your help!}

Finally, a matching pair!

Picture perfect.

Picture perfect. {L O V E}. What do you think?

Ode to Sisterly {craft} Love.

I'd like to take a few moments, if I may, and write about two people who inspire me. My brothers married some amazing women. Not only are they beautiful, smart, and talented, they love their husbands and families, have four and five children, teach them well, AND still have time to craft!!! Our family had a wonderful opportunity to spend the weekend together (all 20 of us!) and my sisters-in-law each surprised me with some little lovely gifts they crafted.

Sis N, mother of five, made beautiful little flower hair clips. They look like peonies and she made them in tons of wonderful different colors.

But what I loved most and thought was genius (!) was the simple little slits on the back: with these little slits you can slip the flowers onto clips, headbands, bracelets/ribbons, and brooch pins. It's four things in one! Thanks, N :) The girls and I love to wear them.

Sis K, mother of four, is one of the two people who read my blog. (lol). Do you remember when I blogged about my love for THESE architectural letter drawings I found in the Ballard Designs catalogue?

Well, Sis K loved them too. I'm not going to go into the detail of how she tracked them down, but the fact is she DID, copied my last initial onto spiffy paper, handmade a chunky black frame for it, and presented it to moi. Can I just say: I LOVE. it. (And I couldnt believe it. Still can't).

Thank you, K. You ALWAYS come through for me :) I will treasure it for-evah!!!
I'm so grateful for awesome Sis-in-laws~ A: that goes for you too!

xoxo, Rebecca