Monday FunDay

I like belts.
Perhaps because I like to wear my pants 3-4times before washing them again, and by the 3rd to 4th day they require a belt. I don't know....

This being said, I never buy belts. I have been wearing the same brown, black, and white belts for years. I bought them all on sale at one time or another.

Today, I found these belts on ETSY. Aren't they FUN?

Makes me want a new, fun belt...

What Do You Do When It Snows?

You put on your moon... err snow boots.

You load up the 4-wheeler.

And you go have a snow ball fight on the back of the 4-wheelers in the empty field by your parent-in-laws house.

You gotta have a little fun when it snows right? Too bad the sun hasn't come back to warm things up. I don't even think we will make it into the 20's this week ) :

Something Up My Sleeve

Don't you just love doing a little something special for someone else? I decided to take on the tasks of helping my little sister furnish her future college apartment. Although she will be living in the dorms the first year, it is never too early to start collecting some fun furnishing a little at a time, right?! So far I have scooped up this bedspread for $36 from Urban Outfitters here. Teal is one of her favorite colors. I also got 10% off for creating a UO sign in account which helped cover some of the shipping costs...wahoo!

My next project is painting this $40 Craig's list dresser gray (no, that is not my gold shad carpet...hehe). I picked up a small can of Dutch Boy paint named "fire steel" and some hand sanders tonight...let the fun begin! If she is lucky I may even offer to paint the headboard she already own the same color too : )

I also scored 3 white ceramic vases of mismatched patterns and height along with an empty rectangular frame which I plan on turning into a jewelry holder to hang above her dresser for a grand total of $2.24 from my local thrift store. Since I got such a killer deal at the thrift store I splurged at WalMart and spent $9 on a few small white bowls/trays for her to organize her rings and bracelets on top on the dresser in. Trust me, I can't wait to reveal her new furnishings to her for her birthday this summer!

Remember This?

It's the dresser we found on Craig's list forever back. I know, its been too long.... I almost forgot about it too ; ) Either way, I finally found some time to posts some before and after pics!

Here it is before. It really was a clean, nice looking dresser. I am a big fan on the wood look, but the finish didn't quite compliment our darker wood floors. After some Internet browsing, I found some pics on Working Woman's blog here. Seriously loved the inspirational posts : )
And thus the idea for this color came about. I would love to share how the dresser was painted, but I didn't have to paint a lick! My sweet husband stripped and painted the whole dresser himself why I was in St. Louis. I can tell you the whole process involved CitrusStrip, a seagreen color undercoat, and an antique top coat.

Good things can be done when I leave my man alone. On the other hand, you can also come home to a plethora of speakers surrounding your television too. I can't wait till those speakers find a new home in the basement...ha.

Christmas Break Bliss

Oh Christmas Break how I love thee! I can't believe this will be the last 2 week Christmas Break I will ever get- sad ) : This exactly why I am taking full advantage of everyday, and by this I mean sleeping in till 10am...ha! But seriously, I feel like am getting so much done despite my extra sleep in the mornings.

This was also the first year Brandon and I put up our very own Christmas tree, so here it is in all its glory...
Alright, I am not a professional Christmas tree decorator. We got our tree and all the green and silver ornaments/ribbon 75% off at Wal-mart's after Christmas sell. Our slim selection of ornaments come from each year we've been together. I love reading other people's blogs and seeing how their trees have changed over the years, so I went ahead and posted my first attempt at decorating my own tree so I look back and smile later. Maybe next year I will even find a tree topper!

So what have the Leslie's been up to?
Caulking and painting all our window trim
Putting pictures in the picture display
Insulating/Drywalling the basement
Refinishing the Craig's list chairs
A few other random not so exciting projects

And I acutally plan on sharing some pitcures all of the progress a little at a time. I just had the chance to look back at all my previous posts, and it was so fun seeing my year in review. Can't wait to see what 2010 brings!!!

Fall Back

Ahhh...I did again. I lost track of time. Please excuse me. Life is busy.

I collected a few pictures to show you what I have been up to. It's really isn't exciting, but it's my life. I am loving every minute of it.

This is my husband helping my grandpa wire his t-bucket. This is the first time the car has been all together since my grandpa bought it forever ago. He took it to a car show. I like car shows...when they are warm. I froze at this one ) :

But we got free bread bowls. Yep, free bread bowls from the car show. Weird...I know. So I made cabbage soup for the first time. I don't think I made it right. It didn't look as good as Brandon's mom's does. It still tasted good though.

We also participated in Christmas in October. It is a huge deal in Kansas City. The hubs was a house captain. He did all the prep work. He kept things really organized...notice all the tools and supplies scattered around the yard ; ) We did a ton of work, but we had to leave early. There were shootings down the street and the cops made us leave. Makes you appreciate living in a safe neighborhood...huh.

We got a new toy for Cove. It is the duck. She played with so much it wore her out. She fell asleep with two toys on her belly. She doesn't normally snuggle with her toys like this, so I snapped a picture. Love that smelly little pup.

We also caught my sisters last volleyball games ever. Isn't it bitter sweet being a senior in high school? Her team was awesome this year. They won their conference and won every single tournament...wahoo for 1st place! She is number 25. Sorry for taking a picture of your butt...

We also celebrated our niece, Emarea's, 4th birthday. She is adorable. Aren't those curls precious! This wasn't taken on her birthday. This was at BWWs. She loves arcade games...typical kid!

And yes, we celebrated Halloween. We had 5 trick-or-treaters before leaving for our friend's house. It was fun seeing the neighborhood kiddos dressed up. I feel guilty not being around to see the rest. We left a bowl of candy on our porch for them. Surprisingly, there was still candy in the bowl when we got back.

Finally, we almost finished painting out house. The process has been a little drawn out. We still have another section of wood rot to replace. I will share pics soon.

It feels really late. I have been thrown off all day. As much as I hate daylight savings time, I wish we got an extra hour in everyday...I could use it to clean this house....ha.

Have a Seat

I made up my mind to find some chairs. I wanted to find two matching chairs to put in my living room underneath my new picture collage. I did some research online and found out even the cheapest chairs from Wal-Mart and Target that are upholstered run around $100 a piece minimum...ouch ) : So I started up the Craig's list search. Here is how the rundown went...

I first came across these. They were labeled 1941 French Chairs for $75. I liked the button back look, but I wanted to find chairs for less than $30/chair. I offered $60. It's two weeks later and I still have not heard back. Don't you hate that?
So, I found these two Thomas of Martinville chairs for $80. Again, I offered $60. I thought with a big squishy pillow on the back they might be pretty comfortable. This time I wrote in my email, "Thanks for letting me know either way." I heard back...they were firm at their $80 asking price. I appreciated their honesty and moved on.

I contemplated these chairs for a minute. They were Eames Knoll steelcase chairs for $85. I looked at them several time, then realized they were a little too contemporary for my taste. There was also a set of Queen Anne style captain chairs for $30 that I offered on. They weren't exactly what I was picturing, but I figured for the price why not?! I was too late; someone else had snatched them up...

That's when I came across these. They looked like the 1941 French Chairs above, just with a little more wear on the seats. These two matching caned chairs came with the high asking price of....$25...for both! That's right. I didn't hesitate offering the full asking price on these beauties. We picked them up this morning. Turns out the lady was moving states and was selling a whole house full of solid wood furniture. If I had more money I may have offered to unload her of some more pieces.

So, I am thinking of painting them white. And reupholstering them with a fun fabric like this one.

It may take me a while. Maybe Christmas break? I will be sure to share when they are finished : )