I need Hermione's time turner.

I have two business cards to design and send to print this week, homework to help with, activity days to chauffer back and forth to tonight, dinner to make, cricut stuff to cut out for Jackie for Sunday, a book fair to work at in the morning for two hours, a doctor's appointment in Mesa for Allison tomorrow afternoon, talent show practice after school tomorrow. a craft show in east Mesa to put on tomorrow night (plus several more vinyl products to finish for it), babysitting Finny all day Friday, a play to attend at the school on Friday night with the kids, and friends to pick up from the airport on Saturday... so when am I supposed to write my talk for Sunday that I just remembered?!

Let me wipe the drool.

No this is NOT an "After" post. I wish. Still browsing around blogland to find just the right look. I think aqua paint, with a brown glaze, with a dark espresso-stained top finish, is going to win out, because I keep being drawn to photos like this, and this, and this. I'm especially swooning over the super light paint of this first one - -

But this second one makes my little heart go pitter-patter as well.

See the dark brown top of this one? Love the combo!

But first things first - I require a BED to match, and BEDDING found, or made, before I pick a paint color. Because there are a lot more options in paints than in bedding! Keep your eyes peeled for me!

The Dresser. Before.

We got this sweet dresser from Grandma V's house - and I think it could be fabulous. Notice the curvy front, routed details, carved legs, etc. Please offer up your suggestions on color, pulls, etc. to re-do it. At the moment, I want to strip the top and stain it dark, and then paint/shabby up the rest of it in white. Or teal. Or smoky gray blue. Hmmm... Please attach any links to ideas, if you got 'em. If anybody comes across a great nightstand or full size bed frame that would go great with this too, let me know...!

Or, do you remember what our twin beds look like? Should I just re-do one of these the same to match our (new) (Old) dresser? Does the style match well enough, or not so much?

For Sale.

Okay who wants our awesome bookshelf/secretary desk? It's lovely, really, I'm sighing knowing it has to leave our house. Because it matches our guest daybed beautifully. Oh well.   $250 and it's yours. The lines and distressing are perfect. The doors have beveled glass in them. There is lots and lots of storage, plus the fold-out desk surface. It is two pieces - the hutch sits on top of the desk.

Here's a photo of the inside (excuse all the junk!) That bottom shelf is perfect for holding a laptop, and there is a hole I drilled through the back where you can run the cords. The rest of the drawers are holding all of our office supplies, oy vey, where am I going to put all that stuff...

There is one problem with it - the left bracket holding the desktop has pulled out of the wood (probably because some child, who will remain nameless, leaned too hard, or possibly stood, on said desk surface) But, I think it is very easily fixed.

 It's almost an exact copy of this "Graham" desk and hutch, from Pottery Barn:

And just think, MY desk is a mere $1500 cheaper! Bargain!

Get Lucky.

Lucky LETTERS, that is.

I stole borrowed this idea from http://youcraftmeup.blogspot.com/. I liked the idea of "Lucky" instead of "Luck" though, so really it's ALL NEW and ALL MY IDEA, as far as you know. I used a 2x8 that I had lying around for this project, which I would not recommend, unless you have a fancier saw than I do. It was tough to cut wood that thick. And my letters are all screwy from back to front because of it (no, actually I MEANT them to be that way, nevermind) However, I love the way they turned out, and love how chunky they are, so maybe the 2x8 was worth it after all. Thinner MDF would have gone much faster though.
Of course I had the mod podge, paint, gems, ribbon and scrapbook paper laying around too, so this project didn't cost me a cent. (J keeps on stealing the gems off of the letters though - he insists that he needs the big blue ones to decorate his Lightning McQueen car) - as soon as I make it out to a store I want to look for some glittery shamrocks and maybe some gold coins to add to it too. If you'd like to make some LUCKY letters of your own, leave me a comment and I'll email you the letter files I used for templates, so you don't have to re-invent the wheel like I already did.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Idol - top 12 boys.

I can't even agree with that title - no way José do I believe that these twelve guys are the best that auditioned in the country. But, it is what it is, and at least there's a few worthy in this group. (More so than in the girls' group, methinks!) Here's my take on tonight. Underwhelmed, at best. Somebody also needs to buy Steven Tyler a thesaurus, because the only adjective he could come up with was "beautiful".

Clint Jun Gamboa - he actually did pretty well, though I couldn't understand most of the words in his version of "Superstitious"... great voice though. He might win me over yet.
Jovany - TIME TO GO HOME. Snoozefest. I didn't know that song "I'll Be" could be sung with that little style. Gag. Is he trying to get through on his looks? Because he honestly kind of creeps me out.
Jordan Dorsey - seriously, dude? Usher? I love Usher. I'm shaking my head in disgust just thinking about it. Not a chance in heck that he EVER would have pulled that off. Worst song choice ever. That was painful to watch from the moment he yanked off his jacket. You know how they say there's some artists that "you just don't do" - - well Jordan, you personally should never, never try to do Usher. Ever.
Tim Halperin - oh, he's fun to watch sing, isn't he? But tonight? Heavy sigh. Wish he would have gone with a slower song choice, to show off his tone. Afraid he might not be around to show us much more.
Brett Loewenstern - Ewww. Ewww. Ewww. The kid has more product in his hair and wears more jewelry than any guy ever should. Dumb, dumb song choice with "Light my Fire". Hate his girly, bizarre vibe oh, so much. Is it just me, or does he seem like the type that could turn and pull a Columbine on his high school classmates? I'm just sayin'.
James Durbin - entertaining, though I don't know that such a heavy metal song would be my choice for the very first one in front of an audience. I still love, love his voice though.
Robbie Rosen - awww, he's just so sweet he makes me smile. I don't think he's quite an Archuleta, but he's close. I feel like he certainly has the talent, and I hope he sticks around.
Scotty "Randy Travis" McCreery - I'm SO not a fan of country music. At. All. But, I think he did very well tonight. Picked a great song to show off his voice. Overall he's just a little dull for me though.
Stefano - well well well we have a competitor! NICE job on "Just the way you are" - but maybe I just love that song. His clean tone and smile are just delicious, though MAN is he short. Even Seacrest towers over him! (He's not the only shorty - Clint "Jun Bug" is too)
Paul McDonald - couldn't have picked a better artist to cover than Rod Stewart. Great, great song for his voice, though I prefer when he's got his guitar. His teeth are obnoxiously white. We're talking Ross from Friends white. Am I right?
Jacob Lusk - UGH, do I even have to comment? His voice and tone just turn me off SO MUCH, and I'm baffled every time the judges fawn over him. And by the way, somebody needs to take him shoe shopping, because he is always wearing bright white tennis shoes with every outfit, and it looks ridiculous. For a gay guy, you think he'd have a little better fashion sense.
Casey Abrams - his song choice of "I put a spell on you" was interesting, if not amazing. Seemed like he screamed it the whole time. And I think his look would be vastly improved if he wore a hat, especially with that kind of song. Something like Matt Giraud would have worn?

Are we really going to send seven of these guys home on Thursday? I don't like that it has to be even numbers of guys and girls, because I think there are many more guys this year than girls who deserve top ten...