My New Posting Position

Hello Everyone!

Hope you all are having a great weekend.  I mentioned that my next post just might be from my new laptop computer.  Well....  Here I am.

Notice the cool drink and chocolate at my side.  Not quite the bon bons that I mentioned here but they still do the trick.  I am still trying to get this laptop figured out.  It has Windows 7 on it and I'm used to Windows XP.  The keyboard is a little different as well.  I think I need to do pinky exercises as the "a" and "shift" keys don't always type when I want them to.  I think I'm just not pressing down hard enough.  I actually staged this picture.  I really didn't eat all those chocolate kisses.  I did drink the Coke though.  I don't always sit in this chair either.  Most of the time, so far, I have been sitting at the kitchen table.  But that is the joy of a laptop, right?  You can go where you want to go with the thing.  What isn't a joy is the fact that you don't just go buy a laptop like I thought you did.  No, you also have to buy a router (at least in my case) and you have to buy Microsoft Office and you have to buy a bag and you have to buy this and that.  I had budgeted a certain amount and discovered that it was going to cost me more.  I was a little discouraged since I already felt like I was putting down a big chunk of change.  Fortunately, I was able to get an excellent deal on the Office program through Amazon.  Also, I have been able to sell a few things lately to make up for all the spending.  I have more to sell and we are having a pretty big garage sale next weekend.  All in all, I think I will be ok and won't go into any serious debt.  I was also able to pay off my SIL for the camera that I bought from her with one of my resale items.  My goal this year was to be able to get this computer and a new camera.  It is only May and I have been able to get both.  I feel very fortunate and thankful to my hubby.  I wouldn't have been able to get the computer this soon if he hadn't sold his motorcycle and shared some of the money with me.  Thanks Honey!  

As far as projects go, I started out my Sat. doing some much needed housework.  I was going along at a pretty good click when my back started acting up again.  So, the garden still needs to be planted, wallpaper still needs to be stripped, chair still needs to be painted, sewing projects still need to be done, etc. , etc.  But isn't this how it always is?  Project lists that never get done.  If one project gets completed, something else will take its place.  But isn't that also what most of us bloggers are all about...PROJECTS?  I'm sure I'll get to some of this soon (if the old back permits) as we only have about a week of school left.  HURRAY!!  Also, my hubby told me he would help me get the garden planted as kind of a Mother's Day present.  He told me to go buy the plants I needed and he'd help me get them in the ground.  I already have most of my seeds from my BIL but some of what I wanted I'm doing from plants that I'll get at Lowe's.

I do need to go do a little altering on a skirt for my daughter.  She has a piano recital tomorrow and I have been putting this off until the last minute.  So I better sign off for tonight and go crawl up the stairs to the sewing room.  So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

Enjoy your Sunday!  "This is the day that the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

New computer in sight!

Hello Everyone!

Hope everyone had a great weekend.  I'm just doing a quick check in.  I started the wallpaper stripping project as before mentioned but didn't get very far.  I somehow tweaked my back and ended up having a slow weekend.  Also, it rained cats and dogs and kittens and puppies here so there was no painting outside for me.  So that means more projects on hold.  On a good note though, we sold our motorcycle yesterday!  Hurry for Craigslist!!  Psst. Don't tell my 81 year old mother about it though.  She didn't even know we had one.  She calls them murdercycles.  My hubby told me he would give me the rest of the money I needed to buy my laptop when he sold his bike.  I was pretty excited when the cash was in hand.  I already had scoped out the one I wanted and was just saving up to get it.  Tomorrow is my town day so Best Buy will definitely be on the list of places to go.  Maybe the next time I post I can tell you I'm doing it while reclining on the couch or propped up against my pillows in bed.  Maybe even with bon bons and a nice cool drink at my side instead of up here in this messy ex-school room that is in the process of getting cleaned and revamped.  Just kidding!  So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

PS.  I opened my Etsy shop last night but don't have anything listed yet.  I'll keep you informed as to when you can Shop, Shop, Shop!

I'm a great paperhanger...

Hello Everyone!

Hope you are having  splendid weekend so far.  So, are you thinking my title sounds a little proud.  Well, I did use to be a professional paperhanger back in the day.  However, what I'm discovering is I put the wallpaper up in my kids school room so good that now I'm struggling to get it off.  (Sigh)  These are some pictures of the room in question.

There's a red bench and bookcase along this short banister wall that are going.

Hopefully, we'll be able to get baseboards and trim hung this time around.

In desperate need of curtains.  The sun shines on my computer screen and I reach for the closest thing; in this case a skirt.  Pretty, I know.  :(

Disgusting isn't it?  This room has become a catch all.  Please tell me you all have spaces like that!  Anyway, I have been wanting to redo this room for quite some time now.  I was forced to clean up the cobwebs and such behind my desk. My monitor went out last night and someone had gotten a disk stuck in my computer.  So, on my backside I went crawling under my desk to unplug everything and transfer the monitor off of my son's computer to mine.  While in this process, I finally got fed up and said, "This room is disgusting!  We are going to start right now cleaning and redoing."  Hence, the start of my wallpaper stripping expedition.  My hubby had already started on a bookcase to go all along the banister wall so I can get rid of the red bench and other smaller bookcase.  I will update when I can.  I'm tossing two ideas around as far as what style or theme to go with in decorating.  I've thought about either a light nautical feel (neutrals and light blues) or a vintage game idea.  My son's desk is going.  We no longer do school up here so I really want to make it into a sitting room or game room or both.  If you have a thought, opinion, idea, etc. pass it on.  Well, I better get back to removing wallpaper.  So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

Branching Out

Hello Everyone!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  I'm a little slow putting out my weekend update but I've been busy sewing and having company. (More about that later).  Anyway, here is a little of what we did this weekend.  Around our area, there are many towns that have a City Wide Garage Sale twice a year; spring and fall.  This last weekend was the start of those sales.  Friday night my hubby asked if I wanted to go.  What was I to say but "Of course!"  He was on a search for fishing gear and I was on a search for well, just about anything.  I hopped on Craigslist to see if I could spot any with the fishing gear so we could start there.  Unfortunately, there weren't very many listed for the town with the city wide.  However, I did spot a few in our own town.  We went there first and then hit the city wide .  The city wide turned out to be pretty much a dud.  We did do pretty well in our own town.  I don't have pics of everything that we bought.  I found a few things for resale, a birthday present, a couple things for the kids, and some things for me.  Oh yes, my hubby did get his fishing gear; for a great price, too!  One of the things I got was this great wood box/planter for $0.50.

 

The other thing for me needs a little background.  I am pretty boring, conservative, etc. when it comes to shoes and purses.  I love color but in my shoes and purses, I tend to go for black or brown.  Those two colors just go with about anything.  Now I might step out in some white sandals or even some hot pink flip flops come summer time but usually I'm a Plain Jane. (Pun intended) I decided I wanted to branch out a little.  I needed some spring flair.  So, I bought this for $1.00. (It's even leather.)

I added the scarf and flower to give it a more "springish" look.  I was real excited about my new purse.  The hubby wasn't too impressed with the green.  He knows I love green and he endures it.  He did tell me that it was not something he would have picked out for me if he had been shopping for a purse.  He would have picked out a nice soft BROWN leather purse.  I guess he knows me well.  For now, I'm going to enjoy sporting my new "flashy" purse around town!

We did do some work around the house this weekend as well.  We have been wanting some outdoor furniture but wanted to build it ourselves.  Well, my hubby and son got the first chair made.  I'll show you a picture but remember, I haven't had a chance to do my paint magic to it yet.  

We are hoping to make at least one more chair and a table to match.  Then he wants to build a picnic table.  I of course want a few other things but that will all be over time, a long time.  

I recovered a chair for my daughter but I'm not going to show you yet because I'm waiting for the crazy wind to die down so I can paint the wood part.  The cushion turned out really cute.  Hopefully, I will be able to work on it and my outdoor chair this weekend.  So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

Laundry Changes Update

Hello Everyone!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.  I just thought I'd do a quick update on the laundry changes that we made this week.  If you are new and would like to see what those changes were, go here.  Just to let you know how I'm doing...Remember my ironing pile?

Plus this hang up rack?

Well, this is what they look like now.

Clear table, no pile!

Yes, I know, there are still clothes on this rack.  However, these are either things I'm thinking of putting in a garage sale, items that need to be altered, or a couple of winter shirts and sweaters that I just didn't feel like ironing right now. :)  So, that is what I've been working on so far.  Now that the ironing mountain has been flattened, I am going to add to my laundry plan.  One load of laundry every morning and ironing what comes out of it every afternoon.  Most of the time, there are only a few pieces that I iron in each load so this should be manageable as long as I am consistent and keep it up.  I actually had one day this week that I didn't do any laundry as there wasn't enough to make a load.  It gave me a little break that I didn't feel like I really needed; but still enjoyed.  I have squeezed in a few other projects and activities this weekend as well but I'll save that for another post.  :)  So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

P. S. Since tomorrow is Sunday and a day when many worship, I just thought I'd add this...

And He loves YOU too!!

Blue Tongues

Hello Everyone!

Just a quick thought today.  Why is it that when kids are given their choice in sucker, slush, Popsicle, snow cone, etc. they always choose the flavor that will turn their mouths the most disgusting color?

Actually, it is kind of a pretty color of blue. I just don't care to see it on teeth, tongues and lips!  Oh the joys of being a kid in the summertime. (I know, I'm fudging the timing here but we're pretty close to summer.) 
So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

Laundry Changes

Hello Everyone!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  I hinted at having plans for the weekend, with a possibility of the hubby changing them, in my last post. Well, I did a little of what I wanted and a little of what he needed help with and a little of other things.  I had plans to get caught up on ironing (hate that job!), recover a cushion on a chair for my daughter's room, and do some sewing.  Well, I did do some ironing.  The other stuff just didn't happen.  Instead, I spent some time on the computer listing some items on ebay for my sister.  My hubby's plans were to cut down some trees.  He thought he'd need a lot of help dragging brush and such.  Well, he never quite got far enough to need that much help.  We have been trying to cut down some of our big walnut trees so we can sell the logs.  It was a bigger job than he anticipated and had to spend some time in town looking for a pulley, come-a-long, something or another to hoist the trees up into the back of his truck.  So, the brush never got around to being cut into manageable size for dragging.  So you're asking what does that have to do with laundry changes (my title for this post).  Well, let me tell you.  Part of the "other" things that I did this past weekend was get totally caught up on laundry.  I mean totally!  There was not one dirty towel, clothing item or anything left in any of our laundry baskets.  It felt wonderful.  So I asked myself how I could keep it this way.  I decided that I would gather laundry from all the bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen every morning and do one load.  I have one of those large capacity front loading machines so this is very feasible.  So now it's Wednesday.  How have I been doing?  Great!  It has worked out perfect.  I don't feel overwhelmed by the mounds of laundry that tends to grow at an alarming rate.  Now some of you are probably scratching your head wondering what took me so long to figure this out.  All I can say is, "I don't know."  Laundry and ironing have always been my least favorite chores (next to cleaning bathrooms that is).  I just had a tendency to put it off until I couldn't stand it or until we ran out of clothes.  (Well, that might be an exaggeration but you know what I mean.)  Anyway, I think I finally have the laundry situation figured out. 

Now if I can just get this pile and...

this pile to go down, I will have it all whipped!

In case you haven't figured it out yet, this is my ironing pile.  I know.  You are probably wondering if we have any clothes in our closet.  The answer is, yes, we do.  Which makes me wonder if we have too many clothes.  Hmmm.  If this is true, why do I look in my closet sometimes and lament that I have nothing to wear?  I think this is just called being a female.  Do I hear an AMEN!  I think I must.  Anyway, that is what's been happening around here the last few days.  My plan for the rest of the week is to tackle the ironing pile and still get that sewing and chair done.  I'll let you know how I do!  :)  So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

Mason Jar Vase

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone is ready for a great weekend.  Can't say what my plans are yet.  I had plans but I think my hubby might be changing them.  We'll see.  Anyway, I was wanting to show you again a quick project using a Mason Jar.  I will be linking this up to Funky Junk Interiors: SNS #76. 

Back in February we were putting on a baby shower for a friend.  She is definitely into vintage.  I was doing the flowers and needed a vase to fit our theme.  What a better "vintagey" (is this a word?) item than a Mason Jar.  I decided I didn't want just any Mason Jar.  So I got out my Cricut and added a bit to it.  See for yourself and let me know what you think.

It turned out really cute with the added raffia and fit along with the vintage theme.  So next time your stumped for the "perfect" vase, just go hit your pantry for one of those canning jars.  If you don't have a Cricut, you could try chalk markers or maybe even permanent markers.  They would still give you this look.  So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

Shopping and JBF

Hello Everyone!

It's been a while since I posted so this may be lengthy.  I'll try not to bore you. ;)  This past weekend was very full for me.  We had two nephews and a niece stay with us from Thurs. to Sunday.  On Friday, my hubby took the day off work and took the boys fishing.

I took our daughter and my niece on a out-of-state thrift store shopping excursion.

We all headed out early on Friday morning.  As I mentioned here, my daughter was needing some new clothes.  Since I don't have the money to just head to the nearest mall and buy all new stuff, we decided to go "thrifting".  Sometimes, I think this is more fun because you never know what you will find.  Of course, there are times when you don't find anything and you wish you had the money to just head to the nearest Macy's or Dillard's or wherever your heart desires.  This time though, I did find quite a bit and didn't break the bank doing it.  I also found a couple of odds and ends to just have or to resell.  I think we counted 26 items that I purchased and I don't remember the grand total.  It was around $60 something.  I averaged less than $3.00 an item.  I got a lot and didn't feel guilty doing it!

This isn't the best picture and it is really hard to see everything.  I ended up with:
12 tops for daughter
2 pairs of shoes for daughter
camera bag
popcorn popper
dress and shoes for a little niece
2 books for kids
corkboard squares (new package at thrift store price)
wire basket
decorative metal key
picture frame
sweater vest for me

Somehow I am missing an item because I know we counted 26.  Anyway, I was pleased with my selections.

On Sat. we spent the day getting ready for a JBF sale.  In case you all don't know, it is a children's consignment sale.  I participate twice a year.  I made several things this time.  Here is a little of what I made.

My pics are not the best as far as discerning what all is there.  I made hair bows, fabric flower hair clips, burp rags, pictures, and personalized bags.  So far I've sold the two bags, one burp rag and about 4 bags of the flower hair clips.  I was hoping to do more but I have until Sat. to sell so hopefully by then they will all be gone!

This is one of the pictures or signs that I made.  Also the three that I showed you here.  If they don't sell at JBF, they will be up for sale either through this blog or at the Etsy store that I hope to open this summer.

So that is some of what kept me busy this past weekend.  My daughter also had a piano recital on Sunday.  Drop off for JBF was on Monday and was an hour drive from home.  Tuesday I kind of took it slow. :)  I discovered this weekend what it was like to have a family of seven and what it was like to have teenagers.  Boy I'm tired just thinking about it all again.  So I say that to say, "Hats off to you mothers of large families!"
So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane