Anything Goes #54

Shabby Creations Give Away!!! 

Happy Tuesday!  Like I promised, even from New Hampshire I'd have the party up and running!

I promise next week to have everything back to normal.  I owe you a look at the house we put an offer on, and I may actually have somehting painted to share with you too!  Imagine that!  lol

We are having a great time with family, two days isn't long enough.  The hubby and his brother are headed to the UPS Store to mail my precious.  Yep even on vacation I can SHOP.   I'm a little worried about the piece making it home.  His last words were, "if it cost to much to ship, I'll tell you it shipped but it'll be in a dumpster some where."  Hmmm maybe I should have gone with them?

Isn't she gorgeous?  I've always wanted a tray table.  I love them, and she's wood and not metal.  Even better in my opinion.  However, I would have just as happy if she was metal.

Great legs too, can't wait to paint them.

Enjoy the party, I can't wait to see what you've all been up too. 

Like always, no rules to the party or limits, just have fun!

Shabby Creations Give Away!!!!

Hello Friends!  Hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday, the family and I are in New Hampshire enjoying our family and some great seafood.  We even did a little shopping!  I can't wait to share my purchase with you, yep, even in NH I can find something I have to ship home! 

I know you guys have noticed that Type A just got a face lift, I should be so lucky.  lol  The wonderful Michelle from Shabby Creations is to blame for the BEAUTIFUL new look.  I <3 Michelle, she is so talented, and really listens to her clients, wonderful to work with.

She's generous too, so generous she is offering one Type A reader a blog makeover of their very own.

The winner will receive 1 Premade Blog Design, 1 Custom Signature and 1 Blog Button! 

Here are a few examples of her talent.

Now on to the important stuff, how to win!

1.  Follow Type A, leave a comment.

2.  Like Type A on FB, leave a comment.

3.  Like Shabby Creations on FB, leave a comment.

4.  Post the give away in your FB status, leave a comment with the link.

You have until Feb 7th to spread the word and enter!  The WINNER will be announced Feb 8th.

Good Luck!!!!

Anything Goes #53

Happy Tuesday friends, hope all is good and you are ready to PARTY!!! 

I've been crazy busy with the hubby, and I would love to report that we have finished the list...but alas we have not.  However, we have gotten a couple things done and hubby promises to start painting Wednesday.  Fingers crossed he'll be done Thursday.  Friday - Monday we'll be in New Hampshire.

We have been house hunting, turns out my dream house sold.  Totally my fault, should have put an offer in.  Oh well, maybe that means something better is waiting for us?  Keeping my hopes up.  Do any of you have experience with renting your homes or doing a lease to buy?  We are trying to decide what is the best for us.  So many options. 

We may not have accomplished much in the way of the list, but we've had no problem spending money!  LOL  I think the hubby was going through withdrawal, not being able to spend money in Afghanistan.  He's been spoiling us, and we LOVE it! 

Seriously, it's been like Christmas around here.  First stop was the furniture store, where we bought these lovely chairs.  It's been 5 years since I've bought new furniture, and not just 'new' to me furniture.

Then we decided a new mattress was in order, and of course it had to have it's own jewelry.  I totally adore this bed, and see, Georgia has found a new home.  She will be missed, but she just wasn't working here anymore.

Honestly, I don't know what I did to deserve all of these presents, I wish I knew so I could keep doing it!  I feel like a big kid with my new laptop, best part, I'm downstairs with the family and not stuck in my office away from the fun.

We are having a blast with hubby, and still have two weeks left with him.  I even took some of his list away from him and am going to pay the handy man to do them.  Friday I will have pics of the newly painted rooms!

PARTY ON!!!

Meet Designed by Chance, Week 38

Hi!  I'm Chance from Designed by Chance.  I write a little blog about crafts, home decor, gardening, and my life.  Type A is one of my favorite blogs, and I make sure never to miss a post.  I'm so excited to be a guest on Tammy's blog.  If I lived anywhere near (but I don't) her I would give her a big hug right now.

Today I want to show you a little project I put together to keep all my wrapping supplies "under wraps" (sorry I could not resist the pun).

I don't have a lot of space in my little cottage, so I decided to keep my "wrapping station" under the guest bed.

I used a large roll-away bin to store all my wrapping supplies.  Be sure to get the longest one you can find, otherwise it won't hold the long wrapping rolls.

Next, I collected all the wrapping paper from all over the house.  For some reason I leave wrapping paper all over, and I can never find the tape or scissors when I need them either.  It is good to have everything in one place now.  

I really like the solid paper because it can be used for multiple occasions.  As you can see I have a few Christmas papers too, this year I used brown paper and twine (you can see that here).  This paper is from other years.

This paper is really great because it has both solid red and polka-dots on the same paper.  I love the different sides, and the polka-dots make me so happy.

I save tissue paper.  Here is my collection of papers, there are all different colors and styles.  I use the tissue paper with these boxes, which I save from year to year as well (I seem to be quite low on boxes this year).

Don't forget the scissors and tape.

Put it all together, and you have an easy simple system for all your wrapping needs.

Cover, 

                                .....slide under the bed, 

                            

                                                        and you are done!  

                                 (Bye bye wrapping station.)

I would love to have some fancy wrapping station with tons of space that takes up half my house, but that is just not a reality.  In truth, I prefer to have guests and friends, not a wrapping station I will never use.  This little set-up is just perfect for all my wrapping needs.  I don't have any kids yet, but I have a feeling this will be really handy when all those birthday parties start up (one day).

 

If I Move to Vancouver....

I'm not leaving Colorado anytime soon, promise, but if we move to Vancouver I've found the painters for my house.....lol  I know I Google the strangest things.  These Vancouver painters do amazing work, but I'm going off the photos of the afters.

I love the wall paper in this room, and the paint color they used to coordinate with it...Maybe I should talk the hubby into moving to Vancouver...

Now I'm off to paint my own rooms...I'll be sharing the paint colors with you any day.  Trying to set a fire under the Hubby to get him motivated.   Yep, not really working for me.

Happy Painting!

Puzzle Frames Found

Lauren got this puzzle for Christmas, and she's been begging me to frame it....really?  I mean,I can't just buy a pre made frame for it, it's dimensions are a little weird.  Kids never make it easy for you.

 Well crisis averted, I found this great site for Puzzle Frames.  You can actually select the exact size you need, and at a pretty affordable price. 

I got to pick the exact dimensions, to a fraction.  Then you select the frame style, color, plexiglass and backing.  The have five styles and quite a few color options, some styles come in more colors.

I hope she loves the finished product, fingers crossed.  lol

Design Help

So I dragged the Hubby to Joann's today, and aside from one male employee, he was the only man in there.  I guarantee it was funny!  I joked that he totally lost his 'man card'...did I mention I think I'm freaking hilarious...Hubby not so much.

Ok ok, here's where the help comes in, I bought fabric for some chair seats, and I have no idea what color to paint the chairs.  What ever color I paint the chairs I'm also paint the base of my table, I'd like them to match each other, but not the china hutch.

Fabric Sample, it's a shade lighter than the green I have on my old chairs.  We are getting rid of the old chairs, I found some I like so much better on craigslist for CHEAP!  The fabric was half off and cost almost as much as the chairs and table I bought.  The table isn't special.  It will probably be sold.

This picture is old, but it pretty much looks like this still, only MUCH messier cause the Hubby is home and has bought a lot of crap and littered my table with it...no biggy...well little biggy.  I'm not gonna lie, I'm Type A after all.  lol  I can live with the mess to have him home for a few weeks.

So what ASCP would you use? 

Pink Armoire update, finally got Hubby to take the Bakelite handle off, so I could get the last of the paint off, and the handle broke...sigh.  I guess I'm buying a new handle.  I also think I'm going to use more of a know style and just fill the other whole.  Something sparkly.

The old white/emperor's silk mix turned out great, love this shade of pink!

Have a great week! 

Chores for Kids: Good or Bad?

Guest Post:James Lander of couponing site, Couponing, has provided this article. Couponing is a website that concentrates on sharing the most authoritative couponing information with consumers.

For many children, doing chores is a normal part of their daily or weekly schedule, and are the way they expect to earn allowance money or permission to do extra activities. For other kids, chores are as unfamiliar as going to a full-time office job. In recent years, the divide between parents who require chores and those who don't has become more stark, and parents on each side of the argument – for chores or against – have strong, impassioned reasons for their belief that their way is the appropriate one.

Parents who believe in chores are firm in their reasoning, primarily because they see chores as a normal part of childhood development and growing up. The argument of these parents is that chores help children learn basic, necessary skills involved with everything from responsibility to money-management and time-management. Chores, when age-appropriate, can give children a sense that they are expected to be contributing members of their household, just like their parents. The idea behind this school of thought is that children who feel an early sense responsibility to help out their group will carry this value through the rest of their lives in school, work, and their own families.

Parents who are pro-chores also hope this practice will imbue their children over time with a sense of money- and time-management. By making a weekly allowance conditional on the completion of chores, parents hope to their children a sense of the value of money and an understanding that it doesn't often come for free. Setting a daily or weekly schedule for chores is also intended to cement the idea of accountability for children; if chores are not completed in the allotted time – just as in life – payment will not be given.

Most parents who are in favor of giving kids chores tend to ease them into it, with simple tasks at a young age and assigning more complex ones later on. Helping to fold laundry is a good example of a simple chore given to a younger child to get them started; older children often do more outwardly helpful jobs like walking the dog, taking out the trash, and cleaning communal spaces in the home.

For all of the parents who see the benefits of chores, however, there are many parents who argue that children should absolutely not be given chores. The main arguments behind this belief are similarly economic and responsibility-based. Most parents who are anti-chores believe that the chore systems implemented in most households are over-simplified and actually lead to bad relationships with money and responsibility.

One of the primary arguments of anti-chores parents has to do with the idea of offering an allowance in exchange for housework. The problem, they say, is that children should not be taught to expect money for completing normal household tasks; teaching children that they will be rewarded with money every time they do the laundry or mop the floor sets them up to expect some kind of treat for any work they do for the rest of their lives. This system does not prepare them for the fact that most of work that adults do, in and out of the house, goes unrewarded and unpaid.

On the other end of this argument is the idea that children will learn that the purpose of work is to be rewarded rather than to be a positive member of a team. These parents worry that rewarding children for certain tasks teaches them that other good behavior has less value and that money is the reason why they should help out.

There are also parents who are anti-chores simply because they believe children should be allowed to be children. Though this is a less-common philosophy, there are parents that think chores burden children with work and adult responsibilities too early, and that children benefit more from the opportunity to enjoy their lives free from basic duties as long as possible.

Whichever side of the chores argument you fall on, you will find many supporters. In the end, every family must find the system that they are most comfortable with and that they feel will benefit their children the most in the long run. Finding what works for your family is the ultimate way to determine the right answer in this debate.

Anything Goes #52

Hey all!  I hope you are enjoying your Tuesday and have lots to share today!  I can't wait to see what every one has been up too.  Me?  I'm to my eyeballs with Hubby and the kiddos! 

Really, so nice to have hubby home.  Remember last week when I shared my honey do list with you?  Well, we are starting on it tomorrow.  Yep, he's rested enough and both kids will be at school tomorrow, so we have to take advantage of the time. 

We went shopping this weekend and Beefcake bought us a new Bed and Mattress!  I'm so excited.  I can't wait to show you, but it won't be delivered until Wednesday.  I had to sell Gladys too, oh well we all make sacrifices.  lol  Gladys is making hers by going to a new home.

Gladys.  She will be missed. 

My new BED!  I'm in so much love!  It has nail head detail!  Sigh.

New Mattress, all in size King.  It's one of the 'foam' beds, like Tempur-Pedic, but about 1/4th of the price. 

I have other news.  I'm not going to be doing my Hunter Gatherer Party any more, sorry guys.  You can still share all your finds at this party.  I haven't decided how I'm going to be doing Highlights from this party either.  I promise to get it all together, right now I'm just enjoying the hubby.

I'm having the blog totally redesigned for a custom look too, so there are gonna be some big changes soon, and another give away.  Just be on the look out. 

Party on! 

Meet Dear Helen Harman, Week 37

Dear Helen Hartman,

I’ve been asked by the gracious and talented Tammy at Type A to do a guest blog and I do not want to make a faux pas. Love to get some tips on being a good guest.

Dear Loved One,

You’re asking Helen to help you NOT make a faux pas? B-b-but Helen loves it when others make faux pas-es. And you know why?

Mona didn't laugh AT others, she laughed WITH them... ABOUT others. And she looked FAB doing it.

It gives Helen a chance to help her readers avoid similar missteps by giving advice at DearHelenHartman.com . In fact this week she'll be discussing navigating the tricky waters of being out of control in a strange environment, something she knows a lot about. 

What is the message of this advertisement? When you have great lipstick and a kicky hat you can dance your way off a dock and no one will care? I mean, if you look good, who needs air?  

Happily for you (and Helen) Tammy is a charming and clever hostess, who takes her guest’s feelings into account

Gladys felt like knocking back a few hot toddies and showing people how to do a flip off the ski ramp sans skis! Being a good hostess, you-know-who held the camera and later posted the whole fiasco on YouTube.

Tammy will be absolutely lovely no matter how badly you behave.

June didn't think of it as snooping. She thought of it as getting to know people in new and sneaky interesting ways.

 So being a guest at Type A is a pleasant experience for everyone.

Except maybe other guests who have to put up with your nonsense. 

Hazel didn't care if they did have to call in a team of nuns to wrestle her to the ground and cart her off for an emergency behavior adjustment. Whooping it up Helen-style at Type A had definitely been worth it!

Thank you, Tammy! And look on the bright side – if you get yourself in a pickle when visiting others, you can always write to Helen and she’ll be happy -- to tell you what you are doing wrong.

Visit DearHelenHartman.com or Like Helen on Facebook

With a tip of her pillbox hat to luminaries like Erma Bombeck, Heloise and Dear Abby, Helen Hartman tackles modern problems with time-tested solutions taken from vintage magazines, advertising, collectibles, cultural icons and personal experiences. If laughter is the best medicine Helen Hartman seeks to cure your ills, but don’t expect a spoonful of sugar unless sugar is what Helen is skewering, um, serving.

Kids Clothes Swap, Anybody with Me?

I was cleaning out my son's closet the other day, and it came to my attention that he needs new pants.  He's growing so fast, I can't keep up.  Those of you have kids, know what I'm talking about.  It seems like you buy them an outfit and two weeks later, they've out grown it.  It's never ending and expensive.

What I thought would be fun is if we swapped our kids clothes with each other.  We all have kids of different ages, and I bet we could help each other out.  If you are interested please leave me a comment with the sizes of clothes you have to offer and the size you need, and the sexes of your kids. 

I have a lot of dresses up for grabs right now, and they need a good home regardless if I get clothes in exchange.

TJ Max, size 5, Never worn.

Kohl's, size 6, runs a little smaller.

Kohl's size 5

Old Navy, size 5

Gymboree, size 5

Not sure, pretty sure size 5

I would love these to go to two families.  There are six, so each family could have 3 each.  Please email or leave a comment if you would like them.  I don't have any boy clothes at this time, but will probably closer to Fall.

My son is 7, he needs size 7 and 8 pants.  He likes sweat style, or athletic with an elastic waist.  No buttons, not a fan of buttons.  Size 2 shoe.

My daughter is almost 5, and wears a size 6 for pretty much everything. Size 12 shoe.

Living Room Changes

It's been a lot of fun shopping the house and making changes.  I've actually taken quite a few things down from the walls, and stuff I had out before Christmas, I kept put away.  Trust me my house is still "full" of stuff, it's just less full.  I think it's a vain attempt at making the place feel bigger.  Not sure if it's working.  We'll see what hubby says on SATURDAY when he gets home!

Sometimes I am tempted to look into an interior design degree online to get even more ideas.

This is the Living Room before Christmas...

Diamond Candles Review and Give Away!!!

Don't miss out on the great give away Diamond Candles is having. I have a link on my side bar for you to enter, sorry it got cut off a little.  

They sent me a candle to review, and I'm really impressed with them.  They smell great, mine is White Chocolate, and burn well too.  Which is important to me, I don't like it when candles get all smokey.  It must have something to do with them being soy, I've never actually burned a soy candle before.   The candles are pretty large too, and glass jar with lid is great.  I can't wait to burn it all the way down so I can repurpose the container.

The really fun part, each candle has a ring in it, yep a ring!  I haven't burned mine down enough to actually get it out yet, but I can' wait to see my ring!The ring value is anywhere from $10 - $5000!  Ahmazing! 

So what are you waiting for, go enter for your free Diamond Candle!  Good luck!