DIY: Easy Lamp Makeover

There are so many scary ugly lamps out there. If you find yourself in possession of one of these fugly buddies, don't despair! With a few supplies and a little bit of time, you can spruce her up!

My mother gave me this lamp. I don't know where she got it, but her style is very eclectic and I didn't really know where to put it. I liked the detail on the base but wasn't too sure about those jangly beads on the shade. Instead of dropping some cash on a new purchase for our entryway, I decided that this lamp (which was just chillin' in our dusty storage room) was a good candidate for a makeover.

First, I bagged and taped the cord and taped off the shade-holder-thingy (we're getting super technical up in here) on top. You don't want those areas to get paint on them...or you can...it's your lamp! You do you.

Then I set up my broken down cardboard box in our yard and got to spraying. I decided that a silver color would brighten this lamp up so I used my trusty Rust-Oleum Specialty Metallic Silver Spray Paint. Using a smooth, side to side motion, I applied two thin coats of spray paint in short burts to avoid dripping. Read the directions on your paint for specific wait times between coats. Each brand is different!

Finally (after drying, of course), I topped it off with a simple white shade from Wal-Mart for $7.99 and she was ready to go!

It is a really simple project that makes a big impact! I have another lamp that I scored for $3 at Goodwill that is just waiting for some TLC. I'm sure it will be just as pretty as this one at a fraction of the cost of new!

Have you ever given a lamp a makeover? Please share!

Controlling the Dinner Chaos: Meal Planning

Things have been pretty crazy lately. In the wake of health issues and a pretty strict elimination diet for this nursing Mama, big and small projects have been put on the back burner.

With this crazy elimination diet, it feels like my whole day now revolves around finding or making food that I can actually eat! I am always hungry and I wish I could just stuff my face with any old favorite snack (like cookies. Mmm! One day, cookies. One day, I will return to you.) Basically, if I don't cook...I don't eat. Processed and packaged foods usually have one of the 6 forbidden foods that I have to stay away from for the sake of the baby boy's tummy.

I've found that an actual meal plan is essential to avoid the stressful 5:00 "What's For Dinner?" scramble. This planning concept still feels really foreign to me (since I used to just fly by the seat of my pants) and I'm trying to improve on this skill since I know it makes life so much easier!

My normal process goes as follows:

1 - Realize that I've used up most of our groceries and don't have any ideas for dinner that night. Lots of staring into the fridge and pantry in confusion.

2 - Take 2 days to write a comprehensive list of essential items while family scrounges hungrily at meal times. Write corresponding dinner ideas on the back of the shopping list.

3 - Finally get to the store and feel extreme relief at having a week of meals planned out. 

4 - Forget what I'm supposed to be making for dinner, and frantically search for that shopping list with the dinner ideas.

5 - Family eventually gets fed. Miracle!

Talk about room for improvement. So this week I printed out this handy dandy free Meal Plan printable from Grace and Good Eats.

I think I'll try using a page protector and hang this up in the kitchen. That way I can use a dry erase marker to adjust as needed...because let's be honest, sometimes plans change.

How do you control the dinner chaos?  

Goodwill Decor Makeover: Wooden Storage Box

My discovery of the awesomeness of Goodwill began when we relocated my office and sewing room. I have a lot of crafty odds and ends that need a permanent home and the new office has two floor to ceiling built-ins that I knew would be perfect to store all of my junk treasures.

To me, an office should be comfortable while fostering creativity; throwing a bunch of junk on beautiful built-ins would not fit that bill. Pretty, grown up storage was in order, but with a super small budget, what would I be able to afford that looked decent? And maybe a touch girlie?

Enter? Goodwill.

Exit? Toting a unique, two drawer wooden storage box for just $1.99. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that my new find had masking tape holding in the drawer bottoms...or that it smelled like something died in it.

After some hard core cleaning (think a pile of Clorox wipes and half a bottle of rubbing alcohol to kill that stink), a light sanding by hand with a fine grit sanding disc, and some (many) thin coats of Rust-Oleum 2X Black satin Rust-Oleum Specialty Metallic Silver spray paint, this box now holds bobbins, pins, needles, etc.

There are no before pictures since I completed this project right before starting Keeping Up Kate, but it was scratched, had been stained a reddish brown color and, well...it smelled. Like really smelled. 

I love the result of my very first Goodwill makeover. It was super cheap, looks pretty, and hides my sewing clutter. Mission accomplished!