Not-So-Serious Business

Aren't you just excited to see Monday morning?  Yeah, neither am I.  But, I'll catch you up with what I did over the weekend.

You may notice, I have a new blog name 'i like your {{moxie}} kid'.  I'm sticking with it this time.  'Adventures in Ashleyville' seemed a little narcissistic.  Don't get me wrong, I LOOOOOVE talking about myself.  I'm a Leo (still, thank goodness!!).  With the new web name comes a new button.  You can spread the ILY{{moxie}}K love with everyone.

Other things:  Under the web header are some links.  If you're exploring around my blog and just want to return to the main page, click the Home button.  If you want to read about me and how I got here, how to get in contact with me, click the Start Here (About Me) link.  Under the Happy Things tab, I have listed websites, items, movies -anything I've found to be happy on this tab.  I will frequently update this page.  The web is full of wondrous things!  Also, there is a link with information about "Free Sponsorship Info", where all the details are listed about how to be a free sponsor on my blog during the month of February.  Even if you don't have a blog, but have an online business, contact me if you would like to be a sponsor!  This is an awesome way to get your blog/business out in the blogging community!

Saturday morning, my uncle decided to complain about the A&W video I posted on Friday.  He said it was stuck in his head for his 10 mile morning run.  A) I don't feel sorry for you.  You listened to it. =)  B) I have no sympathy at 6:30 AM.  Since I had a ton of free time before Dylan woke up, I told him I was going to loop that song just to push him over the edge.  Ha.  I didn't do it, but I after some coffee, the nicer me came out and I got to watch the sun come up.

I was confused as to why my couch was pink, when it is normally beige.  Sunrise was my answer.  Can you tell I don't get along with mornings?

View from my studio-it was lovely. 

Then, the sun didn't really come out and I was determined to spray paint the fabulous finds I got at Goodwill.

The weather decided it wasn't spray painting season.  It looks disastrous right now, but wait until you see it all done!

Later, I was pooped and Dylan was passed out on the couch.  I went down to the basement to watch The Other Guys.  Two minutes into the movie, my fake sleeper came down the stairs.  He found the plastic gun attachment for the Wii and decided he was "pwease man", too!

Great form Dyl! You'll make the squad in no time!

I'm on a mission to make the husband and I's bed a soft little landing spot.  I saw these lovely pillowcases online, and went out to buy supplies I needed to make my own hacked version.

{{Source}}

Well, that was months ago.  The supplies were sitting in my piles, so I thought I would do something different.  I needed to make something sassy.  So, I made this.

On the reverse side, is a D and an A, so when we aren't 'feelin' frisky' or family happens to be staying with us, we can turn them over.  You'll have to stay tuned.  Our new comforter is coming in soon.  Then, I can complete the love nest.  

What did you guys do this weekend??

Room-By-Room no. 1 {Dylan's/kid's Bathroom} - Updated

First off, I'm going to start with Dylan's bathroom.  There's bath toys and special "baby" towels and washclothes.  There's lotions, potions, grooming supplies and meds.  All the stuff that you need for you little one seems to take over.  Plus, there's a worry about your child getting into those things you don't want them to.  Here's what I did.  Click on the pictures to get full sized images.

The theme is black, red, and Calvin and Hobbes.  I always loved Calvin and Hobbes when I was growing up.  Dylan now reminds me of Calvin.  (Sighs)  It's perfect.

From the picture above, you can't really see a lot, but remember to keep it simple.  I had used a TON of stuff that I already had - everything that was red.  Saves money, and in a way it's Earth friendly because I'm not out buying all new stuff. 

I hate, hate, hate (!) having too many bath toys.  What we do have fits nicely into these Blink "catch-all" mesh baggies.  Blink was a product line that was aimed towards "soccer moms" to help easily clean up their vehicles.  Needless to say, the line wasn't hugely successful.  (I can't even find a website for them!)  The dollar stores ended up buying out tons of these totes.  Yep, the dollar store to the rescue.  These mesh bad boys come in a pack of 5 for $1.00.  YAY!  Well, what to do with the rest of the totes if you only need one for the bathroom toys? 

I bought up about 4 packs of these things and I use them for -

*produce bags (don't you all hate the plastic baggies at the store?  i can't ever get them opened and feel like an idiot.  plus, using your own is every environmentally friendly),

*outside toy catcher (perfect for sandy/dirty toys.  you can throw them in the tote and hose them off and hang to dry). 

*I also like to use them for dividing up activities.  You can make a little paper tag to tie on the top with the days of the week and child's name.  Say, on Mondays we need 'busy' activites.   I'll throw in coloring books, crayons, stickers, little books... anything to keep Dylan busy for any time span.  If you spend a little time getting the goods together at the beginning of the week, it's amazing how much time you'll free up in the long run.

*I like to have a system where I put everything I need for each stop on my errand route, in different bags.  When I get to that stop, I have everything I need without having to riffle through all my belongings. 

Back to the bathroom -

I've had this set of picture frames for quite some time.  They were a walnut stained wood, which doesn't work with the rest of my home decor.  What did I do?  Paint them black.  Saves money, and reuses what you already have. 

For the artwork inside the frames, I took the 6 Calvin and Hobbes collection books I had.  Found the images I wanted, and scanned them onto my computer.  From there, I opened Photoshop and cleaned up the images.  Print and frame.  {I'm pretty sure I didn't infringe on copyrights because I bought the books?  If that's not ok, someone let me know.}  There's also another image above the toilet (first picture).  In the first picture, to the left of the toilet, I have a black leather magazine holder.  I put all the Calvin and Hobbes books in that.  You know how boys are with their reading materials while they use the bathroom.  Ha.

Sink area - I love saving all my glass jars from candles and pickles.  On the right side of the sink, I took two small candle holders, cleaned them up and use them for cotton balls and cotton swabs.  On the left side, behind the soap I used a Colonial Candle jar for a toothbrush holder.  I love the shapes of these jars for toothbrush holders.  The medicine cabinet holds all Dylan's hair brushes, nail clippers, thermometers, meds.. the usual.  Once he gets old enough to reach that stuff, it will be put away elsewhere.  Until then, it's easy to have all these items close at hand.  The cabinet holds his towels and washclothes on the right side.  There's a baby saftey latch on the left side where his lotions and bubble bath stuff is. 

Also, let's not forget trash cans.  For now, I just have a tiny plain, white, plastic trash can.  If you have diapers in the house, you know how often you need to clean out the trash can.  I make sure I have a stash of plastic grocery bags in our linen closet, so I can go in the bathroom and swoop up those diapers every other day.  The smell?  I combat that with Renuzit Adjustables.  These are those cones that don't plug into anything and you can hide and at my store, they're only $0.94.  I love the Citrus Sunburst scent, very fresh and clean.  I hide it behind the toilet.  Dylan doesn't even know its there!  Click here for offers from Renuzit!

So, there ya go!  Hope this gives you some ideas on how to save money and still decorate fabulously.  Remember to think outside of the box and use items you have or can easily re-do!

UPDATE:

Ok, so I thought I threw away all the packaging from my Blink totes.  Luckily, I had one still in the Jeep.  I lied.  They come in a pack of four, not five.  Still a bargain at $1.00, though!  Here's what they look like.

Lazy Sunday

My parents came up to Colorado to look for camping spots.  Really random, but very happy to spend an hour with them whenever I can. 
They brought up a new toy!  It's a photo booth type thing for me to take pictures.  I can't wait to test it out. 

Stop in tomorrow morning and check out my new feature, Room-by-Room.  Basically, I'm taking pictures of each room in my house showing you tips I've used in deocrating.  You may think it expensive to re-decorate, but think again!  I know there has NEVER been a project in my house that I have spent more than $100 on.  Yay!  Let's get excited bloggies!