Travel Trailer Makeover, Part 1: Shower Curtain...

First of all, I apologize for the travel trailer sassification posting delay. See, we were busy actually USING our new trailer (Lumi) for the first time. You know, the main point of having a trailer. Not for shredding it to pieces and revamping it; for CAMPING. Err....glamping :)

OK, here goes.

It aaaaaalllll started with a shower curtain.

I'm in the middle of Fred Meyer with a list a MILE long of stuff I'm looking for to outfit our new travel trailer. Cooking hardware, organizational stuff, utensils, storage bins, etc....

The kiddos are being less than helpful.  I have them side by side in that weird car cart at Freddy's that had the kiddos high and up front "steering" the cart.

After breaking up eleventry hundred fights, reminding them eleventry hundred times to stop shrieking in the store, picking up my clipboard eleventry hundred times after they knocked it to the floor (Yes, I shop with a clipboard. Yes, I am a nerd. Hey, at least its not a fanny pack. ) I decided to go for it and let them stay in the Fred Meyer kid play area.

I'm one of those nervous types of Mama.  Kinda wary regarding these kinds of child care centers.  However, after having heard positive things about it from other Mama's that I trust, I decided to check it out.  Yup, loved the system and the safety features and went for it.  Bubbalu was pounding on the locked entrance door chanting, "let me in, let me in!"  A pretty good sign.

Was a SMART Mama and took the kiddos to the potty first.

Yup.

So, I was now blissfully child-free and finally able to tackle my list.

Fast forward 10 minutes. I'm pushing my (now empty of children) ginormous child car cart through the store, knocking items off my list.  I find this gorgeous light aqua blue modern print shower curtain...and Ka-ChoW! Light bulb moment.

I say to myself, oh yes, I am GOING to find a way to switch out the current blah trailer shower curtain to this sassy one.

I'm holding the shower curtain in my hand when I hear this crackly overhead page,

"AMANDA ------- --------, WOULD YOU PLEASE RETURN TO THE CHILD CARE CENTER"

Oh. CRAP.

At this point I'm guessing Bubbalu has jumped off a table or something and broke his arm. And please remember: It's been approximately ELEVEN minutes since I checked them in the child care center.

For real.

I get there and Lil Chick is bawling!  Turns out she has had an accident.  A HUGE accident. A poo in the pants accident.

Oh. CRAP.

Literally.

Thankfully, I had thrown the sassy shower curtain into my cart. And by golly, I am NOT leaving the store without my sassy shower curtain. And all the other random stuff in my now full cart.

Picture this:  A now flustered Mama pushing a full-of-products-yet-still-childless child car cart around to the checkout line with one hand while the other hand is holding Lil Chick's hand. (There is NO way I'm going to carry her. Poo squishing down the side of my shirt and pants?! No thanks. Been there done that.)

Another SMART Mama move: I choose the Family Friendly checkout lane.

Because only a compassionate fellow parent can even possibly begin to understand my plight when my child is SCREAMING at the top of her little yet mighty lungs:


"I HAVE POOP! IN! MY! UNDERWEAR!"

Broken record? Yes. Screamed this delightful little phrase from the time I first arrived at the child care center to pick her up, through the entire checking out process, aaaaalll the way to Lola (our Tahoe) in the back of the lot, and about halfway home....at which point Mama remembers that she has a random Dora DVD in the car and by golly, that "we use the car TV only for LONG car trips" rule is going to be broken.

Stopped crying about three notes into the Dora theme song.

ANYWHO. Yes, a poo accident in a store.  Just another lovely entry in my parenting diary.

Back to the main point. I found a sassy shower curtain to replace the blah one that came with the trailer.  I first seam ripped the handing hardware off the original shower curtain. Then I cut and hemmed the new shower curtain to size since a trailer shower is much smaller than a regular shower.  Instead of a traditional shower bar and rings we have glide tracks in our trailer bathroom with glide tape sewn to the very top edge of the shower curtain.

Glide tape is flexible plastic strips with little clips every 6 inches or so:

Using a zipper foot on your sewing machine, set your (hefty upholstery size) needle to a side position:

and sew along the top and bottom of the plastic glide tape strip directly onto the top inside of your fabric:

Trim off the excess and you are done! Snap that sassy curtain up onto the slide tape and take some photos:

SO much better.  More projects to come! Next time I'll be able to do full before/after photos as I wizened up and started snapping pics before I took things apart.

Off I go to clean my (ignored-for-a-month-because-I-was-sassifying-our-trailer) house...

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl


Check out all the posts from this Travel Trailer Makeover Series!

• Part 1: A sassified Shower Curtain

• Part 2: The "before I tore everything apart" Tour
• Part 3: Bright Bold and Beautiful Fabrics
• Part 4: Wallpaper removal, A Dismantled Trailer and New Side Curtains  
•  Part 5: Cornici Recoving! 
• Part 6: Dinette Cushions Madeover!
• Part 7: Couch Slipcover
• Part 8: Master Bedroom and Privacy Curtains
• Part 9: Bunk Beds and Windows

Obesity Pandemic: SOLVED. Subway Style...

Today I took my kiddos out for a spontaneous picnic lunch.

After all, I felt guilty that their breakfast consisted of a splash of milk and a fruity granola bar.

Some people in the house may have overslept a wee bit this morning...or a lot of bits. Like 72 bits. Which is really just 6 bunches of bits. Yes, now that doesn't sound so bad.

Anywho, we were a little flustered getting Bubbalu off to preschool in time (hence the gourmet breakfast) and while zipping up his coat I accidentally caught the side of his face with my fingernail. BIG scratch. BIG tears. Needing lots of snuggles, cold pack application and kisses...45 min late to school.

*sigh*

So it goes.

After picking Bubbalu up from school we had the normal debate as to where to head to pick up a lunch. I always choose Subway. Or at least 98% of the time. Yet, that measly 2% of the time (McD's) is pined after by the young-uns. The holy grail of childhood dining.

While sitting on a bench at the local ball field playground munching our turkey subs I had an epiphany.

Get ready, these don't come often.


Pin It

Amen? I tell ya, many a parent has bemoaned the lack of a children's play place at Subway. Seriously.

Dear Subway,

If you install a fun, brightly colored children's play place in most of your fine fast food establishments I am guessing your profits would DOUBLE. Or TRIPLE. Depending on how many crawl though tubes and tunnels you have. Maybe you could have a ginormous crawl though sub sandwich. How fun would that be!? Add in a slide fashioned from a carved out cucumber that lands in a pit of large plastic tomatoes and you are golden.

As a special request, might you consider adding a time out chair in the corner? You know, so I can politely point it out to the parent of the child who is karate chopping my son in the stomach? That'd be great.

For your convenience, my royalties can be direct deposited via paypal.

Sincerely,

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

Stain and Germ Smackdown...

I cannot believe how excited I was yesterday for the FedEx truck to arrive.

I was actually giddy.

As a stay at home Mama with two very messy (and one pottytraining) younguns, I'd say these are pretty giddy-worthy:



On your left is the Eureka Enviro Steamer Hard Surface Steam Mop, 303A. I purchased mine here.

On the right is the Bissell Little Green Portable Deep Cleaner. I purchased mine here.

SO, STINKIN excited! My beautiful wood floors take a daily beating. As in milk drips from leaky sippy cups, being peed on (sad but true), trudged on with muddy shoes, sneezed on, sat on by toddlers with leaky diarrhea diapers, food squashed onto (and dried!) and other random disgusting grossness.

I hate to mop. As in hands n knees with a bucket of soapy water and a rag mop. Up till now I haven't really found any other cleaning device that is as effective as the old fashioned way. But THIS steam mop!? Cue the hallelujah chorus. Drips, smudges, etc just melted away effortlessly!

Here is a before/after shot of my kitchen floor:

Yes, they really ARE gleaming!

The ultimate test, the corner where Lil Chicks' high chair lives:


Smooth as buttah! And all it took was WATER....and killed tons of nasty bugs, because that steam? 220 degrees. Twice as much as the Shark one.

Before deciding which steam mop to get I read reviews like a crazy lady, and especially the seven steam mop comparison review on Amazon.com. I was most concerned about reviewers saying it leaked all over the floor the first time using it. Not at all! Smiled like a techy dweeb the entire time I used my new fave cleaner.

Hey now, don't forget about my cutie lil green machine! I've taken it out of the box and kissed it, but haven't used it yet. I have a list of about 10 pillows, pieces of furniture, places in my car and carpet spots that I'll be using this baby on. Can't wait for the stain smackdown to begin!

Ah yes, I must truly be a Mama to be THIS excited about cleaning appliances....

Amanda

***Oh yes, I should probably say that I've received NO compensation, was provided NO tester products or given anything except for a smile ole fat smile for this post...it was all me baby.***

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Vintage Xbox for Four (and a HALF) year olds...

Being that is was another cold Washington Summer Weather 2011 day, the kiddos were getting bored being stuck inside the house. Again. (and I may have been going slightly bonkers).

Having been introduced to the wonderful world that is video gaming by my boy cousins at a recent family dinner, I hauled out our old school Xbox to show Bubbalu how it's done.

A. When I say old school, I mean it. The date promter started at '01. Which made me giggle. Just think, only 9 more years and it's eligible to be sold as Vintage on etsy!

B. Bubbalu is a better Rallysport driver than I am. Embarassing. Being showed up by a 4 (and a HALF! he always insists) year old. Huh, all those days growing up playing Wolfenstein on our PC didn't teach me anything!?

C. Should I teach him DanceDance Revolution? That'd be some serious hilarity. And an effective energy burner....hmmm. (...Runs off to find DDR dance mat....).

D. I need to unearth some older Xbox kids games. Anyone willing to donate some old castoff games to the "Amanda needs to clean her house and keep her sanity" fund?

Happy gaming!

Amanda

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Four Costco Trips...

I believe I counted correctly when I say we went to Costco four times this past week.

Yeah.

Uh-huh.

I know.

But when my Sister invites me for a Saturday afternoon Costco run without kiddos I jump at the chance. EVEN if it is on Saturday, which is breaking rule #1 in the "How to Shop at Costco" playbook.

And when my Sis-in law calls me up for a last minute "Hey you still in town? Let's go shopping!" spree I can't say no :)

And when my Mama asks me to pick up some stuff for her I'm going to say "Sure, why not?". (After all, she birthed me and one should be afforded SOME perks for that.)

And when I realize that, despite three prior trips, I have yet to remember toilet paper and to fill the car up with gas....I go back for the fourth time.

Our Costco climate has changed drastically over the past year. See, I live sorta close to the country that resides just north of the U.S. of A. When currency rates flip (US economy = fail) to be in favor of that northern country, the folks who live there come across the border in droves for a super smokin good Costco deal.

Not that I blame em.

I'd do the very same thing.

Anywho, so a routine Costco trip has turned into a free-for-all, grab what you can, avoid sample tables like the plague, dash to get into a checkout lane that is less than 6 customers long, park two parking lots away, 20 car lineup for gas, concession stand chaos and people people people everywhere.

I'm not much of a crowd person.

For me, the enjoyment of a Costco shopping trip has greatly diminished.

However, there is hope. I'm hearing rumors of a new Costco Warehouse that would be located NW of the current location and closer to the border. We'll see.

So, fourth trip in a week, busy busy busy and yep, I've got Bubbalu and Lil Chick with me.

The kiddos were behaving especially, uh, interesting and I was about at the end of my shushing, "stop it right this instant", glaring looks, "do I have to make you get down and walk?", sighs of frustration, "stop hitting your sister", rebuckling the seat belt, "stop bugging your brother", "no screaming!", "you are just fine, stop whining" and "stop asking for that we aren't buying it, no means NO" rope.

Can anyone relate?

Anywho, so I finally make it to the checkout line and wait until it's our turn, playing mediator with the kiddos ("He hit me!", "No I didn't!", "She's poking me!", "Nuh-uh!") the entire time. I rushed to load our stuff onto the conveyor belt thinking GET ME OUTTA HERE ASAP.

Can anyone relate?

An elderly lady and her husband were in line right behind us. She smiled at the kiddos and said, "Honey, You look like you are doing a really good job with those kids".

{ instant stress dissipation }

Seriously Mama's, let's be intentional about building one another up and be generous with encouragement, it makes SUCH a difference....especially on those rough days, right?

Or during weeks with four Costco runs :)

Amanda

Live in the Pacific NW? Love animals? A great family ticket pack for the Pet Expo going on July 8-10 is up for grabs! Ends Wednesday!

Smart Organizing...

I keep searching Pinterest for smart, inventive way to organize random household stuff. Ya know, the stuff you need but have no idea how to keep it purty.

In almost all of these photos I've thought, "Der, why didn't I think of that!?"

Fight the daily paper piles:


Using hidden available spaces:


Makes SO much sense. Just not sure I want a sock bulletin board visible to all:


Lil Chick and Bubbalu would have a heyday with this one! (Picture a pile of unrolled ribbon, a pretty white plastic contained filled with empty cardboard ribbon spools and a mother plugging her ears and slowly counting to 10.)


Der:


Took this photo this morning of my linen closet:

not.

Smart AND cute:


Once again, a heydey. But super smart:


If only I had multiple balls of twine and pretty metal funnels:


LOVE. Dad, see this? I'm certain you could build that:)


Tis true!


Anyone inspired to organize? Me too :) All images via my Pinterest Organizational Ideas Board.

Amanda

P.S. The $50 giftcard giveaway for blessing Mama's and Babies is still going on! You have time to enter to win, go HERE.

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Twitchy Labeling Fingers...

I FINALLY purchased a label maker.

SO. Stinkin. EXCITED.

My handwriting development hit a roadblock in 2nd grade and…well…I hate my handwriting. It’s not purty.

Also? When I crashed into that roadblock way back when I also suffered permanent damage to the organizational section of my brain.

However, despite how organizationally and penmanshipally (yes that is a word) challenged I am I crave order and perfection in my house.

Yep, that's a problem.

I decided to fight my own character and bring some order into my usually disorganized and messy home.

Step #1. Everything Must Have A Place.

Enter the label maker:

Brother P-Touch. Costco. Best price! (Duh)

First, I read the entire informational pamphlet, including what will happen if I drop it into a bucket of water and how to properly dispose of used batteries.

Then, I burned through two full tape cartridges in FOUR DAYS. Yup. Major labeling OCD over here. I barely restrained myself from labeling my children. (FYI, buy a 4 pack of label cartridges at Costco. Seriously. Super duper good deal, best I found.)

Newly Labeled Organized Goodness:

* 4 under bed bins of all things related to wrapping and giving presents
* 2 purged and completely redesigned and reorganized file cabinets (only took me two full days, but whatever)

Gave myself a gold star :)

*Kiddos dresser contents. Really ladies, this is brilliance. Now my hubby will never say "I have NO idea where you keep the kids' shorts/undies/tshirts/swimsuit/socks/pants/hats/jeans!? You'll have to go and get it yourself". See? Brilliance!

(to be fair, Lance is an excellent hubby and daddy and doesn't shy away from helping with the house or kids :)

*Batteries. If you have been around me the past four days I have probably blabbed on and on about my newly compartmentalized and labeled battery organization. And my Asics GT2150's that I found for a smokin' deal at TjMaxx. I am SUCH a nerd:

Inspiration photo found here.

*All TOYS. Goodness gracious it felt good to get toys in bins!


Think they will STAY in bins? Yup, me neither. But ya gotta try, right?

I've got a few other hundred ideas and inspiration photos to attack my home, but I feel like I've made a huge dent.

Next huge project will be the bonus/craft/sewing room. That may take a few MONTHS :) I feel like I've gotta get it organized and running well before my fall/winter/holiday Etsy rush. It will make an already busy and chaotic season a bit less stressful.

Ok, I need MORE ideas! I've got twitchy labeling fingers. What else should I label?

Amanda

P.S. The $50 giftcard giveaway for blessing Mama's and Babies is still going on! You have time to enter to win, go HERE.

POOP is off my list...

For the greater good off all mankind, I have decided to put a limit to my use of the "p" word. (Insert massive cheering) You know, that word that is used a couple billion times during the potty training process.

The one that can make or break ya. Who really cares about a bunch of urine anyways? After working in hospitals for over 9 years it will barely make me lift an eyebrow. It's the OTHER STUFF that is the issue here.

I have to stop and remind myself that in normal, adult conversations poop (whoops, broke my rule) is not usually an appropriate or classy subject to discuss. HOWEVER, in the Mommy conversation world (which really is limited to a maximum of three exchanged sentences before you have to run off to rescue, relieve, save, comfort, cajole, intercede or discipline your child.) it is near the top of the:

Most Frequently Discussed Topics of Conversation (Mommy of kids under 5)

A few others that make the list:

1. Sleep - Lack of napping, night sleeping, swaddling, lack of or (rarely) excessive, nightmares, jammies, bedding, snoring, crying, bedtimes, best nap times, one or two naps, length of naps, getting your child to sleep, too early wake times, perfect nappers, nap avoidance, sleepwalking, sleep talking, sleep books, sleep studies etc. Sleep is also a make or break ya subject.

2. Eating - Everything from breastfeeding vs bottle feeding, issues with breastfeeding, colic, allergies, lactose intolerance, feeling guilty of no veggies in toddler diet, whole wheat vs. white, bottles/sippy cups/regular cups transitions, late night snacking, making/buying baby food, milk, toddler picky eating, silverware amounts of meals, day snacking, organic food, desserts, soda, etc.

3. Discipline/Behavior - bragging of perfection, commiserating about defiance, ideas or tactics to try, ages and stages, tantrums, strong willed children, passive behavior, aggressive behavior, sweetness, sullenness, shyness, caring, sharing, politeness, anger, parenting skills (including judging other parents' tactics - a big no-no in my book), etc.

Then of course, my current top topic:

4. Elimination - brand of diapers, E C ing (potty training from birth), cloth vs. disposable diapers, diaper wipes, soaps, creams, diaper rash, diaper rash and some more diaper rash, unscientifically proven but believed by Mamas worldwide: TEETHING DIAPERS, potty training, lack of or early potty training, potty seats, potty chairs, accidents, purposeful elimination in relation to #3 listed above, lack of aim (boys boys boys...*shaking head*), night time elimination, tactics for potty training, swim diapers (folks, please use them if you are not certain of your child's ability, no one likes floaters in the pool), use of regular diapers in the pool (largest and messiest things you've ever seen - yes they will explode), smells, shapes, consistency, frequency, colors...you get the idea.

But really, I'm purposefully trying to NOT DISCUSS THE POOP (Last time, really, just had to fit it in one last time). If I slip up and start off our conversation by emotionally vomiting poop (whoops, LAST time, promise.) stories all over you, please kindly and gently remind me my new Poop (oy, this may be harder than I thought) free discussion resolve.

What is your current fave (but possibly overdone) topic of choice? Any subject you might need to talk about a wee bit less like I do?

A

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A Perfect "I'm A Mommy" Swimsuit...with SASS...

Last week I broke an 18 year run and purchased a one piece swimsuit.

Don't get me wrong.

It's not yo mamma's average tank.

It's got some SASS:



I needed a Mommy-suit. You know, a swimsuit that I can wear while performing a herculean life-saving lunge towards my non life vested two year old who is tap dancing at the edge of the 12 foot deep pool and not worrying that lady parts are falling out of place. This is not your "lay out and get as many parts of your body nicely bronzed as possible" suit. This swimswuit needs to FUNCTION folks. It has a JOB.

Job Definition: Let Mommy be attentive to progeny while being appropriately covered.

But I want to look cute.

Remember the Retro swimsuit post from Feb 2010? NO? Ok, read it in full here.

I am a proud new owner of the Jantzen Vamp swimsuit. AWESOME, flattering Mommy suit. Also, very pleased to report that I found it at a great price at our local TJmaxx. About 1/4 of current new prices. (I got a Dutch shopping high!)

I also found this TRULY retro nautical inspired vintage swimsuit/dress that I listed for sale in my Etsy:



It makes me think of beach diva models that were completely covered up but still maintained their femininity. These retro-inspired suits are a welcome silhouette and style in a world where swim suits seem to be getting teenier and having bare skin showing is celebrated.

No, I'm not saying bikinis are evil. I like and own bikinis too, I just don't like inappropriate cuts and styles that are risque.

Goodness gracious I sound prudish! So be it.

OK, off the soapbox now.

So, do you have your swimsuit for the summer season picked out? Do tell:

A

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New Mothers: Stuff you REALLY need on your Registry

It always makes me laugh to see the ‘suggested’ necessary items and products that baby stores tell new mothers that they need to be an awesome, properly correct and latest-article-in-a-mother/parent-magazine-following Mama to their new bundle of joy.

Ya know, let me give you some advice. Some real Mom, in the trenches, advice.

Register for stuff you REALLY need to survive the icky parts (potty training, the flu, motion sickness, stomach bug, teething diapers, acid poo blowouts just to name a few) of having a child:

1. A hand held shower head thingymajig. Something like this:




Seriously, save the money you were going to spend on: (…fill-in-the-blank…) that stores want you to believe you need…and get a hand held shower device. Believe me. Trust me. You will unfortunately get far more use out of it rinsing the poo, pee and puke out of clothes than you can even imagine. Seriously, trust me.

2a. Lots of buckets. For use in conjunction with #1. Also used for holding large quantities of bleach water for washing vomit off the floor. (This is a rough walked off estimate, but the puking episode that occurred in our house last night created a 10 x 11 foot rectangle of splattery yuckyness. This doesn’t include the walls and baseboards.) You COULD purchase a bunch of brand new cute buckets, but I prefer to use Dutchware: Gallon Ice Cream containers. They are AWESOME.

OR.

2b. You could use bright blue plastic surgical rinse basins like I use.

Kinda weird? Yup, but that’s what happens when your Mom is an O.R. Nurse. Unusable medical disposable products are the way to go. I keep two at all times in my stall shower for emergency soiled clothes soaking purposes. Pour in some of bleach, fill with hot water from your handy dandy hand held shower head and soak those clothes.

3. Bleach. Lots of bleach. It’s cheap and effective.

I’d rather smell some bleach in my house than the other stuff I’m talking about. Of course, open the windows so you don’t get lightheaded and fall smack in the middle of the splattery yuckyness.

4. Stain pre-treaters, preferably in a spray bottle:

That way you can keep your hands FAR away from the goo on the clothes. I buy it in bulk. Clothes with any sort of food (or other substance) on it gets a good dousing. IT WORKS FOR ME. Which is why Lil Chick can own and wear an off-white jacket that has survived an entire winter stain free. You can send notes of congratulation on my off-white stain free jacket success to my email.

5. A box of disposable gloves. For when you can't avoid touching the yuckyness. Trust me. WELL WORTH paying for these to deal with all of the above:

(Is it just me or does this picture look like a game of guess the wall shadow animal?)

You don’t want those yellow non-disposable gloves that you have to wash out and reuse. You WILL remember what those gloves touched and it WILL make you gag. Besides, I always got water up the loose sleeves and then had pooled icky water on my fingertips. Yech. I buy disposable gloves tight enough so water can’t get in.

6. Old t-shirts. Excellent floor/wall/child scrubbers. You can use em and toss em.

7. Air Neutralizer Spray/Febreeze/Air Freshener. Unless you think the smell of acid poo is a lovely odor to be inhaling all day long.


8. Coffee. Directions: Administer liberally and frequently:



This is just a short, off the top of my head, list. Have something to add? Shout it out in the comments!

Let’s talk Awesome Mama skillz, shall we? In my kid clothing tote bins I still have nearly full sets of (almost!) white onesies in every size*. That’s what I call awesome. (Not that I’m proud of it or anything...Totally lying. I’m ridiculously giddy about it.) That’s my life now, feeling extremely proud of clean onesies and the ability to clean up poo and vomit efficiently and effectively.

Awesome...

A

*(Disclaimer: There HAVE been times that I’ve tossed clothing that is soiled beyond recognition. Cause sometimes you are just plain sick and tired of scrubbing poo. Just keeping it real folks.)*

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Changing Lives, One Flat Iron At A Time...

Raise your hand if you own a flat iron/hair straightener.

Raise you other hand if your flat iron has so much baked on hair stylin' crud you are embarrased to call it yours.

Dont'cha just hate it when your hair straightener shreds and damages your hair? Me too. I have a good four years of hair junk built up on it. So much junk that I was shopping for the best deal on CHI flatirons. Cause they are the best...and I have LOVED my Chi. Until the baked on crud started to affect my mental state.

Girlfriends, I'm about to change your life.

I googled every possible way to safely clean your ceramic flatiron.

So far over the past few months I've tried:

* Washcloth with water and scrubbing flat iron while hot. Lots of steam but no crud-clearing.
* Washcloth with hand soap and water- nada
* Washcloth with shampoo and water-mininal help. My fingers cramped up after a 1/2 hour.
* Qtip with rubbing alcohol- nada
* Qtip with non acetone nail polish remover- nada
* Picking off junk with my fingernail - some help but I put a tiny chip in one section of the ceramic plates - Not good. Not recommended.
* Yelling - nada...but I swear that thing smirked at me.
* Smashing again the counter - once again, not recommended

I'm lying in bed trying to fall asleep and I get one of those bright shiny light bulb AHA! moments. Lay in bed, try to ignore the brilliance of the idea and fall asleep. After all, it IS after midnight and the kids will be up poking my eyeballs at 6 AM.

Doesn't work. Mind is whirling.

Finally sneak outta bed and try my idea out.

Schneikees it WORKS! My going on FOUR year old CHI looks brand-spankin NEW. No joke.

(Well, except for that little aforementioned chip I inflicted.)

Any guesses to what I did?

Two words:

MAGIC ERASER.

Thank you, Mr. Clean, for once again bringing your A game to the VintageDutchGirl household. Extremely pleased with eraser performance and will definitely be using again in the near future. Thank you for not damaging my wonderful Chi flat iron in the cleaning process.

Only problem is, it's 1 AM and no one to call and celebrate with. Ah well, that's what a BLOG is for, right?! To take one simple little thing and turn it into a full blown conversation.

Alrighty ladies, get scrubbin those flat-irons! Let me know if it worked for ya!

Off to find warm milk and maybe some soothing, sleep inducing chocolate chip cookies...

A


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*I have been in no way endorsed or compensated for this post by Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Which is too bad, because I'd make an EXCELLENT spokeswoman. I have LOTS to clean*

Sassy n Stylin' Bedroom Paint Color...

So, you want to actually SEE my bedroom? With it's sassy new color?

Well. You'll have to wait a bit longer.

See, my camera is having some identification issues. It doesn't photograph colors well. Bad representation of the glorious color infusion that I injected into our blah bedroom. I'm going to beg for someone with an awesome colorly (is that even a word? My spell check says no but I don't care.) accurate camera to come and snap some pics. But that also means I must clean my bedroom. AND finish decorating it. Hmmm...it may be awhile.

However.

I DID find some pretty true color matches online. And while searching I discovered something else TRULY amazing.

I may have a pinch of style. REALLY. Who woulda guessed? Some STYLE. Even better, there's PROOF.

I've got to learn to trust my instincts a bit more. To just GO with it when in my head I say, "hmm, it just looks right".

OK, drumroll please! The sassy color I painted our bedroom IS:



A SASSY Teal!

OK, so LOTS of you guessed correctly...and MANY of you cheated and looked online even AFTER I told you not to. So glad to know you listen and follow directions so well. Punks.

I purchased my paint in town here at the local True Value because as I mentioned before, the day I painted I was all twitchy and needed it painted yesterday so I chose the closest paint carrying store possible. I COULD NOT find the paint color online (and neither could YOU, suckers!) but the closest match is Sherwin-Williams Maxi Teal 6769.

As I was searching for the perfect teal, guess what I found? Pantone's color of the year selection for 2010. Guess what it is? Do I even have to say?

Yep, a sassy TEAL.

Don't believe me? Go to Pantone's website and check it out.

While searching, another paint site called Charles & Hudson came up and guess what they said:

Pantone 2010 Color of the Year: Turquoise

From runways to furniture showrooms to home interiors, the 2010 color the year, as selected by Pantone, will exert its pervasive influence on a variety of fabrics, objects and surfaces.

This year's pick, Pantone 15-5519 Turquoise, is a bright, tropical hue that combines "the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green," according to a Pantone-issued press release. "Turquoise evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a languorous, effective escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of well being."

To inject turquoise into your abode, consider any of the following paint colors: Behr's Jamaican Sea (510B-5), Sherwin-Williams Maxi Teal (SW 6769) or Benjamin Moore's Un-Teal We Meet Again or Harbor Side Blue.

Yes! I'm not a crazy woman! (Well, only partly crazy...OK, MOSTLY crazy....well, crazy in every other part EXCEPT for choosing one paint color.)

So go on now, paint your bedrooms TEAL. Why not? It's just paint. When Pantone selects a different color for 2011 just paint right over it!

C'mon and join the sassy fun..

A

***Didja know you can find me HERE on facebook? True story. Become a fan and make my day***

Destructo Boy Strikes Again...

On Saturday mornings we try to sleep in.

Usually this means we get up at 6:45 instead of 6:40.

Our 34.2 lb "alarm clock" usually wakes us up.

Last Saturday our alarm clock woke up at SIX.

Um, NO. Back to bed you go.

Bubbalu wasn't too thrilled at being put back to bed and wandered downstairs whilst Mama and Papa tried to sleep in.

I was dozing and could hear him rummaging around with his train set. After a good while it got quiet.

TOO QUIET.

The TOO QUIET is NEVER good with young children.

It's the TOO QUIET that makes you sprint down the stairs to find out what's going on.

This time the TOO QUIET was:



and:



and:



and (look closely, window AND windowsil) :



and more window and windowsil:



and:



and:



Oh yeah, and I forgot, the pièce de résistance:



Kinda ironic that I'm googling "how to remove sharpie" and reading the hints and tips THROUGH a sharpie scrawled screen.

Surprisingly, the computer screen was the easiest thing to clean. How I did it? A pencil eraser. It erased the sharpie RIGHT OFF. I was astounded, but very relieved that my computer screen wasn't permanently damaged. Oh, and when I picked up my camera to take a picture of the sharpie-marked room and turned it on, sure enough, he'd gotten the back display too. Pencil eraser once again to the rescue.

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser got most of the sharpie off the computer, mouse, printer, exersaucer (didn't take a picture of those) , camera, window and windowsil. If you remember, this isn't the first time Bubbalu has marked the windowsil.

No, I never did get around the sanding it down and refinishing it the first time around. Good thing because I would have been that much more upset...as if that's even possible.

Took me only an hour to laugh about it all. Lance smiled right away.

It was one of those JUST CHOOSE JOY moments. This time it took me an hour. I'm working on shortening the time distance between THE EVENT to THE JOY.

I think this may be a life-long journey, this CHOOSING JOY business...

A

Our Sick House Rules...

One must not be required to change out of night-time attire. Zip-up footed jammies are acceptable, nay encouraged.

One must not be required to entertain oneself without the aid of a certain babysitter of the screened variety.

One must not be required to eat healthy, nutritiously rounded meals (as if that's the norm - *snort*!)

One is permitted to drink a smoothie (pronounced "smoovie" by the under 3 crowd) in place of a meal.

One carries an 'unlimited juice consumption for duration of sickness' card.

Our sick "smoovie" recipe of the day:

• One banana
• two scoops chocolate or vanilla ice cream
• 1/4-1/2 cup peanut butter
• chocolate syrup (to taste)
• 1/2 (ish) cup of milk

Blenderize. Serve to sick little one in old plastic restaurant cup with accordion straw that is guaranteed to leak. IMPORTANT!***One MUST taste test at LEAST 1/2 cup or more of "Smoovie" recipe to determine adequate taste mixage and acceptability***

I cannot stress the taste test enough. It is vital for the recipe's success.

A

In Which A Headboard Is Repurposed, Revamped and Sassified...

I bought this lonely, unwanted twin size headboard from the thrift store a month ago:



I've seen a bunch of headboard revamps around the blogisphere so I snatched that baby up.

It was on CLEARANCE. At a thrift store. What did I pay? $2.00 + tax.

That's right, TWO BUCKEROOS! The thrifty lady who dwells inside of me rejoiced.

I hauled it over to my parents house and cajoled my father into slicing off the legs for me.

I bet you can guess what I did next, right???

Sand, prime and spray paint. It's pretty much my new motto.

Then took a two week break (*ahem* FOUR) where I hemmed and hawed over how to finish up my project in an adorable, yet wallet-friendly (read: FREE) way.

First up, installed un-free (booooo) yet functional hooks:



Then hemmed and hawed some more before I personalized it and threw it on the wall. Well, not threw, but ya know what I mean.

Meet the newest revamped member of our family:



Why yes, I DID painstakingly cut out and decoupage every last itty bitty letter:



Oh, THANK YOU for noticing that it matches Wally:



My my, aren't we observant today!

Previously under used and not very gaze-worthy towel bar replaced with uber cute, functional (and thrifty) hooded towel hanger. Extremely tiny kids bathroom punched up with some sassy, low-profile functionality.

It makes me smile every time I walk past the bathroom. Sometimes I choose to use the kids' loo so I can smile while I, uh, you know.



And yes, I only have TWO children. What can I say, we give LOTS of baths around here which creates many towel needs. That, and I actually finished the laundry and was thrilled to be able to use my newly revamped...uh...thing. Headboardhoodedtowelhangerthingymajig.



However, at least I now have a great place to hang my excessive hooded towel collection. (I actually have more hooded towels in the closet...shhhhhhhh.)

I have noticed that the beautiful apple green clashes HORRIBLY with my contractor dark yellow-beige bathroom walls...thus I will GLADLY welcome paint color suggestions!

A

P.S. There are TONS of DIY/Thrifty Finds/Transformation blog parties this week. So go! Go NOW and check em out!