Picnic clean up tip

Growing up we went on alot of picnics. Parks and kids equal dirt. And my mother always packed a soapy water jar for cleaning up us kids. Wipes just can't handle the job when the kids are really dirty. Now I do the same. I find it easiest to use a wide mouth jar, so I can get my hand in it easily. I add a few drops of dish soap, fill'er up with water, and drop in a dishcloth. Now your set. Picnic on!!

It was a good morning!

I found the new Country Home magazine the other day at Walmart. Yippeee! It wasn't cheap $12.99, but Walmart does discount magazines. So my perfect morning included Country Home, iced latte, a raspberry white chocolate scone and watching my kids ride there bike up and down the block. Ahh summer!

Junk Mammas

Craigslist find

Here is my latest craigslist score, a Broyhill coffee table for $40.00. The seller had the end tables when I first looked at it, but they were gone by the time I was ready to make the purchase.


While I don't love the finish, this table has great bones I love the rounded legs, square top and it's the perfect size to accessorize and leave a space for the kids to play.

I usually sit on my projects a while, but this one I wanted to get started on right away. I sanded it down to bare wood on the top only. The legs I left because I was planning on painting them. I choose a dark stain for the top, Ace Hardware brand Jacobean.

I used 2 coats of stain and 3 coats of poly on the top. Next on to the legs, I painted those cottage white with Behr paint plus primer 2 coats.

Here is the finished project, I might distress the legs a little, but for now I am just enjoying a project I have completed.

The Junk Mammas

New Camera

About a month ago I bought a new camera, the Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS. Don't let the size fool you, this camera takes some great pictures, in addition to being super small and easy to carry.

It also has a great feature on it, where you can pick a color from your subject and the rest of the picture appears in black and white.

Below is a picture I took of some pink peonies my mom brought me.

This camera comes in different colors and for under $300.00 complete with case and memory card this camera is a winner in my book.

The Junk Mammas

Lordy Lordy one of the Junk Mammas is "40"

You say it's your birthday.......

New years eve 13+ years ago, the Junk Mammas knew how to live it up.

Mad scientist for Halloween, one of our favorite holidays and costumes!

years before we were 3 blind mice, not sure who or where the 3rd mouse was.


Here's the birthday girl posing for a shot. Happy Birthday my dear friend Kim!!!!


Remember 40 is the new 20!

The Junk Mammas(Jen)

Lego Party

My son is turning 8 and loves Lego's, so we decided to have a Lego party theme. This year we had the party at Chuck E Cheese so I didn't have to go all out on the decorations, but here are a few things I put together to make the party special.

Lego gift bag tags- I got some Lego's at a rummage sale, and made the kids initials on each tag out of Lego's with the help of my hot glue gun.

Picks for the cupcakes- store bought cupcakes with picks I made from a printout I found online of Lego guys. Hot glued tooth picks to the back and just stuck them in.

Table decor- used an old pop crate I had and added a sign to the front that said Sam's 8 in Lego's. Got some primary colored balloons and napkins, then scattered the table with some misc. Lego's.

We are having a family party for him on Tuesday, I am going to attempt to make a Lego cake. If it turns out I will share the photos.

The Junk Mammas

French Provincial Chalk Boards

Kristen from California, purchased these chalk boards from our Etsy store and used them at her wedding. They were used on the bride and groom chairs and we think they look incredible! What a great idea!!!

Thanks for sharing with us Kristen and congratulations!

The Junk Mammas

Weekend project

I found this at a rummage sale close to my house about a month ago. Paid $20.00 for this little table, a desk for my sons room and a chair. I saw one of these on someones blog painted and thought it was really cute, otherwise I probably would have passed it up. I had been looking for a small night stand for my daughters room with storage and thought this would work.

I started painting before I took a picture, but above is the before.

Found this little drawer pull at Anthropology for $4.00, it had plaid fabric in it. I switched it out with my bargain Pottery Barn Kids bedding fabric.

Painted it pink, and now it's ready for Maddie's room! Linking this up to Just A Girl's show and share day.

The Junk Mammas

Red, White and Blue

Feeling a little Red, white and blue today.

photos-William Sonoma, Martha Stewart and Country Home

The Junk Mammas

Garden markers

The time has finally come for some real planting. Last night, I planted my vegetable garden and some herbs. In the past I have not marked stuff, but I have seen some really cute plant markers in blogland so I decided to make me some this year.

I picked out some old knives I had and glued scrabble letters to them with E6000.

Longer words might be a problem, but I really think they turned out neat. Veggies and herbs not your thing, try using a word like "grow" and placing it in a pot with flowers.



The Junk Mammas

Elkhorn review

We loved the Elkhorn Flea Market. It was huge with many fabulous items that we bought and a lot more we didn't bring home.

One of our favorite finds were these architectural pieces. Both Jenny and I bought two each. We actually got from two different vendors that both told us they came from the Wrigley house in Rockford, IL. So it must be true, we just thought they were cool.



We also met a few bloggers. Jan from Gracie's Cottage was just too sweet. We bought grain sacks from her. She had the fabulous idea to turn the grain sacks into floor clothes. I didn't get a picture of that, dah. But great idea.

Her booth was so busy it was hard to even snap a picture of her wonderful treasures.

We also met Joan and Mr. Anything Goes Here from Anything Goes Here. She also had some fabulous goodies. So if you are ever in the area be sure to check these lovely ladies at the Elkhorn Flea Market. We can't wait to go again

The Junk Mammas

Where is your favorite flea market?

Unfortunally, we live in an area where flea markets are far and between. We have to travel 2-3 hours either way to find one with more then 50 venders.

This coming up weekend we are heading to one in Elk Horn Wisconsin. We are going on a road trip or a mini vacation as we call it. We are leaving on Satruday afternoon, staying the night and coming home around suppertime on Sunday.

If you are in the area you should check it out, we will give you the scoop next week on what we found.

From what I have read it is suppose to be one of Wisconsins finest with over 500 inside and outside venders and great food.

If you have been to it, we would love to hear from you. Otherwise tell us where your favorite flea market it.

The Junk Mammas

Wind chimes

Worked on some wind chimes the past couple of days to add to my mothers day gifts. I took old rusty/chippy paint door hinges and added silverware with fishing line. I pounded the silverware flat, and did a lot of it-so I have extra to use for other projects as well.

My husband drilled the holes in the silverware, but I think you could make it by just tying the line onto the silverware.

For a little touch of whimsy I added a few keys into the mix. Love the sound it makes when the wind blows and it is supper cute also!

The Junk Mammas

Quick Mothers Day projects

Worked on some quick and fun Mother's Day projects today.
Found this old coffee pot, took out the guts and planted this cute pansy in it. Added a cute tag.

Love this little red lunch box, it makes the perfect planter. We are adding this to the Frugal Friday party @ The Shabby Nest and Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special, come check out all of the great stuff.

The Junk Mammas

It was a windy day here!

And a tree on the boulevard fell onto my van. Very minor damage to my beater and no one was hurt. ;-)My son thought it was exciting to watch them remove it. Sad to see the tree gone, but we can plant another. So much for a quiet day at home.

The Junk Mammas

Let the gardening begin

image from Katy Elliott

The last day of frost on average for our area of the country is May 5th. Oh yah, let the gardening begin. Now I really love the look of cottage gardens like above, but truth be told I am really not that great at this gardening thing. Since we moved in a over eight years ago, I have planted umpteen perennials that have not returned. We have sandy soil and I lose gusto for watering plants. But I am ready to try some more. I do however do a decent job at container gardening, it is quicker and easier in my mind.

I do feel the cottage garden needs a little junk for character. So I added a little junk to my fence. This crusty mailbox thingy was found for 2 bucks at a garage sale and I thought it would look cute hanging on my gate with flowers planted in it. I planted bacopa, geraniums, and pansies. Now let's hope the kids don't knock it off. Now if I could only talk someone into painting my fence white.

The Junk Mammas

Laundry

While I was rummaging last weekend I spotted this silver basket with wheels. I decided for $2.00 I could do something with it. I searched online and found one just like it with a liner for $49.00 and of course the super cute Pottery Barn one for $89.00.

Pottery Barn

I am always looking for places to put our laundry, with a family of 4 it seems to really pile up. Cute wicker hampers seem to be a thing of the past, or they are really expensive.

So with my new sewing class under my belt I thought I could attempt the liner with some muslin I picked up.

Here's my new hamper, it is so handy I am hoping to find another one someday.

Junk Mammas

Fabulous Find

Sandal is season is here. Time to get those toes pretty again.

I tried Sally Hansen's new Complete Manicure Nail Polish and loved it. It claims to be a complete manicure in a bottle. Five steps in one bottle, base coat, strengthener, growth treatment, color, top coat. It also had a new style brush, that I liked.

I picked some up at Target, and I was impressed. I have had it on over a week with no chips or no wear with just two coats of polish. Our Target didn't have the greatest selection of colors, but the Sally Hansen web site does have quite a few. I picked out Commander in Chic and Pedal to the Metal. Check it out

The Junk Mammas

Quick $1.00 project

Picked this piece up at a thrift sale last year for $1.00. I originally intended to use it for a ribbon holder, but it just didn't hold enough ribbon. I have been looking for a paper towel holder, but haven't been able to find one I like. They all seem to be black rod iron, or chrome.

So, I cut off the arms and the base was just the perfect size for a paper towel roll. I may paint it in the future, but for now, I like the dark wood.

Added this to The Shabby Nest's frugal Friday Party, check out all the great ideas over there.

The Junk Mammas

Man Cave

I think we all have one of these in our house, unfortunally for me ours is not in the basement. My husband occupies our den which is right off the dinning room and the walk way to our main floor bathroom. 3 deer, a bear, a turkey, and some ducks adorn this lovley space. Plus, my husband uses this room as his catch all place, hunting clothes, books, even his everyday clothes at times are in there for everyone to enjoy. :)

My challenge was finding some storage, something inexpensive that I could transform into a stylist piece of furniture. I am going for a sort of english study looking room, with wildlife and a Pottery Barn twist- not sure if that is even possible, but here is my first project.

I picked up this dresser for $50.00 at a local furniture store, they had a trade in sale and this was the best I have been able to find for the money.

Today, I painstakingly painted it black. It is sort of an MDF material, so needless to say the painting didn't go so well. I sanded and repainted mulitple spots to just get the paint to stick. After inhaling all the fumes, I went to purchase pulls for the drawers, I came home with 6 pulls because I have 6 drawers right, wrong each drawer needs 2 pulls so tomorrow Iwill be off to the hardware store.

Stay turned for the finished product and some other touches I picked up for the room.

The Junk Mammas