Last week I decided that I hate my living room.
Well, not "hate" exactly...because we all know it's not nice to hate.
But...let's say, 'extremely dislike'.
So with {very} limited funds, I've set out to brighten, modernize and update the room on a tiny, tiny budget.
Phase One: Scan living room, grab anything not nailed down. Visit thrift shop, grab stuff you think has "potential".
Take it all outside, thusly:
Phase Two: Apply liberal coats of white spray paint!!
I'm going to break this down into a few stages, but for today lets focus on those two candlesticks in the background...
Yeah, these guys:
They had a big lampshade that was actually made out of wax on top. (I should have taken a "before" pic of the whole thing) The wax topper got put away for later purposes. After I sprayed them white, I got two simple glass bowls at the Dollar Tree, and glued them on top. One got a little candle inside, the other got some of those "moss" covered stones from the Dollar Tree.
Result?
I. LOVE. THEM.
That is all!
More living room reveals coming next week!!! Stay tuned--same bat time, same bat channel!
I'm linking up to some of the parties you can see here.
SOOOO...just a quick listing!
First, YAY! My pillows were featured on Under the Table and Dreaming this week. I love that blog, and I'm so excited! Thanks UtTaD!!
Also, I recieved a little bloggy love from Jessica @ Adventures of a Wife & Mom. She writes some really funny stuff--you should check out her post about the mullet! (And her girls are just stinkin' adorable!)
It's the Honest Scrap Award!
Thanks so much Jessica!
I think the rules are that I have to spill 10 honest things about myself, and pass on the award to some (10?) other blogs I read & like.
Yikes.
Okay, 10 things, here goes:
1. I have been a vegetarian since I was 13 years old.
2. Except for when I'm pregnant, and each time I have eaten a cheese steak sandwich, because I wanted it, and because I'm 20 mins. from Philly.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Okaaayy...well. My brain bandwidth has already been used up for the week. (Can I upgrade to Brain Pro? I hear there's no ads...) I'm sure there's more I could spill...much much more. I'm going to have to think on it and come back to this. But I wanted to thank Jessica for the award!!
And FINALLY we have a giveaway winner! Through a thoroughly scientific and guaranteed random manner (no, I totally did NOT just ask my daughter to pick a number between 1 and 7--what would make you think that???) we have...
Congrats to our #2 commenter Tina, who said...
"I agree, reading to your children REALLY DOES pay off, not only in thier grades, but also in their imaginations, (my kids are much smarter than I was). Anyway, this is a good promotion. And, sidenote, I think googiemomma has more hours in the day than I do."
Congrats Tina! Your book will be coming in the mail soon!
And why yes, I have it worked out so that I have 25.7 hours in my day. :0)
This was a fun week...even though it's only Thursday for some reason in my brain it's already Friday. I'm checking out a day early apparently!
I think I'll end this post with a picture, because who doesn't love some dirty baby feet?
...apparently it won't be long before she's hosting a giveaway.
But this is something I can relate to. Something that's very important in our family--reading. Specifically, parents reading to and with their children.
Reading has always been a huge part of my life. I think I spent the majority of my time between the ages of 4 and 15 with my nose in a book. It is extremely important to me, and that has been passed on to my children. The googies are avid readers. And that, in turn, shows in their school work, their grades, their performance in school. And it makes sense--research has shown that reading to your children for 20 minutes at night before bed can improve child literacy by 10 whole school days per year. 10 WHOLE DAYS people!
But this isn't about just my googies. This is about all parents being willing to make the pledge to read to their children for 20 minutes a day. To help spread the word, Sleepy's (the mattress company) has partnered with First Book, a non-profit organization working to provide new books to children in need, and Laura Numeroff, the author behind the "If You Give a Mouse A Cookie" series.
There are three great ways they're promoting this idea.
First, you can visit http://www.sleepysbedtimestories.com/ and enter for a chance to win lunch with Laura Numeroff in New York City.
Second, there will be a free reading event in King of Prussia. Ms. Numeroff is reading and signing complimentary copies of her latest book, The Jellybeans and the Big Book Bonanza on Saturday, May 1st from 2-3pm at the Sleepys located on 150 W. Dekalb Pike, King of Prussia, PA.
And finally, they're going to send a complimentary signed copy of The Jellybeans and the Big Book Bonanza to one of you! To enter the contest, simply leave a comment here!
To enter, please leave a comment, including your email address (if its not linked already). The contest will be open for entries through midnight on Wednesday (4/28). I'll pick a winner at random on Thursday and post it here.
So there it is folks--get out there and read!
And, sidenote, if you want to read something vaguely related and very cute, check out this post called "If You Give A Mommy A Baby", done by Nicole at the Mombshelter. Brought a little tear to this momma's eye ;0)
Disclosure: I did not recieve any payment for promoting this contest, book, or reading. I did recieve a free copy of the book, which my googies will love, because we love Laura Numeroff's books, and we love to read. And that's why I'm posting this. No one made me. So there. Hmmpf.
EDIT: This giveaway is CLOSED! Thanks to all who entered!!!
