First Attempt at Refurbishing Furniture

Pin It Now! I finally got around to painting my son's desk that was purchased at Goodwill in September of 2010. It was my first Goodwill purchase ever. I kept putting it off because of the cost to paint it and also because I had no idea what to do!

But thanks to someone on Pinterest who made it look super easy, my son now has his blue desk. :) 

All I did was buy the recommended Zinsser Cover Stain Primer (pictured on original post), blue paint (I just bought the cheap Wal-mart brand), and paint brushes. It cost me about $50 for all of the supplies.

Before

I used 2 coats of the primer. I do wish I had let it dry longer before applying the paint, but as usual, I was in a hurry to get it done.

I only painted the part of the drawers that was actually going to show once put back into place.

After

I put about 3 coats of paint on it. Don't know if better paint would have made a difference on how many coats? Thoughts?

This was a VERY beat up desk, but now it looks so nice in the boys' room! I offered to buy different knobs to screw in, but Lincoln said he wanted the old ones. Great, saved me $!

I am happy with the way it turned out, but I will be better about waiting to let primer and paint dry longer the next time I paint furniture!



Review: Amazing Animals by Design

Pin It Now!
Since I absolutely love reading aloud to my kids, children's books are some of my favorite products to review! Recently, I had the privilege of reading Debra Haagen's debut book, Amazing Animals by Design, to Shiloh, my 6 year old daughter.

This book is a simple yet delightful way in which you can introduce young children to the concept of Intelligent Design.




Take a trip to the zoo with John and Sarah! Follow them around as they ask lots of questions about the animals they see. Your child will find out that each animal is designed with unique characteristics to help it survive. He will learn answers to questions like, "Why do elephants have long trunks?" and "Why do giraffes have long necks?"

Not only will he learn about the animals' amazing designs and that nothing is made by accident, he'll learn that he is designed with a special purpose, too!

My daughter and I enjoyed reading this book together, and I recommend it as a read-aloud for toddlers - kindergartners, or as a read-alone for first - third graders who are reading well on their own.

To order your copy, follow this link.

Books are available in two formats:

• 24-page paperback - $8.99
• eBook download - $7.99

We were given the eBook download to review which was just fine, but if I were buying, I'd go for the paperback so my daughter could pick it up anytime. It would also be easier to share with others!

Be sure to visit Debra Haagen, a fellow Crew Mate, at her blog: http://amazingbydesign.blogspot.com/ or official author website: http://debrahaagen.tateauthor.com/.
You can also like her on facebook here.

See what other Crew members said about Amazing Animals by Design here.




Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.

Spring Basket/ Bird's Nest Cookies

Pin It Now! I knew when I saw these cute, festive cookies, I had to make them! The original source calls them Spring Basket Cookies, but I wrote Easter Basket Cookies on my picture on accident. :/ I think they look more like Bird's Nest Cookies, though. Whatever you want to call them, they are adorable!

I decided to make these for my boys' Bible Study last weekend - I couldn't believe I actually had all the ingredients on hand:

-1/4 cup of flour
-2 cups of Shredded coconut
-2/3 cup of sweetened condensed milk
-1 tsp of vanilla extract
-pastel candies  (I used those mini Whopper-like eggs)

For directions on how to make them, please visit Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom.

*Here are some tips that might prove helpful:

• I doubled the batch because one only made about 12 cookies.
• I used frosting (just powdered sugar and milk) to "glue" the eggs down.
• Using a certain kind of baking pan seemed to make a difference in how the cookies turned out - the air bake (one in the middle) had the best results. I didn't like the way they turned out at all on my "seasoned" pan (the one on the left). The bottoms browned too much, and for some reason, the cookies turned out more circular instead of retaining their nest shape.

I actually didn't like these cookies, which is strange since I LoVe anything coconutty!! So, why am I sharing this post then? Because my kids thought they were AMAZING, and it seemed like everyone at Bible Study liked them as well.

And they're just too cute NOT to make. ;)


Linked to Works For Me Wednesday

Chocolate Almond Milk Treats and Coconut Whipped Cream

Pin It Now! I bought chocolate almond milk for the first time a few weeks ago. It really was a delicious treat that all of my kids liked, so I decideded to experiment a little bit.

1. Hot Drink: I wanted to know if it tasted yummy heated up since I love homemade hot cocoa so much. Definitely good, but I wouldn't want to give up on whole milk hot chocolate altogether. :) The whipped cream was another first time experiment - I used whipped coconut milk. Explanation below.

2. Cold Smoothie: This was super easy - I just filled my blender up about half way, added about 2 frozen bananas, and threw in about a handful or so of ice. Really yummy! In my opinion, just as tasty as a Starbucks Frappuchino. :)

This is the coconut whipped cream I made. Got the idea here. It was good but more dense than regular whipped cream. Made me wish I had one of those air pressure cans to put it in!

I bet there are a ton of things to make with chocolate almond milk! Hmm, I bet popsicles would be good . . .

Linked to Tasty Tuesday.

Back in the Game Parenting

Pin It Now! I've been feeling like a "dud" of a parent lately. Even today - daughter shed tears over her Grammar lesson and middle son shared his displeasure over what I was serving for lunch. *sigh* My oldest, well, he's currently in puberty's grip, so I never know what the day will bring. Can I get a moment of silence over that last one?


Thank you.  :)


A few days ago, I was looking at pictures of my 4-year-old nephew's birthday party that my brother had posted on facebook, and when I got to these two photos, I had one of those ahh-yes-that's-exactly-it moments. The photos and my brother's captions mirrored exactly how I've been feeling as a parent lately!

One of my 5-year-old twin nephews, Easton's brother, blew out Easton's birthday candles - a serious offense in a 4-year-old's world!


Here's what my brother wrote:

Yes, Ryan blew out Easton's candles and he started crying and yes that's me rolling my eyes saying "oh gosh here we go"

Ugh, how many times a day do I do the same thing - sigh, roll my eyes, and think, Oh gosh here we go?

I love what he says here, though:

Daddy's back in the game consoling Easton

Back in the game. 

Love it.

My brother didn't throw his hands up in the air and stomp out of the restaurant. I think this photo is a wonderful illustration of good parenting. We, as parents, won't always get it right. We will get exasperated by our children's annoying behavior, which usually - at least for me - leads to much sighing and eye rolling.

But . . . we have a choice. We don't have to stay there. There's hope and the day, the situation can be redeemed by getting back in the game! And in my opinion, the sooner the better. :)

And truly I need Jesus to help me do this because, let's face it, some days I sit on my bed staring at my rustic armoire wishing it were a secret entrance to a fantastic world where I could sneak away to be queen and be friends with dragons and unicorns.