Only $10 but needs a pelmet box

Still working on the bedroom. Yesterday I was going to go to Hobby Lobby to see if they had any major discounted stuff to start some kind of project on but knowing me a little $3 item here and a little $4 item there ends up being $30 of crap I don't need in the house. Yes, a project would be very nice right now but I have other priorities at the moment.

I scooted down to Tuesday Morning because I hadn't been there in a while and took one of the shams with me to look for two things. One would be a throw pillow or two so I can get rid of the matchy-matchy pillows and/or a curtain to cover the tacky maroon tab top I have on the window. I found a panel for $10:



Close up of the pattern (need daylight pics but it was cloudy today):


It's horribly plain as is though but I LOVE the fabric and it's close enough to the tan/gold on the bed that it works. What it needs now is a pelmet box (much more casual than that as I am not a curvy person, haha) since a valance just isn't my thing.

So, after I got that hung up with a super cheap ($3) rod from Target, I started to look at the bed a bit more. Who needs all those stupid pillows? Three matchy-matchy pillows I don't like so off they went:



I do, however, need some pillows on my futon so I may find some fabric to cover them with and use them there.

So, this last weekend I did a major cleaning of the apartment. I had to stop working where I was because of the physical aspects of it were making it very difficult on my already bum wrist, elbow and shoulder (back through my trapezius muscle). Long story short, I ended up at urgent care because of the sinus infection, my arm and a badly infected finger and she told me to lay off the use of the arm for a minimum of two weeks and consume massive amounts of ibuprofen. I did some of that. I couldn't stand it anymore so I got to cleaning. The dust was bugging me so I did what closely resembles spring cleaning...it took me two days and three times the amount of time so as not to mess with the arm but it's done! YAY!

One of my projects was cleaning, with Murphy Oil Soap, my big dresser:


(Sept. 16, 2009)


(Jan. 19, 2010 - and yes I have left out some of the Christmas stuff elsewhere)

Back story: My mom bought that at an auction house back in the early to earlier of the mid 70s. (Refresher of the mirror.) I have no idea how old it is and in the years I have had it (since 1986 or 1987) I have only dusted and oiled it.

So, I attacked it with a white cloth, Murphy's and as much elbow grease my arm could muster. The entire left side of that dresser turned the cloth black! The top was just typical dirt and the right side was dirty and had some black on the cloth too. The left side of the front also turned the cloth black but the black grime faded as I went to the right side. I can't for the life of me think that it was something I ever did. So, deducing where it's been over the course of close to 40 years, the black is most likely soot from a coal fueled heat source back in the day. It is an antique so that only makes sense. I used to be a slob but that could not have happened under my watch!

So Murphy Oil Soap, I love you. Perhaps you can see how much better the grain stands out now. I really need to get it professionally refinished as that's not a project I can tackle nor would I on such a fabulous piece of furniture.

Next up is to make a pelmet box and that's a project I think can be done inexpensively and it has a good purpose. Funny how when you add something to your house it somehow can mean a new project. No matter, I like being busy!

Addition to last post

I had forgotten I had this picture of the $2 vase:



Isn't she sexy? Nice curves and she's so graceful. Haha...but yeah, I meant to post it in the previous entry and I didn't feel like editing that post.

Has it really been two months since my last post?

Good gracious. Time flies even when not having fun. HAHA.

Anyhow, with the holidays, the new job and such I just hadn't really found the time to do much blogging nor keep up much on other blogs, though I did go through them once in a while. That has changed temporarily for reasons I desire to not discuss here.

The last few days I have cruised through my usual haunts and I must say, I am glad the holiday season is over. So many Christmas oriented photos and such it became overload so seeing some blogs come back to normal is refreshing.

Oh, finally I did an upgrade to my bedroom:

Before - Sept 2009:


After - Jan 2010:


I happened upon that set for $20 at Ross! Sweet, I thought to myself. But not really investigating the contents until I got home I opened up the package and it was just a duvet cover with pillows and two shams. Whoops. I was so taken with the price I didn't even think to check it.

No matter. I finally had something pretty to cover the bed and buying an inexpensive comforter or preferably a thick quilt for the innerds can wait. I have left the two quilts (both are for twin beds) underneath to keep me warm at night. I pull the duvet cover down at night to keep it nice. The thing is, some might be really disappointed in discovering that their cheap find really wasn't what they thought it was but I now have a bedroom I can walk in and be proud of even if it is lacking a key component.

I think for $20 that's a good deal really. I really did want something that wasn't poofy like a comforter anyway and I had been eyeing a black quilt at Target but it was beyond my frugal nature and of course the budget. Also, this has a bit of the gold tones that are in my regular cotton sheets so it worked out. I did get some black pillow cases (on sale for $7!) and now it looks better. It's a bit matchy-matchy for my tastes right now but I am in no hurry to make it "perfect". It's far better than before so I am not complaining.

One holdover from the holidays are the gold, beaded twigs I got from Michael's craft store for 50% off before Christmas. I decided I liked how they pull out the gold tones in the vase I got for $4 from Ross back in August, they are staying out for now and I moved it to my computer desk:



Close-up for a better color comparison:


I've only added a few other things since November and all have been pretty darn cheap. I added a cord-wrapped vase for $2 on the top of my shelves:



An artsy closeup of the texture:


I also picked up its sister that is taller and not as bottom heavy and a bit more at $4.76 (both from Hobby Lobby deeply discounted):


If you notice the shorter vase, that came as triplets and who doesn't think triplets are cool? One of its siblings can be seen in the photo of my computer desk above, on the monitor stand and you can see the last one here next to the bronze and black vase (which was only $4) Though they were in a package together, they came out to only $1.83 each:



You may remember that yellow vase (with the flowers) I got at Goodwill a while back? I took someone's advice here and got a pack of northern white beans, on sale, from the grocery to fill it up. I dig it! What a great suggestion and it's kinda neat to shop the grocery for your home decor. Hehe.

The little gold votive holders I have also left out (one in the shelves and one on my computer desk) were also 50% off at Michael's before Christmas. Working next door to them can be kind of dangerous on the budget but I've been very careful about that.

Oh, and I have decided that mixing metals gold, bronze, silver and copper through your home is fun. In some cases you don't have much of a choice but if you don't get too anal about it, it's unexpected and doesn't have to look really odd. For example, my weather station has silver in it and I like it placed on my computer desk and then I have the vase with the gold, beaded twigs...I like them both so I am willing to overlook the idea they aren't the same. Given the nature of the weather station, spray painting it to be black, gold or whatever is not going to happen so they stay right where they are.

Enough of my ramblings for now. I hope everyone had a fine holiday season (whatever your beliefs) and that 2010 is a great year for everyone.

Oh, and I have to post a picture of my boys from this morning while they were soaking up the sun even though the temps outside are in the upper teens and lower 20s:



They are fast becoming buddies and as I type this, they are both licking their legs! Haha!

Work Pants

Those are the work pants I picked up at Goodwill for $4.99 each. Not bad at all for the price considering even a new pair on sale at Target last week was $15.99.

These are not pants I would have normally bought; I wear jeans almost exclusively because these kinds of pants are boring and drab and I happen to like how I look in jeans that fit well. Plus, these types of pants are so IT looking. I was in IT once (full blown network IT manager and user support for a decent sized construction company) and even then I didn't wear Microsoft pants.

Yep, that's what I call them "Microsoft Pants". Granted it could be worse but in my thrifty/forced to be frugal life, Goodwill was the best option for me.

Two are brands I am not familiar with (left two) and the second to right is Merona (Target brand) and the last pair are Dockers. I am kind of bummed because I had gone and picked out the first pair, the black and the last pair of Dockers along with another pair of Dockers. The other pair of Dockers were the same size but longer in the leg yet they were too big around the waist and hips. I was quite surprised because Dockers is a Levi's brand and I rarely have problems with Levi's jeans except for the length. But what was a real drag was they were a red tag and red tags were 50% off last week so I would have had three pair at $4.99 and one pair at $2.49. Eh, I returned them, found those Meronas and that's that.

I will admit, I am in a state of sadness today. While I am still semi self-employed, I now am working outside the home for someone else and I am not real happy about that. I am a very independent woman and the thought of having to be at some place at certain times through the week (with the same walls and same people) makes me a bit sad and a bit frustrated too. I've been able to set my work schedule for most of my life since January 1994 when I moved from Colorado Springs to Grand Junction to start my outside sales career. That's close to 16 years of me calling the shots.

But for some part-time work here and there, a stint at a tile company (that's a long story), tis a long time for independence.

Anyhow, yeah, quite a bit of uneasiness about this combined with working for a large corporation. I know I can do a good job and I will do a good job but with the loss of my independence I worry.

I just hope that tonight I get a good night of sleep and this first week doesn't send me into "What am I doing? What have I done?" I do not want to be a bad employee.

Last weekend my brothers and I got the rest of the stuff out of the storage unit:



If you look carefully you can see Sonny (cat) hanging out on a very old and ugly comfortor I've had since the mid 80s. It was useful for a lot of things through the years (not on my bed though) so I will hang on to it for a while longer.

But it's kind of sad to see all your stuff fit into an 855 sq. ft. apartment when I took up a good majority of the 1400 sq. ft. house I lived in for 11 years. A ton of it is gone and thinking through some of the things I got rid of, I really wish I had just hung on to them until I had a good chance to go through my stuff. I only had three weeks from rehab to the move to get my bearings together and that was just not enough time to think things through.

I made snap decisions about what was donated and such and in hindsight, there's a lot of stuff I am regretting having gotten rid of. The clothes I donated HAD to go but some of the things that were my mom's, things I had picked out that I really liked, my own little jewelry collection, etc are gone and there's no turning back on any of that.

I guess you could say that today I am sort of in mourning. My independence is partially gone and the things that I didn't have time to make good decisions on getting rid of are somewhere in the world.

I will snap out of it but there's a lot of apprehension, sadness, anger, etc today.

I'm employed outside the home!

Had an interview today with an animal daycare/kennel. I got the job!

Tomorrow I go for my pee test (I will pass with flying colors) and then when they get the results back, I am to start the day after they receive them soooo, yipeee!

I will primarily be dealing with the pet parents, taking phone calls, processing payments and such. I will also be trained to take care of those wagging tails and meowing faces and help out in the main store as needed. I think it's a good fit for me.

It's part-time and I am just fine with that. Being self-employed for so long, this will be a transition for sure but since it's part-time, the transition will be a lot easier to swallow.

Now I am thinking of all the things I can start to work towards that I have put off for so long and some of my immediate needs are a new pair of Danskos because they are the only shoe brand I own that doesn't make me want to cry (I have horrible feet). New glasses and not the cheapest either, I need glasses that can handle me using a tshirt to clean them without the minor scratching...the pair I have now weren't the cheapest but they weren't like my LensCrafters glasses (that I still have) that took a heck of a beating. Also, I can finally look for a comforter for my bed so I am not making it twice a day. Then there are the not so fun things like paying down some debt (all private as I don't have any credit cards, thankfully).

So YAY! That takes a load off my mind and I think it will be a good fit for me. I am confident I can and will do a good job because I am that way. I am not a wuss.

A couple of small projects are in the works. I went to Hobby Lobby to look at the fabric remnants on Saturday because I am tired of using a towel to block the cold air at the front door (it faces north) from the winds we get here. I found a 7/8 yard remnant (52" wide) of basic canvas for $3.67 which would have been $6.11! They had poly fill on sale so I got two of those - one for one of the dog beds (it's gone flat) and the other for making a door draft dodger. I also got two adhesive strips of Velcro to attach the draft dodger to the door so it will keep the air out when I leave the house. I will have to hand sew it but that's okay, I am going for function over beauty here.

The other project will be to use the remaining canvas to cover the front of my craft and computer shelves:


Photo from Sept. 16

I only have black thread so I thought I would have a bit of fun with it using a blanket stitch - we'll see how that goes, I haven't done embroidery stitches in years. How I am going to attach it, that's another story. In my travels tomorrow, I will see if I can find a simple tension rod like you might find for showers but on a small scale. I figure I can fit one up inside and behind the part that comes down in front. I will think more on it. I just want it to look cleaner than it does now.

So, I have a place that I will report to for work, a couple of small projects in the works and feeling like a bit of weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

Life is good. It's not perfect but this will do by golly. I hope everyone has started off their week in such a positive way too, no matter how mundane you may think it is. Sometimes it's the smaller things too.