We are still working on Angry Kid’s room makeover.  Yes, it has been since January.  The Angry Family is quite busy.  I constantly walk around Angry Kid’s room and find more projects to do, or project’s for my husband to do.

The latest project was his laundry hamper.  Angry Kid had a white rattan laundry hamper and green gingham liner from Pottery Barn Kid’s.  He’s had the same laundry hamper since he was born.  His room used to a be a frog theme long ago.  Angry Husband was fine with the white hamper, but it drove me nuts.  Cause it didn’t match the current theme.

We started off with the white version of this rattan hamper.  I didn’t realize that I paid that much for it when I originally bought it.  Angry Husband used some matte black primer spray paint that he already had in the garage.  We (ok he) spray painted over a period of three days.  The hamper actually took about four cans of spray paint.  We already had three, so it didn’t cost us that much.  The tricky part about all of the spray painting was the holes and grooves in the rattan.

You have to make sure that you thoroughly get the paint on the inside and outside of the wicker.  Angry Husband had done three coats of paint, when I noticed white rattan peeking through.  So he sprayed one last final coat of paint on the basket.

I then realized that we still needed to figure out the hamper liner problem.  I had the current (green gingham) liner.  I looked online and did not see any liners that fit our current color scheme.  Luckily, I have this AWESOME and EXTREMELY TALENTED friend, who also sews.  I went to lunch with this friend, KELLY, and asked her about the liner.  She told me that it was super simple and to go buy the fabric.

I arrived at Kelly’s house, later that afternoon with my three yards of fabric.  I bought extra fabric just in case.  My trip to the fabric store was quite an experience.  I didn’t realize how hard it was to get solid colored fabric.  Kelly was able to match the dimensions of the original liner and she made me a new one.

I showed it to Angry Husband when I got home that night.  He was impressed.  This is why I am friends with creative crafty people, you never know when you might need help with a project.

I’m really happy with the results of our rattan project.  The black spray paint made the laundry hamper look brand new.  Can you imagine all the wonderful colors that you could paint, rattan? The ideas are endless.  Just think of all the rattan trash baskets, chairs, and tables just sitting around in your garage. I saved a ton of money by just using a little spray paint.

We have one more project left and Angry Kid’s room will finally be finished.  Hopefully, we can get it done by the end of the summer.  That is my goal.

I spent my childhood drawing and coloring.  I would write little stories and then illustrate them.  My specialty was mice.  My nickname from my dad, was mouse.  I would draw little mice families and write about them.  The highlight of all of this was in sixth grade when my teacher used to laminating machine and laminated my entire story.  I wish I could find that story now.  It is probably hidden in a box somewhere.

In college, I learned how to cross-stitch.  I think it’s one of those sorority initiation things.  I learned to cross-stitch for a pillow for my Big Sis and I also learned the magic of making a fabric photo album.  I can’t tell you how many times that I burnt my fingers with the glue gun making those photo albums.

After college was done and over with, I still tried to cross stitch in my spare time.  I think I still have about ten unfinished cross stitch projects.  I would spend hours on them.  When I got to a difficult part, I would get pissed off, and toss it to the side.  And then they would go into the project graveyard.

I am a creative person but literally just don’t have the time to be creative as much, anymore.  My days are filled with work, chasing after Angry Kid, and the day to day stuff.  I can barely fit in a workout right now, which I desperately need.  So I turn to blogs and websites to inspire my creativity now.  Ok, well I read about other people’s creativity.

I was talking on the phone to my friend, Kelly, last night.  We were talking about craft sites and crafty people online…I keep listing tons of crafty bloggers that she had never heard of.  I guess I follow a few too many. Is that a bad thing? I read MANY, ok more than twenty craft blogs and sites a day.  I get so many ideas and inspirations that every once in awhile motivate me.

Speaking of my friend, Kelly, she is quite crafty and creative herself.  She even has a button on her blog sidebar dedicated to crafts. For Christmas, she made me these beautiful earrings and necklace. How do I even compete with that?

Enter, another crafty friend, named Shey.  Have you heard of *Shey* [B] Camera Strap Covers? Shey and I started off as Twitter friends.  I think we became even better friends at Bloggy Boot Camp in Phoenix when I stalked her with my camera.  Shey is used to being the one behind the camera.  I think she spent the entire weekend trying to hide from my camera.  I even managed to get a few pictures of her.

Last month, Shey was doing giveaways for her birthday, and I won one of them.  I won a Too ChaCha for Words Tank from Erin of Haute Tots.  Well, ironically, I was already a follower of Erin and her blog, Bringing Up Burns.  The blogging world is very small when you think about it, because I found Erin’s blog several months ago, which was linked to several other blogs I follow.  I really didn’t think much about it, when I realized that Erin and I went to high school together.

Erin also lives very close to the city I work in.  I was able to pick up my tank top last night…late last night.  Oh my swoon, it’s beautiful.  I love it.  Erin was just sewing away in her garage.  That’s why crafty people do.  They find a place to hide from everyone to unleash their creativity.

Oh, and my friend, Lindsay…wow. Lindsay and I met on a parenting forum years ago.  We were both obsessed with clothing for our little boys.  Wow, times have changed since then.  I can barely get Angry Kid to wear a clean shirt these days, let alone something that matches.

While we were on the forums together, Lindsay started selling custom clothing for children.  She became famous instantly on e-bay.  She made beautiful creations which fetched top dollar.  Naturally, blogging was a natural thing for Lindsay to do.  She started her blog, Living with Lindsay.  She blogged about projects that she did in her own home.  Whether it be her fabric covered headboard, or her book page wreath.

Picture from Living with Lindsay

Have you seen Lindsay’s book wreaths? This easy, simple, and CHEAP craft project went viral on the blogs.  I’ve seen a ton of people post about it.  I like to think, “I knew Lindsay when…” I am constantly amazed at the things that Lindsay has come up with.

So although, I am surrounded by creative crafty people, I’m quite craft lazy.  Actually, I would probably say that I don’t really have the time to get involved into things.  I have tons of things bookmarked though.  Every once in awhile, I try to bake or do a project.  I just don’t actually post about it here. Maybe I should.

I have given up on scrapbooking.  I had all of the scissors, papers, tools, etc.  I gave them to Angry Kid to craft with.  He probably uses them more than I ever have. Besides, I don’t need to scrapbook anymore.  I have a blog.

Red, White, and Blue Cupcakes from Skip To My Lou.

Can you believe that it is almost July? This year has flown by so fast.  I just barely realized that Sunday is the 4th of July.  Due to a change in my work schedule, I’m off for the 4th, which was completely last minute.  I think we are going to have some kind of get together or party that day, plus our Homeowner’s Association always has a fantastic fireworks display. But now, I think the panic has set in. I’ve been trying to find some great ideas for our little celebration, and I thought I would share some of them with the lovely people who come to visit me here.  That is, if you haven’t forgotten about me, have you?

Tasty Treats

Red, White and Blue Cupcakes

Cindy adapted the rainbow cupcake recipe that I posted to make these wonderful cupcakes.  She is quite creative, and even added stars to the top.

Red, White and Blueberry Trifle

I found this delicious Martha Stewart dot com recipe on Delish.  It looks so easy to make, and tasty too.

Summer Salad

My friend Kelly posted this summer salad which includes fresh fruit, and cinnamon candied almonds.

Lemonade with Berry Ice Cubes

This non-alcoholic drinks screams summer. It sounds so refreshing.  I’m sure you could find some booze to add to it also, like rum or vodka.

Party Planning

Red, White, and Blue Centerpiece for the 4th of July

This is so simple.  A vase, rice, and food coloring.  I could even do this!

Festive Ice Cubes

All you need is a star shaped ice cube tray and some colored juice.

Balloon 4th of July Wreath

This is a time consuming project, so start NOW. But the end result is quite awesome.  You could use this for other Holidays also. Think of the possibilities.

4th of July Printables

I met Kim in Arizona, and I’m amazed at her creativity.  I want her to come out here and plan all of my parties.  She pays so much attention to detail.

I hope everyone is enjoying summer so far.  It has been quite gloomy and overcast here in Southern California.  We haven’t been able to get much pool time, as we would like to.  I hope everyone whom is traveling also has a safe trip!