Thanks Amanda @ The Hand Me Down House  for the Versatile Blogger Award!  Love ya!


According to the terms of the award, I have to tell you seven random things about myself and pass on the award to seven new blogs I have recently discovered.

1. I have a 2 month old baby boy.
2. We call him Little Man (his big bro is Bamm-Bamm).
3. I love milk.
4. I just switched to rice and almond milk.
5. My baby has colic.
6. I often wonder if I eat too much chocolate.
7. I'm addicted to blogging.

Random enough for you I hope!!

The following are all *new* blogs this year!

1. Mommy Drinks Because You Cry is the funniest stuff I've read in a long time!
2. Sweet Bee Hollow besides her cute blog, Becky is a fab friend!
3. Crafts & Sutch, Erin's fast growing blog is full of beauty.
4. Straight Stitches Adorable sewing projects and more
5. Stash mama I love giveaways!
6. The Trials of Big J and Little J Also a *very* new blog with lots of love and family fun
7. Green Willow Pond  This one has got the craft projects I wanna do! (Supernew blog too!)

P.S.  I'm thrilled to hit 100 followers recently!  I love you all!!

I'm like the crazy cat lady, only with lamps! 
 
This is my 3rd, no wait, 4th lamp tutorial on Pregnant with power tools!  And I have 3 more in the pipeline!

Maybe I should rename the blog Genie of the Lamp?

You may remember the tin can pendant light I submitted for the last Iron Craft Competition...

doesn't exist in this house!

This "relationship term" made poplar by the 1955 Marilyn Monroe film suggests that after 7 years, people reevaluate their relationship.  The statistics of the time supported this, the average marriage ended after 7 years (these days it may be even less!)

Well, I am here to tell you, Gorgeous and I celebrate our 7 year anniversary today and we are still very happily married!  (I can't believe 7 years seems to have gone by so quickly!)

In the spirit of lovey gushy stuff (I love you honey!)  I thought I'd post a few wedding photos from that most special day!





Ahh, L'Amour...Romance, dressing up, fine dining...  and two kids later, we are ordering take-out to celebrate 'cause that's just how I roll these days  ; )

Eggstatic!

We've had our 4 Rhode Island Red (RIR) Hens for 1 year already... yes, they grow up so fast.

I remember when we first got 'em... I had been working on the coop and run every weekend for a month... I wanted my babies safe.

Then we picked 'em up from the feed store.. I thought they looked awful small for being over a month old.

I didn't sleep a wink the first night.  I was sure every predator in a 100 mile radius would suddenly know there was fresh chicken in town.  I had nightmares of waking up to a raided henhouse... but my fears were unfounded.

I've only seen 1 hawk eyeing my ladies, but left 'em alone.

and 1 cat stupid enough to tangle with 4 full-grown RIRs... and she ran off to lick her wounds and hasn't been back since.

We get an egg from each girl.  Every.  Single.  Day.  That's a dozen eggs every 3 days.  Feed only costs us about $8/mo., so it's economical too.

Bamm-Bamm loves them, and they are pretty fun to watch.  Alpha, that's her name, keeps the pecking order strict - don't mess with her!


All in all, I love having chickens!  Our yard is very small, and mucking the coop is no picnic, but all-you-can-eat, yummy, super fresh eggs is!   I'm not sure I can ever go back to supermarket eggs...

Do you own any "livestock"?

Earlier this week, Bamm-Bamm's bed looked like this...


a custom made seamed and button-tufted headboard later, and this bed is starting to show some real potential!





How do you like the sheets?

This is the crib my son used to sleep in.  YES, I do know he's 3 (only just :) and what were we thinking!  It's cool... he didn't mind sleeping in a crib... but you are all right - it is time for a big boy bed!

The Circular Saw

The circular saw is one of the most widely used power tools (after a drill), and is also very versatile.  Though it technically includes table saws and miter saws, any saw that spins, using a circular saw blade, I will only cover hand-held circular saws today.

 

I finally finished making a crib quilt for my new bundle of joy!

I followed the instructions from this site, but will not go into detail here...

because I am no quilter ladies and gentlemen!  Quilts are hard (but it could be I didn't follow directions well *blush*).  OK hard for me...  I should try again, I think I'll do it better next time (and follow the directions)!

I would hate for anyone to follow my "instructions" on this one.  I have in the past believed that you can learn anything from the web, but if I try quilting again, I will certainly seek out a little hands-on help from someone who knows what they're doing!

Anywho, here's a picture - it looks great, but then again, you can't see the flaws if I don't show them to you, right?  


Either way, the quilt is functional and warm!!


Do you think maybe I should make one for Bamm-Bamm too?

Hi there friends!  Rayan - the Frugal Designer here to tell you that your Blogger has been kidnapped...by me!  Not to worry, it's only temporary, I promise to return them shortly and in one piece!  I hope you will come visit them over at my site, I know they would love to see you all and I would be honored to have you as well!  See you soon..Xx Rayan!

So I'm finally getting around to fixing up Bamm-Bamm's big boy room into a metal and grease Vintage Auto Room!

With this in mind I've been collecting odds and ends and goodies from the thrift store!

Some of these are obvious, but some you will never guess what I plan to do with them!!  I hope you will follow along for the next few weeks as I create a fun new space for my 3 year old!

It took maybe 11 hours to put together, but the kids have a playset!  I hope it wears 'em out!!!!




If I had a girl, this thing would so be gettin' curtains!!

I'm a finalist!!
But I need your votes!!

If you love my can pendant lamp as much as I do, go to Fireflies & Jellybeans and vote for your fav (pick me!)

I've been planning and working on Bamm-Bamm's (my 3 year old's) vintage car bedroom and finished the first transformation into making this space "big boy" (all grease and metal!)

And I have The Iron Crafter Competition @ Fireflies and Jellybeans to thank for the inspiration!


The Secret Ingredient: Recycled Cans or Tins

I love it, and I love the Can Pendant Lights I built for Bamm-Bamm's room!

Here's a sneak peak of the project that's been keeping me busy today (when I'm not nursing...)!


I wish I was building something "from scratch", but sometimes it's just worth it to buy a kit from the store.

Anyone have an idea what this will be?

You Do Not Know about Christin McCool

1. I have a tattoo of a blivet (the optical illusion above) on my upper arm (I got when I passed my qualifying exams)
2. It took me 8 years (oops only 7, it just feels like longer!) to earn a PhD (and I've spent a total of 26 years going to school!)
3. I was homeschooled (for 1 year)
4. I was born with black hair (then it fell out and came in blond)
5. My husband and I broke up >3 times while we were dating (guess we didn't realize we are perfect for each other?)
6. I've cleaned up monkey poo (don't ask)
7. If either of my sons had been a girl I would've named her Bonnie
8. I used to have a cat named Bonnie (my Mom hated the idea of naming a kid after a cat - but I just like the name! :)
9. I was 20 before I got my driver's license
10. Like Sunny, a lot of things I do on this blog are my first time

Thanks for the Challenge Sunny!
For Sunny's list go here