DIY Antique Railroad Board

 Here is the Easy Step-by-Step for my Latest Creation: 

A Large Antique Railroad Schedule Sign 

For Over Yy Back Door:

Fair warning, this is a project that takes up some space, the area over our back door is fairly large so I wanted to do a project that had some size, and brought a big punch of impact. This is a great project if you have a large area that you want to fill up or as a background layer for what you 
already have in place.

I got the idea for this sign when I was visiting a museum here in Michigan, I saw one in a display and snapped a photo, thinking that it was an awesome DIY idea just waiting for the perfect spot.

#1. First you start with the board, something of this size needs to be light enough for hanging without bringing in a civil engineer, so I went with a product called Hardboard. It is thin and has one smooth side and one rough side. It is a pressed wood product (you might remember it from your grade school days) and I picked mine up at the Home Depot. They have it in several pre-cut lengths, but the dimensions did not fit my needs so I picked up an entire full sheet. The full sheet was only $9 and I cut the exact size I wanted out of it, saving the other pieces for another project (ask for help with the table saw if you need it, no trips to the emergency room please!)

#2. Paint: Here is where a little trickery comes in. When folks look at the finished board, they think it is a chalkboard, even though it is not. If you want your board to be a functing chalkboard, paint yours with chalkboard paint. However, my board is hung over head level and I was not intending to write on it, so I wanted the look of chalkboard without the cost. So I painted my board with black tempra paint. Yep, the cheap stuff that you can pick up anywhere and that kids use all the time in art class. I did a couple coats of black paint on my board and left it to dry:

#3. Lettering & Lines: for this you will need a T square (I borrowed my husband's from the garage) a pencil, stencils, printer and white paint (I chose an antiqued white from Walmart that I paid $1 for) Measure the height of the board and do the math to figure out where your lines will go: for example, I wanted the header to be the biggest space, so if your board is 50 inches tall, start with the height of the header: 5 inches, south and north headers: 2.5 inches each, all the rest are 2 inches for a total of 50 inches. You are going to use your square to make a mark at those measurements on both sides of your board and then use you T square to draw the lines connecting those marks. Mine did not light up exactly, but I did not sweat it, we are going for homemade here, so get as close as you can and move on to making your dividing lines for the No, From, To, Due, Reported, Leave, and Trk. columns:

                                          

Lettering: I used stencils with a fancy scroll font that I picked up at Walmart for the "South Bound" and "North Bound" Headers and I printed out the Pere Marquette Rail Co. on my computer in a font I liked and then taped the printouts to the board and traced over the letters firmly with a pen, which leaves a faint outline on the black paint that you can use as you guide to paint. *you can name your railroad whatever you want, the town you live in, your families' name, what ever strikes your fancy. I also painted the main title letters with crackle medium first, let it dry, then painted it again with my white paint, which caused the letters to crackle, adding to the "old" look of the sign.

#4. Finishing touches: otherwise known as the fun part! Beating up the sign. I used sandpaper to sand all the edges of my finished sign, especially the corners where I took off quite a bit of paint. Sandpaper was also used to lightly sand the words to make them look weathered. I also dinged and scratched up the front of my sign with a screwdriver. A great tip is to use some masking tape to pull some of the paint off. Take a strip of tape, place diagonally on the sign and pull off quickly, it will leave a nice, mottled tape mark that really adds to the antique feel! (you can see one of these marks in the photo below, crossing over the word "Bound" at the bottom of the sign) The last step before hanging was to take a piece of chalk, held flat, to cover the entire sign in a layer of chalk. I then used my hand to rub in the chalk/wipe it around, which gives the black tempra paint that "chalkboard that has been written on and erased a thousand times" look, you see in the finished photo at the top of this article. My board was placed in a permanent home, so we leveled and screwed through the board right into the studs of the wall (use a stud finder) with dark colored screws to make sure the sign would not fall or warp. You can attach hangers to the back if your prefer. Add a piece of chalk tied to a length of twine looped around one of the top screws and 

Ta Da! ~ a one-of-a-kind piece that will get compliments 

from everyone that sees it!

Retch To Rustic DIY Stairway

Hello Folks! I am so happy to announce that I finished my back stairway re-do            over the weekend!

This hallway was always a sore point for me, most people come in our house through the back door, which either leads up into the kitchen or down into the basement family room. We had already re-done the basement and freshened up the kitchen, but the back stairway/entry way left MUCH to be desired. It was fugly, no bones about it.


The walls were faux-painted in a creepy skin color/almost pink and the walls were so beat up and full of dings and cracks and holes that it looked like bulls had been on parade. There was also a charming silvery wallpaper border that went around only halfway before stopping in a messy end where someone had ripped it off. Oh, did I also mention the light was just a bare bulb hanging there? Nice right?! The handrails were painted a "once was white" and were almost goopey they were so dirty and gross, and the carpet on the stairs was a very cheap, very old and very smelly berber blue that was stapled down with no edging, no moulding, no nothing.

In fact there was no moulding or trim anywhere in this hallway. I was fed up with being embarrassed about this space, especially since it was the first stop on your way in the back of the house. Not having a bunch of money or time, here is the list of what we did on the cheap to get from our before to our after~

DEMO: gross part: ripping up the carpet and pad from the stairs, this was pretty easy and it was good to get that stuff out of the house. I used pliers and a screwdriver to remove all the left over staples that did not come up with the carpet. We were left with light colored wood stair steps and the risers (the up and down part of the steps) were just plywood, so kinda ugly. We also filled and sanded all of the dings, cracks and dents in all the walls at this point and removed the wallpaper border. Tip: use a hairdryer if it does not come off easy, usually heating up the glue helps it peel right off. 

Handrails: This was pretty easy, I took the handrails off the wall, and put them over sawhorses outside. I then sanded the crap out of them until all of the old nasty paint was gone, hit them one more time with a fine sandpaper, wipe down and sprayed with a clear coat. I also took the original brass hardware holding up the rails and hit them with my favorite hammered bronze spray paint: TA~DA! Instantly better! p.s. I love rustic, & wanted to make it look like it has been there forever, so I left some dings and a bit of white paint on my handrails, feels more charming :)

Paint: White, white, white. I painted everything white semi-gloss which instantly turned this from the dark hallway of doom to a brighter, more cheerful space!

Steps: K, this was a biggie, trying to figure out what to do with the steps without spending a ton of money or taking years off our lives with stress. My solution? I stained the wood steps themselves a dark brown, 2 coats made them a color I love (I use a Minwax stain and finish in 1 product). I chose to let the stairs weather naturally, they have already gained some light spots and the edges on a few steps are show a bit of wear. This might drive you nuts, but it is the kind of thing I LOVE! I wanted it to look like an old farmhouse stairway, since the original part of the house is over 100 years old, I wanted the steps to look like they have been there with dogs and kids running up and down them forever.

Beadboard: For the stair risers, we bought a couple sheets of white breadboard from our local home improvement store and cut pieces to fit each stair riser, which we then air nailed into place. We followed that with a piece of quarter round where the riser meets the step to give a nice finish (and to hide any wobbly cuts we made on the table saw) We also added a piece of breadboard to the "bump out" ledge wall you see in the photos, that wall was crumbing and it ending up being a nice touch and matched the steps and the ceiling. 

TIP: when you are cutting your pieces for the step risers, take a pen and number your steps, then write down the measurements for each step on a piece of paper next to their number. For example: Step #1 is 4 feet 2 inches wide and 9 inches tall, etc. When you are cutting, write the number on the back of each piece as you cut it. Believe me, you are going to have a bunch of pieces that are similar in size, you don't want to drive yourself crazy trying to figure out which piece goes in which spot. If you are lucky like us, our steps were all the same width so we just measured the hight, cut, wrote the number on the back, moved on to the next one, and so on……

Moulding and More Moulding: An important part of this project was the trim. We measured and went up to the store and cut and painted the moulding ourselves. We bought basic, cheap wood trim since I was painting it all white. Trimming in all the areas such as the doors, the baseboards, the outside corners, and the ceiling was a bit of a pain but boy does it make a difference! And the secret to great looking trim is calk. Not joking, it's your new best friend. My husband would air nail the trim up and I would follow right behind him with white calk in my calking gun. Run a smooth line of calk anywhere trim meets the wall or another piece of trim. Smooth with a finger, have a damp rag ready to wipe up behind your finger smoothing and a paper towel on hand to wipe up excess calk. Trust me, it's easy and cheap to do and it is the difference from a professional looking finished project and crappy looking moulding. It hides many sins, so pick some up when you are at the store! 

Extras: We threw up a light that I found for less than $15 at Menard's and some funky coat hooks, some stick up chalkboard shapes and a basket I found on sale in the little side nook. I made the curtains myself from fabric and ribbon I found at Walmart and used fabric bonding tape instead of sewing them because I was feeling lazy. I am looking forward to adding a few nick-nacks from my collection into the space now that we are all done. 

2 weekends of work= a whole difference space that I can be proud of!

Let's Get Real About Romance

Today's post is half wake-up-call & half rant, so if you are not in the mood to get slapped with some stone cold reality, please feel free to go back to your game of Candy Crush……

The recent passing of Valentine's Day has me thinking about not only my relationship with my husband of 12 years, but relationships in general, including what we teach our children. Risking much hate mail, I propose the following 5 guidelines for real-world romance, tongue placed firmly in cheek…..

#1. Please Remember That Your Partner Loves You Because Of The Awesome & Unique Snowflake You Are, NOT because you will be the 2nd half of some weird combined organism. I am a firm believer that no one, at any point, should be caught dead on a couples bike, wearing any kind of matching clothing or sharing a common email address. Sorry, it's just not right. If anything, please remember that there is an entire world of people that must interact with you, and sometime JUST you. Together you are awesome, but make sure there are no matching Halloween costumes in your future. 

#2. Real Love Is Tiny, Not Disney Epic Big. This is something that I have had to remind myself of several times in my relationship. Everyone loves that first gush of feelings, but I think we sometimes get caught in the trap of "my spouse should do so-and-so to prove they love me" or "If you really cared about me then you would X or you would do Y or you would act the exact way I think I want you to act." Please! That sentence was hard enough to type, let alone live up to. Shut your mouth and pay attention, because I am telling you the cold hard truth right now: You don't want someone that will do as they are told every single day, You DO want someone that will take the time to scrape your car windows for you in the dead of winter without you asking.

#3. Get real about what you want, not what you think you want. Resist the pull of pop culture! Stop punishing your partner for exhibiting traits that drew you to them in the first place! Personally the idea that I would want a man that is super in-touch with his feelings, had a nice feminine side and was not afraid to be vulnerable sounds a lot like dating the pain in the butt roommate I dealt with my first semester of college. What I do know and am not afraid of saying out loud: I want a MAN, an honest to goodness man. I want someone that will balance my sometimes-a-hot-mess self. We can't BOTH be mushy and weepy, I need me a rock, a backbone of my family. Someone who can teach our son what a man is, how he treats people, about dignity and hard work and fun and standing for something. Someone who can help me teach our kids how to treat others and demand to be treated in return. You may enjoy your emo-hipster who is unable to change a tire, but personally, I am heading home with the biggest bada*s in the room. Everyone needs someone who will sometimes hold their hand and sometimes keep them in check…..especially folks like me…..who happen to have a big mouth..

#4. There is no boss at home. Please, please, please try to remember that you and your partner are just that, PARTNERS! That does not mean that everything will be equal and fair, you will figure out pretty quick who is better at keeping the grass cut and who is best at folding fitted sheets. Or if you are like us, you figure out what chores that you loath and will trade them with your spouse for chores that they can't stand. There will be areas where either you or your partner will do the lion share of work, but here is the biggie: Your way of doing things is not the "right" way, it's just your way. Repeat that a couple times to yourself when you are ready to pick a fight over something stupid like how the dishwasher is loaded or how the carpet is vacuumed or the bills are paid or the kids are put to bed. Your partner is not your child, you are not in charge, accept that you need to either let some stuff go and be happy that you have someone that will help you out with tasks or keep your freakin' mouth shut and do it yourself. Those are your only choices, so the next time you start telling the love of your life the "correct" way to make a bottle or that their dirty laundry "belongs" in the hamper, take a deep breath and get over yourself. A dirty sock is just a dirty sock, not a secret commentary on the level of respect someone has for you. Pick it up or leave it there…….it feeds the happy, I promise!

#5. And finally….remember that you are in love. Sometimes this is easy and sometimes I want to punch my husband in the throat and laugh while he writhes on the ground. But I have found that stopping what I am doing in random moments to text my husband, or go find him in another room for a quick peck and a casual "Love you babe" does more for my marriage than any couples vacation or manufactured date night. ALWAYS kiss hello and goodbye, even if it's just a quick peck, even if you are out in public, even if you are surround by friends or kids or the apocalypse. ALWAYS say "hi babe" or "bye hon" & I love you. My husband does not give amazing foot rubs, he does not buy me jewelry or flowers, he isn't even always nice to me, but when he shows up at the ice rink to coach our son's team and five feet in the door he looks around for me, wades in through all the hockey moms sitting there and chatting to tell me "hi" and give me a quick kiss before heading for the locker room, that is what makes him my  everyday white knight…..bushy red beard and all….

Rusty Love

It never fails; when I drag some dirty chunk of metal from a bucket at a yard sale, or dust off a forgotten  and forlorn little something at the Re-Store, the person next to me asks "what are you going to do with that?!"
Confession time: I have a chronic case of rusty love. If it's dirty, dusty, rusty & dented, it's usually coming home with me, even though I rarely know what to do with it at the time. I just know if it catches my eye and captures my heart, that it will eventually find the perfect place in our home.

I know that many folks prefer the shiny, the slick, the brand new from the store, but the reason I choose well-worn is simple~ you can trust rust. There is something about a house filled with found treasures that lets you know that you can relax, that no one is going to walk by and tell you to take your feet off the coffee table. Feel free to run and yell and goof off, this house is fun. I couldn't care less if you wear your shoes inside, and I don't think I could find a coaster for your drink if you paid me.

So I will continue to hunt for the one-of-a-kind, and May my home always be rusty, chippy, a little bit kooky, and always filled with love and warmth to welcome friends….

Move It Around

As I sit here, locked in the throws of yet another snow day, I have turned to using what I already have around the house to re-decorate in the hopes that it will keep me occupied and avoiding activity similar to The Shining. One of my favorite things to collect are wooden folding rulers, I love the graphic nature of the numbers and they can be readily found in many sizes and colors at garage sales and antique shops for a couple bucks a pop. I had previously hung them on the moulding of my doorways in our house: 

Since the bookshelves in our den were screaming out for something decorative on top, I went on the hunt throughout the house to find something to repurpose. Not wanting to get all involved in the cutting and nailing to make traditional stars, I just bended the rulers into star shapes and used some thread to hold the ends together. I started with the 3 in the top photo and now have a collection of ruler stars in all different shapes and sizes which never fail to "measure up" in the compliment department…….sorry, couldn't help myself…..

Who Knows?

It has come to this Michigan Gypsy's attention that there is an epidemic running rampant through our society these days. This persistent unpleasantness of this infection is so wide-spread that is had become almost impossible to ignore:

No one really knows what the hell they are talking about.

Now I mean no offense, and acknowledge that I myself occasionally suffer the symptoms of this sad affliction. This state of affairs is so extensive that we can no longer afford to sit idly by (I believe there is a Facts R Your Friends Celebrity Concert in the works). When attempting to diagnose this disease, one must look to the main culprit of this contagion......laziness. 

I'm looking at you, Furious Facebook Sharer & Enthusiastic E-Mail Forwarder! In today's culture of over-sharing that allows us to seed ignorance as one would sow handfuls of wheat in a hungry field, we no longer take the time to think before we act. Being able to broadcast a scrap of information to hundreds of our nearest and dearest with a click of a finger has resulted in the formation of a toxic cloud of falsehood that can engulf even the levelest head.

Take for example, the case of the dreaded E-Mail Influenza: 

This illness starts off innocently enough, perhaps there is an email containing important information about a school or organization that you send on to those you know will need it. Next you forward a hilarious video of a cat playing the piano or a baby dancing (remember that one?). Then before you know it you are forwarding several emails every single day to your entire contact list. Forget that these emails almost always end up in the recipient's junk or trash file, but this condition is know to be very hard to self-diagnose ~ "MY emails are actually informative," "I'm sure that if people have this persuasive information they will agree with me,""I'm doing a good thing by supporting my cause."
Sound familiar?
The only cure for this affliction? The Hard Question
Just because you know someone enough to have their email address does not mean that you know them enough to predict their opinions and beliefs. Forwarding emails that contain polarizing views, un-verified propaganda, or possibly insulting images or statements can be perceived at the very least as annoying, and at the very worse as pompous, unpleasant and invasive. So ask yourself the following questions before you hit that Forward button: "Why am I forwarding this email? Is my motivation worth the risk of alienating my contacts, friends and family?" And if you choose to continue your forced influx of information, then please don't blame the rest of us for hitting "delete all."

Now we move on to the Manic Media Mumps:

This is perhaps the most shocking ignorance affliction since it strikes at the heart of our information steam, the news media. Since the invention of the idiot box, our entire nation has gathered around our beloved glowing screens to listen to the nightly news. The level of trust gifted to the media is staggering in it's ability to sway the way we see the world. Regardless of your opinions on which network provides the most accurate depiction of the facts, the reality of news is that if we see a story reported at 6 o'clock we accept it as fact. If your trusted anchor tells you that there is a fire in the next town over, you feel comfortable passing that information along to others. But what happens when the Media gets it wrong?
these mistakes run the gauntlet from a local Fox affiliate in Dallas, Texas misidentifying one of the Boston Marathon suspects as television star Zooey Deschanel, to CNN and Fox News wrongly interpreting the Supreme Court's decisions on the Affordable Care Act. More humorous mistakes include Vogue Magazine mis-identifying Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Dan Baer as an interior designer and the Miami Herald claiming that the National Science Foundation "funded a study on Jell-P wrestling at the South Pole." The suggested treatment for the Manic Media Mumps is the tried and true Grain of Salt Treatment. Stay tuned to stay in the loop, but please remember, everyone makes mistakes, even Anderson Cooper. 

The last, and perhaps grimiest, of information germs is the Facebook Fuzzy Falsehood.

This icky little fellow likes to pop up on Facebook feeds on an almost daily basis. Warnings of an alarming disposition, cautions of a dubious nature, doctored and photo shopped images that "prove" something or another and "facts" that has no substantiation, are all early warning signs of this persnickety affliction. Once infected, sufferers re-post information without bothering to find out if it is actually factual. For example, there is not a set of coordinates on Google Earth that show the disposal of a murdered individual, Paul Ryan did not refuse to tip an elderly waiter, the vague warning about bad guys using small children to trick and assault women has been a circulating urban legend since 1985, writing "Frank" or "Frankie" in place of a stamp will not get your letter mailed for free, and posting a notice on your Facebook wall will not actually protect your copyright and privacy rights....sorry. Unfortunately, there seems to be no shortage of individuals that love to share and re-post these germs and others like it, setting off a chain reaction of falsehood.

Happily, there are ways to counteract this tidal wave of ignorance. In order to inoculate yourself, please fill the following prescription~

2 heaping tsp. of Common Sense
1 leveled cup of Healthy Skepticism
A dash of Actually Reading Something Once in a While
1 lb. of Do Your Own Damn Research

Mix thoroughly and administer with occasional doses of snoops.com accompanied by long pauses of thinking before clicking. Reapply as necessary











p.s bonus Gypsy points will be awarded to those who checked my examples to make sure they were actually true :)

Does It Have To Be All or Nothing?

As my family returns from a weekend trip to a Detroit Area sports tournament, I find myself pondering the various conversations that I overheard in our travels. Not surprisingly, a great deal of them had to do with gun control and the recent stories in the news.

As I read, listen and surf the current information and opinions that are out there, I can't help but wonder where the voice of the everyman (and every woman) is. I am a bit fed up with the opinions of individuals that most would consider extreme being plastered across the airwaves.

How do we cope with evil?
Who do we blame?

Since my husband works in the news industry, I understand that the nuttiest folks with the most unmovable stances make the best news. As a country, we feed on the crazy, we like to see the bizarre and love to fight about the all or nothing point of views on hot button issues. "If it bleeds, it leads" is a very true statement. I wonder however, why more folks like me are not up in arms demanding a more logical and hopefully, country-wide voice.

Do we only want to hear facts that
support what we already believe?

Guns and gun control have been a hotly debated topic for some time now, but I can't fail to see that the majority of people I talk to and interact with on a daily basis adhere to a calmer attitude when discussing whether or not guns are good, bad, or somewhere in between.

I call this the "mind you own business" attitude. This attitude is deeply bedding in the giving and receiving of respect. I have my own believes on the subject and act accordingly in my own home, with my own family. I ask those around me to respect that. In return, I respect the decision of those around me in regards to what they believe and how they live their lives. That is called good manners.

Is selectively banning certain guns
the answer?

Somewhere along the way, we started mixing up "manners" with "morals." Morals are highly personal opinions and beliefs that are between you, those you love most and your Maker, whomever you believe him (or her) to be. Manners are things that we do to show respect, good will and friendliness to those around us in every day life. It is bad manners to verbally attack someone because they happen to think differently than those around you. You are not the end-all, be-all decision maker for your fellow man, and attempting to pass judgement on others beliefs and decisions will most likely end badly for you. Going around telling everyone and anyone that you can trap into a conversation that you are right and they are wrong and that laws and policies sold be changed or created to enforce your specific point of view is the very height of arrogance. It's rude...stop it right now! Miss Manners would be horrified, and I myself feel faint at the thought.

Are we conditioned by the
media to react a certain way?

For example, I believe that owning guns is a very important right in the United States. I grew up around guns and currently own several. My entire extended family hunts various animals and we use the meat from hunting to help put food on the table, because it is healthier, more economical and we believe that it is required to be a responsible part of the food chain. We do not hide our weapons from our children (as they were not hidden from me and my siblings) and education our youth from a very early age on the reality of weapons, death and the grave responsibility that comes with handling fire arms. It is a fact that I could set a loading gun down on the table in front of me and it would rust away to nothing before it jumped up and ran off to hurt someone. I believe that evil resides in the twisted individual that chooses to kill and maim, not in my inanimate object. No one in my family has ever "found" a gun and played with it, accidentally shot a loved one, or any other of the horrible and gruesome things you hear about in the news in regards to having guns in the home....never, not once, ever. There is no fear, just responsibility and respect. I feel this is healthy, normal, and feel safer knowing that I have the training necessary to defend my family.

Can we learn from other Countries
or do we make our own way?

But here is the kicker~ I would never, ever, ever consider attempting to tell one of my friends that does not care for guns and will not have them in their home, that they are wrong. I will not argue with them in the attempt to make them see my point of view. I will not scream and swear and call names and show pages full of facts that defend my stance. I find such behavior to be the height of arrogance and rudeness. How can I, being so confident in my beliefs, presume to tell others that their beliefs are somehow wrong, simply because they do not align with my own?

Are of feelings causing us to
ignore evidence?

Instead of debating on weather guns should be legal or not, we should be focusing instead on the breakdown of common decency, respect and privacy that is a frightening glimpse of what is to come. There will always be guns in America, period. Even if tomorrow the government outlawed them, they would still be here, in our closets, our gun safes and in our basements. The idea that every individual would turn in their weapons is ludicrous and laughable, it goes against the spirit and history of our nation, simple as that. The criminals of the world would defiantly hold on to theirs. So instead of getting weighed down with fighting over who is "right" and who is "wrong" perhaps we can instead work towards the idea that even though we will not always agree on issues, those issues need not define us. At our jobs, in our neighborhoods, at our kid's soccer practices, we stand shoulder to shoulder with folks that have very different ideas about everything from guns to religion. Does that change anything? Do you have to be "with us" or "against us?" If I can respect your choices and decisions about your life, is it too much to ask that you respect mine? Can't we all just mind our own business and not let the whack-jobs try to box us in and label us?

Will there always be people
that will hurt others not matter what
they use to do it?

 Drawing lines in the sand is a dangerous pastime, and some lines can not be erased after they are scratched on the ground. Are you motivated by the need to be "right," the lure of convincing others that they are "wrong," the desire to make decisions for homes and households that you are not a part of? Isn't be allowed to live the way you see fit and allowing that same dignity to others enough?
 Does it have to be all or nothing?

Calvary or Catastrophe

After being asked yet again to ride to the rescue on a project for a group I belong to, I began to think about all the ways we torture ourselves and why we do it.

Today's scenario: A project that has been in the works for months now is fast approaching its deadline. Until this week, I have had minimal involvement and others that stepped forward to spearhead the project have been uncommunicative up until now. "Now" is of course the moment when you realize that the entire project is going to hell in a hand basket. So what do you do? Do you step in and help? Hope others will take care of the problems? Let it all fall apart knowing that it is not your fault, hopeful that a lesson is learned?

I am a firm believer that in this word there are doers and hiders. Neither is ultimately good or bad, just different. The doers are the folks that are always on the board of an organization, the ones that show up to re-paint playgrounds, collect fundraising money, write grants and coach teams. The hiders show up, help if they are directly asked and happily go about their business. I happen to be a doer who is currently looking for a transfusion of hider. And here is why ~ doers are never really sure why they are the way they are. We do not want rose petals thrown at our feet, but we do get frustrated when the same 5 people volunteer to do all of the work time after time. Another big secret: a big part of being a doer is the inability to have an idiot trying to tell me what to do. Some times it is better to be in charge and lead a project then restrain yourself from stabbing some twit, with no organizational skills or concept of time, in order to stop them from making everyone else's life harder. It's a double edged sword really....

And before I get a lot of hate mail for the hiders out there......I already know what you are going to say, so lets just get the truth out there right now.....YOU ARE NOT TOO BUSY TO HELP! You're not, sorry. You can use that as your beard and try to convince the poor woman that had sunk 3 months of her life into creating a paper mache float for your daughter's class, but she won't buy it and neither will I.
This is why~ every doer that asks for your help is just as busy, if not busier than you are.
 Take me for example: I have a husband, 2 kids under the age of 12 and a large dog. My husband works 10 hour days, I own my own business and also substitute teach (grades pre-k to 12 plus special needs) I am active in church, help my dad with his business, am on the PTA, handle the spartan label redemption program for the local elementary school, my kids have swim lessons, play hockey and soccer and I am the VP of the board of CAHA, along with being a team manager and my husband coaches (as have I in the past) I have participated in every bake sale, fundraiser, hockey tournament, and many other things that involve a truck load of glitter and the kind of nightmares only Tim Burton could dream up. I am sure you are as busy as I am, but the point here is: I do all this and I still help out, you are NOT too busy unless you are an on-call brain surgeon. At least tell the truth, You just don't want to. At least that I can respect. Then I would leave you to enjoy your committee-free smirk served up with a side order of shame.

This all leads to the crux of my issue. Do I ride to the rescue each and every time because it's the right thing to do or because I like the feeling of riding to the rescue? Do I like to stock-pile favors or is it just about trying to be a good person? And if I, as my husband suggests, step back instead of stepping in, will I have just earned some free time for myself, or will I be teaching others an important lesson about following through on their own commitments? We preach over and over again that we need to let our kids fail if they are going to learn anything and grow as individuals, does this still apply to adults that consistently bite off more than they can chew? Do I let them fail a couple time so they quite asking me to ride to the rescue? Do I really want them to?

If the doers stopped doing, would that force the hiders' hand, or would things just not get done? Would our clubs, organizations, groups and teams be worse off if we all became hiders? Or would it just be less complicated? Would we appreciate each other more, judge each other less?

In the world of parenting, is it better to be the stress-out calvary or the damsel in distress?

So What Do I Do With All This Junk?!

Hello MIG Fans!
Today's Spring Cleaning Tip is all about where to stick it....your extra junk that is.
Here is a list and links to some wonderful sites and business that will gladly take the extra stuff your spring cleaning flurry leaves you with. Who knows, you might get a clean house and some extra cash out of it  ~

Gazelle
http://www.gazelle.com
Gazelle will buy most Apple products (iPhones, iPads, iPods, Macbooks, Macs, and a select group of other smartphones. (Make sure the model number on your items matches the one they buy exactly!) You find you gadget on their site, answer some questions about your item and ship for free (for items worth more than $1) then get paid. This is a great way to get paid for your Apple products if you upgraded at Christmas or have just bought a new model.
http://www.buymytronics.com is another website with a similar format


Dress for Success Michigan
http://www.dressforsuccess.org/affiliate.aspx?sisid=41&pageid=1
The mission of Dress for Success is to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. They need contemporary, interview-appropriate, skirt and pant suits, crisp blouses, blazers and jackets, professional shoes handbags and briefcases, along with coats for all season (they particularly need larger sized suits and apparel). Here is the contact information for the Michigan affiliate:  michigan@dressforsuccess.org, (734) 712-0517

Gamestop
http://www.gamestop.com
Do you have a kid or a husband? Then you probably have a pile of videogames that they tried once and hated, or simple are played-out on (I mean, how many times can you save that princess?). If you have never been in your local gamestop, take a look, in addition to games for all the major gaming consoles and hand-held games, most accept and sell things like iPods (I have been eye-balling a re-furbished iPod that I want for my birthday that is a fraction of the price of a new one) And they guarentee all of their pre-used items, so no worries that you are buying a piece of crap. If you have a stack of games or a gaming console (wii, gameboy, etc) that you no longer want, take them into your nearest Gamestop and tell them you want to trade them in. They will give you a value, you decide if you want the offer (they do not negotiate, it's a take the offer or walk situation) and if you do, they will give you a gift card with that value on it ( I love to take games in and use the gift cards as gifts to my son and nephew for birthdays, etc).


Consignment Stores
Everyone knows how much I love selling stuff on consignment, and I still think it is the best way to make extra cash or "trade in" items and clothes that your family no longer needs or wants. Do an online search for consignment store in your area or look in the phone book. Make sure the store "matches" you. If you have mostly dressy women's things to consign, don't take them to a shop that has mostly kids clothes in the window. If you have a mountain of baby stuff, look for a shop that deals mostly with children's apparel and gear. Know what sells: don't drop off your power suit with should pads that has been in the closet for 15 years, they will just throw it away. Also, no fading, stains, tears, etc. If you want it to sell, it needs to be sellable. Call ahead and ask about their policies, then it's full steam ahead!


The Salvation Army & Goodwill
http://www.use.salvationarmy.org/use/www_usn20.nsf
With more than 2,300 donation droop-off locations in North America, this is a wonderful charity to donate gently used clothing, furniture and household items to. You can even call 1-800-728-7825 to discuss a free pick up of your items (or just call your nearest location) 

http://m.goodwill.org
Not only is Goodwill a tried and true place to donate your no-longer needed items, you can also check out their auction website at http://www.shopgoodwill.com for those of you in a hurry to replace the stuff you just off-loaded.

Craigslist
http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites
One of the best places to sell you stuff. I have lost track of the stuff I have sold on craigslist, from treadmills to hunting gear to snowboards. It is great for those folks that are nervous about shipping something or waiting for payment. Someone in your area can show up, check out your stuff, then hand over cold hard cash (I always recommend cash or money order only, do NOT take checks from strangers) Make sure to meet people at a nearby gas station or grocery store parking lot so you don't have to worry about strangers in your home. Setting up an account is easy and free, posting is a simple set by step process they walk you though, here is an example of a simple ad~
http://nmi.craigslist.org/atq/3615202720.html
p.s. if your stuff does not sell right away, make sure you have a realistic price on it (do a search to see what compaible items are going for) and re-fresh your ad so it does not expire.

Freecycle
http://www.freecycle.org
I am a happy member of Freecycle and it is another great way to make sure your spring cleaning leftovers don't end up in a landfill. The Freecycle network is made up of 5,086 groups with 9,340,043 members around the word. It's a grassroots, nonprofit movement of people giving and getting stuff for free in their own towns. Membership is free and each local group is moderated by local volunteers. Search for your community on their website today to get started. You can post you items (I have even seen where the person "giving" lets the person "getting" know the day to get stuff and leaves it on the porch or in the front yard, no muss, no fuss) and if someone wants them, they can pick up or you can drop off. You can even sign up for emails that let you know each week what the items available in your area or what folks are currently looking for.

Don't forget the old standbys~ Your local newspaper & Facebook
I have sold several things in our local newspaper. This is a great option if you are getting rid of items like lawnmowers or you son's set of rims. Check out the fees and terms online or by calling your local paper. For example, my local paper will let you post an item for free that you are charging $300 or less for. Since I can fill out the form online, that is a whole lotta reach for my items for zero $ and a few minutes of my time.
It takes about 5 seconds to make a post for Facebook if you have something really nice that you think folks you know might be interested in. Keep it low-key! A simple photo and a "Hey everyone, we are selling the kitchen table and chairs for $200, let me know if you want first crack at it" and see if anyone bites. I have seen everything from televisions to couches being sold this way between friends, but BEWARE, you are selling to people you will deal with everyday, make sure you are confident that your items are worth what you are selling them for so the buyer doesn't end up disappointed and comes back looking for you (and they will).

Free Range Ian

As I sit here contemplating my computer screen, I can hear my children in the next room. Our oldest, Ian, is doing his homework, our youngest, Katie, is thundering around the room with the dog. I love both of my children more than life itself, but my first born has been occupying my thoughts heavily these last couple days.

Ian Helping to Fly Plane on Vacation

As Ian grows, both in height and experience, I often have other mothers compliment him on his maturity and resourcefulness. "What are you doing?" they ask, "How do you get him to behave so well?" I figured that it is about time that I let the cat out of the bag in regards to my unusual parenting approach.

Drum-roll please.............I leave him the heck alone.

That's it, it's that simple.

Ian preforming in front of entire school

I know that many of you, especially those with younger chicks at home (Ian is 11) will feel an immediate knee-jerk reaction to such advice. "But wait!" you cry, "I have been reading baby books, surfing the Internet for behavior tips and subscribing to parenting magazines since little Junior was born!" "I have to nurture his every moment, I need to make sure he is self-actualized and is playing with the approved nuro-science organic toys and expressing his valid emotions in healthy, non-confrontational ways!" I understand why those of you, that resemble loafer-wearing hovercraft more than grounded beings with your own interests, would find this advice hard to swallow. It's like spending a ton of money on new beautiful shoes. You waffle on the purchase, you shop online for the best price, you think about how often you will wear them with what is already in your closet. But then when you finally get them home and they make your feet feel like you have been walking on alcohol-covered coral, you don't want to give up on your conviction since you have so much time and energy already put forth towards your choice.

So those of you that have been directing your kid's every moment for the last decade, pre-chewing their food, choosing their friends and riding to the rescue whenever life does not go their way, will be understandingly hesitant with the following advice: Back Off!

Mr. Hockey

That's right, back off. Your kids will never be able to successfully navigate adult life if you do not let them develop the tools to successfully navigate middle school. My son is a prime example of what this type of parenting can look like. My husband and I are affectionate, playful, understanding parents. We make sure our children know what values we uphold and impart our wisdom, on everything from bullies to homework, enthusiastically and often. Ian has plenty of good friends (there always seems to be a herd of hungry kids at my house), is at the top of his class (all A's & B's), is a great athlete (M.V.P of his hockey team this year) and is polite and respectful 78.3% of the time (which, if you don't have an 11 year old boy, is pretty amazing).

Here is where the different comes in~ we have faith in Ian's choices, judgements and abilities. As a parent, coach and educator, I see people underestimating their children everyday. From the folks that think their 6 year old is incapable of putting their snow pants on, to the dad confronting one of his daughter's friends for hurting her feelings. You are not helping your kids! In actuality, you are hurting them. I know this is a hard one to believe, but if you take a hard look into yourself you will see the nugget of truth lurking at the bottom of this statement. If you yourself are a responsible, hardworking, problem solving adult, it is not because your parents followed you around wiping your nose for you when your were 12. Here are some facts that may shock you (if you have a delicate disposition, you may want to leave the room):

1. My son uses the lawn mover and the snow blower. 
You read that right, my 11 year old son uses power equipment. After you get up from your fainting couch, please realize that it is always under direct supervision with an adult outside with him, but he is out there cutting grass and blowing snow. At my father-in-laws, he even uses the riding lawn mover (one of the big ones with duel lap bars.) I admit the first time I saw my boy come around the corner of the house on the big mover with grandpa and dad walking calmly behind him, I almost stroked out. I felt that "danger!, danger!" mom urge that we all feel, and since I am sure it showed on my face, my husband calmly explained that he had prepped Ian on the danger, safety measures and consequences of using in the mower and then turned him loose in the back acres to practice. He did amazing, calming and coolly navigating around trees and bushes, not a nerve to be seen. Many of you would cry "reckless!" "dangerous!" "absurd!" and to them I would ask, why? I am fully aware of my son's temperament and his level of maturity. I also trust my husband's judgment and that his desire to keep our kids safe is as strong as my own. It also begs the bigger question, if I can't trust my 11 year old with a lawn mower under directly supervision, how in the hell will I be able to trust him with a car when he is 16? Trust and responsibility are not things you can turn on in your kid at 13 with a flip of the switch. Confidence in their abilities and the awesome power of an adult's trust must be planted at a young age and fed throughout adolescence if you don't want to be spending the Disney travel fund on bail.

2. I do not check my son's homework.
Nope, I don't. He just finished it in the other room and put it in his backpack before disappearing downstairs. How is that possible you ask? What if it is incorrect, or he did not understand it, or if his handwriting is awful or his math is off? My answer~ Then he will get a bad grade on it. Ian is 11, not 5. His only job in life right now is school. That is his main responsibility, and pretty soon when hormones start zipping around in that scrawny body of his, the only thing keeping him from flunking out will be the habits and routines that he is developing right now. Ian's homework is Ian's responsibility. It's that simple. I have already passed the 5th grade, so has his father. I am not going to check his backpack for papers, permission slips or homework. I am not going to make sure his library books and tennis shoes get put in there every week. That is not my job as a mother. My job as a mother is to raise a son that is responsible enough to remember to do those things. How do I do that? I let him suffer the consequences of his failures. If he does not do his homework, he will have to deal with the punishment that accompanies bad grades. If he does not understand a concept, a math problem or directions, it is his responsibility to let me know and to ask for help. I will move heaven and earth to make sure Ian understands his work and had the tools he needs to succeed in school, but not by stalking behind him like a bird of prey in a turtleneck. They need to be responsible for things in their lives if you expect them to be responsible kids!

Turkey for Thanksgiving

3. My son knows how to use a deadly weapon.

Practicing with Dad

He hunts, he fishes, he knows that animals must be killed (responsibly) in order for us to have meat to eat and takes great pride on helping to put food on the table for the family. The amount of pride in my son's face after he harvested his first deer set him up to believe in his skills, his ability to practice a craft, and to work hard to successfully gain the trust and admiration of the adults in his life (which is waaaay better than having a mommy that won't let you sleep over at a friend's house because she read an article online about separation anxiety).

1st deer ever

Let me bottom-line it for you~ If you want to grown a mature, responsible man that has the ability to lead others with intelligence and confidence, you need to climb out of your son's pocket, bite your tongue and have some faith in your kid.

Fun at the Re-Store

 Never, Never, Never Underestimate what awesome things await the brave at the Re-Store. While intimidating at first, once you dive headfirst into the dusty rooms, you will be amazed what kinds of things await the trash to treasure lover in all of us. Here are a couple of examples of items that are currently in my home thanks to the re-store, some paint and a little ingenuity.

I collect antique levels since I find their patina heartwarming (nothing is more gratifying than hard work, even someone else's). My largest set has been hung in a corner with L brackets. They now serve as shelves for my antique aluminum platters and other assorted knickknacks. Levels have a natural lip and groove on them which lends them to this purpose quite nicely.

This is a set of wooden full-sized lockers that were torn out of our local Middle School. They were filthy and had the ugliest paint on them imaginable. But for $30, I bundled them home, where they got a good scrub, new paint (robins egg blue on the inside and turquoise and black crackle paint on the outside) and some new handles. Now I have to sleep in front of them every night to keep my friends from stealing them ninja-style when I am not looking.


This charming addition to my daughter's room was an old beat up library cart/chair thing. I loved the wheels and the little wooden seat, so I brought it home for $5. After giving the seat and good sand and stain, I only had to spray-paint the frame a nice spicy pumpkin orange and taa-daa, an unexpected pop of color that you cannot find anywhere else.

Cheap Frame-2-Chalkboard

One of my favorite crafts: take one large ugly frame ( I found my at our local re-store for less than $1), distress and stain the BACK of the frame. Add thin wood coated with chalkboard paint (bought my presses chipboard at our local Home Depot and cut it to size with a saw, chalkboard paint in spray paint form) and antique hardware picked up for pennies ( also at the local re-store). This large beauty hangs in my dining room where I can write quote that I hope will make the kids smarter by osmosis or just holiday messages. Have had so many requests for these from family and friends I am always keeping my eyes peeled for parts, so if you see some crazy dark haired lady obsessed with the backs of picture frames at the store, say hi.

It's For The Birds

 As I continue with my spring cleaning struggles, here are a couple of outside spring cleaning tips from The Family Handyman about cleaning leaves and general gunk out of your gutters this spring and for cleaning out those bird baths that we are dragging out of the shed as the weather warms up. I will defiantly be handing these tips over to my husband while I watch, filled with pride, from the window.



http://www.familyhandyman.com/diy-projects/cleaning/interior-cleaning/clever-cleaning-tips#step4

My Shelf Ah-Ha Moment

File this under "Why Didn't I Think of That?!" ideas. 

If you are like me, you need shelving in your life, for everything from clothes closets to the linen cupboard. I inherited wire shelving with my home, which, while functional, is less than aesthetically pleasing. As I clean out my shelves for spring cleaning this year, paring down what will go back onto the shelves is the easy part. Keeping what I put back looking nice and neat is the kicker. Check out this link, which has one of the best solutions that I have seen so far. As I replace the wire shelving in my home, I will be hanging my new shelves upside down. This results in the brackets of the shelves turning themselves into built in dividers, and attractive ones at that......

Pure (and pretty) genius!



http://www.simplifiedbee.com/2010/03/spring-cleaning-tips-making-your-closet-functional-beautiful.html

Get Thee Behind Me Carpet Dents!

Hello Gypsy Fans, Today's Spring Cleaning Tip Involves Cleaning the Carpets In My House.

Now we all know that the correct way (as apposed to the way I usually do it) to get our carpets clean is to move all of the furniture in a room (hello treasure trove of lost legos!), give the carpet a good vacuum, them steam clean with a carpet cleaner (make sure not to over soap! Left over soap attracts dirt like glue). I always find it deeply satisfying, and a little gross, to see what my carpet has been hiding over the long, cold winter. What you might not know about is my favorite tip for getting dents left by furniture out of the nap in your carpet. Since I love to move stuff around in my house, these dents are a common occurrence. Check out this link that shows step-by-step how to get rid of these dents using ice cubes, it's so easy, even this chick can do it.......


http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Furniture-Dents-from-Carpet