Quickest Sounds System Ever!

These are wireless speakers that screw into any light socket and streams from your IPod/Pad/Phone! And is also a light bulb! Mind officially blown!

http://www.thegreenhead.com/2011/02/audio-light-bulb.php

Great Junkin' Books!

I love, love, love the Junk Beautiful books by Whitney & Nasauer, I have this book as well as other Junkin' books from different authors. They are full of "duh! why didn't I think of that?!" ideas. And if you don't want to buy, just head to your local library, a shelf full of Flea Marketing Decorating Books awaits your there!

Great Trash to Treasure Blog!

This lady has some great ideas and easy to follow steps for the Trash To Treasure Gypsy!

http://www.trashtotreasuredecorating.com

Happiness is an neat work space

 This Michigan Gypsy has just finished cleaning and organizing her work space. Why would anyone waste precious time sifting through all of their accumulated junk and tools? Because if you are anything like me, you have collected things throughout your travels and they have landed all willy-nilly. I used the recent addition of a new workspace in the garage as my excuse to get my junkin' self together. Don't have your own workspace? Keep your ears open and an eye out for things that can be re-purposed. The blue work space pictured was from the mail room at my husband's office. They pulled it out for a re-modeled and we scooped it up to transplant in our garage. The hanging cabinets were from a kitchen re-do. All free and a great source of storage. So scope your local re-store, if you have friends that are re-doing a room or know of a business that is doing a re-model, ask if there are any counter tops or cupboards that need to get ride of, you'll be glad you did! I had a pile of things here....a jar of stuff over there...a bin of things somewhere...you get the idea. So whenever I wanted to go out to my garage and work on a project, I spent half my time sorting through everything to find what I want. So my advice to you is to bite the bullet and spend an hour or two getting organized. The calm feeling you get will more than make up for the inconvenience of having to get everything in order.(kids are great for sorting screws and small do-dads for you, fun for them, less work for you) For small items, I have found that plastic containers that are meant to hold embroidery floss work great. The small compartments are the perfect size for sorting and everything is in one place for you to choose from, much better in my opinion that putting each thing into it's own small container. Stay tuned to see how long I can't keep everything neat and tidy.

So if you are looking at this......



















Spend and afternoon getting to this....

More fun with pallets!

Can you say "Quick, Easy & Awesome?"

As my readers know, this Michigan Gypsy is always looking for new ways to use the many pallets that I have stockpiled behind my garage (see previous post for more about my pallet obsession.) This project is perfect for the beginner that wants to start making things for their home but does not want to tackle a huge project. Using different lengths of pallet pieces (to make wider width sections simply use more than one board) Paint boards in whatever colors you wish, then attack with sandpaper or a hand sander to get that great weathered look (quite often I find pallets in different colors; blue, yellow, green, etc. that would be great for this project, no painting and sanding required) Decide what words you would like to use, sport themed words would be great for a kid's room, washing-related for a laundry room, etc. Using the printed font and ball-point pen method (see previous blog post) to transfer the words to the different pieces, fill-in with black paint. When dry, nail or screw them to a piece of 2X4 or similar piece of scrap lumber so they stick out willy-nilly to either side of center. Re-arrange until you like the look, then prop-up or hang.

Who would have thought?! Mind Blow

Hello Ladies & Gents,
Today's Mind Blow is brought to you by "duh"

I am still constantly surprised by the awesome imagination of folks out there who are always thinking outside of the box and are gracious enough to share their amazingness with the rest of us. Check out these photos that show how hanging wooden folding chairs can be transformed into a closet! I can already see this done with each chair painting an amazing turquoise or a nice barn red with the finished beat up and distressed. A great solution for a room with no closet or for guest rooms that need extra storage, and they fold flat against the wall when not in use, genius!!!

The Wants

How do you make time for The Wants? This is a question that I am constantly asking myself as I go about my jobs and daily responsibilities. We have become a society that is always on the move, jam-packing our days so full that is seems like we are afraid that if we don't fill in every single block on our planners that the Busy Police will show up and cart us away to slacker prison. Yesterday, as I found my self folding laundry at 10 pm after getting the kids to bed following post-hockey practice late dinner and  mandated reading time my thoughts turned to my list of "Wants." You may call them something else, but in my life "Wants" encompass all the things that I want to do, as apposed to all the things that I have to or feel that I should do. Working on my crafts, for example is a want, designing my next tattoo is a want, sewing new pillows for the den is a want...you get the idea. We all have our list of wants, but they always get overruled by the "have-tos" that we all inherited the day we decided that running away in a sweet convertible to play lead guitar in a classic rock band probably was not a viable life option, so we decided to have families and careers and pets and homes instead. The funny thing is, I have noticed that when it comes to time or an activity for my husband or my kids, I always magic a solution, carve out some time, commit myself to help and chores be damned. Why don't I do the same for my time and my list of "Want Tos?" Is it simply guilt that is holding me back? The siren song of un-washed dishes and volunteer work gathering dust so loud it sounds like artillery fire? I have no quick answer, but I have resolved to carve out some time for The Wants in my life, even if only an hour at a time. Giving yourself permission to let things go for a while might be just the ticket to a brighter outlook and renewed energy to tackle that grocery list, home-made Halloween costume, dog grooming, sponsorship letter writing, bathroom scrubbing, kid wrangling, sock folding, post-office tripping.............oh crap! Gotta run......