Freebie Friday #1

About a month ago, I have mildly majorly become obsessed with the freebie/sample sites that are out there. I have reached the point where I check a few certain sites multiple times a day. It's fun! It's also amazing what you can get for free. Since starting this, I've probably signed up for over 100 things. Food samples, Beauty samples, Magazine subscriptions, Jewelry and more! So I decided that every week, I'll snap some pictures of some of the stuff I get in the mail and share with you guys. Considering most freebies take 6-8 weeks to receive, this past week I haven't gotten a ton. A few of the things I got the week before. Before the pictures, I'll share some of my favorite sites, in case you guys want to check them out too!

1. http://www.heyitsfree.net/
2. http://www.ilovefreethings.com/
3. http://www.ericsfreesite.com/

These are the 3 that I check on a regular basis. Sometimes when I have a little more time to kill, I'll click around to some of the others that they list on their site. Now the pictures!

Items pictured:

June/July 2012 issues of Martha Stewart Living

Jiffy Mix recipe book {get it here!}

VCF (vaginal contraceptive films) {get it here!} these freak me out just a bit!! but I was curious..

ASPCA poison control safety pack {get it here!}

free meal deal from Zaxby's {join the mail club here!}

Ring and Bracelet from Sneakpeeq {each month they offer a freebie for a new signup!}

Ball point pen {honestly can't remember where this one was from.}

Dove deodorant sample {get it here!} it's for Costco members, but i was informed to just put a random 12 digits in the member box. evil, but free!

Items not pictured:

Pool test strips

Horse treats from Winnie's Cookies

Let me know if you do the freebie thing too! Or especially if you're going to start! Have a great weekend!!

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Vintage Sewing Desk

I have finally finished the sewing desk that my dad got for me months ago. (Actually truth be told, I'm not 100% finished yet. I still need to paint the inside of the drawers, but I'm lazy.) Here is the before:

It was not in bad shape, just really, really dirty. Like wasp nests and dirt dobbers (sp?) on the inside dirty. I chose to paint it with Rustoleum's Winter Grey and added some white stripes and hardware. I have been really uninspired for the last couple months, so this poor guy got really neglected. I would paint a little on it one day and then go 2 weeks before I touched it again. And as I was deciding to write up this post, I realized that I didn't take a single picture with the top down. The top of the desk lifts up and slides down the back side to reveal the spot where you can store your sewing machine. I'm a photo loser. And I've moved it into a "storage" area, so I'm not gonna go digging in to take another picture. (there's that laziness again.)

notice the cat tail photo bomb?!

I really do like how it turned out and I'll really be glad to get it "finished" finished so I can sell it. I have got to make some space in my house. My lack of inspiration here lately has resulted in small large piles of stuff all over the house. But I'm hoping that I'm starting to come out of my slump. Only time will tell, I suppose. :)

LINKING UP @ Handy Man, Crafty Woman, My Girlish Whims, DIY by Design, Lil' Luna, Ginger Snap Crafts, Sew Much Ado, Domestically Speaking, Liz Marie Blog, Miss Mustard Seed

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Custom Art DIY

A few weeks ago my dad got several boxes of "junk" from a friend of his. His friend bought the whole load at a flea market for like 15$. After he got out what he wanted, he gave the rest to my dad. So of course, I went through it. I pulled out a box full of stuff that I kept and these pictures are just one of the many things I kept to makeover.

solid wood frames. the pictures are just not my style.

I debated for a while on how I wanted to use them. Finally I decided to just bust out some spray paint. I picked Blue Lagoon and Berry from Rustoleum. I think that these are 2 of my favorite colors. I didn't do anything special, just 2 good coats of paint. Then I printed out a couple of simple pages with our initials on them. I chose orange for the blue frame and green for the pink one. I love how they turned out. Very simple, yet it'll add a pop of color to our living room. I plan on getting some floating shelves to hang between our front door and window, but until then, these are just chilling in a safe spot. Now I wish I had more frames to play with!

Ps. It's really hard to take pictures of glass without getting that god awful glare/reflection thing going on!

LINKING UP @ Handy Man, Crafty Woman, My Girlish Whims, DIY by Design, Lil' Luna, Ginger Snap Crafts, Sew Much Ado, Domestically Speaking, Liz Marie Blog,

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{HOME} living room wall addition

About a year ago, M and I decided to start remodeling our kitchen/living room area. It's a slow process. We are working as we can afford to do so, a little at a time. Our kitchen/living area used to be one huge room, with nothing but the kitchen counter/bar separating the two. We decided to split them up and build a wall between them. This way, we can expand our kitchen cabinets and hang the television on the wall.

we started by ripping up the carpet.

then we built the wall frame.

next came the drywall, and a huge mess.

we also built in the fish tank!

Now the wall is pretty much done, painted and the television is hung. We love it. Plus I'm hoping that it helps keep the two rooms cooler this summer. It was so hot when it was one huge room. We haven't touched the kitchen side of the wall. That will have to wait for a little more funds and once the living room is done. One project at a time! :)

tv setup. post coming up about the chest!

the other side. doorway, fishtank.

this is my favorite part. it looks so good!

We still have some painting to do. You can notice the wall next to the fish tank has yet to gain some color. We chose the color "Chinchilla" from the Martha collection. It's a nice light grey. And we don't have any of the molding/trim back up since we aren't completely finished painting yet. The cords on the tv are still a little wonky too. M wired it all up so that no cords would be showing, but we are having some issues with our surround sound unit. Until we can get that shipped off to be fixed, we've had to rewire things a little crazy. I've got several more projects I've been working on for the living room. I can't wait until it's all put together. As if I need more of a reason to lay on the couch and watch television. But soon I'll never want to leave this room!


LINKING UP @ A bowl full of Lemons, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, My Girlish Whims,

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Vintage Round End Table

This is a short, sweet little post about a table I finished a month or so ago. I forgot to take a before picture. The table is currently at my parents house, so I didn't "stage" my photos. Not one of my best project posts, but whatever. The table belonged to my grandfather. It had one of those "rails" around the table top. I took that off and filled in all the holes. Then it got a good coat of Rustoleum's Heirloom White and some slight distressing. I think it turned out pretty cute, but it's not one of my favorite projects. I guess maybe that's why I haven't really put in the effort of taking great pictures to show it off. I do, however, have a great project coming up in the next couple of days!

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#4. Get a pool for the backyard.

I have finally started realizing that I've been neglecting my 101 things challenge. I scanned through the list a week or so ago and noticed that I could actually mark some things off! I have got to buckle down! I wanted to have a coordinating post to go with each task that is completed. So the first thing going down the list is #4. Get a pool for the backyard.

We got extremely luck at the end of last summer. M was surfing CraigsList like normal and noticed an add for a free pool. "If you come take it apart and move it, you can have it." So of course he emailed the guy. Someone beat us to it and was supposed to come get it that weekend. We gave up hope. No use in building yourself up over something that isn't going to happen. So we moved on. Two weeks later, out of the blue, M gets an email. The guy who beat us never showed up to claim the pool so it was now ours if we still wanted it. Um, of course! We loaded up my dad's trailer the next day and went and got that pool! It was a slow process cleaning up the backyard to prepare for it. The day after Thanksgiving we rented a small excavator and M dug out a level surface. Bought some cement blocks for all the poles to stand on and filled it all in with sand.

The putting up of the pool was the issue. M's friend C came out to help. There were several mishaps. We laughed, M cussed, we laughed some more. Finally we got the outer wall up. Once we tried to put in the liner, more mishaps. Turns out once a liner has been drained, it shrinks and can never be used again. No one told us this. So $400 later, we have a new liner. Then we filled and filled and filled with water. Then the pump, oh the pump. It didn't work right. We had to replace the top mechanism thngy. So $100 later, we have a working pump. Now it's up and running and we love it. The water is still a little chilly, but it's getting there. We've also started expanding our deck to reach half way around the pool. I can't wait to spend long summer days outside, relaxing by the pool! And for the $500 or so dollars we did have to put into this thing, we still got a heck of a deal! (Did I mention it's 27 feet round and 52" high?)

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Back in the Saddle Again!

I seemed to have fallen off the blogging bandwagon. I apologize! The last couple of months have just been uneventful. But I'm back and ready to blog again! I've got tons of posts lined up already, so it shouldn't take long to get back into the swing of things. OH and I'm starting out with a brand new makeover. So if you're reading this through a reader, pop on over and tell me what you think!

I have been completely ecstatic over android picking up Instagram. I used IG for a while back when I had M's old Iphone, but for my birthday, I upgraded to an HTC phone. I am now completely obsessed with the picture taking. So to kick things back off, I'll just post my life (these past few weeks) in photos.

Descriptions go left to right. Click image to view larger!

1. M and I attended one of his co-workers weddings.
2. We finally got our pool up and running! It is ahhhmazing.
3. My dad was given a bunch of boxes of junk. I went through it and pulled out some cool finds!
4. M cleaning the pool. He did a heck of a balancing job around that edge.
5. All the critters taking a "quiet time" except for Hershey.
6. M and Hershey got into a "play" fight. I got caught in the middle.
7. More sweet finds from my dad's free junk! (an owl!!)
8. M and I didn't own a single board game. Now we have several thanks to that junk!
9. My aunt gave me the coolest vintage pyrex bowl set. I can't get enough!!

My first attempt at the cloud manicure.

Absolutely in love with my new coffee mug!

Cleaning house and a small preview of our new wall remodel!

If you have Instagram, follow me! I'd love to see all your pictures and leave some likes! (user name: hollyinwonderland) Until next time! :)

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My week thus far...

This has been (another) non productive week so far. Our MinPin, Roxy, went into heat. We went through this once before and swore to get her fixed before it happened again. Well, we didn't make it. To be honest, it slipped our minds. Not to mention the funds just haven't been there either. So, of course, Hershey isn't fixed either. M has this thing about him being a boy and losing his balls. Men. Regardless, it's never been a problem. Until Roxy entered the picture.
She's been camping out at my parents house since Monday. But naturally, Hershey got a good wiff of that magic scent and has been a nightmare ever since. He whines constantly, pacing from door to window and back again. He barks for no reason. Like in your face barks. He's tried to hump me multiple times. Which normally doesn't bother me as I just shake it off, but this go round he has this crazed look in his eyes. Tuesday night he literally growled if M got anywhere close to me. 
The situation is funny. Was funny. Now I just want to pull my hair out! Here's hoping this heat cycle is over soon. I need to get some work done, or sleep. Sleep would be nice.
Just because I want to share a bit of my misery, here is just one minute of what I've been listening to all week. Enjoy!! (did you see I finally got a youtube video to show up? go me!)


And yes, I do still have a Halloween Cat Windsock thingy hanging up. I'm to short to reach it and to lazy to get a stool. And yes, my house phone is still ringing "We wish you a Merry Christmas". This is not odd, it's unique. :)

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Newsprint Fingernails

Since the first day I joined Pinterest, I've had the newsprint nails pinned. Today, I decided to do it. This first attempt is by no means perfect. A few nails smeared. A few the print very faint. I even messed up my nail polish on 2 nails, but after 3 coats, I wasn't starting over. All in all, I think it turned out pretty cute!

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48 Questions

So I have officially decided that I'm just not cut out for this blogging thing. I love it, I do. But I get so caught up in other things that I just don't think about it. I'm hoping one day I'll improve. I do have some things I've been wanting to post and just haven't made myself sit down and do it. So until then, here's some questions about me just for fun. 

From my February Photo a Day Challenge. 

1. What time did you get up this morning? This morning .. noon. I usually don't sleep that late, ever. I remember M leaving for work at 6:30 and then .. dead to the world till noon. 

2. How do you like your steak? I don't eat steak very often, but I prefer it well done. If I see pink, it grosses me out. If I don't see it but it's there .. I'm fine. Weird, right?

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? We next to never go to the movies. We're more of the "bootlegged" kind of people, but shh! I didn't say that. :) It would either be the most recent Predator one or Jennifer's Body. 

4. What is your favorite TV show? I can't say that I have a favorite and I won't name every show that I currently keep up with because that would just prove that I have no social life. But I watch Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, Revenge, Walking Dead and Once Upon a Time. Plus about 20 more...

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Kentucky. I lived in Lexington for almost 5 years and I loved it. I would move back in a heartbeat if I was given the chance.

6. What did you have for breakfast? I usually don't eat breakfast. Especially this morning since I slept past breakfast time and went straight into lunch. In that case, a ham sandwich.

7. What is your favorite food? All food. :) Probably just a really good homemade hamburger! Or pizza.

8. Foods you dislike? mushrooms. sweet pickles. turnip greens, or mustard greens.

9. Favorite place to eat? O'Charlies. Best potato soup ever! or Cheddars.

10. Favorite dressing? Ranch or Honey Mustard. Occasionally I like Italian.

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee. She's been a trouper, but she's slowly shutting down.

12. What are your favorite clothes? pajama pants. I live in them. Even when I was working, I would come straight home and change into pj's. 

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Australia!

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Here lately the cup is just flippin' empty.

15. Where would you want to retire? No idea really. Where I am, I guess. It's where my family is. Although by the time I retire, most of them will be long gone.

16. Favorite time of day? Night time. I don't sleep, so the wee morning hours are the best. It's quiet. Plus I stick all the dogs in bed with M. Peace..

17. Where were you born? Jackson, Mississippi.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? I don't do sports. Unless WWE counts and I sometimes watch that. Not very often tho.

19. What is your favorite fragrance? I don't really wear perfume, but I adore Love Spell by Victoria's Secret.

20. What is your favorite face cream? um, cream? If that counts as a moisturizer, then Mary Kay 3in1 something. 

21. Favorite baby/kids products? No kids yet. 

22. People watcher? Absolutely. I could spend hours watching people.

23. Are you a morning or night person? Night person. 

24. Do you have any pets? 5. Hershey (lab/pit mix), Zoey (chihuahua), Roxy (minpin), Mr. Fuzzy Butt (cat) and Biscuit (cat).

25. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share? We finally framed up the wall we are building to separate the living room and kitchen. I'll share that in another post tho.

26. What did you want to be when you were little? A vet or an Interior Designer. Then I started working at Kirkland's and decided that I can't deal with picky people.

27. What is your favorite memory? Getting my first apartment. It was so exciting until I realized that I was scared by myself. I eventually got used to it.

28. Are you a cat or dog person? Both. But my cat has been driving me up a wall, so I'm on the fence.

29. Are you married? yes. Almost a whole year already!

30. Always wear your seat belt? 98% of the time.

31. Been in a car accident? 1 small fender bender. Nothing serious.

32. Any pet peeves? A bazillion. Most people in general. :) No, I'm really a nice person, just worked retail for way to long. I used up all my patience.

33. Favorite pizza toppings? Ham and black olives. Anything really except mushrooms.

34. Favorite flower? Daisy.

35. Favorite ice cream? Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Wendy's or Zaxby's.

37. How many times did you fail your driver’s test? None. I got lucky. Heaven forbid I ever had to take it again tho.

38. From whom did you get your last email? Probably M. We email alot instead of texting because I don't have unlimited.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Target. I love that store.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? I rearranged the living room yesterday if that counts.

41. Like your job? I think that I will one day. Right now, it's not really a job.

42. Broccoli? Absolutely. Raw, steamed, in a casserole. It's the best when you steam it and put mayo on it!

43. What was your favorite vacation? Probably Disney World when I was a teenager. We don't really take vacations. When we do, it's to see M's family in Michigan and I don't count that as much of a vacation. We are way overdue one.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? M.

45. What are you listening to right now? The fish tank and the hum of my laptop.

46. What is your favorite color? Yellow!

47. How many tattoos do you have? Right now none, but M and I are planning to soon. He has one that he wants to add on to and I want my first one!

48. Coffee drinker? yes. Not regularly, but yes. 

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