SkaDOOSH!!!!

Hells yeah, that's right. I'm now stealing tag lines from overly enthusiastic Kung Fu Panda Bears. Why, you might ask. Well, that would be because today I ROCKED IT!!!

Rocked what? The master dream of my dream scheming, that's what. Well, okay, it's not quite THAT amazing, but it's pretty damn close.

Let's back up and start at the beginning of the day. Got up, got the kids up (how unusual is that), got them shipped off to school and picked up my Gramma. We headed to Wal Mart and Food Lion to stock up for the week. Yay, food!

Then I ran a few other errands and stopped by... the Salvation Army. Can you say jack pot? I can. I did. In fact, I straight up did a happy dance in the middle of the store, which half of the other people shopping there stopped to watch. Blushing furiously, I giggled nervously and launched into my ultimate social gaffee cover up: I babbled.

I'm not sure who was more relived when I ran out the store doors and into the snow (yes! snow!) with my many treasures. I didn't stop blushing for nearly a full hour so I reward myself with being the more relived, this visit anyway.

Kids were picked up, fed, and presented with a new movie (only cost a dollar!) and old coloring books, which kept them occupied long enough for me to pull a Golem as I reverently looked over my earlier findings. Sweet, sweet success.

Everything - everything - cost me only $17 flat and from today's digging I found enough odds and ends to add splashes of flavor around my house, create at least six different crafts, and, drum roll please, allow me the Great Re-do.

For only $6 I found this tiny, dilapidated, felt-like-it-was-going-to-fall-apart-when-you-so-much-as-touched it end table. Perfect.

For years now I've wanted to repurpose a piece of furniture. This little end table, with its wobbly legs and scratched up paint job, simply screamed "DO ME".

And so I did.

(Before on the left, After on the right!)

I picked out colors that matched my living room, since I wanted to use the end table at the end of the couch. Currently, I'm using a TV tray as an end table. It matches the rest of the furniture in the room and has a nice amount of space on its top. But... it's a TV tray. So, out with the old and in with the new!

And no more wobbles!!! I actually fixed the table, too! I cannot tell you how many happy dances I've done since this afternoon. My cheeks actually hurt from all the smiling. Tomorrow I'll switch the end tables out and I'm sure I'll take another picture to show off this table in its proper place. I can't wait, but I'm making myself do just that. Mostly because I don't want my lamp to be "glued" to the table with damp paint. It always looks dry... even when it isn't. Tricky, tricky.

Also, while waiting for paint to dry, I took a picture frame (99 cents!) and painted it white before sanding it down to give it a 'distressed' look which I adore. A quick printed picture and two pieces of folded tissue paper. Ta-da! Instant spring!

This birdhouse also spoke to me, thanks to a recent conversation with my dad about the work we're going to be doing to our backyard soon (more later - SO excited about it!) and it's price tag of 99 cents. Again, Woot freakin' Woot!!!

I've got a few other things going on which I'll photo tomorrow. Plus, if all goes well, I'll actually get out into the yard for a bit. I REALLY want to work on the landscaping (front yard, not back). My fingers are crossed!!

Backtracking now, I visited and browsed Bakerella's website and found these adorable Mini Maple Pancake Muffins, which I made for dinner Sunday night. They were so freakin' CUTE and everyone ate them up!!! I walked away to get my camera and came back to find only these few pancake muffins left... out of 24! Craaaazy!!! :D

Also this weekend I found the most perfect little "trick" to play on my family on Friday. It's more of a clever way to serve dinner than it is a trick, but I'm pretty excited about it nonetheless. I'll share, as always, once I've pulled it off - assuming I can. ;)

I can't pick out just one moment from today and say it was the best moment of the day. Today was pretty excellent nearly all the way around. This morning, while it was snowing, everyone that I ran into was nice and sweet and while it wasn't THAT unusual, to see so many happy people during a mostly crappy day -- it was very enjoyable. Even my Gramma noticed.

And then, you know the old saying, One man's trash is another man's treasure. Aye, matey!