A Yard Sale Find and Some Disappointing News about our Mac...

So first, let's talk about how our MacBook is dying a slow and painful death. Ugh, this is so frustrating. One minute I think the computer is fixed, ready to go and the next... blue screen of death. While H and I were able to frantically save every last photo and important document to our external drive, there still is not enough space on this computer to run properly. I don't know what is going on, but every few minutes it gives me this message to shut down and reboot which is beyond annoying when you are trying to edit photos. This has been going on for the last few weeks which is why I haven't posted much lately. But I officially give up. I am just going to use my iPhone to take pictures for my posts until this computer situation figures itself out. 

With that in mind here are some iPhone photos of a little DIY project that made a huge difference for our front porch:

This time of year is great for yard sales! I'm telling you, go to yard sales. You can find some great pieces for really low prices. Yea, they may need a little work, but a low price tag makes it worth it. And you get to try out your haggling skills. Me, I'm not the best at negotiating price, but the one piece of advice I can give you is ALWAYS offer a lower price than what they are trying to sell it for. You would be surprised how many people just want to get rid of stuff and will take anything they can get!

A few local neighborhoods in our area have annual yard sales and this was the first year we were able to go. That's where we found two of these babies...

Super cheap at $50 for the pair, combined with another couple bucks in spray paint, and an entire day of cleaning them up and applying coat after coat, they now look like this...

Way better, right? I used three coats of a soft black outdoor spray paint followed by two coats of a clear sealant. Wicker is tough because though it looks like outdoor friendly furniture, they aren't waterproof at all. Wicker is prone to mold and mildew if it gets wet and doesn't dry completely. So I had to be careful to clean them up really well and apply the appropriate paint. We are also keeping them on our covered porch to shield them as much as possible from the rain. Hopefully that does the trick and we can enjoy these for years to come.

I also purchased two cushions from Pier One during their outdoor sale last week. Originally, I wanted white, but H vetoed that real fast. White gets so dirty and since they are going to be outside he convinced me to go with a darker cushion. Now all we need are a few bright pillows and a side table to tie everything together.



Here is the inspiration for what I want our porch to look like. I know, I know, I'm not there yet. But I am one step closer. I already have my eye on a side table that is currently in our "catch all" room not being used. I just need to waterproof it before bringing it outside. Once I have a free day, that will be the next project on my list : )

Well, hopefully the computer situation gets worked out, but until then, expect some mediocre photos of the updates we've been doing around the house. At least I'll be able to post more often.
{Think positive}

JP