Yo, What's fa dinna!?!?

So with times being so tough and all of the uncertainty of the future of our country's economy has all of us trying to save money any way that we can. I have recently really gotten serious about my couponing and that has really helped. But a couple of weeks ago, I really took a look at mine and Cooper's lifestyle and really tried to figure out a way to save more money for us. Well I was really astonished at how much we spent on food. We would either go out and grab from a restaurant or we would swing by the grocery store on a daily basis to pick up whatever we wanted to cook that night. Now, when you are talking about cooking for two, sometimes its more economical to just go and pick something up, especially if you are doing a daily grocery store visit like we were. That just gets so expensive.

When I really got to thinking about how I could help us to do better with that, the solution was so clear. I started to think about my Pinterest addiction and how many different, good recipes I see every time I get on there. It kind of made me think I was crazy for not really utilizing that tool that I have right at my fingertips! Then, I started to think about how I could really plan everything in advance and only make one trip to the grocery store per week. This really has to be planned out well though because everything I make has to be "Cooper Approved" because he is such a dang picky eater! 

At this point, I decided the best thing for me to do would be to plan out the complete menu a week in advance (Um, Hello Carrie, people have been saying to do that forever... I know I am stubborn). I honestly thought that it just sounded time consuming and difficult.... really something I just didn't want to spend my time on. But then, when I gave it a go, I realized it is actually quite simple! 

First, I went through all of the yummy things on Pinterest and I made a list of the items I thought Coop would like. Then, from that list I picked out the things that used a lot of the same ingredients (Because I hate spending so much on all the ingredients of something when you only need "1 tsp" or something and then the rest goes bad!) So, after I went through and narrowed it down, I downloaded this great weekly dinner planner, filled it in, and there ya go! 

http://www.thirtyhandmadedays.com/2011/09/meal_plan_printable/

As I listed each days menu, I also put in the shopping list of things I would need. Some of them have very short lists because I already have some of the stuff leftover from this week or it comes from a different day's shopping list. 

Last week was our first week to try this and it was AMAZING!! Cooper and I only spent $100 total on everything needed for food this week. It was so great because most of it yielded leftovers or a few leftover ingredients that could serve great for lunch! It really made our lives a lot easier too because we weren't wandering around at 6pm every night worrying about what we were going to have for dinner or having to go pick it up. It was all right there, planned out for us, all ingredients in the fridge ready for us to cook! What a great feeling! I can't believe I didn't do this sooner!!! 

That Is A Piece O' Junk!

One of my favorite places in the world is the Salvation Army. I mean, you can find some really cool stuff that is easy to revamp and it is usually all so cheap! So, yesterday I was riding around with the BF doing some work stuff with him when we passed the Salvation Army. Not thinking that he would even think about stopping in there with me especially when he had work to do, I commented on how I loved that place. Much to my surprise, he offered to take me! Such a sweet Cooper! I promised him that it would be very quick, that I just wanted to do a once over on the furniture. I can usually spot something I want by doing a quick 3 min walk through of the "home" section. Sure enough, I went through one time and spotted the most perfect thing..... A super awesome lamp for only $7.99!! (Well, it wasn't super awesome looking at that point but I knew that it definitely had loads of potential!
At this point I gasped because I was so excited at the great find. Then, Cooper gives me this look like "are you serious?" and I just ignore it and ask him to please grab it off of the shelf for me. He comments, "This thing is a piece of junk!" I, naturally, disagreed and tried to explain to him the potential that it held. He still didn't see it, and that is ok. I figured I would rather show him than sit there in the middle of the Salvation Army and talk him blue in the face trying to convince him. Last thing I said to him, "You just watch, less than a week from now and its gonna be awesome!"..... SO, while giving me this "you have gone crazy" look, he sets the lamp back down and starts to walk away... I say, "Babe, I mean I am going to buy it.. Why are you setting it back down?... I mean, its not gonna get any better sitting here." This gave me a pretty big laugh. 
So, I proudly go pay for my "piece of junk" and start to brain storm on how I want it to look. 

My lovely piece of junk!

Yesterday, I went to Michael's to get some painting supplies. I ended up picking out a pretty light blue, a metallic silver, and a crystal clear to protect the color. I could not wait to get started on it, not only because it would be a fun project and end up looking nice, I really wanted to show Cooper that I was right. 
This morning I decided to give it a go.... 
I got all of my paint supplies ready... 

Then I got my lamp and covered the top part with a plastic bag and taped it in place... 

Then I got a cup and filled it with warm, soapy water and got an old dish rag and cleaned her up real good! 

After she dried, it was time to start painting! 

I did several thin coats of the blue. It worked out really great because it is a fast drying paint so I didn't have to wait too long between coats (which is great because I am super impatient). 

Now, I really liked this color but I wanted it to have more than just a plain, single toned color to it but I really didn't want to cover up this blue. So, not knowing what I was doing, I pulled out the metallic paint and got after it. I just held the spray paint can about 1-1/2 ft -- 2 ft away from the lamp base and started spraying, keeping the can moving constantly. 

I really like the way the metallic turned out! I think it gave the lamp a little bit of depth without becoming too overpowering! After I was happy with the amount of silver on the lamp, I gave it a really good couple of coats of the crystal clear protective spray. 

After the lamp dried and I unwrapped the electrical area at the top, I noticed how wobbly and outdated it was. It actually looked borderline unsafe so I decided that redoing the electric would probably be a good idea. I just went to Home Depot and got a Westinghouse 3-Way Socket Make-A-Lamp Kit ($9.95) and went ahead and replaced the electrical stuff. I was a little nervous I was going to have a hard time understanding and following the instructions for the lamp kit. Actually, it turned out to be quite simple. There was only one part that I wasn't quite sure about and a phone call to my handy dad fixed that right up! 

At first I was planning to reuse the shade that came with the lamp but it just looked to disgusting, I would feel nasty every time I touched it no matter what I did to try to disinfect/revamp it. So I went to Target and bought one there. (Target is great for lamp shades because they have a lamp Mix&Match section so they have all sizes and styles, and they are all at pretty great prices!) I initially was thinking that I wanted like a beige or burlap drum shade but I ended up choosing this great charcoal grey medium sized drum shade. It looks really great with the colors of the lamp. 

Here is the finished product: