{My House Mondays} Checklists are overrated...

posted on: Monday, January 31, 2011

So I had big plans for this past weekend. HA. Don't kid yourself Halsey. Okay, then--third person narrative-- weird. My big plans involved cleaning the D-Day reactment that I call my home. I even had a nifty checklist. It had all the things I needed to do on it with a cutsie little box by each item so when I finished I could put a cutsie little check in it. How many did I check off?

Zero.

 Task one: clean my closet. nope.
 Task two: grout shower and hang up poor shower curtain which has been on the ground for a month. Net.

GASP! AHHHH!
 Task three: Clean up Punk's new favorite toys. nada.
Task Four: Clean up the clothes, shoes, straightener, Walmart bag (weird), and counters of my bathroom. Nowayjose'.
Task five: Throw away all the random crap laying around on the floor in our spare bedroom. Hide the buffalo rug that is in the corner. Yep. Psych. It is all still there.
Task six: GROUT the spare bathroom tile. no, but it does have a shower curtain so at least we can pretend we are clean, civilized human beings.

So there you have it, my nothing accomplished weekend....except for the new blog look...yep, got that done. I also managed to go for the last 72 on nothing but pizza, hot wings, 7up, and a two day old juice box.

Reality is a dirty deal....just sayin'

{Smilin' Sunday}The Magic Behind a Ritz Cracker

posted on: Sunday, January 30, 2011

I can't say when it happened, but my Punk has turned into a toddler.
*He smiles when I call his him name
*He frantically tries to run (and then falls) when I tell him, "I'm gonna get you!"
*He bounces up and down to the sound of music
*He stands in his crib and plays with his mobile
*He refuses to eat when I try to feed him
*He hides during the chasing scenes in Up
*He steals my keys and phone.
*He cuddles when he is sick
*And, last night during a major temper tantrum session where Punk was laying on the ground crying, a ritz cracker had the magical power to eliminate his tears, calm his fiery mood, and bring out those big blue eyes that I melt over everyday.

{Feature Friday} And who said you can't judge a book by it's cover....

posted on: Friday, January 28, 2011

Want to see something that totally rocks?

That's right! I just wanted to just show you a cute chick. hahahaha. Seriously, Kate from See Kate Sew totally transformed a book and purse into one sweet clutch. I kind of want it...bad.

So friends...what are your plans for the weekend?

I am headed to a junior girls basketball game in T minus 30 minutes....then tomorrow I am off to watch my Cats play the Griz. My poor little toosh will be a sufferin' come Sunday morning!

{That's Us Thursday} Frequently Asked Questions

posted on: Thursday, January 27, 2011

I now feel like a big shot *cough* (not really), but I got a little giddy when I realized that I finally had enough questions to answer to qualify them as, "frequently asked questions about moi". No, I am not french, but it makes me feel way more sophisticated when I can throw around various languages in the same sentence.

On that same note, Hunk speaks Spanish and I can still kind of speak Russian so occasionally we catch ourselves asking questions in English and then responding to each other in either Russian or Spanish. We think it is funny (like we have invented our own language or something)--I am guessing everyone else that listens to us thinks that it is obnoxious. We aim to live on the more obnoxious side anyway.

Awkward pause.

Anyway.

Question and Answer Soiree
Q: "I noticed your hair is not always parted on the same side, why?"
A: Wellllll, first, I can't believe someone actually noticed that little detail. dang. I should probably start covering up my blemishes before ya'll start noticing my lack of makeup. Truthfully, I have a cowlick in the front of my hair, which drives me absolutely bonkers. I have been trying to go for the whole Heather Locklear swoopy bangs thing and my cowlick often times gets in my way so I just flip my bangs over to the other side to get the swooshy effect. really, I do.
Q: "I love the hardwood floors in your house, what are they made of...?"
A: We have circular sawn fir floors, I am kind of in love with them because I can drop almost anything on the floor and if it dings up the floor it isn't even noticable.
Q: "Will we ever learn the names of Hunk and Punk?"
A: I don't know yet. I call them that on purpose because it kind of goes along with the spunk and junk theme. Someday I may share their names, but as of right now I like to think of my accountant hubby as my hottie hunk and my spawn child as a punk.
Q: "What color did you use to paint the dressers in your master bedroom?"
A: Ralph Lauren "Sunwashed Blue." However, Lowes does not sell Ralph Lauren paint so I was able to have the paint guy match the color. So I ended up getting a Valspar paint in the exact same color for half the price. awesome, huh?
Q: "Even though Punk was a preemie is he doing fine now?"
A: Yes, Punk is doing great. He is just a little small for his age. My mighty munchkin is now fifteen months old and a whoppin' eighteen pounds. He walks, attempts to run, gets in cupboards, yells, sings, cries like crazy, and is finally starting to cuddle.
Q: "How can my shop be featured on Spunky Junky?"
A: Send me an email, and if your shop looks like it would be a good fit for Spunky Junky then I would love to feature you!

Q: "Where in Montana do you live...?"
A: I live in a place called Bozeman. It has two seasons--Winter and Summer. This year we were graced with a prolonged Fall which was awesome. Bozeman is always ranked in the Top 10 for outdoor adventure cities. It is known for it's skiing, hiking, camping, amazing fishing (Hunk loves to fish), great hunting (loves this too), and many other great outdoor activites.  We are also very close to Yellowstone National Park.
Q: "What kind of camera do you shoot with...?"
A: I shoot with a Nikon D3000, BUT I also carry around a Sony Cybershot in my purse. I am still figuring out how to use a DSLR camera and so far I am loving all the nifty photo options and gadgets.  My Cybershot, on the other hand, is so amazing because of it's size and picture taking abilities. (FYI there will be a tutorial soon on how to get great photos with a point and shoot camera like the Sony Cybershot....my little sis won a photo contest using one)!
Q: "Where can I find an antique trunk like the one in your living room?"
A: Honestly, I was not that one that found either of mine. Yes, I have two of them. My Mom is an avid garage seller. Her house is chuck full of amazing hutches, gas station signs, and headboards. Both of mine came from garage sales. I think the most she has paid for a trunk was around $30. My suggestion is to check out antique malls, garage sales and Craigs List. My BEST suggestion is to find a small town. My parent's live in a place where there are about 1800 people and the garage sales there are amazing. Why? Well, everyone has lived there forever so they haven't really needed to purge their stuff, when they do though, there is a plethora of vintage clothes, furniture, magazines, and jewelry waiting to be bought for DIRT CHEAP.
Q: "How do you pronounce Halsey...and is it a family name?"
A: I have been asked this question my entire life. no joke. First, no it is not a family name. Secondly, my name is pronounced, Hall-zee. My parents thought it would be freaking hill-arious to give a little, scrawny, bushy haired kid the hardest name in the world for others to pronounce. So I grew up telling people, "Hi, my name is Halsey." People would reply, "Okay, what is your first name?" Oh snap.


There ya have it! Keep throwing those questions my way and I will do my best to answer them....honestly. Honestly.

Spunky Junky's Living Room

posted on: Tuesday, January 25, 2011

So when we built our house we decided we would put our mantle in the corner of our living room. Our vision was to put the television on top of the mantle and then center the furniture so that the mantle would be the focal point of the room.

Well, that didn't happen. First, our mantle is so high that when the tv is on top of it, Punk can't see it. Secondly, when we rearranged the furniture so that it was facing a corner, it then closed off a large portion of the room.

ahhhhh, the frustration!

I laid in bed at nights wondering how I could fix our corner mantle dilemma!

 With the help of this our good friend, who is an interior designer, we finally came up with this idea. Here's why we set it up this way...

Because we only have one living area upstairs, it has to serve as an enteraining spot for friends and family as well as a living space for our day-to-day living.

Since it is a VERY open space that connects directly to the kitchen and dining area we wanted to enclose it in a manner where it would be cozy during cold days and movie nights, but still open enough for large parties.

Furthermore, since the front door is located off to the side of our living room, we wanted to create a segway where guests can walk into the house without walking "through" the living/entertaining area.
 I don't know if it is because we live in Montana or not, but our house has a very rustic theme, of which I am starting to pull away from (much to the dismay of Hunk). Because of this our house is accented with a variety of knick-knack antiques.

For instance, I wanted this steamer trunk to be a bold accent in our living room so I set the tv on top of it. Not only is it a unique entertainment stand, but it provides some added flare to the room.
 Since our furniture is not against the wall I also needed to find pieces to put behind it so the back of the couch did not become a focal point when looking at it from the dining area.

Bareback couch in middle of the room=bad, bad idea.

Accents behind the couch that tie it into the living room= good idea.

Finally, storage, storage, storage.

 Since our living area also serves as a place for our 15 month old to live as well, we needed to create unique ways to store our movies, magazines, toys, and blankets.

What's your favorite feature of your living room?

ABE Winners {revised}

Soooo a very exciting announcement. Because I never heard from the 1st winner of the Trendy Mommas Package a new winner has been chosen
 
#179 Nicolthepickle

Congrats chicka I am sending you an email right now!

{My House Monday} Our Valentine's Mantle

posted on: Monday, January 24, 2011

This weekend I finally got around to setting up our Valentine's mantle. Disclaimer: ignore the wreath, it is a pain to take down so I decided to just keep it up.

 Okay I decided to go for a more simple design for a mantle. I have been in a HUGE decluttering mood lately, which makes Hunk estastic, and which makes me frantically OCD about any junk in our house.
 Don't you just love the print in the center? I got it here. I ended up going to Costco and printing it off on poster board, then I found an old frame laying around in our basement-gave it a little love from some Krylon white spray paint and VOILA!
 I filled the apothecary jars with  adorable pink marshmallows and  pink chrinkle shred paper from World Market.

I made the rolled rossette ball last year for Easter and I thought it would be perfect for Valentine's Day too. You want a tutorial on how to make one? Go here, you will fall in love with Shelley's blog!

The mercury glass stand that the rosette ball is sitting in is actually a Christmas candle holder from World Market that I got for 90% off. I was like a kid in a candy store!

And the plates. I was hesitant about putting them on the mantle, but when I did I fell in love with how they pulled all the pieces together. They were $2.50 each from the bargain aisle at Target.


And finally, I took two white boas from my Christmas boxes and draped them across the mantle to provide  a nice whimsical touch to my big puffy heart day mantle.

Hope you all have a great day! Don't forget to come back tomorrow...I am going to provide you will a sneak peek on how we decorated our living room with a corner fireplace!

Here's where I link to

This makes me smile on a cloudy Sunday afternoon...

posted on: Sunday, January 23, 2011

Raising Punk has been the most exciting and greatest adventure of my life. When I think back to days before Punk there are a few things I miss, but for the majority of the time I am completely fine with the burped stained clothes, piles of toys, and constant repeat of disney movies. When it comes to raising our little man, Hunk and I have different ideas of what it means to parent and I am fine with our differences too. I believe that our differences is what helps us to be the best parents possible for Punk.

I am more of the school learner type. I love to sit Punk down and play with blocks, look at books, and practice the few words he knows.

Hunk, on the other hand, likes to provide Punk with real world experience.

Last summer Hunk offered to babysit.  

Then last night he offered to watch Hunk while I did laundry. Hunk also believes that since he has conquered every song on Rockband he is a legit. He actually refers to himself as a drummer. This is his idea of watching Punk as well.

Even though I joke around about all the silly things Hunk will do with my baby I actually cherish these moments. I feel so blessed to have a husband who wants to include his son in everything that he enjoys. I know Punk will grow up to love football and basketball, I know he will spend endless hours on the lake ice fishing, and countless nights in the summer fishing the rivers. I know that Punk will have a deep passion for the outdoors and I know that more then anything he will have his father's deep and passionate desire for the gospel.
I love my Hunk and I love his unorthodox parenting style.


P.S. Hunk is also tech savvy, I am not.
I just got a new phone and he said I will not use it to it's potential. I will prove him wrong.

WINNERS WINNERS Chicken dinners!!!

posted on: Saturday, January 22, 2011

So A Blogtastic Extravaganza is finally over! It flew by sooo quickly. Thank you everyone that participated in this event and THANK YOU readers for spreading the word and making this a truly remarkable event for Spunky Junky. You all rock. Now for the winners, well, you are all winners to me and I wish I could give these gifts to all of you, but since I haven't won the lottery yet I can only choose two. sad day, I know.

Trendy Momma's Package which includes:
Less Ordinary Designs: $50 dollar store credit and free design
Spunky Junky Accessories:  garden green necklace

Hot Mama Handbags Amy Butler Trio Set
 Trendy Momma WINNER is #179 Nicolethepickle

Stylish Babies Package includes:
Sweet Pea Patterns Baby slouchy boot pattern

Little Wishing Tree Pink and White mary janes
 

Skitt A Skatt Furniture: Ruffle Stool

Spunky Junky: Spring Pansy Headband

Stylish Baby WINNER #82 Out of Thoughts Blog

Congrats ladies please email me as soon as possible so I can get your contact information to my sponsors, you have 48 hours to respond before I draw new winners!

And if you didn't win please know that I was rooting for you and you can still visit all my great sponsors who are always having great promotions and deals!

And because I love you so much Spunky Junky Accessories are 15% off right now just use the promocode: SPUNKYJUNKYABE

peace, H

{Giveaway} A Blogtastic Extravaganza is FINALLY here!


Welcome to A Blogtastic Extravaganza!

I am so happy thrilled that you could join me this week for ABE. Before I begin I want to send out a special shout out to my amazing sponsors that have so generously donated their time and goods to make ABE a success--they rock!

Just imagine, during this week you have the oppurtunity to hop from one blog to the next to stake your claim at over $13,000 dollars in gifts and prizes!

Isn't that sa-weet?

Here, at Spunky Junky, I am giving away TWO amazing themed packages to TWO amazing readers! One package is entitled  "Trendy Mommas" and the other is focused around "Stylish Babies."

As a mom I believe that spit up stained shirts, and last week's shower do not need to be a part of our daily fashion statements--so I am here to make you and your little one be the most stylish one on the block!

So how can you win? Easy.
(Mandatory)
*Become or be a follower of Spunky Junky (1 entry)
*Leave ONE comment below telling which prize package you would LOOOOOVE to win (1 entry)

Extra Entries (Optional)
*Promote Spunky Junky and A Blogtastic Extravaganza on your blog, facebook page, or Twitter (3 entries)

*1st PRIZE PACKAGE-"TRENDY MOMMAS"*
 Win a free design and a $50 dollar store credit at Less Ordinary Designs. Aren't these picture announcements adorable?

Do I really have to gush about my own products? hahaha. Win this stylin' bib necklace from Spunky Junky

 Win a matching key fob, changing pad, and clutch from Hot Mama Handbags. Who doesn't love Amy Butler??

*2nd PRIZE PACKAGE-STYLISH BABIES*

 Win a FREE pattern to make your own baby slouchy boots! Cute, huh?

 Aren't these shoes just the most precious things ever? And they could be yours from Little Wishing Tree.

Win this amazingly cute stool from Skitt A Skatt. Ruffles on a stool, what an awesome idea?

Win this child size Spring Pansy Headband! Blingy-Blingy!!!
Good Luck dudes and dudettes!

Don't forgot to show your support and visit the other great giveaways below and remember that A Blogtastic Extravaganza will end January 22nd at 11:59PM EST.

CLOSED


Little {Heart} Marshmallows

Okay folks I am going to say it, "Hunk I love ya!" He was so amazing yesterday. I don't think I could have asked for a better birthday. I was blessed to get not only one, but two cakes, Chuck Norris made a surprise visit to my *surprise* birthday party, and no event in the Bishop home would be complete without a little Rockband.

So now onto my dilemma. I have been brainstorming for a week or so on how to decorate my mantle for Valentine's Day. The problem that I have run into though is--filling my apothecary jars.

Halloween was easy, I bought lots and LOTS of candy corn.

Christmas was a ball, literally, I filled all my jars with round ornaments.

Valentines hasn't been so easy, and shouldn't it be? After all it is the holiday of {love} and candy, right? The problem-- I don't want to spend a lot of money on candy to fill the jars.

So I found a solution, in the fluffiest form.

 Aren't these heart shaped marshmallows so precious? I thought so too. Not only are they small enough to fit in my jars, but they are also big enough that I only needed one bag!
 And look! Not only are they great to look at, but they take amazing photos too....I am talking about the marshmallow (just to clarify) ;)
 Punk thought they were pretty fun to chew, play with, lick, and then stick to my furniture.  My bedding didn't fare too well,  from his lil' sticky fingers.
And look at my apothecary jars. Sweet, huh? {Don't worry--I will show you the final product on Tuesday}

So what are your simple solutions for your Valentine's Day decorations?

And, don't forget! I will be picking TWO winners tonight for the ABE giveaway. If you haven't heard about it yet hop on over here!

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