Whew! Vegas Was A BLAST!!!

That's right! I skipped out to Vegas for 5 days this week! 

Why you ask? 

Scentsy's 2012 Convention was there! 

While I am a Scentsy Consultant and I did go last year as well I confess that I loved meeting with a few of my very closest friends while I was there too, even more than convention! Too bad I was too busy visiting to get any pics :( 

BUT I did make my very first trip to.....

I'll share with you the few things I got while I was there on Friday! It was really too bad I could only get what would fit into my suitcase :( 

To check out what I did at convention go here. 

I Got a Spray Gun! Hey Hey Hey Hey!

A month or so ago I was just coming home with a friend and saw there was a yard sale down the road. I had no intention of buying anything that day but I though since it was so close I'd go have a look. It was a great yard sale with great prices on everything, in fact I am still kicking myself for not buying a bed frame that would have been perfect for Anberlynn's new room (oops! haven't blogged about that yet! Soon, I promise!) but the super storage solution we found is great too. BUT the one thing I did walk away with was this:

FOR $5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was a gamble though. It still had paint in it from the previous owner of the house and the people selling it had no idea if it even worked or not! I guess I was in the mood to take a gamble with my $5. 

Clean up? 

I have never used a paint sprayer before but I have used an air brush. From what I hear on the internet about paint sprayers the biggest concern is cleaning. I'll tell you right now that compared to a dual action air brush this thing is a breeze! Everything rinses right off if you do it while it's still wet. 

Easy to Use?

Like I said, I've never used on before and instructions really aren't my thing but really, the secret to any air tool is pressure and consistency.  You need the right amount of air pressure (this has a handy little knob right on the trigger!) and the right consistency of your liquid. If it's not working it's either too thick or too thin. As soon as I got the hang of what a liquid should feel like it sprays like a charm. It did come with a handy dandy chart and viscosity cup too for those not into "feeling" their paint. 

Light? 

Most of the weight comes from the paint itself.  After a bit I did use two hands but more for comfort than need. I would suppose a a man, or even a woman with more arm strength would be able to hold this up no problem. 

Would I change anything? 

Well, it would be nice if the paint cup came with a lid. I've been using plastic wrap and a rubber band. It works just fine but it would have been nice if it had come with a lid.

Over all?

IT'S AWESOME!!! 

I've used it on several things already (more on that soon!) and I pretty much never want to go back to a roller again! 

What about you? Any adventures in paint sprayers? Any awesome yard sale finds? 

In My Pretty Garden

So much has been going on and my poor little tire garden is getting the short stick when it comes to attention! 

The tire front and center did have one HUGE lettuce plant in it up until this week when I pawned it off on my mom. 

The strawberries I planted from a hanging basket I bought last summer are doing awesome! Funny, the individual plants I bout from the store didn't even come back. 

That's OK though, these plants are shooing off runners like CRAZY! I am thinking of expanding the bed and  putting in stepping stones just so I'll have a way to get to them all! 

That is if I can keep my girls away from them! And speaking of things I can't keep my girls out of...

The gooseberries are growing like mad as usual! We had a bad run in with some leaf eating worms this year but they didn't like the berries so it's all good. 

The bleeding heart is doing well as always too. It really loves being up in the tires here. 

Here you can see some of the apples in the background on our less productive tree.  The TP tube is what's left of a bird feeder we made. We have a pair of blue jays that feasted on it int he mornings. 

This was the first year we have had the lilacs early enough for them to bloom. They have almost come and gone but they smelled BEAUTIFUL while they lasted! 

I am still loving my little patio makeover! My happy little potted plants make me happy. 

The foxglove is another one of those plants that I never got to bloom last year but here they are in all their glory and I am in LOVE! 

Look at those sweet little spots! 

I got 2 six-packs of these this spring. They came in various colors and a few people in line after me got back out of line so they could go hunt them down for themselves.  I can't remember what it's called but it's won me over.

An last but not least, the nasturnum. I think this is the third year it has come back, though not nearly as strong as it has in the past. It's a fun little flower to watch as it sheds it's pointy little cap to bloom.