Monday, January 30, 2012

news cans :-)

Hi,

This past weekend I was not feeling so hot.  I think my husband as a result was bored.  Fortunately his boredom worked in my favor!  He decided to install a new garbage can system for us. 

He went to Lowe's and picked up these two boxes:

The first one is for a door mounting kit.  We wanted to have the door mounted to the slider so it was one easy step.  Not having to first open the cupboard and then pull out the garbage can.

 We are all about making things easy around here :-)


 The second box is the unit, it come with the garbage cans and everything.



 This is the cupboard we decided to use.  It is located between the sink and the dishwasher, hence the water line in the back.
(there was a shelf divider in here that was removed before the picture was taken)


My guy took it out of the box, assembled it and screwed it in place.  Then did the same with the cupboard door and door mounting kit. 


And Yippee skippy I have a rockin new set of garbage cans! 



I love them!  I have only gone to the spot where the old garbage can was 307 times.  I will figure it out once the fog clears from my brain :-)

I ordered cabinet hardware finally,  I am so excited to put it up! I will share the results soon.

Have a great day!
Shannon

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Chalkin it up!


Hi,  Happy weekend friends!

I am so in love with the many chalkboards that are floating around the blogisphere.

Making one has been on my to do list for some time now.  Yesterday was the day.  I found an old frame in the garage that I had painted black, but the corners were separating.  So I took a little wood filler and put it in the corners. 



Then I took two different blues and mixed them together to get the color I wanted for the frame.   Next, I dabbed just a tiny bit at a time onto my brush, and did a dry rub, leaving quite a bit of the black showing through.

  




Then I took some chalkboard paint and painted a piece of cardboard and attached it to the back. 




Put it in a cookbook stand and, Viola!  I too have a chalkboard!  How fun and easy! Why in the world did I wait so long? 
 



 











Shannon


I linked up to:

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

My Girls Rooms

Hi all, I am feeling a story coming on...

I shared with you all a while ago about how we, once upon a time, bought this crazy fixer house and did a little renovation here.  We really did like the house but with three small kids and two massive dogs, the floor plan was not working out so well.  We had a large home but really only were living in a very small portion of the home.  We did have four bedrooms, but three of them were up stairs and one down.  With three kids under the age of four they all needed to be upstairs by us.  They had a huge beautiful toy room downstairs but do you think any of them would play there while I made lunch or dinner? NO because I was upstairs and they have an amoeba factor! See how this is working??? A split level home and the current stage of our family life just were not a match made in heaven.  Now the family that bought the house from us have two high school aged boys.  It is the perfect house for older kids, they could be downstairs away from the parental units.  There is beauty with this type of a floor plan and older kids but I was not willing to wait out the many years to get to that point.

 I often tell my husband our home is my office,  this is where I work, I need it to function in the best way possible so that I can effectively get my work done and do my favorite thing...play with my kids.  So what a girl to do in this situation?  Well move, and like I said we put up that for sale sign and within a week the place was sold.  We chose a builder and had a house built for us that fit our family perfectly.  I love our new home. We use every inch of this home.  There is absolutely no wasted space at all!  I love that about it.  Anyway back to the point, my girls rooms.

So the two girls have always shared a room.  In the new house they would each have their own bedrooms.  We let them choose which ones they wanted prior to construction.  Our house ended up being finished on Christmas eve.  So we took our kids over to one set of grandparents house in the morning. Then the other set of grandparents, and my husband and I, all worked like crazy to set up the kids rooms.  We were going to surprise them with their rooms being set up and ready (from Santa) .  This ended up being a total blessing because it was the perfect time to organize and go through all the toys and thin things out, without our kids being there to take out all the things I had just put away!  So after a whirlwind day of decorating and organizing, my husband and I went off to join the kids.  On the way home they all fell asleep (we were counting on this as part of our plan).  We brought them to our new house and we all slept in our master bedroom, once our kids fall asleep they are totally out for the duration.  Keep in mind, the kids had no clue our house was even finished.  So in the morning when they woke up Santa had left us a note at our other house to go to the new house.  Then we went all EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER style and did the big reveal of each of their rooms.  It was absolutely amazing!!!! The kids were so excited they could hardly contain themselves.  It was really cute.

Here is what the girls saw when they opened the doors... 


Room 1,


Room 2


 We wanted room that would last the girls a while, we put two beds in the first room so they would have space for sleepovers and a queen bed in the other for the same reasons.

room 1,





  The bedding is from blancho,  http://www.blancho-bedding.com/mf01007-1.html.  They have great online coupons, I did not pay anywhere near the listed price.
The sheet were a tj maxx find and match the bedding perfectly! I will take better photos of the sheets and post them this evening.
The vinyl tree was off of etsy, http://www.etsy.com/listing/73445639/the-original-shelving-tree-with-birdsref=sr_gallery_37&sref=&ga_search_query=vinyl+tree+original&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_ship_to=US&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade
I took pain brown shelves and sprayed them pink for a pop of color.


room 2,


 

 The bedding is from Delias.  I tried to link it but it looks like they may not sell bedding anymore.










the vinyl is also from etsy, but a different company,
http://www.etsy.com/listing/61788610/paris-vinyl-wall-decals-french-frameref=sr_gallery_1&sref=&ga_search_query=french+frames+chandelier+vinyl&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_ship_to=US&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

















Our sons room is still not fully finished, he was to young to understand the decor side of things so we just put away and organized his toys in the room and set up his furniture, he was just as thrill with that as the girls.  To this day when someone comes over he says, (and he's 2) "hey, you want to come and see my room"?  Haha, that kids cracks me up!

Now I have gotta run, substituting today.  The job is elementary ART!!!! I have a rough life ;-)

Shannon

I linked up to;

Monday, January 23, 2012

Clay Pot Gumball Machine and a BIG Thanks!

I want to start out by thanking Shannon over at Fox Hollow Cottage for putting me on her FB yesterday.  You rock.  I have followers now,  I am so thrilled I can't even stand it!!!! Thank you for opening the door for me, and helping a fellow Shannon out. :-) 



I first saw this fun and simple idea on, http://cleanandscentsible.blogspot.com/2010/10/treats.html.  I just had to give it a try.  I made this project with my girls and we gave them to their teachers as well as neighbor gifts during the holidays.  I put a red bow on the pot and filled it with candy hearts and wouldn't you know, it is just perfect for Valentines day as well. 

To make this project you will need:
- an ivy bowl (3 1/2 x 3 1/2)
- a terra cotta pot (3 1/2 or 4 inches)
- the terra cotta pot base (the part used to catch water) in the matching size
- black spray paint
- ribbon to tie a bow around it
- a doll pin stand (this is what looks the coin insert) they come in packages of 6
- a wooden ball with a flat base (for the lid) these also come in packages of 6
- strong glue that dries clear (I used e6000)
- candy to fill it up

1.  Take the terra cotta pot, base, doll pin stand, and wooden ball and spray them black, or whatever color you would like (red would be way cute!) 

2.  Once these parts are dry, take the ball and center it on the lid (which is the pot base flipped over).  Then glue it down

3.  Next take the pot, turn it upside down and glue the ivy jar to it.  Then take the doll pin stand and glue it to the front of the pot to look like a coin insert.  Once the glue dries, fill it with candy and put the lid on.  I then tied a bow around it. 

So simple and really cute. You could change up the ribbon to match seasonally. 

Here is what our jar looks like for Valentines day.  For Christmas we filled it with red and green M&M's, Look quick it doesn't stay full long around here!


Have a wonderful day!
Shannon

I linked up to:
http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/
http://www.chef-in-training.com/
http://theshadyporch.blogspot.com/
http://www.52mantels.com/
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/
http://www.atthepicketfence.com/

Sunday, January 22, 2012

stepping out

Hi Friend,

 I am joining up at the Sunday Social in an attempt to put myself out there to perhaps find a reader or two.  I confess I am a bit behind the times when it comes to blog lingo. OK I am way behind, but I am learning...slowly.  However what I lack in blogger
know-how I am hoping to make up for in project zeal!

I am struggling to figure out how to effectively grow my blog. The only thing I really know how to do adequately, is link up to other peoples parties.  You say party and I am THERE! ;-) I mean really, who doesn't love a good party? I love the satisfaction I get when seeing other peoples creativity come ALIVE.  I feel lucky to be surrounded by such talent on a weekly basis at these parties.  

 My husband is ultra supportive of my new blogging adventure asking daily, "how is the blog"?, as if it is our newest child.  Well my newest baby needs desperately to get out there for a little social development. The Sunday Social seems like the perfect place to do so. 


How to participate:


1.  Follow your hosts (The Sasse Life & The Kurtz Corner) via Google Friend Connect.
2. Follow the Featured blog. (Uncommon)
2.  Link up your blog's home page -- not a specific link or you will be deleted!
3. Visit at least 2 other blogs and make some friends!

4. Let your friends know by posting this button. The more, the merrier!
The Sasse Life

Wish me luck!
Shannon

Oh man! I totally messed up the picture on the link up.  I can't figure out how to change it to something so a blank box it is.  Going for the whole don't judge a book by it's cover thing.  REALLY?  I am trying to get myself out their and I screw up the picture post.  Nice one Shannon!

Friday, January 20, 2012

"painting" in the snow














We are on day three of snow here, this is the second day of school being canceled.  Things are supposed to warm up to 45 degrees starting tomorrow and all of the snow will be long gone.  So we decided to take the beautiful white canvas of the back yard, and add a little COLOR to it. 

All you need to do this is:
- spray bottles
- water
- food coloring

Fill the spray bottle with water, add food color and let them go to town!
 






  This was a big hit with the kids and they played outside happily for quite a long time. 

Happy snow day!
Shannon

I linked up to
http://firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/
http://www.momnivores-dilemma.com/
http://www.stuff-and-nonsense.net/

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Crepe Paper Roses


While I was at the dollar store I picked up some pink crepe paper streamers because I saw something on Pinterest I just HAD to try.  This is the sight off of Pinterest, where I first saw the crepe paper roses, used for making a kissing ball.  http://www.theidearoom.net/2011/01/tissue-rosette-kissing-balls.html

I wanted to do a twist on that idea so I made mine into a topiary.   

This is what I did.  (I took a crazy lot of photos)

 Supplies needed to make the topiary:
- a container
- glue gun
- crepe paper in whatever color you would like
- a styrofoam ball, use which ever size works best for you (I used styrofoam Christmas ornaments because
     they were 90% off at the store, which made them less expensive then a plain styrofoam ball.)
- moss for the top of the container
- a wooden dowel (I got mine, 3/8th in size, from Lowe's for $0.84)
- brown paint for the dowel
- floral foam to fill the pot

The first two photos show the supplies I used to make the topiary.  I fell in love with these glass buckets I found at Craft Warehouse.  The best part is they were only $2.50 a piece.  You could use any container you would like.  Target has cute bins in the dollar section right now for Valentine's day.

 

Take the crepe paper and cut a section roughly 18 inches long.  Then take the section and fold the top third down so it is not as wide.


Now take the section and begin rolling it, folded side up.  After you have rolled it a few times, pinching the bottom tight, to ensure that your rose will not fall apart.


 Continue to roll the section up while twisting it at the same time. 



Twist and roll...


 Roll and twist...    

 

Keep twisting and rolling until the section is all used.


 The twisting and rolling create a petal like affect.


When you have rolled the whole section up, this is what it looks like. 


You then can take a bit of hot glue to secure the back, again helping the flower to not unroll.  Once you have several flowers made take your styrofoam ball and attach the roses to it using hot glue.  Glue the roses fairly close together to ensure the whole ball gets covered.


You will get in a groove once you start making these, but they can be a little time consuming in the beginning.  I would say as a tip, do not stop once you get going. Keep your hands in motion, rolling and twisting in one movement.  When I paused to inspect my work, things seemed hard to get back on track. 


Then I took the dowel and painted it a dark brown color.  When it was dry, I cut it down to fit the pot. (mine was about 18 inches long)  I then took my rose covered ball and stuck the dowel into it, not letting it go all the way through the ball, but into it far enough that it would not fall out. 


I took my pot and filled it  3/4 full with floral foam, then took the moss and filled up the rest of the pot.  Take the other end of the dowel and stick it into the pot, all the way down to the bottom.


I tied a green velvet ribbon at the top of the dowel but you certainly do not have to do so. 


Here is the final product!!!


Perfect for Valentines day!








Have a great day!
Shannon

I linked up to:
http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/
http://junkintheirtrunk.blogspot.com/
http://firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/
http://www.52mantels.com/
http://www.atthepicketfence.com/
http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/