Valentine's Cards

Changed things up.

Got out of the gloom.
Here's our new Blog Design.

Any Valentine's Decor??? I'm at a loss. Decorating in January has me stumped...
Chell

From a 10 Dollar Entertainment Center to a FANTASTIC Play Kitchen

This old piece of junk was nice and heavy, but only $10 at an indoor yard sale!
Some before pictures of the PLAY KITCHEN while it was still an entertainment center. We (and by WE I mean my lovely dad) took off the cardboard backing and reinforced it with a stronger wood. On the right was a glass door. We took that down! That will be the new fridge.
All of the holes were drilled and ready for hardware (thanks to DAD), after painting, of course.
Here she is all finished (minus the curtains I'm sewing out of flour sack dishtowels and the mounting of baskets on the fridge door):
Some features and the price breakdown:
Entertainment Center $10
2 pushbutton PRINCESS lights (from grandpa)
2 motion sensor lights in the fridge and oven, the coolest part (from GPA)
Children's IKEA pots and pans 9.99
IKEA ATTEST handles (on fridge and oven doors) 6.99
Clipboard, from Grandma, don't tell her boss.... j/k
IKEA BYGEL rail (holding the pots) 1.99
IKEA BYGEL S-hook .99/10
Hooks holding Chef Attire .75/4 (actually window pulls)
Fridge door is sheet metal on plywood $12 (plus the drill bit I broke drilling holes in it [darn it!])
18x18 picture frame .50 at DI with free printed backyard scene I printed myself w/ photoshoped windowpanes
The STOVE TOP elements are just CD shaped circles of SHELF LINER. MUCH CHEAPER THAN VINYL. I lucked out, mine was .50 at DI
The knobs for the cabinet doors and stovetop were the most expensive; they came in a 10 pack for $18. I used four on my CHILD-SIZE CHINA HUTCH I posted here
The fridge magnets are from the dollar store
Real faucet from DI (Thrift Store) $3
GRAND TOTAL: about $ 75 with EVERYTHING you see... Toys and all...

I used a NO-SANDING (high covering) primer called Bullseye by Rustoleum. A quart was plenty of paint and about $10. I love it. It will stick to anything, but it rubs off SUPER EASY, so hurry and paint over it the next day! I used my trusty 2-coats of poly to make sure it withstands the weathering of children and moving... [hopefully soon]

(On top of the kitchen is a table runner and my slow-growing winter flowers)

I kept the inside of the cabinet its original color, and I'm glad I did. I like it. (Good thing, too because my left over gallon of paint ran out!) The items inside are a few of many empty boxes I completely taped over with masking tape...
The SINK is my large SALAD BOWL. It's really nice, so I didn't glue it in and since it has a lip around the edge, I didn't need to. Now, when I need it, I can just take it out and use it and there's just a big hole left there.
I added a shelf from my pantry to the oven. Also, a strong chain is holding the oven door to prevent injury. The middle of the cabinet door was cut out and a CLEAR CLIPBOARD was screwed in behind it. Using a clipboard helped with having the necessary strength and already finished edges. Ours had measurements on the side, but when positioned right they weren't visible:
The oven and fridge both have MOTION SENSOR LIGHTS; which the kids think is SUPER COOL! (They also have an "OFF" setting)
Under the sink houses the cleaning necessities courtesy of Nana and Boppo for Christmas. The vacuum is missing... hmmm...
The fridge houses some of our Melissa & Doug PLAY FRUIT that SANTA brought:
Sheet Metal was cut to size and attached with GORILLA GLUE. I put 2 25lb and 2 35lb weights on it until it dried...
I took out the guts to my not-so-lasting hand mixer that broke (my 4th time using it) and glued it back together for the kids to play with it.
Side note, I spraypainted all of the brass and dark hardware with my silver spray paint so it would be uniform...
Now it matches perfectly with the China Hutch!
I got the PLAY KITCHEN FROM AN ENTERTAINMENT CENTER IDEA from the BLOG SUTTON GRACE... What an amazingly talented woman she is! I'm super pleased with how things turned out; thanks for the great idea, Erin!
PS my camera died on me so these pictures are from my cell phone. Hope they are okay!
PPS THANKS DAD FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP, you rock. I would have done a less-than-perfect job without you!

Family rules

I saw this on-line a while ago, I wish I could remember the name of the site, because it is really cute and had lots of fun ideas. So, I made my own version of family rules. I used a strong piece of cardboard and 12x12 paper. I used vinyl for the letters. I started at the bottom and worked my way to the top. It was a lot of work but really fun to make.

Picture clock

I made this clock for my parents. It turned out cute. The clock was a $4 clock. First take the clock apart. This one had 4 small screws. The hands just popped off. I thought the inside paper piece would just come out easily BUT it was glued really good. I just measured one big circle and then built on top of that. Cute and cheap way to display a few more pictures of the grand kids.

New Shoes and Apothecaries

Guide to a great apothecary. First, Obtain 3 $4 hurricanes and 3 50cent candlesticks. Wash everything well. Next, Grab your Gorilla Glue.Apply a thin layer to your Candlesticks. Place together. Secure with weight. Dry overnight.
Fill with Valentine's Goodies; I like to use big diamonds in mine to remind the hubby of what I want for Valentine's Day, but just a little bigger than these, of course.

Display your newest addition for all to see.SHOE RE-DO
I began with these shoes from Target. The only shoes that would fit my little one's FAT FEET. I didn't like the pink butterfly. I'm geared more toward elegant, not juvenile, design. So I cut that sucker off and hot glued on some black rhinestones. I chose a bowtie of my own design to cover up the existing butterfly stitching.
And now I LOVE them. Not to mention they match more church dresses! There's nothing worse than a red dress with pink shoes!