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!

Personalized Checkers and Yahtzee

For my nephews this Christmas, I made Personalized Yahtzee and Checkers. The idea comes from here. I had so much fun doing it! The back side of my Chess board was covered with chalkboard vinyl and a little bag of chalk and an eraser was placed in the container. I also added instructions for games like tic-tac-toe, hangman, capture and a few others to give variety. The chess pieces will come in handy for when they get older, but for now the checker pieces are appropriate for their ages.I bought a cheap chess board that had a plexiglass covered wooden box so that all of the accessories would fit. I then bought some small wooden chips by AMY's CRAFTS at Hobby Lobby. I printed pictures on my photopaper in sepia, mod podged them to the chips, and then antique glazed them for some more oomph. On the backs of the acrylic-painted chips I did the same thing with pictures of crowns (for when there's a king).
Then I just put everything in the box for safe keeping, not forgetting the instructions!
Next I made Personalized Yahtzee. I bought 5 small wooden blocks off of a friend; painted, sanded, added scrapbook paper to each. 5 of the same pictures are needed for 6 faces of the dice. Mine had only 5 (because my sister is expecting; and I wanted to leave her an empty spot for the baby that is on the way). I used an old shoe box to house the game and added lettering to the outside and pictures of the family (on a ribbon) to the inside (leaving space for the little one joining the family). I printed the instructions from here. Then I rolled up the printed scorecards (from here) and tied them off with a ribbon. Then put everything in the box!
It ended up stinkin ADORABLE if I do say so myself!
And there you have it: about $5 and a little bit of time for an AMAZING gift!

Maddie's Child-Size China Hutch

Merry Christmas, Maddie! You get a little china hutch for Christmas refinished by your loving parents!
The hutch was only poly-ed how we bought it, so I wanted to give it some life. I thought of staining it, but I wanted to match it to the PLAY KITCHEN that is in the process of being transformed (stay tuned for that AMAZING makeover). First, all of the brass hardware was removed (even the screws) and spray painted silver; the original wooden knobs were tossed [aside of course, for another project, not thrown away!]. Then it was sanded, painted (3 coats), and polyurethane-d. The knobs were from Lowe's (a 10-pack so they match the knobs on the play kitchen). The hutch was $35, poly was 10, a big can of paint (to also paint the kitchen) was $18, and the knobs were about $1.50 each, I think. So, it was an investment, but will last through many years of play, and even make it to grandkids, I'm sure! Plus it turned out SUPER CUTE! I'm way excited to get all of her tea set, mini silverware and accessories on it, but for now it's waiting under the tree for a few more days!


BEFORE (partially disassembled):
And the WONDERFUL AFTER:
TA-DA!

Go from BLUE to RENEW

For Christmas we gave our YW scrapbooked Books of Mormon. I got the idea from a super talented girl HERE. For the NEW YEAR, we gave them a reading challenge to complete the book in 6 months time, along with us. With the title being "Book of Mormon", "B.O.M.", gave me the idea of having this challenge be "THE BOMB"! I made little bomb invitations that had a fuse with the invite stapled on them. It turned out to be SUPER CUTE! We also made matching journals to help them keep track of the promptings they receive while reading, matching bookmarks, pasted our testimonies inside, and presented them in a dollar store tote with a scripture pencil!

vinyl project

Just a quick, fun project I put on the wall in the toy room. Cut the vinyl out with my cricut.

Cheap Christmas Ideas

Wrap your mirror with ribbon:On my shelf I added a couple mini stockings and a mini tree I received as gifts last year. Oh and more of my old tree branches...
Another way to do cheap decor is using dollar store ornaments in jars, or as a centerpiece, etc. You could string them on a rounded hanger and make a wreath, or hang them from your valances. I am going to the AFTER CHRISTMAS sales to get all of my ornaments 75% off (or more). We're keeping it simple over here this year! I'd love to see what you have done for your decor....

Got a new Christmas Tree?? DON'T CHUCK THE OLD ONE!

Simple things to do with that old greenery that no longer works as your Christmas Tree...

We bought a new tree after our old base cracked and broke. We used Duct Tape to secure it for another year of life, but this year, I was all for a new tree... Thank goodness for Black Friday sales because I got a pre-lit 7' tree for $50.
Anyway, what to do with that old tree that had no base???
First, I used the smaller branches to spruce up some of my original decor; my sideboard, my dining room table, my shelf... but I had another idea to make a wreath for my front door. I took all of my large branches from my old Tree and looped the wires around to make one large circle:
I just looped the wire with my pliers to hook them:Then I sandwiched some more of the smaller branches to make it fuller, and fluffed them: And hung it on my door with my sparkly star:I then took the tree top and glued it into a vase:I put present boxes around the vase and secured it to a tray (which will eventually be covered with a tree skirt)...

All in all I love the way things turned out. Especially for FREE!

Chair ReDo

So, I bought this chair ($12) for my vanity (that my mom gave to me for free THANK YOU, MOM) and it was too old fashioned for me, so I refinished it! It was already a re-do, I guess because instead of a chair cushion there was a pillow in it. Lucky for me, the pillow was exactly the color of my glider in the nursery, so I reused that (after washing it), and bought a foam pad for $4 with a 50% off coupon. I also found some great fabric in the remnants section for 50% off.
I have this SWEET staple gun that I had yet to use, so I used that to staple my new fabric on adding about 50 unnecessary staples I'm sure.
It was really easy to do, just a little time consuming waiting for the paint to dry and waiting for the kids to nap to get the other stuff done, but I'm really pleased with the outcome. Now I have a vanity and chair for about $20!!