Thursday, November 17, 2011

Bunk Bed Playhouse Finished!!!

I did it! I finished the bunkbed playhouse that I have been working on recently. I am so excited to send it! I just wish I could be there when her little girl sees it on Christmas morning. Maybe I can talk her into sending me some pictures. *Hint Hint

I just wanted to post some pictures of the final product. It turned out way cute! And so much better than the original one I made for my kids. I guess I learned some things from the last one.

Here it is without the accessories
cute but not much fun.

And here it is with the accessories!
So cute! And I love the orange and red color scheme she chose.
Now its another run to the fabric store to get some flannel to make some Christmas pajamas.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

What I've been up to

This Past Saturday I had the opportunity to do some more fundraising for my friend Lauren who is in the middle of her fight with breast cancer. This has sort of become what I live and breathe lately.

My own Zumba Party Event for her is coming up next weekend, but this past Saturday I was able to attend another Zumba "Party in Pink" to raise money for the Susan G. Komen association and was allowed to have a booth there to benefit Lauren's cancer fund. It was fun to get away and be a part of the event. I know I have mentioned this before but I am addicted to my Zumba! It is so much fun and there is definitely a sense of family and sisterhood when I am with other zumba fanatics like myself.

Lauren was able to go to the Party in Pink too. She was asked to say a few words about her fight and progress she has made. She is such an amazing woman and I am so honored to be friends with her.
Here are a few shots from the party:


From Left to right: Trevor (Lauren's husband), Lauren, me, and Kristi.

Yes, Emma and I are wearing tutus. I made one for myself that morning and decided if I was going to wear one Emma should too. Don't we look cute? It was a "Party in Pink" after all. Just showing my PINK spirit. We are all wearing our "Lauren's Warriors" or "S.O.S Together we continue Saving Our Sisters" T-shirts that we had made and are selling.

After the event, Lauren, Emma and I went out to get something to eat. It was so much fun to hang out just her and I. Man, I love that girl! Thanks Lauren for an awesome night. None of it would have happened without you.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

I'm Dead Meat

This weekend I am running a 5K. Am I crazy or what? I officially registered for the race this week. I needed something to motivate me to get in shape. . .well as far as that goes...I think I am dead meat! I went running last night and only made it 1.5 miles. I am sooo not in the same shape as I was this time last year. I have to keep telling myself that its ok and to give myself a break. I just had a baby 3 months ago.

Last year I trained just 3 days (mind you I was already working out 3-4 times a week before that). This time around 3 days just aren't going to cut it. But I am still going to do it. Even if I have to walk half the time, I am still going to finish. Wish me luck.

Oh and I am still looking forward to it because my hubby bought me my very own i-pod shuffle! And look! It is the orange one! And it is sooo tiny! It makes me smile.

image courtesy of coveringweb.com

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Flower and Lace Headbands

You've all probably seen these little flower headbands everywhere. I know I have. I think they are just darling. Today I just couldn't help myself and so I decided to whip a couple up. One for my daughter to use as a bribe reward for cleaning her bedroom by herself and one just in case we have a little girl.

I decided to go all white. I'll be honest and confess that I was thinking mostly about a baby girl. I secretly hope that is the case. I thought it would be perfect to go with the baby blessing dress I have hanging in the closet that I have up in my Etsy shop but am secretly hoping I may just be the one to end up with it.

I bought a single bunch of daisies at Wal Mart the other day for $1 I think (I just removed the yellow centers) and the lace I had left over from other projects. There is 1" elastic underneath the flowers too so it has a nice stretch.

They were so easy to make! Just some scrap materials, a few runs through the serger to attach the elastic, some hot glue and glitter.

What do you think?

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Fun Site for Family Home Evening Activities

If you haven't heard of DTLK's website yet, I highly recommend it. It is great for preschool age kids. I've used it for printing off greeting cards that the kids can color and give to friends, grandparent, etc. I've also gone on there to print preschool handouts for our co op, and last night I used it to print off some fun sack puppet templates. It's soooo easy and the kids get just as much fun out of it if I were to come up with it on my own. But I don't have to do the work! Great news for this pregnant mommy!

Each kid got to pick out the puppet of choice and after our song and lesson we had our craft time. The kids colored each puppet piece and then mom and dad cut them out. Pull out the glue stick and wha la!



Wednesday, March 2, 2011

I am flattered

I don't know why but today I received a lot of comments on my bunk bed playhouse and people asking what I'd charge if I were to sell them. I am giving it serious thought and will put up a listing in my Etsy shop soon. I will have to play around with how I set it up since there need to be room for customization. But we'll see what I can work out. I am expecting baby #3 in the next 2 weeks so things are a little uncertain but I will do my best to get a listing up this week.

There were a lot of good ideas too, one being making the playhouse into a closet accessory by putting on a tension rod. And since not everyone has a bunk bed I think that is a great idea. I can certainly do that as well. Let me know if there are any more requests out there but please leave your e-mail with your comments so I can contact you back. That was probably the most frustrating part of the comments today. I had so many questions but no way to respond to them.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

First Wedding Cake Attempt

I got roped into doing a wedding cake for a daughter of a friend. She was asking around if anyone knew anyone who did cakes and a couple people shot my name out there and told her I might be up for the challenge (how do I ever get myself into these things?). Honestly, I was flattered and I hesitantly but happily agreed and said I'd give it a try.

The bride had her cake all planned out and told me what she wanted. White cake, strawberry filling, butter cream frosting and blue snowflakes. Simple enough right? NOT!
First off she wanted a triangle cake. NO ONE carries triangle cake pans! At least not that I could find, so I had to rig up my own using my rectangle ones. And the snowflakes?.....Well, lets just say this was a chore too. She didn't want just cute snowflakes piped onto the cake. She wanted them 3-D!

At first I tried piping snowflakes out of royal icing and letting those dry to use as decoration but they just shattered when I picked them up. So I had to come up with SOMETHING that was sturdy and that could last more than 24 hours on a cookie sheet (that's another story you'll read about below).

I decided to try gum paste and luckily found a friend who owned a set of snowflake cookie cutters! WHEW! Who would have thought snowflake cutters were seasonal merchandise? Right, yeah I know now. So, those were rolled, cut, and then painted with luster dust so they'd be all shimmery, purdy and ready for me to layer them when they dried. Gladly that was my first victory...well for a couple hours anyway. I learned really quickly that 2 year olds cannot, and I repeat CANNOT be trusted. I also learned that setting my cakes on the counter to cool was a bad choice too. I'll just say that I make LOTS of cakes and a few different batches of snowflakes.

Enter the great invention of baby gates!!!.......

Whew! After the kitchen was blocked off I got things done. Good thing too! I was running out of time. I layered the cakes, added the strawberry filling, added cake supports for the second tier, and frosted away. I think the scariest part was putting the second tier on after it was frosted too! But I did manage it.

The cake sat in the fridge overnight since 3-4 hours was all my pregnant legs and feet could take. Then, the next day a second coat of frosting to cover up the crumb layer and the fun really began. I added the blue border and the long awaited snowflakes. Ta DAH! It was done! And after two days of sitting, there were no sags or sinking I was relieved.

I was very pleased with how it turned out. What do you think?
 

DIY Curtain Rod

What do you do when you have a 4 yr old who loves to hide behind and play in your 4 panels of 83" long curtains but your cheapo metal curtain rod can't take it?
You make a better one! And you DIY (do it yourself).

Here's what I did:

I found these 2 two-packs of cute rod brackets at our beloved orange store (The Home Depot) for around $7 a pack. I however needed five and didn't want to spend another $7 so what do I do? I make my own replica of course! And then spray painted them all black to match.

This is one from the store

And this is the one I made from a piece of ply wood and our jigsaw. Not bad eh?

Then I found these cute decorative rod ends also in a two-pack for just $1! They were oak colored but no need to fear....I've got black spray paint for that too!

The rod part was easy too. We just got a piece of PVC pipe for around $2. Then, cut it down to the 101" that I needed and painted that too! Our free stash of black spray paint ran out so I just got out our left over jar of black paint and brushed it on. Can't beat free!

So total cost for the new 101" rod came to around $10! I can't wait til I can paint the last coat of acrylic sealer on and then hang my 4 navy blue panels!
Then, its all the hide-and-seek a 4 yr old could ever want...

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Busy Hands DO Make Happy Hearts.

I really need to add more to this blog. It was my intention but just hasn't happened as of late with our big move and pregnancy.

I have a sign that reads "Busy Hands Make Happy Hearts" that usually hangs in my craft room above the sewing machine, but at this point the craft room hasn't even reached "unpacked" status. However the signs phrase sticks with me today.

Mornings have been really rough for me lately. I want to do nothing but stay in bed and sleep. I dread the efforts of sitting up and hobbling around the house like a penguin. I am now 30 weeks and 6 days along. Only about 5 more weeks to go! I can do this! Or as a dear friend of mine says, "I can do HARD things." My body is tired and sore but I will make it.

Anyway, today has gone well for the most part. The morning may have been slow at first, and I did spend most of the morning laying on the couch watching cartoons with my kids but I don't feel guilty about it at all.

Once the drowsiness subsided I got a burst of energy. And what better way to use it than to do dishes! (yeah right, I am sure we all could think of better things to spend it on) but it had to be done. Then I got the urge to bake bread. So I made up a batch of carrot rolls; and while the dough for that was rising I decided to start baking cakes. (I was recently asked to do a wedding cake for a friend that is getting married next weekend). It is going to be so fun!

And with all that busyness and work I feel so much better about myself! I am in such a better mood, the kids are happy and well behaved, and the house smells wonderful.

Yes I do believe busy hands make happy hearts...