Baby A's Party Details

Baby A will turn 3 (THREE??!!??!!) next week and we are preparing to celebrate this weekend. I have been wanting to update her room so in efforts to be frugal I am using her new room decor as her party decor. It's a good thing I am a tiny bit crazy about the new colors. 

I headed to Hobby Lobby the other day and came home ready to start crafting.

I fell in love with these navy frames. 

For her party they will have pink chevron paper in them that says Happy Birthday. 

For her new room theme they will have some of the lyrics to Jesus Loves Me and This Little Light Of Mine and they will hang above her bed.

I think I may make a pink and navy fabric bunting to hang above the frames. 

She needs new bedding too. I found these two below and LOVE them so much! 

After thinking on it for a while I think I am going to go with the top floral bedding. 

I think it will grow with her for quite some time. Of course this won't be a part of her party since I have not purchased it yet. I do have some navy and white fabric I may use.

I bought two canvases and my plan was to make inexpensive wall art. 

I taped off one of them and spray painted them pink 

I added navy stripes to one and navy dots to the solid pink one. 

I ran out of white paint but I plan on adding white dots to this one before her party. 

I may add a flower or bow to the striped one but I'm still thinking about it. 

For the party one canvas will be covered in saran wrap and used to display cupcakes and one will be hung for art. 

I have a few more things I have changed in her room. I love that a coat of spray paint can take something fro pink to navy and I can continue using it. 

We have a really fun gift coming for all three kids. It's a long story but we planned on building the boys a tree house for their birthday present (both back in March and May) and we had to put that all on hold. So now that things are a little more settled around here, we decided to get all three kids one BIG gift for Adeline's birthday. The boys are so excited that they get a gift when it's not Christmas or their birthday and have been trying to guess what it could be (iPad, go kart and another pet, have been some of their guesses... all are wrong!) 

I'll have pictures from the celebration on Monday or Tuesday. 

Bathroom Makeover

Since the boys moved their room upstairs and that room has it's own full bath, the downstairs bathroom could now become a little more girly and fresh. It's Baby A's bathroom but also the one that guests use when they come over.

Here are a few before pictures. They aren't the best since the lighting is bad in that room.

The walls were a builders tan and filthy. The lighting was that horrible "salon" style light and it was harsh.
SO I searched Pinterest and found this color pallet that I liked:

I wanted to work with what we had (which was the shower curtain, towels and rug):

he top left is picture of our shower curtain and the top right is our new wall color (Gray Squirrel by Behr) the bottom two pictures where our new fixtures.

Tim started by painting the ceilings and for whatever reason the popcorn stuff all cracked and fell.  This meant Tim had to scrap spackel, smooth and paint the ceilings now.

I hate it was some added work but I love the look of a smooth ceiling.

Once he finished the ceiling we started on the walls:

  We put up the new shower curtain and I wasn't sure it was what I envisioned.:

 

It was ok but it just wasn't working for me. So I tried adding some wall art (these pieces would have gone in frames but this gave me a general idea) 

 

 I liked the wall art but the shower curtain needed to go.

 Here is a picture of the new light fixture and towel holder that we put up

 

 The I got online and searched for a new shower curtain. I happened upon one on Amazon and at first sight I knew it was the one. I bought it and thanks to Amazon Prime I had it hanging up in less than two days:

 

I LOVE IT!!! It is simple but yet screams girly at the same time. Now I need to get those papers famed and up on the wall. and then this bathroom will be done.  

I'd love to paint the wood cabinet but Tim isn't on board with that idea. I'll work on him a little and if he agrees I'll post pictures :)

A simple projects

 Last month I had planned on heading upstairs and picking up the kids books that had been scattered all over the floor. Once I was up there I decided that I should move their bookcase downstairs so they could get to the books easier. Then once I got he bookcase downstairs I found a place for it but it needed some decor on the top to make it look more polished. I started taking things from around the house and placing them on top and then after moving every decoration in our house around, my mantle started to look empty. So I stopped the bookcase project and started a new mantle project ( I think I have decorating ADD). We have had this GIANT old GOLD mirror for a few years now and my plan all along was to paint it. However we couldn't find the right place for it. It remained in a corner of our room forever. I had the great idea to try it on the mantle and what do you know I liked it: 

 

 But clearly the gold had to go and so we left everything as it was and headed to Lowe's.

I found a spray paint called silver fox (although it is not silver at all).

I got my mirror all sanded down and started painting. Then one thing led to another and the next thing I know all my living room decorations were now the victims of my spray painting addiction. 

 

 Here she is all painted and looking stunning!

This mirror is so giant and so heavy that my plan was to just wait until Tim got home to put it up on the mantle. Well I am not at all patient and just HAD to see what it would look like on the mantle.

  Sure enough it looks fantastic.

 I am not sold on the picture frames at all. I found some awesome ones at Hobby Lobby that I may head back to get. I think a coral or orange would look good. The pillows on the couch are gone. I spent nearly $100 on just two pillows and I couldn't take it, they had to be returned. This is a house with small kids and a teething puppy. Those pillows would have stains, markers etc.. on them in no time.

The next day I bought a few Easter Decorations and dressed up the mantle even more. I LOVED it and hated to see it come down but now I have some fun summery things up there. I will try to get a picture soon

Oh and just so you know it took me nearly one week before I got the books all picked up, brought downstairs and put neatly into the bookcase. 

Party Ideas

Rascal's 6th birthday party is in 3 weeks!

Invites went out yesterday so I now must get on the ball with party details. Rascal wanted a Grizzlies basketball party but every attempt at getting decorations, left us empty handed. So we changed courses and he decided a Scooby Doo party would be fun. I agree and with the help of Pintrest I have lots of great ideas. This is what I have found so far.

I possibly will dress up as Daphne or Velma and greet guests as they come in. While we are waiting for everyone to get there, I plan to set up an activity to keep the kids in one place and entertained (possibly making collars or maybe a Scooby video). When all the guests get there, we will go ahead with light snacks including pepperoni sticks (they look like dog treats) and cheese, bone shaped sandwiches and chips and dip. This is when Tim will slip away and get dressed as a evil villain. He is going to "steal" all the gifts and hide them.
After eating snacks, we will discover that all the gifts are missing and that is when the mystery begins. Each kid will be handed a can of phantom spray (silly string) and we will start a hunt with 6 (because Rascal will be 6) clues. On the last clue (probably at the trampoline) the evil villain will be caught and each kid will have to spray him with the phantom spray to stop him and get the gifts back.

Then after the big hunt we will open presents and then eat "pup"cakes and ice cream.
If I feel extra crafty I might attempt to make these "pup"cakes:        

(pintrest info)



If time runs out or I wake up and remember my pitiful excuse for a mushroom cupcake, I will make these:



(pintrest info)

 

Each kid will be sent home with a favor bag. In it will be homemade green slime, Scooby Doo fruit snacks, Scooby snacks, maybe some other fun party favor toy and a party blower with possibly a Scooby nose on it like this:

(pintrest info)

that is if I feel crafty enough to make this myself!

 

I am going to pass on the overprices Scooby Doo plates and head to the dollar store for some plain plates in the color scheme of the party. The colors will be aqua, lime green and orange. I think these look best and the most boyish too. I think I will have streamers and balloons on the front porch and then the same in the kitchen. I am not planning on going all out on decorations since I doubt a bunch of 6 -8 year old boys will care about them. The main event will be the hunt and evil villain for sure.

I am quite possibly more excited that Rascal and I can't wait to start getting things together.

I promise to take tons of pictures of the party and then post all about the fun.

Wish me luck...I have a ton to get started on!

 

My Pintrest Makes

I have heard numerous people say that they can pin away on Pintrest but rarely ever get around to making something they have pinned. I am NOT one of those people. This week alone I have made several recipes I have pinned and then my whole Halloween Family Night was basically all ideas from Pintrest. I love that site and it really gives me tons of ideas. So I thought before my list of what I have made got too long, I would share what I have done so far. These are in no particular order since I can't remember the order in which I finished them in.
I am also not including my family night pins either you can click here to see all those ideas though.

 (picture info)

I made a really adorable tote bag for Rascal's teacher (just finished it last night) but I took it to her this morning and forgot to get a picture. GRRR! This picture above, obviously wasn't the one I made. The one I made was hounds tooth on the outside with a light lime green and black floral on the inside. I loved it and will be making more of these as Christmas gifts this year. Such an easy bag to make, so if your looking for a good tote bag tutorial, click on picture info above and it will take you to that pin.

 (picture info)

I have also made two Lavender Rice Bags used for aches and such, you simple heat it in the microwave for about 2 minutes and then use it. These are great for headaches, warming up your bed, and I keep mine in the freezer for when the boys get fever. It's less messy than a cold wet rag to put on their forehead.  When I need it warmed I simply take it out of the freezer and heat it in the microwave for an extra minute more. Of course I didn't get pictures of those either but the one I made for Scooter's teacher had apple fabric and the one I made for Rascal's teacher was the same fabric I used for her tote (hounds tooth on one side floral on the other). They seemed to be very well received gifts.

Here are some recipes I have tried so far.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken with cream cheese filling

Oh my goodness these were AMAZING! They were super simple to make and my family loved them. They looked very impressive served on the plate, so I am thinking these would be great to take to a family with a new baby etc...

Cheeseburger Meatloaf 

 

This was another favorite in our house. The boys ate it up quickly and there was no leftovers at all. I skipped the sauce on the top because I am not a fan of that but it was still super yummy. 

Skinny Chicken and Tomato Pasta 

We had this last night and I wasn't a huge fan of it. The rest of the family really liked it. Especially Rascal! Mine didn't look this pretty either.  Not sure if we will try it again or not. It was a nice change from spaghetti or fettuccine but I think I would have rather had one of those..... I know this one is healthy and those aren't.

Taco Pizza 

This one was very good and probably our favorite yet. It has crescent rolls (which I baked flat on a cookie sheet first) topped with refried beans, taco seasoned ground beef, olives, tomatoes and cheese. We garnished each slice with salsa and sour cream. There are TONS of possibilities with this and I found it a lot less messy than regular tacos are with 3 small kids. It will be a regular in our house for sure. 

Crock Pot Rotisserie Chicken 

 

Now this one has a story with it. I have wanted to cook a whole chicken for some time now but was VERY intimidated by it. I saw this pin on Pintrest and thought I would try it. Well I put it on the menu and then I couldn't find whole chickens in my grocery store. I was a bit relieved since I wouldn't have to worry then with taking out the giblets, neck and touching a raw whole chicken. Well a few weeks ago My brother-in-law called to tell me he found some whole chickens at a good price and did I want some. So I said sure and then I flipped out over preparing this raw bird.

Once it was time I  made sure Baby A was asleep for her nap and I proceeded to get all the yuckies out of the chicken. I won't lie I squealed some, but once I got it all seasoned up I was pretty proud of myself. 

Here is my chicken all seasoned up and about to go into the crock pot.

After cooking for on low in the crock pot for 8 hours, I took it out and it was so tender it fell apart. I shredded and divided it for two meals, freezing some and refrigerating the other. It was so nice to have my chicken already to go when I prepared dinner this week. I must remember to do this more. I had two chickens to cook so on the second one I got brave and skinned it too. It was a little grosser to me but I sucked it up and made it through. 

Now I have a few more things I am planning on trying from Pintrest soon. I have my entry way closet cleaned out and ready for a mudroom makeover. Maybe this picture will help you understand more:

(picture info) 

(picture info)

I like the idea of being able to close the door to the mudroom closet (like in the first picture) and I also LOVE those stripes (done in the gray color I want in our living room and white). I know I want a bench built in so the boys can sit on it to put their shoes on and climb on it to reach the hooks. I also want storage under the bench  for shoes, hats, gloves umbrellas etc.. I was thinking a basket for each kid or maybe just a basket for each item (shoes, hats and gloves etc...). Oh and I want there to be hooks on the back of the door for my purse and the diaper bag. The kids back packs will go on a hook. I am thinking we will need at least 6 hooks but we made need more. once we get ready to start tackling this we will measure and see what can fit. 

I am also creating a sewing corner in my bedroom. We have an extra table that isn't being used so I think I will dress it up some so it isn't quite an eye sore in our room. I like this idea:

(picture info)

There are so many things I want to do but these two are first on the list and then I plan on sewing some pants for my kids (all 3) and sewing me a cute dress and then eventually I want to paint my living room. This picture is part of my motivation:

 

 (picture info)

I love the gray walls (only a little lighter), white trim and the gold mirror. I have white trim and a BIG HUGE chunky gold framed mirror (which I recently moved into the living room and LOVE IT there) so all I need is to paint my walls gray. Not sure if I am ready to tackle that just yet though. When we do I will be making this pillow for sure though:

 (picture info)

Here is my motivation palette of colors. 

 (picture info)

We shall see how long it takes to get all that I really want to do done. 

I promise to do better and take pictures of the other things I sew.