Decisions Decisions

Sorry for the brief hiatus! We have been busy, busy, busy around here. My weekends have been filled with car shopping (I got a Buick enclave and I love it), a ski trip, kids birthday parties, etc. We are also in the midst of some minor remodeling which has given us lots of excuses to get out of the house. Demo is L.O.U.D.

It all started with a leak from our master shower through to our kitchen ceiling. We tired to caulk the heck out of the shower, but the leak persisted. The diagnosis was that the shower pan had disintegrated and it needed to be replaced. We really didn't like the bathroom and decided to go ahead and renovate it. We also added recessed lights to our kitchen ceiling and dry walled the paneling and drop ceiling in our breakfast room (more on both next week).  Oh, and when I say "we" I am referring to our contractors.

So back to the master bath. I use the word "master" loosely here. The bathroom is probably about 40 square feet. Although I couldn't improve much on the size of the bathroom, I could improve the finishes. They sure did like colorful tile with black trim in the 1940s.

The shower is a cave. The new shower won't be quite so closed in or dark. 

The previous owners installed these floors. They are ok, but felt a bit "builder's grade". The renovation in the bath is almost complete. One of the few remaining decisions we have to make is the color of the grout.   Here's where you come in. Do you think we should use white or dark grey grout.

Here's the un-grouted floor and wall tile.

So what do you think. Grey or white? Hop on over to my Facebook page to cast your vote.

Not My Style

Do you remember this little chair? 

Poor thing. Her faded yellow paint and floral seat just were't her style, and mine neither frankly.

I gave her a little make over. What do you think? 

She now resides next to my new secretary (the next inline for a makeover). 

Wild About Baby

This past weekend I was in charge of the decorations for a friend's baby shower. The theme for the shower was "wild about baby." I loved this valentines by Modern Parents Messy Kids, and they were the perfect inspiration for the shower decor.

via Modern Parents Messy Kids

They inspired a bunch of little signs that looked like this:

Each sign was a little different depending on the animal. Oh, and my friend's last name is Burger. Some of the signs were placed in little painted pots topped off with flowers, and others were placed in plants around her house.

To make the signs I printed the text on two pieces of card stock and cut out two rectangles with rounded corners. I sandwiched a little rectangle of foam board in-between the two pieces of card stock and glued it in place with hot glue. I stuck a very thin dowel (almost like a skewer) into the foam board rectangle. I used Glue Dots to pinch the open sides of the sign together and to attach the little animals. I punched two holes in the top of the sign and threaded it with coordinating ribbon.

I also made some other coordinating decorations including paper poofs, a "wild about baby" banner, and a clothesline of onesies appliquéd with zebra and giraffe patterned hearts. I  brought along several of my children's stuffed animals to add to the decor.

Do you have a favorite baby shower theme? Or creative use for little plastic animals? I'd love to hear about it.

A Dino-mite Valentine

I had really hoped to post this project before Valentine's day, but I didn't get around to finishing it until Sunday night.

Let me preface this post with the following. My son is 4, he barely understands what Valentines Day is, and all he cares about is candy. I don't know why I have to be a crafty overachiever. The effort will be lost on him and all of his classmates. Despite all of THIS, I spent more than 4 hours making 18 valentines for his preschool class. I am probably one of those people that she wants to punch in the throat. Perhaps this is my attempt to over compensate for my limited baking skills. Regardless, I made 18 dynamite stick shaped valentines. Each one containing a toy dinosuar, a note that reads "Valentine, I think you are Dino-mite" and a Hershey kiss.

If you make your own I promise it will not take that long. Part of the 4 hour process was taken up by design and assembly trial and error.

If you decide to make your own you will need:
- red poster board (1 sheet per every 10)
- black pipe cleaners
- yellow card stock
- black electrical tape
- double sided tape
- hot glue
- small hole punch
- 1 empty paper towel or toilet paper tube
- little dinos and other contents

STEP 1: Decide how long you want your "dino-mite" stick to be. Mine were roughly the same length as a toilet paper tube. Cut a strip of the poster board (along the long side) that is the same width as your "dino-mite" length. divide and cut that strip into four equally sized rectangles (approximately 4"H X 7"L).

STEP 2: attach a strip of double sided tape along one of the short sides. My paper was red on one side and green on the other. I attached my tape to the green side of the paper.

STEP 3: Using the paper towel roll as a guide,  roll up your rectangle. As you complete the roll the tape will stick and the roll will be sealed. When you slide out the paper towel roll you will be left with a construction paper tube that  has approximately the same diameter.

STEP 4: Trace one of the ends of the paper towel tube on the "green side" of the poster board. Repeat. Use a compass to draw another circle that is approximately 2 centimeters larger in diameter than the  first circle. Cut out 2 circles (cut line will be on the exterior circle).

STEP 5: Cut little slits from the exterior circle to the interior circle line. fold slits inward (toward the green) Your circle should be looking like a little cap. To make the cap less bulky you can snip off every other tab.

STEP 6: Using a small hole punch, punch a hole in the center of one of the caps. Cut a 3 inch piece of pipe cleaner and thread it through the hole in the cap. I kept my pipe cleaner in place by bending a little section of it at the end and hot gluing it to the inside of the paper cap.

STEP 7: Attach the bottom cap (the one without pipe cleaner sticking out of it) to the bottom of the poster board roll with electrical tape and fill the stick of "dino-mite" with desired contents. Attached the top cap in the same manner.

STEP 8: Use yellow paper to create fuse sparks - I free-handed these. I cut out two for each stick and used hot glue to sandwich them around the top of the exposed pipe cleaner. Full disclosure, mine contain no text, I added when I edited the photo.

In theory, the "dino-mite" valentines should rip apart when kids pull on the yellow spark. Did anyone else go little overboard for their kid's class this year? Please tell me I am not alone...

A Sophisticated Nursery

A neighbor/friend of mine shared this nursery inspiration picture with me.  I don't where she found it, so I can't credit it. 

I really like how sophisticated it feels and immediately offered to help her replicate the room for her baby girl. After spending some time surfing the web and Pinterest, I put together the following "inspired by"design board. 

1. Rug ~ West Elm ($249 for 5X8)

This is pretty close to the inspiration photo. I like the lines a bit better for a baby girl's room. 

2. Roman Shades ~ JC Penney ($15 to $50)

These shades are a bargain. I would dress them up by trimming them with grey, wide grosgrain ribbon. 

3. Sconces ~ Crate and Barrel ($99.95 each) 

I would hang these on either side of the crib. If baby ever out grows her sophisticated room, these could easily be incorporated into another room in the house. 

4. Throw Pillow Covers ~ Etsy ($35 for 2) 

5. Sheep Skin ~ Ikea ($29.99)

6. Table lamp ~ Crate and Barrel ($329) 

Definitely the splurge item! I just couldn't resist the shape and color. We may be able to find and fix up a thrifted lamp with a similar cool shape. 

7. Jonathan Adler Bookends ~ All Modern ($150 for the pair) 

Another splurge item but they will probably be one of those things that baby girl still has with her in her first apartment. 

8. Alphabet Print ~ Society6 ($17)

9. Pouf ~ Etsy ($95) 

I adore the little bench in the inspiration room, but I wanted something softer for this room. This Ikat pouf could not be more perfect. 

10. Fabric for Crib Skirt ~ Fabric.com ($10.98 per yard x 2 for skirt)

This fabric feels a lot like the inspiration fabric and works well with all of the colors in the art and room accents. 

11. Paint ~ Benjamin Moore Graphite

12. Modern Art ~ Etsy ($35)

This painting is pretty small and won't really work in the room. Given the reasonable price, the artist would probably be willing to do something on commission in a larger size for a good price. 

Something similar could also be DIY-ed. 

13. Dachshund Pillow ~ All Modern ($45)

I just love the shape and colors of this pillow. It adds a playful element to the sophisticated style of the room. 

Have you ever tried to replicate a room in a book or magazine? Were you happy with the way it turned out?