Wednesday, March 31, 2010

My Private Escape

We've been so entirely busy these last couple of weeks!  We redid our bathroom!! 

Well, we didn't do all of it ourselves.  We had contractors install the new whirlpool tub (squeal!) and hubby did the electrical part and we redid the rest ourselves!

Wanna see what it looked like before we bought the house??  Please don't puke.  It is pretty nasty!

and a close-up of the tub:

Since we moved when I was pregnant, I just tried to decorate it as best I could with whatever colors were already there:


And after a long couple of weeks...  welcome to my private escape!!!

(Shower curtain coming soon lol  still haven't decided what I would like... )

and

I absolutely lurve lurve the color!!  The photos just do not do it justice!  It's called Soothing Aloe and is by Dutch Boy.  Just gorgeous! 

We decided to eventually replace all our cabinets (finances wouldn't allow it right now :( ) so we just got new hardware and I painted the cabinets above the toilet to white so it wasn't so brown.  I was so tired of seeing brown!!

And you want to know a secret???   We did not remove the fugly tanish brown tiles from the walls!!  We used cement adhesive and just put the beaded wainscoting right over it!  Voila!  Easy peasy! 

Still want to replace the light fixture, get a new mirror and some crown molding but all in good time!!  For now, I have my bathroom back and the icky nasty window is gone so no more water damage and mildew!  Yay for a private relaxing escape!!! :)

Friday, March 19, 2010

Pick your battle

As a mom you learn pretty quickly to pick your battles.  Some are just not worth the headache and others, well, others are ones you just can't or won't back down.  Yesterday was one of each.

My oldest girl will be turning seven soon.  I have no idea where the time has gone!  I was just changing her diaper the other day.. no, wait, that would be my ten month olds.  Hmmm  well, it sure did feel like just yesterday for my oldest!!

Anyway, we were at Payless looking for sandals.  See, last year my daughter went without.  Why you ask?  Because she is so dingdang picky and we ended up walking out of five stores empty handed!  But this year, this year I was standing my ground.  I made it VERY clear that we were walking out of Payless with a pair of sandals.  I was not leaving that store empty handed.  And so, I showed her several sandals I liked.  Very cute, girly and perhaps ones that were also available for toddlers...  yah, those kinds.  The little little girl kinds.  My seven year old would have none of it.  She wanted the one with the big gemstones, the ones that had heels, the ones that made me want to cry!!   My little little girl was not so very little anymore.  She knew what she liked and I decided, grudgingly, to give in.  BUT!!  I also won a battle!  We walked out of the store with a pair of sandals!!

These were the winners:
photo from Payless website

My daughter is thrilled, I am somewhat thrilled and we both  have won a battle!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Wanna win a sewing or embroidery machine??

I just watched the new DIY Dish show!  Awesome awesome!  And you can win a Janome sewing machine or embroidery machine!

Check it out:

Saturday, March 13, 2010

The Red Fad

Can someone explain the facination with red velvet cake!?  Seriously, I never even knew what red velvet cake was till this past Valentine's. 

Since I do some fun baking with my oldest, I was trying to figure out what ingredients I would need for our baking for Valentine's.  I was reading all the rave about this awesome red cake so I figured, what the heck!  Let's try it, too!

Holy moly, red food coloring, batman!  Do you guys know how much red food coloring this cake has!?  Seriously!  Whether you buy the cake mix or do it yourself with your own bottle or two of red food coloring, it's still a heckuva lot!  Not to mention if you drip any batter, you will get a red stain.  Yuck!

So I succumbed to this red cake fad and did give it a try.  It does look cute.  Please don't kill me, but that's the last time I will ever be making them!   Personally, I thought it tasted nasty.  You could barely taste the chocolatey chocolate that it was.  Yick.  But for your viewing pleasure, here is my red velvet cupcake with ganache chocolate frosting:

Friday, March 12, 2010

Changing Pad Cover

I love my SafeFit changing pad for my little ones.  However, what I absolutely hate is having to put it back in my diaper bag after using it on a changing station in a public restroom.  Who knows how many icky germs are on those tables!?  And I would be putting it right in my diaper bag!!!  *shudder*

Soooo  I quickly put together a cover for it!  One that I can wash when I get home and keeps all those icky germs from touching my stuff in the bottomless pit I call a diaper bag.

Voila:

and

easy peasy to make and only took about 10 minutes.  :)  It ain't fancy but gets the job done!

Transforming a Skirt

So I received two gorgeous hand-me-down flowy skirts.  But I don't wear skirts...  but I was thrilled to receive them!!  Why you ask?  Because I could transform them into clothes for my girls! 

I forgot to take a before pic of the light lime green skirt.  Bad me. But I have a before pic of the pink one!  I haven't decided if I will be transforming the pink one into a dress for my girls or a skirt, as well.

Here is a pic of the original pink skirt and my transformed lime green one:

And get a look at the detailed embroidered florals on it!!
But here is where my dilemma is...  which outfit should I go with...  I had so much fun coming up with accessories for the skirt!  Check these out:

OR

OR

So..  which one would you go with??  I think I am going to keep all the accessories so my girl can change it up so it doesn't get old or boring!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Reading Nook Project

Thanks to two amazing and innovative bloggers, I was able to come up with this:

The shelves are actually rain gutters!  I got the idea from Raising Olives.  And I've been wanting some vinyl word art but, alas, finances have not made it possible..  so when I ran across thee most wonderful Thirfty Decor Chick, I decided to give it a go myself!  And... voila!  As you can see, we now have a lovely little reading nook.  Been wanting one for my girls for some time and I think it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself!

I also put together this pillow for my girls:




I took apart two old couch throw pillows and sewed a new cover using scraps of material I had.  I didn't have enough of just one material so I decided to use three!  Stuffed it with some extra stuffing I had and decided to close it in a not so traditional way. 

My goal is to try and figure out a way to add a reading lamp or some sort of extra light for the nook.  Will have to give that some thought.