Plain Jane Boutique

Bee My Valentine!

2011-01-31T12:31:00.000-08:00

Time to make Valentine's! Every year I throw Jane a Valentine party for her and her friends and am so busy getting that ready, that I neglect to ~~help her make~~ make Valentines for her and end up using store bought ones. Fine if that is your thing, you'll get no judgment from me! But nothing is sweeter than a handmade Valentine. So this year I remembered to included making Valentine's in the party prep. I showed Jane a bunch of options and she chose the Lollipop Flowers that were featured in Scrapbooks Ect. Magazine. We decided that no kid Valentine is complete without a cheesy pun, so we decided to add the cute little flying bee and the sentiment "Bee My Valentine". They are inexpensive as all get out and cute as can bee!

To make your own bouquet of 24 lollipop flowers you'll first need to gather your supplies. I used my February issue of Scrapbooks Ect., One 12x12 sheet of Meadow Green Core'dinations cardstock, two 12x12 sheets of Doodlebug Designs paper that has bees on it (each sheet has 18 bees on it), Crop-A-Dile (or other hole punch), scissors, wire bending tool, white marker, 3" scallop punch, floral wire, hot glue gun and glue, 10 sheets of tissue paper (I used 3 sheets each of red and pink and 4 sheets of hot pink). And don't forget your bag of Dum-Dums! In my bag there were more than 24 suckers of red/pink/purple suckers.

So you just stack up your tissue paper the way you want it. I put my reds on the bottom, hot pink in the middle, and light pink on top. And then you punch it with your scallop punch. I don't know if mine was a little dull...or if cutting tissue paper is just difficult, but it caught in one place every time. So I had to kind of tear the paper out in that one spot and then push the blade back out to the starting position. Not a big deal...but made it a little tedious. I would suggest cutting all your scallops then moving on. Then you use the small hole punch to punch a hole in the center of your scallop. To get to the center, I had to bend my scallop in half and just kind of nip it with the hole punch. No big deal. You just want the hole to be just as big or slightly bigger than the stick..so the petals don't just fall off! Then make cut out a leaf and use it to trace 24 leafs and cut them all out. Have your child sign their name on the back and then they or you can write the sentiment on the front. Or the magazine has them printed...but I didn't figure that out!

Then you need to cut out all the little bees from your scrapbook paper, cut 24 3 inch lengths of floral wire, and use the larger hole punch to punch a hole in your leaf. I wrapped the wire around a screwdriver a few times to give it a curl and then pierced it through the leaf and then bent the end and hot glued it with a tiny dab of glue. I bent the other end and hot glued it to the bee. Then ease it onto your stick and voila!

I think for 24 Valentine's it cost about $6

I think Jane's classmates are going to love receiving these!

And some buzzzzz for the upgraded Blogger! Wow...the changes they have made really are making a huge difference on the ease of blogging for me! Thanks!!

A Very Seussy 2nd Birthday

2011-01-05T08:49:00.000-08:00

Teddy turned two!! So to celebrate we threw a Dr. Seuss/Cat in the Hat party! It was so fun and so cute!! And Dr. Seuss is so beloved that there are endless products and resources out there; so this party came together in a cinch!
I had to quickly take down my Christmas decor and put up party decor, but it offered last minute inspiration to change my containers and balls to the party colors instead of just taking them down all together. I already had the blue and red out from Christmas, I just had to grab the black from the basement where my box of master bedroom decor still lies waiting for me to finish decorating our bedroom since moving! The cute Cat in the Hat is a Build-a-Bear Jane built with her Papa maybe 2 or 3 years ago.
Here is the food area. We served Green Eggs and Ham of course. In the lunch bags were a juice box or can of soda, ham sandwich, chips, and a napkin. I learned the lunch bag trick from the fantastic Loralee Lewis. She runs NoFussFabulous.com to sell her amazing graphics. On the side we served deviled eggs with the filling died green. They were so cute! Also pictured are Oreo truffles dipped in blue and red melting chocolate with Happy Birthday toppers. These are my go to dessert because you can decorate them to go with any theme! You can also see a few of the pom poms that hung about. Thanks mom for doing the tedious job of fluffing them out. She said she would rather be cleaning my kitchen than puffing pom poms!
And here is what started it all! When I saw this post by Anj I fell in love with the idea and just had to have it for myself! I even decided that buying cupcakes from Costco like she did was a good idea...but was horrified a few days before the party (with everything that still had to be done due to procrastination) that Costco no longer does cupcakes! So I ordered them from Harmons and am not as happy with the results because they spray the frosting color and as you can see...it makes a mess on the whole cupcake! But the hats turned out great and they were super easy! Thanks for the idea and technique Anj...it is a party trick I have up my sleeve now (and if you are reading this, I would love to know where I can get the stands that you use for your parties!) If you look to the left of the photo and peer through the plastic lid, you can see the green eggs!
Because of the young age of the guest of honor, the only "activity" we had was watching an episode of "The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That!" Had I looked on the website before just now, I would have seen that they have super cute coloring pages I could have printed off and included in the favor bag! You can also see one of the many pennant banners that I had strung around the house. I got the printable file from Dimpleprints; it included sooo many items like several pennants, cupcake toppers, favor tags, invitations, thank you notes, food labels, juice box wrappers, and on and on! And then I had them printed at BYU's printing press. My brother-in-law just happens to work there, so I had him give me a quote, then I called everywhere else, and his price blew everywhere else out of the water, and I didn't get any sort of family discount. So...if you live in the area and need color printing done, that is the place to go!
Here is big sis Jane in her party outfit. This photo doesn't do it justice! What you don't see is the really cute ribbons that are also on the tutu, the black and white striped tights or the Cat in the Hat Converse shoes, or a smile! We'll have to get dressed again and have a separate photo shoot and try again! The birthday boy was also wearing a One Fish, Two Fish tee from Target and his own pair of Converse.
And here he is opening some presents! Can you see the birthday chair he is sitting on? Another inspiration from Anj! She is amazing!
And here is another amazing woman. It is my best friend Jocelyn and her cutie Brock (the only kiddo to keep his hat on the whole party)! She is the best gift wrapper in the world and on the day she showed up with ...
this! Isn't it amazing!
I didn't want Teddy to open it! I went ahead and let him because I get to see her art work everyday on my window cornice boards. One day I'll blog about them when I can get a good photo (it is hard because of the light coming behind the window). They are amazing!!
One last look at that beauty!
HaPpY bIrThDaY tEdDy!! You are a handful to be sure...but you bring such joy to our lives!
A few things about Teddy:

His favorite things are: his blanket, apples and other fruit, soup, bodily noises, watching shows, bathtime and Daddy!

Teddy hates: dip of any sort, mittens, but most of all Teddy HATES sharing!

Teddy is good at: throwing balls, driving his cozy coupe car, cuddling, and getting his way.

Linking to:

Discovery Gateway Children's Museum

2010-09-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

Whoa...credit to the ladies who blog week in and week out (or daily) and never tire of it or persevere even though tired! A few weeks of steady posts from me and I was burnt out for months! My last post was about my daughter's first lost baby tooth. Since then she has lost the matching tooth and they are both almost grown back in! Well...in my time away from my computer I have been very busy. But on a nice slow summer day we took a family break and visted the local children's museum. Both of my kids had so much fun...but I was really surprised to see how much Jane was able to co-operate with the other big kids in the imaginary city to build a building and deliver mail and stuff like that. Since she was an only child for so long, she usually is good to just play on her own. So I was really pleased to see that developement in her.

My husband has been having fun editing photos and here is a great one. We were torn between naming it "A One, A Two, A One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six?" and "Xyloclones".

And here is Teddy playing in the awesome ball structure. My kids could and do play here for hours. In this particular section, a vaccuum sucks the balls up into the tubes and they go up and around and down into the ball depository. But there are all sorts of different ways to get your balls into the tubes and it provides for endless fun.

Jane gets ready for the Tooth Fairy

2010-07-10T22:44:00.001-07:00

Jane lost her first tooth today. It has been loose for more than a week now. She has been ultra protective of it and refusing to bite food or even brush it. We were at my dad's house for a bbq and I said to Jane that if she let somebody pull it out today, that I would take her to Build-a-Bear tomorrow. She was sitting on her uncle Jason's lap. She asked him if I was cheating her and he said, "nope." So she opened her mouth and let him pull it out!! I couldn't believe it. A lot of crying ensued...but not because it hurt. She doesn't want to grow up and she doesn't want to loose her baby teeth. But she cheered up about an hour later and was excited to write the Tooth Fairy a note and get to bed.

Here is her new and improved Tooth Fairy Pillow. You might have seen the first one I made here. Or the inspiration and pattern for it here. I wasn't happy with the crazed look on the first one or it's skirt...so I tried again. This fairy sports a real tutu, improved expression and pocket on the back for a note for the Tooth Fairy and spot for the pack of gum and what not that she chooses to leave.

Gnome Town Terrariums

2010-07-07T22:16:00.000-07:00

Ever since I first saw Amalie, I have been in love with gnomes. Here, there and everywhere you can find them making themselves at home in my house and in my garden. So, to be nice, I thought I would create a little natural habitat for them and then like a curator for a zoo, I captured them with a glass lid! It's ok...they all went in happily. They love to be observed!!

For Mother's Day, I asked for terrarium supplies which included containers, soil, gravel, carbon, and plants. Martha has a great tutorial here.

Here is Gneil sitting on a log.

And here is Gnoah taking a dirt nap. He is using rocks for a pillow! Silly gnome!

I have to confess that this is the second planting for these terrariums. I had put way to much water the first time...and the plants drowned. The hardest part is finding flowering plants that are short enough to fit my containers. But they are doing much better now! I love looking at them...they are such a charming addition to my home!

Porch Chairs Refresher

2010-06-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

One day I thought..."Hey, these chairs are kind of blah." We have had them since we got married 9 years ago. I have always thought that they were indestructible.

But on closer inspection...I noticed that they were getting rusty. So...even more reason to clean them up and give them a fresh coat of paint.

I have spray painted a lot of things in my time...but these were tough! All the holes! All the angles! The clean up from the over-spray took as long as the spray painting did! (I used Krylon Cherry Red and I loved the ease of the nozzle, but the over-spray seemed ridiculous! I sprayed in my garage with a large tarp under and behind the project, and there was red dust from corner to corner of my garage. It didn't stick, so I just had to sweep it up...but it was messy!)

I love the results! The red chairs look fresh and summery! To entice neighbors to come over and stay awhile, I whipped up some outdoor pillows. I used one yard of Waverly's Sun and Shade fabric and at 40% off of $17.00 per yard, I wanted to use ever inch of it, and I did, selvage and all!

I used the little leftovers of the fabric for some rosettes. I added some burlap alongside the blue fabric to stretch my leftovers and to incorporate the burlap ties (I didn't have enough of the blue fabric to make ties...and in the windy city of Herriman, you need to tie your pillows to your chairs). I hot glued to rosettes and some red buttons to tie the whole look together. So cute!

I thought while I was at it, I would add a rug. I couldn't find anything that I liked that went with my color scheme, so I decided to make my own after being inspired by Jen's runner. I bought 4 cheapo rugs from Target and laid them out on the floor and taped them together with duct tape. Then I carefully flipped it over and hot glued ribbon on the seams. It is pretty sturdy... I have picked it up and shook it out a few times and it has been blown back into a crumpled heap by the aforementioned winds.
My porch definitely needed a makeover when competing with the stairs that have these beauties growing on them! (my first successful containers!)

Linking up my Red, White, and blue porch to:

School House Rocks!

2010-06-27T20:56:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago I was browsing the 'yard' area of my local thrift shop when I spotted this beauty (the school house desk...not that uber-fabulous buffet behind it). I instantly put my hand on it and wouldn't leave it's side for a moment... not even to track a worker down. I probably waited about 5 minutes before I was able to get someone's attention to help me get a sold sign on this baby. $10.00 later... this baby was mine!

Besides being really dirty, I liked the whipped butter color of the desk top and shelves, but wasn't loving the copper? color of the legs.

I didn't love the Q99 FM sticker or it's friends either!

Or this ultra deep scratch that some punk etched while they were being bored to death in math class.
Anywho...while I was cleaning the desk up, I noticed that I wasn't the first one to refinish this piece. Someone sprayed the gold color over red. Here is a closer look at the cool legs.
It turns out that the desk is adjustable for height. Whoever refinished it last, just left the legs at the shortest setting...so above that the legs are just red.
And here is the really gross gob of gum that the last refinisher didn't bother removing. "Scrape that off...nah, I'll just spray paint it gold. I'm sure it will just blend right in. Spray paint kills creepy desk scratching kid germs, right!?!" So I scraped that off and cleaned the desk with TSP. I was really torn about how to refinish this. I new that for the present, I was going to put it in my daughter's room, which is pink and brown. But I really wasn't liking the idea of baby pink on the desk. I kind of wanted to spray it aqua...but then I would have to redecorate her room entirely... and I still love her Paris room. So I went with hot pink and cream. It doesn't really 'go' but it is so cute that I love it there anyway!

The desk is definitely a she now! I taped and papered the desktop and shelves and spray painted the metal parts of the desk. Then I painted the wood parts. I only had ultra white paint on hand, so I added some almond color to a portion of it to cream it up. I kind of hate hand mixing paint, because I'm terrified of running out and having to try to make a match.

I barely had enough paint to finish. To make clean-up easier, I kind of scraped out the remaining paint with my foam brush and put the brush in a plastic bag and threw it away in my garbage can. Several hours later I thought, what am I doing!! That desk isn't done! I really wanted to try to stencil on a design and then cover it and sand down to the stencil. So I dug through my garbage to retrieve my loaded paintbrush and hoped that it wasn't dried out and that it was enough paint.

I grabbed my stencil (from Hobby Lobby) and taped paper to all sides of it. After I measured my desk top to find the center and figure out my stencil plan, I stuck the stencil down with stencil adhesive and blasted it with spray paint. Some of the designs turned out crisper than others. But that was a-o-k! After the stencil part was dried I painted over it with my remaining white paint and waited for that to dry. Then I sanded lightly in places and harder in other places to achieve the worn down look.

I super love the way it turned out! I will definitely use this technique again. And maybe one day she will fit into her surroundings a little more... we'll just have to see what happens.

Teddy takes a trip down the OR lane

2010-06-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I pulled Teddy out of the tub and discovered a bulge down there...and not in a good way. Teddy had a hernia and it had to be fixed. Luckily, the new Primary Children's Hospital is just a 4 minute drive from our house. Especially since we had to be there at 6:15 in the morning. Here Teddy is in his "hospital pajamas".

Teddy loved the waiting room. It was well stocked with a bunch of awesome toys and bubbles.

A few minutes later the sedative had kicked in and Teddy was still having a great time...he was just loopy and not in full control off his body. They wheeled him down to the OR in a wagon and a few minutes later I was holding him again. He was all fixed!

We were home by 9:00 am and I don't think he was aware that he had gone through anything out of the ordinary. He wanted to run around the house and there was nothing we could do to stop him. Since he still had a bevy of drugs on board, we were chasing after him with our arms outstretched to catch him if/when he fell. But before we could stop him, he ran smack into the glass porch door (I'm guessing that through his rose colored glasses, it looked like it was open. It surely wasn't because it was so clean he couldn't see it!). Anyway, a few hours later it seemed like all the drugs had worn off and he was acting like himself again; which is to say he was still running around like crazy, just with a steadier gate! Hopefully he will heal quickly and painlessly and we'll see no more scary bulges in his nether-regions!

Felt Toddler Watches

2010-06-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

I saw the cutest little watch project at a linkie party the other week. Kimberly came up with a toddler watch made out of felt and buttons and included a great tutorial. I ran right out and bought the supplies the very day I saw her cute watches. I made 4. Two for my son, one for my daughter's best friend, and one for my nephew.

The only thing I would change about Kimberly's watch would be to cut two wristbands and glue (I used hot glue) them together. Felt can be stretched out and it doesn't get unstretched. My son is only 1 1/2 and he started pulling at his to pull it off and it got stretched. so...I just glued a strip to reinforce to them. But I think it would look more professional to have the whole wristband shape.

So cute...and you don't see too many cute things for boys. So I jumped on this one!

Linking to these parties:

Taloolah the Tooth Fairy

2010-06-18T14:23:00.000-07:00

I'm sure many of you have seen the super cute tooth fairy pillow on mmmcraft's blog. I had seen it quite a while ago, but came across it again recently and it was serendipity! My daughter had just discovered that she has two loose teeth. I decided to whip this cutie up before her teeth came out and here is the result!

Here she is in all her glory...looking a little demented! I had all the supplies on hand so it was simple and free to make. Funny enough, the only thing I didn't have in my supplies was the silver pipe cleaner; but that very day I went to a local fabric store and it just happened to be the shop hop (all the quilting stores in the area have an event) and they were giving out these really cute crowns made out of silver pipe cleaner. So I just disassembled mine and used it for the wings!

I had to laugh because Larissa from mmmcrafts mentioned that the idea of a tooth with teeth cracks her up. Well, when my daughter saw the little tooth fairy pillow she started laughing and saying the same thing.

Larissa's fairy is made with more care than mine. Instead of hand stitching the back closed and the cheeks on, I machine stitched the cheeks and hot glued the back closed and then covered it with some more felt. I used an antique button that was in bad shape as the little jewel on the crown. I just hot glued it on. It came from my grandma's stash (her whole stash recently came under my care!!). It belonged to her grandma before her. I love that I was able to use something sentimental on what is sure to become a treasured object for my daughter.

Or maybe the next one I make will become the family treasure...this one looks a little crazy and may or may not be the final product!

Linking to these parties:

Oh Sweet Sadie Academy!!

2010-06-13T23:09:00.001-07:00

I recently was the lucky lucky winner of one tuition to the Oh Sweet Sadie Academy. For those of you that aren't Utah natives, Oh Sweet Sadie is just the most amazing boutique ever! Go ahead and check out their blog... Dani and Heidi are so smart and funny and in the weeks leading up to each boutique, they have the best give-aways!! Now, I won the tuition not from Oh Sweet Sadie, but from the uber-awesome photographer Becky Earl! Go on ahead and take some time to peruse her website and be inspired by her fun perspective on photography. Did you see the fashion shoot? Did you see the sock girls?? Oh My...this girl has some wicked talent!!

Here you can see all my crafting goodies that I completed! That was the best part of the academy for me; I got to hang out with cool women, not shop for any supplies, and leave with 7 completed projects!! I learned some cupcake tips straight from the Sweet Tooth Fairy herself, and made a hula-hoop, fabric flowers, mama bird pendant, tissue pom-poms, a to die for fan-fold flower, and my most favorite thing of all...my own Black Apple doll. (btw...her site is just amazing too!! I can't wait to own some of her work!)

Here is a close up of the Mama Bird necklace! Awww...two little eggs for my two little chickies! My daughter just loves for me to wear this necklace. She is the egg that stands up a little, just so you know!

And here is a look at my sweet little Black Apple doll. Kind of hard to see in the photo, but she is wearing little polka dot stockings. I haven't show this to my daughter yet, cause it is going to be a preschool graduation present! (much to my chagrin, she will probably like it for a day, cause she isn't into anything that isn't from a video game)

And here is a close-up of my fan-fold flower. The cute gal that taught this called it something different, but I can't for the life of me think of what she called it! If you know another name for it, let me know in your comment! She was so amazing...she decorated a whole wedding with these and tissue poms...I'm sure it was the cutest wedding in the world!

Thanks again Becky, Dani and Heidi for treating me to such a great weekend!

A New Entry Buffet

2010-06-10T23:24:00.001-07:00

Here is my second attempt at furniture refinishing! I have had an entry table for years that I like a lot. It is black with some distressing straight from the factory. It is cute...but it only serves one purpose...a holder for decorative items. Since moving to our new house and loosing my craft room, I have been at a loss for a place to store my crafty projects in progress and crafty tools that are used often enough to warrant keeping them close. So I decided I needed an entry table that served as a storage facility as well as decoration. So, I searched and searched and finally found a gal with a great shape, great drawers, and a great price tag.

I found her at the DI for 40$. In pretty good shape, with the exception of one drawer that needed a little assistance if anything was going to be put in the drawer. Her major malfunction... she was sporting a hideous red/orange varnish look. Now, red and rust are the two main colors of my color scheme on the main floor of my home; but not like that! So I removed the finish with paint remover (the particular one boasted of a 15 minute processing time...and it delivered!). I restained her with a water-based gel stain. I really love the color...but I can see striping from my brush-strokes. If anyone has any advise on avoiding that in the future...please leave a comment about it. I'm just a wee beginner in need of a guiding hand.

I went ahead and used the original hardware. I think it is charming. I replaced the bottom wood from one of the drawers with the help of Home Depot worker to cut the wood sheet for me. That was handy! The rest of the drawers were in great condition. But I thought to add a little pazazz to this little lady, I would give her some cutesy drawer lining... which is cute scrapbook paper Modge Podeged in place. It makes me smile when I open the drawers!!

Whoever put the orangy/red varnish on her last time did a great job applying it to her body, but dripped it all over her so stylish shoes (she sports wheels on the bottom of her legs...and they were all gummed up with the stuff). I soaked the wheels in paint remover and scrubbed them with a wire brush and poked at them with toothpicks and all sorts of things as I tried to get that gunk out of the wheels. I met with modest success...but not complete success. I think I spent about as much time working on the wheels as I did removing the stuff from the whole rest of the dresser! Anyway, now she is all moved in and a bunch of my crafting gear has found a new home!

I'm sharing this beauty with:

Teddy's Argyle Room

2010-05-27T08:43:00.000-07:00

After being completed for nearly a year, I am finally getting around to blogging Teddy's nursery. His bedding is Pottery Barn Kids Monkeys and I thought long and hard about what painting treatment for the walls would work to compliment the decor . I thought about polka dots or stripes or just painting the walls blue and being done with it. In the end, I decided to go with a funky argyle!

I was inspired by this scrapbook paper by We R Memory Keepers. I believe the line is is called White Out and this paper specifically might be Explore Argyle. I had already used this line of paper to make a magnet board for Teddy's room and I had already done a harlequin diamond room for my daughter a couple of years back. So, I thought 'what the heak' and decided to give it a go.

First, with my awesome sister-in-law Shannon's invaluable assistance, we painted the entire room blue. Had I thought it through more, I would not have painted the argyle wall blue, cause almost all of it got covered in a different color! To make a diamond wall you will need: measuring tape, level, straight edge, and a lot of painter's tape. I started by deciding the size of my diamond. These are 14" wide and 28" tall. I eyeballed where I wanted my center row and marked out every 14" using a level. Then 14" above those marks, I marked out every 14", but in the middle of the last marks, and then I did that below the first set as well. To keep from getting confused and to make sure I was near the mark, I had a diamond template made from a sheet of packing paper. I just kind of stuck it on the wall every now and then to make sure I wasn't deviating from the plan. Since two points determine a line (Yes!! When your kids ask 'When will I ever need to know this stuff I'm learning in math and geometry,' you can tell them about this project), once I had a few of the markings up, we started drawing lines with a straight edge. This way, you don't have to measure out the WHOLE wall. It can get a little tough at the edges since you won't have the space to make all the measurements. Luckily we had my brother-in-law Adam with us who is a mathlete. He was able to figure out a system involving making sure the angles of the little top and bottom diamonds were correct. Even if you don't have a mathlete around, with a little patience and perseverance you should be able to do it!

Next you will need a lot of painter's tape and a steady hand. We started by taping off the brown diamond. You have to do this in two or three stages, because you can't paint diamonds that are touching each other at the same time. So you will tape the first, third, fifth, and so on, and paint them. Wait for them to dry, paint the second coat, repeat until they are coated as you like, then take the tape off and tape off the second, fourth, and sixth diamond. When all the browns were done we went to oranges and so on. From the scrapbook paper I chose a section that was as many diamonds across and high as I had in my room. I cut it out and used it for reference in placing my colors.

After we had all of the diamonds painted, it was time to paint the argyle cross hatching. I wanted to stay true to the funky scrapbook paper which had the lines going from skinny to thick and crossing anywhere in the diamond, not necessarily the middle. We thought and thought about the best way to go about it and finally with a little sadness in our hearts decided that more painters tape was the best option.

We simply applied one piece of tape keeping the same angle as the diamonds and then put up another really close to the first one. But with the second piece of tape we placed it closer in some sections and further away in others. You do all of the lines in one direction first, making sure to coat it as many times as necessary before removing the tape. Make sure it is good and dry, and then repeat the process in the opposite direction.

You may notice that some of the tape looks like it has paint where it shouldn't be. I think we went through about 7 rolls of tape and ran out in the middle of the night. So we reused some of the tape from the first set of lines to do the second set of lines. It worked, but I don't think it is a step I would have taken if it wasn't necessary.

And here it is finished. I took us about 40 woman hours to complete. Whew!! A couple tips: for all of the colors except the light blue, I used acrylic craft paint...but I wouldn't do that again! I didn't realize that Lowe's paint samples come in satin finish, which is the finish of the light blue paint. I would suggest using that. It would have covered better and been the same price and had the finish that I wanted. If you want a flat finish, Home Depot's sample paint comes in flat. To do the lines, the thin painters tape works best. We also had a couple of fans blowing in the room to speed up the drying time. Also, do not attempt this project if you do not have patience. If you are the type that wants to start and finish a project in one day, this isn't for you! Because of a mistake with the orange paint color (it was too red, so we had to retape and paint all of the orange diamonds again) ... where the white cross hatch meets in the middle of the orange diamonds, there is 17 coats of paint!! So, this project really demands patience. And lastly, having an assistant to work with you is mandatory. It is so helpful to have another pair of hands, another brain to bounce ideas off of, and a great girl friend to chat with to help pass the time. Thanks Shannon, you are the best!!

Ahh...and the completed room. There is Teddy's name on the wall. I got the paper mache letters from JoAnn's and modge podged the coordinating paper on.

This is Teddy's monkey collection and my Where The Wild Things Are figures by McFarlane that my husband bought for me for my birthday one year.

And this is the message board that started the whole thing. This paper was perfect for the colors of the bedding I had chosen. I just love orange for boys! The monkey faces are vinyl rub ons. And you can kind of see Teddy's invitation for his first birthday party. It was a monkey theme, of course!

The monkey rug was from Target.

On the wall between the argyle and the curtain, you can kind of see a frame that I made with the same paper and modge podge.

I simply love the way Teddy's room turned out! I love it so much I never want to change it...and to paint over that argyle would be criminal. So now I am on the look out for twin bedding that would match his wall and so far I have had no luck. I have about one more year before he will be growing out of his crib...so we'll see what happens.

Sharing my argyle love with: the CSI Project. This week is hardware store...and most of the supplies for my argyle wall were purchased at Home Depot. My main paint is Bahr and the supply that made it all possible...Blue Painters Tape!!

A New Entry Buffet

2010-05-21T00:12:00.000-07:00

Here is my second attempt at furniture refinishing! I have had an entry table for years that I like a lot. It is black with some distressing straight from the factory. It is cute...but it only serves one purpose...a holder for decorative items. Since moving to our new house, I have been at a loss for a place to store my crafty projects in progress and crafty tools that are used often enough to warrant keeping them close. So I decided I needed an entry table that served as a storage facility as well as decoration. So, I searched and searched and finally found a gal with a great shape and a great price tag.

Burlap Message Board

2010-05-20T23:37:00.000-07:00

I have been up to my repurposing tricks again. Another ugly piece of "art" has been retired permenently and the frame given new life... This time in the form of a message board!

Inspired by blogland's obsession with burlap and chicken wire, I simply:
Removed the old art and glass from the frame.
Spray painted the frame a satin black
Using the cardboard that was in the back of the frame... I:
Cut burlap (from Hobby Lobby (Jocelyn says it is "High Quality Burlap") about an inch bigger than the cardboard
Folded it over and stapled it with a regular stapler
Used a stencil (from Hobby Lobby), a stencil brush, and black craft paint and my eyeballs to stencil the burlap... making sure that the paint was uneven. Then I:
Cut chicken wire about an inch or so bigger than the cardboard and bent it around and stapled it in place and shoved the cardboard back into the frame. Then I:
Spray painted some clothes pins black and cut some cute scrapbook paper to fit and adhered it to the pins. Then clipped them to the wire.

And here I am pinning up a picture of my daughter taken at preschool for Mother's Day. My board is temporarily hanging where it is now (on a hook that is rediculously high because it is used for seasonal decorations that are long). Please don't judge me on my ability to part my hair!!

I'm posting this to:

Goldilocks Ride Finisher!

2010-05-11T22:06:00.000-07:00

In an effort to be more active, Jocelyn and I decided we would enter a local woman's only, non-competitive bike ride that was about 3 months out and 15 miles long. Jocelyn hadn't ridden a bike for over 10 years, and even though I had ridden more recently than that, the skills we had were about the same. Never-the-less, we started training...but didn't get as much time on the saddle as we had hoped. We started with three miles at once, then upgraded to five, then seven. Finally, with only a week before the ride, we decided to try out the actual route. Wow...we were surprised by the very steep 2.5 mile stretch that started the route out! We didn't even make it to the top before we gave up and turned back. The next day, we were going to get up the hill, even if we walked the whole way. We did it, and continued on to finish 9 miles of the route. We felt confident that we would be able to finish. And we did! In all, we rode about 18 miles that day. What an accomplishment!
The route went right in front of my house and the best part of the whole ride was passing by and having both of our families out at the end of the driveway cheering us on as we passed! These photos are Jason's attempt at capturing us going by. (his test shot turned out perfect...but he didn't quite catch us).

Farmhouse Coffee Table Upcycle

2010-05-07T22:14:00.001-07:00

I found this smallish farmhouse table at the local thrift shop a little while ago. I loved the turned legs but not the yellowish "glaze" that was dripping down them. At a $10.00 price tag I decided to go ahead and upcycle this baby! (Still not sure how so many gals in blog land find their curbside treasures)

So, I began what turned out to be an arduous process of removing the paint and stain. The finish on this piece was like armor! it just couldn't be budged. I was using a paint remover that was "safe on antiques" and took "30 minutes" to do it's work. After 3 days of working on it for a few hours each day, I gave up. Most of the paint was removed from the legs, but not all. Luckily, all of the finish off the top came off.

After adding a bit more character to the table with my awl, hammer, and a screw, I stained the top with Minwax Provincial stain and painted the legs. I used the stain as a glaze on the paint and then two coats of sealant. The sealant is water based and I was warned that you have to use very little and move quickly so that your glaze work doesn't dissolve and move around on you. So I tried to do that...but sure enough I had stain dripping down the legs. I almost cried...but since it was one of my first projects of many that I have planned, I decided that it was ok to not be perfect. My first project was fine...but I used a different brand of stain... so I am wondering if Minwax isn't the best to use as a glaze; so if you have any experience with it, I would love to hear from you!

But after all the heartache...I ended up loving this little piece of art!

Here is a closeup of a leg. You can see where I sanded down through the teal paint to the bare wood and how this exposed the white paint that did not get removed. After all the hard work trying to get the paint off..I'm glad that some remained, because I like the way the distressing turned out.

Coffee Filter Wreath

2010-04-29T23:10:00.000-07:00

One frugal Friday, I happened upon a link to a super cute blog, The Little Brown House. She had made the most adorable wreath and I just had to make one too.

I purposefully didn't follow the way she used safety pins to secure her filters! I went for the easier option, straight pins. But I accidentally didn't squnch and puff my filters the way she did, and I really wish I had. My wreath looks a lot like a coral (or a toilet brush, as my mother pointed out). I like the way Little Brown's looks like dried hydrangeas or something. I think I might take mine to pieces and try again. But I'll save that for a rainy day!

Linking up with The Shabby Nest and I Heart Naptime!

Repurposed frame

2010-04-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

Here is my new decor montage above my fireplace. (It is a really odd space...our fireplace is in the corner and goes up most of the wall, but then has this 'shelf' area that is like 7' up. Anyway, it is really high up on the wall.) I did my new favorite thrifty trick: finding gross art in an ornate frame and turning it into something fabulous.

Here is the tutorial. Step one: find a great deal on an ornate frame because the 'art' that it encases is so awful, no one can imagine anything good is possible. Step two: take the icky 'art' out and discard. Step three: give the frame a new coat of paint. I simply used acrylic paint and a foam brush and after dry brushed a coppery paint to accentuate the detail of the frame. Spray paint would have been oh so much faster...but they don't make the shade that I wanted. Step four: use the frame for a) an awesome message board, b) an awesome family portrait frame, c) an awesome jewelry holder, d) an awesome object d' art (my choice in this situation).

I left the hanging wire intact because I wasn't completely sure this would be the frames final landing spot and I kind of like that it has a shabby look to it. I added an iron wreath holder with a berry wreath (wildly marked down after valentine's day or Christmas, don't quite remember) and a birdcage that is caging a finial that I spray painted and two paper mache boxes that I covered in scrapbook paper that coordinates with my room. Now this strange space in my home is one of my favorite places to gaze upon!

Linking up with The Shabby Nest and I Heart Naptime!

Divine Giveaway!!

2010-04-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

Oh my! While chasing down what has to be the best give away ever...a spot at Oh Sweet Sadie's Academy... I found the fantastic photographer Becky Earl's website. Wowzers...just stop by for a minute or two and drool over the awesome photo slideshow that runs on her home page. The way she captures those beautiful eyes of those kids is just amazing!! And I love her use of contrast. Just fantastic! So stop on by there and check out her awesome work

Fabric Flowers Flourish

2010-04-12T23:04:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love it when a great friend has a great idea! Jocelyn had seen these beauties around boutiques, blogs, and (insert catchy 'b' word here). Well, her great idea was that we should whip some up. My first attempt was better suited as a hat in the New York Easter Bonnet Parade... but after I restrained my natural instinct that bigger is better and saw Jocelyn's gorgeous creation, I came up with these:

Want to whip one or six up for yourself? You need some fat quarters. I got a package of 6 from JoAnns. And you'll need some other layers like burlap and tulle (about a quarter yard of each) along with some snazzy buttons. Simply fold your fat quarter in half, wrong sides together, down the length (so you have a long rectangle) and cut a strip. For the largest layer the strip only needs to be about 1 inch or so. With a needle and thread sew a running stitch down the length of the two layers of fabric near the bottom. No need to be fussy with stitch length or anything like that. Pull the thread so that you have a tight ruffle and attach the two edges together with a couple of stitches. Repeat with other fabrics, cutting each row smaller than the last. With the really tiny middle layer you won't need the whole length of the fat quarter. Just bunch it up as you go and stop when it is long enough to make a circle. Then cut a circle of burlap to size, depending on which layer you want it to be. Same goes for the tulle. Stack them all up. Put a couple of stitches in the middlish area to hold them together, find a cute button for the middle and sew it on and voila!

Now to decide their final destiny.

The Green Door

2010-03-20T11:40:00.000-07:00

So it has been a long long while since I have blogged. Super sorry to all of you who like to hang on my every word, lol. Anyway, I'm super proud of my latest project and thought I would share it with the world. I refinished a reclaimed door. I'm guessing the door must be at least 50 years old judging by the awesome door knob and key hole that it sports. It was in a sad sad state with it's yellowing paint peeling like crazy. So I scraped away at it and painted it green to match the accent color of my bedroom and Jocelyn and I brought out all of the awesome dents and nail holes and other details with black glaze. Then I added a bunch of hooks and it is now my necklace holder. I love taking something old and making it useful again...and hope to be doing more projects like this soon.

Linked up with The Shabby Nest for Frugal Friday Linky Party!

Jane's Sonic 5th Birthday Party

2010-03-20T11:16:00.000-07:00

Jane wanted a Sonic the Hedgehog party for her 5th birthday. So the kids looked for choas emeralds in the playground.

And they proved they were athletic like Sonic in an awesome obstacle course where they ran, dove through tunnels, jumped like crazy, and of course Ran, Ran, Ran.

Here are the kids getting ready for a Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails teams relay race.

Here is Jane blowing out the candles on her Sonic cake featuring the rings he loves to collect and that give him extra power.

Jane and all of her guests had a great time at the party. She claims that next year she wants to have a Super Sonic party. We'll see how long this obsession lasts!

Jane's 3rd Annual Valentine's Party

2009-03-14T13:41:00.000-07:00

Here are the party goers for Jane's 3rd Annual Valentine's Party. Pictured is Jane, Sidney, Madeline, Sophia, Reagan, and Lily. This year I wisely decided to keep the guests to 6 (including Jane) and the time to 1 hour. Everyone was in a good mood this year and everyone had a great time!
Funny face time. Reagan wins the prize for best funny faces; she has the greatest sense of humor!

This year the girls made greeting cards from kits I found last year. The girls loved playing with the stickers and the glitter glue. Later they decorated cupcakes. Fun times!
Here are the girls playing Hot Potato to take turns passing out their Valentines. They love playing the game and don't realize that it is an awesome way to enforce turn taking and crowd control.
One of the best parts of the party was unplanned. The girls loved playing with Jane's sunglasses. So cute in their festive dress!
Jane, Maddie, and Reagan lovin' it up!

Jane and Lily.

Teddy's Announcement

2009-02-13T21:50:00.000-08:00

Family and friends should be receiving Teddy's birth announcement in the mail any day now. I think it turned out so cute thanks to the great photography of my brother in law Zachary and the software stylings of my fantastic husband. Isn't it great when those around you are aware of their great talents and put them to good use!

Welcome Baby Teddy Truman Cameron

2009-01-03T22:18:00.000-08:00

After being induced on December 30, 2008, Ted Truman Cameron joined us in the world! My labor was extremely easy... only 8.5 hours start to finish and 10 pushes. Ted weighed 8 pounds 2 onces (a full 2 pounds lighter than his big sister) and was born at 3:27 pm and was 19.5" long.

I was crying with joy at the arrival of my little boy. I kept saying, "I can't believe it, I can't believe it!" Our journey to have Teddy was so extremely different than the journey to having Jane...it really threw me for a loop!

Little Teddy is soooo cute! Turns out he looks a lot like Jane did at birth, except for a lot trimmer! Even though Jane was 10 pounds 2 onces, we didn't think she was chubby until we compared her with Teddy. Their faces are very similar but Jane deffinitly has her mom's ears and Teddy deffinitly has his dad's.

Our nurse Cody was so nice during the whole induction including picture taking after. She held Teddy like this picture after picture trying to get one of Teddy with his eyes open. When he finally opened his eyes, he expressed his disapproval with the sweetest pout ever! So far he has been such an easy baby and so extrememly cute and sweet. Our family is so blessed to have him here!

Halloween Hijinks Concert

2008-10-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

This year we went to the Halloween Hijinks Concert at Abrovanel Hall. They were playing excerpts from Hansel and Gretel and it was a costume party and contest. Jane dressed in her Yoshi costume. They had a neat silhouette station.

There were so many amazing costumes there. My favorites were also the winners. Pictured here is the Beheaded Marie Antoinette and the Marionette.

And my most favorite of all, the Three Ring Circus. I just love the little girl dressed as a tight rope walker! It was a really fun night!

Halloween In Paris - 2007

2008-10-29T09:03:00.000-07:00

We are so excited for Halloween this year... Last year we spent the holliday in Disneyland Paris! It was a trip at odds with itself. Of course we were so happy to be in Paris (my favorite city in the world), but Jane was sick and the weather was terrible!

On our first night there, Jane dressed up as Minnie Pumpkin (as we call it) and we headed over to Downtown Disney for a Halloween dinner. True to the French spirit, there was plenty of yummy cheeses. Also there was face painting and scary/funny Pumpkinhead men wandering around.
Jane wanted to be Minnie on Mars for Halloween, and even though she didn't get to wear her costume to go trick-or-treating, she was still able to wear it to preschool and dance parties. Pluto thought she looked pretty amazing!

We stayed in a Disney hotel. I was expecting Disney to really take charge and make a great hotel, but the European spirit is king there (I guess). Our hotel lacked many ammenities and the hallways smelled like armpits. But they did have a character greating every morning and Jane was delighted to get to spend some time with her favorite mouse!

On October 31st, we were actually done with Disneyland and spent the day sightseeing in Paris. We stayed in a fantastic hotel on the Champs Elysees. There is a Disney Store on that street and they didn't forget to celebrate Halloween, but everyone else did! Actually, we saw two children dressed in costume... I guess they were visiting Paris on Halloween as well. Although Jane and I enjoyed our trip and will always cherish the memories, we are both excited to spend this Halloween at home. Jane is chomping at the bit to go Trick-or-Treating and has been practicing nightly! And I can't wait for her to share her booty with me!

Two Costumes for Halloween?!?

2008-10-29T08:05:00.001-07:00

It is my personal philosophy that kids should be able to choose whoever/whatever they want to be for Halloween. Last year, when Jane wanted to be Minnie Mouse on Mars, I went to great lengths to track down a giant outdoor light post globe to use for an astronaut helmet. This year Jane said she wanted to be Yoshi from Nintendo. After thinking about how I could create that and doing some research on eBay (and noticing that no Yoshi costumes were for sale), I determined it was beyond my capabilities and told Jane she would have to choose something else.

Jane was pretty easily swayed and decided that she wanted to be a fairy. I thought it would be cute to be Ginger from the show "Johnny and the Sprites". Jane agreed. So I set out to make the costume. Jane seemed pretty excited, but when all was said and done she thought that she looked like Rooney from the "Doodlebops" and she grieved that she was not going to be Yoshi. On a whim, I checked eBay again. To my surprise, there was a child's Yoshi costume up for auction. It wouldn't fit Jane, but it did have some pretty good pictures of the construction and I could see how it could be done.

Last Thursday I went to the fabric store after brainstorming with Jason about how it could be done. To my dismay, almost all of the costume patterns sold out. I ended up with 7 yards of fabric and 3 patterns. Jason kept Jane out of the house for the entire day (we were keeping the costume a surprise) and after 10 hours and two different sets of eyes and nose the costume was complete.

The morning of October 25th, Jane got the surprise of her life. She was ecstatic to have the costume of her dreams! And I was pretty proud of myself that I was able to do it! Hopefully next year we won't have to go through so many costumes before we get it right!

Where Did You Get Those Eyes!?!

2008-09-22T23:26:00.000-07:00

When Jane was born, we all thought she looked just like me. Within a few weeks...she had totally changed. Some people think she looks like Jason....but those in the know realize that she looks like my mom. Really it is her eyes that are just like Mutte's. But in all fairness, she does have Jason's eyelashes.

Everyone comments on Jane's beautiful eyes and especially her lllllllllooooonnnnnngggggggg eyelashes. Jane is so used to it that she usually just nods or says, "Yes, you're right." But when I put mascara on her eyelashes to complete her Snow White costume for the Disney Princesses on Ice show, even she was amazed by how long her lashes are.

On this day and everyday Jane is the Fairest of them All!

Pink Poodle in Paris Party

2008-09-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

A few months before Jane's 4th birthday, I asked her what kind of birthday party she would like to have. She replied, "A puppy party." After much brainstorming and research on the internet, I decided that a Pink Poodle in Paris party was the way to go...and Jane agreed! I started with pink poodle invitations, pink poodle partyware, and made pink poodle skirts for all of the guests!

The party table was set with pink poodle partyware complete with Eiffel Tower cups. The centerpieces were a variety of Eiffel Towers in paper, metal, and even cookie form, pink poodles, and a tower of treats.

The Birthday Girl was ready to go!

First the guests were treated to doggy face painting, doggy ear placement, and fluffy poodle bracelets before they moved onto making sparkly doggy collars.

Next was a sock hop of freeze dancing.

The girls danced like Eiffel Towers, poodles, robots, birds, and so much more. They absolutely loved strutting their stuff!

After wearing themselves out dancing, the girls were refreshed with doggy bone sugar cookies, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate dipped graham cracker bones, doggy kibble (muddy buddy chex mix), and punch.

Next was poodle boutique activity. Each girl got their own pink poodle and some clothes to dress their new doggy up in.

Then it was time for presents. The girls played hot dog and passed a poodle around a circle to music to decide which lucky girl got to give Jane their present.

The girl of honor then blew out her 4 candles and then the girls tore after the poodle pinata.

All the girls had so much fun and so did I! A huge thanks is due to Jane's uncle Zack for his dedicated photography of the party, and to her aunts Shannon and Michelle for so much help planning and facilitating the party fun!

Edited to say that I'm linking this post (ancient as it is) to:

2008-05-11T22:39:00.000-07:00

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