Miniature Decorating

I have been known to say, "If I could do it over again, I would have gone to school for Interior Design."  I just LOVE design and decorating.  My "go to" channel on the TV is none other than HGTV.  I will watch ANYTHING on that channel.  But, alas, we cannot turn back time and truth be told, I am very happy to be where I am and to decorate my house more than the average person and to bug the hubby to paint more often than he'd like.  :-) 

Imagine my utter elation when I stumbled upon this inspiration for a homemade dollhouse on Pinterest from Honest to Nod.  I happened to have a bookshelf shaped like a dollhouse that my MIL bought my second born when she was a toddler.  As of late, it has just been a "catch all" for odds and ends, not really serving its intended purpose.  SO, Mommy got a decorating project...and boy, did she have fun!  Who knew decorating in miniature could be so rewarding?

Like the inspiration, the wallpaper (aka scrapbook paper) is the show-stopper, I think.  These were all hand-picked by my client, my favorite and fabulous four year old, Emma.  Just hung with double-sided tape...such a great idea, because if she's anything like her mom, she'll want to change out the wallpaper often.  :-)

First up, the kitchen/dining room on the top.  This is actually the only area that I needed to purchase furniture for, so I found a Melissa and Doug set on Amazon for a reasonable price.

Oh, and I went crazy with my new Silhouette...crazy I tell you!  But, that was a huge part of the fun!  The utensils, the chandeliers, the furniture on the wall...all vinyl cut with the Silhouette.  It doesn't end there, trust me.  Those clocks you see on the wall, they are from Oriental Trading.  I bought them for a past project, and I am so glad I remembered that I had them.  There is a clock in every room, set to 6:15 pm...time picked by the client.  :-)

The floor in the kitchen was just done with acrylic black paint and painters tape.  Don't look too close, it is anything but precise.  Hehe

Heading down a floor, we come to the bedrooms.  The girls room on the left, the Master on the right.

The rest of the furniture in the house is from a little dollhouse Emma got when she was two.  You should see how small this house is...but, I think the furniture works in a house this size, too.  And, it's in great shape, and I won't be too worried if Avery (7 months) gets a hold of it.  More vinyl dressers and what's a girly room without a Girls Rule sign?  

And, this could be my most favorite part of the entire house...I printed tiny, tiny little pictures of the kids on the printer and then used the Silhouette to cut frames for them.  How cute are they??

The bottom floor houses the Living Room and Office/whatever room the client wants it to be.  

I even knit a throw blanket for the family...I am telling you, I was getting a little out of control! :-)

And, I couldn't leave the exterior bare...that would just be so wrong, seeing all of the hard work we did on the interior.  Curb appeal is important, am I right?  

I may add some bushes or flowers, but for now, this will do quite nicely.  

Now, you may notice there is no bathroom in the house...I thought long and hard about this, but I just could not fit the commode into the plans.  So, my answer to Emma's question, "but, where can they pee, Mommy?"  The outhouse of course!

It's easy to see this was a fun project...it was awesome working with my little girl and making her happy.  Her eyes got big every time I would add something new.  I hope that she keeps this and that she and her sister have many years of blissful imaginative play with this.  I don't think I will ever be able to part with it.  

She likes it...she really, really likes it.

Linking up!

Rock N Share

Compilation of vacation pics

Instagrams, instagrams...all I ever hear about is instagrams for the iphone!

Well, I'm a Droider, and I keep hearing that they are "working on" Instagram for the Droid, but I have yet to see the app...BUT, I am here to tell you fellow Droiders (if you don't know yet), there is a free app that's almost as cool!!  Lomo Camera...I had an awesome time with this app yesterday on our trip to Inner Harbor, Maryland.

Here are some pics

We decided to surprise our two older kids with a trip just for them yesterday to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.  We got the total experience tickets, which included the Dolphin Show and a 4D Planet Earth movie.  Then, we visited three historic war ships and ended our day at Phillips seafood house.  It was an outstanding day!  Well, until we left all of our souvenirs in the parking garage...thank goodness for online gift shops when stuff like that happens.  We went from being the Best Parents of the Year to the Worst Parents and back to the Best Parents...whew!

Anyway, I had a blast snapping pics and wanted a way to commemorate the day, so I made this 11x14 of all the Lomo Camera pics taken throughout the day...

Now we'll always remember the day!

The Journey: Being Selfish

I have heard it SO many times..."You have to take care of you in order to be a better mom to them."  And I would nod my head and say, "I know, I know." But, truth be told...you just can't do that in the first six months of a baby's life.  Unless you happen to have a non-colicky, sleep-through-the-night, nothing phases me at all kind of child.  Then, maybe you can start before the 6 month point.  But, for me, this 6 month milestone marks a time where I can actually spring into action instead of just nodding.

I actually thought I would wait until Avery was a year old to take her into the gym.  I didn't want her catching anything or getting hurt.  You know, all of those paranoid mom thoughts were running through my over-imaginative brain.  

Then, last week, as I had just gotten out of the shower and put my second outfit of the day on, only to get spit up on again (consequently leading me to my third outfit) and Emma was screaming, "Max, you are the WORST big brother ever," because he wouldn't play house with her anymore, and Max was running around acting like he was in a Pokemon episode making the noise of something I am convinced only another six year old boy would understand, I realized that I had HAD it!  Mama needs some alone time to clear her head on a regular basis...

I have been going to the gym, but I have been going to the gym that is right down the street from my house because it's $10/month...but no childcare.  Which means, I have to work around my husband's crazy work schedule to fit any workouts in.  It's OK for occasional times when he's home and I need to get something in quick, but I need something more scheduled.  I work well on schedules.

This is when it dawned on me that I should get my butt back to the gym that I used to teach Zumba at twice a week, a great gym with great childcare.  WHY was I not doing this for myself?  

I had some trepidation, believe me..."how will Avery do, will she cry when I leave, will they be able to pay adequate attention to her needs." OY...I really need to worry a LOT less.  Turns out she was absolutely fine...she was with her brother and sister and four (yes, four) other children.  

Best part, I was able to clear my head while I ran/walked a 5K in 38 minutes.  Not a great time, I know, but I'll get there.  I didn't collapse, so I was happy!  I haven't done a full 5K since I ran an organized one in October of 2010.  The Warrior Dash is in two months.  I'll get there.  

I plan to go to the gym on Tuesday and Thursday mornings as a regimen from here on out.  And, if I can get any other workouts in during the week, that will be a bonus.  As long as the kids are doing fine, I can get a one hour workout in and we are all better off because of this.  I gotta tell you, I am a much more patient mommy when I can get these workouts in.  :-)

This realization that I need to be a little selfish to be better all around is a small victory in my journey and I had to share!

Handmade Housewarming

We have friends who unfortunately, and so sadly, lost their house to flooding in the Fall of 2011.  It was the "100 year flood" here in southcentral PA and it devastated a part of my home town.

By the grace of God and some help from family and friends, they are about to move into a new house.  :-) I knew that I wanted to make them something, so this is what I came up with.  

I recently bought a damask stencil for my master bedroom accent wall from Royal Design Stencil.  I just love it and knew that it could be perfect for this project, too.

I had a piece of wood that I bought from AC Moore a long time ago.  So, I painted it white with latex paint in an eggshell finish. 

Then, I mixed two Folk Art metallic acrylic paints to reach my desired color...light gray/silver. The colors are Pearl White and Metallic Gunmetal Gray.

I used a sponge brush to stipple on the paint.  Next, I cut out a vinyl "W" in Iskoola Pota font and placed it in the middle.  Two coats of matte finish polyurethane and it's complete.

This was really easy and I think looks very elegant.  A perfect housewarming gift!

 Here you can get an idea of the metallic paint...

 Linking Up!

Seuss-cakes

Ok, Ok, so in my last post I said I wasn't going to do any creative food or snack for Dr. Seuss Birthday, because of the lack of time, but I literally woke up this morning with this idea, and it was super simple!

I think they turned out awesome and the kids loved them...the pic was taken with my phone, so not the best quality, but you get the idea! :-)

Just a little food coloring and some round tupperware and we've got ourselves some Cat in the Hat pancakes!  What a fun day!

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It's Seuss-tastic!!

He is my favorite author.

He is beyond brilliant.

He makes reading FUN! 

He's Dr. Seuss and he deserves a proper birthday celebration!!

While I would have loved to bake some fabulous themed cupcakes or cookies, or created some witty play on words with a snack...well, I just don't have the time.  Between feedings, diaper changes, baths, basketball, dance, gymnastics and taking and picking up at school, I barely have time for sleep these days. So maybe next year for a super creative Seuss Day surprise.

All of that being said, we still had to do something!  I found this All About Me printable...it has pages to fill in info about "you."  Your birthday, your family, your house, your favorites.  So we printed 20 copies for Max's class and 14 for Emma's.  And, I bought the cute Seuss pencils with erasers on Amazon. 

I had Max and Emma complete theirs so they can share it at school.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed! 
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

Happy Birthday to the late, great Dr. Seuss!!

Irish I Had A Drink Coasters

A few years back I found a t-shirt that read, "Irish I had a beer" and bought it for a St. Patty's Day party...it remains one of my favorite t-shirts of all time.  :-) 

Fast forward to present day, I have these white, square tiles that I bought at Lowe's for $0.16 a piece a few weeks ago and I wanted to make some coasters for St. Patty's Day.  I have a ton of scrapbook paper, and I recently bought a Silhouette with money I won in a photo contest.  This is my first project using it.  It takes some getting used to, but I really love it.  

For the coasters, I decided on a generic "Irish I had a DRINK."  I thought it best, since sometimes I like to drink wine.  :-)  And, if you make these as a gift, it's always best to go generic.

I made a set of four coasters.  Two with designs, two without.  I cut out four different squares of scrapbook paper, mod podged the back of the paper and the top of the coaster and stuck it on.  Next, I put two coats of mod podge over all four coasters.  Then came the fun part with the Silhouette.  I found a free celtic font on dafont.com.  It was just perfect!

After I adhered the vinyl, I put MANY more coats of mod podge on.  I think it was about five more coats.  Once the weather gets nicer, I plan to spray them with a waterproof sealer.  I haven't decided whether I want to use felt on the bottom or cork.  But, either works just fine.  I use contact cement for that.

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