Two Shades of Grey...Bathroom...In Progress

We inherited our house from my sister in law.  My mother and father in law own the house and my sister in law used to live here with her husband and two kiddos.  My sister in law moved to another state about 3 1/2 years ago, to be closer to my father and mother in law.  At that time Jerm and I were looking for a bigger place; I was pregnant with baby Boogie and we needed more space! Thankfully they all decided that we should move in!  There aren't many places that offered a room for every one of our kids.  The house has 4 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, 2 living rooms, a full dining room and kitchen.  There is a room that is connected to the master bedroom that I assume was meant to be an office but we converted that to baby boogies room! We also converted the second living space into our "office"!

My sister in law had the kids/guest bathroom decorated in Sponge Bob complete with yellow walls and a blue ceiling!  It was adorable but since I couldn't find anything Sponge Bob anymore it really wasn't working, plus we noticed that the sub floor in that bathroom was messed up which was causing major problems. So we took the floor out, messing up the flooring as we went, since the bathroom needed new floors I decided to redo the whole room!

 

 Here are the new floors! The big black spot is not a sign that Davy Jones is coming after my bathroom, just where the toilet had yet to be returned to its spot. These tiles are actually vinyl, but they are thicker than normal vinyl tiles and the thickness allows for grouting.  I had no idea what I was doing so my dad showed me the way in one corner; then I finished it up.  I see a future with more of this tile in our house, not the same pattern but the same idea.

Now for those Sponge Bob yellow walls, I swear my sister in law had to have done some color match magic because those walls were bright! I wanted something neutral, I went to the local Habitat Store, hey I am fugal by nature, and found a beautiful grey color for a whole $3.00 for the full gallon! I primed the walls with some leftover white Kills paint, Kills paint prevents mold from growing; great for bathrooms!

I then did a paint test with the grey and realized it was a lot darker that I wanted.  I still had some leftover white from when we converted Boogie's nursery, yeah I still haven't finished that room yet! Mixing the white with the grey made a nice light color that I liked so all the walls were painted.  Jerm decided that he wanted the trim done with the original color of grey ( I was going to paint the trim white) but I do agree with him I like the dark grey with the light grey.

For some reason it has a yellow quality in the pic but I promise the walls are light grey!

The bathtub, sink/vanity, and the toilet are white so for the past week I have been working on some more white accents for the room that would also help with organization.

I had a toothbrush holder for all the kids, but they all like different toothpaste and it was becoming a pain to organize.  We have all seen those too cute Mason jar holders but that meant I would have to buy supplies! So using tin cans, I had already cleaned and painted white for a birthday party game. A drawer from an old broken stand and a little paint I was able to make a shelf and individual toothbrush/paste holders! 

The walls actually look grey in this picture!

There are two hooks on the back of the bathroom door to hold towels but the kids never use them.  So I decided that they may actually use individualized hooks!  Again, I didn't want to buy a whole lot so using items on hand, and buying only the letters the kids will hopefully now hang up their towels! I am going to buy 8 white towels and stitch each child's initial on two towels each...individualized towels still a work in progress.

  Now the walls look dark grey! I need a new camera!

Just for fun and to add a little more white accent I hung up a canvas with bathroom musts! I simply painted a canvas with the same dark grey the trim was done in, then using stenciled letters I painted the entire canvas white.  I got the idea for the words from Pinterest, my favorite has got to be Aim, with two little boys this is a bathroom MUST!

The bathroom is still in progress I still need to:

 *Cut, paint, and place the floor trim*

*Buy a new white shower curtain, maybe two*

*Finish the kids 2 towels each*

I love the grey on grey on white look and not only does it suit the kids, with all the fun individualized elements, but it serves as a great neutral guest bathroom! 

More pictures will come when I finish the whole thing up!

Easy Peasy Kids Chores

The kiddos have their basic chores that they have to do every day such as pick up their rooms at the end of the day and put their clothes in the laundry basket.  I wanted a little more help than that.  With a family of six no matter how small or large your house is, sometimes it seems like you never have enough room or organization.  The kiddos are now 10, 7, 6, and 2 they are all big enough to help out, at different levels it's true but any help works at this time.  I needed something to organize the chores, make it slightly fun and I needed to actually utilize it!  I ran to Pinterest, but really everything that I saw was honestly too much of a time investment (just to make the silly thing) or I didn't have the supplies on hand. Some I couldn't see our family really utilizing the Chore Chart the way it should be.

I wanted simple and workable!

I pulled up Microsoft Word on my computer and started playing with the clip art options, found the pictures I liked and printed them off the computer.  The pictures printed black and white, so I colored them with colored pencils! Then I simply cut them to size and attached them to my adhesive magnetic sheets I had left over from the wedding save the dates! They were leftovers so the magnets aren't perfectly cut to size but ohwell!

 I bought these at Wal-Mart I don't think I paid much more than $1.00 per pack.

Here are all the chores that the kiddos can pick from.  I simply placed the magnets in a small bag and each day the kids (Monkey, Bubby, and Babydoll) pick two.  I don't let them see what they are picking.  If a particular chore really doesn't need to be done that day I simply remove the corresponding magnet from the bag before they pick.

• Laundry- Each child already puts their own clothing away the child who picks the laundry chore simply helps me distribute the clothes to the correct rooms, and are learning to help fold.
• Feed Dogs/Cats- Pretty self explanatory 
• Pick Up Toys- At the end of the day it seems a lot of toys have deserted the kids rooms and have made new homes through the house. The kiddo simply places all the run away toys in a bag and then distributes them to their original room.
• Dust- They don't have to dust everything, just a few things here and there.
• Vacuum- We have very little carpet in this house so there are a few area rugs that need to be attended.
• Sweep- Because there is so little carpet, I only have the kiddo with this chore sweep one or two rooms.
• Bathroom- I make my own bathroom cleaner mixing vinegar and dawn, this allows the kiddos to help scrub the tub (with a dish brush thingy) and wipe the counters off.  They also pick up any clothes someone may have left in the floor and put them in the laundry basket.
• Dishes- Depending on the child who picked this it could mean un-loading the dish washer, or simply picking up any stay cups and bowls that may have made it into different rooms.
• Help Mommy- This chore just allows me to have a kiddo help me with anything special I may be doing. If I am going to mow the yard they can help pick up the toys outside, or if I am cleaning out the fridge they can help me wipe it out ect... you get the point.

 I also made a little marker for each kiddo that is on the fridge with their initials.

 I simply placed the magnets in a small bag and each day the kids (Monkey, Bubby, and Babydoll) pick two.  I don't let them see what they are picking.  If a particular chore really doesn't need to be done that day I simply remove the corresponding magnet from the bag before they pick. 

If no one picks a chore that really needs to be done that day, such as feed dogs/cats I simply ask if anyone would like to help me with it.  If I don't get a volunteer it's not that big of a deal I don't mind doing it myself! Except the run away toys, they drive me insane! So each child has a tote bag that I give them at the end of the day, then each child goes from one side of the house to the other filling their bag with their own toys.  The kiddos then put the bag in their room and are allowed to leave the toys in it until the following day.

I bought the cheap little vinyl bags from Wal-Mart or a craft store and they are holding up just fine! Even baby Boogie helps out with the capture of the run away toys.

I know that this is a very simple and not so adorable chore chart, unlike some that are out there, but hey it works for my family! I was able to put it all together in one night, and we started implementing it the next day.  Besides, I had that super kick butt magnet already on my fridge (Oh you must be confusing me for the maid we don't have) so this idea went right along with our odd sense of humor! We don't give the kids money for their chores I want them to understand that because they live here they should contribute, plus they should pick up behind themselves.  I sure don't get paid for all that I do around the house and one day they will be walking in my shoes so hey it's an early education.  

I don't think that parents who do give money for chores are doing anything wrong, it's just not the choice that Jerm and I made!

PITTER PATTER OF LITTLE FEET...

I am still pretty new to the crafting game, not really the expert crafter.  Pinterest and other blogs are the basis for most of my inspiration.  There have been a couple times where craft supply stores have inspired me. Crafting is simply a hobby for me, I don't plan on making my fortune with it!

 

When Jerm and I got married  last July I wanted something to represent the year that our two families really became one.  I found this adorable foot stool idea on Pinterest and knew that it would work perfectly.  Not only would the foot stool represent our family anniversary but it could be a functional piece too!

 

 

 

Saw this cute little foot stool on Pinterest!

 

 

I went thrifting! After a couple of thrift stores, a few Goodwill's and my local Peddlers Mall I finally found the perfect sized foot stool for my little project. Only paid $3.00!

 

 

Now this brown color wasn't going to work, so I sanded it down a little and then searched my supply of paints.  I found a beautiful Martha Stewart Wine colored multi-surface paint in my stash!



I normally find these paints at Michaels ot Lowes

 

 

I painted the entire foot stool, using about three coats of paint.  It didn't use the entire bottle of paint and dried pretty quickly!

(This is the same color that I used to stencil my lamp up do)

 

The color in this picture makes it look a lot more pinkish than it really is. This color has become a reoccurring color through-out my house. After the paint dried I was going to use stamp ink to copy the kiddos foot prints, but my ink was dried up so I simply had to paint my kids feet with black  Martha Stewart Paint. Then we just placed the feet firmly down, and lifted straight up (a lot harder than it sounds)!

As you can see they didn't come out perfect but meh, it's not too big a deal!

 

 

I then took a very fine tipped paint brush and painted the sides and front of the foot stool, to make it even more personalized to our family!

Last name and the date we all officially became a family.

 

I don't know why I started referring to my family this way but it's now our thing.

Probably because when I tell people we have four kiddos they look at me like I just said 40 kiddos!

 

All the boys nick names, I am really really bad about using nick names vs given names.

 

All the girls, see we have our nick names too, You hear your given name in my house, you KNOW you are in trouble!!

 

 

The kiddos use this foot stool sometimes in the bathroom, when trying to reach something in the kitchen; or for any other reason their imaginations can come up with.  I have used it for reaching things on shelves and as a time out spot on a couple of occasions. It feels kind of wrong sometimes to use it as a time out chair because they kids and I made it together! :)  We actually get a lot of use out of it.  I didn't put a protective coat on it and the paint has held up just fine.

(yeah I should have posted this a couple months..heck almost a year ago, but I lost the pictures *lol*)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Ready For My Closeup......

When I was a little girl I used to sit at my mothers vanity table and pretend to be getting ready for some major events.  Balls, award shows, and my own wedding you never knew what each day had in store.  My mothers vanity was a beautiful piece of furniture that my dad had worked on (he is a carpenter by hobby) he had given her the vanity as an anniversary gift.  When I moved out of my mothers house, she gave me the vanity.  Now I sit at this beautiful vanity with all those fond memories getting ready for work, school functions, and trips to Wal Mart! Ok! I know that the picture above is soooo not my mother's and then later my vanity, but to be honest the master bedroom is a disaster and I wasn't taking a picture of that!!!

My oldest daughter Babydoll loves to play dress up, she likes to pretend she is a Princess, Barbie, or the female version of many different Super Hero's. 

 

Playing dress up! On the left with her favorite cousin, on the right with my younger brother the last time he babysat!

Each one of the kiddos rooms has a walk in closet and Babydoll's closet was falling apart.  The metal clothes racks were falling off the walls, and I was just waiting for the day that they would hang from them like little monkeys and everything would come tumbling down. 

The kiddos rooms aren't small but they really aren't big enough to hold all the stuff they have! For the past two days I have been getting rid of a lot of crap old toys.  Thinking a call to Hoarders may be needed about my kids, wow they had tons of crap stuff! After two trash bags of trash and three bags of donated toys, I had two (of the four) kids rooms spotless and that included their useless closets! Bubby's closet was having the same problem with the shelves! What was I going to do with this clean and unused space?  I have seen lots of pictures on (guess where) you guessed it, Pinterest! Parents have turned their kids closets to reading nooks, playrooms, bed spaces, you name it! If they can do it so can I!

Babydoll's New Dressing Room!

First thing first, I took the closet door off the hinges, the idea that she could be shut in there kinda unnerved me, and the door opened into her room which took up useable space!  Plus, I had a really cute idea and the door was in my way.

Curtained Door: ($ Free)  I simply took a bed sheet someone had given me, cut it the width and height of the door then cut the length in half.  I used the ready made top part of the sheet as a curtain rod slot by simply ripping the hem on each side.  My curtain rod is really just a wrapping paper tube that I had on hand.  I ran a long piece of ribbon through the tube and tied a bow on top, this allowed me to hang it from a nail in the wall. I didn't have any spare curtain rods this small. When the cardboard rod falls apart I will probably break down and buy an actual curtain rod.

Accessory Rack: ($ Free )  As soon as you walk in the closet dressing room you see this rack on your right.  I found this kids coat rack at a thrift store months ago and only paid $2.00 for it.  Until now it was on Babydoll's wall and we were using it to hold all her dress up clothes.  Now we have a place for all her little purses, headbands, aprons and fairy wings. :)

Accessory Shelf: ($ Free )  This shelf used to be used as a DVD shelf in Babydoll's room, then I put all our DVDs in CD books arranged by category (I got tired of having DVDs everywhere, and empty boxes)  When the shelf cleared of movies, it was then used to just hold some of Babydoll's toys.  I now have it in the corner of her closet dressing room and it has her wallets, tiaras, some play jewelry, her diary and a picture of Babydoll and her cousin.

Shoe Rack: ($Free) These cute little cardboard boxes used to keep Babydoll's dress up shoes and any overflow accessory out of the middle of the floor.  They have lids with the Disney Princess's on them.  I bought these boxes at TJ MAX a while ago, I don't even remember how much I paid.  I simply put the boxes on their side and lined up the dress shoes.  Jerm is going to make Babydoll a little shoe rack but for now this works.  I used the lids as decoration in Babydoll's room, I simply hung them on the wall and now they kind of look like canvas art! :)

Wall Art ($Free)  I got the idea for paper pin wheels HERE so I used some cardstock paper that I had on hand.  I love the look of this decorative wall art and think that I am going to make more of these maybe for around the house, in Babydoll's room or as party decor!

Clothes Rack: ($Free)  Two very stubborn metal shelf wall mounts would not come out of the wall! It was making me so frustrated!  They are kind of sharp, I could see the kids hanging from them, and they were in my way!  Then I came up with the idea to twist them towards each other, and with some zip ties and ribbon these annoying wall mounts became a clothes rack.  The rack is actually really sturdy and has enough room for more dress up clothes! 

 FYI: Dress up clothes are expensive, every year after Halloween I buy the costumes (they go on sale) and we give them to Bubby and Babydoll as Christmas presents!!! I simply take them out of the packages and put them in clothes wrapping boxes, I even insert the picture from the package.  I have, in the past, bought Super Hero costumes, Princess dresses and what not for as little as $1.00.

Princess Wall Art: ($Free)  These pictures I found on some boxes that used to hold puzzle pieces.  The boxes were pretty much destroyed and the puzzle pieces already had a new home.  I simply stapled some ribbon on to the back of the pictures and then hung them on the wall.  I think it looks kind of like pictures you would hang on the wall of your friends.  The pink one even looks like it is in a frame!  I think that sometime this week I may go to Dollar Tree and get some inexpensive frames (remove the glass) and frame these pictures.

Jewelry Organizer: ($Free)  I bought Babydoll and Baby Boogie these Jewelry organizers from Kirklands about two months ago.  They were originally $25.00 but I got them on sale for $5.00 each.  Baby Boogie's has a Peacock Feather print which works for her room because it is Teal and Chocolate Brown.  Babydoll's room is decorated in Black, White and Hot Pink.
FYI: I decorate the kiddos rooms in a color scheme then buy or make wall art that has their favorite characters, toys, or games on them.  I refuse to buy bedding and set a whole theme around a character that they may not be interested in within a year.  For example, Babydoll has a Black, White and Hot Pink flower comforter that was marketed for dorm rooms.  This will grow with her, and I can buy inexpensive Disney Princess, Tinkerbell, or Barbie posters and wall art that she is currently into.  My mom changed my bedrooms theme with what I was interested in for years till she finally realized how expensive it was getting!

Vanity: ($Free)  I bought this vanity for $20.00 at a local bi-yearly kids consignment sale almost two years ago.  When I came home and realized this crazy thing retails at about $100.00 I was super excited!!!  This is the Disney Sleeping Beauty vanity.  It lights up, talks to you and has hair accessories and doo da's.  I think Disney is currently selling the Cinderella Vanity, Babydoll likes Cinderella but I am not buying a whole new vanity, plus blue doesn't match her room. LOL

* I may be a bit biased Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) was always my favorite, so much so that Baby Boogie almost ended up with the name Aurora!  Luckily or unfortunately I struggled in speech therapy for the first 6 years of my life trying to produce the R sound. I sounded like I belonged in Jersey and I have always lived in the South!  I still have to concentrate on some words and if my emotions are running high you can catch me slip, apparently Bubby inherited this R problem so Aurora wouldn't have been a wise choice!

There you have it, Babydoll's new closet Dressing Room!  This transformation cost me nothing but time, I simply used things that we already had in Babydoll's room.  Even if I would have had to buy some of these things I don't think that it would have cost too much! Babydoll has been at her mom's house for the past three days, but she comes home today and I can't wait to see what she thinks of her new play area!!!  I may decide to paint the walls in there, and I need to buy a cute rug but for now it works.  When the kids get a little older I am going to put some functional and sturdy closet shelving and racks in their closets, but for now they are perfect play areas.

Jerm and I talked about making Bubby's closet a Video Game Room, both my boys are gamer, computer geeks (just like their daddy)!  We have to wait till after Christmas and see if Santa is bringing that X-Box 360 for Bubby though ;) We have the X-Box 360 Kinect in the living room, but I mostly hog use that one for my Netflix, and Vudu and the Kinect games.  Monkey has his own 360 so I think it is time for Santa to bring Bubby one!

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Frankly my dear I don't give a Damn...coffee table

"I don't know nothing bout birthing no babies"

A little over two years ago my Baby Shower (held in baby Boogie's honor) was held at my house.  We have a huge living room and considering a lot of the guest were stay-at-home moms we needed a place that was kid friendly.  I realized that I needed a coffee table, to hold multiple items for the party.  We didn't have one and I needed one fast and cheap....hello Wal Mart!

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Over the past two years this table has been beaten up.  Scratched by matchbox cars and super heroes, beat upon with make shift musical instruments, and used to hold everything from wedding crafts to plates of food.  How did we ever manage without a coffee table?!?

I didn't want to get rid of it, but it was looking old and beat up, not the best conversation piece.  I stumbled upon an idea on Pinterest about covering a wall décor in family photos, and planned on doing this to the table.  In the long run I kept forgetting to print the photos. (Thank you digital world, now all my family photos sit inside my computer and external hard drive!) Then it hit me, I have a copy of Gone With the Wind (my all time favourite book/movie) that was used to make wedding flowers which means it is missing pages but still has hundreds of pages left!!!  Don't worry I have many copies of this book!

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Supplies:

I had everything on hand due to previous crafts so oh yeah this was a free project!!!

• Book Pages
• Mod Podge 
• Foam Brush
• Lacquer
• Table                                                                                        

Instructions:

1. I cut my pages down a little (they had huge margins) then played with the placement of the pages to decide on a layout that I liked.  I decided I wanted the pages to look haphazard.

      2.  I covered small sections of the table in Mod podge, layering the pages as I went.                 

 *The lighter you apply the Mod Podge, the faster it will dry*

       3.  After I got all the pages down, I applied a thin layer of Mod Podge over the entire table.

            This acts as a sealant and prevents any edges from coming up.

       4.  I then applied 3-4 coats of the Lacquer to the table, letting each coat dry in-between. 

*This step helps protect the top, it acts as a sealant and protects from moisture*

You can see where I made sure to add the cover page of the book, every page that is on this table represents some of my favourite moments from either the book or the movie.  I also included (middle/right) the final page of the book.  It only is half a page so I really had to cut it down, but it contains my favourite quote from Scarlett! "After all tomorrow is another day"

I am really proud of how it turned out, even though there are a few bubbles.  I have never worked with thin paper and Mod Podge before for that reason alone, but oh well this house/family isn't perfect so our table fits right in!  If I do another project with Mod Podge and thin paper I will make sure to use one of those scraping tools you use for mudding walls to prevent any bubbles!

Something I pinned then actually tried (with a few little tweaks)!

Light up the Batcave!! Lamp shade Redo.

 My entry way is really dark, like Batcave dark! I can't stand not having light and with no windows or light fixtures the solution looked pretty dim (sorry Jerm always says I think I am funnier than I really am). I have been looking around for two matching, decent looking tall lamps to place in there but I couldn't find anything forever. When the price was right the look was way off, or the ones that looked really great had a really nice big price.  I was annoyed and believed that we would forever feel that we were coming home from a long day of solving crime (with none of the benefits like lots o money or cool gadgets) due to the entry way.  The other day I finally found some lamps that had a decent look to them, I loved the simplicity, the lamp shades were a great shape, and $12.00 for the pair were at a perfect price.  The downfall....lamp shades were white!  I am not a fan of white, it's not a comfortable color for me or our house (we like fall pallets)  So I decided I would DIY those lamps into our perfect ones!

There are two of these, but I messed up the second one a little and need to go back and fix it.  Oh yeah, and that wood paneling is on the list of things I want OUT of this house!

Supplies:

• Lamp shades of your choice
• Base Paint color of choice (mine is Craft Smart's "Terra Cotta") bought it @ Michaels
• Stencil (optional) Mine is a Martha Stuart one I bought at Home Depot 
• Alternate color (if using stencil) same paint but in "Wine" this time
• Foam brush

Total Cost: The $12.00 I spent on the lamps, I had everything else from previous projects!

But...Paint per bottle a little over $1.00, stencil $3.99, Foam brushes $0.50 if you don't have them on hand! So the total cost of this project with out buying a lamp shade would cost about $7-$8 depending on the stencil!

Step 1:

I simply removed the lamp shade from the lamp post and set it on my work space, easy peasy right!

 

Step 2:

I then painted the lamp shade using the foam brush, my lamp shade had a little bit of a texture to it, so I painted against the grain.  I really liked how that brought more of the texture to it.  I didn't cover it evenly all the way around, you can see where it is lighter in spots.  You don't have to do this, I just liked the way it looked.

Step3:

This is optional!  Using a tape measure measure the lamp shade's width and length.  Find the center of the lamp shade and mark it.  This allows you a center to place your stencil. (you don't want it to be off center, or maybe you do! Your call!)

Step 4:

Tape the stencil down securely to where you want it.  I used the blue painters tape, because it comes off well, but hold things in place.

Step 5:

Add the accent color by dabbing it on the stencil, be CAREFUL not too much as you see down here!  Way too much, this is a picture of the one I now have to fix because I used to much paint and the lines blurred!

Finished Product!

And there it is my new lamp shade for the lamps to light up my Batcave like entry way!

I am thinking about painting the lamp poles black, just because it is a common accent color in our house, and I don't think the steel look works with all my wood furniture!

 

Some other ideas:

A touch of elegance

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Something fun (for the kiddos maybe?)

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