Super stoked about the weekend......

I've been working really hard over the last few days to get all the cleaning, laundry, ironing, grocery shopping, etc. completed so that this weekend can be all about having fun.

My in-laws are coming for the weekend and we're pretty stoked around here.
Gramma and Papa are awesome!

So, in order to fully relax and enjoy the weekend I:

Painted my toenails a Barbie pink....... yes, I'm the kind of woman who doesn't feel completely ready to go if my toenails aren't painted. lol

Finally found a new toy bucket for the boy's living room toys. You know all the random ones.
Their old bucket was falling apart. *We found it at Target but I can't seem to find it on their website.

Completed the task of grocery shopping and putting everything away.

Trying this Blueberry Breakfast Cake in the morning.


Photo via: alexandra's kitchen

We're supposed to have great weather over the weekend.
I foresee lots of activities and playing at the park.

It's going to be great!

What are your plans for the weekend?

Five Hooks.

The coat rack in my hallway is always a topic of conversation when we have company.
Where did you find that?
You made it?
How?
Whaaaat????

I'm not writing this post to say that I'm somehow amazing or special because I made a coat rack.
I just wanted to share how I put it together and what paint technique I used.
There are always things that I see in stores or online that I'd love to have but can't afford, so I find a way to make them myself. This coat rack is no exception.

A while back I saw a coat rack that someone made using an old baseball score board. The idea of the numbers with the hooks came from that inspiration.
Also, whenever we have friends over to play there are multiple diaper bags/purses but we never had a great place to put them. If they were on the floor the kids (mostly mine) would investigate them by pulling out most of the contents. If there were on top of something like the counter or table they just ended up being in the way.
Now that we have these hooks in place it makes having company more relaxing.
Is it weird that I feel that way? Maybe? lol

Okay, so here's the low down of how I put this awesome coat rack together.

I started with two 1"x6" boards (they really measure about 3/4" x 5 1/2"), 5 feet long.

After sanding them down, I painted them separately using a paint/water mixture. To achieve this I place some of my paint color into a disposable cup and added a little water. Mix together.
Because this was such a small project and I wanted it to look professional, I used real latex paint. Most home improvement stores sell sample paints for just a couple dollars. I was able to find the colors I wanted without having large cans of unused paint laying around.
I chose Martha Stewart Living Francesca to paint to numbers and Glidden Interior-Eggshell Parchment White as my base color.
These small cans ended up being the perfect amount with plenty leftover.

I wanted the paint to just lightly cover the boards. More like a white wash type look.
So, I brushed the paint on and wiped it off after a couple seconds with a dry rag or paper towel. I continued with this technique until I had the look I wanted.

After the base coat was completely dry I used a combination of "L" brackets and straight brackets (there is probably a technical name for them but I'm not sure what it might be) to connect the two boards together on the backside.

Next I printed out numbers 1 thru 5 using a typography I liked from my word processor and enlarging them to the size I wanted. After cutting them out I used them as my stencil to lightly trace around them with a pencil on the front side of the boards.

 See the faint lines of the number 5?

The numbers I painted in free-hand using a small paint brush, like one used for watercolors.

After everything dried completely I used some fine grade sandpaper to lightly sand over the entire piece. I wanted it to have a slight weathered, distressed look.



 The 5 hooks were purchased from Target, I found them cheaper there than at the home improvement store. I added one under each number.

It's attached to the wall with anchors and screws.
I couldn't be more happy with the end results of the this project.
It's one of my favorite pieces and makes me so happy.


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I'm working on some new posts. Is there anything you'd like to know?
Leave a comment and I'll answer with a blog post.

Gloomy Day / Busy Book for toddlers

We've had quite a bit of rain here last night and all today.
It's been one of those "stay inside and find things to do" kind of day.
Brett has wanted to go out all morning. He brought out his shoes and socks, worked on trying to put them on himself. Then when that didn't work he brought me my shoes trying to get his point across.
"I want to go out, Mom."
Sorry, buddy.
We pulled out their large stash of Duplo blocks instead.

Despite the gloomy weather, I've been somewhat productive.
I wiped out the fridge, made some more ice (I still make it the old fashioned way with trays bc I only use bottled water. Picky, I know.), made phone calls, took out the trash, but the most productive thing I've done all day was back up a couple more months worth of photos. I really dislike doing this particular job but I won't delete them from my camera until I have them backed up and my memory card has been full for too long. lol

This was my lunch. Apple slices with peanut butter, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, and a few mini chocolate chips. Yum!

A view from our porch.

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I had a busy book or quiet book when I was growing up that had a tent that zipped, a jacket that buttoned, counting apple orchard, and a shoe with laces for tying. It's sorta odd to me that I loved it so much, or at least that's the way I remember it. Maybe it was just the fact that I could do all those activities by myself, I don't know.

So, I'd been thinking about recreating one for the boys and finally did.

It's no where near perfect but it works and they like it.

A tent to zip and a jacket to button.

Count the apples and color matching balloons.

Sensory page (Sheep are one of their favorite animals) and shoe laces to tie. I couldn't figure out how I to make it a shoe, so I just did a couple panels of fabric with button holes then laced them with extra shoe laces I had.

There are so many things you could do. I've seen other books with a pretend clock for learning about time or ribbons to learn how to braid. I love how they provide hours of fun and encourage independence.

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 I have plans for a giveaway. Coming soon! I'm so excited!



Trains & Curtains

Lately the boys have been all about this train track set they received for their birthday over a year ago.
They ask for help in putting it together but inevitable put it apart with all their moving around.
I've heard great things about these Suretrack clips and will most likely be ordering some.

They have plenty of trains but we haven't been able to find them. (most likely they're under the beds, lol) so they've been using their cars instead. Pretty much the same thing. I'm a girl, what do I know.

When you're hands are full you can always use your mouth. Tasty cars. Oh, my!



On another note, it's been almost 5 years since David and I were married. We've lived in three different homes together. Our first home together we only had curtains in the Master bedroom, we lived there 2 years. In our second home I only managed to get a valance up in the boy's room, we lived there 2 years. Our current home we've lived in just over 6 months and I'm proud to say the boy's room has curtains. Yay!

The light this morning was making it hard to photography.

Later that night. I'm loving the farm sitting on the window sill.

Working on getting some curtains up in our living room. We'll see how long that takes. lol



Welcome baby!

As promised, photos from the baby shower I helped host.

In January, a couple friends and I hosted a baby shower for a dear friend. She's a reading specialist and when planning the decor of the party I wanted to include that in the theme.
I did so by including mini chalkboard labels for all the food, reading flashcards, and the tags for the shower favors.
I love how everything came together. It was lovely!

The invitations I shared in an earlier post. Info was printed on pink paper and attached to the other side.

Those hearts make me smile.

I loved making these cupcakes, they were perfectly sweet. Devil's food cake with chocolate and vanilla buttercream frosting.

For the flashcards, I typed what I wanted in my word processor, printed, and cut them out.

Romaine lettuce, sliced strawberries, Mandarin oranges, chopped walnuts, and poppy seed dressing. (I use Brianna's Poppy Seed Dressing.)

My wonderful friend who opened her home for this special occasion put together all the drinks and flowers. This flower display in the old Mason jars was my favorite.

Shower favors: Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Everything about this shower was sweet. My friend felt spoiled and that's what matters the most.

Classic.

It's been over a week now that I helped a friend with her 2 year old's birthday party but I wanted to share the photos with you.
She decided on a classic red car theme.

I love how the invitations turned out. Each one was hand cut from paper by yours truly.

I absolutely loved putting this table together.

Party favor bags



So honored that my friend asked me to help. I had a blast!

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On another note, I made this for lunch recently.

I saw them on pinterest. They were yummy!

Zucchini, slice tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Lightly oil a baking dish. Clean and slice zucchini down the center. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven add sliced tomatoes and cheese. Bake an additional 5-10 minutes until the cheese melts. Salt and pepper, if desired.

Seriously, a must try. So good!

I'll be back soon with photos from the baby shower I helped to host. It was so pink and girly....love!



Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Celebrating one crazy talented writer today!
 I've loved Dr. Seuss books for as long as I can remember.



“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!