Kitchen Reno - Cabinet Craziness

Well, we've had some fun around here in the last few days.  
Friday morning the cabinets were delivered.  I should have taken a picture because it was a really impressive stack of boxes in the garage.  See that word "was" in that last sentence.  Yeah, the stack of boxes is gone.  I know what you're thinking, "boy that was fast!"  and it totally was because Saturday morning Jason's brother, Kevin came!  
Cabinet weekend was 2 long days of cabinet hanging excitement here.  Kevin, who is a carpenter and has done this stuff before many times, was able to lend his expertise.  We'd have been up a creek without his help.  
At the end of the first day they had all the wall cabs and half the lower cabinets hung on one wall, including the crown molding.  One thing to note (that I didn't know before) is that if you're doing crown on your cabinets, you probably need to add a nailer to the top of the cabinet boxes so you have something to attach the crown molding to.  Once the moldings are in place, you won't see the nailer at all.

Here's a progress pic from early on Day 1:

And at the end of the second day they were done!  The days were long (Sunday night ended at 10:30 PM - sorry neighbors!) but in just 2 days, the two of them completed work that would have taken WEEKS with just Jason and I to work on stuff on Saturdays and Sundays.
Before I show you how it's looking now, let's take a look at what it looked like when we bought the house...

And here it is now...

Note that none of the doors are on right now - we decided to leave them off until after the counter tops are done.  I don't want to risk a ding/scratch in a door during that whole process.


I'll have more pics once things are more done (counters & doors & drawers and whatnot).

Side note - if you do find yourself with a lot of boxes like we did - you may want to also get a big roll of tape and let/help your kids to build a cardboard castle.

As they grow - progress photos :)

It was a few years back that I took the kids for a walk and the light was just so pretty and the buds on the forsythia were just blooming so I snapped a few photos.  Turns out it was one of my favorite photos that I took that spring.  And last year I decided it would be fun to recreate it (sorta) and this year we took another.

It's not an exact recreation, but it's more like just a photo in the same place at the same time of year.  A great way to see the kids grow year over year.  
It's also made me realize that that pink dress may be ready for retirement - this is the 3rd year she's had it!

Toddler Fun - Rice Play

So the other day was miserable and rainy.  And I was "over" Play Doh.  And Chris was sick of coloring.  And we were all tired of tv, trains, books, dinosaurs, and everything. SO I decided to let him do something messy, but not REALLY messy.

I got a tray (I think I paid all of $1 for it at Ikea, but I already had it).  I dumped a bunch of rice onto it.  That's it.  The tray mostly contained the mess and anything that ended up on the floor was easily vacuumed up.

Chris spent about an hour scooping, pouring, piling, drawing.  He employed dinosaurs and trucks, not to mention kitchen tools.  

I think next time I'm at the store, I'll pick up a bag of dry beans to create some additional textures for him to play with.
A few tips - it will get on the floor. Just vaccum.  And it's probably a good idea to use rice you don't need to eat for dinner that night.  I think toddler hands are pretty gross and I certainly had no intention of eating that stuff.

Trials of Toddlerhood

I figured now was as good a time as any to pop onto the blog to address where I have been and why there have been so few posts.  Well, I hate to blame my children for my problems, but what's a girl to do?  My son, Chris, is 2.  He's a tough 2 and as his mom, I've been quite challenged lately.
It's not a simple thing.  Due to potty training issues (and some serious clean-ups that come along with it) we have basically given up on a daily nap.  So there goes my 2 hour window for productivity each day.  He's a curious kid and requires pretty close supervision or else we're left with messes to clean up.  I think he might be a wizard with the way he's able to come up with a marker or crayon out of thin air to "tag" walls.  
I don't want to get into it too much because the last thing a person needs is a permanent internet record of all their toddler shenanigans.  But suffice it to say, mommying a little guy takes up a lot more of my "free time" lately and so I just haven't had the time I really want to spend on the household stuff.
I'm hoping it won't last though.  I miss crafting, DIYing, and working to make our home better.

2012 Wrap-Up - 10 Most Popular Posts!

I like having Christmas behind me.  Not that I don't love the day, but sometimes it seems like such a production that I hardly get to relax and enjoy it.  Maybe that means I've become an adult and maybe it means that I'm a procrastinator and I was finishing up someone's Christmas stocking on the afternoon of the 24th.  Either way I do enjoy that last week of the year when we have no plans or obligations.  No school or work.  It's a good time to think about what we've done over the whole year. Here's a rundown of the most visited posts of the last 12 months!

1.  Lotion Bottle Cellphone Holder!

This one was a first for me - first Pinterest project, first ModPodge project...

2.  Improved Kitchen Storage!

A quick & dirty fix for a most annoying problem - storage of cookie sheets and trays!

3.  Finally!  A Lamp Refurb!!!

This was a most delayed project - and I was so glad to have it done.  

4.  Check out my Can!!

This was a super easy project that I'm sure I'll be repeating.  Seriously, there's something very satisfying about watching glue dry.

5.  It's Curtains for You (or me actually)!!

A post where I confess to having no pretty window treatments in my bedroom after living here for 5 years.

6.  Getting my Mod Podge on!

I still sorta miss this shirt...

7.  Things are looking UP!

I think this should probably be considered phase 1 of the big-girl-bedroom redo... 

8.  Snowflake Ornament

This was seriously fun.  I may do another ornament next year.  Or I may just post the second one I did already ;)

9.  Halloween Felt Board

The kids really enjoyed it, but it didn't last... Mr. Destruction had it ripped off the wall within 2 days.  Next time I will figure out a more secure way to attach it.

10.  Make It BLUE!

A recent post about repainting the dining room.

So that's it!  The top 10 most popular posts of 2012.  I'm already excited about 2013 :)

A Big Girl's Bedroom - Update 11/8

 

 

Wow, looking back, I can't believe it's been over a month since we last had an update on this space!  We have made a ton of progress, but truth be told, there's still a lot to do in here. 

 

I'll give a quick rundown of what we've done so far and what's left...

 

What's Done:

1. Clear the room
2. Wall repairs
3. Rebuilding the closet
4. Baseboards!
5. Prime & paint
6. New rug
7. Closet build-out
8. Moving in

 

What's Left?

1. Curtains!
2. Art work
3. Play Area
4. Bed - repairs & repaint
5. Dresser refurb 
6. Bookshelf paint job
7. Hang a mirror
8. Finish closet - needs a shelf across the whole thing

Let's take a quick peek at a few pics -

 

 The closet will get a curtain and a shelf.  I'd love to get some new bins/baskets for the closet eventually.  And a basket or something for the bottom of the closet for shoes.

 

 

 

We need to get her bed back in the room and put up curtains.  And I'd LOVE to figure out something to do with all the stuffed animals.  I think we really just need to thin the herd a bit.

 

 

These dressers need some love as does the bookshelf.  And I think we'll do a gallery wall here or maybe find a large-scale wall decal.

There's still a ton to do, and it's seriously cluttered.  I know that I want this room to be "magazine gorgeous" in the end, but I need to remember that it's a room for a Kindergartener and it will definitely reflect her tastes and sense of style (her style being general chaos).

Well, that's pretty much it!  I'm looking forward to sharing the rest of the changes to this room as soon as they happen!

 

Halloween Wrap Up & Holiday Outlook

I did have a clever post title up there, but it felt a bit familiar.  I did a quick check and yeah, I used it last year - check out my post on last year's Downhill to the Holidays. 

 

It's that time again.  Time to pack up the pumpkins, trick-or-treat baskets, skeletons and ghosts.   And time to start thinking about Christmas. 

 

As I said last year, Thanksgiving may be getting the shaft, but the way I think of it, Thanksgiving is part of the Christmas season.  Christmas creep is a real thing - stores truly are trying to extend the holiday buying season earlier and earlier, and while I'm not a fan of seeing snowmen and canes in Target in September, it really doesn't bother me one bit in November.  And face it, as busy as we all are anymore, it's probably a good thing to start thinking about shopping a little sooner.  I've already got a few really great ideas!

 

Before we can dive headfirst into Christmas, I'd like to take a peek back at Halloween.

 

We had our little Halloween felt board project - this was a fun and easy project which would have been a lot more successful in the house if Chris hadn't ripped it off the wall.

 

 

 After that was the trip to the pumpkin patch - just your typical family fun sort of thing.  I highly recommend working this into your annual traditions.

 

 

 And you can't do Halloween without some pumpkin decorating - whether it's traditional carving, painting, or something else.  We did a little pumpkin painting this year.

And of course, we can't do a post wrapping up Halloween without sharing a picture of my two favorite Trick-or-Treaters!

 

 

Well, that's it for Halloween! 

 

Decorating Pumpkins

Well you can't do Halloween without posting about pumpkins.  Last week we took the annual trip to the farm to pick out some orange hued beauties (you see pics here).   We have 2 biggish ones for carving but a few smaller ones for decorating in other ways.  Sarah's a big fan of painting, so she got her paint on this afternoon.  We used some acrylic paints we already had from previous pumpkin paint-a-thons.

 

She went for pink & purple.  I'm not surprised.

  I started out with a full black paint job on the pumpkin with acrylic paint.  I wanted it to be totally dry so I left it on the back porch overnight.   I debated whether I wanted to do a Mod Podge design, but in the end I went with a simple silver design drawn with a silver Sharpie marker (LOVE THOSE!)

I really like painting pumpkins.  It's really a nice little project for kids to join in on.  No worries about knives or candles like carving, plus you can incorporate COLOR!   ____________________________________  

In an unusual turn of events, we spent the weekend prepping for a major storm, and while thankfully we were spared the worst of what Sandy delivered here in the northeast, I ended up postponing a few projects I had hoped to make progress on.  I guess there's always next weekend!

Pumpkin Patch 2012

What do you do in mid October on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon?  YOU GO TO THE FARM!   Last weekend we took our annual trip over to a local farm & orchard to do farmy things.  

We took our first-ever hayride.  

The kids played at a HUGE playground.  

We saw animals (mostly chickens).  We had a picnic and funnel cake. And, of course, we picked out pumpkins to carve for Halloween!

Beautiful day and tons of fun!

Big 6th Birthday Round-Up

I figured that with all my bellyaching about not having enough time to post or get projects done it might be a good chance to share a bit of what's been going on here.  It's Birthday season - my big girl and her dad have back to back birthdays!

You might think that after 6 years of this, that I'd have it down, but producing two birthdays at once seems to  get the better of me every time.  This year we were also trying to reach a few milestones on Sarah's bedroom redo (that will be addressed in another post soon).  And on top of that, I was selling a bunch of outgrown clothes and toys at a local consignment sale, so there was all that prep-work to do.  And because of all these pitiful excuses, Jason got a bit short-changed on his b-day gifts.

So since Sarah is 6, birthdays are a pretty big deal.

We started with having a few neighborhood buddies over for a little cookie decorating on the actual day (a Thursday).  We didn't really do presents that day or anything because we were planning a family get-together on Sunday.  The kids had fun and made a mess.

Sunday came and we had my parents and brother over for some lunch.  Meatball sandwiches!  Plus cheese curls, cole slaw, chips, etc.  It was a good day for a warm lunch outside on the screen porch.  Then we did presents.

She truly loved everything - including her new bike!  Her old one was just a tiny 12" thing and this one is a whopping 18" size.  When we were putting it together, it seemed so big, but she hopped right on and was on her way.  Training wheels will come off soon, I think.

We finished off with cake.  Rainbow :)  Special request.

Mental Note - I need to take more photos.  Every day :)

Quick & Easy Craft: Halloween Felt Board

Alright people, things here this week are kinda crazy - we have a ton to do and who would I be if I didn't do everything in my crazy head to procrastinate, so instead of fiendishly cleaning my kitchen while the kids watched a movie, I decided to bust out a Halloween crafty project.  YAY!

This one is supah easy and cheap if you have any of the following:

• Spray adhesive
• Exacto Knife
• Foam core board
• Felt

If you don't have those things, then it's time to haul buns to Joann, Michaels, ACMoore, or other crafty supply house and get some.  That's what we did straight away after Kindergarten pickup today.

I picked out a black foam board and two big pieces of black felt.  Now if you want to wait in line to get felt by-the-yard, it might look a smidge better (my board has a seam down the middle), but I was lazy and had 2 hungry kids so no waiting.

I also snagged a selection of smaller (8x11") felt pieces - they're like $0.35 each.   Two orange, green, black, blue, pink, yellow, etc.  Whatever makes you happy, but I think green, orange and black are critical.  I also grabbed an exacto knife (different brand, but the same thing) and spray adhesive.

Once you've got your supplies, you're ready to rock and roll!

At home I sprayed the foam board with the adhesive and following directions on the can, I let it set for a few minutes before laying on the big black felt.  The adhesive remains tacky for about 10 minutes to allow for repositioning if necessary.  I let it completely dry for about an hour.  This is not an exciting step to photograph, but here it is anyway:

Once we were ready, cut shapes out of the felt with scissors.  I free-handed the pumpkins, but if using a template would be more comfortable, then print one out (use Google to find a pumpkin image) and go for it! We also cut out stems, arms & legs, silly hats, and face pieces.  Really you can cut out whatever shape you think your pumpkin might like to wear - pants?  Hula skirt?  Stiletto heels?  And go for a variety of face pieces - smiles, frowns, scary, silly - the idea is that this is a toy and a decoration for your play space.

I used 3M Command picture hanging strips - which are AWESOME - to attach it to the wall.

Chris & Sarah LOVE this silly thing!  Chris needs to learn more about sharing and turn, taking, but he can easily play with this on his own.  YAY!

So there you go!  Craftacular!!

Linking up to the following fantastic linky parties:

Wow Me Wednesday @ Ginger Snap Crafts
Live Laugh Linky @ Live Laugh Rowe
Crafty Soiree @ Yesterday on Tuesday
Keep Calm & Link Up @ Becoming Martha
Happy Hour @ Design, Dining & Diapers
Pomp Party @ Create. Craft. Love
Twirl & Take a Bow @ House On The Way
One Creative Weekend @ One Creative Mommy
Make It Monday @ Brassy Apple