Laundry Room Bead Board

We finally put up the bead board. Only problem is, no chair rail, yet. My gift card from mother day to Lowe's covered just enough to buy the bead board and a package of paint rollers. So next paycheck we will finally get the chair rail and paint.

If you haven't used an air compressor nail gun, I would highly recommend such a fun tool. A little scary at first, but totally fun.

We really had no idea what we were doing and just sort of went for it, I'm sure I should have done all sorts of research on the best things to do, but I was impatient and I've waiting for this since we first moved in. None the less, I very much love it.

I spy bags

We have lots of little "stuff" from around our house. Whether its from art projects or birthday parties or what ever, we have "stuff". If it were up to me, everything would end up in the trash. So to appease my son (and myself), we came up with this idea. The perfect way to have things and make them useful.

What you'll need:
Plastic vinyl
thread
sewing machine
eyelets
doll pellets
about 20-30 little odds and ends

I got heavy duty plastic vinyl from my local fabric store, cut it to a 7x7 square.

Then I choose fun colorful thread, used a 1/4 inch seam allowance and sewed the complete square except for a 2 inch opening. At this point, I just pulled the thread out, but did not cut it. I wanted a continuous line.

I stuffed the odd and ends inside then filled the square up about 2/3rds full of doll pellets. If you want a list, be sure to write it all down so you can remember.

Stitch the square closed.

I then put a second decorative stick around the outside. This helped add further strength to the seams and a cool decorative twist. At this time you can use an eyelet and ribbon to attach the list.

I typed out the list using a business card template and size 10 font. I then laminated the list. I attached the list to the I spy bag.

Its been perfect for Church, car rides and quiet time.

A New Start for a New Year

Goodness, we're already half done with January. The Holidays hit and something had to give, unfortunately it was the blog. But that doesn't mean we have stopped working around here on Park St. No sir, we've been busy.

Like painting the Laundry room. You'll notice that its only half done, I'm waiting for the husband to show me how to use the new nail gun he got for Christmas so I can put up the bead board.

We've also added our new garden plot and peach tree to the back yard. (Why oh why did the previous owners put in 3 inches of rock? Took f.o.r.e.v.e.r. to remove.)

I've been busy recovering my craft room chair too. (I'll post my before and afters in a few.)

Let's not forget the great transformation of the front yard planter. I {heart} flowers.

Now that we're back in full swing, check back often to see what I've been up too. The next few weeks include a birthday card swap with 10 other great and talented ladies, the finishing of the laundry room, repainting the dining room and finally finishing the TV armour for the play room. Phew, I'm tired just thinking about it all. But off we go to a grand adventure into turning my home into a dream.

Ribbon Tree

With the holidays just around the corner, I'm dying to start decorating for Christmas. (I have a no decorating till Dec. 1st policy, I mean, lets enjoy Thanksgiving first!) But I can always craft to get started on Christmas. I found the Styrofoam tree form at my local Dollar Tree. The ribbon and flat pins are from Wal-mart and white pins are from Hobby Lobby.

Cut the ribbon into 2 inch strips. Mark off every 1/2 inch around the foam to ensure a uniform look. Layer the ribbon on top to cover. Fold ribbon in half, pin in place. I did burn the edges of the first layer to keep it from fraying. Then using my marks as a guide, I pinned ribbon in a straight line to make each layer. I used flat pins so you wouldn't see them. I used 2 rolls of ribbon, about 250 pins and it took about 2 hours since I was just making it up as I went. (I spent a lot of time burning the edges of the ribbon that I didn't need to do.)

I put mine flat on the shelf, but I as soon as my decorations come out, I'll probably put in on a candle stick or something. Let me know if you make on too, I want to see what you've done.

Come what may and Love it.

These two crazy chicks are great and take care of all my vinyl needs. A few months back I over heard the first chick saying she wanted a "Come what may and love it" quote put up on her wall coming down the stairs. Perfect, I want one too. The first one they cut was too small for the space I was going to put it, so she cut me another one. They are great, I can say enough about these two.

Now my only problem I face was how in the world do I put it up. My ladder isn't one of those fancy kind that can contort in a variety of shapes and sizes. So I had to think outside the box. A Box! That's it! I knew having a my food storage would come in handy.

So very carefully I climbed on up, adhered the vinyl and admired my happy saying.

Isn't it the perfect pep talk anyone can get before they head out and face the world?

I hope you don't mind the photography, my 3 year old was the only one home to take these pics.

Weekend Warrior

I absolutely love that this house has storage under the stairs. There were so many possibilities that I could think to use it for. But in the end, food storage won out. This is the before. I was in a pinch and needed a few items, then my youngest found that he could hide back there and play. It became a mess.

I finally convinved my husband that we needed a place to store the 6 cases of applesauce I just brought. he broke down and bought the shelves. I spent the day cleaning, organizing and drooling over the prettiness of it all

Message/Calendar Board

When we moved in, I hung up my calendar with a tack next to the computer. It was ugly but it served its purpose. I wanted a fun way to put up school reminders that kept piling up on the fridge.

I found this calendar holder at my local D.I. (Deseret Industries). The shape was perfect. I love the simplicity and lines. I knew I wanted to paint it and add a cork board.

I primed everything, gave it a few coats of red paint and super glued on the scrabble letters. (I've had the letters now for over a year, as I was going to use them to make Scrabble tile pendent necklaces for camp.)

The cork board I got at Target in a four pack. I had to cut it down to size in order to fit the space it was going to occupy. I sprayed the paint and letters with a sealer before I hung it up. I popped in the calendar and cork and hung it on the wall. It made it so much nicer to look at the calendar.