It's Halloween Again

So here is what we came up with for a little Halloween decoration this year.  

The pumpkins were from Michaels and I just used black and white vinyl for the polkadots and the "Halloween" decal (from Silhouette).  

We are loving all the Halloween season!  Anni is planning on being a witch and Preston a Zebra.  I can't wait!

Loft Bed Inspiration

I was inspired a few months ago by my talented cousin Danielle Oakey's loft bed for her daughter Emory.  Since then I was on the lookout for a cheap loft bed.  I ended up acquiring this loft bed for free in Edmonton before we moved and was excited to get painting and get it up for Anni to have her own little space. When we got it, it was a pine colour, like Emory's.
After lots of painting (3 white coats and a clear coat on top) it started to come together.  I found the curtains at Superstore (2 shower curtains on clearance that I cut and sewed to make work) and then used tension rods (from Walmart) to hang them.  I found the rocking chair at a garage sale here in Medicine Hat.  The bookshelf was one we had.  The mirror was an old one we had and just got a paint job and I added the "A" that I already had.  The bunting I picked up in England at Primark for $1, as well as the pillow covers, which were tea towels from Primark for $1.
The rug was a good find from Ross Dress For Less in Kalispell for $20, and if there was anything else, well, I must have just had it already......

All in all it turned out pretty fun for Anni.  She loves sleeping in her "tower" and loves going through her dress-up clothes and shoes.  She calls it her store, and Preston is her best shopper (or destructor).

Here is a pic of the clothes rack I devised.  Our old house in Edmonton had very limited closet space so we had our seasonal coats hanging on the clothes rack in the basement.  When we moved here we actually had closets, so I wondered what to do with the old clothes rack?  I removed the middle pole and used some pink spray paint......and here we have a dress-up station!  It is a hit around here!

A Sad Story......

So our local church congregation was having an unbirthday party. There was to be a little cake/cookie/treat table and I had signed up to bring a cake. Honestly, I am not much of a cake person (as in liking to eat or good at making), but I thought it was an area that I should try to improve in. After spending Friday night whipping this baby up, I was feeling like it was all worth it. It smelled and looked pretty darn good. Saturday the kids and I piled in the van to head to the party. I ever so gently placed the cake (contained in my cake stand) on the floor of the front passenger seat. Well, we made it a few blocks and after trying to make the turning light the cake became no more. It toppled over and now resembled more of a pile of mud. Let's just say I was a little sad. I think Anni was pretty worried about me and kept asking me if I was ok. haha. Well, I can laugh about it now, but at least I took a picture before leaving the house, right!

I found the recipe here. Enjoy!

Easter Time!

I have taken a break from crafts, but I knew that could only last so long. This past week Anni and I got out our paint brushes and made a few little easter decorations with things from around the house! It was fun and they turned out nice and "eastery."

We went hunting around the yard for branches to fill our pitcher. We then painted a wood block we had and used a silhouette vinyl rabbit shape as a stencil. The block was nice and easy and we like our little bunny.
I found a little glass dish at Value Village for $1 and filled it with nothing less than Cadbury Mini Eggs, yum! The platter was one I had made for a baby shower, so I just gave it a new coat of bright blue paint (Folkart Patina) and there you have it!




I found a little leftover piece of MDF board and used it to make a spring welcome sign. Again I used a Silhouette vinyl image as a stencil.



My crafty side is satisfied for now......

Diced Veggie Salad

My mom introduced me to this little salad, and we have been loving it! Enjoy!

Diced Veggie Salad

1 large cucumber diced
1 large tomato diced
1 bell pepper diced (I like orange, red or yellow)
1 green onion sliced
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley (I used dry as I didn't have fresh. Just add less)
2 T. olive oil
1 T. fresh lemon juice (let's be honest, I have made this with the bottled stuff. Definitely better with fresh, but it works with the bottled stuff if you are in a pinch.)
1 garlic clove pressed
1/2 tsp dried oregano
12 black olives (I leave these out)
1 cup feta cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Combine cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, green onion, parsley, oil, lemon, garlic, oregano and olives in large bowl. Add the salt and pepper and feta. Toss well.

Serve alone or with romaine (very good).
Try to make about 1/2 hour before serving so the flavours can blend together. Allow to sit at room temp.

More Valentine's!

Here are a few of the other little Valentine's Day projects I have been working on.

The XO button picture was quick and easy! Probably about 10 minutes start to finish! The frame is Ikea ($6.99) and the buttons and paper were just supplies I had on hand. I used Zots (glue dots) to stick the buttons on.



The banner I made with my Silhouette Cameo. I actually laminated each piece (cheesy, but practical!). I am hoping it will hold up with all the little fingers that love to touch it!



Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Subway Art

I wanted to increase my Valentine's decor supply this year so I went looking in my supplies and found a 12 x 12 piece of MDF that I had used for a previous project. I painted the board with some white craft paint (took a few coats). I had ordered some pink and purple Silhouette vinyl off Scrapbook Steals a while back and wanted to use it in a project, so putting it all together, this is what I came up with for Valentine's Day this year:



I used my Silhouette Cameo to design and cut the vinyl.






It ended up being a fair amount of finicky work, but in the end I was happy with the finished product! Yeah for Valentine's Day!

Valentines Wreath

This year for Valentines I thought it was time I made a wreath.  It must be a wreath year or something for me! I found this branchy looking wreath at the thrift store for $1.00 and then a pack of playing cards for 50 cents as well as the little berries too! Cut the cards into hearts and stick them on.  You could hot glue them or just intertwine them good. I think it has turned out quite cute and it was super easy and cheap to do! Happy Valentines Day!

Tess

Family Motto

When Darin and I were first married we wanted to come up with a family "motto." After much thought and many different ideas, we decided on the phrase "What happens to one, happens to all" to be the chosen motto. I love this motto for the way it will help us to be there for each other as a family through it all....the good and the bad.
Since deciding on the motto I have wanted to incorporate it visually somewhere in our home, and this week I finally found a spot and got around to it! I am excited to have this reminder up for us to see (until we move in June....).



(I created the vinyl lettering using the Silhouette Cameo. That thing is way too fun!)

Do you have a family motto?

"Rapunzel,Rapunzel, Let Down Your Long Hair!"

Like many little girls, my daughter has a major love for the character "Rapunzel". Since seeing the Disney movie "Tangled," she has been using my husband's ties, our blankets, scarves, and pretty much anything she could find to create her own long hair.
This summer while at the Disney store, I saw a Rapunzel braid that was easy for Anni to put on herself and that wasn't as heavy as many wigs out there. I thought it was a great design and gave the effect of having that sought after long hair. The only problem was the price tag of $25. I knew that there must be a way to recreate it!

Here is the Disney store version: (picture taken with an iphone)


Here is my version.

The yarn was bought at Wal-Mart. I loved this as it is so soft and doesn't tangle as easily as your traditional yarn.


I put an elastic at one end and used a dresser (because my husband is studying for exams and is not home......) to hold it while I braided.




I used little pieces of the yarn to tie the loop together and tucked the pieces of yarn in.


I made some flower clips that Anni can take on and off and change as she pleases.


I can't wait to see all the fun Anni has with her new "hair" on Christmas morning!

Family History This Christmas

Christmastime is such a great time to spend time with our families, and often we get to see family that live far away. I came across this article that I thought had some great ideas for ways to link our families (past and present) together a little better!

I know I am going to try to do a few of these this Christmas!

Go Here to check out the article!

The trivia game would be a blast, and I think I might have to do something like that "family tree" next year!

Genealogy Fan Chart

The past few months I have come down with a severe case of Genealogyitis-----I love it! Here is an exciting link to check out! You can create a fan chart of your family tree by simply logging on to New Family Search.

What a great idea!

Genealogy Fan Chart

Christmas Fun 2011

Since the Holiday season is underway, I thought I would share are a few of the activities and good finds I have come across. These are simple and affordable, so enjoy!

Storytime Advent:
Anni LOVES books, and so for our "advent" this year I wanted to incorporate the reading of Christmas books. I have been collecting Christmas books all year from the thrift store. I am going to wrap each one individually and have them in a box under the tree to open one each night. This will also help with her urge to open presents early.


Snowman Fun! At the Real Canadian Superstore right now they have "Snowmen Kits" for $9. The kit includes a nice big felt hat, scarf and all the accessories for a decked out snowman! This is going to be fun, and I am pretty sure $9 is cheaper than I could have made it for.




Gingerbread "Boys" or "Girls"--the cheater's version. My husband grew up with the tradition of making gingerbread boys each year. As I have kept up the tradition the last few years I have found the only downside is making the actual dough! Talk about putting your mixer to the test! This stuff is thick. When I saw that Pilsbury had come out with a tube of gingerbread dough for a couple dollars, I decided that was well worth it! I also found this at Superstore.


Costco.ca! I have loved online shopping for gifts this year. Costco.ca is one of my favourite and most trusted sites. They have a real range of items for every budget. For example, my dad is so hard to shop for so I was excited to find him this WWII puzzle! He is a history buff and loves puzzles! Yeah for Costco.ca!

5.Nativity Window Stick-Ons -- I didn't know what to call these things, but you know what I'm talking about. Anni has been having fun playing with these on the window. They came on a sheet at Wal-Mart for $0.99.

Birthday Fun!

Birthdays are such a great time to focus on those special people we love! This year for Anni's birthday she requested a "My Little Pony" party. I wanted to keep it simple as I am realizing that a lot of times doing all the extra "fluff" just isn't worth the energy at this point in my life with two little kids to take care of. I did want to keep the party focused on Anni and the things we love about her.
When you have all adults come for the party it's easy to talk about things that aren't fun for the kids, so I made up a little "Anni Trivia" game, which also doubled as the centerpiece. This kept us talking about Anni and kept her engaged and at the center of the party.
I had made up questions and discussed them with Anni earlier in the day to make sure she knew what she wanted her answers to be. It turned out well and Anni loved having people talk about things she is interested in!
A few examples of questions are:
-What is Anni's favourite book?
-What does Anni love for a bedtime snack?
-Where was Anni born?


The party cups.....Anni helped me pick out stickers to apply to clear plastic cups.


For food we went with a homemade McDonalds night. Anni loves hamburgers from McD's so I made our favourite slowcooker hamburgers (which make things nice and easy!)
Here's the recipe:

1 lb. Hamburger shaped into patties (or use premade patties)
1 cup ketchup
1 tbsp brown sugar
6 tbsp onion (diced)
3/4 c. water
3 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp mustard
1 tsp worchestershire sauce
1/2 cup bbq sauce
1/2 cup salsa (the secret ingredient for a really nice flavour!) You can even use less ketchup or bbq sauce when adding the salsa if you would like.

Brown the hamburger patties on frying pan. Place in slow cooker. Mix up the ingredients for the sauce and pour over the hamburgers. Cook on low for 6ish hours.
Serve on buns with all the fixins!

We served the burgers with homemade fries with the seasoning found here, as well as a veggie platter. Simple but yummy!


Here is a couple of the gifts Anni received. Tess whipped up both of these and I thought they were so cute!

A personalized pie with beans inside:


The apron:

Halloween Wreath

If you are looking for a cheap and easy Halloween wreath to throw together in a matter of minutes, here ya' go......I used a wreath I already had, garbage bags cut into 1.5 inch wide strips and tied into bows. The spooky wood word is from the dollar store and was 3 bucks!
Enjoy!




- Tess

Something Spooky!

Here is a little craft my daughter Anni and I have been working on. She is pretty into Halloween as her birthday is only a few days off from it. She has been having fun making our house "spooky" the last few days.

For this project I used some framed pictures/paintings from........you guessed it, Value Village. Anni helped me paint over the old picture with craft paint. We gave it a few coats and then once dry we cut out some scrapbook paper we had and using Mod Podge we attached it to the frame. We covered the entire frame in the Mod Podge to protect it and seal it.




We then headed over to my crafty sister-in-law's house and used her Cricut to cut out some silhouettes that I found online. I used vinyl as I thought it would hold up well. ps---I learned that "dingbats" are what you call these images online that you can use on cutters like Cricuts or Silhouettes.


I picked up some black ribbon from Michaels and doubled up with a thick grosgrain and a sparkly ribbon, tied them in bows and attached to the back of the frames with a glue gun.




And there you have it! They were fun and Anni thinks they are sure "spooky"!

September Stew

Are you like me and have a freezer with lots of stew meat that is calling to be used? Well, I found this recipe on Pintrest and really enjoyed it! I made a few adjustments to work with what I had time for (the crockpot, not the oven). It comes from the great little blog Life As A Lofthouse.

Oven Baked Stew (which I turned into a crockpot recipe)
6 servings


1 (1 oz) package of Dry Onion Soup mix
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1 pound lean Beef Stew Meat (cut up into bite sized pieces)
2-3 medium Potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch pieces
3 large Carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 an Onion, chopped
1 can Cream of Celery Soup
1/2 cup Ketchup

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large plastic bag, combine the dry onion soup mix, salt and paprika. Add in meat and shake the bag to coat meat with the seasonings. Place into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish.

Top meat evenly with diced potatoes, carrots and onion.

Mix the cream of celery soup and ketchup in a small bowl. Pour all over the meat and vegetables. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 2 hours.

(My directions differ here. I was using frozen stew meat so I defrosted it, then browned it in the frying pan and while doing so I sprinkled the paprika, onion soup mix and salt on it. After the meat was browned, I put it in the crock pot on low with the carrots, chopped onion, cream of celery, ketchup and potatoes. I cooked it on low for about 7 hours. It was yummy!)

Hutch Redo

I picked up a wood hutch off Kijiji a few months ago (actually my husband carried it down an apartment building staircase by himself.....what a good man). It was a steal for $40. I loved the shutters and was excited to try out my new paint gun and air compressor.
With the help of my knowledgeable sister-in-law, we sanded, painted and transformed this piece. I decided to leave the top wood and just restained it to a darker stain.
Unfortunately the top half of the hutch doesn't fit in the spot I have for it in my house, but I am really happy with how it turned out!

BEFORE:


AFTER:




I lucked out and was able to sell the hutch I had for enough to cover the price of the new one, as well as all the paint and supplies for refinishing.
I think I may be addicted to painting and refinishing furniture! I have already purchased a wood desk to redo, but that may have to wait until the spring.

The Kids Room

I have been busy trying to redo the little room for our kids to share. Our little Preston and Anni have become roomies and it has actually gone really well!
It was fun to try to arrange things to all fit in this little room, and to try to make things look new and fun using things we had, and by picking up a few things at the second hand store.
Here is how it turned out:

Anni's side of the room:



I love how the oversized picture (printed from Costco---only $2.99) turned out in the Ikea frame. It was a great pic and makes me smile every time I go in there.
-I made the clustered pom pom hanging by making some paper fans, and using this tutorial for paper doily pompoms. I bought the doilies at Dollorama.
The "A" was one I had and just painted, then hung inside the frame that I already had.


The Side Table:

-I found this little wicker footrest at Homesense on clearance for $15. I just couldn't pay the $75 for a nightstand that every store seemed to be asking, so this will work for now.
-Anni loves to read at night, so I put up a little Ikea shelf beside her bed where she can reach and place a few books that she wants to have by her bed. It is working well so far!

Preston's Side:

--I have been collecting embroidery hoops at Value Villages around the city for a couple months with this project in mind. The hoops ranged form $0.50 to $1.99 for the biggest one. I was able to use fabric that I had to place inside. I found the "P" at Goodwill! That was lucky! I think it turned out great and was cheap and easy!


Mirror:

-I found this mirror at Value Village for $6 and painted it. I also glued on a magnet that I had in the center top to add a little character.

There are still some little things to do, but the room is functional and nice and cozy for the kids. They are loving being roomies and it has been so nice to get our living room back!