Sneak Peek

Ava turns 5 this week.  Crazy!  She is having a pajama/rainbow themed party at the house this Saturday where all the little girls will get glitter tattoos, make rock band bracelets, make their own ice cream sundae and play musical chairs and other fun games.

One of these games is a version of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey".  This one is called "Pin the Ava on the Sleeping Bag" in keeping with her pajama theme.  So today, I made the game with a little help from Miss Ava herself.

Each of the girls will get an Ava (with their name on it) and will try to pin it on the board.  If I actually had photos of all 12 girls coming, I would have made the pieces look like each girl, but alas, I did not have everybody's photo.  Too bad! 

I also got all crazy and made her invitations, water bottle labels, party favor tags and hair barrettes (for part of the favors).  Will post photos after the party.

Here's a look at her invite (I changed the address for privacy).  I love using photo invites because 1) they are unique 2) custom and 3) inexpensive. Good things all around!

Shelves

I made these book shelves for Ry's room about a month and half ago and we finally hung them up yesterday.  Yay!!  I used these plans from Ana White (great site - highly recommend checking it out) to build them.  I am very proud of myself as I had to use power tools (a scroll saw for one) which I never do.

I think they turned out well and were worth the $30 I spent for all 4 (note: we can't hang the 4th yet since Ry will definitely try to pull it down).  I also used paint we had on hand...I believe it is the same can of oops paint we have used on the back door, an outdoor table as well as various other projects.  Best $5 spent.

Tank Dress

This is just sad.  Not the dress I made, just the fact that I have had the fabric cut for this dress FOR A YEAR.  Finally got around to making this simple and super cute tank dress for Ava.  Thankfully, the tank top/cut fabric was still long enough once they were sewn together. And it worked out because I was able to use my brand new serger for this project.

Definitely will have to take a better photo of Ava in this.  I also whipped out another one later that week.  I had also cut the fabric a year ago.  Better late than never!

Daddy Shirt

I don't think a week goes by that I don't hear about how much Ryan looks like Darren (deja vu for me...think it was the same with Ava).

So seeing as I have been wanting to try freezer paper stenciling, I decided to make Ryan a "Daddy" shirt so that people really could compare the two. Especially when Darren is not with us. I originally intended to save this as a surprise for Father's Day but sadly I am bad at keeping secrets.

Oh well, Darren liked it anyways (even if he found it a bit funny that his face is now on his son's shirt).   Ava, of course, saw Ry's shirt and said that she too, needs a Daddy shirt. Maybe I can make her a cute "Daddy" tshirt dress?

Book Page Wreaths

My sister asked me to make a book page wreath for her for Christmas.  Sadly, I just got around to it -- she knew I was not going to have it done in time for the holidays with all the stuff I had going on but I still feel a little bad.

I have seen these all over the internet especially while cruising around Pinterest, the most addicting site ever.  I ended up kind of following this tutorial from Living with Lindsay.  I have to say it was super easy and only cost me $1.50 since I used a foam plumbing tube from Home Depot as the base instead of a store bought styrofoam wreath and I had the book and hot glue on hand.   The plumbing tube was obviously a lot cheaper and you can customize it to whatever size you want.  I am shocked that people sell these for $40 or more and that people actually buy them for that much.  I think I'd rather spend an hour making one instead of spending that much money.

The finished wreath. 

 I ended up making one for myself too to hang over my fireplace.  Still need to figure out the arrangement on my mantle (and eventually make a nice mantle slipcover out of wood so it looks better) but for now, it will do. Think I have to make at least one more of these as my mom saw the photo and said she had to have one too!  Good thing they are cheap and don't take too long to do.

Up Next: Dollhouse

Next big project is the one I have been talking about for awhile.  Just now getting to it.  My sister's old dollhouse.  Here is the front of the house before...you can see it is falling apart.  I plan on removing all the dirty old windows and shutters and giving this baby a complete overhaul.  We shall see how long it takes me.  My grandfather built this so I plan on keeping the overall structure the same but will try to modernize it a little.  Once I actually assemble the house, I'll take more pictures but I plan on painting it before I assemble so wanted to have some kind of before photo.

Here's hoping I can knock this out in a month or two.

Finished!

I know. I know.  It's been awhile since my last post...I'm always full of excuses but in all fairness Sept through Dec are always busy!

Anyways, if you remember my last post about the media center, I am now finished with it!  Woo hoo!

Here is the before again:

And the after!  I painted it a tealish kind of color and then used a brown glaze over it.   Very different, right?  I personally am loving it!

I used all the original hardware and just spray painted them with an oiled bronze paint.

 And because I thought the original screens were a bit out dated, I went ahead and replaced it with some aluminum screen sheeting in a much more modern pattern. It also provided a little more coverage so you can't see what is in the cabinet as much.  Still open but less so.  I also spray painted the new screens in the bronze paint.

The before:

 And the after (sorry for such bright lighting!)

 And here it is in the house with the new TV on it.  We actually have the TV centered now since we were able to put the satellite box in it once we drilled holes but as usual I'm too lazy to get a good pic.  Maybe once the whole living room is complete (more artwork, hopefully new floors in a few months), I'll take a better pic.