Time out

This winter has been really hard on us. We have all been to the doctor's office. I have never been a fan of winter. I come from a country that is not too far from the equator, so its always hot there (Zambia). We do have winters but they are nothing compared to what is happening this winter here in Utah.

My husband went in twice for a cold/cough that lasted for weeks. I went in for some kind of infection then I had 6 cavities filled. My daughter had to go to the ER because she threw up 17 times in 5 hours. She has had a cold/virus 4 times in 6 months. She has a cold virus right now and it has been the worst. She has been sick for almost 2 weeks straight. My little guy seems to have gotten what his sister has but his case wasn't as hopeless. Diana is getting better though and its fun to see her come back to her old bubbly, funny self.

 So, this is the reason I have been absent from blogging. I hope to be back next week. I have a lot of exciting things I will be making for MOI! Stay tuned

DIY Bird Poster

Its official, I love wood pallets. They are very affordable and easy to work with.
So, here is another poster for Diana's room. It is taking me a lot longer to finish her room then I anticipated. No worries, one day I will get it all done:)

Materials needed:

Wood from Home depot
Wood finish, I used walnut stain from home depot
White spray paint  from home depot
Black and hot pink acrylic paint from hobby lobby
Paint brushes
Graphite paper from hobby lobby
Printer

If you don't have a cricut machine, or if you don't want to purchase silhouettes like me, you can easily draw your own birds. I drew mine on regular printer paper. Then I got the graphite paper, laid it on my wood and put the bird picture on top. I used a non working pen (you can use whatever pointy device you have) to draw around the edges of my images. I used the same process with the words, 'love birds.' I used microsoft word to type my words, I like the font..

This is how it looked like after I was done.

Then I used black acrylic paint to fill in the outlined images

It turned out so well, I will never cry for a cricut machine again!

I got the lamp from target. I probably won't have it there when am all done with this room. I got the bird cage from hobby lobby for just $9 (with a 40% coupon). It was a light green color, then I painted it white, then light pink, and now its hot pink. I am thinking of painting it light pink again, haha, decisions, decisions

The lighting in my pictures is not that great because I took them at night while my daughter was sleeping

The nest and eggs are from hobby lobby too. My daughter is so happy that she has birds and eggs of her own

 

Maxi Skirt tutorial

My very first piece of clothing for myself:) I have been wanting to make myself a maxi skirt for ages and today I finally succumbed. I must admit that I was terrified to even cut my fabric because the little red creature on my left shoulder was screaming that I couldn't do it. So, I kept my fabric for days. Last week, I plucked my courage and went to work.. It ended up being one of the easiest things I have ever done..

Fabric: here for $9/yard
Yardage: 1 1/2
Color: Charcoal
Fabric description: Its called ponte roma - the best knit fabric ever. Its medium weight so its perfect for winter. Its very smooth, soft and has a nice stretch and resists wrinkles.
Level - beginner (very easy)

1. Fold your fabric in half (hotdog style) - My fabric was 54" wide and 58" long. When I folded it hotdog style it was 27" wide and 58" long.

Since my waist is 36" long around, on the diagram, after the fabric is folded it will be 18" long. Add an inch for seam allowance going from waist to bottom of skirt.

2. At the top of your fabric, make room for the elastic band. Mine is 1" thick, so I folded my fabric 1/4" then 1 1/4" to make room for my band. Then sew but leave room to stick the band in and out. Don't add the band now. We will do it at the end.

3. At the bottom of the fabric, fold 1/4" then another 1/4 then sew.

4. Refer to diagram above, sew the 2 pieces of fabric together from the 18" mark to the very bottom of your fabric as shown. Then stick the elastic band at the top using a safety pin. Sew the 2 ends of the band together. Stitch the gap shut - you are done.

Kids Play Kitchen

Ok, here is the project I have been working on for months. It was a process with several mistakes and draw backs but a wonderful learning experience. Anyway, the most important thing is that its finally done and Diana LOVES it. She has already made me 'pretend' chocolate cake, breakfast and bacon soup; (and they were yummy)!

Below are the after/before and inspiration pictures.  Picture 1 is what started it all. It was love at first sight, I knew my daughter would love it. I wondered if I could make it, so James got me power tools as an early Christmas present - (did I mention that I have an awesome husband?)

1. Pottery Barn  2. Target image (this is how my kitchen console looked before)

Here is an up close view of my kitchen. I love the small cooking utencils from here, the pots from here and kitchen appliances from here and similar here. What do you think about my tiling job? I got the tile from here . The burner were made from a place mat I got here. The range knobs were fun to make, Diana thinks they look like a radio, lol!. I didn't want to spend more money buying the actual knobs so I used my spice container lids and I wrote the numbers on a piece of black thin foam and stuck them together. I printed the time on a plain sheet of paper then glued it there. Diana loves to ask what time it is, so this was perfect.

Sink - baking tin. Faucet and knobs from here. I love the little red mug cup.

For the oven door, I used a corrugated plastic sheet from here. I like that its semi transparent (I still have to get a baking rack for the oven). Then to make it look a little real, I draw write lines with a painters marker across.

The fridge - I got the pretend food from here. I love the plastic foods more than the boxed foods. The boxes are way small as you can see from the apple and orange juices, but they are still fun to play with. The fridge, oven and dishwasher handles came from here

Its a perfect size for her. I made the curtains when i made the apron set here. The curtains and the window with a bird outside are a fun addition. She loves to close the curtains when its 'dark outside.'

Say cheeeeese! The apron set looks great on her. Tutorial here

Here is a closer look at the pretend gadgets and appliances we got for the kitchen. 1 Toys R Us similar here . 2 Toys R Us similar here . 3 Ikea . 4 Ikea similar here.

My major draw back came from not knowing how to paint laminate wood. First James sanded it lightly and then I painted it without even using primer. Big mistake. So, we sanded it again, used a paint+primer product, another big mistake. Then I did my research which I should have done at the beginning. Finally something worked, this wonderful paint and primer from Home depot, did the trick. It was a hectic adventure but it saved us a lot of money:)

Distressed Children's Chair

I am very happy with this little project of mine. I have been looking for a chair for Diana and the ones I liked were really expensive. I came across this one here Ana White and I knew I had to try it.

Total price $5 = my kind of price:)

I think she loves it

  Its a perfect size for her too. It even supports my weight perfectly:)

 

 

Check out the tutorial from Ana White
I got all my supplies from Home depot
To obtain the distressed look, I used vaseline. I got the tutorial from Shanty-to-chic. It is awesome and very easy to do.
I stained just the edges of the chair like I did with the Christmas Wood Poster

Can't wait to make her a table next week. I am excited!

 

DIY Night Stand

 

I made my first piece of furniture, a simple nightstand for Diana's room. I am feeling awesome right now. Her room is coming up wonderful (slowly but surely). The beddings, curtains, and some decor is all done. I still have her dresser to sand and paint, some pom poms to make, and make a storage box then we will be all done.

DIY Apron set

 It's all about Diana, haha! Well, she was supposed to get a pretend kitchen for Christmas but that never got done in time. I am still working on it and hopefully it will be done next week.

So, I decided to make her these to go with her kitchen. They turned out great and the price was awesome ($6) for everything:) I had her try them on yesterday, she loved them and that makes me happy:)

Aren't these so cute??