Nautical nursery storyboard

My fabric finally arrived yesterday. I get 99% my fabric from here . I am ALWAYS very happy with my purchases from them. Sometimes I forget that I bought the fabric with my money because each package feels like a treat.. The fabric is extremely affordable, the best price I have found online. They have all sorts of fabric, home decor, apparel and quilting fabrics.. One stop store for me.

I decided to make a storyboard for my son's nursery. I made him his current bedding when I was 8 months pregnant. I really didn't have the energy to do it exactly the way I wanted, as a result, the bumper fell apart and I am not a fan of the sheets anymore. I never even got to make him a blanket (he is 8 months old now) I know, sad story. With summer around the corner, I decided to get everything new, hurray! I am excited to see how it all turns out. I am not doing any major  painting or furniture making in his room, so I am hopeful it won't take too long to finish, maybe 2 weeks max.

Fabric: boats/red & white stripes/solid red /navy/navy & white stripes Decor: wooden whale(saw it here but I don't think they have it anymore)/mini lantern/anchor pillow/swing shelf/sailboat (got it at half price last year)

So, I am making the bumper, fitted sheet, crib skirt, swing shelf (a PB knockoff), pillow and quilt. I really do like the whale decor, but I am not yet sure if I will make it (fingers crossed).

Wish me luck!

Brother cs6000i sewing machine - awesome purchase

It finally arrived and I am in LOVE.. I have been trying to figure out what machine I should get for ages. I finally settled on the brother cs6000i. Its a wonderful upgrade for me. Its basic but filled with cool stuff. I can even do basic quilting with it, hurray! and the price is awesome..

Amazon $154.97 - 1018 people gave it a 5 star
Walmart $154.94 - 911 out of 968 people recommend this sewing machine (including myself)
Target $154.99 - 4.5 star (12 reviews)
Joanns $ 199 - 4 star (83 reviews)

I haven't tried all the stitches and everything but I am so happy with this purchase. I must admit that I was nervous. It comes with tons of extra gadgets: Buttonhole foot, overcasting foot, monogramming foot, zipper foot, zigzig foot, blind stitch foot, button sewing foot, 4 bobbins, 4 needles, twin needle,cleaning brush, screwdriver, seam ripper, extra spool pi, foot control, operation manual, a hard case and a quick reference guide.

It has 60 built in stitches, and its computerized

Its cute, small, light weight and its relatively quiet - my new challenge trying to keep my 2 year old out of it. She thinks its a fun toy

I ordered a ton of fabric last week and I can't wait for it to arrive. I am making bedding for my little guy and our room. Wish me luck

Small Study Table

I am back!! And I finally made a table to go with the chair here for Diana's play/study station for less than $10. She will be 3 in May and I want to enroll her into preschool; and I also want to have a designated place for her to read her books and do educational activities. She is in love with the idea already, she loves it more if we can all sit around this tiny table together..

Ok, this table was easy. I didn't have a plan to follow but I did figure it out by looking at my dinning table. I didnt have a kreg jig either to make pocket holes, so I thought it was going to be complicated, but it worked out ok. And I am really happy with it, its a perfect size for my daughter and its very sturdy:)

You will need:
2 wood studs 2x4x92 (cut 4 x 23" long table legs)
1 furring strip 1x2x8 (cut 16" long x 1 for center support)
3 furring strips 1x3x8 (cut 6 x 26" long table top) and (2 x 19" and 2 x 15" side support)

Wood finish dark walnut
Nails and screws (8x3)
Wood glue
Cutting tool, hammer and drill driver or what ever gets the job done

I decided to stain the table instead of painting it because I got lazy. I had the paint and everything but I just couldn't get myself to do it. Anyway, I really like how it turned out.

You can see all the detail, the wood grains and the nails/screws. It looks cute

The walnut stained table compliments the Chair very well.

I love the detail

She also loves her little Vteah tote and go laptop. Its for ages 3-6 andhas 20learning activities. We haven't tried them all but I like the ones we have tried; the numbers, words and alphabet ones.

Another successful project and that makes this mama happy:)

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:)