Archive for the ‘crafty/foody attempts/failures’ Category

bedroom redo :: a shared bedroom space for our girls..

January 10th, 2013

  when the news of this pregnancy started to sink in.. and making it past that first trimester before we allowed ourselves to think about moving forward – the prior year’s miscarriage brought a new reality to things.. but after our second ultrasound we felt we were past the most worrisome part… and then.. .. [...]
 

 

when the news of this pregnancy started to sink in.. and making it past that first trimester before we allowed ourselves to think about moving forward – the prior year’s miscarriage brought a new reality to things.. but after our second ultrasound we felt we were past the most worrisome part… and then.. .. we realized “wow, we are having a baby.. now where will the baby go?”  we love our house.. but it has just four bedrooms and this will be kid #4.. totally not enough for each kid.. not that i think each kid needs a room, but we knew some changes had to occur.. we had two places we could close in and make a fifth bedroom, but we love how open the house is and didn’t really want to do that.. so we decided to have the girls share a room.. a tough sell, considering each girl loved her room and her own space.. the promise of a tacky “dream light” to each sealed the deal.. we also moved Cooper so everyone was displaced and not just Emily.. add another dream light to the promises.. (like $100 by the time we got them – ugh.. why could i not just promise candy).. we didn’t paint or really re-do a lot in cooper’s room.. more on that in another post..

this all started in November.. we pulled everything out of Cooper’s room and the kids closets… EVERYTHING.. pulled out and in to the kids crafting/play area.. if you don’t know me well, let me just tell you.. i do not handle chaos/disorder/clutter well – at all.. in fact.. i get really freaked out and anxious and well, crazy..

here are a few “in process” pictures of the clutter.. left is all the crap out of coops room – yeah.. and the right is all the crap out of the closet and in part of Abby’s room.. i wanted to cry..

I was not allowed downstairs for a little over TWO weeks.. except a quick “is this how you want it?” look..

i could see the clutter from the top of the stairs.. omg.. i mean.. just.. horrible..

that pile was the pile of “stuff” from Cooper’s room that needed to go.. boxes.. cardboard.. the kid is a hoarder.. since we’ve reorganized things and “donated” things he no longer plays with, his room has been so much tidier.. it has been life changing (i really mean this – this was a constant issue for me – the clutter in his room).. we had a lot of furniture to get rid of.. lots of things we just needed to donate..  the kids got $ for the things they got rid of that we put on Craigslist.. Emily made $40!!

clean slate..

OOPS.. see that paint missing – i put some sticky things on the wall.. tore the paint/drywall OFF.. tom was thrilled..

very boring color..  blah.. blah..

so.. you know Pinterest?  well.. i don’t go on Pinterest unless i am working on a project.. because it will suck the time out of your life.. but i needed inspiration for the room.. I wanted the girls room to be both of theirs.. and not pink/purple girly..  i found bedding on Pottery Barn Kids.. and Pottery Barn Teen.. and it had Gray in it..

see..

 there was quite a bit of gray on pinterest.. i love gray.. i realize it is not cutting edge and that i’m no doubt quite behind the times, but dammit.. i like it.. and i’ve never been a trend setter.. so.. i found stripes and gray .. and told tom.. and waited for his reaction.. “okay.. you want stripes.. okay – get the stuff”..

so off i went, got paint.. and Frog tape…  and tom sent me upstairs for the rest of November.. (i snuck down with my iphone a few times)

THEN.. the fun part..

we used tom’s old bunk beds for the girls beds.. but they were dark old stained wood.. tom worked on those for a few days..  5 coats of primer/paint

i’m sure at this point the “just buy new beds” he told me twice was screaming in his head.. but man.. i just HATE spending money when we don’t have to!

as soon as that was finished.. the rest of the room came together quickly..

i made new lampshades for the girls… girls made some artwork for the wall.. i ordered pictures/Gallery Wrapped Canvases for the room.. (dressed the kids so it would coordinate with the finished room).. the images are from our Christmas Card pictures..  i even had to do some sewing to make the panel curtain i found work!

here are some finished images.. i really love how it turned out..

(tooth fairy pillows by Anslee at Sugar and Blue – you can find her on Facebook.. here… )

I put a canvas of each girl above their bed.. they love them.. i let them choose which image from the session.. (narrow selection)..

20×20 Gallery Wrapped canvas

i wanted a dresser that the girls could share.. i had a very specific idea..  and something that did not match at all..

and i found this cool piece at The Cottage Collective – find here on Facebook..

it is perfect..

put more pics of the girls on top.. again.. they chose the images..

for us, it works..  and i love it.. and we didn’t spend a ton of money.. the girls love it.. they have plenty of space and all their toys have a place..

i’ll blog specifics of some of the bits later..

 

 

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breaker

dresser finally finished! four + years in the making..

January 10th, 2012

another one of my new year promises to myself is to just do stuff.. things that I’ve been wanting to do, but am just afraid to do.. this applies mostly to things around the house… I have a lot of little projects I want to do, but for some reason or another, I don’t do [...]
 

another one of my new year promises to myself is to just do stuff.. things that I’ve been wanting to do, but am just afraid to do.. this applies mostly to things around the house… I have a lot of little projects I want to do, but for some reason or another, I don’t do them.. like this project.. painting an unfinished dresser.. i just had no idea where to begin.. color? i didn’t want it flat looking.. stain?  no..

we got this little dresser when we were expecting Emily – more than 4 years ago..  i had the intention to finish it when she was born and we found out if she was a boy/girl.. we’ve known she was a girl – or as she says “Geyrl” for four years and one month and still it sat unfinished.. the other day, i jumped on Pinterest looking for inspiration ( I can only go on there when looking for inspiration, or I will lose a day or two browsing!).. well, i searched “dresser” and just looked.. and looked.. saw a couple of tutorials and ways to make the finish more interesting..  and then made myself do it..

here it is.. the sad excuse for a dresser..

hate the lamp too..  no comments on the Christmas lights.. she LOVES them, okay?

isn’t it pitiful???

first thing.. was to empty, take apart and take the hardware off..  I enlisted help.

she does not like to be disturbed  (see the boo boo around her mouth.. ?  hit the sidewalk this weekend – on daddy’s watch)

so then i added Floetrol to the basecoat – just a white basecoat.. i did TWO coats, sanding in between each coat..

so.. here is the color..  the guy at lowes thought i should not do this bright.. i WANTED a bright happy colored dresser for her room.. it’s her.. full of life and color.. so i went with my gut feeling on this.. and it was bright!!!  Beach Sparkle.. Valspar paint.. Lowes..  Semi-gloss

I added that Floetrol stuff to it again.. i really think it helped make the finish less brush-stroky..   unless you let your 4 year old help ..

after one coat.. i realllllly liked it..

I intended to apply TWO coats, but after I got the one on, i liked the white showing through a bit..  so i stopped and thought about it and painted the hinges – i didn’t like the finish.. grabbed a can of silver spray paint – have never spray painted in my life… it’s pretty awesome for the instant gratification lover in me.

that’s the before.. you’ll see the after in a minute..

 back to the paint.. I thought about it for 1/2 a day and then tom said, “you can always add another coat”.. brilliant..

so i roughly sanded the edges.. to give it more life..   you can see below here.. Emily is adding the new “princessy” knobs..

and the finished product…

i love it.. love it.. love it..

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breaker

a favorite thing..

May 25th, 2011

  a part of my photography job that i love is getting to meet families.. over the past few years one family I’ve really fallen in love with is from Grundy, VA and luckily transplanted to Abingdon, VA in time for me to meet them.. i love them all..  they are just the best group.. [...]
 

 

a part of my photography job that i love is getting to meet families.. over the past few years one family I’ve really fallen in love with is from Grundy, VA and luckily transplanted to Abingdon, VA in time for me to meet them.. i love them all..  they are just the best group.. and man, they know how to make me happy – they feed me..

the first time I had these lil’ fabulous sammies was at Faith’s house after – or maybe before I photographed Ali for her SENIOR year..

since then, these have become a little treat for me..

cucumber, cream cheese, mayo, garlic salt.. simple.. scrumptious.. Faith’s are prettier, less bits of random bread pieces falling off, but I had help from a five year old..

(taken w my non-iphone – i couldn’t take the time to get my big camera out.. take the lens cap off.. transfer the files.. blah.. blah.. )

there are 5 minis gone already from the plate – i call them “healthy” because there is cucumber in them.. pretending the mayo and cream cheese is non-existent .. they are fabulous

 

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our attempt at those cool rice-krispie-treat-m&m-egg-things

April 7th, 2011

my very dear friend, Cathleen, noted on facebook how cool these little Rice Krispie treat Easter Egg M & M creations were.. again thinking i can do these crafty/homemade-y things, i grabbed the necessary ingredients at the store.. i mean i KNOW i can make Rice Krispie treats, right? simple enough.. oh.. this picture makes [...]
 

my very dear friend, Cathleen, noted on facebook how cool these little Rice Krispie treat Easter Egg M & M creations were..

again thinking i can do these crafty/homemade-y things, i grabbed the necessary ingredients at the store.. i mean i KNOW i can make Rice Krispie treats, right?

simple enough.. oh.. this picture makes me cringe – my white balance is ALL KINDS of off.. note – yellow looking marshmallows.. but i snapped ONE picture  and didn’t pay any attention to anything.. i believe this is set on a custom WB that i use outdoor.. and this is well in my kitchen with all kinds of random fake light.. i could fix.. but eh, i’m human right?  i like my pictures to come out right to begin with – i don’t like to shoot in RAW.. just jpeg.. but when you mess up like THIS above photo – ya get what ya get..

ah.. dear emily.. all she wanted to do was eat the marshmallows.. the light is still warm here.. but it’s better..

and Abby – thrilled to be helping..

now for assembly.. we had to spray our hands with non-stick spray.. at first we only did our palms.. well, as you can see in the second image down, that didn’t work.. so a quick wash and reapplication of non-stick spray yielded much better results.

we even shared with our neighbors…

kids are still on a sugar high.. and it’s 9:20..

 

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