Thursday 30 June 2011

Finished Playhouse

The Playhouse is Done!!!! 

I am so excited to share this finished project with you, like many project I do it starts with a little idea and then snowballs into something way bigger.  If my husband had it his way we would have thrown up the walls, slapped a little paint on it and called it good.  I think my vision turned out better than his.  


The Grocery Store was a complete surprise for the kids, they love to play store so I thought it would be perfect in here.



I love these signs they turned out great


I searched high and low for food to go in the playhouse but all that I could find was a ice cream package and some fruit and veggies so I decided to make my own felt food.  These were my first attempts.  I have many more to make for the kids but I ran out of time to get it all done.  Plus I couldn't make them wait any longer to see it. 


I found this cute ice cream kit at Ikea



This bench was made for the kids playhouse by their Grandpa,  I store all the extra craft stuff in here.


I couldn't do a playhouse without a craft table for the kids, they love to craft just as much as I do. 


I found these cute buckets at easter time as stocked them away for this very project.  The hooks I picked up from the dollar store. The trick is to see if the stuff will actually all stay where it is supposed to go. 



I tried to make everything have a little vintage feel to it.  One of my favorite projects so far.

 I finished this late last night so this morning I got the kids up and first thing they got to do was check it out.  The looks on their faces is what makes this all worth it.  I know they are going to have so many hours of fun and create so many memories in this space. 



Monday 27 June 2011

The Search Is Over

After dragging my husband into a dozen stores we have finally found a sofa that we both liked and that would fit the space.  I am sure he is more happy about the searching coming to an end than I am, lol.


We actually went into this search wanting a cloth couch but after seeing the features that this one come with we were sold.


The Chaise part goes up and has lots of storage for blankets and pillows.  I know I never have enough storage so this is perfect.


Also the couch pulls out like a trundle and makes into a bed, as we don't have a spare bedroom this is a nice feature.  Plus if we have the whole family watching a movie we can pull this out and have lots of room for everyone.  

A few more things like a rug and coffee table and this space will finally be done. 

Wednesday 22 June 2011

Summer Fun Basket

My Kids have done such a good job this year at school.  Keegan has just about completed his first full time year of Grade 1 and Chase has completed his first year of pre-school so I thought it only fitting to end the year with a little reward.  Of course I couldn't get for the older boys and not for Makai so he got in on this action as well.  They were so excited and can hardly wait to start using all of their goodies.

Monday 20 June 2011

Teacher Appreciation Gift ~ Garden Stakes

Not that I am counting or anything but only 1 more day of pre-school for my little man Chase and 6 1/2 Days Left for my Bigger Little Man Keegan.  I cannot wait for summer break to start and neither can they.  We have alot of people to thank this year, between Chase's Teacher, classroom helper and classroom Aides he has 6.  Keegan has 1 teacher, 1 bus driver and 1 Karate Teacher.  So that is a total of 9 gifts, plus I volunteered to do 5 more for a family friend.

Garden Stakes 




I Love these they turned out so good. 

 I started by taking an 8ft strip of 1x4 and cutting them down to my desired length.  I was able to get 5 out of 1 length


Then the painting assembly line started. I painted some of them with a black base and some with white and then finished them off either with a blue or a white top coat.  Just to have a little bit of variety.  
This was the most time consuming part of the process as each coat had to be dry before it could be turned and have the other side painted.  Also because I did different layers of paint.  



Once the paint was dry I sanded the edges and the faces to make them look a little weathered.


I used a vinyl stencil then painted the wording Black 



I also sanded the wording too and then added the blue stakes to it and finished it off by spraying them with lacquer.




Our teachers do so much for our kids that all the time spent making these was well worth it. 


Sunday 19 June 2011

Happy Fathers Day

A little Tribute to the two most important men in my life.  My dad who has always been there for me no questions asked.  He is crazy and willing to try anything.  Loves his kids and his grandkids and cherishes every moment that is spent with his family.  His favorite saying is "It's five o'clock somewhere right"

At his 60th Birthday Celebration that was a 50's theme.  My mom made him this outfit.




Loves his grandchildren and loves to play and make them happy
 Also my husband the man who works so hard to provide for his family so I have the opportunity to stay home and raise our children.  He is always there to make everyone laugh or be a shoulder to cry on.  He is our children's and my hero. 


This was taken at a 50's themed Birthday


I truly can say that I have been blessed with some pretty good men in my life.  So Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there. 

Saturday 18 June 2011

Planter Boxes

The one thing that is good about a rainy day is that I can spend a day in the garage building.  Around here it seems like I will be doing a lot of that.  


You know when you have a vision and you just can't find what you want, I say just build it.  I originally gave this project to my husband and as he works away most of the time this got pushed to the wayside.  In this house if you want something done on a timely manner you just do it yourself, lol.  So for a total cost of $10.00 per planter I got exactly what I wanted.  I still have a few coats of paint to put on them and hopefully the rain will subside and I can finish the rest of my porch projects.  

Thursday 16 June 2011

Summer Love Wreath

I figured that I had better change out my easter wreath to a summer once since it is June and all.  



Our local store only carries these wreaths in a glittery gold color which just didn't work for my project so first it got a little makeover with a can of blue spray paint. 


Spray Painted Blue

I had some round wood pieces left over from another project so I used those to create the Summer Love sign that goes across and finished it off with bright pink ribbon. 



Hopefully this will inspire the terrible weather to turn itself around and show us a little Summer Love and bring on the sunshine.  




Monday 13 June 2011

Project Playhouse #6

The Makings of a Grocery Store

My idea for the back of the playhouse is to make a grocery store for the kids to play with.  After doing a little bit of searching for inspiration I found this rendition from funkytime.


So I headed of to my local Rona and figured no problems I can build this.  So far I have got the general frame build and just need to add on a bottom shelf and a few other things.  Guess I better start shopping for some fun fabrics.

Sunday 12 June 2011

Project Playhouse #5

After a crazy weekend of parades and kids activities I managed to throw in a couple of hours to finish up the trim in the playhouse.  


I am so excited at how good the floors turned out.  The look on my boys faces when they seen it was sheer enjoyment.  

Tuesday 7 June 2011

Project Playhouse #4 ~ The Floors

It's time to do the flooring, so after alot of thought on what to do I decided to go with painted Diamonds.  First I made a cardboard template and then found the center of the room and started tracing out my pattern.





Notice my husbands message on the cardboard

Next Step was taping out the lines, because this is on brushed concrete I am expecting to do some touch-ups once the tape is taken off. 



Time to start painting, will post pictures soon.

Sunday 5 June 2011

For The Love Of Camping

Well this weekend there was no painting, decorating or crafting but there was a whole lot of fun to be had.  This weekend was the first one of the season to break out the trailer and hit the road for a little Fun, Family & Friends. 

My Husband taking Makai for a ride



My darling Husband

My Boys Keegan, Chase & Makai

The kids had such a good time, we had a total of 13 kids there this weekend and they were all as dirty as they could get and had a ton of fun.