Do you have a love hate relationship with your house too?

Do any of you feel this way? I absolutely love our house; I mean I LOVE IT…but there is a lot I do not like. I know that sounds funny to say, but it is true. I love our neighborhood, I love the size and layout of our house, I love the open floor plan, I love the bones of our house but on the other hand there is a long list of things that I don’t like and that annoy the heck out of me. I would say things I ‘hate’, but I have taught my kids that “Hate is a strong word and should be used very rarely”, so I will keep with ‘there are things I don’t like’. I don’t like the white and grey brick that our house is built with, I do not like the color of my kitchen cabinets, I do not like the flow in my laundry room, I do not like my master walk-in  closet, I do not like my daughter room (just too much stuff and too pink), I don’t like the storage in my ensuite bathroom, I do not like how I have a big kitchen but absolutely no space in the cabinets, I do not like the clutter everywhere! Wow my list of do not likes is far longer than the likes…but I really do love our house. 

Spring has come here really early, so I think I might be getting the spring itch. You know where you want to purge, de-clutter and clean everything. So what I thought I would do this month is try to deal with some of these annoyances. I have not planned this, so I am not sure exactly how I will address my issues or what will come of it, but I thought it would be entertaining (if not embarrassing) to share my dislikes and the horrible little secrets I have hidden behind every photo you have seen. I will do this one annoyance at a time, and show you how I corrected them on a serious budget. I will throw in some crafts along the way but there won’t be a big focus on that this month.

Unfortunately, I will not be correcting major things like the color of our brick (that will have to be minimized with landscaping and there will be a lot to share about this soon… big things happening here). I am sad to also say I will not be redoing my kitchen in the next few months. It is in the plan but it is pretty darn low on my priority list, since I love the layout of it just don’t like the color. See why I can’t justify it? I still would love to paint the cabinets myself but I can’t tell you how afraid I am on doing that.

I really hope to tackle this month:

My master bedroom closet. The closet will need a fair bit of work, but I will not be spending a lot on it. I do not have thousands, let alone hundreds, in the budget to redo a room that no one sees and that is semi-functional already. I am too embarrassed to show you how our walk-in closet currently looks so I will just say we have one upper shelf that has clothes piles at least three feet high. There is loads of potential.

Master ensuite. I shared with you our mini-reno that we did with our master bathroom last year. The framing of the mirror, changing the sinks, counter and faucets made a huge difference but there were things that I did not show you. Joys of bloggers…we hide things. We have some odd shelves behind our door that are filled with crap, the cabinets are overflowing with stuff, we have no towel racks in the entire bathroom! Crazy I know. When we moved in there was 3 towel racks and I thought that was too many. But instead of putting just one back up, I put none. We also have horrible metal mini-blinds in there. I never knew what window treatments to put in there and those are what the house came with so they have stayed. I have tried curtains, faux romans..I still don’t have the answer.

When we bought the house this is what it looked like. Do you see the odd shelves behind the door? You can see one of the many towel racks too.

Really basic builder grade shelves.

See how it they become a disaster? Since I removed all the towel bars, so I now hang my towels with a hook over the door.

The laundry room.  I would love to make our laundry room a peaceful room that is beautiful decorated with a chandelier and fancy jars, but I am far too practical for that. I will be looking for functionality as opposed to glamor, as it is now and will always be a place to do laundry. If I can make my least favorite chore, laundry, slightly easier, then I will do anything. I have a feeling a chandelier and pretty glass jars will not make this horrible chore any easier.

 Here is how it looked when we bought the house. It has never been this clean since!

Dining room buffet.  I have a buffet in my dining room that has a sort of grass cloth front. It has got stained and discolored over time and I would love to find a way to clean it up, whether by recovering or staining. I also hate how I have decorated on the top of it and the wall above it. It seems to be a dumping ground for keys, receipts, school papers, etc.

Kitchen Pantry. We have a deep pantry that is like a black hole. You put stuff in there only to find it after it has expired. I need to find a way to organize it, track what is in there and keep it clean. This is a horrible shot and I am mortified to share this...but this is my pantry

Kitchen desk. I always thought I wanted a desk in my kitchen. I had this grand notion that the kids would sit there and do their homework while I work away in the kitchen. How 1960’s of me. Well, the desk and kitchen are in a direct view of our large screen TV. So if it is on, there is absolutely no work done. As well, the kids prefer to do homework on the kitchen table. So this desk has quickly become a space to drop everything in our house that does not have a home. I don’t think I have cleaned the drawer in this area since we moved in. It is so full, I can barely open it.

That is a mighty long list; I might or might not get to all of it.  I am already working on my issues with our master walk in closet, so I will have something to share really soon. I can't tell you how excited I am about one of the changes..it will light up your life :)

So do any of you have a love/hate relationship with your home? How do you deal with your dislikes or do you just live with them?

Hope to be back with more soon,

Stephanie

Little Gardner Gift Idea

This time of year is full of birthday parties for us. My adorable little nephew turned three last week and I struggled with what to get him. Between him and his two brothers, they have almost every toy a child could ever want; plus I really like to make gifts for them. So I thought I would make him one of those amazing poufs you see at Pottery Barn so he can sit in his room and look at books. I had a day and a half set aside to make one for him (and probably one for his older brother too) and then a wrench was thrown into my plan. Two back-to-back days spent at the hospital; one with my mom and the other my husband.  Everything turned out fine with both, but I no longer had my day and half to sew. What to do?

Well this is what we (my daughter and I) came up with. Since Brendan loves to play in the garden, especially when his parents are working in it, we thought we would make him his own gardening kit. Even though he is a little young for gardening per say, he still loves to get in there and dig stuff.

We started at the dollar store and got him a watering can, a knee pad and two pairs kids gardening gloves. All three were in his favorite color green. We then headed to our local hardware store and bought a gardening bag that had kid sized tools in it, a small plastic rake (they only had purple), some seeds (pumpkin, tiny tomatoes, snap dragons, etc) and a large pot.

 I created a design on my Sure Cut Alot 2 program to put on his container that said 'Brendan's garden' with a few walking bugs. He hates almost all bugs so I tried to make them as cute as possible. I cut the design with my Cricut out of vinyl (didn't use contact paper this time) so it would stand up outside.

We put all the items into the container, wrapped it all in cellophane with a happy birthday balloon.
 I had really wanted to make a little sign to put in the garden with chalkboard paint, but time was limited so this was all I could do.

 The total price was around $30 ($10 for the tool kit, $6 for the rake, $5 at the dollar store, $6 seeds and $4 for the container) but if I had more time and planned ahead, I could have done it for less. But that is what happens when I wait until the last minute.

Either way I was happy with how it turned out and he seemed thrilled to have the rake and the tools.

I have for many years planted vegetable gardens with each of our kids. They pick the vegetables, plant them, water them and harvest them. Even though we live in a pretty big city with smaller yards, we still feel it is important to grow our own vegetables and teach our kids how to do this. We personally love Tiny Tom tomatoes, larger tomatoes, red and green leaf lettuce, slicing cucumbers and all types of peppers. Do any of you do the same thing?

Perhaps I will share in May how we do our kids gardens. We can't plant outside until May 26th weekend this year, so I will have to wait a couple of months.

Happy gardening,
Stephanie

DIY Daytime Constellations

Last week I recreated this Cloud identification tool that I saw on Pinterest and my son has loved it! Almost every day he has been outside trying to identify what clouds are in the sky. I am not sure if he is correct every time, but it has really entertained him and sparked an interest I never expected him to have.

So I thought I would recreate another Pinterest inspired educational tool that you can do with your kids, the daytime constellation activity.

I created the following 5 common constellations in a Publisher file using little circles and lines:

• Canis Major (the Dog)
• Ursa Major (The Big Dipper)
• Leo (The Lion)
• Hercules
• Orion (The Hunter)

I found the constellations online on various sites to create each of the constellations. I found it odd that there were different designs for the same one..so I think some sites include surrounding stars. I saved the file as an image and printed it on card stock paper.

 I carefully cut around the outer line to create 5 circle constellations.

Using a 1/8 inch circle hole punch with a 2 inch reach (this is important) I punched out each of the dots where a star appears in the sky.

The reason you need a 2 inch reach punch is so you can punch the holes in the middle of the circles.  I bought this 2 inch reach punch at Micheal's a while ago for around $5. If you find a coupon you might be able to get it for less. See how it is able to reach the middle of the large circle?

This is a regular hole punch; it doesn't reach the middle spots.

I punched each of the small dots on the 5 constellations.

Next is the fun part; head to a dark room or outside in the sun with your constellation cards and shine a light through them. You get to see what the constellations will look like up in the sky but during the day. I apologize this image is so bad, I was hiding out in my walk-in closet trying to take this photo. You get the idea though.

I created a few different versions of this file. The first was the one you see in the pictures above, all names, dots and lines are printed. The second, only has the names and dot, so you can have your child connect the dots to draw his/her own constellations. And the last one only has the dots.

UPDATE: I have saved the three images for you to download. Here are the links

• Constellations with no name and lines

• Constellations with no lines

• Constellations

Please leave me a comment with and let me know whether or not you were able to get this to work. Again, please keep this for personal or classroom use only. 

If you find any major errors, please email me and I can correct it for future emails. I am by no means an expert in this so any help is appreciated.

Happy star gazing!
Stephanie

Nail polish stand and stamping tool - Preteen/Teen gift idea

My beautiful and amazing niece had a big birthday this year...she turned thirteen. I know this isn't monumental as far as things that change as a result of her age (i.e. driving, drinking, etc.) but it was big for her mom and I. How can she be 13 already!?

Well for her birthday, I knew she was at an unusual stage and I would have a tough time finding something she would love. I didn't want to get her something to mature because she is still is a child and I don't want her to grow up too fast. So I did what any good aunt would do...bought her something her mom probably would not love but I know she would, nail polish. Isn't that the best thing about being an aunt!

I made her a nail polish holder/stand and filled it with some really amazing things. I started with an old spice rack that I got at a local thrift store for $1.99. I wish I had taken a picture of it. It was oak with some hideous flowers and leaves painted on it. After removing an inch of grease, covering it with a few coats of white spray and gluing a piece of scrapbook paper, that matches her bedroom, to the back of the spice rack it was transformed into a pretty little nail polish rack.

To fill the rack, I bought some dollar store nail polish remover, Q-tips (to clean up nail edges), makeup pads and bright color nail polish. I then added an amazing nail polish tool called Konad Nail Art. I am not one to do product reviews or encourage you to buy something, but I needed to share this because it is so amazing for teens and any woman who likes images on her nails. I am personally a clear nail polish type of girl...but that might be because my nails just never grow nicely.

If you have not seen Konad nail art , please take a minute (but come back) and see how cool this system is. Here is a great video on Anna's Nail Art on how this stamping tool works.

I did two of my nails just to show you how well it works. No, I did not use the gift before I gave it, I also bought my daughter a set :) You start with a plate that has designs on it.

You then paint nail polish over the design and scrap off (with the Konad tool see below for image) the excess polish. Using the Konad stamper (see below for image), you remove the image from the template by pushing the rubber edge of the stamper over the design and place it on your nails. The image is transferred to your nail. It really is that easy.  Sorry my nails are horrible...just remember to look at the stamp and not the nail :) The stamps are really cute when you have a colored nail polish on the nail to start out with. You can get any type of image you can image, entire nail patterns, french manicures, flowers, seasonal, etc.

You can use both Konad nail polish or any thicker type of nail polish you can find. Honestly, some of the dollar store stuff works just as well for my daughter and I really prefer the price.
 
I purchased the started kit from Anna's Nail Art at a craft show, but for those of you in the US, here is where you can find the Konad stamping/scrapping tool on Amazon for Under $6:

Source Amazon.com

I did order a bundle of stamping plates (Monster brand) from Amazon and I find they work just as well as the pricier Konad. You get 21 plates (a total of 139 images) for under $18.

Source Amazon

I made a box with my Cricut to hold the plates and added a small piece of the matching paper to the flap of the box.

I secured all the items on the nail polish rack with glue dots and wrapped the entire gift it in cellophane.

This gift was a huge hit! So for any of you struggling for a gift for a preteen or teen gift (or even younger- my 9 year old loves it) this is a great option and it really does not cost too much if you order it off amazon and buy the other items from the dollar store. I would say you could probably make almost this exact gift for under $30.

Have any of you seen or used nail stampers before? What do you think?

Have a great day,
Stephanie

Birth Announcement Art - Step by Step Tutorial

I have received so many wonderful comments on the wedding date art I did last October I thought I would share with you exactly how I created it. Rather then recreating something I have already done, I thought I would share how to create a birth announcement version of the wedding date art.

So I created a step by step tutorial on how to create these in Publisher.

Here is exactly how I make these in Publisher. Be prepared there are a lot of photos...but I found that to be the easiest way to explain how to make them.

Open Microsoft Publisher and select your desired size. I have used an 8x10 size in this tutorial.
Select 'Insert' and 'Picture'.

Locate the image you want to use and re-size it to be approximately 5 inches wide.  To center the image, slowly drag it to the middle of the page and a light pink line will appear when it is in the center of the page. I put the image in the upper third of the page.

To create a border around the image, select 'Insert' and then 'Shape'. Select rectangle and create a box that is a little larger than the photo image.

To make the border thicker, click on the border and select 'Format', 'Shape Outline', and 'Weight'. I used a 3 point weight line in black to surround the photo.

To center the border around the photo, slowly move it around the photo and a light pink hashed line will show you when you have it centered around the photo.

 Insert the three date images you have selected. (To find the links for the free date photos go here)

Be sure the dates are all the same size (you can right click on each image and select 'format picture' and then 'size' to do this) and then line up all three. Again a light pink line will show you when the top and bottom are lined up.

 I grouped the three date images together so when I move one, they will all move. To do this, select all three by either clicking on each one while holding the control key held down or click slightly off to one corner with the mouse, and while holding the mouse down, drag over all three images.

 Right click on the grouped images and select 'Group'.

 Center the date with the photo.

To create the double border around the numbers, I inserted two separate rectangles around the three dates. The inner rectangle is a 1.5 point black line and the outer is a 3 point black line.

 Again, align the two border rectangles so they are centered.

 

 To enter the name and birth information, I inserted text boxes. To do this, select 'Insert' and then 'Text Box'.

Create a text box over the bottom of the two number border lines. Type the baby's  birth information and select the desired font and size. Use the same technique to align the name with the photo. In order for the lines not to be visible through the box, select 'Format', 'Shape Fill' and then select the color white. This will fill in the text box with white, so you will not see the border lines through the typed.

Create a second text box for the baby's name. This one does not need to be filled in white. Use the same technique of slowly moving the box around to center it with the other images.

To change the images to black and white or sepia, select the image and then 'Format', 'Recolor' and either black and white or sepia. You will also need to do this for each of the three date images. This can always be changed back to color by selecting 'No Recolor', so don't be afraid to play around.

You can also insert a digital scrapbook paper (same way as inserting an image) for the background. This dramatically changes the look and can also be changed to black and white.

 Save the image first as a Publisher file. To then save the image as a high resolution JPEG image to have it printed, select 'Save As', pull down 'Save as Type'.

 Select 'JPEG File Interchange Format'.

 Then click on 'Change' to alter the level of resolution. Select 'High quality printing' and then 'Save'.

That is it! As my kids say Easy Peazy Lemon Squeezy!

I am not sure which of the four are my favorite but I really do like these two. What do you think? Which of the four at the top are your favorite?

So for $0 to create and under $1 to print you can create an amazing gift. You can buy similar items on Etsy for loads of money, so no one will have to know it cost you next to nothing!

Please leave me a comment if you have any questions or if you need any help. I am still emailing out the wedding date template, so leave a comment with your email address if you want that one sent to you.

Have a great week.
Stephanie