Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!

We took a little extended fall break the last week or so travelling all over Wisconsin, so I haven't had much time to post lately.  I wanted to be sure to wish you all Happy Halloween today though!

Our kids each made one of these Halloween Skeletons with Q-tips this weekend!  Thanks for the fun craft, Adrienne!

I've been wearing my new apron this month.  I love it:)!  (Photographer: Lucky Girl.  Apron: Hatley)


Pumpkin Time!


Thanks for the monster pumpkins, Opa!


Speaking of pumpkins, have you tried this ice cream from Trader Joe's?:  
I crumble a cinnamon graham cracker on top and it is heavenly!


And speaking of Trader Joe's, we also picked up a cinnamon witches broom for $3.99: 
It smells so good!!  I want to carry it everywhere with me:)!

In costume news, we had a little costume issue this weekend when we forgot our 'castle themed' costumes at home....so we stopped at a local Walmart and chose from the best of what was left:
Buzz Lightyear!

Minnie Mouse!

And speaking of Halloween costumes, we are so ready for you trick or treaters:)!!!:

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Charm's Restoration Hardware Knock Off Bed

Several months ago, I found this bed online:


Restoration Hardware Baby & Child

I love the simplicity and thought it would be perfect in Charm's room!  It could definitely help solve the 'mattress on the floor' dilemma we were experiencing, but at $549 it was really pricey for four casters and 4 pieces of wood.  I knew we could build one ourselves for much less, but Bill wasn't sold on the whole 'bed on wheels' concept.  He had safety concerns given the weight of the bed, and the idea of Charm pushing the bed around his room.  We thought about putting 'locks' on the wheels or bolting the bed with 'one million screws' into the wall behind his bed, but ultimately, I realized the simplest solution would be to squirt a little epoxy in the wheels to permanently lock them.  I could get the look I wanted without putting Charm's safety at risk.

Once that issue was settled, Bill and I came up with a plan that included deeper sides to allow us to hide the box spring that we were kindly given by my parents when they made some mattress changes at their lake house.  It also would allow the overall height of the bed to be closer to a standard size.  The Restoration Hardware version is only about 11 inches tall (plus the height of the mattress) which would be awesome now, but we are hoping Charm enjoys this bed for many years.  

I stained and sealed the wood, and then Bill put the bed together.  He used metal corner pieces for...you guessed it...the corners.  We sprayed the casters (6" fixed casters from Northern Tool) a dark charcoal color, although I think I may go back and spray them more of a stainless steel color in the spring.  We also found metal trim much like that seen on the Restoration Hardware bed for $1.50 per 8 foot length at Home Depot.  We couldn't decide if we wanted to add that detail or not, so we held off for now, and may add it in the spring when we finalize the wheel color decision.  Our total cost for the bed including the casters ($56), spray paint ($7), wood ($35) and 4 metal corner pieces ($12) came to $110.  (We had the stain and polyacrylic on hand already).  

Here's how Charm's room is looking now:



We made a stand for Charm's Ship Wheel using a crate from Joann's ($6 with a coupon) that Bill stained to match the bed and ship wheel.


The white duvet cover is from IKEA.





Of course, the room is not totally finished and probably never will be because I'll keep finding things to change:).  As of now, I plan to upgrade this plastic IKEA stool:

Charm can actually get on his bed without using the stool, but it's a bit of a struggle for him.  I'm keeping my eyes peeled for the 'perfect stool'.  Hopefully, I'll find one before he outgrows the need for a stool:)!

And his 'night stand' needs work or replacement.  It's actually a $10 Target clearance find that I blogged about here since it's a knock off West Elm table:

I'd like to paint it or add color in some way.  Also, I'd like to make it taller....it needs some heels, I think:).


And finally, this lamp shade needs some attention:


We've had our eyes out for a lightweight lamp with a kid friendly on/off switch for a couple months now, and I ended up finding this one in our spare bedroom upstairs.  It's from IKEA and was purchased several years ago.  The lamp shade is a bit girly...although, I think it has red leaves on it, not flowers, so for now it works.  I plan to recover the shade, however. 

I'll probably let these projects come to me rather than seeking out 'fixes' immediately.  I'm moving on to other rooms and other projects for now...and you know one of those rooms is Lucky's.  We've made a few changes in her room too that I am very eager to share.  If I could get as motivated to work on our master bedroom as I am to work on Lucky and Charm's rooms, our second floor would be in fantastic shape:)!!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Linking up to Thrifty Decor Chick.
Linking up to Primitive and Proper.
Linking up to Miss Mustard Seed.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Our Lovely Laundry Room

Over the last couple months we've been trying to make our small second floor laundry room work better for our family.



We went from this:




To this:


When we first moved in to the house, we had a normal size door that would open into the small laundry space, and it was claustrophobia inducing...which is saying a lot because I don't usually get anxious about small spaces.  The dirty clothes would be behind the door, so you had to shut the door to maneuver in the space.  It was super annoying.  One day while Bill was at work, I took the door off the hinges.  I quickly learned that it was solid wood and was not able to move it far without Bill's help.  We lived with a gate in front of the door (to keep the kiddos out) for several months and then we had a bifold door installed that opens into the hallway.  (We looked into installing a pocket door, which would have been ideal, but it ended up not being an option due to the architecture and electrical/gas lines placement.)  The new door matches the rest of the doors in our house in terms of color and style, so it blends really well.  Since we coordinated the bifold door order with our basement finish two years ago, we were able to save money on the cost of a new door by reusing the old laundry room door in the basement!

This is a Kohl's closet filled with pictures of the family.  It used to be in Charm's nursery and works here now!

I made this bulletin board following this tutorial and an old bulletin board.  I used Robert Allen Kiki Pinata fabric available at Hancock Fabrics.  I liked the idea of doing a bright multi-colored floral print with the black and white rug from this post.  I also love having a calender in the laundry room.  I use it to mark 'sheet washing' day:).  I also have plans to some day be so organized that I have specific 'laundry days', although with young kids that might not happen for quite some time.  In my fantasy world, I'd mark laundry day on my calender and do all the laundry for that house on that day/s each week:).

Bill made this 'bra dryer' for me using knobs from Hobby Lobby and a piece of scrap wood from the garage.  We also use it to dry Lucky's tights.





We have a trouble with matching socks and often end up with lost socks.  We put unmatched socks in either the 'little socks' or 'big socks' bin depending on if the socks are little (Lucky and Charm sized) or big (adult sized).  Every once in awhile we take down the bins and make matches!


Bill picked up these laundry sorters at IKEA for 99 cents each during a promotion, although I think they normally are $4.99.  I had thought they would be good for awhile until I found something better, but I actually really like them!




I like having Post its handy because I never remember when I put things in the washer that shouldn't be put in the dryer.  If I make myself a note and stick it on the washer, I remember:)!




The counter basket stores clothing like sweaters that I wash in a 'hand wash' cycle once I have enough clothing in the basket to justify running a wash cycle.  


We have lots of cabinet storage in this room.  The cabinet above the sink is where cleaners and towels are stored.  The next two cabinets hold our swimming bag (everything we need for swimming lessons) and extra toilet paper and kleenex.


The cabinets above the washer and dryer contain our 'sorting bins' for clean clothes.  We don't often fold clothes when it comes out of the dryer because of time.  We do try to do a quick sort of the clean clothes so that folding is really easy at a later time.  We can just grab a bin a night.  Each bin has a chalkboard label on it with an initial coordinating to a family member: L, H, M, D and there is a bin for linens and one for towels.  




Now the change isn't that dramatic, but you must consider that the space we were working with is super small...like about 25 square feet.  Before the feeling was blah and now, I love opening the door and getting to work!

Linking up to Thrifty Decor Chick.

Monday, October 15, 2012

We're Halloween Happy!

We are so ready for Halloween.  The kids and I decorated the last day of September and we had ghost shaped grilled cheese for lunch that day:)!  Here is how our great room is looking right now:











I haven't tackled any new Halloween crafts this year (though there is still a couple of weeks left...you never know what I might end up doing...I don't even know:)!), but I thought it would be fun to revisit the Halloween projects we completed last year, so here goes:















Homemade Mercury Glass Pumpkin

We sure had fun and stayed busy last October:)!  Do any of you have plans to create some homemade Halloween fun this year?