My Daughter's New Room

It's Finally Finished!!!! I Can't Believe It! I Tell Ya, It Was A Lot Of Hard Work For Both Me and My Husband, But It Turned Out Wonderful!

We Created Two Separate Area's For Our Daughter - Her Kitchen & Her Reading Nook.

Let's Start With The Kitchen...

This is What The Kitchen Looked Like Before. My Mom Had Saved It From When My Sister & I Were Kids, Which I Am Thankful For Because I Get To Use It For My Daughter....Thanks Mom!

This Is The Kitchen. I Saw This Color When I Was Researching Ideas For This Kitchen & I Liked The Retro Green.

The Red Just Came To Me After & I'm Happy With The Way It Turned Out!

Here Is My Husband Hanging the Bead Board.

He Has a Little Inspector Making Sure He Is Doing It Correctly!

 

This is What It Looked Like When It Was All Painted, but Still Needed A Lot Of Personal Touch. The Sink Was Missing When I Received It From My Parents, So I Searched Everywhere For One & The One We Ended Up Using Wasn't Wide Enough, So My Handy Husband Added The Strip Of Wood!

He Also Replaced The Handles On The Stove & Refrigerator With Ones I Found at IKEA.

I Found This Shelf Liner At Target & It Matched Perfectly!

 These Two Pictures Are In Fact Different! Can You Figure Out How?....

The Blue & Red 'Basket's' I Found At Target Too & They Were The Perfect Colors & Size To Hold the Pots/Pans, Dishware & Food!

I Found These Red Pots & Pans By Melissa & Doug Online. I Had Already Purchased The Silver Metal Pots & Pans From IKEA (Along With Red Measuring Cups & A Spatula), But When I Saw These, I Knew I Had To Get Them. Who Knows, My Daughter May Be Cooking For A Ton Of People Someday!?

The Burners Where Part An Idea I Saw Online & Part My Idea. When You Google Play Kitchens, So Many Ideas Come Up & One In Particular Had Made The Burners Out of Wall Protectors (The Kind That Prevent a Door Going Through A Wall). I Bought Mine At Lowe's, But They Have Them At Home Depot Too. I Used Acrylic Paint To Cover Them. The Pegs I Bought Also At Lowe's. I Had Originally Used Round Ones, But It Didn't Turn Out Looking As Nice As the Square Ones. I Used Rust-Oleum 'Hammered' Spray Paint (see below) To Cover Them.

The Stove Knobs Was An Idea I Saw Online Too. Someone Had Gone Into An Appliance Repair Shop & Asked If They Had Any Spare Knobs & She Was Handed A Box Full.

I Wasn't As Lucky, Because I Had To Pay For Mine, But What's $7?!

I Found These Basic Replacement Knobs At Coast Appliance Parts, Co. 

I Love That They Have "Hi" & "Off" On Them! Almost Like It's The Real Thing!

  

I Bought These Porcelain "Hot" & "Cold" Knobs on eBay. Some Of the Ideas I Saw Online People Had Used A Whole Kitchen Replacement Kit, But Since I Had A Lot Of The Parts & Just Wanted To Upgrade Them For A Better Look, I Bought Parts Individually.

Here Is A Picture Of The Whole Sink Area. The Water Spout Used to Be Red, But Thanks to Rust-Oleum, It Looks Real!!! 

And For The Sink...As I Mentioned Above, I Had a Heck of A Time Trying To Find The Perfect Sized Replacement. I Tried Round Metal Mixing Bowls, Metal Serving Trays, Metal Loaf Pans...But Nothing Fit. So, I Decided To Dig For What I Had In My Kitchen & I Came Across This Silicone Loaf Pan Someone Had Bought For My Husband & Me For Our Wedding (7 yrs Ago). Whomever That Was, Thank You! I Made a Bunch Of Banana Bread With It Over The Years & Now My Daughter Gets To Use It, So What A Perfect Gift! I Spray Painted It With The Rust-Oleum 'Hammered' Spray Paint & It Looked Like Real Metal (not silicone)! I Bought The Spray Paint At Home Depot. I Don't Believe Lowe's Carries the Rust-Oleum Brand. One of My Favorite Buys!

For The Words On The Wall, I Used My Cricut. The Cartridges Were On Sale At JoAnn's Fabric, So I Bought A Few. This Font Is From Type Candy Font.

The Idea To Put These Pictures of My Daughter Up Came From My Sister-In-Law. She Said, "Babies Like Looking At Themselves," Which Is True, Plus, It Added Dimension To The Wall. I Found The Idea On Pinterest & It Lead Me to This Blog. Most Crafty People Have Mod Podge & Card Stock, Which Is About All You Need.  The Ribbon Is From Michael's, Which I Find Usually Has A Better Selection Than JoAnn's. 

  This Is The 'Dining' Area. The Table & Chairs Came From My Pap-Pah Who Had Made A Set For Me, My Sister & My Cousin Years Ago. They Are Solid Wood & The Perfect Size For My Daughter. The Table Cloth Came From My Husband's Grandmother Who Collected Linens. The Window Came From My Friends. They Replaced All The Windows In Their Home & Had Been Hanging Onto These Old Ones, So I Snatched One Up! The Branch Is From The Tree In My Front Yard & The Owl & Bird I Made From My Cricut Using the Straight From The Nest Cartridge.

The Valance Was So Easy. I Found A Tutorial On This Blog. It Didn't Take Much Time At All. It's The Same Tutorial I Used For The Valance Over The Kitchen

As Well As For The 'Reading Nook' (see below). Remember With Valances, Double Your Width So That It Gathers...Thanks Mom!

And For The Accessories....

  

The Ketchup/Mustard/Salt/Pepper Combo Was The Highlight Find! I, Like The Kitchen Sink, Looked Everywhere For A Retro Ketchup/Mustard Bottle Like These & I Wasn't Having Much Luck. I Went To Bed, Bath & Beyond (BBB) & Didn't See Them (although I found some other items I needed). So, When I Was About To Walk Away From The Register, Mind You Disappointed That BBB Didn't Have What I Was Looking For, I Asked The Woman Checking Me Out...Long Story & 30 Minutes Later...They Brought Me This Combo! Best Part, It Was Only $4.99!!! On Sale!! The Salt/Pepper Shaker Didn't Have Anything On Them, So I Used My Cricut To Put the 'P' & 'S' On Them. I Love That They Are Plastic...Child Proof!

I Found The Broom & Dust Pan At Tuesday Morning (You Never Know What You'll Find In There!) I Also Found The Red & White Towels Below There.

The Bird Hooks Came From The Target $1 Bins. They Were Black, So I spray Painted Them White To Match The Rest Of The Decor.

 

The Chalkboard On The Fridge Was My Idea. I Had Originally Wanted To Paint It With Magnetic Paint & Use Some Sure Magnets I Found At Michael's, But the Paint Didn't Work. The Magnets Didn't Stick, So I Went With The Chalk. We Used The Bead Board & Bead Board Frame, Painted It & Rubbed Some Chalk On It.

When My Daughter Gets Older, She Will Have Fun Making Her Own Grocery List!

 The Reading Nook ~  

I Wanted To Create A Space For My Daughter To Explore Her Books (since she can't read yet) & I Found The Idea Of Transforming the Closet Into A Reading Nook Online. Perfect Hide-Away!

I Knew We Had To Take The Closet Door Off The Hinges The Moment My Daughter Shut Herself In Her Closet, So I Made a Valance For Privacy (and Decor) Using The Valance Tutorial Mentioned Above. The Curtain Rod I Found At Anna's Linens.

I Painted Her Closet Blue, Then Added The Stripes. I Kind Of Stole The Idea From My Friends, The Ahlbergs! Thanks Guys! I Found The Pink Owl Chair Over A Year Ago At The Home Goods In The Bay Area & Since My Daughter's Room Was Owl Themed, I Had To Get It.

The Rocking Chair Was Mine When I Was A Kid.

My Sister-In-Law Found This Idea To Use Crates As Bookshelves On This Blog. I Didn't Find The Exact Crates From Michael's That the Blogger Found, But I Did Find These There. I Only Had To Paint Them White & Hang Them. No Cutting Necessary!

As I Mentioned, This Project Was A Lot Of Work, But So Worth It! My Daughter Is Only 21 Months Old & She Doesn't Quite Have The Concept Of The Kitchen Down Yet, Nor Does She Read Yet, But Someday She Will, Which Is Why It's Worth...She Won't Out-Grow It For A Few More Years!

My Mother's Decor

At This Moment, I Am Working on Redoing My Daughter's Room, So Since I Don't Have Much To Share With You At This Point on My Projects, I Thought I Would Share With You My Mother's.

My Mother Has Always Been the Creative One In The Family. And Until Lately, I Wondered Why It Didn't Get Passed Down...I See Now That I Needed to Become a Stay-At-Home Mom to Tap Into What My Mother Had Given Me!

Although My Parents Have 2 Homes (their primary in the San Fransisco bay Area, and secondary in Arizona), I Will Show You The Decor of Her Primary Home Now, and Her Secondary Later Since I Have A Lot of Pictures.  Both Places Have My Mother's Creative Touch In Them and I Would Love to Share With You (with her permission).

She Got The Idea To Hang Old Suitcases & Use Them As Shelves From

2011 Flea Market Style Magazine. Great Idea!!

The Picture is Of My Grandfather & His Siblings On A Horse Carriage (sorry it's not clearer).

This Is Above The Fireplace.

The Piece In The Center Is The Music Stand From A Piano!

The Fireplace

This Wreath Is Made Out Of Brown Coffee Filters. You Just Gather Each Filter Individually, Twist the End So It Comes To a Point & Glue it Onto A Piece of Circle Styrofoam! Add Burlap or Ribbon & Hang It!

A Closer Look

Music Runs In The Blood of My Family....

A Piano Is a Must!

This Coffee Table Was My Great Grandmother's. My Mother Has Been Holding Onto it For A Long Time And Finally Refurbished It & Used It In Her Living Room (thank you Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint!)

I Love The Different Sizes of Wood & the Hinge Is A Great Touch to The Piece!

Ahhh, The Yellow & Blue Bathroom. I Did Not Mention Earlier, But My Parents Purchased This Home From My Grandfather (this is the home my father grew up in).  So, Why Did My Grandmother Choose Yellow?!?!  My Mom Found A Way To Make It Work!

A Chandelier Is A Great Touch In A Bathroom!

Notice The Magazine Rack....

Perfect For Bathrooms That Don't Have A Lot of Extra Floor Space

"It is tub tub time" Is The Song My Parents Sang to My Sister and Me When it Was Time To Take a Bath & We Have Passed That Song Onto Our Kids.  The Pictures Are of All My Mother's Grandkids During "tub tub time"! She Got the Idea From This Blog & Personalized It.

My Favorite Picture, Of Course, Is My Daughter!

The Family Photo Wall. I Love How Some Pictures Are Hung & Some Are Free Standing. The Different Shape Frames Add Texture Too!

This Door Separates The Kitchen From The Downstairs Area. It Was A Solid Door, But My Mother Replaced it With A Glass Door...Much More Decorative! The Wreath Idea She Got From This Blog.

This Sign Is For My Nephews, Both Boys, 2 Years Apart In Age & Love The Wii!!!

I Love This Piece! Who Would Have Thought Shutters Would Make A Great Wall Decor!?

This Was a Full Rocking Chair At One Point, But My Mother Thought it Would Look Better Hanging Above Her Bed, so She Cut it & Added The Hardware!

This Wreath Was Made Out Of Book Pages. She Found The Idea Here.

A Closer Look. 

My Mother Chose Cherries As The Theme to Her Kitchen. But This is My Favorite Piece In That Room.

This Song Has So Many Memories, As I'm Sure it Does for All Of Us! You Can Download This Print For Free Here.

This Recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies is From My Grandmother (My Mother's Mom). This is Her Actual Recipe Written By Her & It Happens To Be One of Her Best Recipes!

My Mother is All About Personal Touch. She Says She "Decorates From The Heart," Which Means Almost Every Piece of Decor Has A Meaning & It Usually Relates To The Family. I'm Thankful That My Mother Has Not Only Inspired Me in Her Decorating, But Has Given Us Glimpses Here & There Into Our Heritage!

Thanks Mom!!!

Pinterest Test: Pass

This is Probably My Favorite Pinterest Test So Far Because It Was Such A Success! Check Out These Awesome Pillow Mattresses!!!

At First I Thought These Would Be Perfect for My Niece and Nephew. Then I Thought, My Daughter Would Love One Too! Then I Just Had To Make One For My Friend's Daughter...Let's Just Say, I Have A Lot of Kids I Would Like to Still Make These For!

It Just So Happened That My Sister-In-Law Julie Was In Town and I Came Up With The Bright Idea For Her to Make One for Our Nephew Jack and I Can Make One for Our Niece Jolie (use her as the guinea pig to see if these turn out cute or not), and They Turned Out Great!

Mine & Julie's Other Sister-In-Law Tammi, Says the Kids Love Them.....

So Comfy!!!

Here is the One I Made for My Daughter

And Of Course, I Had to Make One for My Friend's Daughter!!!

Here Is The Blog I Got The Pattern From: No Rest For The Creative. At This Time, The Pattern Is Not Available Due To Negotiations With The Blogger And The Company She Got The Pattern From, But It Looks Like She Is Going To Have The Pattern Available

Soon And With Some Upgrades. In The Meantime,

Let Me Know If You Want To Make One And I Can Help You Out With the Details.

Super Hero Cape

Well Hello. I Know It's Been A While Since I Posted Anything, But That's Because I Have Been Traveling. It Just So Happens That I Leave Town Again Today, So I Wanted To Send Out This Post Before I Disappeared Again.

I Stole This Project Idea From My Mother. She Had Made A Cape For My Nephew and Cousins and When Our Good Friend's Son Was Turning 1, I Thought It Would Be a Perfect Gift For Him (Side Note: He Started Walking At 11 Months, So I Knew He Could Run Around Wearing It!!!)

My Mother Had Purchase The Pattern From Georgia Leigh's Etsy Store Here. You Can Go Onto Her Website Here to Get More Ideas and Appliques.

Here Are the Items You Will Need:

1. Two Different Pieces of Fabric (yardage will depend on the size you want to make it)

I Chose Blue & Red Color Since They Seem to Be the Universal Colors For SuperHero's.

The Material was a Polyester/Rayon Mix, But You Can Use Whatever Material You Want.

2. Sheets of Felt. The Color Is Going to Be Determined On What Symbols/Letters/Designs You Chose. I Knew I Had To Incorporate Green On This One Since Our Friend's Son's Room is Green.

 Eh, Just Another Picture Of The Previously Mentioned Materials

3. Fusible Webbing. The Yardage on This Will Be Determined On How Much You Need.  This Will Be Used To Attach The Felt to The Cape.

JoAnn's Carries Pellon and The 725 Heavy-Duty Wonder-Under Was the Perfect Stiffness and It Is 2-Sided. Not All Fusible Webbing is 2-Sided, so Be Careful You Don't Get the Wrong One!

(Side Note: Another option to attaching the felt is to sew it on. You can use a simple Straight Stitch or even a Zig-Zag.)

Here is The Cape I Made For My Friend's Son.  'WCA' Are His Initials. I Attached The Straps With Velcro. You Can Do A Snap or Hook & Loop Closures, But This Was Much Easier to Take Off Of and Put On a Baby Who Doesn't Want to Stay Still For Very Long!

So, Since the First Cape I Sewed Didn't Turn Out Exactly How I Liked It, I Kept it For My Daughter.  She Is a Little 'Wonder Woman'!

I Printed the 'Wonder Woman' Logo Onto an Iron-On Transfer, Which Was Ironed Onto A White Piece of Felt. The Tricky Part Was Getting The Logo Onto The Black Piece of Felt Since the Iron-On Transfer Was Exposed (I Hope This Makes Sense). Basically, I Was Not Able to Use the Fusible Webbing For Any Part Of the Logo. I Used Fabric-Tac by Beacon. I Did Use the Fusible Webbing For The Silver Stars.

It's Still A Little Big For Her, But She Will Grow Into It!