Girls Bed

Searching we found this bed  we <3. Previously We had a hand-me-down queen sized bed given to us by our in-laws. It was huge, and uncomfortable and not nearly as cute. Pottery Barn is wonderful to look at but until I win the lottery there's no way I'm spending $1700 on a bed for a 4 year old. This is where Ana white steps in we found a tutorial to build that very bed. We made a few small tweaks to make it our style, and allowed Daniel to play with his newest toy.

 You start by making 2 boxes. We used MDF since it is going to be painted white, Instead of buying 1x12" which is hard to find and pricey

 We trimmed it out with 1x2" (ripped down from 2x3") the cheapest options.

We used Plywood for the head and foot board and stained it with left overs from redoing the hardwood.

Time to assemble. Isn't my Puppy cute?

 We used left over pieces of 1x6 left over from our deck for the slats.

Then Clamped and screwed the head and foot board on.

We left these screws exposed incase we need to disassemble it. They're hidden behind trim so they're not visible.

ET VOILA!
Now we're working on one for Annalilia.

In the Bafroom - The story of my house Part III

 SO SORRY ABOUT THE AWFUL BEFORE PIC! Yeah, it's a cell phone picture, But I'm glad that we at least have that. I'm sure you can't tell, but the shower, which was 50% tub surround, 50% duct tape, had built in glass sliding doors. And your knees hit the tub when you sat on the toilet. We chose to Gut, and start fresh

Yeah, That was really nice. Chunks of lint, and cigarettes and...? I don't really want to know. Came falling out of the fan vent hose. Appealing. Who's that Man of Mystery? Daniel did So much of the work, as I was Very pregnant while this was going on. But I still take some of the credit.

Tiling; The Bath/shower walls on the Left, and the floor, and tub front on the right. We used 12x12" tiles that were only $0.69 each, and cut them down (and by We, I mean Daniel ;-D) It took so long to do, but I love the high end customized look it gave for under $100.

View from the Hallway

What do you guys think? I know it's a teeny, tiny space but I still Adore the deep chocolate brown in there.

 This is my first Completed room,
It has new dry wall, new electrical, new plumbing (We still need to replace the Stack) Tiled, painted, new light switches, and fixtures. I love it.

I kind of like this little Shit box- The Story of my House Part II

Well Guys, I'm actually starting to like this little House. Yes, We're up to our ears in Debt. Yes, We've just barely started the renovations. Yes, It's half the size I wish it were. But I'm not hating it. I'm actually quite proud of what we've done in our spare time with a small amount of money.

This is a Sort of Before picture. We were so enthused when we bought the house we forgot to take pictures before we started ripping wall paper off. That is the actual colour our kitchen was, not because It's a bad picture, it had something to do with the orange nicotine stained walls, in combination with the light fixture globe, that was stained brown, and orange from the smoke and grease build up. Don'tcha just love it. 

 

The Cupboards, which were wall papered, and had 8+ different paint colours layered on, 3 layers of Mac Tac, on the shelves, and cigarette burns. Were also missing knobs.

This is what my kitchen looked like for the first few months we were in the house. Yeah... It was, uh, Fun? But notice my new fridge, and stove, and the portable dishwasher on the right, A hand-me-down from my sister Michelle. Do you like my counter top accessories? doesn't everyone have drills charging in the kitchen? and to the left along the wall is where the drywall, and wood was stored. :-D

Now That's some lovely carpet on the Kitchen floor, isn't it?

We found a "clean" clean piece for comparison, What do you think? My favourite part was when the floor got wet, and your sock would turn brown if you stepped on it. Also the huge spot on the floor in front of the stove where I May, or May Not have spilled half a can of primer on the floor... Hehee.

 

 So after nearly two years of living with that kitchen floor, and of wearing slippers in our house 24/7 We just didn't know what to do. The carpet was glued directly to the linoleum underneath, The linoleum underneath which was chalk full of asbestos was glued directly to the wood underneath it. We didn't want to rip it all up, and tile the floor. We want to redo the kitchen and move everything around, cutting out walls, rearranging all. Tiling would just be a waste of money. We couldn't just glue lino on top of the carpet, on top of the linoleum, on top of the wood. We contemplated just throwing down plywood, it seemed like the best option. Then a brainstorm hit. We cut plywood into 3" strips, and nailed it to the floor. Three sheets of plywood Some left over stain and varnish, a heck of a lot of nails, and voila

 

Not to shabby, Hey Guys? Well I happen to love it, and It's a heck of a lot better than it was before. We chose Plywood boards with awesome Grain details. I think it's Gorg! The walls are also painted blue around the cabinets, and Grey on the other two walls.

And the Cupboards. The top ones are just open, We will get around to it one day, but it's a lot of work to sand 60 years worth of paint off of a piece of wood. What do you think? It's all just temporary, in a few years we will gut it and change it around, but for now I'm enjoying my "ghetto Hardwood", and having a kitchen table and chairs, (also a hand me down from my sis Michelle), a functioning work space, NO TOOLS on my counter.  I've found that Owning this home has changed me, A Lot! I'm so appreciative of the small things, I don't expect things to be perfect, or to have a place, or to be dust free in a straight line.

It's definitely not perfect, It's Not Ideal, But it is my Home!

Dolly Cribs

Well, they're 1 part Doll Crib, and 1 part Toy boxes because at the end of the night 4 dolls, and a bunch of teddy bears get piled in them.

 What I used.
2- 2x10x 12"
4- 2x6x 17"
2- 6" scraps of door jamb; or any scrap of wood 1" thick, 6" long

I decided to make the crib 17" long in case we ever get into American girl, or any full sized dollys

 I topped it off with a little pillow, and mattress pad I made from some cotton batting. It's used everyday. Annalilia likes to sit inside it. Sophia likes to play mommy to her baby horse; it's kind of creepy!

My Christmas

Well this year was pretty slow paced compared to our Usual Christmas ordeal.
On Christmas eve we went to Daniel's Parents house for our traditional, board games, Munchies, and Presents. I was just feeling awful, and the kids cranky so we stayed home and had a long nap.  As we drove there, on the ring road a truck in front of us had a shelving unit fly out of the back of his truck and smash into my car... :'-( My poor precious car. Now I have a hole in my bumper, and slices of wooden slivers in my Fog light. It was a Christmas Miracle (or a bad sign for my car???!) That the airbags didn't go off in my face. We were traveling 130 km/ hour and it hit on the front passenger side of the bumper. We were late, and now Cranky, oh my. And although we quit the game before we were done I definitely spanked everyone in a game of Monopoly (Isn't that Right Dan? ;-D) Then we opened our presents. The girls got matching rocking chairs with their names inscribed on the backs, Sophia got a baby Alive, and a light up tracing/ colouring table. And they both got lots of clothes. It wasn't until about Midnight before we finally lugged our tired butts home. We had to finish up assembling the girls Cradles that we made them for Christmas. Talk about procrastination, we were working on them until 2am. 5 hours before they opened them... Oh dear. Christmas Morning My Daddy, his wife, and my brother Brad came over to open presents. We got Dad a Roomba, Brad a new watch, Daniel got a new surround sound, a new sub for his car. Some tools, and money to go buy an amp on boxing day deals. I got Spoiled rotten this year. Daniel got me this bad boy:

Bradley got me a coffee maker, and this attachment:

My In laws, and Daniel went together for my sweetest present eva:

 

EEEEIIII!!!!! I haven't even received it yet, it was special order, but I'm all ready tingling waiting to get my fingers on it.

I also got really generous gift cards, Pajamas, Christmas socks, Beautiful earings, a calendar and more.

It's nice to be blessed with a loving Family.

Our usual Christmas day usual consists of a trip to Moose Jaw to see Daniel's Grandparents, then a rush back home to be with my Westendorp (fathers side) family for a big Christmas celebration, Which is usually 40-50+ strong and held in either my one Aunts restaurant, or my other Aunts warehouse. Non of that this year. I spent the day cleaning (We ended up with an entire deck covered in garbage, barbie boxes, baby doll boxes, stand mixer boxes, bags full of wrapping paper. I felt SO wasteful that day. Maybe next time I'll have to make cloth bags if I'm feeling ambitious), and cuddling with my Honey.  Brad returned after his adventure snowmobiling, and we made Ham, Potatoes, Perogies, Brussels sprouts (yum), corn, and APPLE BAR!!! A family favourite dessert, and I got to make the dough in my new mixer. Add in some trailer trash wine (aka Arbour Mist delish) and Caesars and we had a really nice evening... Oh did I mention I had to work Boxing day at 5 AM?!

 What did you do for Christmas?

Christmas Baking - Cake Pops

 Simple, cute... And a great way to rescue a flopped cake.
These are Daniels Favourite, and on his request list for Baking this year. It's really simple, easy to personalize, and kids go nuts for them (They seem to like anything that's on a stick).
Start off with a Cake, and start breaking and crumbling it up, Mix in your favourite frosting, or filling. I used Raspberry filling, and a butter cream frosting for this one. I whipped it all together with my hand mixer until it was sticking together, and easy to form into balls. Then Sophia and I got rolling, We rolled Tbsp sized Balls and put them in the fridge to chill. The next day (because that's when I had time, they do not have to sit in the fridge overnight) I warmed some white chocolate (full box of bakers chocolate, 8oz squares) in a cup, and added a tsp of oil to it to thin it out. A cup works really well because it keeps the chocolate level high and is great for dipping. I dipped the sticks in the chocolate, got about 1" of it coated, then pressed it into the cake ball, and dipped that in the cup of chocolate. If you want them to be precise balls with a smooth coating than stand them upright in a floral foam, or some sort of Styrofoam while they harden. I did that the first time, and it didn't seem worth my while. So I just plop them upside down on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Then I drizzled them with some semi sweet chocolate... DELISH!!!

Graham Cracker Houses

On Sunday nights we try to get together with Dan's family. This weekend I took a goodie bag with me and we played Board games and made Graham Cracker Candy Houses. It was inexpensive and lots of fun. New Family tradition me thinks.

 

Sophia's House turned into a bed. She kept toppling over the house so I started to make a stack of crackers to give it a filling, than was going to cover the outside and add a peaked roof. I got half way there, but Sophia liked it as is. Who am I to argue with her ;-) It turned out gorgeous, and she has pretty stained lips from eating all the jube jubes.

 This is My Sister-in-Law Stephanie, she put us all to shame with her precise piping and writing.

My Sister -in- Law Rachelle, Can you believe that at 28 years this is the first gingerbread/ candy house she has ever made???? Wah?! Not too bad for a Newbie ;-D

I hate pictures of myself, but Fair is fair. Here's my Graham Cracker house too. It was fun to make, and simple!

Here are our houses Clockwise starting from the left Mine, Stephanie's, Rachelle's, and Sophia's.

What are your family's Christmas Traditions? I'd love to hear about them. Leave a comment.

Christmas Jammies

One of my Families Traditions was on Christmas eve we'd open one present, a pair of Pajamas. Something nice, warm, and Christmasy. I've been continuing this tradition with my daughters.

 Sophia and I Christmas Eve 2007 In Christmas Jammies

Christmas Morning 2008. With Uncle Brad and Puppy Bella

Annalilia and Sophia Christmas Eve 2009. 

This year I got brave and decided to sew them myself. This was my first time making pants, It was far easier than I had ever expected.

I took a pair of Pants that fit Annalilia Really well, They're a bit too short, but The legs and waist are perfect

With the front of the pants on a fold I cut 2 pieces, folded right sides together and stitched up the leg, stopping at the crotch.

Turn 1 leg right side out, and stuff it inside the other leg,

Sew along the inseam

Unfold the legs from each other,  Double fold a casing for the elastic band to slide into. Remember to leave an opening. I also double stitched the crotch by ironing the fold open, and sewing 1/4 inch away from the seam. 
I hemed the pants, (A little too short I think... Whoopsies) and Appliqued a little matching top. I am not a pattern follower and The only shirts I know how to make aren't exactly jammies, So I opted for a plain $5 t shirt that I dressed up with Scraps. I love the way It looks and even if It makes it for 1 night it will be worth my time. 

And a pair for Sophia. They're Cute, and Similar, without matching, And the girls each picked out their own Fabric for them. Too cute, right?