DIY Dress-up Wardrobe

Remember last week when I revamped a craigslist dresser for my daughters room? I mentioned her old dresser had lived a long, happy life and was ready to go. But as my husband brought it out of her room, I started to think how sturdy it was. Really, only the drawers and tracks were in bad shape.

 As you may know, I hate throwing anything away until I have thought of all possible uses or projects. 

I came up with the perfect project, a dress-up wardrobe for B's room. This is the dresser before the makeover.

And the After

Bumble Bee loves it. Before I had all her costumes (as you can see she has a lot) hanging in her closet, which was just too high. I plan on mounting a couple hooks on the side to hang jewelry on. 

This project was super easy and it only cost $14 out of pocket. We already had the dresser on hand plus the purple paint, and the batting. I had to purchase the closet bar and brackets. They were $6 together. The fabric for the sides ( a twin sheet from the thrift store) was only a whopping $2 and the ric rac ribbon was $6.

The ric rac ribbon was OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive. I needed to buy two spools at $6.99 each!!! Good thing I had coupons :)

After pulling out all the drawers, my amazing husband cut off the support wood for the drawers. This was way easy and I could have done it, but he likes to help. Next I sanded and sanded some more. I wanted to get the inside and out, as smooth as possible.

Once I was content with it's smoothness, I stapled batting to the sides and top. The fabric or sheet I picked up, had ballerina tutu's and slippers on it, plus a ugly barbie head. I cut up the sheet to fit the sides, top and bottom to show as least of the heads as possible and stapled it on top of the batting. 

I was more precise when stapling the fabric on. I only stapled around the edges, that way I could cover the staples with ribbon. When hot gluing the ribbon on, I  added a dot of glue to every staple to insure perfect coverage.

Don't look to closely at the shoes in the bottom of the wardrobe, I don't think she has one match under there in the picture LOL

In need of Rescuing

Me? Oh no. . .

Okay, well maybe. . .

Okay, okay already. YES I am drowning!!! 

Between mid-terms, Brooke's ballet, Tanner's basketball, my zumba, Travis going back to work (yay!), trying to start a incredibly awesome blog and business, tax season, watching two sets of twins, (pause, calm down, deep breath, where's a paper bag?)

 I am a bit overwhelmed. 

One of my favorite stress relievers though, is SHOPPING. I know, not a big shock, all women, at least once in a while, engage in retail therapy. But my version is a tad different, I thrift! When I am feeling down, a thrift store and $20, cheer me right up. Then I usually go home and craft, my second favorite calming treatment. 

So a few days ago, feeling nothing less than crazy, I shared my secrets with my favorite second hand store. There I found something else in need of rescuing,

 old jewelry boxes. 

There was so many of them on the shelf. They were all for just pennies, too. I just had to renovate a couple. . . or ten, plus a few other wood items. Hey, I didn't use my entire $20. Plus I had a 25% off entire purchase coupon.

Once at home I had to face reality again.  I cleaned the house, made a large after school snack for 6 kiddos, did some homework and then cooked dinner for the fam.

But later that night, when all were asleep, I crafted away! 

 This  is my favorite box I picked up. It was in great condition on the outside, but horrid on the inside. It is actually a music box. It plays Elvis' Teddy Bear or to me Full House's Teddy Bear song.  The music mechanism is in pristine condition too. 

Before:

After:

This little lady had a southern belle attitude just dying to come out.

This simple box was 10 cents, so of course, I couldn't pass it up, but I had a hard time figuring out what to do with it. Not my favorite, but it has a fun chalkboard finish. 

It can heart whatever your heart desires.

And lastly, for now, a cute plate. I just love silhouettes. I am not sure why the picture looks so weird around the flower. . . hmm. I hand painted a charming little girl silhouette with a flower in her hair 'cause I could :)

Now, I have to find a spot in my craft room for about eight more boxes.

Hope everyone is having a great day! And if not. . .  THRIFT! It works wonders, plus it doesn't break the bank like Macy's :)

Baby Alex's Growth Chart

 I can finally post about the growth chart I made last week. I have been unable to share it because I was afraid the "soon to be mama" might sneak a peek. I painted the growth chart to match her CoCaLo Nali Jungle Dream with Me crib bedding set. 

When painting this growth chart, I found it to be quite the challenge. See, I am a very "colorful" person. I struggled, not to add a punch of color to it. My friend who ordered it as a gift, wanted it to match the mama's theme completely, including only it's colors. 

The monkey is freaking adorable though. I love how his legs dangle off. If I had more time, I totally would have figured out a way to copy the legs.

Happy Valentine's Day + coupon deal *EXPIRED*

I am soo excited for V-day this year because . . . . .

We are celebrating  with dinner and a movie. Not any movie though, Lady and the Tramp! One of my all time favorite Disney movies. It was just released on DVD with an great coupon deal.

 

There is a  Lady and the Tramp coupon available.  You can save $5 on the 2disk Blue Ray combo pack or $8 off the 3disk combo pack.

You just need to enter a code from a DVD or VHS copy of the movie at Disney Movie Rewards. ( I googled for my UPC)

Plus at Safeway right now they have this deal

So all of that for just 19.99!!! Great Deal, huh?

 We are having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner of course, and for desert we are treating ourselves to a sundae bar with all the fixings.

 Easy Spaghetti and Meatballs 

 What makes this recipe so easy, is I use store bought sauce. I would love to make homemade spaghetti sauce, but my kiddos don't like it much. I have to say it tastes better than would be expected from store bought. I think that is due to the sauce simmering for an extended amount of time. 

    2 (30 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce

    2 lbs lean ground beef

    2 eggs

    ¾ cup dry breadcrumbs

    ¼ cup fresh parsley , chopped

    1 garlic clove , minced

    ½-1 teaspoon salt

    ¼ cup parmesan cheese

    1 lb cooked spaghetti

Directions:

Place sauce in a large saucepan and simmer over medium heat.

In large bowl mix beef, eggs, crumbs, parsley, garlic, salt and Parmesan.

Shape into 18 meatballs.

Place meatballs in simmering sauce.

When sauce returns to a simmer, cover and cook 30-35 minutes (or more!) till cooked through.

Serve sauce and meatballs over warm spaghetti.

  Overall great Because I love you day with the kids and Hub.

UPDATED Deal over!

Free Veggie Tales App

The VeggieTales Spotisode Collection app is currently FREE. Not only do the kiddos like VeggieTales, but I love the messages taught too.
Click here for Android users and here for apple users.

 

The VeggieTales Spotisode Collection challenges children to find or “spot” things in the videos. As they find them, new levels with new clips and new lessons are unlocked. A child’s success with a “spot list” opens up new levels built on additional videos that teach new important lessons.

That's Trashy

Today I had a genius moment. 

While my husband was taking out trash, I began to pile things on the counter to be thrown away. 

This is the pile

 

Okay, minus the paint and glue gun. I was throwing away a book I just finished reading, that my dog chewed on ( by the way, it was called My Husband's Sweethearts, decent book for a dollar store find), a small piece of red silky material, that had an iron mark burned into it, a piece of lace that had a slightly noticeable sun stain and a large piece of cardboard. Bumble Bee added the heart to the picture.

As I ran in and out of my craft room cleaning, I was drawn back to the pile on the counter. I had to have looked back at it ten or so times before I decided to put it all on the table and figure out what was wrong.

Then it came to me. This wasn't trash but treasure. LOL I can't believe now, that I was throwing away that book, with so many pages of beautiful print left inside. Slowly, the project evolved. 

First, I ripped out many pages of the book, and cut them into swirls. Taking each swirl from the outside, I tightly rolled it up, like below on the right. To get the flower look, loosen up the rolled paper. It will fall perfectly into place as a rose, just like magic.

 After making forty or so, I cut the cardboard into a ring and began to hot glue the roses on. One dot of glue on the center bottom, to attach the flower to the card board and one dot on the top of the center, to attached the rest of the swirl. 

If I had more cardboard, I would have re-cut the wreath a bit thicker, to fit three flowers,

 instead of just two.

With the silky fabric scrap, I made a no-sew rosette. Once I added the rosette to a open spot and glued the lace to the back, it was finished. Only took five minutes and saved some room in my trash can. Cute, Right?

Now, I encourage you to go trash diving and turn your trash into treasure. Just stay away from the eggs shells and anything with a non recognizable liquid on it.

Craigslist Revamp: French Inspired Dresser

I think I am in love. This little dresser, my husband picked up for $15, is adorable. It is small, but perfect for Brooklyn's room. It is perfectly structurally sound too. I didn't have to reinforce it at all. This french style dresser is older than her current dresser yet in better shape.

Right now, she is wearing crisp white. I have  a feeling, she may need some color though. Maybe not. We will see tomorrow, when I put her in Bee's room.

Not sure why the dresser drawers look shadowed badly, I need a new camera (Hope hubs reads this!)

Our Version of the Sucker Valentine *UPDATED*

Lately on Pinterest, I have seen some super fun homemade valentines. I have been dying to make some of our own but T-bird really enjoys to pick out his favorite store bought character valentines. He does love crafting too, though.

 I asked T if he would like to make his own Valentine's this year. He said yes with two demands:
1.They had to be AWESOME
2.We had to make a girl friendly one. 

 

T-bird picked out all the outfits himself. I honestly didn't think we would make a Valentine from each costume, but since all the scenes turned out perfect that he I  insisted. We uploaded to Picnik because I thought it would be an easier editor for T to use. He picked out everything, the photo effects, clip art, and text. Together with a little help from Google, we came up with the sayings for each.

It only cost $5.36 to have 26 photo valentines printed one hour at Wal-Mart. While waiting T picked out suckers and a special marker to write on the back of them. Once home, I cut two slits, with an exacto knife, above and below his hand. T-bird stuffed the suckers. But be careful with this part, he demolished a valentine on the first try because they rip so easily. 

Making these was way easy and super fun. The cost all together, valentines and candy, turned out to be less than $10. Which is about how much it would have cost to buy them. Plus we got some good quality Mother-Son bonding time in there. Not to mention, T-bird informed me these were the COOLEST valentines ever!

I thought I would mention PICNIK is sadly closing soon. But I heard Google owned the photo editor and just moved it to Google+!!! So all you out there wanting to edit photos for free, try Picnik. It is sooo easy and does not close until April 19. Then if you love it, which you will, open a google+ account if you don't already have one!!

  If i want a super easy and fast photo editor similar to PICNIK, I now use PicMonkey.

 Now we have to make a special Valentine for a visually impared boy in Tanner's class. Tanner has requested he gets a special one with braille. I dont think I can DIY braille, but I am thinking lots of texture. Like a bear cut out of faux fur. Any ideas??? Oh, his party is tomorrow too. Nothing like a last minute deadline.

I mustache you a question..... FREEBIE

How awesome are these Valentine's? I channeled my inner elementary school-er and made these valentines with the mustache printable, found here. Great for all ages. Leave for your co-workers with a treat or print for your kiddos classroom valentines exchange!

Freebie Mustache Valentine

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Print away!!

Free 20 Issue Subscription of FamilyFun Magazine NO Strings Attached EXPIRED

Woohoo! ValueMags is offering a FREE 20 issue subscription to Disney’s FamilyFun magazine. No strings attached. You will never recieve a bill!!! Act fast though, the deal won't last long. They advertised this promo last week and it was gone in a flash.  EXPIRED

Easy Potato Soup Racipe

Potato soup in fresh bread bowls, yum. Not only does the hub like it, the kids love it too (plus the neighbors). It is super easy to make and only takes 4-5 hours in the crock pot.

8 or so potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 10 3/4 oz cans cream of celery soup

2 10 3/4 oz cans cream of chicken soup

2 1/2 cups of water

6 cups of milk

8 oz of instant potato flakes

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

1 teaspoon of salt

In a slow cooker, add potatoes, soups and water. Cover and cook on high until potatoes are tender, about 2 hours. Stir in milk, salt and pepper. Add potato flakes to desired consistency, stirring constantly. Continue to cook covered on high for an additional 2 to 3 hours. Serve in bread bowls. Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, green onions, bacon crumbles, or sour cream. 

To cook bread bowls preheat oven to broil. Cut top off at angle, like upside down cone. Cut top flat. Tear out bread inside bowl and set aside. Spread thin coat of butter on top and sides. Coat with favorite seasoning salt, ours in Johnny's. Broil for a couple minutes until crisp.

Serves 8-10

Great for leftovers or freezing.

My top five favorite blogs!

I am currently working on something super cute for SmittenBee' room. I can't wait to share it. I really thought I would be done with it today but school has kicked my behind this week. Three big test plus two weeks of assignment catch up, on a class that has had technical difficulties :P

So here I am taking an extended break, visiting my favorite blogs. I follow five blogs that I just love. Some give me ideas and inspiration. Some have great tips and techniques for crafting. Here they are in no special order

Free Pretty Things for You is full of gorgeous vintage freebie printables. Tons of vintage inspired crafts too. Keren, the blog owner also designs for Shabby Blogs.

The Krazy Coupon Lady is the best extreme couponer around. While I am not extreme, I do love to get great deals. Heather and Joanie do a great job of breaking down product sale's to receive the best deal.

Pretty Handy Girl is a great source for DIY projects. That girl knows how to use her power drills.

The Small Things Blog is a girly-girl blog. Kate has a never ending list of posts on how to's about hair make-up and style.

 

Girl In Air is everything I wish my blog to become. She is my inspiration. Michell shares all sorts of craft tutorials.