FINALLY back to the Master!

I cannot believe it has been MONTHS since I first posted about redecorating my master bedroom!  I believe I may have been pregnant way back then and my baby is now a 10 1/2 month old!  Aaaaah...how does this happen?

So, yes, I have been busy for the last few months, but it was seriously driving me nuts with the bedroom in limbo.  But, I am back on the horse and ready to get these last few details done!

Here is the progress so far...

 

WAY back when, the bedroom looked like this...

I wanted light and bright...gray, yellow, crisp white (with a little turquoise thrown in here and there.)

My doors were an off white, with BRASS knobs...hated them.  So, I painted them white and spray painted them an oil rubbed bronze to bring them into this century!  Old door, EW.

New door...better!!

And, I love my His and Hers nightstands...just cut vinyl on the Silhouette, then painted over it and pulled the vinyl off.  I distressed the edges a bit and voila.  Reminds me of a hotel, and I like it!

These frames I bought at Kohls were $7 a piece.  I just thought they were cool...

Definitely happy with the progress so far, but there is more to do...stay tuned!!

Linking up!
Making the World Cuter

Big RED Piano

This post will be plain and simple...because it really was SIMPLE!  So much easier than I anticipated.  I, like you, I am sure have seen SO many beautifully painted pianos recently.  When a friend of mine was getting rid of hers, I offered $100 and we hauled it home.  It definitely needed a makeover, as you can see!

I found the perfect color, Sundried Cherry from Benjamin Moore.  I used a tinted primer, then painted three coats in a Satin finish and I think it was the perfect choice.  Not too shiny, but I didn't want to have to use a polyurethane. 

We decided to leave the area where the piano maker marked it alone.  So, to tie everything together, I left the stool legs unfinished and used a chocolate brown paint to paint the stencils on the doors. 

Seriously, I am in LOOOOOVE with our red piano!

Linking up!

Candy Shop Party

My baby turns five this month...and I love to throw parties!  About six months ago, I decided on a Candy Shop Party.  Particularly because I saw a picture of a lollipop tree.  That was it for me!  There was no turning back...

I made the lollipop tree...and then some.  We had chocolate covered pretzels, peanut M&Ms, Mike & Ikes, gummie butterflies and Runts.  I bought cute little bags to put the candy in and my mom found "E" napkins at Target.  Perfect.  Thanks to a friend of mine for loaning me the candy jars and scoops.  They were absolutely PERFECT!  The banner I made from scrapbook paper and ribbon.

I decided to go with these Heath Bar Cupcakes in mason jars to eliminate a huge mess...if you've ever seen a five year old eat a cupcake, you'll understand why!  :-) For the beverages, mason jars filled with lemonade and paper straws.  I dressed them up all up with some cute, coordinating ribbon.

I think the first thing I purchased were the Melissa & Doug Make Your Own Jewelry sets.  They were around $3.50 a piece.  I thought it was a great price and I love Melissa & Doug toys.  I figured this would be the craft for the party.  Something to keep the girls occupied for a while.

Then, I started on the favors.  I decided to use my formula cans as holders.  I dressed them up with some scrapbook paper, a bow and "thank you" cut out on my Silhouette.  I think they turned out really cute!  :-)

I got odds and ends at Target's $1 bins...some were on clearance for 25 or 50 cents.  I got lip glosses, chapsticks that were candy flavored (i.e. jolly rancher, twizzler, skittles), notepads.  And, I got some spa masks at the Dollar Tree to add.  Then, I put candy necklaces and bracelets in a cute turquoise jewelry box...I thought they were really cute for not a lot of money. 

After the girls made their jewelry, I took them outside for a game of Musical Candy (music included "Lollipop," "I Want Candy," and "Candy.").  I cut out candy shapes and had the girls walk around them and like Musical Chairs, I simply picked one up after each turn until there was one winner.  The winner took home cupcake bath soap and a lollipop foot scrubber.  Cute!

Emma LOVED the party!  I made her a video slideshow so she can look back on it, and maybe someday even show her little ones.  

Later, we invited the family over and the adults had some yummy cupcakes...I let them eat them without the mason jars.  :-)

The birthday girl was exhausted at the end of the night!  Just love my little peanut...

Happy 5th Birthday to my first baby girl!  :-)

Linking up!!

Party Preparations...

Can't believe my baby girl is turning five years old next month!  Time is truly flying by.  It's extremely bittersweet, but I know I am probably preaching to the choir about that. 

For the big #5, we are throwing a Sweet Shop Party for my sweetie.  I will have an array of delicious goodies for the girls to nibble on.  I saw this cute little bouquet on Pinterest (of course) and the party wouldn't be complete without it.  I bought a 6" styrofoam ball and used 4+ bags of Dum Dums on it.  We'll be sucking on lollipops for the next year.  :-)

Still have to work on a few finishing touches for the party, but it's going to be FABULOUS!  Can't wait for my girly to enjoy it with her friends...

...to be continued.  :)

On an unrelated topic, we ran the Warrior Dash this past weekend!  While I would have liked to have been in even better shape, I did it!  I finished in 1 hr. 16 min.  The Warrior Dash is essentially a 5K through rough terrain, with 12 obstacles, finishing with jumping over fire and swimming through a pool of mud under barbed wire.  It was incredible...challenging, fun, exhilerating and most of all, DIRTY!  We loved it!  We all had a blast.  The others are already talking about next year...I am letting my body heal before making that decision.  But, I am very proud of myself.  :-)  I still have some baby weight to lose and I have taken up yoga once a week in addition to strength training and cardio.  I love it!  I'll be posting more about it, specifically my Warm 60 class, Bikram yoga in 90 degrees...it's fantastic.  Trust me!

Have a wonderful Monday!

First Newborn Session

Baby Jayla was a bit more alert than we would have liked, but with a little patience and persistence, we got her to sleep for a brief amount of time, and I was able to get these lovelies.  I love newborn babies...

Boys, boys, boys...

This is by far one of my most favorite sessions to date!  How cute are these guys...and the husband and wife are some of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.  We had a gorgeous day for some pictures!

Mother's Day Photo Wood Transfer

Mother's Day...it's a tough holiday.  Let's face it.  I am a mom, I have a mom and I have a mom-in-law.  And, many, many a Mother's Day (particularly when I was a teenager) was spent driving early morning the day of, to get some flowers from the tent in front of the convenient store.  Being a mom now has definitely made me more aware of the holiday, but I have been known to, in the recent past, drive to the flower tent the day of...I'm being honest!

But, not this year, no sir!  I had a "light bulb" moment about a month ago.  It was an unseasonably warm day, so I seized it and took pics of the kids with a chalkboard and the words "We <3 you."  I have been wanting to try the wood block transfer with gel medium for a while now.  This was just perfect.

They (one for Nonni, one for Grammy) turned out great!!

BUT, not on the first try!  Here is a serious word of advice...if you are planning to do this with any kind of text, you MUST make sure the text is written/typed backwards (mirror imaged) or your text on the block will be backwards.  I ruined the first two that way...

Here is the actual picture I took.

See, backwards.  This way when you put the paper face down on the wood block, it will come out right.  I really wish someone would have told me that!  :-)

And, for the longer block, I had room to write Happy Mother's Day. (Poor baby girl got a knot of wood in her head - but, you can't win 'em all).  :-)

And, here is the one I actually printed...mirror image.

I did this in CS5, so all I did was type my text, click on the "move" tool (plain arrow on left) and click image, image rotation, flip canvas horizontally.

I found a LOT of tutorials on these wood block photo transfers, but this one by PetaPixel is by far my favorite.  And, I love the music, too! 

So, there you have it!

Now, I am just hoping my mom doesn't decide to read the blog before May 13th!  :-/

Hope everyone has a wonderful and fulfilling Mother's Day!

:-) Erika