Blue Dollhouse Redo Part 1

One day, the strangest, luckiest thing happened.  Someone left not one, but two dollhouses at the recycling center where we take our trash and stuff.  They were unfinished inside and needed a little repair here and there but they were almost identical and perfect for my two little girls. It was like it was meant to be that I find them there.  They have been playing with them “as is” for a while and I finally decided to do a little work on them. 

Today, I will be showing you the first part of the renovation of the blue house.  The first thing I did was repaint the shingles. 

One of my girls decided to start working on them herself.  Yes, she is her mother’s daughter.

For the flooring, I went to Home Depot and grabbed a ton of vinyl and hardwood floor samples.  I hot glued a piece of vinyl in the kitchen to look like granite. 

The next thing I did was cut some more vinyl into little two inch squares for the bathroom.  I hot glued the “tiles” and then used white puff paint for grout. 

Then I added a wall which was missing using two hardwood floor samples. I clicked them together and glued to the floor. It was the perfect size. 

I cut some pink polka dot stationery and glued to the bathroom walls for wallpaper and painted  the rest white.   I used some pink sticker frames for scrapbooking to hang up some “art” in the bathroom which was really some floral patterns from a quilting catalog.

I made a curtain rod using a lollipop stick that I added wooden beads to the ends.  For curtains, I cut some pieces of an old receiving blanket and hot glued them around the edges and made a tiny rod pocket. 

In the bedroom, I added new carpet with some blue craft felt and hot glue.

I also added some new furniture.  I bought some plain unfinished furniture from Dollar Tree and painted it. My daughter picked out the color. 

For now, I added some blue scrap fabric to the bed to cover up the awful red checked fabric that it came with.  I hope to find some nice upholstery samples to replace it with.  Polly Pocket seems to like it though. 

The last renovation was in the living room. I added hardwood floors.  This was done by using the vinyl flooring samples that look like wood.  I cut them into “planks” using a box cutter.

I measured out the planks and marked with a pencil then cut.  I didn’t cut all the way through just enough to separate them.

Snapping some of the vinyl flooring in the same manner.

I would bend them at the line and the planks would snap apart like a kit kat bar!  Then I just glued to the floor.  I had to make some small ones to fill in any gaps at the edges.

So, let’s see what all I have gotten done:

• Shingles
• Kitchen Flooring
• Added Wall
• Wallpaper in Bathroom
• Tile & Grout in Bathroom
• Artwork & window treatment in bathroom
• Bedroom Carpeting
• Bedroom Furniture
• Hardwood Flooring in Living room

If this were my real house, that would have cost a fortune.  Since it was for a dollhouse, it was all free.  I think I like working on dollhouses better!


There is still a lot of work left to do. More painting and wallpaper for the walls and window treatments. Come up with something for the stairs. Then, we need a lot more furniture and decor.  That will be the fun part. 

Oh, and not to mention, I have a whole other house to do as well.  I am becoming obsessed with dolls, dollhouses, and miniature things lately.  Have you ever redone a dollhouse?


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Five Ways To NOT Get Stressed Out (Gimme Five For Friday)

I spent all day sick in the bed yesterday.  Did I have the flu or a virus?  No.  I was suffering from something that affect us all from time to time:  stress.

I suppose it’s not hard for a mom of five kids who works outside the home, is responsible for all of the housekeeping, shopping, errands, appointments and extra activities, and run a blog and online shop to get stressed out from time to time.  Sometimes I just start to feel like I can’t get it all done.  I get that “overwhelmed” feeling. 
 Eventually, if I keep having that feeling, it leads to anxiety or worse, a splitting headache, nausea, and weakness. I just had to rest and try to let my brain “reset”.  It’s hard to believe something like a little stress can leave you in pain and unable to function.  Luckily, I have a loving partner who was able to handle everything for me that night (from dinner to helping with homework) and since I work with him during the day, give me the day off.
So, how could I have avoided this happening?  If I would have remembered to do these five simple things, I would have been able to relieve some of the stress I was feeling.
 
 
1.  Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew.
This is so much easier said than done.  Don’t overschedule yourself.  Allow plenty of time to get to appointments and to arrive at your destination.  I get so stressed rushing to get kids to one place on time and leaving in time to pick up other kids.  Don’t agree to participate in every event or volunteer for things you know you really don’t have time for.  Delegate tasks to other members of the family.  Even small children can help (and are usually the most willing). Time is more valuable than money.  Spend it wisely.
 

 
2.  Prepare Ahead Of Time
This is one of the easiest things that you can do to allow yourself a little breathing room.  Plan ahead,  gather everything you will need for a task the day before.  For example, if you are going grocery shopping on Thursday, plan to spend some time on Wednesday preparing your meals, list, and coupons.  If you have kids that need you to pick out their clothing (or at least approve their outfits), don’t wait until in the morning to find that skirt you had in mind has a stain in it or there is a hole in your son’s jeans or your daughter’s socks don’t match.  If you are really organized, do laundry on the weekend and plan the week’s wardrobe on Sunday.  If that is too large of a goal, have outfits (including shoes and accessories) ready to go the night before.
 

 
3.  Exercise
This is the best thing to do to relieve stress.  Taking a daily walk or doing yoga regularly can help your body and mind to unwind.  Reducing your everyday stress levels increases your ability to stay calm under pressure.  I have been neglecting this one big time.  I used to walk in the mornings and it was the perfect way to start the day.  I would clear my thoughts and enjoy nature. I also exercised for thirty minutes or more at least three times a week.  It gave me plenty of energy to get through my day.   It helped me rest better at night too.
 

 
4.  Take A Time Out
If you feel that you are about to explode, just step back from the situation.  I used to go lock myself in the bathroom for a few minutes.  I did this to keep from beating my kids senseless or screaming my lungs out.  If you are a mom, you know what I mean.  If you are not able (if you have really small children) to step away, take a deep breath and try to say the alphabet backwards in your head.  Visualize the most relaxing beach or comfy cabin you can and go there in your mind, just for a moment.  Not doing this can often result in saying or doing things you regret.  As parents we need to set an example of controlling our emotions for our children not of blowing up.  Also, make sure to have some time for yourself everyday.  Make it a priority, just as a meal would be. 
 

 
5.  Get Enough Sleep
Nearly a third of Americans are sleep deprived.  This affects our health, well-being, performance, mood, everything!  Don't stay up half the night working on that blog post. (Guilty!) You will be so much better in every way if you just get enough rest.  Your mind and body need it. You are not a machine.  If you do not sleep, you will eventually crash.  Not to mention how cranky you will be.  Did you know that lack of sleep increases the risk for a variety of illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.  So, put all those tasks aside.  Turn the TV, phone, and computer off and catch some ZZZs. 

 
Whether you’re a full-time working mom or a stay-at-home mom, there’s a good chance you are stressed out.  In fact, around 90% of all moms are.  If you are a single mom, you certainly are.  But, even those of us who are married still have most of the responsibilities for our household.  It can be depressing, feeling like so much of the burden is on your shoulders.  But there is nothing more rewarding than being a mom.  Our families and children are a blessing and a gift from God.  I believe God put women in this role simply because we are so strong.  We sometimes forget about that. This is what we were made to do. Remember those beautiful little faces looking up at you.  They are the real reason we do all that we do.  Our children are precious and they don’t stay little long.  Try to treasure these times, even if they are hard, even if they are so frustrating, because you will look back and miss it.  You will wish you could get it back.  These stressful times will be your “good old days”. 
 

 
After I slept for nearly 18 hours (yes, seriously), I felt so refreshed and I felt so much love for my kids.  I felt a peace I hadn’t felt in a while, just because I haven’t let myself.  I was so busy taking care of everything else, I was neglecting myself.  I promised myself then to make sure I did the things I needed to do for me to avoid feeling like that again.  If you find yourself struggling with the same challenges, I urge you to do the same.  Stress can accelerate the aging process, increase the likelihood that you’ll have depression, anxiety, headaches, obesity, diabetes, asthma, heart disease, and gastrointestinal problems.  No one wants that.  You can’t always change the things in your life that cause you stress.  But you can change the way you deal with it. 





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Dr. Who Party With Tardis Cake

My daughter celebrated her 14th birthday last week and over the weekend had a slumber party with 3 of her friends.  She likes having a party with a small group because it’s a lot more intimate.  This little group all have a similar interest: Dr. Who. Basically, the plan was to get together, giggle, watch the show, giggle, eat some junk food, giggle, hang out, and giggle.  So, I am happy to say, it all went as planned!

This party was a little strange for me to plan because I have never watched Dr. Who.  Also, since she is getting older, we didn’t do a whole lot of decorating.  We did have some LED balloons just because they’re so cool.  If you haven’t seen these, you can make your own or buy them already made and they glow in the dark. I just bought these at Walmart.  Also, we had a couple of silver star streamers from the dollar store hanging from the ceiling.

The main decoration and photo prop was the tardis.  The tardis is the “time machine” which is basically a phone booth.  She helped me make it from some of the extra foam board left over from my giant photobooth pictures.  We cut out the shape and painted the board blue.  Then we added a strip of black vinyl and she used a white paint marker to write out the words Police Box.  We drew the window panes onto white paper and mod podged them on and used a sharpie for the rest of the doors and handles.  After the party, she put the tardis up in her room. 

The girls ate lots of chips, pizza, popcorn, cake, and ice cream.  They. of course, washed it all down with Dr. Pepper.  The tardis cake was a bit of a challenge.  The original plan was to have the tardis standing up.  I baked two cakes in loaf pans, cut off the tops so they would be flat and then cut the cake into squares and stacked them on top of eachother.

However, after I covered them in icing, they just toppled over and crumbled apart.  BIG FAIL! So, then, I baked another cake, again in loaf pans and this time left it that way, other than cutting off the top.  I covered the cake in moldable chocolate.  The moldable chocolate was really easy to make.  I melted a package of almond bark and stirred 1 cup of light corn syrup into it.

I separated a bit out to use as white then added blue food coloring to the rest.  Then, I should have left it to sit and cool on the counter in a ball  BUT I  watched a video on how to make it in which the guy rolled it between two sheets of wax paper and I thought that was how I was supposed to cool it. So, before I could roll it out, I had to peel it apart from the wax paper and it was sticking all to it. Can we say BIG FAIL???   Once it had cooled and I had rescued as much of it as I could from the wax paper, I rolled it out and tried to cut shapes from it.  However, it wanted to stick to the counter too much.  Another BIG FAIL!  All I could do was to put a big blob on top of the cake and try to spread it and smooth it with a knife.  It was ok but not working exactly as planned.  I thought it would be like fondant.  It was too late to try anything else though, and it did taste better than fondant.  I made the windows from the white and since they were smaller, they were easier to work with.  Then, I used black icing to outline the windows, the doors, etc. The cake didn't look anything like I had hoped but by this point, I just wanted it to be done. Anything that resembled a cake would have been just fine.  

  Anyway, everyone seemed to think the cake was cool and didn’t seem to mind when we cut into it and the chocolate was soooo thick that it was like rubber!  Luckily, I had the other loaf, I mean, cake and added some plain frosting to it and they ate it. I am still fascinated with using the moldable chocolate so I will be trying it out again but probably not for a cake! ;)

The girls had a great time dressing up and doing each other’s makeup and all of that fun girly stuff.  Although the cake didn’t go exactly as planned, no one seemed to mind and I am glad to have another kid’s birthday over for the year and only 3 more to go!  Sigh. 

I never did post last year's party so I need to share that with you soon. I only shared the recipe for her Brooklyn Blackout Cake.  The party had a rockstar theme and was a lot of fun. I had at least a clue of what to do for it! :)

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Five Fun Apple Crafts (Gimme Five For Friday)

Nothing says September is here like apples!  In most places, it is harvest time!  The time of the year to enjoy apple pie and hot apple cider and all of the other yummy things that we get from apples.  Not to mention the fact that it is back to school time and the apple has long been a symbol of knowledge.  So, what more reasons do we need to make some fun apple crafts?
Here are five super easy apple crafts that even the kids can get involved with:

1. Terra Cotta Apple

Children have been bringing an apple to the teacher for years and this is a fun twist on the old tradition.  Start with a small terra cotta pot (3-4 “) and paint it red.  Turn the drainage tray upside down to make a lid.  This is very similar to the acorn I made recently.  Paint an old wooden knob black or brown and glue it to the lid to make a handle that looks like an apple stem.  Use a leaf from an old artificial flower arrangement or make a felt leaf and attach it with glue next to the “stem”. 
 

 
You can then fill it with candies or small supplies like paper clips or erasers and present it to the teacher for a unique gift!


2.  Yarn Apple

This is a very quick and easy craft.  When it comes to crafts, I am all about instant or close to instant gratification.  I used a wooden block but any small item will do (cardboard, whatever) and wrapped it with yarn.  Keep wrapping until you have completely covered the item and you have a rounded shape.

Cut off the yarn and tuck in the end.  Cut a piece of brown pipe cleaner or use a small stick and push it into the top for a stem.  For a leaf, I used a piece of corker ribbon (ribbon that has been curled) and inserted it under the yarn.  I used a toothpick to push it in where it wouldn’t be seen through the yarn. 

You could use more pipe cleaner for the leaves also.  It would be so cute to make a little bucketful of these.


3.  Apple Wreath

This would make a great classroom decoration for back to school.  It is so simple to make with a cardboard ring and paper apples.

  I posted a tutorial here if you’d like to try it.

 
4.  Plastic Bottle Apples

I shared this on Facebook a while back.  This is a great recycling project.  The bottoms of plastic bottles are shaped just like the bottoms of apples. Simply cut off the bottoms and cut a slot to fit two pieces together.  You can paint them, fill them, decorate them.  So fun!  Here is a link to the tutorial from Krototak.

 
5.  Paper Plate Apples

This is from a party that was all about apples!  Use red paper plates and white card stock to make these awesome apples.  Add some seeds with a sharpie marker. 
 

See the details and more great apple ideas from Two Shades Of Pink!

 

 

How about them apples?

 

 
Enjoy them now because everything will be all about pumpkins for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Grab some supplies and make some apples!

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Georgia Bulldog Football Party

This weekend was my son’s 12th birthday.  He is my baby boy so it’s hard to accept that he’s getting so big.  This year, he really didn’t want a party and he just wanted cash for a gift and to have his friend over so it was super laid back.  It was just so nice, especially with 5 kids, to not have any stress involving a birthday.  I did miss having a party with a fun theme though. 

Last year, he had a Georgia Bulldog party.  Since I wasn’t blogging much last year, I figure I’d go back through some of the old pics and share it with you, especially since it's now football season.

Georgia Bulldog’s colors are red and black so I used these colors for the balloons.  I created this balloon cluster for the backdrop. 

It was fairly simple.  I started by tying two balloons together end to end. 

Then when I had two sets of two, I tied them all together with ribbon and tied that to a long ribbon.

I continued this process all the way down the ribbon and then hung the ribbon up. 

I made a Happy Birthday pennant banner by cutting pennant shapes from a red vinyl tablecloth and the letters from black vinyl with my Silhouette. 

I made another banner with his name by layering a coffee filter, red paper circle, foil cupcake liner, and a letter printed on paper then cut into a disc shape.  I hot glued them all together and hung from a red ribbon. 

In the doorway to the party room, I made a curtain of red, black, and white streamers.  The kids loved going back and forth through it. 

I covered the table with red and black tablecloths.  I mod podged a Georgia “G” onto red Folgers coffee containers and filled them with red and black licorice.  I also made little flags by printing a design and glueing to wooden skewers. 

I served a plate of chocolate cupcakes with “G”  toppers I made by printing out a design and cutting them and gluing to toothpicks.  I mod podged bulldogs onto red chip bowls and also served a big bucket of popcorn. 

I made white chocolate covered pretzel sticks with sprinkles and stood them up in jars with red and black ribbon wrapped around them.

I found some football shaped party trays and filled one with hot dogs which I labeled as “Big Dawgs” since bulldogs are often referred to as dawgs. 

In the other one, I folded pieces of crescent rolls around lil smokies and labeled them as “Little Dawgs”.

I made a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake in the shape of a dog paw.  My son requested a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake and I decided to try the dog paw by adding cupcakes out in front.  I made the ice cream using sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, andes mints, mint extract, and green food coloring.  I found the original ice cream recipe online (cannot recall which blog) then added the coloring and flavor.  I used a chocolate cookie pie crust over the top and bottom but it cracked on top so I made some chocolate ganache to try to hide it (which did not turn out as planned but was ~okay~) then crumbled another chocolate cookie pie crust over the top.  Next time I will do something different for the chocolate cookie/cake part but the ice cream turned out wonderful.

I found some GA Bulldog themed plates, napkins, and cups to serve all the treats on.  All in all it was a very budget friendly and fun party. 

Keeping with the dog theme, for his birthday, he adopted a new dog, Rocky. He searched and searched all the shelters and ads all over the state until he found his perfect friend. 

This was the picture he saw online that he fell in love with.  Rocky is the one with his tail up in the air.  These little guys were abandoned on a dirt road.  

This is when he brought him home.  He can’t really sit in his lap anymore though.  He weighs about 70 lbs!

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