Ramblings
Fun Shared Girls Room (Reveal)
I have been literally obsessed with finishing the girls’ new room, and honestly it isn’t really finished yet. There are a few things to tweak here and there and paint. There are also a few DIY projects that still need to be done, but don’t worry! I will definitely share them once they have been completed.
The girls’ new room is our old bonus/playroom that never got played in! Doesn’t that irritate you? Well, it DID irritate me! LOL!
What to do?
Answer: MOVE THE GIRLS UP THERE!
I need to back track a little though and let you know why I decided to move the girls upstairs. First, like I said, the room never got used even though we had tons of toys to play with up there. Our home’s lay out is to where the downstairs is our main living space and everything upstairs was considered (for us) bonus. One big bonus room, a bathroom, and another bedroom.
The girls shared one of the downstairs bedrooms and a king bed and were still fighting ALLLLLLLL the time! “She touched me! She looked at me! She FARTED on me! ” You know, the usual stuff.
Then, one day, I just looked at my husband with those ” I have an idea” looks. After I chased him down into the other room and made him listen to me, I told him I thought we should move the girls to the bonus room and maybe their own space would make things better.
So far, so good! I am really happy with how it turned out. A friend of mine said that it reminded her of a cool dorm room.
I knew that if I wanted to make this happen, it was going to have to be on a tight budget. Other than the beds, I didn’t want to have to spend much. I kind of had no way around purchasing the beds. I did, however, go to Walmart to buy the twin beds/box springs which I felt would be the cheapest alternative.(*around $300/each bed) The metal frames were universal ones that I picked up at Sam’s Club. ($38 each)
The hilarious thing is that they are happier with smaller beds. They went from sharing a King, down to a twin bed. I think something can definitely be said though for having your own space……. and not being farted on….. right? Sorry!
I wanted to visually divide the room to allow them to have their “own sides”. I already had these toy shelves in the room and decided to arrange them in a way that they both could have their own things stored on each side. It is basically 4 of the units that I picked up at Walmart for $17 each with fabric containers picked up at Target a while back.
This is one of the projects that still needs tweaking. My idea is to attach them with screws and put molding around the creases with maybe a top to match their desk tops. This way, the piece will look more like one piece, instead of 4.
Next off, the DESKS! I am extremely proud of these desks and I’ll tell you why. They cost me a total of $ 4 . 00 !!!! No, that wasn’t a typo!
Let me explain:
I actually took an old dining table that I had on my back porch (that I wanted to move) and cut it down (since it was a pub table), along with the chairs and attached it to the wall to make their desks. The only thing I had to pay for were the roller casters on the back legs, which I scored at Ollies for $ 4.00.
I had looked and looked on Pinterest for all sorts of ideas. I found some great ones, but they all were going to cost around $300 to $400 to complete, which definitely would have had to wait a while. *Remember the tight budget?
If you look closely, you can see that one end looks like it is coming out of the wall and only has 2 legs.
That is because of this:
I thought I was going to have to buy wood from the store to do this, but instead, we were able to reuse pieces from the original table! SCORE!
To let the girls personalize their own space, I generously gave up a few of my bulletin boards from my office I bought at Homegoods a while back.
This is my youngest daughter’s side.
This is her older sister’s side. I think you can guess which one has “HOARDING” tendencies……. LOL!
Here is a view of the chairs. When we initially cut them down, we didn’t allow for the fact that they all naturally leaned back, so we added the roller casters to the back to level it off. We didn’t want to have to cut two more of the four chairs that were left, in case I come up with more projects…… for my husband to do……. 😉 * He would have preferred to cut them all up and use them for a bonfire, I’m sure. Love you honey!
By now, you have probably noticed in a previous photo that the girls have LOCKERS in their room! This is all because of their cool daddy! While doing a painting project for the local Sheraton hotel in our city, they were getting rid of them!!!!!! There were 6 in total!!!! So, you know what that means…………. they were FREEEEEEE , aside from the paint that we purchased to paint them. They were originally a stale tan color like most lockers are.
You may not be able to tell so well in the pic, but the one in the picture above is a light blue since that is my youngest daughter’s favorite color.
The one in the previous photo further above is a light purple for, you guessed it, our oldest’s favorite color.
The girls and I did a really cool Pinterest DIY project for them. I bought one sheet of mosaic tile backsplash. Then, we pulled individual tiles off and attached peel n stick magnets to them.
Now, the girls can stick things on the lockers since they are magnetic! Lots of fun! They love it!
I love how they are able to express their own style and keep it on their own sides of the room.
There are so many things I love about this room, but one of my favorite things are their headboards.
I was really nervous that what I had envisioned would not come out right, but I am SOOOO happy with it!
Again, I had looked and looked on Pinterest for all kinds of ideas. I found so many great ideas. However, they all involved using a thick plywood for the base, which would have been fine, except I was determined to not have to ask for my husband’s help on this one. He was projected out by this time and I was wanting to do this one on my own.
I would have had to have him cut it and that just wasn’t going to work for me.
I decided instead to buy a very large canvas at AC Moore, which was on sale and went from there. Mom and Dad were visiting the weekend I decided to do it, so I sweet talked Mom into helping me. She was a trooper! I asked her because while I might have wanted to go it alone, it is definitely easier when you have two people tugging and stapling. Thanks MOM!
I will be posting a DIY post on it later.
The one above is my youngest’s. The stripes were actually a result of things not going exactly like I had planned, but then again, they say that some of the best things come from that and I think this turned out better because of it. It also allowed their headboards to be slightly different.
Here is a closer view of it.
Here is a close view of my oldest’s. I kept hers plain without stripes so that she could have, what I considered an older look. By the way, that is a painter’s drop cloth that is on the headboard. 😉 More on that in the DIY post.
AND this is the BEAST that I will be taking on next. The plan is to paint it a dark gray and add a long mirror above it. For this, I will definitely be needing my “painter husband” ‘s help. Once it is done, I will add a tutorial! *Maybe my first video tutorial? What do you think? 😉
Well, there you have it. This is the girl’s room ……… for now.
Anytime I add anything, I will make sure to let you know!
Until next time……
XOXO,
Esther
Sidebar: The bedding was bought at Target.
Turquoise comforter : $27.99 (comforter/sham),
Purple Comforter: $ 24.99 (comforter/sham)
Both Sheet sets: $ 17.99 (flat/fitted/pillow case)
Quilt on purple bedding: Gift from Nana for birthday
DIY Spice Holder
It’s widely understood around these parts that I like Mason Jars. Ok, maybe more like LOVE them.
I even make layered cakes in them. If you missed that post, you can see it here.
Well, the other day, while going into my pantry to pull out things for dinner, I noticed my stash was overflowing. I can never bring myself to part with a mason jar, so I thought of something I could use them for. Then it dawned on me! I have been trying to clean out my lazy susan in the kitchen.
Since I didn’t want to spend any money doing that, I decided to make my own version of a “spice rack”/holder thingamajig.
SO! This is what I did:
First, I took the mason jar…
Then, I hopped online and searched free circular printables and found these. They were perfect size for the seals on the small jars I was using. My computer allowed me to size them this size and also slightly bigger.
If you notice, I chose to put them on a slightly yellow tinted paper compared to white because I wanted the labels to have a vintage appearance on them. You could use any color you like though.
After cutting out the labels for the seals, I took my label maker and made each spice name I wanted to use. I decided to cut the ends in a banner like point to give it some flair.
This was the end result.
But then, I needed something to put them in…….
I had this metal thing I bought from Homegoods a while back and was planning on trying to sell it in a yard sale. I say thing because while I thought it was a good idea to buy it at the time, I just couldn’t find a permanent home for it. It held a few papers once, then was a shoe holder for my little man, and then just went into the yard sale pile.
So, I decided to give it one more try. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t a contender in it’s original state.
So, I laid it down and deconstructed it, a bit.
Ending up with this. I call it RUSTIC FLAIR! LOL!
So, in the spices went.
Now, there are a few spices I use more of, so I thought it would be good to make their jars a little bit larger. Unfortunately, the labels in the original size were too small for their lids, so I doubled them up.
This was the end result.
Now, I realize that one side of the basket, basically being the bottom of the holder, is a different color than the rest of the holder. Then you have the opening on the side of the holder that was originally the top, but I had a solution for that. Hee! Hee!
The opened side went up against the fridge (so you can’t see it, unless I point it out), and the other end just looks brown.
Yup! I’m just lazy like that. Of course, I could paint the brown side, but I kinda like it. If I end up not liking it in the future, I’ll probably paint it.
So there you have it. It really has been a nice addition to my kitchen. I thought about using the piece I cut off and piecing it on the opened side. However, you DO remember I said the word lazy, right?
Happy Weekend, Everyone!
XOXO,
Esther
Let it Snow!
First off, let me just say that I hope you had an AMAZING Thanksgiving. My family visited me and I’m so thankful for it. I’m also thankful that know one got killed in the process, seeing as this was the first time we tried this! LOL!
While my family was down, I decided to have some fun and take their family pictures. I love fun, creative pictures, so I searched and searched Pinterest for some great ideas. I stumbled across the idea of using glitter.
The idea is to stand in front of the camera and blow the glitter towards the lens. The end result is supposed to give a cool effect. However, I wasn’t too keen on the idea of glitter getting stuck on my lens so I bought some big fake snow flakes to play with instead. They were only $5 from Target.
We thought it would be fun to act like the snow was falling down on everyone. So one by one, we had my sister’s husband sprinkling the snow from up high down onto whoever was the subject.
I wanted them to look like they were standing out in the snow and just loving it coming down on them. I think it turned out so sweet.
The trick to getting these shots were to use my 50 mm. I’m not sure the look would be the same if I had used my regular lens. The 50mm blurs out the background better and concentrates on the person or object in front much better, making the picture pop more!
My poor niece got it on her eye lashes and being the good Aunt that I am…………….
told her to sit still so I could take a picture of it!
Doesn’t that look cool? Of course, I helped her afterwards. LOL!
For my sister and her husband, we thought it would be sweet to make it look like they were kissing in the snow. I love how this turned out!
If you could have seen what it really looked like throwing those flakes, you would have died laughing! I was standing on the back of Z’s truck while my 9 year old daughter was literally throwing the snow by the handfuls at them while standing next to me. Let’s just say I have a new major appreciation for what goes on behind the scenes of a photo shoot! Haha!
He decided to dip her and I think it came out ADORABLY! 🙂
The snowflakes are in the Christmas decorations at Target. I wasn’t smart enough to take a picture of them before I threw the bag away. 🙁 They are only $5 like I said before, so for an inexpensive price, I think you can have such a cool look for your Christmas pictures this year.
The only downside to this is that because the flakes are so large, you look like you have MONSTER size dandruff flakes afterwards! LOL! Just make sure you shake a lot afterwards or go home after the shots.
Oh yeah! And don’t eat it either! I’m thinking you might get a big tummy ache! LOL!
Isn’t she cute? Um, I should probably add she didn’t really eat them! 😉
I definitely do NOT claim to be a photographer by any means, but this was so much fun to do and I just had to share them with you all!
Happy Holidays!
XOXO,
Esther
Spiced Apple Cider
Oh! How I loooooooove Apple Cider. I’ll drink it cold or hot, but there is just something about a cool crisp Fall day and a cup of Warm Spiced Apple Cider.
I think I’m getting a little excited for Downton Abbey to come back on because I thought to myself, “Why not fancy it up a bit and put it in a tea cup?”
I know I know! Downton Abbey isn’t coming back on for quite a while still, but a girl can dream, right?
Well, if you fancy yourself some fancied up Warm Spiced Apple Cider, why not have a go at this easy recipe? When I say easy, I mean SUPER easy!
Here is what you need to do:
Take a teaspoon of pre-packaged mulling spices and add it to a saucepan. A new Fresh Market opened up here the other day (Insert: Angels Singing). I bought it there, but you can easily pick this up at any grocery store.
That is also where I picked up the Apple Cider, but again, you can get Apple Cider anywhere.
Add 1 cup of the cider to the mulling spices and wisk together.
Simmer the cider on low in the saucepan for 10 – 15 minutes.
Take any cup and add a cinnamon stick to it.
Add warm cider to cup and enjoy!
NOTE: This recipe is good for an individual cup of cider. However, lots of mulling spice packages (including the one I bought) have directions for making larger quantities.
This would be great for any day, but especially good on those chilly ones! Also great for little sore throats……… or BIG ones for that matter! 😉
XOXO,
Esther
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
You must be logged in to post a comment.