playhouse side 1

after finding the cutest idea EVER on homemade by jill, i embarked on my newest project: making a playhouse for my uh-dorable girls.  it seems like the perfect idea since we are trying to save some money this Christmas season and the girls are just the right age to enjoy it! 

so, where to begin?  google, duh.  i googled the crap out of "felt playhouses" for a few days, which gave me a plethora of creative ideas (and not just for the playhouse, sigh...).  next i had to figure out the dimensions.  there are loads of playhouse instructions that are designed to slip over a card table.  how awesome is that?  but, since most card tables are only 28" tall i decided to make mine taller and build a pvc pipe frame for the house to slide over.  then, it is time to design each side.  what to put on each side was my chance to be creative and, of course, go WAY overboard.  i have so many things i want to do, it would take me 3 or 4 playhouses just to make them all!  ok, slow down.  let's just start with one. 

when it came to the "drawing board", that is literally what i did.  i drew some juvenile pictures of the 4 sides i would be making.  then i colored them in.  too much?  nah, just made it that much easier when i shopped for all the felt fabric. :)  pattern time!  wouldn't it be awesome if someone already made all the patterns for animals, flowers, birdhouse, etc.  and all you had to do was trace it?  humpf, there is!  miss pretty pretty on etsy sells them for 20 bucks.  are you kidding me?  click, added to cart.  in a few short minutes, she had emailed me my very own e-book of patterns to download.  suh-weet.

here is the first side.  the front of the playhouse. 

the mailbox opens for the mail delivery.  i made 6 "letters".  nope, no bills, only the fun stuff.  here's a close up...

the flowers in the pot are "pickable".  my guess is that these flower stems will go limp after a few plays with sadie the brute.  might need to tweak this idea...

i cannot wait to start the next side and the next and the next and then, waa laa!  best Christmas ever, momma!!

office space decrapification

i like to think i'm a pretty simple gal.  it's the small things in life that make me happy.  organization is one of them.  pretty decorations is another.  diy projects that i can actually do by myself.  shopping, sigh, before twins...  thrifty shopping, uh-hum, after twins.

our mud room, which use to be just an ugly, useless walk-thru from the garage to the rest of the house has been an on-going project since we built our house.  project #1: make some cute cubbies/lockers that i see lust after in pottery barn catalogs but in no way can afford.  thanks to my sweet hubby and handy dad, we now have some.  hmmm...since i had to turn the hall closet into a pantry, (yeah, seriously, a brand new house with NO pantry) where the heck do i store my vacuum (should i ever need it...)?  project #2: build a cool little storage closet thingy to house a vacuum below and our techy t.v. things above.  and while we're at it, why not just add a tabletop to the left and finish off the wall with a small desk?  thanks again daddy and neil!!  now, i finally have a little desk area to do "officy" stuff at, like pay bills (gross) and house more junk!  junk?  really?  how does it accumulate so quickly? 

enter project #3: decrapify my so-called office.  time to make it more appealing to use.

what a fun project!  other than the fact that i'm not allowed to spend money without getting a disapproving look from neil... so, time to get creative.  i scavenged the house for items to use that would help me make my office space prettier and more functional.  with a little help from spray paint, fabric, and a trip to goodwill...waa laa!  a super chic looking place!

before

after

before

after

the board is cork board covered in fabric (isn't it fab?)  thank you to my good friend, glue gun. i spray painted the shelves, the pink box, the calendar frame, and a wire shelf thingy (not in this picture) i still have from college (yikes).  the shelves were an ugly off white with long anchor things that i broke off.  i found the pink box at goodwill.  it is for holding pictures but now holds my business-y stuff for Stella & Dot and it was a terrible fake wood color but is ca-ute now!  here's a close up...

my collegiate wire shelf thingy looks great in black!  i had some plywood cut at home depot to sit in each shelf.  (i HATE wire shelving...which, ugh, is all over our house.  hmmm... projects #4-7 perhaps?)  i covered the plywood temporarily in wrapping paper until i can find the perfect cabinet drawer liner and scrounge up enough change to pay for it.  (you know, cash is NOT traceable by the hubby...)  i have also spray painted some paint stirrers from HD (fa-ree!!) using chalkboard spray paint that i plan to hang from each shelf to label what belongs on it.  (oh my gosh, i love love love lists.)  here is a pic that kinda shows it.  when/if i get the labeling done, maybe i'll post that pic too.

oh!  the pink circle is also from HD.  so fun.  stickable, writable, erasable, and removable!!  3 came in a package so one for here and two for the nursery!  maybe a little silly but i'm thinking long-term...  great place to write a note to our school-age children to remind them of what they need to do each evening, like do your homework first, grab a snack, and get dinner ready (ha ha).