Pimp My Doll House #1

Recently when I went to pick up Alexis from daycare, our sitter informed me that she is really into playing with the doll house that she had and wondered if we had one as well. I reluctantly said no, although I had thought about getting one for her for this Christmas coming up (yes I do start thinking about these things early in case something is one sale). I did some researchh online and checked some kijiji ad's but I either didn't find something or when I did it was waaayyy too much money to spend on a doll house.

So yesterday I felt the need to go to Goodwill - this happens sometimes. I thought "hey I should check for a doll house there" and so Alexis and I went, and this is what we I found.

It needed some work - it's missing a couple screws but all in all it works! The doors open and close, and its big enough for a growing toddler to get in and play in it.

But despite this it did need a little help ... let's just say it was well loved! ...

Nothing a little spray paint couldn't fix right? Which is what I intend to do with it - as well as paint the rooms and floors and pimp it up!

Oh and did I mention how much I paid for this? No? Yup, it cost me in total $4.00. That's right, I rock! Ha ha.  Oh and here is what it looks like as of right now - all clean and pretty!

I had some white spray paint kicking around so I gave it a couple coats and she's good as new!  I plan on painting the rooms tonight while watching Deadliest Catch - one of my favourite shows! (don't judge - it's how I roll). I will update you when we get her done - but for now Alexis is in LOVE with it! Best $4.00 I've ever spent!



Gettin' Our Roll On ...

Back again with some updated pictures and some that have been on my camera and I totally forgot about! Eeeeekk bad blogger! Bad blogger!

So not sure if I had mentioned before but since we got rid of our old patio and the stones (thanks to Derek's parents - thank you!!!) we needed to get some sod for the big old mud pit that was left behind. Quite frankly I was sick and tired of mud being tracked through the house!

So off we went to Lowe's and picked up some of their sod. Can I just say what a transformation sod can have on a backyard! Behold ...

My dad of course came over to "supervise" ... haha just kidding Dad! He did in fact help.

And miracles of miracles it looks like this two weeks later ...

We still have to work on the seams but overall we are happy with the progress!

Here We Go

Deck update as of a couple weeks ago.



So Close.

Garden Grow.

Derek and I had talked not too long ago about growing some of our own veggies this year. I thought doing them in my terracotta pots would be nice and easy (however I did pick up some seeds to throw into one of our back gardens that are bigger!) and economical. I LOVE tomato's and so does Alexis - Derek not so much ... he's finicky about when he likes to eat them. However Derek does enjoy peppers and so does Alexis - I however do not care for them ... see a theme here? 


So I picked up a package of each, and found this nifty little "at home garden" thingy to do them in. Franky Flowers on BT (does anyone else know who this is lol?) said last week to start getting them ready as you want to do them 6-8 weeks before the last frost so he said around May 1st they should be ready and able to go into the ground.

So off Alexis and I went this afternoon to get our little seeds a growing!

I thought this would be a good project for Alexis but failed to remember the itty bitty seeds and how easily they would get stuck/lost/ate/brushed off the table .... you get the idea right?

So half way through my "assistant" took a small cookie break, while I finished them off.

(she did have a shirt, and does have pants ... but apparently at our house Alexis believes clothing is optional!)

So while my assistant enjoyed her cookie, I quickly finished popping the seeds in and covering them up. Then quickly made tags so I knew what was what and put the lid on them. The box states then to put them somewhere out of the light and warm. So I did.

What are you planning on growing this year?

To keep your children entertained while you're doing stuff in the kitchen - taken wooden animals that are painted, slap some magnets on the back with a glue gun and stick them on your fridge. Alexis loves them and plays with them regularly!

Pretty Toes and Pretty Bows.

While Alexis was napping today I went down to my craft table and whipped (literally) up some headbands (for Lexi's BFF) and figured I should make some new hair clips for Lexi. I find that these clips are the easiest to use in her hair. For the days that I don't want to fight her to do something with her hair, and then for her to eventually just end up taking it out, I simply brush and slip one of these babies in it. Simple and cute. I managed to even snap some pictures of everything (of course this is going to be a huge spoiler for Tessa's mommy who I know reads these pointless blogs :D so hope you like them Robyn!). Check em' out!

Mr. Bear was so kind to model these for me.

and Tessa's headbands close up - just for good measure ...

Oh ... I also had time to paint my toe nails hence the subject :)

*Updated*

We've done a little updating down in the playroom since we will be having people over in a month for Alexis' birthday party. We are trying to tie up some loose ends up. I'm not going to bore you with anymore pictures down there, but I'm really starting to love it. I use to detest coming down here to be honest - but I new Alexis loved playing, and then once Christmas hit we were also hit with a huge amount of toys. Once we got a little organized down there and purchased a couple things, I'm really enjoying coming down. I usually will do a little laundry or fold some (it's never ending I tell ya) while Alexis plays and cooks up a storm. Or I will even surf some blogs while sitting in the family room or play a couple games of Kinect while I know that Alexis is safe downstairs since adding two new doors which prohibit her from going into Derek's room or the laundry room.

Anyways, just a little update. I have a couple things left to completely finish off the room - 1. Finish painting the stairs and jazz them up a bit :)   2. Add some more hooks so dress-up clothes have a place to live 3. Find a little knob for the closet door.

*** Updated ***

Doors to Laundry room and Derek's room - still need to be painted but up nonetheless!

Hung up the pom pom's I made for now down in the playroom

Big Two.

So for the last little while I've been collecting things for Alexis birthday as well as some inspiration pictures. If you don't know - I LOVE gathering ideas for parties and finding inexpensive stuff to use. Last year for Alexis' birthday I attempted my own DIY tissue paper pom pom's, my own circle felt garland, my first hand a DIY cupcakes (instead of store bought ones) and I had a blast decorating and setting up for her party. I'm serious I find the whole birthday party thing for your own kids fun, and so right after her party last year (ok well maybe not right after), I started to think of what we could do for Alexis' birthday this year - the BIG 2!

At this age, I know that she will never probably remember what we did for her birthday - but for me, I have fun with this and enjoy it ... so .. that's my justification lol.  Anyways - first thing I do is decide on a theme. There are many great themes to choose from for children (if you're stuck and want some ideas please just ask me! I'm bursting with some that I would LOVE to do!), we decided on a fun and interesting "puppy" themed birthday party. Not your typical "girl" theme as I've found out, but Alexis is in LOVE with her precious doggies - both real and stuffed, so naturally we knew this was going to be something that she liked (at least we hope lol!)

I've set out to get inspirational pictures - I've shared some already and have found a few more since then. I've also bought and ordered some things. Because I know this is a party for a 2 year old I know I like to try and make everything myself to keep the costs down.

Here are some more inspirational pictures that I've collected and pictures of stuff that is one its way to us!

Love the cupcakes on top with the sprinkles and fluffy icing!

Last year I made the pom pom's - this year I'm attempting the garland!



Cake pops - the newest thing going. I think they are adorable and I'm interested in trying my hand at them!






Simple Invites. I wanted simple and inexpensive invites that I could just print off myself on some card stock paper. The little saying is almost the same as last years but I thought it was so cute so I adapted it.

I've also ordered these adorable little cupcake toppers (in the birthday colours of course) to go on some of the cupcakes. However I will be making mine own again like last year.

    As for other decorations, I will be re-using some of the stuff that I made last year as well.  Yesterday I went to Michael's and found some really cute stuff as well to use as well this year. I will do another blog post showing you that stuff soon. Anyways, hope you enjoy this little update!

Growing.

After a couple days already I can see progress with the paper whites! Can you?

Easy Peazy Blooms ...

Or so I hope to have. On a couple of blogs I saw a neat little trick in growing some oh so lovely flowers called Paper Whites or there more technical plant name "Narcissus". I found these bulbs at Canadian Tire for $4.99.

 So what you have to do is fill a glass container (I had this one downstairs with all of my other glass containers) and get some river rocks ... I bought these at Walmart ages ago, and pretty much just keep them around for whatever I may need them for.

Make a base with the rocks for the bulbs to sit on. Then place all the bulbs in and secure them with a couple smaller rocks.

Fill the container up with water until the bottom of the bulbs are submerged. You don't want to drown the bulbs but make sure that you check the water line every couple of days so that the bulbs don't dry out.

Then just stick them somewhere where they will get some light, and hopefully, fingers crossed they will grow long and lovely! Apparently they are suppose to smell nice too. Well guess we will see if my black-thumb can keep these suckers alive! I will let you know!

Taking Out My Frustrations?

Who knew that small home reno's were a good way to relieve tension? I decided that it was time to repaint the small half bath that is off of our family room.

 

I really do think these pictures show you how ugly this colour really is. To be quite frank, it was down right embarrassing, and I was not digging it at all! Since I had some living room paint left over (and I love the colour ) I thought it would be nice in the small space - perhaps make it feel a bit bigger - maybe like this?

No? Not possible? Okay maybe I'm just dreaming of a bathroom like that. Anyways - back to reality. First thing we knew we wanted to do was to get rid of the tacky old towel bar. With a little exacto-knife and a hammer I just popped that sucker right off. If left two gaping holes but whatever ... nothing a little spackling couldn't handle.

Hello fresh coat of paint!

... and now with some accessories!

We still have some stuff to do in here. I need to find some artwork or something for the walls, and really accessorize it to the way I like. Anyways, this whole little makeover took me about a day and a half and only cost me the glass shelf and new towel ring, since I already had the paint - woot woot to cheap makeovers!