pallet bookshelves

 While on one of my recent visits to pinterest I found a lot of fun projects to do with pallets.  Yes, nasty, old pallets.  I fell in love with the idea of chopping them up and making bookshelves.  I was talking to my sister and SIL about this and we were talking about how to get a hold of some pallets.  Well, turns out my brother can get some.  Hurray!

So sweet Matt got me some beautiful (actually really dirty and old ones, but I saw the potential!) pallets and away I went.  I was able to get 3 shelves per pallet.  I have to say though, there is NO saving the slats of wood you take off to use as the bottoms.  The wood is so old and splintered and the nails are so old, rusted, and so far down that I don't know how people say they save them.  I had some strips of MDF left over from another project that I put on the bottoms.

I also didn't have to stain them or anything.  After giving them a good sand I loved the natural colors and oils that came through.

I made some cute littler ones for my little girl's room since I know she feels jipped that she didn't have any books in her room.  I also cleaned out and white washed an old wash bucket I've had to put all her little plushes in.  She is a big time stuffed animal lover and we've been needing a solution for them.  Done! :) 

 

 

 No, she did not pose for this picture.  I just happened to be able to snag a shot of her enjoying her new space.  She is feeling pretty big in her new room with no guard rails on her bed!

 Next it was on to the boy's room.  They have had two big bookshelves of books in their room.  Too many.  They love books and reading, but with that may books in their room there were always books everywhere.  I love this wall of shelves much better.  It doesn't take up a lot of space, and it limits the amount of books we have to clean up.
I was worried about the kids not being able to reach the top shelves, but then saw one of my boys climb up the shelves to the top.  Good thing I now know my work is sturdy!

 

 We moved this antique recliner (a family heirloom) that we recovered into their room to be their reading chair and they just love it.  They have been spending a lot of time up in their room rediscovering their books again.

a cup a day...

...keeps the dishwasher empty!I've seen so many cute ideas out there for how to have a place in the kitchen so that kids use only 1 cup a day.  I've loved them all, but wasn't sure how I wanted to do this myself....until I went through that pile of great antique boxes from my mother-in-law.
I found this beauty and she was perfect for the task (the words on it couldn't be more perfect either!) :). 

My kids are great at choosing a cup each morning and then keeping it in their box.  This is also helping us be better at drinking out of cups and not just water bottles and sippies!

These cups are life savers.  They are so cute and fun.  The kids get excited about choosing a different one each day.  They were in a huge bin (or can be found in the party section) at WalMart and were $.87 each.  We bought a bunch.

laundry room

I have been wanting to figure out a way to make my laundry room look a little cuter.  It seems to be the place I just dump and stash and hide things.

 I "went shopping" at my in-laws and found these amazing wooden boxes.  They are so great!   A little stinky and a little dirty, but awesome!  True treasures.

The newspaper lining them was dated January 2, 1950!  What treasures!  The advertisements in them were so fun to see!

So after a little cleaning (okay, a lot) they were good to go.  I love how they look. 

I still need to label my detergent jars and I want to build a table top to go over my machines, but everything around here happens in baby steps.  So probably in another few years that will be done too! :)

tool box = book box

If there is one thing our house does not lack it is books and bookshelves.  But we didn't have any place to keep our library books when we brought them home.

As I mentioned before, I like to "shop" at my in-laws.  I am always able t find the best treasures.  This time I was able to find all of these great wood boxes and tool boxes.

This told tool box made the perfect place to keep our library books...and it looks wonderful too!  Just a little cleaning up and a vynil label and there you go.  It makes me happy every time I see it!

magnetic board with 9 lives

This magnetic board was quite the project.  I wish I had taken pictures of it after all it and I have been through! 

It was found at a thrift store by my mom and she thought it would be so cute if it was redone so she had me save it to give to her granddaughter for her birthday.

Well, that day finally came and I had to figure out what to do with it.  It was green and banged up pretty bad and someone had painted the metal yellow. 

Needless to say, after a lot of scraping, removing the metal and turning it around, and a lot of paint I got it looking pretty good so I left in on the garage floor to dry.

Well, my husband came home and didn't see it and ran it over!  I couldn't believe that after all the work I put into it that this would happen.  I decided I could put a little more work into it and get it looking good again.

So, with a lot of wood glue, jimmy rigging, and more paint to cover the tire marks I got it put back together.  Add some cute stone magnets that match the banner in her room and you have a cute metal board.

Here's to hoping nothing else happens to it before it gets to the party! :)

chore chart boards

I finally got the boards done for my chore charts.  I had waited on this because I was looking for some great cheap frames.  Well, after a community garage sale and a great deal at Hobby Lobby, I have 3 gorgeous frames.
My crafter-in-crime, Aymee, and I are always borrowing, trading, and stealing various supplies from each other and she happened to have some extra metal sheets laying around.  Gotta love shopping next door! :)
So all in all, another great project for cheap.  I love how they look and I love that my kids manage them themselves.  Okay, Chloe just likes moving them back and forth, but she'll get there.  Give the kids a break.  She's only 1! :)

mother's day heart collage

Here's the little Mother's Day craft I did with my kids for myself.  LOVE IT! :)  A heart for each of the little darlings who have mine! :)
We simply cut out our desired colors out of magazines and mod podged them on plain paper.  I then cut the kids colored pages into hearts and mod podged them onto my green background.
The kids and I have a blast making it.

growth chart update

With my dining nook being redone I had to do a little updating to my growth chart to make it a little more fun and meaningful.  I decided to include what each person wanted to be when they grew up each time they were measured.  I think this will be a fun thing to look back and read over when my kids are big.

My husband and I of course still hold on to our dreams of what we will be when we grow up too! :)

For the tutorial of this growth chart click here.

family table

I have been wanting to "fun up" my house for a while now.  I want to make sure that it is a place where my kids feel happy, comfortable, and welcome.  Where their toys, dirt, and artwork fit right in.  I am done with the "model" home feel.  So here's what we ended up with.
The kids and I love it.  We have been so much better at having family dinners at the table now.  Our old counter height table was just too big, fancy, and uncomfortable for a family table.  I love that I can just touch this one up when we get anything on it (which we already have done!). :)
I got the table off KSL, stripped it and painted it.  The chairs were from Ikea.  I just sanded those down too and painted them up.

The little basket I built and stained all by myself!  So much for overpriced baskets at the store! :)  Hobby lobby had one just smaller for $25.  Mine cost $5.

My wall decor is not quite done yet, but here's what I have so far.  My kids monograms ($12.  Letters from Hobby Lobby, fabric from WalMart), a duck for Chloe (she's obsessed with Ducks for some reason.  Can't get enough of them!), and clouds for my dreamer/imaginer, James.  I just used my cricut to cut vinyl.  Then I sprayed over it.  I am still coming up with how Sam will be represented.  We all know that nothing but trains exists in his world, I just don't want to be so literal.  It's been so fun and they love their art.
The hooks for their coats are awesome.  I had fun making them and putting them together.  Just a 1x8 board cut and stained.  Hooks mounted on front and the back is drill with screw holders.  I just need to build the little bench seat under them now to pull it altogether.
I love creating and developing skills.  It gets my mind and body going.

These are the fancy red stools I painted up.  I found just the ones I wanted for a great price on WalMart.com and stripped them.  They look so much better red!

no sew felt flower pillow

So I saw this amazingly cute felt flower pillow at Hobby Lobby the other day and decided I wanted to make one.  So here's what I did.  I just cut pedals out of scraps of pinks that I had and then hot glued them on to a pillow.  It was so simple and didn't cost me a thing.

The best part about it was when my daughter woke up the next morning and saw it.  She squealed and immediately went and put her head on it.  I guess it's hers now! :)

for the bathroom

My cousin is getting married and for her shower they did that whole, "for the bathroom" "for the kitchen" "for the laundry room" thing. These are always fun, but make you have to stay with the room they gave you. I lucked out with the bathroom, so I tried to make the most of it.
I decided to make her a little kit to pamper herself with. I filled the jar with candles, warming oils, soaps, lotions, natural scrubbers, and a lufa. To tell you the truth, I really wanted it for me. I hope she likes it and takes time for herself as she starts this new chapter in her life....

vinyl craze

I am loving vinyl. I always have, but it seems lately that I have been putting it everywhere.
I got theses great watering cans from IKEA for $.99. My boys love to help me water our garden and my old ugly green one was just not cutting it.

I made this weekly menu a while ago. I have loved using it, but have now found a new way to organize myself, so it's off to my sisters for it.

I love my big metal canisters, but could never see what was it them since their home in on the top shelf. Now when I open my pantry to use one, not only do I know which one to get, but I smile too! :) (yes I am a geek when it comes to organization...it gives me a natural high!) :)

I had to dress up my laptop. I've loved this decal even more since now my husband said he won't use my computer anymore! :)

Here are two more things I have done to give you a sneak peak at how our at home classroom is coming along.


I got this great clock idea from here. I used a fake, hallow book for the center, and then just wrapped some books I had with cute paper and used vinyl for the numbers and words. The clock kit was from Hobby Lobby for about $6. I am SUPER happy with how it turned out.
Vinyle even found its way on to my toes! :)