Fun & Organizing with Liquid Chalkers!

 I have been working on getting our house organized since the hubz finished remodelling our second floor. No more dressers and desks in our living room and we finally have a place for everything...now we just have to get everything in its place. It's a slow process but it is happening! We have an itty bitty kitchen, which I love, but it means I have to get creative with organizing. One small step I took this month was to create our "hub" in the kitchen. It includes our meal calendar, a to-do list, and a couple of spaces for some fun. Liquid Chalkers helped me out with this. Read on and check out my photos to see how they can help you get organized, and have some creative fun as well. You'll also find a discount code at the bottom of this post :)

So first, we stopped by Goodwill, as we often do, and I picked up some picture frames for $1-2. I realize I could have gone to the dollar store...but those frames are garbage. These are nice, wooden frames of much better quality. So here they are before:

And after! (These will be going in my 50's inspired kitchen once we get around to remodelling it. For now, they will be hanging on some pretty sweet wallpaper...)

The top left is my meal calendar which you can find here. I realize not all Meatless Mondays are meatless, but some Taco Tuesdays are...I was in a hurry when I filled it out this month. I keep it the same for a few months in a row, but updated it with some more hearty meals now that it's getting cold. Links to the recipes, if I use them, are included. Having a print version helps me to see what I need to thaw or soak for upcoming meals! And I can use the Liquid Chalkers to keep track of which day I'm on (you know that gets difficult sometimes) and to make notes or swaps as need be. Not to mention to fill in the calendar as the months change.

 As you can see below, these wipe off very easily on glass. For the "note paper" frame, I drew the lines on the back so they stay put. Now we can write sweet, funny, or important notes to each other and ourselves. Yay! The frame of us was just to add some family & fun to the wall. As you can see, the Liquid Chalkers worked very well and are nice and vibrant!

Now onto some fun with the markers! One of the toddlers I watch has a birthday coming up this week, so I thought I'd try my hand at a birthday sign for him on his big day. I didn't plan on Cookie Monster, but after some sketching and playing around with the markers on our easel, the texture of them had me thinking fur, and a Cookie Monster book happened to be nearby. So this is what I ended up with:

You can easily erase where you  need to to add detials or fix some mistakes (as you can see I need to clean up a bit more by his eye). After I let it sit and dry for a bit, some colors did need some water to help cleaning up, but every surface will be different so make sure you test a spot first! I'd be weary of items painted with chalkboard paint (especially the DIY kind), but you can buy chalkboard contact paper or write on any non-porous surface with Liquid Chalkers!

The two photos below show each color on the chalkboard and then on the whiteboard. They erase much easier than typical dry erase markers and didn't leave a stain on my whiteboard. Bonus! The chisel tips and rich colors can provide a lot of great detail if need be.

A few more ideas:

• Decorate for the holidays!
• Leave yourself notes and reminders on your mirror
• Have a glass coffee table? Go nuts! Draw boxes underneath and get your toddler sorting!
• Liquid Chalkers would be much better for decorating a car...while they would come off easier...they would come off easier! The typical paint markers for cars took some good scraping after our wedding (a year later)!
• Decorate windows or mirrors for your family members birthdays while they sleep. What a fun surprise in the morning!
• TIP: When decorating glass, if you need some help with drawing, print a photo to trace on the other side (this is especially helpful for text...writing backwards isn't easy!)

Go to www.LiquidChalkers.com and use discount code: EXCLUSIVE15 for 15% off your order!

 

Feed Your Crafty & Competative Side With Fat Quarter Challenge-GIVEAWAY!

I think we all have at least a tiny creative bone in our bodies. Personally, I can't go more than a day without doing something creative. And I don't just mean slapping some cool filters on an Instagram photo. I try to sketch, photograph (with my "real" camera), or if I can, paint, sew, bake, or build something each day. It's good for the soul and I highly recommend it. Since having our little guy and watching other little ones at our house during the day, I find myself putting creativity further and further down on my priority list. Have I mentioned I was an Art major in college? I need this stuff! What about you?

I know I'm not the only one who needs their "me" time, momma or not. And these days we all seem to be busier than we used to be. A friend of mine, Jesse, over at Wooden It Be Nice has an adorable little family and was feeling the need for some time to herself to get crafty. So she started what I think is a super fun endeavour, the Fat Quarter Challenge! It is an inexpensive way to force yourself to get creative each month. For $12, you get a "fat quarter" of fabric and three notions (ribbon, buttons, etc). This also includes shipping costs. Everyone participating that month receives the same materials and you can do anything your little heart desires, as long as you use all of the materials in one way or another. So not only does this get you crafting, it gets you in on some friendly competition as well! I'll get into more detail after a word from our sponsors of the Great Gifts Giveaway Hop!:

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What is a Giveaway Hop? It's a chance for you to check out a bunch of fun giveaways going on all at once! Be sure to check out our sponsors, Planet Weidknecht & LeahSay's Views, as well as the linky at the bottom of this post to find them all!


Disclaimer: Bloggers and Hosts are not responsible for sponsors who do not fulfil prizes.

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Click here to see the list of participating bloggers...

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Alright, so back to the Fat Quarter Challenge! Jesse sent me October's challenge materials. I scoured my brain for ideas for the challenge. My first thought was to make something for my baby man of course. But then I received the fabric and it was pink! Now Momma gets to make something for herself!

Image via FatQuarterChallenge.com

I have been saving up sewing ideas since my hubby got me a sewing machine last Christmas (see Jesse's board here). I kept coming back to the quilted wine tote that I found at Needle & Spatula. I hadn't quilted before, or sewn much more than your basic curtains or pillow, but I took it on anyway and added my own twist. I took some coordinating fabric that I'd picked up and fused two layers together (fusing made it thicker and less see-through, and also prevents fraying). I then traced a wine glass silhouette that I drew & cut out and used the sequins from the Challenge as my "wine." I then painted a "D" for Duda for a fun monogram.

Then, I cut out my fabric according to her directions, and quilted and sewed and put it all together! I have to say that I impressed myself and can't wait to show it off to my mom, who is quite the seamstress.

Here it is all put together!

 

I used the pink ribbon in the FQC package as my bias tape to finish of the top, the sequins as "wine," and the blue ribbon as a cute little finishing touch under the glass. And guess what? I WON! Folks voted on all of the submissions (see here) and I won. I was so humbled and excited. Last month's prize was a Diamond Candle and I got to choose the scent, Pumpkin Chai. Yummmy! And it comes with a ring inside that you get after it burns for a few hours (ok several...unless you're like me and dig it out with a spoon after a few...). Love it! And it is soy, which burns much cleaner than your traditional paraffin wax candle.

So do I recommend you participate in the challenge? Yes! I am participating again for November and can't wait to receive my materials and get crafting again (I did receive October's for free in exchange for this review, but I paid for November)! Here are some common excuses that you may be giving right now:

• I just don't have time for that.
• Well it's due on the 22nd, so you have 2+ weeks from when you receive your  materials. And how good will you feel after you actually DO it?! You need to get crafty, you know you do.
• It costs money and I'm on a budget.
• Be honest with yourself, when was the last time you left the craft store without spending at least $20? $12 is more than fair for fabric and notions, not to mention the fun competition and chance for a prize worth twice that amount!
• I'm just not very creative.
• Psh...get on Pinterest, find an idea you love and do it, girl! I believe in you, and it'll be a lot of fun!
• I can't sew.
• No sewing required! I chose to do a sewing project because that's how I wanted to challenge myself. You can easily create a winner with some glue or one of the many no-sew projects I see floating around on The Line (sorry, we just watched The Internship).

I'm so glad that I'm doing this for myself, and I think you will be, too. You can go to www.FatQuarterChallenge.com and sign up for just $12. If you have a local group, make it a party and hold your own local contest along with the online challenge! An excuse to craft and get together with the girls! Let me know if you do! I'd love to connect with you!

 So what is this giveaway I metioned? The winner will receive a TWO month subscription to the Fat Quarter Challenge, and I'm throwing in a little sewing kit to help you out ($31 total value)! Good luck! And, don't forget about all of the other great giveaways going on in the hop!

**Note: Please only enter if you can/will participate in the challenge with the materials sent to you. You get to keep your creation, you just submit a photo!**

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DIY Babywearing Halloween Costume

We had a costume party to go to this past weekend so I threw together a costume for our little guy with some materials I had on hand. Granted, this could have been better, but it worked and I didn't have to buy anything. If I did it again, I would have done two layers of the "egg" and stuffed it. And I also would have had a more contrasting outfit for him, but again, last minute and this was still adorable. It was super easy and I've included the pattern for the tail and hat attachment. This could also be used for a baby dinosaur (my original idea but it was more involved and I ran out of time).

For the egg, I used felt because it is more stiff, but I think fleece would work well, especially if you plan on doubling it up and stuffing it (the stretch would make that even easier on you.

I traced the Baby Bjorn onto paper first for some reason. You could definitely just trace it (or whatever carrier you are using) right onto the fabric. (I realize these aren't the best carriers because of hip issues, but he'd push his way right out of the Moby now and I couldn't find our Mei Tai carrier. One day won't hurt and I hold his legs up most of the time anyways). 

So first, trace your carrier (twice if you want to stitch them together and stuff it). Make sure to leave some extra fabric for tabs to help attach it. For example, I left extra at the bottom and cut a slit to put the bottom of the carrier through. I also left two tabs to cut holes in to slip the top straps through. This will depend on your carrier. Obviously, make sure you don't fold or attach fabric anywhere that would compromise the strength/safety of your carrier! Also cut some zig zags at the top and arm/legs to get that newly hatched look.

Next, for the tail, I had yellow felt that I turned into a tail. Use the Tail Pattern to quickly cut out, trace on your fabric, and cut again. Once you have this cut out, fold and stitch where it overlaps. Then, cut at the slits shown. Cut out a 4" circle of the same fabric (or the egg color would work as well). Stitch the cone to the flat circle. Before you get to the very end, stuff it well with batting or cotton balls, or extra fabric, really whatever you have on hand that is fluffy. Then, finish up the stitching.

 

Once you have your cone, to get the cute little duck tail look, stitch up, over about an inch, and back down. Then tie a knot and pull until it is perked up to your liking, then double the knot (I used coordinating embroidery floss but thread should work just fine). 

 

Now to poke it out of your egg! Find the center of your egg, about where you think a tail would be. Cut a 3" X. Then, cut some zig zags for that broken eggshell look. Poke your tail through the back and stitch it on.

Now for the hat. We had a little duck hat on hand to attach a little "broken eggshell" to. You can use this pattern for any baby hat, though you may want to shrink it a bit for a newborn, I think the oversized shell would be cute. Cut out the pattern, trace, and cut out your fabric. Stitch it at the overlap and cut your zig zag again. I only did about 4 big stitches to stitch it to the hat because I wanted to be able to easily take it off later.

 

Then it's time to put it all together! Again, it would be better if we had some orange pants and a more yellow shirt, but it worked regardless :)

With some stuffing and a better outfit underneath, it'd be super cute! But this was a good, no-cost & quick alternative :)

Happy Halloween!!

Apple & Pumpkin Spice Chip Cookes

Last fall, I started experimenting with my favorite holiday cookie recipe. By adding extra cinnamon and replacing the cranberries in the original recipe with chopped apple, I gave them more of a fall taste (see them here). This year, I got a little more courageous and switched up the recipe even more to make these delicious cookies that have been described as Autumn exploding in your mouth.

What really makes these cookies are the pumpkin pie spice chips that I discovered over at The Cupcake Project! I did not shape mine into cute chips like she did, but just rolled them flat onto parchment paper and cut them into little squares after they cooled. I also used maple syrup in place of the corn syrup and it worked out great! I made these the night before (you can make them days before, they will keep for quite awhile) For the chips you will need:

• 2/3 Cup Sugar
• 3T Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 2T Butter (at room temp)
• 2T Light Corn Syrup (I used Maple Syrup)
• 1/4t Vanilla Extract

Mix all ingredients and press out flat on parchment paper and bake your blob at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let cool completely and then use a butcher knife or pizza cutter to cut out your squares. Save the little crumbs...they are awesome in coffee or to top these cookies or muffins!
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Now for the cookies! (Ingredients/Instructions at the bottom of this post)
Start by mixing your dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon) in a large mixing bowl (I like to throw them all in the sifter (except oats) and then whisk in the oats. In a separate bowl (on your mixer if you have one) beat the butter & sugars until well blended. Then, beat in eggs one at a time and add the syrup and vanilla. Then slowly mix in the dry ingredients as shown below.

I mixed in a 15oz can of pumpkin (although fresh is best!) at this point instead of with the wet ingredients because...well because I forgot I was adding pumpkin until this point. Once the pumpkin is blended well, add a bit more flour a little at a time (up to a 1/2 cup) to thicken the batter. Stir in the white chocolate chips and diced apple (with the mixer is fine). Then carefully stir in the pumpkin pie spice chips by hand.

Now you are ready to drop your batter onto a cookie sheet! You can roll these into balls to get a "neater" looking cookie, but with a baby I found keeping my hands free was much better so I used two spoons to drop them onto the cookie sheet and it worked very well. Keep them spaced about 2" apart to allow for spreading. Top with cinnamon or more pumpkin pie spice!

Bake for 10-13 minutes at 350 degrees (until the edges start looking golden brown. Don't let them get too dark, the batter is already a golden brown because of the pumpkin). Note that the chips will melt onto the pan if they are touching it. They didn't burn and came off easily, but you may want to bake them on parchment paper if you tend to have sticking issues with your cookie sheets.

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Apple & Pumpkin Spice Chip Fall Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2-2.5C. Flour
• 1tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2tsp Salt
• 1C. Brown Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2tsp Vanilla
• 1C. White Chocolate Chips
• 1-2 Cups Pumpkin Pie Spice Chips (your preference)
• 1C. Butter (Softened)
• 15oz Can of Pumpkin
• 3C. Oats (I've always used quick oats)
• 1/2tsp. Cinnamon
• 1/2C. Granulated Sugar
• 1T Pure Maple Syrup (or honey)
• 1 medium-large apple, peeled and diced. I used a large Honeycrisp, and had extra.
• Cinnamon or Pumpkin Pie Spice (for topping)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Sift 2 Cups of flour, baking soda, salt, & cinnamon into a medium bowl
3. Stir in oats and set aside
4. Beat butter and both sugars until light and fluffy
5. Beat in eggs one at a time
6. Add maple syrup (or honey) and vanilla
7. Add flour mixture until well combined 
8. Blend in pumpkin 
9. Mix in up to a half cup of flour a little at a time as needed until batter is thickened
10. Stir in apple and white chocolate
11. Carefully stir in pumpkin pie spice chips by hand
12. Drop onto a cookie sheet about 2" apart
13. Sprinkle tops with pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
14. Bake 10-13 minutes
15. Enjoy!

 

Construction Progress - Before & After

I finally got around to putting together some before and after pictures of all of the work on the house. I somewhat regret not taking pictures before the demo, but just picture a very outdated, wallpapered space. If you'd like the details on the remodel, see this post. You can click to make the photos larger :)

Demo time!

(Forgive the bad quality, they were taken on the iPod)

Now for the beautiful before and afters :) I can't wait to post the "painted" and "decorated" and "holy cow, we're all done" pictures! And a BIG thank you goes out to my mom for coming over help help Nick prime the new drywall! Painting is usually my thing, but it all falls on Nick now!

Bathroom

Bathroom

Reading Nook

Nursery

Our Room

The opposite side of our room.

My office!

THE Remodel

I've been behind with posting, but here is the current story of our remodel (with some photos of course to come later). I slacked on taking before before pictures, but I'm guessing we have some around here somewhere that I'll include when I can. Here's a list of what has and is happening: 

First of all, why?
Our house is awesome. We couldn't have found a better one, and not once have we had any "house envy" since we moved in...well other than the whole, "Hey look, their house isn't under construction" thing, but it's coming along! So why tear out the upstairs? The house was build in 1922 and is one solid home. However, when the upstairs was redone or converted from being an attic (we're thinking in the 60s), I am pretty sure it wasn't done up to code, even for then. 

The walls weren't really walls. I mean they were there, but I believe they were 1/4" drywall, whereas walls are normally 1/2". May not sound like much, but it is. We thought they were paneling before Nick started tearing them out because they flexed in some areas. Behind those walls (and ceiling) were pretty old insulation...well if there was insulation. We noticed some fast snow melt last winter on certain parts of the roof, so that was a MUCH needed upgrade. Also behind the walls was some interesting framing. Most of it was fine, but some wasn't spaced correctly and didn't make a whole lot of sense. Electrical was just plain scary. There were a couple of places with burn marks by electrical boxes and I don't believe anything was grounded. (Have I mentioned Nick did all this over the summer...the hottest summer we've had in a while, upstairs with no insulation? Talk about sweaty work). At first we didn't think we'd change a thing about the layout...but we took a few liberties while we could that we are super excited about! 

DEMO! 
Right after our housewarming party (I'm pretty sure the day after), Nick starting tearing out the walls. We rented a dumpster (if you are in the area, Veolia is MUCH cheaper than WM) and starting fillin' her up! I will say, once Nick commits to something he gets it done. I was pretty amazed at the rapid change that took place from an upstairs needing updating to the bare bones. I helped where I could and to clean up as he went. Keegan even helped vacuuming with the shop vac and pulling out nails with a hammer and had a ton of fun with it!

Framing: 
As I mentioned earlier, some of the framing didn't make a whole lot of sense or wasn't sturdy. If I remember correctly, the problem for a couple of the walls was the spacing, which needed to be fixed for code and support of the upcoming drywall. Not only did Nick redo a couple of existing walls, he framed out a closet for me in our new room, and one for him! His closet was in the hallway before, so this is a big deal folks. The sizes are quite typical. His is the size of a normal coat closet, and mine takes up an entire wall (about 4 doors wide), but is a bit shorter than my old one because of the angle of the ceiling. It's ok though, I'll deal :-P He also framed out a new wall for our new "nook," which I am calling it because I don't have a better description at the moment. We had a small living space upstairs, but it didn't fit much beyond a small bookshelf and a couple of gliders. Now it is going to be a full on sitting area with a wall of bookshelves and seating surrounding a coffee table. Our goal here is a reading-focused cabin-esque board/card game area. 

Electrical: 
Again, it was scary. Not only was it old, frayed, and not grounded, the more Nick dug into it, the more he realized that most of our house was on one breaker. So, not only did he rewire the entire upstairs, he has been slowly working to redo the entire house, while remapping it so the circuits make sense. Now, we have lighting and fan-rated boxes in the bedrooms, a light at the bottom of our stairs (where there wasn't one before) on a 3-way switch with the one in the hall upstairs, and outlets in all of the right places (including plugs for lights in the closets, which I am super excited about). The bathroom used to have sconces for lights, which looked cute, but stunk for applying make-up and actually seeing my hair before I left the house. I'm sure Nick had a hard time with it, too...ok probably not, but it will be nicer lighting now! He also installed a very nice exhaust fan in the bathroom by the shower (didn't have one of those before either).

Insulation: 
I think it is safe to say that this was Nick's LEAST favorite part of the project. Because of the depth of our framing, fiberglass R30 wouldn't fit (well it would, but if it is compressed to squeeze in there, it isn't rated at R30 anymore). So, after lots of research, we bought LOTS of polystyrene rigid foam insulation (the foil faced sheets you may see in the store). It comes in 4x8' sheets, so Nick cut each individual piece to fit into the ceiling AND exterior walls. Of course, just one layer wouldn't do it, so he had to do 5. 5 in each space between joists. He still shudders when he sees it in the store. I don't know how he did it...I cut some and it made that squeaky nails-on-a-chalkboard sound that gives me the heebeejeebee's. He finally got a break with the last layer, that went on top of all of the joists and was able to go up in 4x8' sheets (sort of like drywall would). That was for the angled areas of the ceiling and the exterior walls. For the very top, where the ceiling is flat under the peak of the roof (aka more room) we put the fiberglass, R38. I cut lots of little pieces for the areas in the ext. walls right by the floor and put those in. Have I mentioned I hate fibgerglass? My arms were on fire, but it was all for the cause! Luckly, it doesn't seem to bother Nick, saying he did the bulk of it. 

Drywall: 
We ended up buying our own drywall lift (it was $20 more than renting it for a week) and were determined we'd do it all ourselves. We redid the ceiling in my office (downstairs) and the hallway. We started getting some of the ceilings done upstairs (by the way...our ability to cut the spaces for electrical was pretty hilarious at first. Not sure what was wrong, but we got it by the 3rd or 4th time!). For the ceiling, we had to use 5/8" fire-rated drywall. It is HEAVY. My brother, Jimmy, ended up helping Nick get the rest upstairs. (Luckily the 1/2" stuff for the walls is pretty lightweight). Then, time went on and school and coaching got into full swing and we decided to hire out to finish the job. As of Thursday (10.25.12), the ceilings were all up and starting to be mudded. Today, the walls should be mostly up (eep!). IT'S LOOKING LIKE A REAL HOUSE, FOLKS!

Bathroom: 
The bathroom is my job, and I'm pretty excited about it. I'll be installing tile on the floor and in the shower. The cement board is down for the floor (covering asbestos tile...yay!) and ready to be tiled once the drywall is all done. I'm doing white octagon and dot tiles (fitting to the 20's) on the floor and haven't quite decided on the shower. I was thinking white subway tiles with a band of sea-glass tiles. Then, I'll be repainting our built in cabinet (this may not happen right away...but it will happen!) and redoing the brass and glass countertop that is currently on the cabinet (this is different from our vanity, which is nice). I'm thinking a wooden top. 


The Final Steps! - Cosmetics
With drywall going up, the end is in sight! Paint will go up first, without having to worry about any trim or flooring. I am pretty decided on colors already, of course :) Then we're on to flooring!


Flooring: 
We are making our own hardwood floor and will save a bundle doing so. At first, we were going to do carpet in the rooms and wood in the hallway and nook. Then, we decided somewhere along the way to do do wood throughout. How do we make our own? We buy 4x8' sheets of nice birch plywood (not particle board) and rent a table saw and get a-slicing! We're going to use large-headed nails and have them show for a rustic feel. We're going to do wider planks (5 or 6") and white wash them. Again, going for a cottage/attic feel (it is a converted attic after all). We know we can't duplicate the 1.5" gorgeous planks that we have downstairs (well we could, but they cost about $18...each), so we're going for a look that won't appear that we're trying to match what we can't.  This is the look I have in mind for the floors, with maybe a bit more grain showing through. Now that I look at it, that's the wall color I was thinking, too:

Our 1st Thanksgiving

We were very excited to have our first Thanksgiving in our new home :) After stressing so much over the turkey, I completely neglected to get photos of everything else (we had some delicious contributions!) Jeanette brought awesome stuffing and mashed potatoes, my mom (Bev) brought pumpkin pie (yum) and sweet potatoes, and my great aunt Judy brought some green bean casserole and yummy cranberry-date bars. I made dinner rolls, homemade crannbery sauce (awesome recipe - see here), and of course the turkey (I got to find out just how finicky our oven's temperature is).

I also had a lot of fun making some little decorations for the day! I painted some little foam pumpkins, made placemats out of brown burlap, and made a banner out of some scraps of fabric I found at school. It's amazing what a little twine and hot glue can do!

Now, I won't let you believe that my first ever turkey was as perfect as it looks in the picture below :-P It looks beautiful, but was a little underdone, which in my opinion was way better than overdone. After a bit of carving, some juices started running a little pink, so Nick finished carving and we threw it back in the oven for a little while to finish it up. Crisis averted!

 

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!!