Now Taking Reservations!

No, seriously --- Come see us! 

We have lived in our Colorado home for a full year. {How did that happen?!} And, after having a few overnight guests brave Owen's old cramped set of twin sized trundle beds, (You know who you are... thank you for not leaving during the night and checking in to the Fairfield Inn across the street making the best of it.) We decided that it was time to make a more welcoming space for guests in our home!

I knew that once we sold the twin size bedroom set, we'd have one extremely blank canvas and lots of brainstorming to do! I went to my favorite place to brainstorm... Target! I bribed Luke with an individual carton of Goldfish, Dollar Spot toys and unlimited iPhone playtime (thanks for the wifi Target!) while I wandered the aisles.  That's when I found the accent pillows -- talk about working backwards!  Most people start with ideas about colors, maybe some furniture picked out, a mattress even, nope -- I start with pillows!

I brought the accent pillows home and went to my next favorite place for ideas... Fixer Upper!   30 Seconds into my favorite show and what did I see?  The accent pillow --- MY accent pillows!! It was the Target accent pillow that was in my hand.  Joanna Gaines and I have the same taste! And, she shops at Target... so cool.  After that, making the bed was simple ... copycat time!  White Farmhouse Headboard, white pinch pleat comforter, three tan accent pillows, and an extra blanket at the foot of the bed.  Why reinvent the wheel, right?! 

The Farmhouse Headboard was Brendon's handiwork! We followed the Ana White Farmhouse Headboard Plans and learned valuable lessons about making sure the wood you choose is straight.

*Cough, cough*

Anyway, after building the headboard, we caulked the fool out of that thing and BAM!

 It actually looked like the picture from the example.  We recruited the cutest little painter in town and he painted the entire frame white.  

I finished it up with 3 coats of Polycrylic.  I've found that brush on Minwax Polycrylic is THE BEST way to protect the white finish because it won't turn yellow overtime.  

With all the white on the bed and cream colored curtains, I knew I needed to add in a little more color.  I went on the hunt for teal nightstands and found a great set! 

The wall opposite the bed needed a cute little shelf and more turquoise decorations to tie in with the nightstands.  I've had the shelf since college, but all the other items are new. The milk jar vases are from World Market.  The ball/arrow thingy is a clearance shelf find from Michaels. And, Hobby Lobby came through in a big way with the decorative ball, picture frame, knob wall hanger, turquoise H and the chalkboard.   I bought the lamps there too -- because you can't beat their 50% weeks! 

Alicia came to visit while I was in the process of redoing the room, so I did what any little sister would do {I showed her all my cute ideas and I made her sleep in the twin bed hahaha!} Then, I asked her to make the chalk drawing for the Welcome sign.  Plus, she designed and created the awesome Be Our Guest sign!  

She's such a good big sister! 

His and Hers nightstands

They each have a burlap covered box with bathroom supplies, just incase you get here and realize you forgot to pack something!  I looked for two vases that would complement each other, yet wanted one that was more feminine and a masculine vase. (ha -- A masculine vase. It that an oxymoron or what?!) I'm totally into succulents right now. The colors are great and they're easy to grow -- just kidding, they're fake.

But they look pretty and they'll never die! 

The rolling cart is a Maskog from Ikea.  The color totally matches, but the storage function is the best part because our guests use the hall bathroom, which is also the boys bathroom and it has very little cabinet/counter space. And, let's face it -- you don't want Owen and Luke playing with your toothbrushes! 

   

I loved working to make the space homey and really hope that our guests love visiting us! 

Who's coming to visit next!?!

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Movie Playroom Reveal!

Lights, Camera, Action! 

It's been a busy day full of Ikea assembly, ironing, and fluffing--- but totally worth it because the boys' Movie Playroom is a wrap!! 

We've been in our new house for almost three months and practically every room has been decorated since Week 2.  Maybe I'm an overachiever... or maybe my husband left for an entire month almost immediately after we moved here! Either way, we're settled and loving our house.  

Before moving in, I'd pretty much planned out each room based on the rental listing photos and ordered the few new furniture pieces that we wanted.  The only room without a plan was the playroom.  I had never seen any photos of the loft and ---let me tell you--- it was a HUGE bonus! (Have I mentioned how lucky we are that our house ended up being great!?!) When we drove up on move in day, and I took my first tour of our new rental, I was shocked at how big the room was and slightly regretted selling our old couch before we moved! Even though it's a big space, I wasn't sure how much the boys would actually play up there.  I assumed the boys would bring their toys downstairs, so it became the lowest priority on our list. As it turns out, they love it and we spend so much time up there that I decided it should be a little more comfy and cozy.  Don't get me wrong, reading with 3 people in one rocking chair is cozy, but not exactly comfy!  This weekend we added the new couch, a rug, lots of pillows and hung up all our movie themed artwork. 

And, without further ado... 

When planning Owen's 5th birthday party, we purchased some adorable movie themed signs from Hobby Lobby.  They made a great backdrop for the movie concessions table at the party and seeing them in the playroom now reminds me of all of our sweet friends that were there to celebrate Owen! 

The room has a movie theme {and a very ironic teeny-tiny tv} but my favorite part of the entire space is the reading corner.  We purchased this Rolling Utility Cart from Ikea and filled it with books.  It could hold many more books, but Momma's learned her lesson and no longer gives the boys access to ALL the books.... because picking up ALL THE BOOKS takes forever! Now, I rotate out the books each week. 

I wanted bean bag chairs for the Owen and Luke to lounge on. And, of course, I found perfect red corduroy bean bag chairs... for $40, which may not sound so bad until you buy two! I refuse to pay $80 for bean bags. Come on-- It's a giant pillow that two little boys are going to flop around on! I knew I could make them and hoped it would be less than $80 bucks.  

These ended up being $24 total!! 

Cha-Ching! 

I practically stole the red fabric from JoAnn's ($4.50 for 3 yards --- it had a flaw in the fabric that I noticed while it was being cut and I got the entire 3 yard piece for 75% off!!!) Then, Meamaw sent me a picture of her newly reupholstered living room cushions and I copied the black and white fabric she used, $10 for 2 yards!  I bought a set of two Memory Foam Cluster Pillows that was $10 and then cut open 4 old pillows that I had been storing in the closet instead of throwing away. (I'm really not a pack rat, except when it comes to items that "I might make something out of one day")  

They are six 22"x22" square pieces of fabric sewn into a cube and filled with tons of stuffing! Easy and *Warning* very messy to actually filled with stuffing.  It was worth the messy craft room floor! 

I found these two canvases sold as a set for $30 at Kirklands and grabbed the popcorn and ticket pillows there too! Plus, a Labor Day discount code and free shipping. Woohoo!!

Brendon was super sweet and offered to go to Ikea today to buy the White Ektorp Sofa that I'd been internet-window shopping for since the first day I saw the playroom!  He also bought the black and white rug that I've been drooling over after seeing it on Fixer Upper (Season 1, Episode 6).  

After about 30 minutes of ironing the white slipcover and hanging the artwork, the room was DONE! I absolutely love it and really like that the theme will grow-up with the boys.  I sure hope they like that couch because it's probably going to be make an appearance in their college dorms! Mark my words... mwahahaha! 

Making a Railroad Crossing Sign - Mini Tutorial

About a year and a half ago, I wrote a post about Owen's Train Room. Since then I've been asked to give some details about how we created the Railroad Crossing Sign.  While I don't have a complete tutorial to share, to be honest... we were completely wingin' it and I spent more time helping than photographing.  But, I thought that the photos and a few tips could be helpful.  

Supplies:

1. 4x4 post (Cut to 4 feet tall)

2. One wooden deck post cap

3. 1x6 wood (Cut into one 12" section)

4. 1x4 wood (Cut into two 12" sections, two 24" sections, one 4" section and one 8" section

5. White, black, blue and silver paint

6. Black Vinyl letters or stencil to paint letters

7. Screws for assembly

8. Two 6" lag bolts

9. Four 3" lag bolts

10. Four small silver knobs

11. Twelve silver brads nails or decorative wooden circles painted silver

We started by cutting all the pieces and placing them on the post. 

To build the base box, we used a Kreg Jig tool from Lowes to hide the screws in the back of the box. We had to watch a Youtube video on how to use it, but it was totally worth it and has been a very useful tool since this project! Brendon used the 1x6 for the front,  two 1x4 pieces for the sides, and added the deck post cap to the top. 

Once everything was screwed together from the inside, we painted the posts, signs, and base.  Then, use the shorter lag bolts to attach all the signs with wording to the 4x4 post. Add the silver knobs to the end of the railroad crossing sign, vinyl letter/stenciled letters, and circle accents on the base. 

The photos below helped us to map out the distance between the Railroad Crossing letters. 

After the lettered boards have been screwed down to the front of the post using the small lag bolts, you'll need to attach the base box to the post.  We did this by adding one screw from the bottom of the deck post cap into the wooden 4x4 post. (The back of the box and the back of the 4x4 post need to be flat against each other so that the 4x4 post can touch the wall when hanging it)  

Now, the sign is complete and you'll use the longest bolts to hold the sign to the wall. 

I know this isn't the most detailed post, but I hope it sets you in the right direction! 

You'll be wingin' it too, but at least you have a few hints to help!  

Train Wagon Tips!

After Owen's 3rd birthday, I posted all the Thomas the Train birthday party details and links to party printables in my Etsy Shop. Since then (especially with Halloween coming soon) I've been asked to give a few tips for creating the Thomas the Train wagon!

Here's what you'll need...

1. Wagon (Ours was a garage sale find!)
2. Cardboard boxes (Thank you very much Amazon.com -- lol!)
3. Funnels and Buffers (Almond cans painted black!)
4. Screws or packing tape
5. Paper Tape (This is the exact brand we used... Duck Brand Gummed Paper Tape)
6. Paints - Thomas Blue, black, yellow, red, light gray, white and gold.
7. 3M Velcro to adhere the face to the train

Step 1:  Start building the train shape by adding the large box to the back and then placing boxes on the sides and front.  The rounded section at the top was made to hold the Thomas face. We used small pieces of tape to hold the boxes to each other and then two screws to hold the sides down.  (Really, we could have just added layers of packing tape to keep it from popping up, but we didn't want to see any packing tape and our wagon was never going to be a plain-old wagon again so we didn't mind the holes!)

Step 2:  (We painted the base black to cover the green that was already there) Put the boxes back together and this time use the paper tape to hold the seams together. 

Step 3:  Cover the entire train in paper tape to create a smooth base. 

Step 4: Paint the entire train in Thomas Blue! 

Step 5: Make a Thomas face.  I painted this one based on a Thomas the train coloring book page that I googled!

Step 5:  Add funnels and buffers (made from almond cans and cardboard)

Step 6: Paint red lines, yellow circles, whistles, and number 1 to make the train look like Thomas. 

Done! 

Ready for our little Sir Topham Hatt to Trick-or-Treat!!! 

The BIG 5!!!

How is this possible?!? Owen turns 5 today! 

{It makes no sense because he was just born yesterday! Yesterday, I tell ya}

Somehow, in the blink of an eye, this little tiny baby has grown into a big boy.  And, five is definitely a big boy age, a milestone -- a perfect time to celebrate! 

This year Owen made lots of contributions to his birthday party.  We decided on a MOVIE party theme and Owen jumped at the chance to help plan!  He chose the movie,  Cars 2 -- an oldie, but brand new to him! His requests for the party were cotton candy, "Taste the Rainbows" (aka Skittles), and popcorn.  

Going to Sam's Club with the intentions of ONLY buying CANDY was a dream come true! Owen found all of his favorites in GIANT bags and he even let Luke choose his favorite candy, lollipops!

We're still not sure how Luke was able to haul that giant bag of DumDums.  He was certainly determined to get them in the shopping cart --- Even after we removed them, Luke went back to get the bag and proceeded to carry it around the store.  He was like a little tiny ant carrying 50 times his body weight in lollipops! 

I made the invites, which will be available in my Etsy Shop, and delivered them to his friends. All together, we had 5 families and I wasn't quite sure how we'd fit everyone in our house.  But, after rearranging some furniture (Think: Living room furniture in the dining room--- but in a strange way, it worked and was very comfy) everyone fit and had a great time! 

We hung a pair of old curtains next to the tv to create The Theater using our tv as the screen and set up a full table of sweets!  All of the movie themed decorations are from Hobby Lobby (whoohoo for 50% off!)  and will be the playroom decorations at our new house!  {P.S. We're moving next month! Surprise -- If I were better at keep up with blog posts, you'd all know that already!}

After buying all the sweets, I happened to say out loud, in front of Owen, {and he is always listening!} that I wasn't planning on making a cake. He thought that was wildly unreasonable and looked at me as if I was crazy. 

"No cake at a party?!?"  

It wasn't hard to convince me to add cake to the menu! At the last minute, I ordered a cake from Retro Bakery.  It was delicious and perfectly held his #5 candle.

The candy was a hit! 

We served pizza, veggies and fruit --- prior to pumping the kids with a weeks worth of sweets.  They may have all left the veggies on their plates, but I at least felt better giving them the option! There was one sugar-free option at the party--- bottled water! 

During the movie, each child got a basket with a swirly straw cup (both from DollarTree), popcorn and room for their candy bag.  I had them all prepped before the party started with popped popcorn and license plate labels! 

These baskets and cups became part of the party favors.  Prior to the end of the movie, I filled up a second bag of candy for each kid because if they didn't take it with them I'd eat it all and sent them home with candy, bags of cotton candy, a cup, and "Thanks for POPPING by" party favors. 

These are simply a popcorn wrapper and a bag of microwave popcorn! 

My absolute favorite part of the party was the cardboard box cars! Brendon bought large moving boxes and with a little tape, he turned them into cars.  

The kids were each given a gallon ziplock bag filled with all the supplies needed to make their car.   

5 large black plates {4 wheels + 1 steering wheel}, 2 red dessert plates {tail lights}, 2 yellow dessert plates {headlights}, and a personalized license plate.  I asked Office Depot to print them on sticker paper so it would be easy for the kids to do themselves. While I was at Office Depot, I picked up two packs of 1.5" brads - Each car needed 9 brads and they needed to be slightly longer than the typical brad to accommodate for the thickness of the cardboard. Brendon predrilled holes in the colored plates and in the cardboard boxes.  

Luke's car was our example and the kids quickly jumped at the chance to make their own! 

Kyle loved driving his car!

 After the party started, we realized the added bonus for having cardboard box cars  --- their messes were trapped inside their vehicles! The carpet was spotless after the party.  It was the easiest party clean up ever! 

Luke finally got to eat the lollipops! I'm pretty sure he ate more candy than Owen. 

After food and gifts, we let the kids fill their candy bags and started the feature presentation!  

 It was such a fun party for all of us!