Our New Shed

Well, we accomplished something on our annual to do list. The shed is  now complete. We purchased a plan from iCreate Plans.  Rob really liked the plans they provided and made minor changes to adjust the shed to his needs. The size of the shed is 12 by 16. We highly recommend their plans on this site. This plan was actually for a modern studio, but Rob liked the window set up and we needed light since it does not have electric in it...yet.

Then we had to go through the permitting process, and that took a lot longer than anticipated. That backed our project up several months.

Rob began working the second weekend in April, and worked pretty much whenever he had a chance between then and the weekend before Memorial Day.  Here are the before and after pictures of the process.  We are not going to share the step by step process as that is the point of using the plans that you pay a small fee on Icreatables.com.  We did use Sherwin Williams Gauntlet Gray for the outside, and barn paint from Lowe's for the trim. We also used smaller windows then recommended to reduce someone from breaking in if that ever came up. It sits pretty far from our house, and we did not want to risk it. We also did several different locking systems on it to keep it very secure.

Overall, Rob was very happy on how it turned out. It got the big items out of our garage, and now he has the room to do projects with this tool collection. Next up is a play house and a loft bed for our daughter. Here is hoping that works!  

Blush and Gold Bridal Shower

I  had the opportunity to throw a bridal shower a few weeks ago for a beautiful bride. She said her colors were basically gold and pink. That is easy enough to find lots of items to go with matching her colors. I loved shopping for unique items, and putting them all together. I love to throw a party, and especially for someone as grateful as this bride. When you bring a smile to the face of the guest of honor, and they truly appreciate the effort you put into it...it truly is worth all the effort.

I made this simple sign on a wooden sign from Hobby Lobby. I painted it and added lettering I cut out on my machine in adhesive vinyl paper. Then I ordered the plastic pink pots from Amazon for around $1 a piece, and purchased the flowers for approximately $1 each at Lowe's the day before. The flower and the soil fit perfectly, and I did not need any additional soil. This made for a very budget friendly favor for guests.

 The LOVE balloon was from Amazon and the delicious cake was done by Abigail's Absolute Sweets in Westminster, MD. She made an incredible vanilla with raspberry filling with a peony on top.  It was delicious, and I highly recommend her. 

 These beautiful peonies were from my friend Jes, and she owns a nursery and fresh cut flower business called Clear Ridge Nursery in Union Bridge, MD. She was amazing and saved these beautiful stems just for this shower. The sequined table runner in rose gold was from Amazon. I basically bought all my supplies via Amazon as it was easier for my work schedule. 

 The bubbly bar was set up on the sofa table with a Mr. and Mrs. sign from the Target Dollar Spot.  I saw the idea for glitter ice cubes one day, and knew that this was the perfect time to use it.  I bought glitter at Michaels the cheapest I could find and used the largest ice cube trays from Wal-Mart I could locate. Everyone loved the ice cubes. They were not that horrible to clean up after as I had anticipated while making them.  

 Here is the wine with the glitter ice cubes surrounding the bottles. So pretty!!

The entry way welcomed everyone with an initial from Hobby Lobby and some balloons the kiddos picked out from Party City.  And of course the beautiful peonies.  The Hello Love is also from Hobby Lobby too!

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you enjoyed the snippets from the party.  It was a lot of fun to put together.

A New Year - Inspiration for our To Do List

Hi All! Long time no blog.  :)  Well as you can imagine four kiddos and two full time jobs have sort of taken over. If you follow me on Instagram you can see what we are up to in our daily lives. We are still doing lots of little crafts with the kids, and trying to plan projects for the house this year.  

The main project that Rob will be tackling at the first sign of spring here in Maryland will be a shed. Oh the shed we wanted to do last year, but our lovely county took almost four months to give us the appropriate permit to build a shed. This shed is not having an electrical, but they apparently found some interesting items on our plat and wanted to make sure we built it in the perfect location...which was the original location we requested. We would like to go with this type of window, and obviously ours is going to house the lawn tractor, and it will not look like this on the inside. Here is our inspiration for the shed:

The Handmade Home shared this amazing playhouse, and I am hoping that it goes on the wish list once the shed is done. This will go in the same general area of our yard. All four kiddos will be able to enjoy the outside even more this summer.  They have asked for a clubhouse of sorts, and this is a great compromise.

Rob was walking around last weekend complaining that he just wanted to build something. That's when we started making our hopeful to do list for 2017. Wynn would love to have a loft bed, and that would help free up some much needed space in her room. She has a few pieces of furniture and a full bed. She is in our smallest bedroom, and there is a lot more times nowadays that she plays in her room. Right now the space is too tight to set up all those Shopkins, Calico Critters and other tiny toys.  Our inspiration bed was one of the projects by Ana White located here.

These are the three big projects for our household this year, and here is hoping that we can actually cross all of them off the to do list.  Cannot believe the month is already half way over. We need to get started on these soon and by we I mean Rob. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Wild & Three Birthday Party Highlights

My twins will be turning three soon, and I noticed a cute Wild Things birthday party on Pinterest one day. As soon as I saw the adorable Young, Wild and Three shirts on Zulily I knew it would be the perfect combination for the party. Here are few of the highlights inspired by several of my Pinterest Pins, the book "Where the Wild Things Are" and my sometimes creative mind.  These days I am getting a bit more sleep, and I am able to think of things beyond just getting through the day.  

Wynn's Room Updated from Baby Nursery

Once upon a time we had a little baby girl come home to her room that looked like this...

Now, this little girl is in first grade, and desperately wanted to have a room in all pink.  We finally took the plunge and painted her room to match her request. She is now officially pink-a-licious.

Her crib turned into a full sized bed, and so we are working with this until Rob builds Wynn's dream bunk bed.  The comforter set is from Target, and of course Wynn's three favorite stuffies have to be front and center.

The Pottery Barn Kids letters were easy to hang with screws, some painters tape, and a level. They were on clearance even further than when I purchased them here. They are $39 marked down from $99. They are a muted gold, and are a good size. They are the perfect size for above the wainscotting that we repainted in the same white semi gloss.

The desk area remains prety much the same, and sometimes becomes more cluttered as the school year goes on. But, Wynn loves sitting there to color, do homework, and play with her Shopkin collection.

Her bookshelf that was in the room when the crib was there is now in the closet. It allowed us to add the desk to her room. Bins from Target are there to hold school papers, shoes, and extra toys.  I spent a good hour last weekend cleaning this out and getting out the smaller sized clothes and shoes. I am hoping this stays clean for at least a few weeks.  We shall see.

 The dresser is filled to the brim with clothes, and her acrylic containers include her treasures and hair accessories.  That's all for now, and once we have the time between school and Rob coaching maybe a new bunk bed can be built.  Thanks for stopping by!

O-Fish-Ally One Birthday Party

We just went through the fastest year of our lives I think in our household. I feel like we just learned we were pregnant with our little guy, and now it has been almost two weeks since we celebrated his birthday. I went with a Goldfish theme once I saw the cute idea for "o-fish-ally one" on Pinterest from a variety of sources.

I went with really simple ideas, and I actually held it at my parents house out of town. I really did not want to drag too much extra items there. I'm sure they appreciated that as well. Although, I am pretty sure they would not have minded at all. I ordered invitations from the Etsy shop called Print Pop Party , and I also ordered the party set. I took a banner from Target, and attached the cupcake toppers to it since I was serving cake.

I made simple goldfish lanterns with a little bit of tape, cardstock and a paper lantern set from Amazon.  

I made a Goldfish bar for the kids, and it was only my kids so they snacked on the goldfish the entire week. :) I bought the all at the Pepperidge Farm outlet, and found flavors I had never seen before. The new family favorite is the saltine flavor.

The cakes were from a delicious bakery in Rehoboth Beach, DE called Pasqualini's. I wish I could order all my cakes there. They were so amazing, delicious, and priced very well.

I ordered a high chair banner from SeacliffeCottage Etsy Shop. I just added simple balloons and tied goldfish that I cut out on my Silhouette Cameo machine to the balloon strings.

The birthday boy wore an outfit from the TutifulBowtique.

She was an amazing person to work with and did an amazing job on the outfit.

 We also ate delicious chocolate covered marshmallow from Crumbtastic.

I had the kids decorate a wooden block set for their brother with sharpies and a set from SpudWoodWorks. It was a great birthday present from them to him.

I made a simple guest sign in sheet that I will frame for Rory's wall in his room. 

Lots of cute ideas, but I kept it sweet and simple. It really was the most stress free party I've done yet. Thanks for stopping by!

Wake Up With Breakfast Ideas from Jimmy Dean

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Tyson Foods, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #JDgreatdays  http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV”

We are almost in back to school mode in our home as we have a first grader this year, and my husband is a high school teacher. It is great to wake up with breakfast ideas that are healthy and good for everyone. But, we also need a satisfying meal that can hold us all over until lunch. A good breakfast can be put together easily with the help of Jimmy Dean. Jimmy Dean helps your family get a great start to their morning with a variety of tasty and satisfying breakfast offerings that are ready to enjoy in just minutes!

I shopped at Martin's Food Markets and was able to find a variety of Jimmy Dean options for all of my family members. I picked up the frozen sandwiches and bowls, which are a savory and satisfying meal that are microwavable and ready in less than three minutes. My husband and I enjoy the sandwiches as they are portable, single servings for us as we are always on the go . The bowls have worked out as a great option for our kids. I have even made one bowl and been able to split it between my younger children as part of their healthy breakfast to start their day.

School being around the corner means that I will be involved with the PTA activities. Currently, I am co-chairperson of the back to school breakfast for the staff at the elementary school. I will be incorporating the Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches in the menu for the occasion. I want to be able to serve a warm food option in the display, and thought these would be perfect for the staff. Staff members will be able to enjoy a warm entrée during their first morning back. Then head to their classrooms to get ready for the start of the year.

You can even make the first day of school breakfast just a little more special for your own family. Use simple school supplies or items around the house to decorate your table. I even used my fluted cake stand to display the delicious Jimmy Dean sandwiches. Using plates or glasses that are normally not for your everyday use make it exciting for the kids. It certainly gets the first day off on the right foot.

See for yourself how good mornings lead to great days when you start them off with Jimmy Dean.  Right now at Martin's Food Markets when you buy 3 Jimmy Dean products you get $5 off through 8/11.  While supplies last.

Be sure to check out Jimmy Dean on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, & Twitter for recipes, product information, and other great ideas.

A Nursery Into a Big Girl Room - The Beginning

Well, the time has come to change my daughter's room. It had been seven years since we last painted it in a beautiful gray blue, added wainscotting, and new wood floors. We added a wall decal monogram and name above her crib, and lots of fun clothes and toys. It was one of my favorite rooms in our home. I am going to share the finished product soon, but I thought I would revisit the previous look and talk about what I've done so far.

Wynn had asked over and over for a pink room. I was dreading the thought of a pink room, but then I realized that it would only be pink for a little less than half of the wall space. We chose Sherwin Williams Impatiens Petal Pink. It took two coats to cover the previously painted blue walls.  We also gave the wainscotting a fresh coat of white paint as well. It was needed after the years it was starting to look very well loved.

I found ruffle curtains from Target for around $18 per panel. They make the room light and airy. Before, we had black out brown curtains to help our little girl sleep longer. However, now that she is six she could sleep through a parade marching through her room. A few years ago I purchased the pink polka dot comforter from Target.  Wynn requested pink then, and that was as close as I was willing to get at that point.

I purchased the gold letters spelling out DREAM on clearance from Pottery Barn Kids.  They are on clearance now for only $39.  I grabbed a light up heart from Target's Pillowfort line for $15.  

I have a few more items I plan on adding before I share the entire reveal. I shared a portion of it on my Instagram page a few weeks ago after we finally painted it. I first have to convince my six year old to keep the room clean for about twenty minutes in the summer so I can snap a few pictures. That may be my only remaining hurdle.