Spring Gift Idea

As you probably have already noticed I love to send in a little something for Wynn's teachers every once in a while. Being a former teacher myself I know how stressful the year can get especially as we approach spring break. Wynn and I went to Target together and picked out a few goodies to share.

These adorable baskets are available in the Dollar Spot for $3. They had a few different colors. Wynn mentioned that her teacher said how much she loves Peeps. So, Wynn picked out a box of yellow chicks for her. We added a simple chalkboard label tag to all the gifts, and I purchased a package of them from Michaels. I wrote the names with chalkboard markers so they would not smear.

We also picked up some burlap bags for the teacher assistants in the Target Dollar Spot and they were a dollar each. We filled them with some end of the aisle clearance plain note cards. I took them out of the packaging and tied this with a ribbon. Then we also added a white chocolate egg we found for a buck in the Easter candy aisle.  The gifts cost around $4 to make for each teacher. Wynn has four teachers, and so this was a pretty cost effective way to send a little thanks.  Here is a little shot of all the chalkboard tags together before we assembled the gifts.

I had some paper flowers that I had gotten in the Michaels dollar aisle last year, and I know they still have them in there now. I hot glued a little flower to the front of each bag to add a little bit of something to it.

Hope you liked this idea! This is a little something that can be given to anyone!

Playroom Project Part 2 - Trim, Doors and Painted Stairs

Well if you did not get a chance to see where this room started about a month and a half ago go here.  This weekend was full of painting and more painting.  We just chose a basic trim for the walls. Rob used the Wagner power sprayer to paint all of the doors and the trim for the room.  Thank goodness the weather was halfway decent this weekend to get it done outside for once.

As you can tell from the picture Rob still needs to work on a panel to cover the fuse box. We are awaiting our electrician to come over on Thursday to hook up all the outlets to the new fuse he will be adding. Then Rob will work on that. For now it allows us access to the only working outlet in the room which is right below the box itself.

Next up came the steps. We went back and forth with what to do with them. In the end we decided that painted stairs worked best for us.  First, I cleaned off the steps completely. Then Rob used a power sander to get the steps nice and cleaned up and ready for primer. I then wiped down the steps to get ride of all the dust that accumulated during sanding.  Why am I always the one that does the cleaning? Just kidding!

 Then we painted two coats of primer and allowed it to dry completely. Finally we added two coats of semi gloss white paint as the top coat. 

We searched through a few ideas we have pinned in the past, and then Rob just went for it. He put down some painters tape on one side of the steps, and then we measured the same distance from the other.  It was quite easy to do. It only took a few minutes to tape everything off.

Finally Rob added two coats of Sherwin Williams Repose Gray (the wall color) between the two strips on either side and down the middle.  We had to do a bit of touching up afterwards but otherwise it came out pretty crisp all around. We plan on sealing them as well, but that is after all the moving stuff in and out of finish up projects is over with in a few weeks.

Next up is installing cabinets for the desk area with a counter. We plan on going with about a 48 inch laminate counter from Lowe's that is very cost effective. Also installing the projector and figure out the screen situation.

Easter Suitcase

I've had my eye on these adorable suitcases at Target for some time. They went on clearance about a week ago, and my Target had a bunch of pink and the blue checkered suitcases still available. I was buying a few larger size items for Wynn's basket for Easter. It was not going to fit in her typical Easter basket, and so I figured I would turn this adorable suitcase into her Easter basket. I believe the suitcase was about $6.00.  Plus we can just close it up and she can take all her goodies around the house easily.

April showers bring May flowers right? I figured this clearance umbrella was a cute addition with the matching headband.  The Disney Princess umbrella we have for Wynn has seen better days, and so this is actually a practical gift as well.

A few other goodies from her favorite characters. Most of these items were found at Target, and the Calico Critter bunny I bought on Zulily.

A few delicious candy items, and a new notebook to draw in while we are on our morning and afternoon car rides from school and work filled out the rest of the suitcase.

Hope you like it! The suitcase is all packed up and ready to be delivered at grandma's house on Easter. I can't wait to see how she likes it all. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Playroom Project Part 1

If you happen to follow me on Instagram you may have noticed we have taken on a new project. We have a split level home that had one level that was completely unfinished. Toys were beginning to overtake our main family room. We had the room in that space, but we were completely surrounded by sections of baby gates. This is getting harder to have with the boys because Davis has mastered the art of climbing over the play yard gates already at 16 months.

We have always thought we would finish off half of the basement. One side is the home of the radon detector, hvac unit, water heater, sub pump, and all of the duct work. It made sense to keep this side unfinished and keep the storage.  I am slowly but surely getting rid of a lot of items we do not seem to be using. I emptied out half my closet and donated it last month. It feels good to let go of things that I hardly ever use or wear for that matter.  Here is a sneak peek of the after thus far.

These pictures were all done with my trusty phone, and there are no windows in this basement. We started out with Rob studding out all of the walls in the space. He previously built a wall down the middle of the space to separate his work space vs. the storage area.  He installed double doors for the entrance to the storage side. Then placed a small door that helps you access the side of HVAC unit. We have had some minor drainage issues in the past, and we need to access a tiny tube that may get clogged at times. It never really leaks, but it helps to have that door there.  That helped that one wall out of the four was drywalled and ready to go. He installed insulation along all the walls and the ceiling to help with the noise from our living area above it.  Please excuse the mess and the random stuff everywhere. It sort of became a bit of dumping ground since Christmas.

Rob then ran all the wiring for outlets, recessed lighting and a projector. We replaced the one single bulb in the middle of the room with four recessed lights. Rob put them on a dimmer and I think it will be wonderful for this space.  We purchased LED lights, and are happy that they truly give us the feel of sunshine in this otherwise darkened room.

We chose to put in a lot of outlets, and even an outlet in the closet that Rob framed out. We are going to put an additional camera for our baby monitor inside the closet space that peeks out into the room. That way if we have to run upstairs or go to the restroom we can have an eye on things.  May come in handy one day when we have teenagers....just kidding.

Rob built a closet space that we will probably figure out what to do with last.  We have a few ideas floating around, but for now we are just going to put some double doors on it. Next to the closet Rob will be putting in cabinets above, and possibly a floating desk area below. Wynn is going to want her own desk space in the room I suspect.

Along the front wall of the house we have our water shut off valve and the fuse box. We decided the best way to deal with the water valve was to simply place a door in front of it. That way the entire thing would be accessible if necessary. The fuse box will have a panel over it for access.

The wall on the garage side of our house will hopefully be the home of our painted projector screen. We were going back and forth whether a TV made more sense, but figured with how dark the space is that a projector would work great.  Here is what I am looking to purchase for the projector and components. Rob already installed these speakers that were ordered from Amazon, and the speaker wire was from there as well.. We went with four total speakers, and we are hoping to order a projector from Amazon as well. We plan on putting the audio components on the unfinished side of the basement to keep it out of the way. Rob installed additional outlets on the other side of the walls to ensure there would be enough plugs, and that way he can access all of the wiring fairly easy.

We were referred to an electrician who does side work, and he came over to link up all of the recessed lights that Rob has installed. It took about two hours total. He is going to come back over once Rob installs the outlets to hook them up to the fuse box.  It truly did help in this area that the room was unfinished. Because then we could basically do whatever we wanted.

Rob then drywalled all of the walls, mudded, sanded and primed. I helped him a bit with hanging the ceiling drywall. It was fun cutting all of the holes for the lights. He cut the holes for the speakers after tthe drywall was hung.  He just made sure he ran the speaker wire before the drywall went up on the ceiling. I helped one evening hold the drywall up while Rob screwed it in, and then our ever so helpful neighbor took over duty the next day, It was good to know that all three kiddos could sleep through the sounds of drywall screws drilling into the ceiling. It pays to have loud dogs get them used to noise as babies. I purchased a Wagner Power Sprayer and Rob easily sprayed the walls and ceiling with the primer.This was all done in the days 10-14 of the project. Basketball season came to an end, and so Rob was able to get really get into a groove.

I purchased two gallons of Sherwin Williams' Repose Gray and they are having a 30% off sale from now until the end of March. I saved quite a bit of money with that coupon.  We were going to use a color we had in one of the many five gallon buckets the previous homeowners left behind. However, once we saw the yellow and orange like color on the walls we nearly passed out. No way that was happening. We decided it would be worth the money to paint it a color we like.  Rob did the traditional roller and brush for the actual paint. He said he thought it would get a better coating, and good old Sherwin Williams paint usually only requires one coat. He started painting in week three of the project. This is the same paint color we used in the nursery for Ty and Davis.

Yesterday morning Rob decided the walls were done and it was time to begin the flooring adventure. We chose the Allen & Roth Lowe's brand laminate flooring in Toasted Chestnut.  It was $1.89 a square foot, and we have about 630 square feet in this space. He also picked up some underlayment for about $75 total. We will also be using this same flooring in our family room that is at the top of the steps from this space. Rob plans on ripping out our yucky carpet and painting during his spring break. Oh the joys of home ownership.

Well needless to say Rob spent a few hours last night getting the floors done, and then he spent a few hours today. He finished them off, and then even went and bought a door to hang where the water shut off will hide. The last project of the day was hanging the door. Next up is the trim and the possible board & batten project. Thank goodness the weather is getting warm so we can spray the doors and trim outside. Plus the panel for the fuse box, which will be done after the electrician comes along. 

This may be the longest post I've ever written. If you are still here with me I appreciate you reading it.  I cannot wait to share more progress on the playroom.

A Sweet Little Box of Drawers

For Christmas, I received a few presents inside the drawers of this little box.. Rob's grandmother said she thought I would be able to make it new again and find a fun use for it. It was Rob's great grandmother's and she used it for holding her sewing goodies. 

I sanded it just a bit, but the paint I purchased said that it did not need to be sanded after all.  I purchased this Folk Art chalk paint from Jo-Ann Fabrics a few weeks ago. I painted two coats on, and then lined the front of the each drawer with a strip of washi tape. I figured if I ever needed to make a change it would be easy to remove the tape. Also, it took about two minutes to add the tape. I am a fan of quick and easy as you may already know.

I put a picture of the orginal box of drawers on Instagram a few weeks ago, and asked for ideas on how to use this box. My best friend, Jessica, suggested that I use it to hold Wynn's hair accessories. It ended up being perfect for this.  Wynn know has quite the collection and they seemed to be in one jumbled pile.

Wynn sorted all of her hair accessories and then we placed them in the drawers. This is now sitting on her dresser looking super cute.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I cannot wait to share the progress Rob is making on our new playroom for the kiddos. Details are coming soon. I think my Pinterest board for it may or may not be getting a little out of hand.