Things are Better Homegrown!

In between helping DH with the kitchen remodel I'm taking care of other projects I need to do. One is cleaning the chicken coop. We've been raising chickens for the last 6 mos, we both had them growing up. We have 6 hens, four different breeds. They've been fun to have. When I clean out the coop I use suggestions from this article. I really like how the vinegar keeps the water containers cleaner for longer. I'm looking forward to naturally dying our eggs when the time comes. I wanted to share with you the difference in sizes. On the left is a store bought egg, had to buy them when our chickens were molting and we weren't getting eggs, on the right is a homegrown egg from our Leghorn. Huge difference huh?

Dress Up Wardrobe

 My girls love playing what they call "make-a-believe." I however hate the items being all over their room. Several months back we helped a family moved and they left behind several items and there was a pair of these cabinets. 

 

 I knew instantly that I wanted to make them into this. I put a rod into the first one to hang clothes on, but that's as far as I got. DH had to go out of town today, so the kitchen remodel is on hold, I figured I'd finally finish the project. I also decided that I only wanted one cabinet in hopes to reduce the amount of clothes they had to dress up in. The drawers aren't very deep but I figured I'd still dress them up. 

 

I used wall paper I got from the thrift store and 3M adhesive spray to attach it to the inside of the cabinet and drawers.

 

Because I liked the pink and white stripes with the contrast of the brown backing in the cabinet I kept the back unfinished. 

 

 Dont the drawers look so nice and organized? 

Wonder how long that will last. hehe.

 This is what the finished area looks like. I have a little chair that belonged to my Gma. I re-did the material years ago, but it really needs a paint job. Hmmm maybe its time to re-do it again.

 

A little break turns into a BIG project

For all those who are teachers or married to teachers, you know how you thrive for those little school breaks. Its amazing how much stuff you can accomplish during these breaks. My hubby whose a teacher, loves utilizing school breaks and he thought it would be a great time during our little Thanksgiving break to remodel our kitchen. This is what we're up against, a 1983's galley kitchen...isn't it lovely? hehe. 

Our plan of action...wing it. Seriously though we're the type to wing it, we bought walnut laminated flooring, cabinets, and paint and we'll do the project little by little. Even though technically our break doesn't start until Wednesday, yesterday afternoon after school we removed the trim, most of the cabinets and painted the kitchen and adjoining dining room. Today the rooms will get a 2nd coat and we'll remove the sink and lower cabinets, if the plumbing works with us. Tomorrow it will be all about...who knows...we'll see what we get accomplished tonight.

An Alice in Wonderland Halloween

There you have it folks!!! The Halloween Costumes of 2012. I think they turned out great and the kids seemed to enjoy them. I'll go through each costumes on how and where I got the ideas or tutorials from. 

The Mad Hatter

My eldest made a great Mad Hatter, he even won a local children's costume contest and people asked if they could take pictures of him as we Trick or Treated. The Hat turned out great. I used lace instead of material and spray painted it with green, brown, plum, and gold paint. I cut up old blouses for the sash around his hat and around his neck. I found the jacket at the thrift store but sewed on the white cuffs which used to be a curtain. The pants were also from the thrift store but I had to take them apart and downsized them to fit him. The hair was a clown wig that I cut into half and pinned to the hat. The Spool Belt was pretty simple to make especially since I already had the spools of thread. I kept the belt whole and threw it around him.

The Red Card Solider

So this costume was a complete 100% original. Believe me, I looked for a tutorial and came up empty. So I took an old bed skirt and cut it apart for the card portion of the costume and sewed up a rectangle with arm holes. The diamonds were made out of felt. The head piece one had a hole cut out for his face and then I starched it so it would stand up on its own once he put it on. The ax is made out of a broom handle, cardboard, and aluminum foil. 

Alice

I did find the dress at the thrift store, but it had long sleeves. I shorted those up. I made the apron using this tutorial for inspiration once again using an old bed skirt for the material. As you can see I made the front connect to the back and put a snap on the back. This made it easier for her to put it on and less bulky. I was up until 12:30am making it. I waited until the kids were asleep because I knew making my own pattern was going to be time consuming. The hair band was easily made and completed the project. I like the results!

The Queen of Hearts

I found the dress at the thrift store, but I made the crown out of felt and the wand out of an old kitchen spoon, felt sewn into a heart shape and then stuffed.