A Fourth Birthday Party and Some Homemade Decor

WHERE oh WHERE does the time go???? Our baby girl has turned four!  FOUR!   I absolutely can NOT believe it!! We have four children all close in age and I am so used to always having a small child around.  Not that four is not a small child but you know what I mean...three and under. Now all of my children are OVER three.  ALL of them OVER three, my gosh, I still can't believe it!!!

Anyway..... 

.....moving along....

Our little girl is getting older;

but she is still little

and so we threw her a sweet little birthday party!!! 

This was my first time making homemade party decor. 

I really enjoyed doing it and I like the way they turned out.

We had chocolate cupcakes.....

with sprinkles!

I tried my hand at some homemade cupcake decorations.  I think they turned out well except for all the kids thought that they were lolly pops and then were slightly disappointed...(whoops, sorry kids!!)

The Birthday girl herself!

 

 Love the curls, she's our little Shirley Temple! 

So bashful while we sing and the candles need to be blown out but then...

It's present time and that was a completely different story!!

xoxo

Fabric Flower Wall Art

It was getting close to Thanksgiving last year when I realized I did not have much on my walls after painting them last summer.  I was trying to scrounge up some stuff to put on the walls so they would not look so bare through out the holiday season and while having company. 

I came up with this little beaut by taking one of my handy dandy little fabric flowers I made and had just kicking around, taking some scrap fabric, cardboard and an old picture frame.  I put it all together and ta-daaaa..... this is what I got. 

I was actually pretty pleased with the way that it turned out. 

I think for a quick 'throw together' project I'll probably keep it around for a while. 

I like the pink on the green

and I like it on the wall next to the china cabinet.

The fabric flower is super easy to make and I know that there are several tutorials out there.  I plan on making one soon because I just love them. I have a no-sew flower tutorial here.   They're great on so many thinks like pillows, wreaths, picture frames, headbands, you name it and they look great on it!.  Anyway, I think you get the point that I LOVE them!!

Happy Crafting!

xoxo

I linked to these fabulous parties!!

Mason Jar Apron Rack

Hey Everyone! Hope your all doing well.  I've been spending my time working on some projects I've had started and am now finally finishing a few.  This particular one was made purposely for my aprons so I may have a place to hang them in the kitchen.  I've seen different ideas floating around out there that attach a mason jar to the rack and I really like it.  This is the version I've created.  Partly because its useful to me and partly because its what I had floating around the house. 

First I found a scrap piece of wood and sanded it so the edges were smooth and the corners were rounded. 

Second, I painted it wicker white. 

I let the paint dry and then I sanded the edges a bit to give it kind of a distressed look. 
Then with min-wax dark walnut I dabbed a little on the sanded parts with a paper towel and quickly wiped it away to give more of the distressed look.

Next I used a 4" hose clamp that I bought at wall-mart for maybe $2.  With a flat head screw driver, I pried out the slat closest to the last one so that I could fit a screw through it.

I screwed it to the board almost to the end of one side.

I had a few little helpers along the way.  (so cute!)

Next I added some hooks of various kinds that I had floating around the house.

I added some picture hooks to the back and then added the mason jar to the hose clamp on the front.  I made sure to tighten the clamp so the jar would not fall out.

I meant this for my kitchen but I felt this one fits better in the cellar way.  I added a fake hydrangea to it and I think it looks rather pretty.  I still need one for the kitchen so that project will be coming up soon.

Here we are, all finished!

A few "for fun" shots:

I think it came out pretty cute.  What do you think?  If you like please share your thoughts with me, I would love to read them. 

xoxo

I linked to these fabulous parties.

And

My Living Room Design

My living room has been a work in progress for quite sometime now as you can probably tell by some of my previous posts.  The walls are painted  a pale blue which I am bitter-sweet about.  There are times during the day I truly love this color and the effect it has on the room.  However, there are other times during the day it seems a little too grey and bleak; kinda like a rainy, over cast day. This is the effect that I'm really trying hard to over come and make go away.  This spring I am looking forward to bringing in some natural elements like bamboo blinds and a natural fiber rug to warm it up.  Also I have some work- in-progress wall art that I'll be doing in a dark walnut stain.  I’ve seen some low cost ideas that are really intriguing me right now like drop cloth curtains and pillow covers that may add a nice effect.  We'll see, but for now this is what I'm working with:

What do you think of the red curtains?  Obviously, I need new curtain rods....darn grommets!!

The lamp shades are a project from last summer as well as the pillow covers.  Clearly, they've been washed a few times.  Kids you know!!

I had several different colors of ribbon and fabric wrapped around the shades until I settled on this combo.  I thought it matched both the walls and the curtains best.  (oops, I spy an imperfection in the wall.......Oh Husband......)

The ‘B’ monogram wall art is a project from last fall.  I wanted something that would go with the lamp shades and also something quick to slap up on the wall before Thanksgiving guests arrived!  As you can probably tell I drew the ‘B’ free hand and then cut it out.  Not too bad though!!  One of these days I might actually print off a stencil and do it right. Who knows?! 

  
Well, that’s my living room in a nutshell.  It’s getting there but still needs plenty TLC.  Oh, and its not the brightest room in the house which is a cause for some of its dilemmas.  I’ve had some ideas for better color choices since we've painted but were really not ready to re-paint quite yet.  What’s your living room like?  Is it a work in progress or do you have the living room of your dreams? Please, do tell!!

xoxo