the little things

the pallet beds are done!

Hooray!  Operation playroom/guest room is complete!  Took a weeee bit longer than expected, but it was soooo worth it!  We ended up building our own heavy duty pallets.. well, I should say JAMES ended up building the heavy duty pallets! hee heee!  We hunted and hunted, and the place that said we could have some 'heavy duty' ones for free.. well, I can see why! ha!  They were, shall we say 'not very nice' lol!  I am sure we would have made out just fine with them, but another thing we found, was the average pallet is quite a bit bigger than a single mattress.. and with the amount of available room already being an issue, this was just the best way to go.  The most expensive part was definitely the casters.. other than that, the cost of the wood wasn't all that bad.. cheaper than 2 new beds would have been that is for sure!

OK.. here are some pictures of the pallet beds! (I am so excited to share these finally!)

 

They filled up pretty much the entire wall.. one HUGE long sofa for the kids, and 2 beds for guests... either keeping them long, or pulling them together for a gigantic guest bed.  LOVING how this turned out!  

 

 

All of the bedding was super cheap.. the comforters are from Walmart and were under $20 a piece.. throw pillows were found on clearance at various stores around Grande Prairie.  Sort of 'hodge podge' looking, but I am really digging the mix!  At the end of the day, when I got in the truck and looked in the backseat at the collection of colours and patterns, all I could think was 'what the heck am I doing' ha ha!  But I had a vision, and stuck with it.. looked for colours and patterns that I wanted and this was how it worked out!  The sheets underneath the bedding are turquoise.. of course! heee! ;)

I made these pillows (the little ones made with Heather Bailey fabric) this morning (with stuffing from an old flattened pillow)..

 

Oh my gosh, the lighting was soooo bad in there!  Ahhhhh! lol

My roller skates from when I was a kid (they sit in the window)..

 

Random shots from around the room..

 

A collection of some things on a shelf.. print and owl are from Etsy... and the music box is another childhood treasure. :)

 

Here is the new repurposed desk area.. the legs I found at Home Depot and painted them a teal colour... love this new little space!  The 'nook' was the perfect size for the shelves and the desk!  Much better use of space for this little room!

One last shot from the doorway.. I wish I had a wide angle so I could have got the whole wall in one shot!  It really is huge! lol  But the best part is, with the furniture that we took out gone.. the addition of the 2 new bed doesn't really make the room feel all that more cramped at all!  

 

Please excuse the photos.. I was having a heck of a time with the lighting in there... it is suuuuuuuper gloomy here today, definitely not ideal for photos of a dark room! ahhh!  Oh well. :)

We loooove the pallet beds, they turned out so perfectly for the room!  Gosh, what would I do without the internet and the abundance of inspiration that can be found?  Because I can guarantee you.. if I hadn't seen this bed floating around blog land, I most certainly wouldn't have thought of using pallets for a bed!  And now that they are in there.. I seriously can't picture anything else!  If you are thinking of doing one of these up.. do it!  You will love the result, I promise!!  

OK, I gotta run for now!  We all slept in this morning.. Laine missed the bus, and the day has felt like chaos ever since! ha!  

Later! :)

operation playroom/guest room is underway..

So.. I think the whole office 'kid corner' re-do lit a fire in me... 'cause I have moved over a room, and we are totally revamping the playroom! ahhh!  I am nutso.. just a wee bit anyway! ha ha!  

We have always had plans to turn the playroom into a playroom/guest room, right now.. if guests spend the night, we blow up the air mattress and place it somewhere around the house... not very fun huh!?  Well.. that was until it got a hole in it... so my Grandpa (our last overnight guest) ended up sleeping on the couch when he was here.  Definitely not ideal! 

Yesterday morning.. I got an urge... emptied the playroom right out, toys.. furniture... everything!  Like I said NUTS!  We permanently took out the big old 32" 500 pound TV, and equally large TV stand that was holding it, AND Laine's desk area as well.  BUT, we are re-purposing some wall mount shelves and Ikea desk top that we already had.. and making a new desk area that fits into a little nook of the playroom that really had no other purpose.  I am on a mission today to find some desk legs.. some sort of fun DIY solutions! hee!  So, she will still have a desk.. honestly, with more storage on shelves than before too, so gooood stuff!  I also repurposed a small 13" TV that we had in the storage room, instead of the mammoth beast that was in there! ha ha!

Toy boxes, train table and most toys went back in as well.  We did end up clearing out some older toys.. to make way for Christmas, ones that haven't been touched in months and months!  ALSO, now that Harley is older (now that we don't have to be QUITE as worried that he is going to try and eat a Barbie shoe).. we moved Laine's Barbies and Littlest Pet Shop toys back in, so she can play and be around us (the playroom is right next to the family room and my office, both of which are downstairs and her bedroom is upstairs.. which makes her not play with them all that much, since she likes being close).. sooooo, we had to make room for all of that as well!

Now, onto the guest room part of the room.  We are adding 2 (yes TWO) beds to the room!  Quite the challenge!  Inspiration is coming 100% from this room and bed that has been floating around blog land lately, originally created by the talented Ashley Ann.. the bed is part of the totally gorgeous room that she created for her baby girl.

Here is an image of her inspiring bed project..

 

Isn't it gorgeous!?  We are also on the hunt for some pallets today (we may end up building our own, we'll see).. James pre-phoned around a bit yesterday, and we found some free 'heavy duty' ones.. so we are going to go check them out today.

I left one whole wall empty, and we are putting the 2 beds end to end.. so, for normal day to day usage it will be like a super long sofa.  Lots of pillows and some throws.. perfect spot for the kids to snuggle up and read or watch TV.  THEN, if guests choose, we can slide the 2 beds together, hook the pallets so the don't separate, lots of comfy blankets and we have a big bed in the middle of the room!  Should work out good!  OR, we can just keep them end to end.. or do whatever!  The best part is going to be actually having somewhere for guests to sleep.. period!

I just looooove the industrial look of this bed, it is just the perfect amount of quirky!  I can't wait to put it all together!  The playroom is ready and waiting.. hopefully we make out ok today and come home with some treasures! heee!

Thank you all for the sweet comments about my room.. I loved sharing my space, I think mostly because I LOVE seeing other peoples spaces, where they get creative!  One of my favourite things about the internet!  

My mission for the weekend (other than this playroom adventure) is to catch up on my overflowing inbox and respond to comments and stuff.. just 'catch up' in general!!  Wish me luck! hee!  I really really need to improve on this, I am horrible at replying to emails.. just horrible, and I know it (and I am sorry)... and I will get better!  PROMISE!!  

OK.. MUST go get ready to go treasure hunting! hee!  Running out of time already! ahhhh!

Later! 

my most favourite room in the entire house :)

Today, I got playing around.. finishing up the kids corner of the art room.  The bulletin board and chalk board were there already, and a few weeks ago, I picked up the cube thingies from Michaels to hold Laine's scrapbook/craft stuff and her Klutz books etc.  When I went and organized my cabinets to make them 'functional' (meaning, no more 'shove it in anywhere' type of organizing).. I found piles of stuff on the floor that wasn't going to fit back in! ha ha!  So, more storage was needed.  Then, I decided to make that corner.. the 'kid corner' ..like I originally intended to waaay back when! lol

Here are a few pictures of the 'new and improved' kid corner..

 

(my inspiration board)..

 

The butterflies are acrylic and I bought them at a close out sale for next to nothing (I wish they would have had more!) and the hanging star was mine as a baby.. it winds up and plays 'twinkle twinkle little star.. and I loooove it! :) ..and the pom poms are Martha Stewart from Michaels. 

 

I snagged various things from around the house this morning, to style up the corner! hee!  Nobody will notice the missing pillow, or rug will they? lol  The flower light was in the storage room.. waiting for the perfect spot to put it... works for me!  

Now the mirror might become an issue.. it was bought because I loooved it, and it just needed to come home with me (super steal of a deal on it at Winners.. the frame has a hairline crack in it, so I got it at 50% off the already discounted price.. I paid $25... compared to $100 yeee haaaa!).. then we decided it would be the vanity mirror above the sink in the downstairs bathroom when we finish it.. might have to look for another now! ..I kind of like it in here! hee! ;)  The way I look at.. we aren't doing the bathroom in the near future anyway.. might as well enjoy it right!?

So, that is the new corner.. BUT when I do things like this.. one thing usually leads to another (typical huh?)... so I ended up cleaning and moving things around the entire room.. and taking pictures along the way of course! hee!  Since I haven't shared pictures of my space on here in quite awhile.. I figure now is as good a time as any! :)

This is the opposite side of the room..

 

My little sewing table.. both it and the stool are from Ikea.  The words were from a local store in Grande Prairie.. but is has since closed down.  I know you can find them elsewhere though, I bought Laine one in Saskatoon when we were visiting.. so they are around.. :)

Laine and I made these little paper pinwheels last week.. such a fun and easy (and beautiful) little craft!!

 

The cross stitch patterns (butterfly and deer) are from here.  Love how they turned out!!  Oh how I missed cross stitching!

 

Apparently I forgot to dust this shelf.. and the photo is blurry... which should really make me wonder why I am posting it, but I mean.. really, this is how my shelves usually look, all dusty.. this is normal!  And the blurry, well, it is dark now and I can't re-take it! hee!  If you look close.. most of these pictures probably have dusty/finger print covered surfaces (ha ha).. oh well... ;)

 

My desk area.. where I spend waaaay too much time surfing the internet! ha ha!

 

OK, I did clean the desk.. it had coffee mess all over it, and that was just too much.. dust I can handle in photos (barely) but coffee mess.. nuh uh! hee!

 

If you are looking at my desk.. this area in the picture below is to the right of it, right in front of those cabinets (in the above picture)...

 

My mom's polaroid treasures.. which I raided and brought home with me last time I was there visiting! heee!  Seriously, one has never ever been used.. strap is still all wrapped up as if it was just opened!  They look so pretty all together. :)

 

Um.. layouts waiting to be put into albums... again. :)

 

My scrapping desk..

 

Bowls of treasures are a good thing. :)

When you are at the doorway looking in, the work desks are in the middle of the room, with the computer desk opposite the scrapping desk.. against the wall, then there are shelves on the right and the left (on either sides of the desks)... kids corner is to the immediate right, and sewing table to the immediate left.. running out of space, but I kind of like it all cluttered up like this!  Maybe that is why it is my favourite room.. nice and cozy with a little bit of clutter! heee!

There you have it.. a tour of my srapbook room/crafting room/office/studio/ whatever you want to call it.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that all framed art work in here is either from Etsy, made using 2 Peas digital kits (for personal purposes only) or made by me (the ones by the sewing table). :)  I think that covered everything!  How long do you think it will stay that clean? ha ha!  By tomorrow it will be back to it's normal state of messiness I am sure! lol

Later!

some scrappy talk..

Scrappy talk and scrappy shares.. scrappin' is definitely on the brain this morning!  How 'bout you?  Yesterday I scrapped a few pages for the November mid-month Garden over at 2 Peas.. I stepped out of my box and used small 2x3 photos... and I loooooved it!  SO fun!  Who knew!?  ha ha!  Usually I stick to the 4x6 size and use one photo a page.  The pages I did yesterday had 3 and 5 photos on them!  A whole new world of possibilities I tell you! What have I been missing out on!?

Here are a few shares.. some recent pages that I did for 2 Peas and KI Memories. :)

 

That one might be my favouritest page I have done in a while.. it just flowed together, I looove it when that happens!  More details here.

This next one was for New Product Focus.. Hambly 'All Mixed Up' Overlays.  More info here.  LOVE this Anna Griffin patterned paper!

 

Some 'Wicked' scrappin'!  Love this line from KI.. I think I have used almost all of it up already!  I keep going back to it!!  This one was for the Focus On Wicked on the KI Blog.

 

And this one, I made the other day and loaded to the member gallery at 2 Peas.. had soooo much fun playing with digi!!  LOVE every single kit by Michelle Underwood!  SO amazing!

 

I really need to start playing with digi more.. I looove it so much!  There is just something about making things different sizes, easily using fonts as I wish and no mess that just seriously rocks! lol  

I put through a bucket a 2 Peas the other day (soo can't wait for that box to come heee!), and I included a BUNCH of these beauties!  I see some album re-organization coming soon! ha ha!  Can't wait to see them IRL!

 

I think I might need more.. although I did order 5... hmmm, they are just too perfect for words though! hee!  Yep, might need to order more in the near future! ha!

Ohhh.. I also stocked up on a few more bottles of Maya Mist (although, a bunch left my cart before I checked out.. I suspect it is flying off the shelves!).. I am officially addicted.  Now I just have to figure out what to do about over spray.. I seem to not really pay attention (ha ha!) and my desk (and everything on it) now has a very pretty and colourful mist speckled everywhere! hee!  The gold is my favourite, so there is a definite metallic look happening on my desk! lol

Hmmm.. what else scrappy can we talk about?  I am still scared of my Silhouette and Illustrator! ha!  Surprised?  I'm not! lol  MUST work on that.. ok, I am going to go do that right now.. yes I am!  I see a scrappy day comin' on! ..sounds like the perfect day to me!

Later! :)

Halloween 2009.. Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy

Happy Halloween!  

The kids had a blast yesterday.  There was soooo much snow, we got like 8 inches of heavy wet snow the day before.. so it was everywhere!  But, we got them dressed up (in many many layers).. had a mini photo shoot out on the snow covered driveway and then headed to town for some trick or treating.

Here is Ladybug Girl...

 

My girl insisted on wearing the sparkly ballerina flats that we picked up at Walmart.. so I ended up giving up on the boot brainstorming.  Instead, I crocheted some red leg warmers and sewed on black buttons for spots!  Probably the most time consuming option.. but it was fun, and she got to wear her sparkly shoes.. it was a win win! hee!

And, here is Bumblebee Boy...

 

For him, I traced a painting smock thingie that we had onto black fleece and cut it out.. sewed on some fleece strips as ties for the sides and the back, and then added some stripes!  Sooo easy!

For both of their wings, I ended up tossing the wire (such a pain), and cut them out of foam core board.. then covered the board with the pantyhose/tights that I had bought to go over the wire.  Laine's needed to be painted red before I put the tights over ('cause the white of the board showed).. then, Harley's were hot glued directly onto his smock thingie and for Laine's, I added some red 'backpack strap' stuff and she wore them over her shoulders.  Of course I had to add some sequins and other fun sparkly things.. and ric rac spirals on the Bumblebee wings.. the wings were a lot of fun!

Laine's tutu was made by following this tutorial here.. I used about 7 meters of tulle... and it came together sooo fast!  I am going to have to make some more now!  Harley's hat was made by following a pattern in this book (so many fun ideas in there)!

Some more random shots of my 2 little bugs.. :)

 

 

 

Harley was only interested in eating as much snow as possible..

 

I picked up some fake converse sneakers, but we only had them on him for these shots.. then the snow forced us to switch to winter boots.. Laine wouldn't hear of it though, and marched through the icy puddles in her little shoes (crazy girl)!

 

 

We only trick or treated up and down one street.. It was sooo cold!  I ended up falling flat on my butt in an icy puddle! ha ha ha!  So graceful huh!?  I definitely learned the hard way that my cute new Uggs definitely have noooooo traction! ha!  ..and they aren't water proof either, in case you were wondering! LOL

 

This one was shot from the hip (well, actually, I think both of these trick or treating ones were).. I was waaaaaay too cold to actually hold the camera up to my face! ha!

 

OK.. that is all. :)  I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!!  Can't wait until next year!  ..Laine says she is going to be Ladybug Girl again! ha ha!  We'll see! heee!

Later! :)