Camp Z! Play Tent

Big sister was at Girl Scout day camp this past week, so the boy and I have been able to spend some quality time.  One of our highlights was him getting to play Wii for over an hour without anyone (namely big sister) telling him it was her turn or informing him that that was not how you do it.  He was in heaven. 

While he was playing, I was cruising the blog scene and came across a fabulous idea from Cakies on Grosgrain for an amazing A-Frame Tent!  After checking the wood supply in the garage, I loaded up the kid and headed out to Home Depot for some wood and JoAnns for some fabric.

Rubyellen from Cakies offers an amazing tutorial in her guest post as part of the Free Pattern Month at Grosgrain. I will touch on the basics.

NEED:
4 - 48" 1x2 finish boards (not too rough)
1 - 48" 3/4 dowel
1 - 3/4" paddle bit for your electric drill
Measuring tape
pencil or marker
Roughly 2.5 yard fabric - finished piece is 44"x85"

I had Home Depot cut my boards to size for me.  At home, I measured down 5" (she suggests 6") because my piece of fabric was slightly larger than needed.  Due to the width of my fabric, I have a 7" folded hem.  I actually like the deeper hem since my fabric is a printed upholstry fabric that is rather plain on the interior.

The fabric cover is roughtly 44" x 85".  Once you have hemmed each side, simply attach a 5" piece of elastic that has been folded in half to each corner.  This elastic is what hold the tent to the wood structure.

I love that the whole thing can be pulled apart and stored away as needed.  But for tonight, Z has invited Big Sis to sleep in the tent in his room.

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Upcycled Super Girl Cape

The girl is LOVING Girl Scout Camp this week.  Everyday has a theme much like spirit week at school.  Yesterday was crazy hair day and with no less than 7 pony tails, she looked adorable  - we love crazy hair days!

Today is Super Girl Day!  The girls are encouraged to dress up like super heros.  She wanted to be Super Tree Girl so brown pants, green shirt and of course a super girl cape!  There was no fighting this super hero on the fact that today it will be 105 degrees and pants may not be the best idea!  She is a tree and trees are brown so long pants it was!

I decided to whip up a Super Girl pink cape for her yesterday while she was gone! The challenge was fabric.  I headed to Savers to see what I could find!  Success, the sleepwear aisle had ample choices.  I found a perfect pink satin robe for just $1.99!  Score!

All I did was cut the back panel out and sewed a simple rolled edge.  I am not a great seamstress so it may not be pretty but the finished project is awesome and the girl (and the boy too) love it!  I guess we will be heading back to the thrift store to find a blue or red robe or night gown so I can make one for the boy too!  In the mean time, he is running around with the pink one - just don't tell his sister (or his Dad)!!!

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Rainbow Pool Party: Part 2

Friday I gave you a fun little sneak peek at the fun rainbow themed pool party we threw for our girly today. The party was a HUGE hit and of course, the girl was in heaven.

GOODY BAGS

 I really despise goody bags at birthday parties.  They are generally filled with a bunch of trinket trash and penny candy (I know, that shows my age as NO candy is a penny anymore).  That being said, of course we had to have a parting gift for our gracious little guests.  I generally like to spend a touch more and give the kids one slightly larger item.  Since we were tasting the rainbow on this party, I bought regular sized bags of Skittles and placed them inside dollar store paper treat bags - 10 for $1.  We decorated the bags with more pinwheels in rainbow colors.  I love the display on the bench (my Dad made for us) in the front entry!

FOOD DISPLAY

I love so many of the really fun party food displays all over blogland with colorful backdrops for the food table with fabric or streamers.  Well, with the rainbow theme, crepe paper was a no-brainer - 6 colors for $6 and we are good to go!  I measured the wall to determine how long to make the streamers so they hang just below the table.  Then I simply folded them over a piece of shoe molding that was left in the garage when we bought the house.  I stapled each piece and hung it up using string and 3 push pins.  Easy peasy lemon squeasy!  I love the effect.

We kept the food simple as we knew we would be outside most of the time.  We ordered a 6' sub from Fry's and I made a rainbow striped fruit tray, a colorful veggie tray, chips, and dip.  My favorite dip was the homemade tomatillo salsa I had canned HERE.  Yummy!

TASTE THE RAINBOW TREATS

I definitely had a lot of fun with the sweet treats.  I made a rainbow layer cake and chocolate cake balls along with a glass filled with skittles.  I look forward to sharing some of the tricks and tips I have for making these tasty treats!

LIFEGUARD SHIRT

My hubby's duty for the party was to be the lifeguard and pool monitor.  While the parents stuck around, we knew it was important that we make sure that all of the kids were safe.  And why is it that when you are looking for something you know you have seen a zillion times, you can't find a single one.  I checked 4 or 5 places for a Lifeguard shirt.  Since I couldn't find one, I headed over to JoAnn Fabrics and picked up a $2.50 red shirt and some iron-on letters for $3 and made one myself.  A little zinc oxide on the nose and whistle (the very same whistle that used as a lifeguard from ages 14-24!) and he was a hit!

FUN TREAT

Who doesn't want an ice cream cart at their summer pool party?  The cart was loaded with dilly bars and other novelty treats from DQ.  So much fun!!! If you are in Tucson - make sure to call the DQ on Tanque Verde to have this cart at your party!

SPLASH!

It was such a fun day and our birthday girl had an awesome time celebrating with her friends.  We truly enjoyed the company of their parents too!  We have incredible friends!

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Rainbow Birthday Party Sneak Peek

Preparations are under way for the girly's big 6th birthday party tomorrow.  The rainbow is slowly starting to explode all over my house and I just had to share a couple of sneak peaks at the decor as I am having so much fun putting this all together.

Since our forever house has an awesome swimming pool and her birthday party is during the hot, hot, hot days of summer in Arizona, it was a natural to do a pool party.  The secondary theme for the party is rainbows! The decorations are colorful and fun. Using a couple of packages of scrapbook paper, some crepe paper, ribbon and balloons, I made a variety of fun summer, birthday and rainbow inspired decorations.

BIRTHDAY WREATH

After seeing the fun balloon wreaths and curly ribbon wreaths HERE, HERE, and HERE, I knew this would be a fun addition. So off to the Dollar Tree to pick up the supplies. They no longer had the styrofoam wreaths so I used a vine wreath and simply pulled one of the ribbons to tie around the wreath and then I tacked each set of ribbons with a dot of hot glue to hold them in place. I added a pennent banner to carry out the summer rainbow theme of the party. I love this wreath as it is so festive and fun. It can be used over and over for any party by simply changing out the banner and pinwheel to fit the party theme.

GARLAND

The garland was made by using a package of colorful die-cuts that were arranged in a rainbow pattern and sewed together again with the sewing machine. (I may not be able to sew clothes that well, but I can sew a mean piece of paper.) I have had these laying around for nearly 5 years so at this point, I consider this garland FREE! Yay! You could use a circle punch and make them out of any scrapbook paper. Very fun and oh so easy!

BIRTHDAY BANNER

What is a party without a birthday banner. Using the same idea as the garland, I cut out some multi-colored triangles and sewed them together using my sewing machine in a rainbow pattern. Since I don't have a fancy die-cutting machine I simply used some scrapbook stickers for the letters. Again, using things I already had on hand, this project was virtually free! I also made a few pinwheels (such a fun summer icon) to hid the tack points for the banner and add a fun festive design.

RUFFLED CREPE PAPER GARLAND

Adding some color to the bannister, I decided to try sewing some fun ruffled garland using crepe paper.  Dana-Made-It (aka MADE) shared an awesome tutorial on how to do this.  Even for this very novice sewer, this was a really easy project (once I figured out which buttons on my machine adjusted the tension and stitch length.  I made one garland using red, yellow and orange and another with blue, green and purple.  I then layed them together back to back and twisted them so they have a rainbow effect.  To secure them on the ends I made a simple tissue paper poof by accordian folding 8 or so sheets of tissue, rounded the ends, secured in the middle with some wire and then separated the layers.  (I remember making versions of these with my mom as a kid.)

There is SOOOOOOOO much more to do so I better get to work.  The laundry is all over the living room, bathrooms need to be cleaned, I need to run to the store for some last minute supplies and, and, and.  The list is a mile long but I just couldn't wait to share the rainbow!!! See you after the party!

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Kid's Room Monogram Walls

From the moment I saw the aisle with giant cardboard letters at JoAnn's I was in love!  I didn't know how or where, but I was going to have those in my house!  Then along came my baby girl and I knew, the letters had a home. 

I started with an "S" and painted it purple to go with the Finding Nemo/Little Mermaid "under the sea" theme of her room.  It was a fun added touch above her brand new, big girl bed.  The purple looked great against the turquoise walls with the fish decals from Pottery Barn and the Pier 1 stuffed fish hanging from the ceiling.

Bubba Z got a Z when  he was born.  The awesome red "Z" went above the spare bed in his room.  Loved it against the khaki walls.

In the new house, of course the monograms became an integral part of the kids rooms.

In the girly's room, I found some awesome old school Home Interior butterflies at the thrift store.  We brought them home and sprayed both the butterflies and the S with some watermelon spray paint.  They help to carry the butterfly theme in her pink and green room!

In Bubba Z's room, the awesome red Z was paired with a fun name plaque using photography from Leo Reynolds.  I first saw this fun idea of using Leo's unbelievable collection of letter photos in a guest post by My 3 Monsters on Under the Table and Dreaming.  I found the frame at Goodwill with 4 openings which was perfect.  So fun!

Just curious, does anyone else have a love affair with the letter aisle?  After doing the Alphabet Wall I think I need to chill on the use of letters - they may just take over!

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The Perfect Little Desk

Dilema #1: 
There is this awkward space to the left of our fireplace that most likely was designed to house a bookshelf to hold the components to your home theater system.  We have neither currently so it is just an odd looking space.

Dilema #2: 
Our kids are forever wanting to play on the computer.  However our desktop computer sits in the office at the front of the house.  We don't want the kids in there playing without being able to keep an eye on them.  So I have been contemplating how and where we could move the computer into the main room without it becoming a focal point (read: messy catchall area).  I love that we have the office space that can house my craft supplies and our home office "stuff".  Reality right now - the office is a storage room where boxes, papers and "stuff" goes to hide because the room has doors!

YIKES!!!

Solution:
The other day I stopped in to my favorite Goodwill store and found the PERFECT FIT!  There amongst the small furniture and other oversized items was a small, Mission style desk that I was convinced would fit into that awkward alcove to the left of our fireplace.  It Did!!!!  I also found a great, simple white chair to go witht he desk. And the the perfect spot to tuck away the computer for the kids was found.

Of course, a birch wood desk and a white chair do not quite go with the warm wood and earth tones in our home.  So I headed to the store, picked up a few cans of satin finish dark brown spray paint and got to work.  I originally thought I would put a glaze over the paint to give it some character but we actually love how it came out so no glaze was necessary.  I did, however finish the top with 3 layers of polyeurothane to further help protect the surface from the inevitable wear and tear it will receive from 2 young kids.

I want to wait a few more days for the finish to fully cure before we put the computer on the desk but I couldn't wait to share this with you.  The kids are so excited to have the computer out here in the main room and to be able to play their games.  This project has gotten me revved up to finish the two student desks I picked up last fall at this awesome flea market that one of the local churches holds.  These desks need a bit more "love" before they are ready for paint but I hope to finish them up this month.  They will love having their very own work spaces in their rooms.

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Window Treatments for Bubba Z

Decorating the kids rooms has definitely been a work in progress.  Bubba Z's room is coming together and with the installation of some awesome window treatments, I just had to share!  The idea for Bubba Z's room is a little bit patriotic, a little bit old school, a little bit transportation and a touch of rustic, outdoor charm.  I know that sounds a bit all over the place but the room is truly a work in progress.  We are not so much looking for a theme as a feeling and a color scheme.  And I think we have a great start.  The base of the room is three denim blue walls with one deep red accent wall.  The accents are in red, an earthy green, white and deep brown wood.

The newest addition to the room is the red & white horizontal awning striped drapes with fun grommit details.  I searched online for what we wanted but couldn't find anything so I headed to the discount fabric store and found the perfect outdoor awning fabric in deep red and white stripes. 

I would like to say I sewed them myself (straight lines, I "could" do that, right) however I have an awesome seamstress friend who helped me out.  All I had to do was watch her adorable daughter for a couple of hours! LOVE HER!  (By the way, Heather just started a blog at No Business Like Sew Business - check it out!) 

It wasn't quite as simple as straight lines.  There was a bit of math and calculation involved.  The fabric was a vertical stripe, and I wanted horizontal stripes.  So we had to piece it together.  Fortunately, with the stripe, we were able to do it in a way that you cannot even see it.  She simply sewed right on the line of the stripe.

See, you can't even see it, unless you look very close - look at the top of the red stripe, it is hardly visable.



Last weekend, I installed the grommits.  These are a plastic grommit from JoAnn's (they come in all sorts of colors but we wanted a stainless steel accent in this room.  The grommits come with a nifty template to trace out the circle you must cut out of the fabric and then you "simply" snap the two piece grommit together.  I say simply because with 3 thicknesses of this outdoor awning fabric at the header, snapping these together took alot of muscle and a bit of finness.

They look awesome and really bring some personality to the room.  I love the red and white stripes against the blue wall.

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