Ballard Designs knock off paintings

Came across this easy little project on pinterest.  I was looking for something to go beside a rustic wood shelf I purchased on kijiji and two little canvasses were the perfect size.  These are knock offs of ones from Ballard Designs.

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out especially since I didn't put a lot of time into them so the result is perfect for me.  If you want a step by step tutorial click on the link above.

I'm back!

I guess being on maternity leave affords me a little extra time to pick up on where I left off blogging.  We now have two children, two year old Rowan and 10 week old Isla.  Life is busy but fun and we feel so fortunate to be blessed with a boy and a girl.  We have since moved to a 1970's side split house that hadn't been touched since it was built.  And since I love a project it has been sort of perfect for us.  It's still very much a work in progress but we're very happy with it! 

So on to what projects I've been up to...

I am so excited to share that I just sold my first vintage looking sign.  It was a custom job that a lady ordered.

We also purchased two pine end tables and I have been impatiently waiting for it to be warm enough to refinish them.  Well I finally had two nice days.  We had a leftover can of white latex paint from our move so I whipped up a batch of homemade chalk paint using this recipe.

Here are the before's: 

 

And the afters:

 



 

 

We are very happy with how they turned out!  Stay tuned for more.  Much to my husband's dismay the garage is filling up with projects.

 

 

 

Rowan's first birthday

Rowan celebrated his first birthday 2 weeks ago with a train themed party...ideas courtesy of my obsession with Pinterest.  My dad built this amazing train out of cardboard boxes and a lot of hours!!  It turned out awesome and the kids loved running through it.

 

 

 

I found these little containers that I used for the train cars at Dollarama and bought the Thomas train engine on my first trip to a Canadian Target.

 

I ordered a package from Dimple Prints and was able to print off the labels for the utensils as well as the Happy Birthday sign and several other little touches.

 

My first attempt at a kid's birthday cake and I think it turned out great! 

At least the birthday boy thought it was tasty!

 

 

 

I also ordered a train cookie cutter set and baked these little babies to give out as a thank you. 

 

I found this jug at HomeSense and it was a real hit, especially with some of the kids.

Of course Rowan was all decked out in his train outfit!

 

A very big thank you to Sarah Peters for her awesome photography skills!!

Curtains, curtains, curtains

I found a link on pinterest to make curtains out of a drop cloth so in need of some curtains for our master bedroom I decided to give it a try.  I bought a cloth but it wasn't the right size and it turns out they are a little more expensive here in Canada then they are in the US so I made a shower curtain out of the drop cloth and some fabric paint and this is the result...

 

 

I still needed curtains for the bedroom though so I bought some flat twin sheets at Walmart and used my stencil and fabric paint to make these...

 

 

I only got two panels done because it was a little time consuming using a sponge roller to roll on the paint and I could only work on it when my little one was asleep and I could spread it out.  I was going to make two more panels but we sold our house and with it the window treatments and I wasn't really up for making more curtains for someone else.  I may try them again at our new house but I am thinking of using a fabric spray paint I saw online instead.  

Upcycled lamps

I've been on the hunt for a pair of lamps for our bedroom for awhile now.  I came across these two at the Salvation army for $5 a piece.  Aren't they pretty?

Well maybe not then but after a quick sand, a few coats of Krylon spray paint and some burlap shades from Target check them out now...

 

 

I am totally in love and will probably look for some more for our living room.

 

The total cost was about $40 and about 45 minutes of work.

Rowan's first birthday cake

So my son turned 1 on April 3rd and we planned a train themed birthday party the following Saturday.  I really wanted to make his first cake and here is the result.  I admit I cheated a bit and used a boxed Betty Crocker Devil's food chocolate cake mix but they always turn out delicious and I have never had any complaints.  I got a really easy buttercream recipe from a friend and went to work.  I am so happy with the finished product and will probably make a tradition out of it.  The rest of the party gear was all trains and once I get some pictures back from our photographer I will include them in this post so stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

The food table

 

My dad built this train out of cardboard boxes for the kids to play in.  That's Rowan's face on the  front.

My first Ikea hack

We were given an ikea tv cabinet a few years back and we used it for awhile but eventually replaced it.  We kept it though just in case and it sat in the basement for the last year.  Well along came Rowan and we needed something that would hide all of our media devices so I took to Pinterest to get some inspiration and am so happy with the result!  Check out the before and after...

My husband didn't like the idea of glass doors with a walking 11 month old so I commissioned my dad to find some radiator screen while they were in Florida.  I looked everywhere here but could not find it.  Here is the after...

We're pretty happy with it.  So on to my next ikea hack, turning a basic lack coffee table into an upholstered tufted table/coffee table.  Stay tuned...