My husband rocks! Or, A New Bed for the Boys!

So, my kids have wanted a bunk bed ever since they got to sleep in one on vacation a couple years ago.  Unfortunately our near-century home has very low, sloped ceilings and a normal sized bunk bed would never fit in their room.  But then I saw some amazing examples on blog posts and Pinterest of how people got creative with IKEA's Kura bed, so I checked the measurements and realized it would actually be a perfect fit.  The $199 price tag seemed pretty reasonable too.

 However, as soon as I showed it to my husband, he said what he always says - "Pssh, I can build that!"  So it's been on his very long to-do list for months.  This past Friday, while perusing our local buy/sell/trade Facebook page (if you recall, that's where I scored our awesome lockers), I came across a posting from someone who was selling this loft bed in barely-used condition for $75.  I showed it to him and asked if it might be easier to modify this one than to build a whole bed from scratch.  He said yes and we liked the price, so we picked it up the next day.  That was Saturday.

 

Tonight (Tuesday) he came home from work and tackled the project in just a couple of hours.  We installed it in the boys' room and *poof* project complete.  Sorry I don't have an actual tutorial for you, but he basically popped the plastic caps off the bottoms, sawed off the legs to make the bed the right height, and popped the plastic caps back on.  He adjusted/reinforced/welded a couple other spots on the frame to make up for what he had cut off, and that was it.  So we basically ended up in a sturdier version of the IKEA Kura bed, for less than half the price - and we only had to drive about 10 minutes to pick it up versus the hour-plus drive to the IKEA store.  I am super pleased with it - he did a great job. 

We still need to get a second mattress for underneath, but for now it's a cozy little play area/reading nook.  The boys are loving it - way to go, Daddy!

Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas: A Ridiculously Overdue Update

Pumpkin carving...

He drew a sketch of what he wanted his pumpkin to look like and I did my best to carve it for him.  He was pleased with the results.  :)

Costumes...

I made this working railroad crossing costumer for Monkey when he was little, and I was so excited to dig it out again for Bug!

Found the shirt, hat, and gloves with glow-in-the-dark bones at Walmart.  I painted the arm bones on the sleeves, and leg bones on black sweatpants, also with glow-in-the-dark paint.

A Pinterest-Inspired Post

So, I haven't posted here in ages because I've been fairly consumed by the preparation for, and the taking of, our trip to the Outer Banks.  It was my kids' first time seeing the ocean, and it was amazing.  I will be making a series of posts about that in the days ahead.  But first, during the preparation stage, I wanted to share a few Pinterest-inspired ideas that helped make the trip easier and more fun.  (If you are not already on Pinterest, you should go sign up now.  All that stuff you've been hearing about it is not just hype - it will seriously change your life.  Go now, I'll wait.)

Okay, first is this excellent universal packing list.  It was very useful and it did actually help me remember several things that I would have otherwise forgotten.

Next is this "Are we there yet?" progress bar.  The original idea called for some string or a ribbon strung across the inside of the car and used a clothespin, but I used an adhesive road tape similar to this one instead, with a car that I cut out with my Cricut machine and laminated, then stuck it on the road with a rolled up piece of packing tape on the back.  I moved the car along the road as we traveled, so the boys could see how far we'd gone and how far we had to go.  I used it on the way back home too.  It definitely helped put the distance in perspective for them.

Another Pinterest idea I used was to make these super simple tray tables for the kids out of $5 cookie sheets from Walmart and some velcro (illustrated instructions can be found here).  The boys really dug them, but I must offer a disclaimer:  when they get tired of them and take them off and drop them onto the floor, they make such a loud bang that you will think another car has crashed into yours and you will have a mini heart attack.  Every. Single. Time.  But they were perfect for eating, coloring, magnet play, etc.

Finally, I used this idea to make little goody bags to pass out every so often as we traveled.  I filled them with simple things like a hot wheels car, a magic ink coloring pad, a prism, etc.  The original pin said,  "To keep the kids happy in the car, create mystery bags to be given to them about each hour or two. They get a map with each city marked, and they have to follow the route and ask for the bag when we get to that city. Bags are filled with snacks and small toys and games."  I didn't do the map part, I just gave them one whenever they were getting cranky or overly wound up; I would just announce, "Guess what time it is?!" and they would gleefully reply, "Time to choose another bag! Yaay!" and peace would be restored. 



And since I am sharing Pinterest ideas, here is a BONUS tutorial I'd like to share on how to make the perfect wedding gift for your bestie.  I was so thrilled with how these turned out...

Step 1.  Stalk your friend's Pinterest boards looking for ideas.
Step 2.  Find this pin on etching glass to add personalization.
Step 3.  Pore over friend's wedding registry looking for glass items; choose pretty champagne glasses.
Step 4.  Quick trip to Joann and Hobby Lobby to get supplies.
Step 5.  Use Cricut machine to cut out designs on adhesive vinyl and adhere to glass.  (Borrow perfect font cartridge from your fabulous sister-in-law if necessary.)

Step 6.  Paint on the etching cream and cross fingers.
Step 7.  Wait 20 minutes; rinse off cream and remove vinyl; wash well.
Step 8.  Enjoy the awesomeness!  Can you tell I'm quite pleased with myself?

And BONUS #2, did you know that you could make something so pretty out of toilet paper rolls?!

Organizational Idea - "Places to Go and Things to Do" Binder

I took these pics awhile back but just noticed I forgot to finish/publish this post.  Just wanted to share something I came up with to organize all of my information about places I want to go (and places I want to go back to).  I printed out park maps & info sheets of all of the metro parks, museums, zoos, etc. that we plan to visit in the upcoming year - and put them into sheet protectors, so all I have to do when we're heading out is grab the page I need out of the book and take it with me.  In the front pocket, I keep current programs & events guides for various park systems, metropolitan areas, our local library, etc., so I can go through them at the beginning of each month and pick out things for us to do.  When I see something that looks promising, I write it on my wall calendar so I don't forget about it.

And yes, this idea was totally inspired by all of the organizational-binder-type ideas I've seen around Pinterest, although I've not yet seen one with this particular purpose.

Yeah, I know that says June.  It was current when I took the picture, I just forgot about it till now.

 

In the back are more maps, brochures, and events guides that I have picked up on our excursions (I LOVE those giant displays of random travel information that you come across at certain tourist places!) to give me ideas for future field trips.  If you look at your local area through the eyes of a tourist, you'll be amazed at all the things you discover that you never noticed before.

PS.  I have since added dividers to further organize by geographical area and type of attraction but I'm too lazy to go take more pictures.  So just use your imagination, k?

A Special Not-Back-To-School Project

So, a few weeks ago, on a whim, I picked up this desk at an estate sale for five bucks and decided to try my hand at furniture refinishing.  It was in pretty rough shape, but it was solid and sturdy, and I had a picture in my head (inspired by Pinterest, of course) of what it could look like with a little love.

Before

After searching around a bit on Pinterest, I decided to try the Rustoleum Furniture Transformations Kit, which I purchased at Home Depot for $34.98.  It comes with everything pictured below:  instructions, stir sticks (one is not pictured; there were three), deglosser (cleaner) with scrubber pad, bond coat, glaze coat and glazing cloths, and clear finishing coat.

The bond coat can be tinted to any of the following colors.  I asked Monkey what color he'd like his desk to be and he immediately responded, "Green!" (his favorite color).  As you can see there is only one green choice so we went with that.

The first step was to scrub it with the deglossing cleaner.  (I didn't take any pictures of that step because it was not interesting enough to merit photos.)  Next, I let Monkey help with the first coat of paint, although the perfectionist in me insisted on doing the rest myself.  He really enjoyed this part, and I'm glad I relaxed and let him do it.

How it looked after the first coat was done.  I applied a second coat later.

The next step was the glaze coat.  I was nervous about it, but it was actually pretty easy and I thought it really added dimension to the color.  I didn't glaze the insides of the side panels or drawer faces because I was planning to paint them a different color.

After glazing.

Next I added some dark blue to the side panels and drawer faces for a nice contrast. I had planned to use a dark blue and then I remembered I had some left over from a project I did about 2 years ago and it was exactly what I had in mind.  So no need to buy more paint - yay!  Note:  I did not glaze the blue parts because that paint was high-gloss and I didn't think the glaze would adhere to it properly.

Finally, I painted on the protective clear topcoat, let it dry overnight, and first thing the next morning we reinstalled the drawers and handles.  I had thought about getting new handles, but came up with a cheaper solution:  I lucked out and found a spray paint that was super duper close to the green paint on the desk and sprayed the old handles with it.

Oh, and here's a crazy coincidence:  the very same day I brought home this impulse buy, a friend showed up with an old school desk chair, saying "Here, I found this & thought you might be able to use it."  I taped off the wooden parts and let Monkey go to town on it with the spray paint I used for the drawer handles.  He REALLY enjoyed that part - sorry I didn't get any pics of him in action doing that.  

So, there you go!  I am very happy with how the whole thing turned out and I would definitely recommend this kit to anyone.  It was easy for a beginner like me and I think the finish looks very professional.  Next I'm going to be keeping my eye out for a couple of captain's beds and maybe a dresser for the boys... I'm itching to do more!

Once again, a before and after comparison:

Before

After