Went looking for a nightstand...

So I wanted to make my youngest a play kitchen out of a nightstand. Got the idea on Pinterest, big shock I know. Anyway  I headed over to Tiffany's, aka the Goodwill, and there were no nightstands in stock...but I ran across this beauty for $15.

It needed a little elbow grease, I sanded the whole thing down, primed it, panted the base a black gloss & the top a flat white. I did flat on top so the stenciling would adhere and sealed the whole thing when I was done.

I got the stencil online just by typing in train track stencil. I painstakingly traced out the track design I wanted onto think plastic "paper" and used a stencil cutter to cut out my design. http://www.plaidonline.com/stencil-decor-accessories-stencil-cutter/118/34008/product.htm

Then I laid it all out on the table and started stenciling my tracks. Except for the cows all the other details I did freehand using stencil paint.

To the right of my "helper" you can see a smaller version that was my first attempt. It was just to small for my kids to play on at the same time.

So in all I spent $15 for the table, about $10 for the cutter, $5 for the plastic, $20 for paint.  So the table cost me $50 in all and I have the satisfaction of knowing I made something for my kiddos!

For Daddy

So this year my husband and I decided we have everything we want/need so we weren't going to exchange gifts this year and just focus on the kids. Somehow that seemed a little sad & I wanted to have something under the tree for him to open. So I started browsing Pinterest for homemade gifts for Dad and got some inspiration.

I decided to make him a picture of the kiddos. I have this super cool software called FX Home, http://fxhome.com/, that uses a green screen. I wanted to use an old barn door for my background so I typed that into google images. Soooooo easy!

I cut the letters out of scrapbook paper, which I have an abundance of now that I primarily use Project Life to document but that's a whole other story!

The boys were good sports & I think it turned out pretty darn cute!

Elf on a Shelf

Is there anything better than the magic of Christmas? I don't think so. My grandmother recently taught my boys all about Leprechauns and they couldn't get enough. I thought it was a sign that they would really enjoy Elf on a Shelf. I was right! We named him Candy Cane Gingerbread & he gets into tons of mischief.  Before they even rub the sleep out of their eyes they want to see what ol' Candy Cane was up to in the night. My hubby & I fight over who's turn it is to come up with an idea. This is what w've done so far...