Easy 3D Star of the Week Poster

It seems like at some point either in kindergarten or preschool my kids are featured as star of the week. This usually requires creating a huge poster all about them to share with the rest of the class.

Well, sometimes we just get short on time and end up hastily throwing something together the night before.

Well, no one needs to know you throw this one together in a flash. Its super easy and looks great.

Using everyday objects that represent your child's love or passions is easy.

{how to} strip wallpaper

After moving into a house with a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, two bathrooms, and three bedrooms covered in wallpaper, I've learned a thing or two about getting it down.

I tried the gel. I tried the vinegar & water solution. The steamer is the easiest and lest smelliest method.

{essential} wallpaper stripping tools

After moving into a house with a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, two bathrooms, and three bedrooms covered in wallpaper, I've learned a thing or two about getting it down.

The first step to stripping wallpaper is having the right tools.

ice cream & cake parfait

The easiest way to serve cake and ice cream at a children's party -parfait style!

I made these ice cream and cake parfaits recently for my daughter's summer birthday party.  I was running the party solo, so I knew I need to have everything done in advance.

These were the perfect solution to serving cake and ice cream to a young crowd. Everything can be done ahead of time, just pull them out of the freezer and enjoy the party along with your guests.

MATERIALS

• Clear glasses
• Ice cream
• Cake
• Crushed Oreos
• Gummy worms

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare a cake of your choosing. Bake in a half sheet pan.
2. After baking remove the cake from the pan and cool on a wire rack.
3. Freeze the cake, until firm enough to cut. I baked mine in the morning and it was chilled enough by evening to cut out.
4. Using a round cookie cutter the same diameter as your glass, carefully cut out cake. (See photo below.)
5. Place a scoop of soften ice cream into cup. Top with a layer of fudge, cake, and whipped cream.
6. Garnish according to your event. I sprinkled crumbed Oreos and placed a gummy worm on top to accompany our fishy theme.

Don't forget use a cutter the same diameter as your serving glasses.

Anyone else have an all-in-one dessert favorite?

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fishy party

We celebrated our baby's first birthday earlier this year. Since he was too young to care {or notice} the theme, I let the other kids decided for him. And they came up with a fishy theme party.

Due to some unexpected plumbing problems at our house on the scheduled weekend, we quickly relocated the party to a family friend's home.

These are all easy details that can be done anywhere and are easy to pack up at a minute's notice (like we did!).

1) DECORATIONS
Clear helium balloons from the party store and orange and turquoise streamers solidified the fishy theme.

2) FAVORS
I made these simple take home favors from turquoise colored bubbles that I found in the wedding section at Michael's. I adorned each with a fishy tag. I punched white circle rounds with my favorite circle punch, wrote "Thanks for swimming by" in a circle along the parameter, and let my 6 year old draw a single fishy in the center. If you have to make a lot, I recommend using a computer, and printing out. But, this was some fun mommy/daughter time together.

3) CAKE
Any cake will do. Choose your child's favorite. We have a family tradition of chocolate cake, because the chocolate crumbs show up best in the photographs!

4) FOOD
Fish shaped sandwiches- I purchased Pepperidge Farm's goldfish sandwich bread from the grocery store. Ours were PB&J, but if you have a nut allergy, choose your own favorite filling.

I kept it simple since it was a one-year's birthday party. But there lots more fishy ideas out there. What would you have added?

Linking up to SundaeScoop, SundayRoundUp, It'sOverflowing, NifyThrifty, MopItUp, SweetAnneDesigns, HomemakerOnADime, BNOTP, Debbie Doos, Making the World Cuter, LinesAcrossMyFace, CRAFT, MadeByYou, MadSkills, KurtzCorner, DIYCrafts, S3,TipJunkie, CowgirlUp, HowToNestForLess, NotJustaHousewife, CoastalCharm, Carolyn'sHomework, SugarBeeCrafts, ClaimingOurSpace, MyUncommonSliceofSuburbia, aBowlFullofLemons, CozyHomeScenes, GingerSnaps, SavvySouthernStyle, OrganizeandDecorate, DIYByDesign, UncommonDesign, Michelle'sTastyCreations, 52 Mantels, Crafty,Scrappy,Happy, Newlyweds, LiveLaughRowe, SouthernLovely, ShabbyCreekCottage, HouseofHepworths, the36thAve, LovingThisCrazyLife, FindingFabulous, FamilyEverAfter, SerenityNow, AtthePicketFence, TheShabbyNest, ALittleKnickKnack, 30HandmadeDays, CheeriosAndLattes, ClassyClutter, NYMelroseFamily, MakingLemonade, BlissfulandDomestic, One ArtsyMama, HomeStoriesAtoZ

popping corn

I'm so happy that summer is finally here and that I'm no longer just dreaming of it. One of our favorite things to do as a family is hang out in our backyard. Handyman builds a fire and we all pull up a chair and enjoy the flickering flames.

This season our favorite outdoor treat is popcorn.

Popping corn is easy and you only a few things before you are munching away on a hot and yummy handful.

You will need:

• a hot {but not roaring} fire
• popcorn kernels
• cooking oil
• skillet with a cover (we use our indestructible, seasoned cast iron skillet)
• gloves

Directions
1) Place about 1/4 cup kernels and a 1 tablespoon of oil in your skillet (these portions are adjustable)
2) Place your skillet directly on your fire.
3) Once your hear the first pop, feel free to give your skillet some shakes as the the kernels pop away.
4) Season to taste -we like freshly ground sea salt

The skillet gets very hot, so don't forget your gloves. We often just grab our work gloves because they are nearby, but certainly an oven glove works just as well.

By spending time with my family, I hope to create some great family memories for my children, like the ones my mom records in this journal I made her a while back. I get to read a little bit more each time we go to visit. It's so fun learning about her favorite childhood memories.

Have you ever made popcorn over a fire? What's your favorite backyard activity? Or how do you perserve those sweet family history stories?

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hardwood how-to

The last time I showed you my family room it looked like this, posted here.

And last time, I {sorta} showed you the hardwood that I purchased from Home Depot, posted here.

Handyman got home from work Friday evening, changed his clothes, and started right in on taking the tile out of the room. (This is why I have very little in-progress photographs. He gets right to work, and if I'm not around to snap a few pictures, they didn't exist.)

Using a crowbar and hammer, Handyman removed all of the tile by the front door. He had the children carry it to the Bagster, posted here, in the driveway.

He removed the top layer of the vinyl flooring, leaving the under laying paper layer.

Then, he ground off the residual tile mastic leaving the underlying plywood sub floor smooth. We wanted a nice even, level surface to lay the hardwood.

After laying the black tar paper with a staple gun, it was time to start laying the hardwood. We rented this tool, a hardwood gun stapler and double sided mallet hammer from Home Depot for $75. It just plugs into an air compressor and makes the work a lot easier than doing it by hand.

Handyman and his dad followed the manufacturer's installation instructions.The hardwood we purchased is factory finished and has a tongue and groove. The pieces easily interlocked into each other for a tight fit.

  

After the floor was in, it was time to install the baseboard. We wanted the baseboard to be flush with the our new door trim. The baseboard we purchased wasn't as wide, so we add width with a simple furring strip. These are easily cut on a table saw.

The baseboard also had to accommodate a few other cuts, such as our shoe cabinet, since we chopped the legs off it no longer accommodate the taller baseboard trim. (The legs come long enough to not to do this, but we wanted our shorter.) If we remove the cabinet, we can easily pop in a new, non-cut piece of baseboard trim.

This is the closest wall color -gray with a little bit of a blue undertone.

We also had to accommodate our two heating vents. We did this by lowering the vent so the vent cover occupied the widest part of the trim. We have access to these vents in the basement, so lowering them a smidgen was easy.

The final floor task was finishing the space between the floor and the doors. This was just standard weather stripping.

The finished product

We still have all the touch up work left, but almost all done . . .

Now my family room floors match the rest of the hardwood floors throughout the rest of the house.

 Even though the room is empty, I think it's better than when we started.

You can read more about our family progress:

• what it looked like when we bought it
• removing the coat closet
• how the whole project started
• why we needed new flooring
• shoe and other storage without a mudroom
• all the changes we did along the way
• checking the sub floor 

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color blocking with flowers

The other night my daughter had her end of the year chorus concert. My chivalrous husband thought ahead and bought her an inexpensive bouquet of flowers from the grocery store to celebrate the event.

That night we got home late, so I just dropped the entire bouquet into a vase of water and forgot about it. The next day, I knew these pretty little flowers needed some more care to ensure the longest life possible, so I took my cue from one of today's hottest trends, color blocking.

un-arranged flowers

Color blocking is one of the hot trends in both fashion and home interiors. But with a little know how and some simple household supplies, you can transform any boring bouquet into a trendy arrangement.

  

SUPPLIES

• flowers
• water filled vase
• scissors
• clear tape
• measuring tape

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Measure the height of your vase and the length of your flowers. Decide the vase to flower ratio. (For example, a 3:5 ratio -where the container equals 3, the flowers equal 5, and the entire arrangement equals 8).
2. Cut your flowers' stem -this is best done under running water. Cut the stems on angle to allow for maximum life. Remove any leaves that will fall below the water line -this prevents bacteria growth.
3. Tape off sections of your vases. (Make certain, the vase is dry. The tape won't stick to a wet surface.) For this particular arrangement, I created a simple grid.
4. Arrange the flowers in your vase. I wanted a diagonal stripped color block, so I started with the tall yellow lilies in the back corner and worked my way to the white daisies.

Actually, in the wold of floral design, color blocking is not new, as evidenced by the Biedermeier style originating in 1815 in Austria and Germany.

There are so many fun ways arrange flowers. What are your favorites?


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kit kat cake

this little baby was worth $150. . .

I've seen lots of these KitKat cakes popping up on Pinterest, so I thought I would give it a try myself.

I made and donated this cake for a bake auction. Typically, there are some really beautiful cakes there from some of  my super talented friends. Since, I can't decorate cakes, I decided to take the lazy easy route -cover a cake in candy. You can too. Here's how:


Steps

1. Bake a two layer cake of your choosing.
2. Frost the middle, top, and sides with chocolate frosting.
3. Place unwrapped KitKats along the cake sides.
4. Cover the top with small candies. I used M&M's.
5. (Optional) Tie with a coordinating ribbon.

The cake is great to make if you have little helpers around. My little guy unwrapped all the KitKats and helped me place the M&M's on top.

Anyone else make this trendy cake yet?

Linked up to Debbie Doos, Making the World Cuter, HomeSweetHome, LinesAcrossMyFace, NifyThrifty, CRAFT, HomemakerOnADime, MadeByYou, MadSkills, PityParty, SingingThreeLittleBirds, SweetAnneDesigns, S3, KeepingItSimple, MakeItMonday, Brassy Apple, Tatortots&Jello, g*rated, HowtoNestforLess, NotJustaHousewife, CoastalCharm, Today'sCreativeBlog, KurtzCorner, Carolyn'sHomework, SugarBeeCrafts, MyUncommonSliceofSuburbia, TipJunkie, aBowlFullofLemons, CozyHomeScenes, theDelectableHome, BoogieboardCottage, theMommyClub, GingerSnaps, SavvySouthernStyle, NewlywedsOnaBudget, DIYByDesign, UncommonDesign, Michelle'sTastyCreations, LiveLaughRowe, ShabbyCreekCottage, BeyondthePicketFence, FirefliesandJellbeans, HouseofHepworths, the36thAve, LovingThisCrazyLife, FindingFabulous, AtthePicketFence, TheShabbyNext, ALittleKnickKnack, 30HandmadeDays, CheeriosandLattes, SomethingSwanky, SweetToothFriday, TheSweetSpot, DelightfullyDowling, It'sOverflowing, MopItUp, SouthernSunday, TheSweetDetails, CookingWithKaryn, ThriftyDecorChick, ClassyClutter, ClaimingOurSpace, CatchAGlimpse, NYMelroseFamily

spring planting

I love flowers, I always have. I took a horticulture course in college just so I could have a fresh flower arrangement in my apartment each week. I'm such a sucker for them.

And even though I have my favorites, I find that I love so many -I love the varieties in their color, their texture, and their height.

Just like floral arrangements, outside landscapes need balance, proportion, scale, and depth. Ever wonder why those Better Home and Gardens landscapes look so great? Like any good design, they have layers.

Want to get started on creating your own Better Homes and Gardens garden?

Here are 3 Easy Baby Steps:

1) Tall ones go in back
If you are starting from seeds or bulbs, always check the height. It is usually written in inches and pretty easy to find on the packaging.

2) Remember your plant's life span
Consider how long a plant is expected to live and when it is expected to bloom. Annuals only live for that long, one year. Perennials continue to grow each year. Plants will bloom early, mid, or late in the season. Check the packaging if you are unsure. Incorporating early, mid, and late blooms will provide constant color.

3) Plant light likes together
Pay attention to your plant's light requirements and plant accordingly. Full sun plants really do like the sun. Check throughout the day to see how much light your location gets. Planting a full sun flower in the shade won't thrive.

Bonus)
It can also be really fun to account for texture and fragrance. But I'll leave that to others with more experience.

This year my goal is to plant a cut flower garden. The overall arrangement doesn't have to look perfect, since I will be sniping at it all season. Yesterday I was able to get outside and get a few bulbs in the ground. Remember the mantra here at the little yellow cape, baby step by baby step.

If you are interested in learning more, I found these free printable No Fuss Garden Plans from Better Homes and Garden, complete with a plant list, a layout diagram, and lots of helpful information. With 19 to choose from, it was easy to select a plan that meet my specific needs.

How does your garden grow?

Linked up to TheShabbyCreekCottage, SerenityNow, CensationalGirl

shower curtain

dilemma, dilemma. I want to get a new shower curtain to accompany the new shower,

 but I'm not sure which one to get.

I like this Kate Spade shower curtain from Bed Bath & Beyond, but it is currently sold out.

I also came across this from West Elm.

Or there's this option to make one from a curtain, via.

Which one should I go for?