Plan: Redecorate The Guest Bathroom

We bought our house eleven years ago this past May.  When we moved in, I had already bought all of the accessories for our new guest bath.  We went with a tropical, palm tree motif.  Three years later, we finally painted the walls a neutral beige color.  Since those days, we have added a child. I thought it was about time to change out the decor and make it more kid friendly.

We are fans of all things beachy, pink, and Pottery Barn Kids.  I was browsing in the store a couple of months ago and came across their Mermaid Shower Curtain:

I also purchased the matching hand and bath towels and bath rug:

I replaced two palm tree prints with this mermaid plaque I found on sale at PB Kids:

We have yet to pick out a new wall paint color.  I haven't decided whether to choose a very light pink or go with a white wall and paint the oak vanity a fun light aqua color.  I also found a big piece of faux coral from Kirland's that I would like to paint a different color.  Stay tuned for photos of what I DIY'd for this bathroom.

Nationals: T Ball

This past Spring, our daughter played her first season of t ball. Her team was the Nationals.  She chose to wear the number six for her age.

Looking cute in her uniform:

Batting:

Base running:

Ready for the ball:

Spring Break: Colorado!

Wow, it has been a few months.  I have no excuses other than being busy with life.

We spent my daughter's spring break week in Colorado.  We had our fingers crossed that we might get to see some snow, her first.  Well, we definitely got what we wished for.  We are lucky we were able to land in Denver that Friday night.  We still had to drive into Boulder to our hotel.  The snow was coming down sideways. I think we got to our hotel around 2:30 am ET.  We were tired!

Our first day, we went sledding in a local park in Boulder:

We then headed to Estes Park for a few days.  We visited a local brewery and The Rocky Mountain National Park.

While in the park, we hiked up to a lake (it was freezing), sledded some more, and were on the look out for wildlife.  We saw deer, wolves, lots of elk and a coyote.

After all of that snowy fun, we were definitely ready to return home to the warm state of Florida!

Easter 2013

This past week was my daughter's spring break.  We spent the majority of the week traveling around Colorado, enjoying lots of snow, and eating lots of yummy food.  More on all of that later.  This year, Easter was low key.  We did the usual: visited with family, dyed eggs, had an egg hunt, and went out on the boat.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.

From our visit to see the Easter Bunny earlier this month:

I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Easter day with your family and friends.  

High Five For Friday: March!

TGIF!!!!  Now that March is here, it is starting to feel a lot like Spring. Bring on the Spring crafting, decor, gardening, and baseball games!  I'm linking up my top five highlights for the past week with Lauren. You should join us.

1)  Over the weekend, my daughter and I crafted an Easter themed wreath for her bedroom door.

2)  We had an abundance of avocados to use up, so I finally made one of the fancy avocado grilled cheese sandwiches I've had pinned on Pinterest forever.  Avocado, bacon, tomato, and Colby Jack cheese...does it get better than that?

3)  A late afternoon "date" with my husband while our daughter was at her tap/jazz class.

4)  Finally completing a way overdue Christmas gift for my mom.  I had promised her a pillow made using a photo I took of her Chihuahua, Buster.

5) While I had my sewing machine out and dusted off, I sewed an Easter shirt, headband, and matching sash belt using this fabric for my daughter.

Have a happy weekend!

DIY Pet Pillow: Chihuahua

It is that time again!!!

Link up your Pinterest projects with Sherry, Katie, Megan, and Michelle!

I have been wanting to make a Chihuahua shaped pillow of my mom's dog, Buster, as a gift.  

Materials needed:

1) A good quality photo of the pet/animal you'd like to use

2) Iron on transfer paper

3) Ink Jet printer

4) Sewing machine (or you could sew by hand)

5) needle and thread

6) material

7) Iron and some type of heat resistant hard backing (wood cutting board/piece of wood)

8) Poly fill

Step 1:

Prepare your image.  I used Photo Shop to add Buster to a white background and clean up the edges of his outline.  Then, I sized the image to best fit my transfer paper.  You may have to create a mirror image of your image but in my case, it won't matter which way he prints onto the paper.

Step 2:

Make sure you have enough ink in your printer.  You may want to print out a test print in order to make sure your image will fit the page the way you want it to.  Once you are good to go, add your transfer paper to the printer so that your image will print onto the unmarked side of the transfer sheet.  The ink must dry for 30 minutes before you can transfer it.  Now you may trim the image to your desired shape.

Step 3:

Iron your fabric smooth if need be.  Preheat your iron for 5 minutes to the highest cotton setting.  Do not use steam!  You will need to put your fabric over the heat resistant hard backing such as a wood cutting board.  You can't use an ironing board for this step.  Place your image face down onto your fabric where you want it to be.  Iron over the entire image using a circular motion making sure entire transfer, especially the edges, receives 15 to 20 seconds of heat.  Now, you may remove the transfer paper's backing.

 

Step 4: 

Trim your fabric to your desired pillow size.  Put the fabric with right sides facing in and sew around the edges, leaving a section a few inches wide open.  Now turn your pillow right side out and stuff with poly fill.  Finish by hand sewing the remaining opening.  Now you are finished!

Original inspiration pin came from go make me:

Source: gomakeme.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

My Valentine is SIX!

The best Valentine's Day gift I ever received turned six at exactly 6:16 am.  And yes, I set my alarm to wake her to the time she was born.  It was a good thing too, as she still needed to write out her Valentines for her classmates.

On the way to school with a purple rose for her teacher:

She took plain, heart-shaped sugar cookies to share with her Kindergarten class.  They decorated them with icing and sprinkles for their Valentine's Day class party.

She chose Cracker Barrel for dinner:

Taylor wanted a cookie cake for dessert:

2007/2008/2013

She continues to love taking dance classes, anything to do with coloring, drawing, crafting, she is doing a wonderful job learning her sight words and beginning to read.  We are so proud of her.