Free Chalkboard Valentines Day Printable

While binge watching "Making of a Murder" I decided to make one more Valentine's Day printable.... that's the perfect time to create a Valentine's Day printable right??

I decided my gold printable would look cute with a chalkboard background.

Free Valentine's Day chalkboard printable

Free Gold Valentines Day Printable

I finally took down my Christmas tree over the weekend and wow does the house look bare!! So it is the perfect time to start decorating for Valentines Day!!

A few years back I made a printable for Valentines Day and I still love this one but am currently obsessed with gold, so I updated my old printable and made it gold! Again, these are "I love you" in many languages.

This is my favorite frame! It's a 25 in by 25 in Pottery Barn frame! I love big square frames! I wanted something subtle and so I love how this turned out! Did I mention I am obsessed with gold at the moment!

Download your free 8 x 10 gold Valentines Day printable! 

Happy Valentines Day!!

Easy Hot Dog Bar with Printable

I have now planned 3 parties where I have served a Hot Dog Bar. You would think because of that I would remember the toppings and types of hot dogs served. NOPE!

Because I know I will be hosting a party in the future where I will serve a Hot Dog Bar, I am finally going to blog this, so next time I simply refer to this and a party is planned! Hot Dog Bars are so simple. Most people, including kids love Hot Dogs and adults like trying crazy different toppings on them! Plus you can prepare everything ahead of time so you can enjoy the party!

I usually serve the ingredients for guests to make Taco Dogs, Chicago Dogs, Tex-Mex Dogs and a Chili Dog. I usually serve nachos as a side because all of these toppings are also great nacho toppings!

The key to a hot dog bar, is good all beef hot dogs. They are a must!!! I always plan at least two hot dogs per adult. (If not 3) And its always nice to have a package of veggie dogs on hand too!

Create some simple labels to indicate your toppings, and your party is all set!

And here is the printable I used for my most recent party!

Hot Dog Bar Shopping List
The shopping list is everything on the above printable and All Beef Hot Dogs, veggie dogs, buns, Nachos and Nacho Cheese.

Happy Hog Dog Party!

DIY Upholstered Headboard with Cardboard

I decided it was time to finally give Little Man a headboard! Besides the fabric this project was FREE!! Got to love that! I decided to give the cardboard backing headboard a go! Using cardboard has its pros and cons but for now it works! 

I used a big Pottery Barn box I had. My box had a fold in it. In the end it doesn't seem to matter but it would have been easier to assemble without the bend. I used two pieces of cardboard, which is why the entire thing is lined with duck tape!  Not shown, but I used two layers of the eggshell mattress pad cut to size, and then a layer of quilt batting. I stapled the quilt batting down before I added my final layer of fabric. As with any headboard I use a lot of staples!

 

My biggest concern with using cardboard as a backing was how would I actually attach the headboard to the wall. For my attempt I used string and put about 50 staples in to hold it in place. See below. This did hold it. And probably would have been fine, however, after I made the below changes, I decided to change how I hung it as well.

Once my headboard was hung, it drove me nuts how the fabric and the batting bowed out when you viewed it from the side - and this is your view when you enter the room. I should have glued the eggshell crate to the cardboard and to each layer before I added the quilt batting. This would have solved the problem from the start! 

However, I was not going to take the whole thing apart unless I had no other solutions! So I took the whole thing down and decided to add tufting!! This is one of the huge advantages of using cardboard instead of wood, this was SO easy to add. You need a long upholstery needle and embroidery thread. I made my buttons using extra fabric and a button kit. With a long needle this was SO easy! 

I added 8 buttons and it looks so much more finished than before! And it solved my bowing problem! I also decided to hot glue 3 D-rings to the back to hang.

I am much happier with how it turned out. I still wish I would have made it a little shorter, but again I am not going to go back and change it! I measured for a bed that wasn't against the wall. Being against the wall it should have been the exact size as the mattress, not any longer. Oh well, Little Man LOVES it! He even helped!

We Moved! Finally!

Well we have been in our new house two and a half months..... so I guess we didn't just move. But lets be honest, moving is horrible! And I never want to move again!!

Some how I can't find a "done" picture of the outside of the house. Oh well! The side of the house is as pretty.... sort of!

We closed on the house at 9 am, by 10 am we were back at the house painting! Day one we painted 3 rooms!!!! Both of the kids bedrooms and the playroom!

The kids had a great time playing around in an empty house!

Day two we had movers move our stuff from storage! It was like Christmas getting our stuff out of storage after over 4 months!

My very inspiring craftroom (and a room that is still not even close to being done!!)

 Moving is not fun at all!

The main floor is almost "done." Well let's be honest, there is never such thing as a done house! The main floor is livable, which is all you can ask for! Since day one I have gone on to paint two more rooms. The main floor powder room and the formal sitting area.

I still have a whole long list of things to do. Mostly upstairs! My son and I can't agree on an accent wall in his room (5 year olds are so opinionated!!) I need to do something in my daughters room (she had a nursery but now gets a big girl room!! Her room is currently a toddler bed and nothing else) Our bedroom needs a lot of work! (because that's just how it works right? Kids first, parents last!) And the poor craft room will be a mess for a long while!!

Anniversary Party Family Tree Decor

This past weekend we celebrated our parents 40th Wedding Anniversary. We kept the celebration simple with an outdoor cookout and bonfire later in the evening. 

Since we were celebrating with family and there were lots of great memories over the years, we knew we needed to display pictures! And so I give you the Family Tree!

I love how cute this turned out!!! (And look at how cute my parents were on their wedding day!!!)

I made the arrow sign with an arrow I bought at Target and my Silhouette Cameo. I love simple projects that come together and look awesome!!

Two nails into the tree and some jute and clothes pins and this is such an easy way to display pictures!

Industrial Restoration Hardware Playroom

One of the things that made us fall in love with our house was the large open basement!! We loved that it was a huge open space for the kids to play and run around. When we moved in, I went to work to make it a fun playroom for our son, with lots of bright primary colors. See the before!!!!  While it was a great design for kids, trying to sell your house, maybe not so much??

So I give you my industrial playroom, inspired by everything Restoration Hardware!

I repainted our table and chairs white and black! The table top is technically chalk board paint, but I have not let the kids in on this secret! More on the toy storage in a bit! I painted my book ledges gray! And added some large initials of the kids with an awesome star I found at Pottery Barn Kids. Also I added my "when you wish upon a star" artwork!

One of the first things I did, and you might notice in the before is paint some walls!!! The wall to the left in the below picture used to be a red chalk board wall. Once coat of primer and one coat of the wall color, I had a nice and boring (white) wall! The wall to the right, used to be an adorable house wall I painted, but now its a nice and solid black chalk wall (so we still have some fun here!!!)

 Do you not love the red firetruck in the above picture? It completes the room!

I attempted to make some DIY Industrial shelves using pipes! While they are not exactly what I wanted them to look like, they did the trick and I am very proud I tackled this project!!! I broke my ankle (un-related to this project) mid-project, so I never really got any pictures of the during, even though the during was a big process!

These shelves are the perfect perfect size for a car garage for my sons many many big trucks!!!

 Some industrial accessories! The boat was a win at a White Elephant party one year and my son loves this boat.... so it might be here to stay!!!

 I made a matching taller industrial pipe shelf for the non-playroom portion of the room. This side is supposed to be the adult side with the TV and seating area.... though toys ALWAYS find their way over to this side!

 I made all of the below artwork! I love making state nail air! So easy but such a fabulous look!!

 More of the massive firetruck and chalk wall as seen from the "adult" side!

 I would have redo this shelf if I had not broken my ankle. The top and bottom shelf have too much space between the shelves. These were a real learning process and they were so SO expensive to make!!!!

And a wide shot from the back of the room! This room sure is a huge improvement over the mess it was before!!! 

Thanks again to First Moments Photography for these pictures!