Bedroom Makeover Part 3 - Family Sign

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend.  Ours was a birthday filled weekend, with two kids birthday parties.  One was about an hour away with some friends and after the party we were able to head over to my sisters house to meet her new little man.  We also had my father in-law and mother in-law here throughout the week and weekend. Wow I am tired just thinking about it.  I finished my weekend up by going to watch the hunger games movie, as I didn't read the book I didn't really have any expectations but thought it was a good movie.  For those of you who have seen it didn't you find it to be a little too bouncy almost making you feel carsick. I hope the ones to follow are not filmed the same way.  

This weekend I was able to finish up this Family sign and get it up on the wall. 

I am sure it is no surprise that I love to make signs so how could I do a bedroom makeover with out one in there.

This bedroom project has taken much longer than I thought just because I am trying to find a few things to go in there that I haven't been able to find but I am in the home stretch so finished pictures are soon to come. 

I started with my 1x4 board that was painted black first and then white for the top coat, which was then sanded down. 

I used my vinyl cutter to create stencils 

I still have to add another picture into one of the frames an I might add one more frame on each side too. 

Birthday Season In Full Effect

Ahh Birthday season in this house is fast and furious.  By the end of the third one it all feels a little bit like a whirlwind.  Well 2 out of 3 have come and gone and we had a fantastic time.  

I still can't believe that my oldest son is 8 years old.  How crazy is that!!!  It seems like it was just yesterday that our lives changed and our little family had began.  

I told Keegan you pick whatever kind of cake you want and I will make it so he decided a monster truck cake was his pick.  

 Thanks to Jessicas Cake Blog for the tips on how to create this.  

 The truck is made out of Rice Krispie and carved in the shape of a truck  

There was a point when I was making this one that I thought he might just get a tire, lol.  

This year Keegan decided he wanted to go rock climbing so we had 6 boys and one little peanut that gave it a shot and they all did such a good job. 

 This was Chase's first time climbing and this guy certainly has no fear.  Right to the top on the first go.

Even though Makai was too little to get harnessed and climb to the top he wasn't going to let that stop him.  I think he is ready for the big leagues. 

I love giving personalized water bottles for favors, it is something that the kids will use and since and isn't a throw away favor. 

My kids favorite Birthday favor is the personalized t-shirts.  For this party we used a rock climbing image and their names.

They come so far in such a short time. 

I loved it so much I made on of my Own

That right I thought this was just too darn cute and what a great way to help me organize my life a little bit more.   

 All this is is Cork glued in the inside of your cabinet and then made to look pretty and functional. 

 The Birthday Calendar is one of my favorite things, I am horrible with remembering when everyone's birthday is and keeping it close at hand makes it a little easier.

I found the oval printable at Creature Comforts

 My other favorite part is the ice cream cone printable that I found at Alana Lee Designs.  I use these as a reward chart for my children.  Our kids get an allowance but it keeping up with them actually doing chores or not has been a little bit hard.  So instead for each chore, good deed or a positive comment from school they get an x on their cones.  For my little guy he will get one if he goes to the bathroom on the potty.  Once they hit the top of one cone they can pick out a small toy out of the bin (dollar store toys).  If they fill all the cones they get their allowance.  So far it has been working 4 chores done on the first day, that is a record. 

Now I can't post this without sharing my inspiration with you as it is pretty incredible.  Angie @ Echoes of Laughter made this with all of her favorite recipes so they were easy to get to.  I think I may just have to do this with my recipes to one day. 

Bedroom Makeover Part 2 ~ DIY Picture Frame

For one of the walls in my bedroom I want to do a photo wall but didn't want to spend a ton on picture frames.  I wanted something new and colorful so I decided to use what I had to create this new frame. 

Remember these pictures I had in my room before?

I got these awhile ago from the dollar store they are just glass with the metal clips on the outside.  

 I used my favorite kind of wood, you got it 1x4's.  I used my saw to cut these at a 45 degree angle and routered out the back for the glass to fit into.  

I wanted a nice pop of color in my room so I gave it a couple coats of paint.  

I created my own matte and used the existing backing from the glass frame.

 I used nails that I hammered in on an angle to keep everything secure and added a bracket to the back. 

Viola a new picture frame that didn't cost me anything, those are my favorite kind of projects. 

On another note, as some of you are enjoying the seasonal changes of spring and the beautiful weather that comes with it here in Alberta country we are having our annual snow storm.

Yesterday as I was sitting outside of my sons Karate this was the view I had.  Keeping in mind just days before you could see the grass.

After two days of this weather and 12 inches of snow later this is what we ended up with.  Thank Goodness for 4x4 or I wouldn't be going far.

The kids loved it, so much snow they could make tunnels and have their own sledding hill right out the front door. 

Karate Party

Another Birthday party has come and gone and my little man had a great day.  This year we decided to have his party at our local Karate studio where both of my boys attend and the kids had a blast.  

As I posted earlier we started off the event with these Karate inviations.

For me when decorating a party it is all about the details.  I love coming up with a different idea for the favor bags, something the kids can use.  This year I decided on doing up some t-shirts with a Karate guy on them and their names.  

Then sticking with the theme I put them along with a few candies into these take-out boxes. 

Of course my favorite part is the cake.  I had big plans for this cake and then reality set in and I realized that what I wanted just wasn't going to happen.  Really reality was my 3D figure falling apart three times and me throwing them in the garbage, lol. 

So I kept it a little more simple.

I used a white buttercream icing as my base and then used red fondant to make the belt.  My son is a Red belt so wanted it to be the same color. 

 I used fondant to create the ying yang symbol on the top.

 For the Shurikens I borrowed my sons real ones to trace out the gum paste with and then copied the symbols off of them.  Once they were all dried I pressed them into the cake to make them look like they were thrown at it. 

 Here is my little man doing some Karate games and wearing his new shirt.  

Another party down and another one on it's way in two weeks.  I had better get going on planning the next one.