Bench Before & After

This bench was made to go into the playhouse by my kids grandfather for Christmas this past year.  They left it with natural wood because they were unsure of my vision at that time.

 I started by painted the edges of the bench in a dark grey color and topped it off with a white coat of paint.  Once the paint was dry I sanded off the edges to give it an antiqued look.  I finished this piece off by adding the vinyl Storage sticker to the front in a bright red. 

Hope you Enjoy!

Pinterest Love and Inspiration

I am in love with the whole idea of pinterest, it makes my life so easy. I used to save all those fabulous finds in my favorites but they would just get lost in computer land. Then I tried to print them out and make a binder but what a waste of paper and ink. Know I can keep them all online in an easy place.

Here are a few of my favorites that keep me inspired.

Ballard Designs

Source: ballarddesigns.com via Lisa on Pinterest

I love these film reel Plaques, they would go so good in my theater room.  I just have to come up with a diy solution for this. 

Traditional Home

Source: traditionalhome.com via Lisa on Pinterest

This is a fantastic use of space, who couldn't use more storage. 

Funky Junk Interiors

Source: funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

I am in love with the feel of this table.  It looks like it has had a very interesting life.  

Newly and Becky

Source: newlyandbecky.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

These letters are really cool, with some paint you can make some inexpensive letters look like they are metal.  

I was featured

I am so excited A Glimpse Inside had featured my Playhouse

Finished Playhouse

The Playhouse is Done!!!! 

I am so excited to share this finished project with you, like many project I do it starts with a little idea and then snowballs into something way bigger.  If my husband had it his way we would have thrown up the walls, slapped a little paint on it and called it good.  I think my vision turned out better than his.  

The Grocery Store was a complete surprise for the kids, they love to play store so I thought it would be perfect in here.

I love these signs they turned out great

I searched high and low for food to go in the playhouse but all that I could find was a ice cream package and some fruit and veggies so I decided to make my own felt food.  These were my first attempts.  I have many more to make for the kids but I ran out of time to get it all done.  Plus I couldn't make them wait any longer to see it. 

I found this cute ice cream kit at Ikea

This bench was made for the kids playhouse by their Grandpa,  I store all the extra craft stuff in here.

I couldn't do a playhouse without a craft table for the kids, they love to craft just as much as I do. 

I found these cute buckets at easter time as stocked them away for this very project.  The hooks I picked up from the dollar store. The trick is to see if the stuff will actually all stay where it is supposed to go. 

I tried to make everything have a little vintage feel to it.  One of my favorite projects so far.

 I finished this late last night so this morning I got the kids up and first thing they got to do was check it out.  The looks on their faces is what makes this all worth it.  I know they are going to have so many hours of fun and create so many memories in this space. 

The Search Is Over

After dragging my husband into a dozen stores we have finally found a sofa that we both liked and that would fit the space.  I am sure he is more happy about the searching coming to an end than I am, lol.

We actually went into this search wanting a cloth couch but after seeing the features that this one come with we were sold.

The Chaise part goes up and has lots of storage for blankets and pillows.  I know I never have enough storage so this is perfect.

Also the couch pulls out like a trundle and makes into a bed, as we don't have a spare bedroom this is a nice feature.  Plus if we have the whole family watching a movie we can pull this out and have lots of room for everyone.  

A few more things like a rug and coffee table and this space will finally be done. 

Summer Fun Basket

My Kids have done such a good job this year at school.  Keegan has just about completed his first full time year of Grade 1 and Chase has completed his first year of pre-school so I thought it only fitting to end the year with a little reward.  Of course I couldn't get for the older boys and not for Makai so he got in on this action as well.  They were so excited and can hardly wait to start using all of their goodies.

Teacher Appreciation Gift ~ Garden Stakes

Not that I am counting or anything but only 1 more day of pre-school for my little man Chase and 6 1/2 Days Left for my Bigger Little Man Keegan.  I cannot wait for summer break to start and neither can they.  We have alot of people to thank this year, between Chase's Teacher, classroom helper and classroom Aides he has 6.  Keegan has 1 teacher, 1 bus driver and 1 Karate Teacher.  So that is a total of 9 gifts, plus I volunteered to do 5 more for a family friend.

Garden Stakes 

I Love these they turned out so good. 

 I started by taking an 8ft strip of 1x4 and cutting them down to my desired length.  I was able to get 5 out of 1 length

Then the painting assembly line started. I painted some of them with a black base and some with white and then finished them off either with a blue or a white top coat.  Just to have a little bit of variety.  

This was the most time consuming part of the process as each coat had to be dry before it could be turned and have the other side painted.  Also because I did different layers of paint.  

Once the paint was dry I sanded the edges and the faces to make them look a little weathered.

I used a vinyl stencil then painted the wording Black 

I also sanded the wording too and then added the blue stakes to it and finished it off by spraying them with lacquer.

Our teachers do so much for our kids that all the time spent making these was well worth it.