Kitchen Makeover

Welcome to my Kitchen Makeover. We purchased our home a couple of years ago.  I looked at so may homes and fell in love with it the first time I saw it.  It took a little convincing for my husband, but I did it.  The home was in foreclosure.  Our relator told us the home has great bones but needs some work.  I walked in and could picture it as my home.  Lucky for my I could see past the flaws.  A large mudroom and pantry are my favorite features.  I had dreamed about my mudroom. Lockers for each child, fold out ironing board and wash basin.  I love it.  My kitchen on the other had is nice but way to much wood for me with 4 different stains or paint in one room. Some of the features I love are under and over the cabinet lighting. We have lights that can be turned on that are above and below the wall cabinets.  It makes it hard to decorate above the cabinets but that means less dust bunnies for me to find. Here is what it looks like.

I started with the bead board backsplash. 
I chose a hexagon subway tile. I found it at Lowes.   The style is the same but my tiles were all white.  Then every now and then I would cut out a small square tile ands replace it with a colored glass tile.


Here is the kitchen with just the tile done.

Already a huge difference. Almost enough to stop there but I needed a little color. So I painted my Island. My front room is in Dark Turquoise (I{heart} Turquoise) and Burnt Orange.  So I painted my Island the same color as the wall above my fireplace to help tie the 2 rooms together.

I love th Bright pop of color it as
I love the pop of color is brings to my kitchen.  It is amazing what a little paint can do!
The last phase of my kitchen make over was the ceiling.  Did you see the wood slat ceiling.  I love the wood slats but the honey color was not my cup of tea.  I thought that white paint would help brighten up the room.  I also had 3 pendant lights.  2 were broken.  They also broke your line of vision when looking into the kitchen.
So I painted the ceiling white. Took the Pendant lights down and replaced it with a ceiling light box that matched the bead board oven hood.
Here is my finished product.

So there is my kitchen.  Maybe it will inspire you to create something great. 

T-shirt to Backpack

Do yoru little ones need a simple backpack for Preschool?? Or just need a cheap backpack to match the big kids?  Well i have a solution. While shopping at the dollar store I ran across a basket full of kids t-shirts.  I bought a few in hopes of a potential project.  I came up with this.  You can use any T-shirt old or new.

You will need only 2 supplies a t-shirt, 3 yards of ribbon and a sewing machine. I have found the no matter the size of your child, the best size for these packs is a medium or smaller.


Start with your T-shirt and turn it inside out.


Fold your t shirt in half. Cut along the tip of the shirt, cutting off the neck hole of the shirt.


Stitch along your cut edge.


On the bottom of the shirt you will need to find the 2 sides of your shirt. make a small cut, not cutting through the seam.


Take your ribbon and cut into 2 pieces.  Take your first piece and thread through one of the slits and around the casing. Bringing the ribbon back to the original starting spot.  Repeat this with the second ribbon threading through the opposite slit.




Bring your ribbon ends to the shirt sleeve.  Pin into place and stitch the opening closed.

An easy day bag for your kids to go to the park, beach or a road trip. Or your sweet little one who wants to be a big kid too. Fill it will all the things you need and go! Have a great week!

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Button Pony Elastics

So you remember those figure 8 ponytail elastics.  You know the ones with the huge knobby balls on a figure  8 elastic??  I have been looking for them for my little miss. They are really hard to find. I couldn't even find a vintage picture of them.  But them my mind started thinking about how I could make them myself.  With a trip to Joanns, I found the round elastic, by the yard.  They also sell the button covers.  I had some in my stash.  Next was trying to figure out how to make them a figure 8.  After searching and pondering I hit the hardware store and found a few options that could work.  Here is what I came up with.

1 Skirt {10 Ways} Series day2

This week I am using my basic skirt pattern and adding a band.

 

Measure the bottom of your skirt. Cut your band the same width plus 1 inch. 

Sew your short ends together.  Iron the seam flat.

Fold your band in half. Iron.

Pin the raw edges to the right side if the skirt.  Pin into place. Stitch the skirt and band together.

Fold band down and press.  For a clean finished look, Top stitch the band to the skirt.

You are all finished. A little hem band makes a huge difference.

This little beauty is going to Skirting the Issue.  For more details click on the button below.