I love the iPhone app Hipstamatic. It is an app that Hipstmatic says “brings back the look, feel, unpredictable beauty, and fun of plastic toy cameras from the past.” Basically it makes any old picture look pretty darn cool. Unfortunately, I don’t have an iPhone and even if I did, I love to take pictures with my real camera.

I thought there must be a way, without being a photoshop genius, to give my pictures this awesome vintage look.  It took a lot of digging but I found a great little FREE program to download and a few very easy steps to make any photo hip in any way you want!

Start by downloading Photoscape.  It’s a free photo editor that lets you do tons of things to your pictures!  I have just started playing with it but it is easy and fun!  I will be spending a ton of time with this little gem!

First, select your run of the mill photo.  I love this picture of Sophia on the beach and thought it would look great with a vintage twist!

Next, upload your photo into the Photoscape editor.

Below the photo you will see a bunch of buttons that allow you to change anything about the photo.

For this picture I took the following steps:

Filter – Film Effect – Cross Process High.  Cross Processing in the real world of photography is the procedure of deliberately processing photographic film in a chemical solution intended for a different type of film (from Wikipedia).

Filter – Film Effect – Portra High.  Portra is an effect that is meant to simulate the high quality Kodak film that is used for weddings and portraits to give great skin tones and a very fine grain.  I just liked how it looked!

Bright, Color – Colorize.  For this picture I chose a color value 20, saturation of 255 and saturation level of 41%.  The higher the level, the stronger the color.  This is where you will give your pictures a different tone of green or orange or whatever suits your fancy!

Filter – Vignetting.  Click on Vignetting and choose your shadow like edges.  There are a bunch to choose from and they are fun to play around with!

Backlight.  (+/- 100%)  This is what I chose.  It gives a really cool light to the photo.  Play around with this too.  You can see the changes as you make them so it is super easy to change your mind.

Finally, the real Hipstamtic cool factor comes from the frame.  This was what I could never find but in Photoscape there are a few that mimic that cool old look. I chose Cali 12 for this photo, which has a rough edge around the entire photo. 

I ended up with the fabulous and very hip photo of Sophia at the beach!

I went ahead and hipped up a photo of Miles and Violet as well because it is just so much fun! Here is the original adorable picture of my two cuddle bugs!

I chose a Portra Low setting here with colorization of 25/128/50% for the more orange tones and I love it! I also chose the slightly more rugged Cali 5 frame.

Now don’t you have a couple pics that could use a little more hip?  Have fun and please share your experience in the comments so that we can all create some very cool photos!

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Miles' First Bed

You know how much I love custom and cheap.  And you know how Miles can launch himself out of his crib and so he needed to have a bog boy bed.  Voila!  A very low to the ground and very chic alternative to a toddler bed.  And you can make it in any size!

I saw this idea for a DIY upholstered bed on Design Sponge (one of my all time favorite blogs) courtesy of Gabrielle Blair of Design Mom (another of my all time favorite blogs).  She gives a great tutorial on Design Sponge so check it out.  My tutorial has a few extra detail as as usual for those of us (like me) who like things literally spelled out step by step so there is less chance of complete failure.  I meant to post the tutorial tonight but I am going to the hospital to have my little girl in 6 hours and I only finished the bed yesterday and putting the covers on the bed during bath time tonight!  I still need to sew the pillow that matches the bottom but that will have to wait.

So…tutorial coming but here are some pics so you KNOW that you can do this.  Miles’ bed is a twin but I will be posting my suggestions for how to make this bed in a full, queen or king as well because you WILL need extra support to go larger.  I think it would make a great bed for any age and you can TOTALLY customize your look.  I also made this bed so that it has storage underneath that is accessible.  I have put all the kids travel stuff as well as our aero bed and guest sheets under there.  Woohoo!

Step One:  Have Home Depot or Lowe’s Cut Plywood or MDF to correct size.

MDF For Bed - All from One Sheet - $25

Step Two:  Attach all the side pieces.  I used an ottoman as my helper but a human would be better.  Especially if you are 9 months pregnant.

Screw Pieces Together

Step Three:  Attach Side Rails with Screws.  Again – helper helpful.  I had to go from both sides because to do it by yourself you have to turn the unit on its side and drill from the inside and then reinforce from the outside.

Attach Side Rails with Screws

Step Four:   Attach batting using staple gun while your children watch Dora before nap time in “The Boat”. 

Attach Batting to the "Boat"

Step 5:  Upholster Bed with Your Choice of Awesome Fabric.  This is what will determine your budget.  I fell in love with this chocolate houndstooth like fabric and spent $70.  I will have enough for 2 large pillows and a 2 window box valances.  You could go much cheaper but I was under sort of a deadline, you know.  I did not do a perfect job with my enemy the staple gun and will be covering the staples with a thick fabric and some glue just to be super safe.  This project takes a LOT of staples.

Completed Upholstered Bed Frame

Step 6:  Insert Plywood Panels also cut by Home Depot or Lowe’s.  You will not need a box spring for this bed, which rocks.  Notice I left a little bit of space between the panels so they can easily be pulled out to access storage underneath.

Mattress Support with Easy Access

Step 7:  Make the Bed and Enjoy!  As I said I still need to sew matching pillows but otherwise I love the mix of browns and the body pillow I found at Target for $10 up against the wall.  The light tan down blanket and chocolate covered twin plush blanket on the bottom of the bed are from Target too!  The shams are from Bed, Bath & Beyond. 

Great Under the Nook!

The puppy dog blanket was a baby gift.  SO CUTE!

Puppy Love

I think it was a hit.  Post bathtime the kids were ecstatic!

After Bath they Loved the Bed!

I hope you like this one as much as I do!  I think it is such a great alternative to spending a ton at Pottery Barn or Land of Nod and it is the right height for toddlers at a little over 14″.  I am going to let Miles pick out some animal pillows too since of course, what he really wanted was a Diego comforter.  I will post the tutorial in the next few weeks. 

For now I am off to have this baby!

I am linking up to Kimba’s DIY Day at a Soft Place to Land and Make your Monday at Twice Remebered!  Check out all the great DIY projects!

Like this post? Don’t want to miss a Mommy Words Moment? Then subscribe via RSS or by email to get all the latest from this Mom’s mouth! You can also use the social buttons below to add this post to your favorite sites or send it to your friends. Please spread the MOMMY WORDS!

Bookcase Shown in Hallway

When you have a random tiny space under a dormer or in some tiny corner and you need every square inch of it for some extra storage and you don’t want some white laminate thing that doesn’t really fit – you find some wood scraps and throw it together.  Then you paint it and it looks awesome.  I kid you not.  You can do this.  And it will look great.  And you will be a little storage superhero.  This particular unit can also be turned on its side and used as a bench.  I love things that have more than one use.  Brilliant.

I adore organizers and bins and storage solutions and whether it is for kid rooms or laundry rooms or bathrooms I find I am always looking for that perfect sized piece in which to stash toys or detergent or towels.  I rarely find the size I need.  When I switched Miles’ and Sophia’s room so that she would have the bigger room to share with her soon to be here baby sister, I realized there was an awkward space next to the giant dresser but wedged under a dormer that would be perfect for some toys and books and get them off my darn floors.  I measured.  That is always the first step.  I know I would never find anything 17 inches wide and JUST LESS THAN 36 inches tall.  Lots of stuff is 12 inches wide and exactly 3 feet tall – but that would be too skinny and hit my dormer.  Lots of stuff is 18 inches wide but you see then it would not fit in my little corner.  I knew it was DIY moment.  And I knew that the area was small enough that I would be able to get away using mostly scrap wood.  AMEN!  Cheap and Chic and Custom.  Nothing better. 

Here’s How You…Yes You…Can Do This.

1.  Measure your strange awkward space.  Of course, you can use this instructional for ANY small bookcase and it will be made of wood, not laminate, and you can make it as ornate or simple as you like and out it in your living room.    Measure at least five times – especially if the numbers are weird.  You want to get this right. 

Note:  You could also measure your strange awkward stuff and then build a unit to fit it.  This is an awesome idea and   I have done this before with baskets that I loved that never fit anything.  Then they look like it is totally custom and it rocks!

2.  Figure out your desired height, width and depth.  Mine was, as I said, 17 inches wide by 35 inches tall by less than 20 inches deep.  I ended up with 14 inches.  It needed to be less deep than the dresser and I was flexible here because I knew I would be working with scrap wood.  Again, this is totally custom but if you are looking for a standard depth, bookcases are usually 12 inches deep.  If you have big books though – measure the books or whatever you are putting in the unit!  It does not good to build a piece that stuff does not fit in. 

For a small unit I would expect that 2 shelves would suffice and in a simple project like this these shelves will be fixed – not adjustable.  You can buy easy shelf adjusters at your local Home Depot or Lowe’s but for me I wanted an evenly spaced look.

3.  Plan your wood cuts.  Don’t worry about the cutting I will give you a couple of ways to get this done.  Here is the basic layout.

a.  The Back- The back should measure the FULL HEIGHT AND WIDTH.  I used a cheap piece of panel board from the Home Depot for this.  You do not NEED the back to be solid thick wood.  It is up to you.  I went for cheap and being as pregnant as I am I decided not add the weight of solid wood on the back when it would make absolutely no visible difference.

b.  The Top and Bottom - The top and bottom should be the FULL WIDTH and DEPTH of the unit.  You want no seams on the top of your finished piece and it makes for easier nailing.

c.  The Sides – Take your FULL HEIGHT and SUBTRACT the THICKNESS of the top and bottom pieces.  For me, I used 3/4″ furniture grade plywood so I subtracted 1 1/2 ” from my total desired height of 35 1/2″ for a toal height of 34″ for my sides.  The DEPTH should be your FULL DEPTH and should match that of the top and bottom.

Of course, this means that your total storage area is less than the full width so make sure to account for this if you  are building this to fit a particular item or bin or basket.   If I needed 15 inches of width, let’ say, I would choose a total width of 17 inches to allow for my sides and a tiny bit of wiggle room on each side.

d.  The Shelves – Take your FULL WIDTH and SUBTRACT the THICKNESS of the side panels.  Again for me this was 1 1/2″ off my total of 17 for a width of 15 1/2″.   Use the FULL DEPTH.

You may want to wait until you have built your basic unit and then fit in the shelves and get a specific measurement, but this is up to you.  Sometimes a shelf may need a little bit of shaving down or sanding to fit in.  Do not worry if there is a little extra space – caulk will fix this.  See?

Extra Edge Space

Note that all of the pieces are the FULL DEPTH.  This will allow us to simply attach the back to the piece as well as any trim to the front very easily.

4.  Cut your wood or have it cut for you.  As I said, I had scrap wood for this project leftover from others but you can find wood by posting to Freecycle or Craigslist or simply purchasing one sheet of double sanded furniture grade plywood from any Home Depot or Lowe’s or the like.  If you do not own a circular saw or a table saw these stores will make your cuts for you for something like 25 cents per cut and they oftentimes have piles of scrap there in the store.

5.  Assemble your outside pieces.  I am lucky and I have a nail gun but a simple hammer and nails will work just fine.  Make sure you have someone to help you hold the pieces.  It will make it a LOT easier.  I used 1 1/4 inch nails and nailed the top and bottom onto my sides in a matter of minutes.  Try you very best to be as square as possible.  This is not as hard as it sounds – you will be okay if you are making your eges even and as smooth as possible.  It will take about a half hour to an hour with a hammer and nails.

 6.  Fit your shelves in and Attach - If you want even spaces you need to take your INSIDE HEIGHT (same height as your sides) and SUBTRACT the same THICKNESS of your shelves.  My height was 34″ less the 1 1/2 inches for shelves, leaving me with 32 1/2″ of space.  DIVIDE THIS INTO THREE ( if you have 2 shelves) to figure out  the amount of space between shelves.  I got about 10.8″  I measured down from the top and made my marks on the front and around the sides so I would be able to nail in from the outside.  It takes some patience but it is NOT HARD.

Note Nails in Side

You now have the base of the unit.  From here on out it is SO easy!  Check out how nasty this wood is.  A little primer, some caulk and some paint and it’s a whole new world!

Sides and Shelves

7.  Attach the Back- If you are using panel board like me you simply use a hammer and panel board nails to work around the edges of the piece and of course nailing the back to the shelves as well.  It is easy to figure out where to nail into the shelves.

Back is Attached

8.  Throw some simple trim on the front- I purchased a simple rounded over edge and used a miter box (super cheap) and hand saw to cut mitred corners.  I then used wood glue and some panel board nails to get it on.  I did sand some edges a little on the shelves so it looked good.  You could get as fancy as you wanted here.  You could put feet on the unit.  You could add more of a molding the the top.  Future DIY’s will detail how to really get sassy with your simple pieces.  As it is I just needed something simple and quick and easy so it would be done before the baby!

Closeup of Trim

9.  Sand, Caulk, Prime and Paint! - I sanded the whole piece with 150 and paid special attention to the edges to make them smooth.  Using a sanding block or power sander will help immensely here!  I used my good ol’ Black Satin paint that I use to paint almost everything because I LOVE black.  The caulk filled my little gaps and I did use some wood filler on the nail holes on the sides.  It is not glossy -that is just the light because I wanted to show how the trim looked.

Closeup Painted Edge

10.  Squeeze your little custom bookcase into it’s new home!

Nestled in Nook

Tight Space. Sassy Solution.

As always feel free to leave any questions in the comments and I will get back to you as soon as I can!  Enjoy and Happy Building!

I am linking up to Kimba’s DIY DAY at A Soft Place to Land!  Check out her awesome site and all the great projects!

Like this post? Don’t want to miss a Mommy Words Moment? Then subscribe via RSS or by email to get all the latest from this Mom’s mouth! You can also use the social buttons below to add this post to your favorite sites or send it to your friends. Please spread the MOMMY WORDS!

Can you hear me?  I am a full blown bird at this point and that well known nesting instinct has taken over my entire persona.  My little chicks – I have wings I tell you…WINGS!  I have now judged and made a plan for every nook and cranny and organizational quandary in my house and will be using this wonderful New Year to implement my genius.  Pregnant women in their last weeks have the ability to think of an enormous amount of design, decorating, purging and organizational tasks.  This is called NESTING.

I decided to harness this radical nesting power in making my plan for the 12 coming months and I am going to share it with you weekly in a post that is DIY (Do-It-Yourself), Organizational, Design or Planning related.  I like my home to be pretty.  I like it to be put together.  I like to customize things to meet my needs and those of my family.  I get immense satisfaction out of having everything from ties to Tupperware in its place.  I have started on this journey and would love too share with you my tips and tricks and get feedback and ideas from you!  Stay Tuned!  DIY day is not just for power tools anymore!  I’ve got custom planners and calendars, party planning tips and tools, great DIY storage ideas and so much more!

My NESTING plan was one of the many BIG things I wanted to have in place before the New Year.  As a reminder I am starting my New Year on Monday.  I had to make both a Plan A (Decide to move forward with small renovation) and Plan B (Ha – no more money - no renovation) but both are done as of this afternoon and my 2010 is feeling less unapproachable each and every moment.  Now I just need to design some sassy button or logo for my weekly Nesting post…..that goes on the 2010 list!

Today, I not only completed my Nesting Plan but I also completely cleaned out the mismatched sock bin, recycled 2 giant bins of household paperwork while checking numerous things off my administrative to-do list, got the basics for baby like tiny diapers and super soft wipes and such, and helped Sophia to give away 2 whole bags of her precious toys.  The purging around here was crazy!  And so were the life lessons for my wonderful 3 year old.  I am now going to do my own little closet purge tomorrow.

One day left until my 2010 begins and I am feeling wonderfully positive both about my massive to do’s and my brilliant family and my coming bundle of joy!

Oh, and by the way, I decided to challenge myself with another month of NaBloPoMo – posting every day this month.  I figure I have a ton to blog about and it does provide a nice sort of discipline.  Let’s hope there are fewer dud posts than last time and a LOT more brand new baby pics!

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From my home to yours, a Very Happy Holiday!

Yes, making my own card this year allowed me to include a ton of pictures.  It also took a majillion years and made me want to strangle Photoshop.  But I like how it came out. 

From January though December I had a wonderful year and hope that you did too. I am thankful for my family and friends and I am enjoying meeting such wonderful people in the blogging community.  To a fabulous 2010!

I actually made the card on standard size paper and printed it on a nice thick gloss paper for sending it out via snail mail.  If you would like to see how the card turned out, you may cview the PDF file of our Holiday Card.  I will have a How-To to come for those of you who want to save a bundle on any kind of card or announcement!

Vintage Dominoes

I love vintage games and have been scouring flea markets and online auctions to no avail. I just never find what I want or what I want is way too expensive for this particular desire.  I have seen games c. 1900 and earlier for thousands of dollars!  I am thinking more like $10-$20 each.  Here I will teach you to make them for even less!

You see, I want to have a number of these games for a completely EMPTY wall in our playroom and I love the colors of folk art and vintage games fall right in there!  Also, I would like to be able to take them off the wall easily to play the games. You know I am always practical! So a real vintage game does not really fit my purpose.  I don’t think I would let my toddlers play around with an antique, you know?

As usual, I decided to create all these games myself.

So far I am planning on creating, from easiest to most difficult – Checkers (Easy!),  Chinese Checkers (difficulty depends on pattern chosen), Parcheesi (difficult) and Backgammon (moderate).  I am sure I will add more if I see some really cool ones but this is a good start!

I am going to have a series on creating these games, which I think would be great for a play room, family room, kids room or rec room. If you want to make sure you get all the DIY tutorials as I create these games  and tons of other projects please consider following through Google Friend Connect or subscribe via RSS or by email to get all the latest DIY tips and tutorials from this handy Mom!  As usual I am always here if you have questions or do not understand a certain step.  I will do my best to help you finish your own DIY masterpiece!

I had been plotting my vintage game room for quite some time when I stumbled across the girls from Shanty2Chic and their Large Vintage Dominoes tutorial.  What a great place to start!  While I am not ever going to play with the large game pieces, I thought they would be great to break up the actual size games I would create and add some drama!  Check out their site – they have TONS of great vintage projects including some large vintage dice I am going to make in red!  The Shanty2Chic girls have a great tutorial on their site for both projects but I wanted to add a few details for those of you who, like me, are new to this kind of DIY.

TUTORIAL FOLLOWS:

Materials:

1 – 2 x 10 x 8 piece of untreated lumber from any home improvement store.  This will make 6 dominoes. and cost about $5.  Sometimes they will have scrap wood that you can get for less.  If so – go for it!  You only need 48″ to make 3 dominoes.

Sandpaper in 80 grit and 120 grit

Cream Paint in Satin Finish – I used Behr Cozy Cottage (740C-2) but any creamy color will work.

Black Paint in a Satin Finish

Ralph Lauren Glaze (RL 2420) tinted to smoke color.   I actually did not have them tint the whole gallon as it can be tinted at home with different colors depending on your needs.

Tools I Used:

You don’t really need any fancy told for this.  I just happen to have some so I used them.  Making the dots is the hardest part but you can be as casual as you want.  I am just completely anal and had to whip out my stencils, compass and tracing paper!

Miter or Circular or Hand Saw or Home Depot Guy:  To cut your pieces.

Power Sander:  makes it much easier to shape raw wood

Sanding block:   makes it MUCH easier

Paint Brush:  I literally used a tiny package from Walmart for the detail work and a very old Purdy for the cream.

Painters Tape

Tape Measure and / or Ruler

Sharpie (I live and die by Sharpie on projects) Not necessary, just wonderful!

Circle Stencil and / or Simple Compass:  I used both.  The circle stencil was from a super cheap package of shapes at Walmart.

Tracing Paper

Step One: Cut your wood into 16″ lengths.  I used my miter saw but you can use a circular saw, a handsaw or the handsome gents at the cutting stations in any major home improvement store.  Usually the first 2 cuts are free and after that are 25¢ each.

Cut Wood into 16" Lengths

Step Two: Use your power sander or get a real workout with your arms and a sanding block to round out each and every edge to look like a vintage domino.  Sand the entire piece so that it is relatively smooth.  This is raw wood so you are not going for perfection here!

Rounded Corners Close-Up

Step Three: Apply 2 coats of your cream paint.

Step Four: Plan and Layout your dots and center line.  I used a pencil and ruler on 1 domino to make a template.  After much experimentation I chose 3/4″ thick for my center line and app. 1 5/8″ diameter for my circle.   I had a circle stencil in various sizes and this is the one I chose.  I think that 1 1/2 inches would work too.  I apologize for the light on this picture but essentially I drew on my center lines horizontally and then made a vertical line down the center of the domino.  I then made a horizontal line splitting the top area in half.  This gave me the location for the center of my starting circle.  Dominoes are not equidistant from all sides as I thought.  Creating a full 9 dot domino allowed me to see the spacing that I wanted.   You an experiment but my circles are app. 3/4″ from the sides and 5/8″ from the top and from the center line.  There is app. 5/8″ between my dots vertically.  You can use a compass or stencil once you create all of your lines to make your circles.

Domino With Lines

Step 5:  Crate Your Template / Stencil:  Steps 4 and 5 you could have done much more free hand but I am not that good.  I also do not have a way to create a large stencil and I knew I wanted to use a template so I made one out of tracing paper.  I copied all 9 dots and my center line onto my tracing paper and marked top and bottom on it.

Tracing Paper Stencil

Step 6: Layout center lines on all pieces.  This is simple using your ruler.  Use your template and a compass or stencil to draw all of your circles in pencil.  If using the template make sure to follow your top and bottom notes and “flip” the template to do the bottom of the domino.  Simply use the template and compass to draw as many circles in the correct place as you need on that domino.  Apply painters tape around the lines.

Center Line Tape

Step 7: Paint in your lines.  Using a small brush I dry brushed 3 coats of black paint.

Step 8: Outline your circles.  I had one circle stencil and was just going to paint by placing it over my pencil lines but I did NOT like how it was making the dots look.  I kept having leakage.  I decided to use my one circle stencil and my handy dandy Sharpie and make all of my circles using the stencil over my pencil circles and then paint them.

Line and Dots Outline

Step 9: Paint Your Circles.  Using black paint and a tiny brush paint your circles.  This was fast and so much fun!  It was not at all difficult to stay in my Sharpie lines and I love the not absolutely perfect look of my circles!  It took 5 very light coats to get this right but each can be applied right after the last.  I show both 2 coats and the final so you can see!  Do not worry about brush strokes by coat 5 they are gone!

Two Coats

Final - 5 Coats

Step 10: Sand all edges, particularly corners, using 80 grit sandpaper and apply Minwax Red Mahogany (225) over the sanded areas.  This gives that vintage feel!  The Minwax stain will seep into the bare wood immediately so use a small brush and wipe off directly after application because it will stain your domino as well!  I learned this the hard way and have a little boo boo on my first corner.  Good thing these are vintage looking!

Sanded Edge

Minwax for Vintage

Step 11: Apply Ralph Lauren Tinted Glaze in Smoke.  You have to ask for a tint at my home depot and I did not want to tint an entire gallon of this stuff ($24.00) all one color since I can use it for so many projects!  I used a little tiny bit of my black to tint a little tiny cup of this stuff.  I might go back and use more but I am happy with the very light tint it gave at the moment.  You can get your glaze as dark as you like but be careful and test some first!  You just paint on and wipe off!  Love the simplicity there!  It gives a nice finish to the pieces no matter how light you go.

Ralph Lauren Glaze

Very Light Glaze

Step 11: Attach simple saw tooth hangers and hang!  I am not sure which way I am going to hang these yet so I am waiting on my hangers.  Right now they are filling part of an empty wall in my front room and get TONS of compliments!

Finished Dominoes

Please let me know if you try this project – I would LOVE to see your own Dominoes and any tips you might have for creating them!

I hope you liked this DIY Large Vintage Domino Tutorial.  Please come back for more!  I am linking this up to Kimba’s DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land!

Also, thanks to the girls at Shanty2Chic for the great tutorial and always inspiring blog!

Like this post? Don’t want to miss a Mommy Words Moment? Then subscribe via RSS or by email to get all the latest from this Mom’s mouth! You can also use the social buttons below to add this post to your favorite sites or send it to your friends. Please spread the MOMMY WORDS!

Baby Shower Scrapbook Pre-Assembly

I always wanted to be the crafty one and I never was.  This summer everything changed.  I finally found my inner crafter!  Now I am both handy with my tools and nearer to crafty and I love it!   I was part of a group of girls who threw a baby shower for our friend Michelle this summer and someone had the idea to leave a guestbook so that everyone could leave a congratulatory note.  I just did not like the idea of leaving blank book with no pizazz!  So I created my first scrap / memory book and it turned out great and was so special to Greg and Michelle!  Much more so than a empty book.  You could also do something like this for a gift at a shower and create a page for every month of the baby’s life or for pictures of big “firsts”.  I would have loved that!

First, I used my usual 40% off coupon at Michael’s (seriously I think you get them every time you check out – good for one item) for an 8×8 scrapbook in chocolate brown, one of the colors in the nursery!  I then went back the next day with my coupon from that purchase to buy a pack of little boy like paper that was SO cute. 

I cut the paper so that there was 1/4 inch on all sides. I liked the look of showing the black paper and I wanted a solid canvas for the pictures and cards.  I used a simple Fiskars cutter.

Cute Paper

After making my pages I decided to go all out and make small envelopes to put the little notes in.  There was nothing pre-made that matched my paper or was the right size.  Crafting is like furniture – if you need something of a certain size – you DIY!  I found an envelope template online.  I cut my template out of the thickest cardstock I could find in my craft closet so that I could use it to make all of my envelopes.  In total I had 15 pages.  This took a LONG time to do, especiailly for a first timer, but it was so worth it!  The scrapbook pages have two sides so both the inside and outside of the envelopes look adorabe!  You simply fold the two small sides in and use glue to attach the bottom that will fold up.  You can choose whether to leave the envelope opoen as I did or close it.   I will now be making all of my envelopes.  They are so precious!

Envelope Template

Outside Envelope

Inside Envelope

Once I had all the envelopes ready I attached them to my pages, trying to make each look good as far as coordinating paper and envelopes.  I then figured out the right size cardstock to slip into all of the envelopes so the guests could easily write their notes and slip them in!

Page with Envelope

Page with Photo area and Sticker

I finished by using a little box of alphabet stamps to create the little placeholder on the cover.   They could replace it with William’s picture if they wanted.  I used some of my paper scraps to make a little border.

Scrapbook Cover

Greg and Michelle loved this very personal touch for their guestbook.  The guests wrote very personal and endearing notes.  It was worth the time and effort and it inspired me to do some actual scrapbooking for my own family.  This in itself would have made it worth it!

The whole shower was beautiful – in case you missed it I also posted a DIY on creating a Simple Gerbera Flower Arrangement.  These would be perfect for any shower or wedding or party!  It was a pleasure to create these things for this special shower, for a special friend.

I am linking up to Kimba’s DIY day at A Soft Place to Land.  Head on over and check out all the great projects!

Like this post? Don’t want to miss a Mommy Words Moment? Then subscribe via RSS or by email to get all the latest from this Mom’s mouth! You can also use the social buttons below to add this post to your favorite sites or send it to your friends. Please spread the MOMMY WORDS!

Sophia's First Plane Trip - 8 Weeks

First, Are you Crazy?

Are you sure you want to get on a plane with your little ones? This might be one of the top 10 times as a parent you will reconsider having kids in the first place.  I love to travel and decided to just push through and bring the kids so I have seen a lot of families fly and I have experienced the woes of airline travel many a time.  Before you plan your trip, make it easier by using some or all of these tips to keep mom and kids happy travelers!

This is a long post and obviously if you don’t have small children you will not want to be bothered.  Please feel free to browse the rest of my Mommy Words for something more up your alley.  For those of you in the same place as me with your kids….here is the scoop!

Choosing a Destination

This applies to vacation planning rather than the mandatory Thanksgiving, Christmas, Baptism or Bat Mitzvah travels in your future.  Remember when planning your trip while your kiddos are sleeping that you are now planning a family trip and that those lovely snoozing kids will be awake for a good part of it. 

For me, once I do this it usually involves me realizing that for a family trip to a tropical beach, an East Coast island would work better than Hawaii – no connecting flights, no time changes and short!  This same thought process should go through your head before you book that incredible resort vacation only to figure out on the way there that 1. kids don’t do well on 12 hour travel days with a layover in Chicago and 2.  kids prefer some things for kids to do at their destination. You will be happier in the long run knowing that you can handle getting to your destination and that you have some things planned for your angels!

I have a future post on recommended destinations and activities!

Planning the Trip

Figure out which airline you are using and see if they have special fares for children and what all of their policies are.  Check on airport regulations to ensure as few hiccups as possible.  You will want to make sure that you are not trying to bring anything through security that is not allowed to avoid delays and the confiscation of your things.

Seating

Infants / Toddlers in lap: While this is not recommended, it is free and most airlines will allow a parent to bring a child under 2 years old on their lap.  Be aware that usually you can only have one lap child per row due to the number of oxygen masks and plan accordingly.  Even if you have booked your ticket online it is always a good idea to call the airline and confirm that you are traveling with an infant and make sure they have his name.  You want to make sure they have this in the system.

Infants / Toddlers in a Seat:  This makes a huge difference.  If you can afford it or a less full flight makes it doable at the last minute I would say hands down to go for it.  You can buckle your baby in to his own car seat and have the chance for a relaxing flight.  If you are flying alone with your baby as I often did, this seat made the difference between a day of terror and a slightly difficult travel time.  Particularly as babies turn into toddlers, sharing a seat becomes a dicey proposition.  I actually crouched on the floor for a good part of one flight to save the other passengers from Sophia’s temper fit to sit by herself.  We will not fly that way again!  In addition, safety wise it is best that even babies have their own seat so that if there is a crash, they are buckled in as they would be in a car and as you are.  The seat will also have the extra padding to protect their little bodies.

Bassinet Option: If you are traveling internationally you will want to call and see if the airline has infant bassinets and reserve one as early as possible.  This will make those long overnight flights infinitely easier on the while family and the rest of the plane!

Pre-School / Booster Seat Age:  If your child is still in a car seat and it is FAA approved with a back then bring it if you can and you will need a car seat at your destination.  If you do not have the ability to bring a car or booster seat on the plane or you do not want to lug a car seat through the  airport you should definitely look into the CARES (Child Aviation Restraint System) meant for children between 22 and 40 pounds.  It is the only FAA approved restraint system and from the looks of it – this product rocks and weighs only 1 pound!

Note:  You will not be allowed to use just the booster portion of any chair as airplanes only have lap belts and boosters are meant for raising a child to be at the right position for a shoulder belt.    You should check your booster seats along with your luggage.   Most airlines will allow you to check car seats / booster seats with no extra baggage penalty.

Seating Assignments:  Reserve your seats in advance whenever possible to ensure the family is sitting together or that you have seats closest to a bathroom or whatever your preferred seating is. Then, get to the airport with plenty of time so that you are checked in before all the other people the airlines overbooked on the flight.  You can see the seating configurations of most planes online.  This is important as a lot of people are not willing to change seats, as sad as that is, for families to sit together.  I have seen many people ask and be turned down.

Sleeping Plan 

Know in advance where your kids will sleep and plan accordingly.  Many hotels have cribs or pack n plays for guests to rent and after lugging a pack n play on a trip before realizing this I can tell you it is more than worth it!  If you are visiting friends or family check if they know someone who can lend you a pack n’ play for your stay.  Most families with young children have one and this is free!  If you are traveling with your child’s pack n play, consider using a tent for infants and toddlers.  We have a toddler tent and all the kids have loved it.  We even use it to play in at home and it provides hours of entertainment, which makes it a great buy.  Ours fits inside the large suitcase as will most so we do not have an extra item to check or carry.  Let me tell you, travelling with a pack n play or small travel bed is not fun.  With new airline restrictions on the number of checked bags it may also get expensive.  I would find a way to have sleeping arrangements at your destination if you don’t go the tent route whether through a rental company, a friend or hotel.

Health Plan

In addition to checking a whole bag of little medical stuff (see below) I always find the name of a pediatrician or clinic near where we will be staying as well as the closest and best hospital or children’s hospital.  It would be great to find a pharmacy as well and make sure you have your pharmacy benefits information.  I like to have these numbers handy and yes, I have been to many urgent care clinics with sick kids in a few different states.  When my kids get sick, it is on vacation!  Make sure you have your insurance cards with you!

What to Check

You will want to bring, if possible, car seats or booster seats for your kids.  From experience I can tell you that those available through car rental agencies are not that great.  You will also need to check your pack n play or other large baby items.  Car seats should not count as baggage and if you get one of those car seat bags let me tell you you can fit a LOT of stuff in them.  We fit all diapers and baby stuff for a 2 week trip in Sophia’s car seat bag when she was little!

I always bring a little medicine bag with children’s and infants Tylenol or Motrin as well as some little tummies and nasal spray, bandaids, diaper cream, aspirator, thermometer and and any other health goodies.  You do not want to be looking through a yellow pages for a late night pharmacy when your child gets sick on vacation.

While when travelling alone I check as little as possible with kids I do the opposite – check what you do not need in the airport or on the plane.  The less stuff you are lugging through the airport in addition to your bindles of joy – the better!

If you do not want to bring any large baby items there are agencies around many big cities that will rent them.  You can find them easily on google.

Packing for the Plane Trip

Think essentials: 

1.  Change of Clothes: 1 shirt for you and 2 outfits for each child in diapers, 1 outfit for fully potty trained kids

I have needed both changes of clothes more than once and I love having an extra shirt for me.  Whether its poop or throw up or I am just covered in sweat, something is always making me feel disgusting! Let me tell you, when a baby goes on a plane it always seems to be #2 and it always seems like a bad one!

2.  Feeding Items:  Bottles, formula, spoons, small bowls or snack traps etc.  Pay attention to what snacks or drinks are allowed through security.  The rest you will have to pick up for a million dollars on the other side.  This million is worth it to have snacks!  Mothers are allowed to bring breast milk or formula through to feed babies but not water.  This will hold you up big time if you take the wrong stuff so edit bags before the security line!  Don’t forget your bottles and sippy cups.  Spills are not fun on a plane.  Even if your 2 year old is on a regular cup at home, consider taking out a sippy cup for the plane.

3.  Diapers and Wipes and Sanitzer: More than you ever thought possible – triple it.   For wipes – especially in this flu season – use them on everything and bring sanitizer too!

4.  Toys / Books / Comfort Items:  50% of your job is to keep your child entertained and as happy as possible for the flight.  Making a list in advance of favorites is a good idea!  The other 50% of your job is as follows – 25% make sure you do not lose them and they arrive in one piece and 25% manage bathroom emergencies.

If your child loves his pacifier or blankie or little bunny rabbit – plane trips are not the time to yank these comfort items or forget them.  Believe me – you will wish you hadn’t when you get stuck on the runway.  Even if you have recently weaned your child off his or her lovie – BRING IT!

Travel Dress

This is it – simple and layered.  I have learned the hard way that onesies and planes do not a match make. Anything that does not have to come off over the head is great if you have a poopie accident!  Get some elastic pants or snap up pants for baby and use a t-shirt or button up shirt and then add additional layers.  The temperature on planes can vary wildly – think anywhere from a desert to the arctic and you want to be prepared without you or your baby being stuck inside your garments.

Make sure it is easy to take off your shoes and your child’s for security and that both you and your husband / travel partner if you have one discuss who will do what when going through security.

In the Airport

Transportation:  Bring a stroller or a sling to carry those little ones around.  Airports are busy and fast paced and whether you have a tiny baby or a darling 3 year old the airport is not the place to test grown up skills and get them to keep up.  If your child wants to walk then you can use the stroller to carry stuff so you can keep a better eye on Miss Independent. If your child is not cooperating with you, strap her in and have a chance at making your flight.  Strollers are usually checkable at the gate so you can have this godsend right until you board and right when you get off.

You may want to check out the Tote a Tot  or something similar if you want to really streamline your stuff in the airport.  It attaches your car seat to your roller suitcase so you have no stroller to check and no toddler running around the airport.  Ah – I love new inventions!

We finally got a car seat carrier when we advanced to the Britax and tried lugging it through the airport.  We have one that is like a backpack and love it.  There are also over the shoulder strap models and roller models but I always find free hands to be a big plus so a backpack was the best option.

On the Plane

Diaper Duty:  Call the airline or go online to check out your plane to see whether there are changing tables on the plane.  Many smaller planes do not have this luxury so seating arrangements will be important – especially if you are traveling with an infant in your lap.  If there is no table you will either have to use the closed toilet seat in the bathroom or use your seat.  If you have #2 you really need to do the dirty work in the bathroom unless you have the whole row to your family.  Sometimes a wonderful flight attendant will offer the large floor area in the back or the use of the flip down seat – but in my experience this is rare.

Breast Feeding:  Your baby has to eat and breastfeeding is perfectly okay on planes.  In fact, you should nurse on takeoff and landing to ease any ear discomfort your child might have.  If your child is in a seat you may use a pacifier for this or, if like my baby, yours will not take a pacifier, you can put your clean finger in his mouth and this usually works.  Nursing on a plane is one of the only times I might recommend a nursing shirt and / or a nursing cover.  If you don’t have one, a shirt that pulls down from your breasts and not up over your whole torso is best so that you will have as much coverage as possible.  A nursing cover is great on planes too.  My favorites are the Bebe au Lait and the Hooter Hider.  Both will double as blankets in an emergency too!  Mine once even doubled as my extra bottom when 2 pairs of pants were soiled!

Bottle Feeding:  Airlines will allow milk through security for babies and they will allow you to bring through pumped milk if you are travelling alone and need to bring back that liquid gold!  However, I would recommend mixing the formula for the take off bottle before you get on the plane as the only water they will have is steaming hot or bottled water.  If you mix it on the plane with bottled water this is fine too – just don’t mix it with the hot water.  This is the boiling hot water that will take 30 minutes to cool off.  Ask for a cup of it to place your bottle in to warm it to the temperature you want.  Check that caps are securely back in place after feeding to avoid a really messy spill in your travel bag!  Most bottles have caps that can be placed over the bottle instead of the cap over the nipple to avoid leaks.  This is what these were made for.

Activities:  Bring some special toys for your kids on the plane.  You can wrap up a few little things and let your child have a great time opening her treats every half hour or hour.  Making them harder to open with lots of bows will take extra time and the decorations work as toys as well!  Favorite books are a must as well as coloring books and washable crayons for those old enough to draw.  Try to avoid loud musical toys as they will quickly annoy other passengers and they will sound 10 times louder than you thought they would!  If you are okay with it, a travel DVD player is great.  A movie and a show and then you land…perfect!  Basically just try to bring things that are easy to pack and fun for the kids without being a pain to other passengers.

Finally

Enjoy your Trip!  Happy Flying!

Have your own tips and tricks for the air?  We’d love to hear them.  Please leave comments for all the other jet setting mommies like you!

Like this post? Don’t want to miss a Mommy Words Moment? Then subscribe via RSS or by email to get all the latest from this Mom’s mouth! You can also use the social buttons below to add this post to your favorite sites or send it to your friends. Please spread the MOMMY WORDS!

Custom Craftsman Storage Bench

Once again, it is DIY day and right now I am in storage mode. My nesting instincts are leaning to organized before designer chic right now. I love my little bungalow and my favorite part is the front porch living. We spend an enormous amount of time “porchin” it with our family, friends and neighbors. However, in our neighborhood most of these old bungalows (including ours) do not have a garage and without a garage comes piles of crap on my beloved front porch!

My goal was to create more seating and hide as much crap as possible while leaving it easily accessible and organized.  The “crap” on the porch is there, after all, because it is stuff we use all the time!

I looked for storage benches and they were expensive and not the size that I needed.  I saw costs of $200 for a small bench up to $800 for larger wood or cedar benches.  Even at that price, I did not see what I was looking for.  I ended up making my bench for approximately $85 plus $20 for 2 additional milk crates to go inside.

If you have a porch, either screened or covered, this is a great and simple way to get a custom storage bench!  You can get as fancy as you want trimming out the basic box.  I am lucky that I was going for the craftsman style – easy peasy to get those mission squares!  I am going to make a cushion for the bench at some point when we figure out what colors we are going for out there, but right now it is great to sit on and it definitely hides a ton!

Custom Milk Crate Storage

You Will Need:

2×4’s : As many as you need for your measurements!  I used 2×4x12 Foot boards because my length was 6 feet for the bench but a 4 foot bench would be super simple with 8 foot boards.

Plywood:  Since my porch is covered and does not get actual water on it, I used double sanded furniture grade plywood for my outside.  I only needed one sheet but that is because I had scrap from other projects.  Without any scrap you will be limited to a 4 foot long box with one sheet of plywood.  You could use pressure treated and then cover it with cedar or whatever you like!

1×4 whitewood (cheapest) strips for my trim

Nails & Deck Screws

Fence Hinges:  Or any kind of hinge that can lay flat.  You could also use piano hinges.

Paint:  I used my porch paint (Bronzetone) for the squares and the khaki paint from my laundry room for the trim and top.  I hate to buy new paint if I don’t need to.

Basic Tutorial:

1.  Lay Out Your Location.  For my height I knew that my top needed to fit UNDER the window.  Other than that I wanted a bench that could seat at least 3 adults and look like a real built in part of my porch so I went with 6′ wide and 21″ deep.

Bench is 6' Wide by 21" Deep by 17" Tall

2.  Figure Out Your Materials List.  See above.

3.  Cut Lengths of 2×4 to Build Frame.  Since I did not have any official “plans” I made sure to measure measure measure.  I let my full length be the front and back 2×4’s with the sides and mid supports fitting between them.  Use deck screws at an angle where necessary to attach the pieces.  I used deck screws to attach the 2×4’s to the porch and to each other.  I knew I wanted easy storage so I made my “spacing” on the floor so that milk crates would fit in the spaces.  Genius!  I love it!

My bottom supports spaced to fit milk crates!

4.  Add Top of Box Frame.  Again, measure the whole time.  Porches are not always level and you want to have your top lay flat on your box so make sure you make any small adjustments to your supports so that this happens!  This is really simple with a 4 foot level.  It need not be absolutely perfect.  Because my house is brick, I did use a few tapcon screws I had in the shed to attach the 2×4 on the top to the brick but really, I do not think it was going anywhere!

Below the window I left room for my top!

5.  Cut and Attach Sides and Cut Top.  It was dark and raining by the time I did this so I do not have a picture of this step but it is really the simplest.  Now that you have your frame you are just measuring and cutting and screwing.  For the top of the bench, remember that it will need to come over your side trim, so add to the measurement.  My trim was 3/4″ thick so I added 3/4″ inch to the front and 1 1/2″ to the side measurement.  Once the top piece is cut and you make sure it is the right size, figure out how much to cut off the back to make it a lid.  I needed the back of the top to clear the window sill and leave enough room for the lid to rest back on the house so I cut off 4 inches.  This long thin piece is permanently attached to the 2×4’s in the back with many deck screws. 

6.  Attach Trim.  I used 1×4’s for a boxy and simple craftsman look but if you think about all the styles of cabinet trim you see – the sky is the limit.  This particular style works well with many styles as it is clean and simple.  I sued my nail gun for this because it just goes so fast but you could easily use hammer and nails.  Just make sure your nails are long enough to penetrate both your trim and about 1/2″ of your siding.

7.  Attach Top.  First permanently attach the slim longer piece to the back and then fit the larger piece up to it and attach using hinges.  The type and weight of hinge will vary depending on the weight of your top and the material.  I used 3 decorative fence hinges of a fairly heavy weight from Home Depot to make sure my top was secure.  I then put a lock on one side to keep little fingers from lifting the top.

These pictures will show how the sides are attached to the 2×4 and then the trim on top of that!

Raw Bench Open

Side Trim with Open Top

8.  Fill Holes and Paint.  Get out your wood filler, plug those nail holes and paint away!  I chose to make the background match my porch floor and have the lighter color be the khaki from my laundry room.  Free and I knew the color scheme would work.  I still might make the top the dark color – we’ll see!

9.  Put all that stuff away and enjoy your new found organized storage and bench!  We fit all the car wash and dog wash stuff in one bin, all of the play doh and kids helmets in one, frequently used tools etc in one and frequently used front garden tools and bulbs or seeds in one.  Perfect!  When the fall gardening is done I will probably use this bin for winter boots and such.   There are just so many neat possibilities.  Now we can sit on a bench instead of stare at this junk!

10.  If you are a mommy blogger and DIYer – show off your gorgeous little helper with your DIY project!

Sophia Loves her Pink Bin

Sophia Helped Paint the Bench!

I am linking this post up to the fabulous Kimba’s DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land.  This is my favorite link up!  You will find so many fabulous ideas and great DIY bloggers! 

Like this post? Don’t want to miss a Mommy Words Moment? Then subscribe via RSS or by email to get all the latest from this Mom’s mouth! You can also use the social buttons below to add this post to your favorite sites or send it to your friends. Please spread the MOMMY WORDS!

Sophia's Retro Play Kitchen

Monday is DIY day in bloggy land and this might be my proudest achievement to date.  It is certainly the one that has brought the most joy!

My daughter has always loved play kitchens.  She finds hours of fun in making dinners, having tea parties and washing dishes.  I think it is just precious.  Now my son plays too.  My heart melts.

When we go to the mall and “play” at Pottery Barn Kids, we spend at least 30 minutes with the play kitchen (and another 30 with a vanity – next project!) every time.  I think all of their little kitchens are to die for.  Having said that, my husband would actually die if I was ever to purchase one of these kitchen sets.  Currently the cost for a 3 piece kitchen starts at $450 and runs up to a whopping $879!  This does not include a 10% delivery and processing fee!

Here was the look I was going for from Pottery Barn.

PB Retro Kitchen

So, I searched the web, found some wood and decided to build her a large kitchen of her dreams!  I happened to have had an old closet that had tile in it from before we moved the laundry area so she also has a white tile floor and a WORKING SINK!  We love this kitchen and we build it for a total cost of less than $150!  Pretty good wouldn’t you say?

Here is where I started.  I found a set of plans for a wood play kitchen at Lowe’s.com and then modified them to be closer to the retro look I wanted.   The plans were cute and I followed the dimensions but rather than fake on the sink parts and stove knobs I found the real thing for this kitchen.   I also built a drawer for below the stove to store pots and pans!  The shelves in all of the pieces are closet shelving.  The handles were a bit expensive at $20 all together but they were scratched or they would have been a lot more.  I think they really add something cute and retro feeling!  I also installed a little white shelf in the extra space to hold silverware and pantry items.  The paint was a can of red oops! for $5.  It is a little brighter than the perfect red but man is it close!

We have so much fun with this!  I found bins at Target to store dress up and other toys in cute khaki and red above the kitchen so that all the imagination fun mess would be contained in the closet and the kids would need to ask before we play with this!

Here is where I started after I cut my furniture grade plywood found on clearance!

A Long Way to Go

Here is the basic box assembly of the sink.  All of the pieces follow the same simple assembly pattern.  After I did one with hammer and nails I got out the nail gun but it is possible with just a hammer!

The Basic Box

Little Oven

Working Little Sink

Working Plumbing

 The Fridge fits everything!  I love that I can keep all the food in the bins it came in.  It’s easy to clean up and easy to transport to the table for “parties” or cooking school!

Little Fridge

Old Laundry Closet

Little Kitchen in the Closet

Like this post? Don’t want to miss a Mommy Words Moment? Then subscribe via RSS or by email to get all the latest from this Mom’s mouth! You can also use the social buttons below to add this post to your favorite sites or send it to your friends. Please spread the MOMMY WORDS!