Where.... are you?

Hello long lost friends!

Well.... maybe I'm the long lost friend.  We have been house shopping, buying, and then fixing-up since May.  Crazy times around our house.  Love it.

Let me just share a few little quick pictures of some house things.  No time for major share tonight.  :)

Did you know that you can paint tub tile in your bathroom?  I found out earlier this summer and made that a project of mine to fix in our new house.  This was awesome, labor intensive, major pain, totally worth it for the end result. :)  We started out with the "1970's gold/yellow" tile in the front bathroom.  Ugh! Seeing as how I wasn't even around for the first time of this wonderful hideous color, I wasn't a fan.  So a trip to the hardware store for a can of Tub and Tile Refinishing Paint was in order.  It wasn't that hard; but took all of an afternoon, and some wicked fumes later we have pretty and crisp white tub tile..  Take a look!

Before... 1970's golden tile...

Partway around the tub-first coat of paint

Finished!  Nearly 3 coats of paint in most places

Just so you can compare- in all it's new crisp, clean glory :)

That's what we've been up to around here.  I"ll try and check back more with updates about how we've made updates and improvements.  It's a work in progress.  We've been moved in about a week and a half, and I already have curtains up (we installed faux wood blinds the night before we moved in)!  Yeah me <3

Birthday Cake

So, I decided that I was going to make myself this amazing pink ruffle cake for my birthday a while back.  I decided that it was awesome and I wanted to create my own birthday cake awesomeness.  

Now, I do not have any cake decorating background or any training.  Just a crazy idea to try my hand at decorating.  I had fun... and so did my little one- swiping the icing!!

I first saw the idea from this blog via Pinterest.  I love the way hers looks!

I found this great tutorial video that shows you how to make your own ruffles.  Get your decorating bag and flat decorator tip. ;)

So, without further adieu, here are pictures of my cake.... in all it's glory... or whatever. :)

Remember, don't mind the swipe marks- my little one must have thought the cake was amazing.  The little one wouldn't leave it alone. 

This is how it started.  A four layer strawberry cake.  I started with a foundation layer-dirty iced.

Here's where I have half the side done.  Hiding a few swipe marks on the far left :)

All done!

A view from the top

So, a whole afternoon devoted to this cake, two batches of strawberry cake, and two and a half batches of pink buttercream frosting... we have a ruffle cake!

Warning: It did taste much more "awesome" than it looked.

Wreath

Here's an update to this original post.  I had made a wreath for my sister's wedding shower, and I didn't have a picture.  Well... now I do!

Thanks, sis!

Here's the lovely wreath:

Have a great day!

Mystery Craft Revealed

Drum Roll Please.......

Here is the big reveal on the Mystery project I showed a sneak peak of the other day.

I made thread/bobbin holders.  I needed a place to hold my thread and wanted the bobbins to be able to fit on top so that I wouldn't lose them or mix them up.

Here are a few beginning pictures from the other day.  I started out measuring and marking my wood and making marks where I was going to drill my holes.  See my previous post for those pictures.

I then sanded down my 1/4 in dowel rods.  I had my hubby cut them at 4 inches in length.

I also had some ducks come and hang out on the back porch.  So make sure you have an audience if you are going to sand the dowel rods.  I sanded down the rough edges and rounded the ends that were going to be out holding the thread.

I then drilled the holes at 1/4 inch.

Here are the two boards that I made.  The one on the right has been sanded.  See?

I then gave them two coats of paint.  (I painted the back too).
I used ACE Hardware brand paint: Clark + Kensington.  I used the color cannon ball black.  I also got this paint for free one of the days they had the free paint Saturday.  :)

 

After the paint dried (I hate to watch paint dry!!) I the placed my dowel rods into the holes.  I drilled the holes at a bit of an angle so that when I hag it on the wall, my thread/bobbins won't slide off. I used a little bit of wood glue to help hold the dowels in place.  I also had the world's cutest helper.  He wanted to put the "sticks" into the holes.

"Helping" mommy

Here's a quick view again of the finished thread holder.  I glued some black ribbon to the back and added a cute pink bow to give it some color. 

Here's the cost run-down.
Wood... free
Tools...on hand
Dowels...$4
Glue...on hand
Paint... free (yeah, ACE hardware)
ribbon... on hand

So, this whole project cost my just $4, the cost of dowel rods.  I don't just have random dowel rods on hand.  Lots of other things... just not dowel rods.

Happy Crafting! :)