Recreating a $500 Wooden Sculpture

Pinterest. Ugh. Not only does it make my mind race with a million ideas, it was the source where Marlene found a wooden sculpture she fell in love with. A $500 wooden sculpture. Seriously.

Pink Door Decor

So for her birthday a few weeks ago...I (as in not really me, but Marlene) decided that I could recreate this and make it for her for much less. I can't complain...it's wonderful to have friends that believe in you more than you believe in yourself.

Mr. T bought a jigsaw for me for Christmas that was still in the box, so this was the perfect opportunity to break it in. After putting the blade in backwards, I did more than break it in, I almost broke it and cut my finger off when I made my first cut. It didn't take long and after a few cuts I was ready to go. I made a 12" pattern to use for each "petal" and used a cabinet grade 3/4 inch plywood.

After cutting and sanding with an 80 grit followed by a 220 grit, I used MinWax Weathered Oak to stain the petals.

I cut the base from a two inch thick piece of old wood, sanded it down, and stained it with Special Walnut followed with a second coat of Ebony.

The petals were put together with wood glue and held in place overnight with clamps...no nails or screws, which makes this two sided...yay! I cut a wooden dowel rod to hold it in place and used my wonderful Porter Cable Forstner Drill Bit Set to drill all the holes for the dowels. If you don't have this set, get it...it rocks my socks! After everything was dried and drilled it was ready to put together...

And again the $500 original...

And my $11 creation...

Happy Birthday Marlene!!!



Rachel :)

DIY Cake Pop Stand

It's been a few months...but what can I say...spring means baseball, ballet, school plays, and lots and lots of fun stuff to do! I'm still working on a few DIY projects, and today I have a quick, fun project to bring you. A few months ago, a friend asked me to help her with a birthday party she was giving. A grownup, "non-cheesy" birthday party. She wanted a dessert table set up with a stand large enough to hold a variety of cake pops (yummmmm) and miniature cones filled with mousse...

I took two unfinished, different sized bar stool seats...a large one for the bottom, a smaller one for the top and measured where I wanted the holes. The drilled size of the holes for the cake pops turned out to be perfect...easy to get them in and out, yet small enough to hold them up straight. Make sure to not drill these holes all the way through. That way you can pick up the stand without them falling though. I marked an extra pop stick with a line on how deep I wanted them to sit and used it as a guide when drilling the holes. This ensured they would all sit at the same height.

The miniature cones on top needed large holes that went through the wood. I used a drill bit from a Porter Cable Forstner Bit Set (best purchase ever) to drill these holes. When I was done drilling, everything was sanded, primed, and put together using a large candle pillar from Hobby Lobby (it was bright green in its former life). The finished product was sprayed in Antique White (one of my favorite colors) and distressed using Special Walnut stain.

When the cake pops arrived from the bakery (carrot cake in white chocolate and red velvet in chocolate), I trimmed an inched off the sticks of the white ones to create two tiers on the bottom stand. The miniature cones were filled with a variety of mousses (after I snapped this picture) and the dessert table was complete!

Yummy!!!

Rachel :)

sorry for the complete lack of pictures...i seem to be on the fly recently, only snapping pictures with my cell phone. email me with any questions!

The Perfect Gift for that Special Someone

I need to back up a few weeks. While everyone is excited and talking about Valentines Day, I'm still stuck on Christmas. Specifically, the gift I gave Mr. T this year...I called it the "Bucket of Fun" and it is what the name says...a bucket filled with fun things for us to do! After 16 years, two kids, a mortgage, a dog, work and everything else, it can be hard to carve time out of the day week month for each other. Mr. T loves to go out...dinner, movies, anything! It's not that easy to coordinate his call schedule with baseball, dance, school activities, and life. By putting this together, dates are planned and paid for...all we have to do is schedule the babysitter.

Here's the breakdown of what was in the bucket:

The Bucket...a refillable movie theatre popcorn bucket. We can take it to the movies and have it filled for $3.50 every time we go.

Movie Tickets...a booklet of $25 in coupons that are good for movie tickets and snacks. This should give us two movie dates.

Bowling Gift Card...I know its hokey, but we like to go bowling. This gift card will pay for our shoes and four games.

Dinner Gift Cards times Two...I included two gift cards to two different restaurants. We can add this with something else or just go out for a nice dinner.

Theatre Tickets I...I am excited about this. It is one of two things that had a specific date. Next weekend we get to see Frost/Nixon. He made sure to ask for the weekend off and the babysitter is already lined up...yay!

Theatre Tickets II...I'm even more excited about this date. In March we have tickets to see Damn Yankees. Friends of ours have tickets for the same night, so it will be a fun double date!

Zip lining...You read that right...Mr. T's favorite thing to do! While he is super excited, my palms are already sweaty!! I bought these from Groupon in the fall and they don't expire until the end of April. A few friends purchased them as well, so it will be a scary but fun group date.

Mr. T was thrilled with this! It was all about him and what he likes to do. When it comes to gifts there is always something we want or need for the house and let's face it, while 7 pallets of sod for your anniversary or new wiring in the living room for Christmas are great...this year it was about him. With a birthday in May, the bucket might need to be refilled then. Something tells me I might have started a new tradition!

Fill a bucket and give it to your loved one...

Rachel :)

Say Cheese!

Photobooths are all the rage and these days you can find them everywhere from weddings and class reunions to formal and casual events...even backyard birthday parties. They come in all shapes, sizes, and price ranges. Working on a budget we decided to have a DIY photobooth. I was lucky enough to have an old white shower curtain we were not using. I started by taking a wooden dowel and weaved it through the grommets. I then tied string to the ends of the dowel rod and hung the "backdrop" on the side of our carport using finishing nails.  I cut out stars from a cardboard box, gave them a coat of spray paint and glitter, and our photobooth was born. Mr. T set up a tripod with an old digital camera zoomed in perfectly so the girls could take their own pictures. Beside the photobooth we set up a container with dress up items and other accessories to make the picture taking a little more fun...

It was a HIT! Give a group of 8 year old girls a camera and some props and they will keep you laughing all night!

Rachel :)

Movie Night

Smurfettes 8th birthday was last week and we had a great time celebrating Friday night with a High School Musical movie night. We woke up Friday morning to sunny skies which turned dark and rainy by 4pm...ugh! We braved the elements, and by 7pm (party time) the rain cleared and the girls had a GREAT times. Here are a few shots...

DIY Tissue Paper Pom-Poms and Dollar Tree Lanterns

Burlap table cover, wrapping paper runner, and DIY cake stands



Make your own Popcorn Cupcakes



outdoor movie provided by FunFlicks



DIY Outdoor Chalkboard

Smurfette's PlayHouse...a great Craigslist find

popcorn kernels + mason jars = Party Favors

I love having the Smurfs birthday parties at home with lots of fun activities to do. The girls watched a great movie and had tons of fun with chalk, bubbles, and playing in the backyard. Tomorrow I'll fill you in on one of the best parts of the party...

Rachel :)

Woohoohoo!

Happy Happy Birthday to the

BEST friend a girl could ask for!!!

There is no one else I'd rather talk to

eighteen times a day!

i L.O.V.E.you!



so it's a really old picture...we are still 29...again... :)



Rachel :)
due to this national holiday, my super great
before and after will be on hold until next week

35.09

I read a very scary article a few weeks ago that said for women, the aging process accelerates at age 35.09-that's 35 and 33 days.  Since I will be hitting the big 3-5 in April, I was understandably shaken.  I've told J that I will be getting botox BEFORE my birthday in order to be proactive.  I have followed an anti-aging beauty regimen since I was 25.  I used to be a beauty junkie-I would try ANYTHING that was the newest on the market and then ditch it after a week with no visible effects.  I bet that I spent thousands of dollars trying to find the perfect storm of products.  The way I found my perfect storm is kind of funny.  The private jeweler who J purchased my engagement ring from put a gift certificate to Seraphim Skin Care in the bag with the ring.  When we got engaged I couldn't wait to use that sucker.  I ended up meeting my Astro Twin, Lil Cobbs, who is the owner, and finding the Fountain of Youth!  Lil and I say we are Astro Twins because we share the same birthdate, just 22 years apart. 

I wouldn't even bother writing this blog if I looked like her!

In the nearly 10 years I've known Lil, her tiny little shop has grown by leaps and bounds.  She has her own brand of products that you can buy on her website or at many dermatologist's and plastic surgeon's offices across the country.  She's not paying me for the blog, I promise.  I just really believe in her products because I've seen the dramatic change in my skin...over a decade! 

Without further ado (and more off topic jabber) I present the Perfect Anti-Aging Regimen for My Particular Skin.  Hey, it may work for you, too!

St. Ives Green Tea Cleanser

     I've been using this for about a year.  It's $5.00 and you can get it at Bed
     Bath, and Beyond. I don't know about you, but I get a 20% off coupon in
     the mail from them at least once a week!

Peel and Bleach-Seraphim Skin Care

This is the product that I get from Lil.  It's a combination of Retin-A and hydroquinone, which gets rid of hyperpigmentation (a.k.a yucky dark spots on your face).  I've used it for almost 10 years now.

Hydrating Cream Concentrate

Again, from Lil.  I've used this for nearly a decade, too.  I've tried to find something cheaper that I like as much but truly, nothing compares.  I can't explain how wonderful it feels on my face.

Lancome Eye Cream

I can't claim to have been using this very long-it's only been 10 days.  I do know one thing, though...no matter what I eat, I don't wake up with puffy eyes!  I am positive it's this cream because 11 days ago I was puffy!  I will update you when I run out, but all in all, I think Lancome makes a pretty quality product across the board.


And last, but certainly not least!

                                                                           Aquaphor!!!!

I use this on everything from my toddler's heiney to my lips.  I do buy separate tubes, though. 

There you have it. That's the base of what it takes to be me everyday (along with a small glass of Trader Joe's chardonnay!)

xoxo

Marlene

Happy Birthchrismakkah!

December can get a little crazy around here. Brainy Smurf turned 9 on the 18th. We celebrated by having a spend the night party for him and his 9 best friends. It was exhaustingly fun and everyone survived! Because of weeks of partying for Birthday/Christmas/Hanukkah the gift giving gets out of control! There wasn't much I could do when Smurfette told me she wanted to get Brainy Smurf this for his birthday:

That's right...it's a Dairy Queen Blizzard Maker...what every kid wants! I would normally say, "NO!" but Smurfette talked about it for weeks before Brainy's birthday and she was so excited about giving it to him. Mr. T and I looked it up, researched it a little bit, and went out to find a Blizzard Maker for Brainy. I must be honest, I was dreading this gift. Smurfette had super high expectations and the reviews were terrible. Many of them stated that it made slush, had to be churned for 30 or more minutes (directions say 10), and was pretty much just cr@p. Oh well!

The birthday came and Smurfette was over the top excited! Brainy Smurf didn't seem that pleased. Looking back I should have realized that perhaps the little sister wanted it more for herself than her big brother! So, after dinner on Saturday night we set it up to make a few Oreo Blizzards...turns out, this little toy can churn up some pretty good vanilla ice cream in a few minutes. Each kids churned for 5 minutes and after 10, we had about 4 oz of vanilla ice cream to mix some Oreos in! I know 4 oz isn't a whopping amount, but it was just enough to satisfy these two kiddos and give them a little something sweet before bedtime.

Rachel :)