Robot Bedroom Makeover

I am so excited about sharing this, because I love the way it turned out! When we moved into our new house, I just brought all the baby stuff (cars and trucks) from his old room with, and hung it in his new room. I got sick of that, and knew it was time for a change. I wanted to pick a theme that would hopefully grow with him.

My awesome girlfriend Kristen painted with me, and did most of the ceiling. Thanks Kristen!

I decided to do C's room in retro robot and spaceship theme. I printed this pic off google images, and went from there...

I picked out the letters at The Wood Connection, and designed the robot and spaceship myself. Lucky for me, my cute neighbor friend works there, and let me do it right on the spot instead of waiting for 2 weeks. We all know how I like to wait for things!!! My friend thought the robot was so cute, that she wanted to start selling them. I haven't been back in to check though :) The shelf is from Robert's Crafts.

His solar system light rotates and lights up. He also has a cd to go with it that talks about the solar system. He loves to listen to it before he goes to bed every night. I got the pictures from Land of Nod, and had them framed locally. I also got the cute robot sheets from Land of Nod.

I made this headboard, and have a pic on the bottom of how it looked before it was finished. It cost a whole $22!!! I am so proud of myself! It was super easy, and Home Depot cut out all the wood. The side tables and lamp are from IKEA.

My super generous and fabulous neighbor cut out the metal for these cute wall decorations. He let me pick whatever design I wanted, and he cut them out. You can find him here if you are interested. I backed the robots with left over glitter paper from the wood letters, and the rocket is two pieces of sheet metal that we gorilla glued together after painting. I just LOVE them! Thanks BJ!

This is the bed before I painted it all the way. If you want the plans, please leave a comment with an e-mail address, and I will send you the measurements.

I am linking to:

Poppies At Play, Parade of Homes Linky Party

This link was just spotlighted on Tatertots and Jello after the Weekend Wrap Party! I feel so honored :) Tatertots and jello is one of my very favorite blogs! Thanks again :)



I love hearing from you, so please leave a comment :)

Laundry Room Remodel, Part 1

I am so excited about making my laundry room look just the way I want it to look. I have a grand plan in mind, and can't wait to see it completed. So, here goes:

Meet My Laundry Room

When we built our home, we did construction grade with many things, as I wanted something a little more custom than the builder was providing at the time, and I also didn't want to pay the builder mark-up on things. And, I really feel like I like to be in a home for a while to get the feel for how I want it to look.

So, this is how our laundry room came, with just a big long shelf that ran from wall to wall. It was very functional, but not very cute.

I, with the help of a neighbor, cut our old kitchen table down, reattatched the legs and casing to a counter top we bought from Home Depot. It worked for a while, but I am ready for something more!

Do you see the color of paint I want to use that is on the wall in the picture above?


Here's the tear out...

It already feels more open!


My bff DL gave me this fabulous hutch! I LOVE it. I think it was made for this space. It fit within one inch! Perfect! Thanks DL! You're the best!

I don't have it decorated all the way yet, I just grabbed a few things that were floating around my house. I have to fix the one door, and get a glass panel put in the other, but other than that, it is perfect!

I have big plans for the rest of the room, including a custom piece I am having made by a local cabinet company. I thought about building it myself, but I want it to look really nice, and am not that confident in my building abilities yet.

I will be posting more pics in the future.

I am linking up to:

Best DIY Projects of April, at Beneath My Heart.

and

Cookie Dough Brownies and Linky Party!

Yesterday, I stumbled across this recipe for Cookie Dough Brownies, after being off sugar for 1 1/2 weeks, I wanted to make an extra special treat, and these were it!

I found a link to these brownies on The Stories of A to Z
Let me just say... my husband thought they were so good, that as he was eating them last night, he asked if I can make them again tomorrow. I just thought I would share.

Do you have any extra special treat recipes that you love?

Please share...

Here is how it works:

1) Enter your blog post below.

2) Visit at least 2 other blogs on the list, and leave heartfelt comments about their posts.

3) Mention you are linking to Restless Risa

4) Have fun trying new recipes!

Cinco De Mayo

Are you thinking about Cinco De Mayo yet? Well, you should... it's one week from today! It is a great excuse to have a few friends over for a Mexican themed dinner!!!

I thought about it this morning, and remembered a lunch I decorated for in 2007 for my brother-in-law and his cute wife.

Let me just say, I did this before I took pictures of every step of the process, and I didn't even have a good camera. But it was cute, so I thought I would share anyway.

My awesome mom and I made all the Mexican paper flowers. It took forever, but it was fun to do, and turned out so cute! I will post a tutorial for how to make them this week. It was super inexpensive, and they are so fun to look at!!!

We used all paper goods in bright colors - so fun!

Every good Mexican themed party has a pinata! I filled it with authentic Mexican candy from the Mexican market.

The kids loved it!

This was not for Cinco de Mayo, but definitely could have been!

Table Top Tuesday - Paper Placemats

I set this table a while a go for a church function, and thought I would post it for Table Top Tuesday's, on a Stroll Thru Life.

The theme I was given was Spring. I wanted to do something a little unexpected. I didn't want to spend the money on place mats, but wanted to add a punch of color. So, I used 12x12 scrapbook paper. It is very inexpensive, and adds so much interest!

I also made coasters out of coordinating and contrasting paper.

I sometimes like to set a note at each person's place when I host a special dinner. I didn't know who was going to sit at this table, so I just put out cards.

I used my mom's dishes and goblets. The napkins are mine. I thought it turned out fun. The best part... I was able to use the paper later for a different project!

Easy Baby Bib Tutorial

This bib was super easy, and took about 1/2 hr to make - start to finish, and I didn't even have a pattern.

Supply list:

1/4 yard fabric for the front.
1/4 yard fabric for the back, and the letter.
(You will have so much fabric left over, that you may be able to make about 5 more bibs if you choose to do that.)
Rick rack and ribbon in your choice of length and color.
( only used about 7 inches of each)
Extra wide double fold bias tape.

Cut out bib using pattern provided at the end of this post.

Lay ribbon and letter where you want it, and cut ribbon to size.

Pin on ribbon , letter, and top section of bias tape.

Sew on ribbon, and top stitch letter.

Zigzag over letter with a tight stitch. Be sure to leave the needle in, and turn the bib to get the proper angles for the letter when you zigzag.

Add any additional ribbon you way want... Like I did below...
Sew the bias tape on the top.

Pin bias tape around the entire outside of bib, leaving enough for a cute tie on the top/back.

Sew bias tape in place trying to get as close to the edge as you can without going off.

Turn the top edges of the bias tape under, so you have a finished edge, and stitch to finish.

I know this pattern is funny. I just traced what I cut out. You are welcome to use it, or make your own.

Enjoy! :)

Future Plans

I am itching to build something, and also looking for an outdoor table. It gives me a stomach ache to think about dropping $600 for a nice table and chair set. I found this table, and I think Wayne is on board to build it. We are thinking about building a 4X4 square. Like the pic above. The plans can be found here. They listed the price at $16.52. We are thinking we may stain it, and use a little nicer wood. So, it might cost a bit more. If we get adventurous... we may even build chairs! I will update our progress.

Table redo

I have postponed posting for a while, because I lost the memory card where the {before photos} for this post are stored. I don't know how I lost it, but I just decided to post anyway, so you will have to use your imagination. If I happen to find the card in the future, I will add the photos to the post :)

I have been looking for a table at DI for a while, that had good bones, and I found this one last week. It was $10, and very sturdy. It looked like a honey maple, with some minor wear and tear, that I found added to it's personality. I knew I wanted to glaze it, so I was happy for a few minor scratches and dings.

Anyhow... I spray painted it this blue called {blue slate} by Rustoleum. I have to just say... I LOVE the Ultra Cover 2X. I never have to do two coats, and it goes so far!

So, imagine that I have a picture of the table in natural wood here:

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Imagine I have a picture of the table after being spray painted, but before glaze here:

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You have such a good imagination! :)

Here are the after shots. I think it is just what the room needed!