My Suburban Kitchen

Delicious Recipes to Keep my Family of Four Happy and Full

Mama’s Got a Brand New Bed

By 14 Comments

Ok, not this mama but still two mamas (mine and Mathlete’s) that are the primary sleepers of the bed we’re chatting about.

I’ve been planning to put up a new headboard in the guest room for awhile now but was very slow getting started.  Just call me Ms. Tortoise.  It wasn’t really a project I felt that I could do in little snippets like many of my other projects so I did what I do best: procrastinated.  Plus, I had to hit at least 3 different stores for my supplies so that required time I just didn’t have.  Enter Mathlete who took one of those stores off my hands freeing up some of my time.  I think the Home Depot guys like him better anyways.

My supply list:
62″ x 24″ Sheet of plywood (we used chip board and had the HD people cut it)
2 x 4 cut into two 3′ pieces
Batting or foam (I did double layer batting)
Fabric of choice
Staple gun + Staples
Drill
Screwdriver
Wood Screws (2″)
Extras (nail heads, cording, etc.)

Let’s get building!
I have been doing most of my projects in our (unfinished) basement and this one was no different.  Down in the lair, I put down a blanket and sheet on the floor to keep my fabric clean.  Then, I layered the fabric, batting and wood as I would be attaching it.

I wrapped the batting around and stapled it.  I did two ends and then the other two sides.  A note here: While I recommend double layer batting if you go that route (it was cheaper than foam in my case), I do not recommend wrapping both layers around.  It really interferes with the leg attachment.  Just my $.02.

I spaced my staples pretty far apart just to get it secured and then went back to add additional staples.  Once I had the batting secure, it was time to do the fabric portion.  My fabric was actually a curtain I picked up at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  It matches the curtains that are already in the room but with a price tag of $24.98!  Subtract my 20% coupon and then my $17 merchandise credit and it was practically free.

I cut a lot of the fabric off but using the clearance curtain even though it was much longer in length than I needed saved me so much money.  Staple, staple, staple.

The corners (as always) were a little tricky but I managed to get them all stapled down so that they looked uniform (from the front at least!).

She’s looking pretty good but needs a little something else.

Enter a little bling…nail head bling that is.

I picked up the nail head trim at Joann’s with my 50% off coupon.  It was so much easier and faster than doing real nail heads.  Just hammer in every 5th nail.

Next up, legs! 

This is where Mathlete came in.  Armed with his tools, we set to attaching the legs.

He pre-drilled holes into each 2 x 4 x 3 where the wood screws would go.

Then, we positioned it on the back of the headboard and screwed it in.  We had pre-measured the distance from the floor to the top of the mattress, how far we wanted it to overlap and the distance between the attachment locations on our existing frame.  Using those measurements, we knew where to attach the legs.

We ran into a little problem because of all the batting (see above re: my batting recs) so I had to unstaple some portions and cut out the layers of batting.  Then, we were able to attach the legs securely.

 I used the extra fabric to cover the legs so they matched and blended well.  Just a few more staples to secure that.
Upstairs we went where the headboard was connected to our existing metal bed frame.  Voila!  New bed for the mamas (and any other guests of course).

Lessons Learned:
1) Pay a little extra and go for the foam.  Then, cut it to the exact measurements of your board so there is no wrap around issue like I had with my batting.
2) If you go cheap like me and go for batting, don’t wrap both layers around.  The layers are great for the front but totally unnecessary for the backside.  Headboards don’t need junk in their trunk.
3) Use 1/2″ staples.  You’ll thank me.
4) Nail head trim kits are you friend!
5) Have extra screws on hand.  We had at least 3 break during our leg attachment.

Budget Breakdown:
Plywood (cut for free): $7.17
2x4x8 (cut for free): $2.47
Wood Screws: $2.30
Batting: $15.67 (1/2 off with coupon)
Fabric: $2.66 ($19.98 – $17.32 merchandise credit)
Nail head trim: $10.04 (1/2 off with coupon)
Total cost: $40.31

This post is partying at the following locations:
Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T., I Made the World Cuter Today at Making the World Cuter, Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple, Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Get Your Craft on Tuesday at Today’s Creative Blog, Tutorial Tuesday at With Hope Studios, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm, Anything Related at All Thingz Related, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts, Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie, Hoo’s Got Talent at Nightowl Crafting, Show & Share at Southern Lovely, Wow Me Wednesday on Ginger Snap Crafts, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs, Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home, Fall in Love with Your Home at Décor to Adore, We’re Organized Wednesday at Organize and Decorate Everything, 100 Ideas Under $100 at Beyond the Picket Fence, Coffee and Conversation Thursday at With a Shot of Brandy, Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple, Hooking up with HoH at House of Hepworths, Doggone Dirty Craftin at Rhinestone Beagle, Look at Me, I’m so Crafty at It’s Fun to Craft, Craft, Scrappy Happy Me Thursday at Craft, Scappy Happy, Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Pity Party at 30 Days, the Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different, Act Normal, and the Before and After Party at Thrifty Décor Chick.

© 2012 Just Us Four.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Seeing Circles

By 23 Comments

This is sort of a mini-house crash since it is only one room!  My words + Junior’s work is what you get today. Enjoy!

Junior has been quite busy over at her house.  Most notably, she has been painting and decorating the half bathroom on her main level (the powder room, if you will…although, I think that is a silly name for it…we don’t even keep powder in there!).

Inspired by pictures seen over at House*Tweaking, she picked up some gray and white paint.  Then, she proceeded to use that bathroom (alot) so she could get an empty toilet paper roll more quickly.

She painted the walls a gray tone that was just slightly darker than the hallway immediately outside.

Then, using the empty toilet paper roll, she created circles the way around the room using the white paint.

She did a total of three rows.

Once the rings were painted, it was fixture time.  An ORB mirror and light switch cover got some white spray paint love

The final product looks amazing!

The towel hooks (one low enough for her kiddo!) were left as is in the nickel.

Striped towels and a little vase for flowers finished off this portion of the makeover!

Rumor has it art is in the works…stay tuned.

Featured at:

This post is partying at the following locations:
Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T., I Made the World Cuter Today at Making the World Cuter, Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple, Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Get Your Craft on Tuesday at Today’s Creative Blog, Tutorial Tuesday at With Hope Studios, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm, Anything Related at All Thingz Related, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts, Tuesday Talent Show at Chef N Training, Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie, Hoo’s Got Talent at Nightowl Crafting, Show & Share at Southern Lovely, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs, Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home, Fall in Love with Your Home at Décor to Adore, We’re Organized Wednesday at Organize and Decorate Everything, 100 Ideas Under $100 at Beyond the Picket Fence, Coffee and Conversation Thursday at With a Shot of Brandy, Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple, Hooking up with HoH at House of Hepworths, Doggone Dirty Craftin at Rhinestone Beagle, Look at Me, I’m so Crafty at It’s Fun to Craft, Craft, Scrappy Happy Me Thursday at Craft, Scappy Happy, Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Pity Party at 30 Days, the Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different, Act Normal, and the Before and After Party at Thrifty Décor Chick.

© 2012 Just Us Four.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Canvas Painting in Just Us Four Style

By 10 Comments

Back during the Pinterest Challenge, I came across a geometric canvas painting that I loved over at Cardigan Junkie

Great, right?  Of course, I immediately pinned it and started thinking of my own canvas art.  Where would I put it?  What color would I use?
I didn’t bother to answer those questions before going out to buy the canvas.

I bought two and put them on the dining room table (my crafting spot at the time).  There they sat for quite some time except for when we needed to move them for large family dinners.  Trying to motivate myself, I picked up some Frog Tape from Home Depot one day.  Yeah, it sat right on top of the canvas.

 While thinking over the potential of a bedroom redo, I decided that our bedroom, redo or not, would be the perfect place to put my geometric art.  So, I taped.  Only I didn’t really measure or mark the canvas in any way.  I just taped…yep, that’s how we roll here.

The geometry wasn’t exactly perfect in my taping but that didn’t really bother me.  After taping them, the canvases sat on the dining room table for awhile because I couldn’t decide where I wanted them to live once they were complete.  With our new bedroom in the works, I decided they would be perfect for above our bed.  So, I went to Home Depot and got a sample of the green color that we plan to use for accents.
First, I painted the entire canvas white though to “seal” the tape down and (hopefully) prevent that annoying bleeding. 

Once that was dry, I painted the canvases the green color I had purchased.

I allowed that to dry for a bit and then went to pull up the tape before it dried completely.  I was hoping to prevent it from pulling up the paint when I removed the tape.  Unfortunately, I pulled it too soon and it caused the paint to bleed just a little bit.

I broke out the small paint brush and some white paint to fix the bleed marks on the canvas.  It was so time consuming but I finally finished it.

I have a second one that is slightly different but it still needs some major touch-up work!

This post is partying at the following locations:
Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T., I Made the World Cuter Today at Making the World Cuter, Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple, Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Get Your Craft on Tuesday at Today’s Creative Blog, Tutorial Tuesday at With Hope Studios, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm, Anything Related at All Thingz Related, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts, Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie, Hoo’s Got Talent at Nightowl Crafting, Show & Share at Southern Lovely, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs, Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home, Fall in Love with Your Home at Décor to Adore, We’re Organized Wednesday at Organize and Decorate Everything, 100 Ideas Under $100 at Beyond the Picket Fence, Coffee and Conversation Thursday at With a Shot of Brandy, Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple, Hooking up with HoH at House of Hepworths, Doggone Dirty Craftin at Rhinestone Beagle, Look at Me, I’m so Crafty at It’s Fun to Craft, Craft, Scrappy Happy Me Thursday at Craft, Scappy Happy, Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Pity Party at 30 Days, the Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different, Act Normal, and the Before and After Party at Thrifty Décor Chick.

© 2012 Just Us Four.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Falling for My Mantle

By 2 Comments

Our house doesn’t present too many challenges (despite my usual complaining to the contrary).  It has a great open floor plan with very few things that really need “fixing”.  I always struggle with decorating our family room mantle though.  It presents so many challenges for me.

Challenge 1: The height.  One of the things I loved/love most about our house is the 2 story family room.  But with the two story family room comes a very tall space to fill above the fireplace.

Challenge 2: The framing.  The builders of our house didn’t choose to put in the gorgeous stone above the fireplace but, instead put up moulding that created frames up to the ceiling.  It kind of puts an end to hanging anything above the mantle.

Those challenges caused me to quake in fear at the thought of decorating my mantle.  Seriously, I would practically break out in hives from the “stress”.  When we first moved in, I shoved some bamboo filler into a plain glass vase and it has lived there ever since.

Exciting, right?  Yeah, not really.  It’s ok…I know.
Inspired by all of the beautiful fall decorations I’ve seen while cruising (and partying) around the web, I decided to take action.  Like a lot of my projects, I didn’t really have a plan in mind but knew I wanted to do something.
I carved out about 30 minutes of shopping time on the way home one day and hit my usual trifecta of places

I pretty much went in and grabbed anything that looked like it might work.  Then, I went home and “shopped” what I already owned too.
Supplies gathered; I started putting random things on the mantle and giving them a 15 minute grace period.  If I still liked it after 15 minutes, it stayed.  If not, it went into the reject pile.

My first attempt didn’t feel like it was tall enough OR filled up the mantle quite like I wanted.  More changes.

I changed and changed and changed until I was satisfied.  I added a taller mirror (already owned) and, even though it isn’t 100% the style I wanted, it fills up the space better.

I also added an additional candle holder and candle thanks to a suggestion by Junior.

I switched out one of the pumpkins for a larger one.

Finally, I was done tweaking (at least for now) and stayed with

And yes, that is the same bamboo that was there before but changed up a little. Oh, and you can see how much of a hurry I was in when trying to get this together (it was a “while dinner cooks project”) because I forgot a tag on one of the pumpkins. Oops!
A few details of some of the items up there for fun:

How is your mantle looking these days? Have a lot of fall decorating happening? My next room to tackle for fall will be the dining room!

Partying at:
The Fall Ya’ll Link Party at The Lettered Cottage

© 2012 Just Us Four.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Scrapping It

By 2 Comments

Did you hear?  We are redecorating our bedroom!  That means new paint, new art and new a lot of other things.  Knowing that Mathlete is indulging me in this because he knows I will try to do it as budget friendly as possible, I’ve been playing around with different things for accents in the room.  The first thing I did was frame some scrapbook paper to make “art”.  Nothing fancy but it would look good on a dresser or bookcase.
I bought some solid blue and printed green scrapbook paper from Michael’s.  Using the frame mat from my Ribba frame, I measured out the paper.  I wanted the blue paper to be the large piece so I used the outer edge of the mat as my guide for cutting.

For the green printed paper, I just cut the paper the inner edges of the frame mat.

I put them both together and into the frame.

A quick and easy decorative item for our new bedroom!  Total cost: $5.32 ($4.99 frame + $.33 scrapbook paper (2 pieces on sale for $.16 each))

Have you done any quick and easy art lately?  Undertaking a major bedroom redo?

© 2012 Just Us Four.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Guest Room Art

By 18 Comments

Awhile back, I was reading one of my favorite blogs and she had done some linen artwork as a ‘look for less’ post.
Her finished product was gorgeous.  I thought that something alongs those lines would be a simple solution for the artwork in our guest room.

Unfortunately, the paper that she was used was sold out.  So, I went on the hunt for other neat paper that I could for the project.  I ended up purchasing two handcut sheets from Etsy.

On one of my recent shopping trips to the fabric store, I picked up some burlap.  I chose it over linen simply because of the price tag.  The burlap was 3.99/yard and the linen was $12.99/yard.

I had Mathlete pick up two Ribba frames from Ikea in the 20 x 20 size since that is what best accomodated my paper. 

Then, I measured and marked the fabric for my frames.

Because the 20×20 frames have a floating mat, I also had to cut that down because I wanted to use its weight to keep my fabric in place.

Once I had everything cut, I used fabric glue and glued my paper down to each piece of fabric. 

I left it there to dry for awhile. I put the fabric into the frames and closed them up.

Now I just need to get Mathlete to hang them in the bedroom (along with about a million other items around the house!) and that room will be almost complete!

This post is partying at the following locations:
Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T., I Made the World Cuter Today at Making the World Cuter, Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple, Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Get Your Craft on Tuesday at Today’s Creative Blog, Tutorial Tuesday at With Hope Studios, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm, Anything Related at All Thingz Related, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts, Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie, Hoo’s Got Talent at Nightowl Crafting, Show & Share at Southern Lovely, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs, Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home, Fall in Love with Your Home at Décor to Adore, We’re Organized Wednesday at Organize and Decorate Everything, 100 Ideas Under $100 at Beyond the Picket Fence, Coffee and Conversation Thursday at With a Shot of Brandy, Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple, Hooking up with HoH at House of Hepworths, Doggone Dirty Craftin at Rhinestone Beagle, Look at Me, I’m so Crafty at It’s Fun to Craft, Craft, Scrappy Happy Me Thursday at Craft, Scappy Happy, Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Pity Party at 30 Days, the Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tatertots and Jello, The Exodus Creativity Party at Let Birds Fly, Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different, Act Normal, and the Before and After Party at Thrifty Décor Chick.

© 2012 Just Us Four.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

A new place to sleep

By 1 Comment

My husband loves me.  I mean really really loves me.  How do I know this?  He indulges my whims (on most occasions) and barely flinches when I say the words: Completely redo the master bedroom and bathroom.  Now, to be honest, I said barely flinches because there was some brief complaining on his part.  But then, he agreed and even went so far as to return the 1000 fabric swatches I had borrowed from Joann’s on his way home one afternoon.
Let’s go back though so you might see why I want to repaint two rooms that we just painted about 1.5 years ago.  When we moved into our house, I planned to paint every room.  I prefer to have the house painted when I move in.  There are pros and cons to that plan but it does save a TON of furniture moving.  I got stuck when it came to our bedroom/bathroom.  My solution: just paint it what it was in our old house.  All our stuff matched and we liked the colors.  So, up went the paint.
Long ago, we started bed shopping and finally settled on the Sumatra Bed from PB even though it didn’t really solve our window problem.

 Mathlete prefers to have the box spring too so that pretty much ruled out any of the lower, platform style beds that I was considering.
While wasting time on Pinterest (looking for beds!), I saw some pictures that immediately grabbed my attention.  Navy bedrooms with green, yellow and white accents.  I.fell.in.love!

[Lavender and Lilies]
[M.D.Esquare]

I had already scored a duvet set similar to this one from Home Goods so I had the white bedding!

[Pottery Barn]

Then, I scooped up the pleated pillow in navy from West Elm figuring if we changed our minds, I could always move it to the guest room or resell it.  Sadly, they were out of the other colors when I purchased.

Then, it came time to really think about paint and other details in the room.  The concept of a navy bedroom with some coordinating color bathroom was great but I needed to find the colors I was seeing in my head.  Knowing I would be overwhelmed by starting at the paint aisle, I started in the fabric store!  Then, I took my fabric samples to the paint store to search for colors.
Right now, we are still in the planning phase but here is what we have finalized so far:

The curtains are going to the fabric on the left – PKaufman Linked/Circa Dawn

[Joann Fabric]

The bedroom walls are going to Glidden Rich Navy

[Glidden]

We are still debating the bathroom walls.  Mathlete would prefer we do the green color found in the drapes (shown above) but I was leaning towards a softer white tone.
Another topic of discussion are the drapes in the bathroom.  At one point, we thought we would have all of the window coverings in both rooms the same.  But, I am leaning towards having them different but coordinating.  The fabric up for consideration is Waverly Lovely Lattice (this picture reads much more teal than the fabric does in person!)

[Joann Fabric]

So there you have our bedroom update as it currently stands.  I ordered the fabric during the 50% sale and am excited to get started (once my seamstress Mom2 gets back in town!).

Are you planning any major room redos?  Have any tips on redecorating a room while you are simultaneously trying to live in it?

© 2012 Just Us Four.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Reading Swedish

By Leave a Comment

Do you speak Swedish?  Are you good at pictionary?  These two questions should be part of the quiz given at Ikea to anyone checking out with furniture in their cart.  You remember my Ikea shopping trip, right?  As I mentioned then, I bought a few things there that weren’t pictured. 
The playroom is still in desperate need of organization help.  One of the biggest issues we face is princess attire.  Have a young daughter?  You can relate!  The princess dress-up stuff gets everywhere.  In steps Stuva to try and help us with that problem.
I had seen the Stuva system in the store and thought it was a pretty good fit for the dress-up clothes.  It would be low enough for the kids to easily reach but big enough to contain most of the stuff.  Not being 100% sure how I wanted to configure all of the stuff, I picked up one of the taller bases and a clothing rail with plans to expand later.
After bringing it home, it sat there for a little while until I could get my confidence up to tackle the project.  Disclaimer:  I am not so great at reading picture directions and actually getting things together right the first time.  I usually ask Mathlete to come and rescue me.  This time, though, Mathlete wasn’t home…and wouldn’t be for 3 days! 
Step 1 – Open package.  Not much of a boost for my confidence because I couldn’t even complete step 1 without an injury broken nail.  I resorted to just ripping the cardboard.

Oh, I had help (of course)

Once we got the box open and the instructions out, I grabbed the tools I needed.

Next step: Read directions.  Wait, there are no words in here…none.at.all!  Oy vey.

Moving on.  Looks like I am supposed to put in these very interesting screws.

Success!  Oh, but I lost my helper to the shredding of the styrofoam sheets all over the floor.  She was building a bridge.

Ok, with the screws all in, I gained a little confidence.  Next up, putting the piece together.

Jackpot!  Well, until I had to work with these guys

I managed to get all but one of the eight needed for the cabinet.  Then, I was stuck.  Out came the phone and over came my neighbor, Rockboy.  He didn’t have much faith in my skills either because he brought a drill and other tools thinking he was going to assemble the whole thing.  Note to self: be more descriptive when begging for help.
He made quick work of getting the final weird screw thing into the cabinet and we moved it into place.

Seeing it all put together in the space, we will add one or two of the drawers (and some doors once they are in stock again) at the bottom for shoes and jewelry.  Now that I am all confident in my assembly skills, I think I’ll get another for the other side of the bookcase too and fill it with drawers.
Oh, and please note that this is definitely not even 1/2 of the dress-up stuff that goes in the cabinet.  I kept it lean for the pictures.

© 2012 Just Us Four.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Genius!

By Leave a Comment

I have a space in my kitchen that I am thinking of filling.  It wasn’t an empty space until recently but now, without a little mat and set of bowls there, it feels so empty.  Emptiness serves as a constant reminder of our recent loss.  Weird how something like open space can be such a strong reminder, huh?  We’ve got a lot of those open spaces now and so I am considering filling one of them with a cabinet to hold things like extra serving dishes and glasses.
Knowing that it is a fixture that will, one day when we are ready, be relegated to the basement or other room to make room for new bowls and such, I don’t want to spend a lot of money on it.  It will be very visible in the kitchen, though, so I want it to look good.  Sadly, those things rarely go together when you are dealing in furniture.
Thankfully, two geniuses were born by the name of Cheryle Rhuda and Danika Herrick, the creators of O’verlays.  O’verlays are little additions you can easily add to your furniture to fashion it up a little.  They were designed specifically for a lot of Ikea pieces but they offer custom cutting too.

Thankfully, I’m looking at an a few different Ikea pieces anyways:

I’m also thinking they might be part of the solution to my two little kitchen windows that desperately need something to keep me from going blind in the morning.

© 2012 Just Us Four.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

A million little projects

By Leave a Comment

I am sure it seems like I haven’t been doing much around our house…or much at all given the posts you’ve been seeing recently.
In reality, my time has been spent preparing for the birthday parties that are being held during back to back weekends.  Having more than one kid?  Here’s a tip…do your best to have them in different months!  You can thank me later.
First up was Baby E’s party.  After seeing some photos over at Blow Out Party, my theme was set.  Because I was short on time (preparing two parties + working + other commitments), I contacted Mae Armstrong to purchase the templates she used.  A quick google checkout later and I was ready to print!
Then came the painstakingly tedious part…cutting out all of the little elephants and other signs! (Note to self: for future parties or labels, use circles, squares or rectangles…paper cutters and punches are your friends!)
The larger ones were attached to the favors with the little adhesive dots.
Or, two extra slices with the exacto to attach them to the straws.

I printed the smaller ones onto adhesive paper. Then, once I had them all cut out, I attached them to the plain, white flatware wraps.

I had grand plans to make an iron-on #1 for his t-shirt using the elephant fabric I purchased.  I just plain ran out of time.  So, instead, I used some fabric glue and made a quick runner (of sorts) for the party table.

I did find time to make a cake pop stand for his party though since we were doing cake pops from DC Cake Pops instead of traditional cake/cupcakes for our family and friends. A little bit of tissue paper + Styrofoam + lots of double sided tape = cake pop stand!

When I wasn’t working on E’s party, I was spending time on H’s upcoming party.  She requested a Princess Sparkle Pool Party and, especially since she had to wait patiently through her brother’s birthday festivities, I wanted to make it extra special for her.

First up was the marshmallow “garden” which is really just tissue paper and ribbon covered Styrofoam (much like E’s cake pop stand).
I purchased labels from The Celebration Shoppe (where we also bought her invitations) and printed them out.
Since it is a pool party, we have sunglasses for the kids plus rings for the princess/sparkle part of the shin-dig.
I will be wrapping the flatware in these cute little paper wraps.
Birthday parties aren’t all that is going on in the house right now.  I’ve managed to slip in a few very minor non-birthday related projects.
I usually keep a pad of paper on the side of our refrigerator to make it easy to make notes, write a list, etc.  It is in close proximity to the pen cup on our peninsula so it works great.  The problem: a certain 4 year old LOVES to pull off the sheets of paper because they are sticky on the back (post-it note pad).  She doesn’t seem as enamored with regular paper so I picked up three pads of paper on the clearance aisle at Target and some magnetic strips. I cut the magnetic strips and stuck them to the back of the pads…instant magnetic NON-sticky pads.
I also rearranged our magnetic dry erase board on the front of the fridge.  It was a jumbled mess so I sectioned off the top into our three most often needed place to buy things: Costco, Target and the grocery store.  Then, in the bottom section, I added these cute ‘days of the week’ magnets so I can write the menu next to it for each day.

As you can see, I strayed from my WTCW menu this week out of desperation!

I also (finally!) unpacked the pillows I had purchased forever ago from One Kings Lane. We have a drooling problem when a certain person naps in our house so these get put away in a special place when I suspect it’s going to be naptime.

And over in the “it’s about time” category, we finally hung the pictures in our foyer!

© 2012 Just Us Four.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.