How much would you pay for

• 18 used T-Shirts (to make a rag rug for the play house)
• 4 vintage pillow cases (for a patchwork quilt)
• 1 brand new set of designer cloth napkins (to make some cute aprons)
• 1 vintage set of lace curtains (I’m thinking dresses for the little girls)
• 1 used book (just because)
• 1 brand new Battleship game still in the cellophane wrap (because Hailey begged for it)

I went to two different Goodwill stores in town looking specifically for t-shirts and sheets or pillowcases and I came home with all of the above for only $35 and some change. Best deal ever! Time to get crafting…just as soon as I finish washing it all.

Sweet Shop playhouse

Several months ago, I saw a pattern for sale for a card table playhouse that looked like a bakeshop. I knew a card table sized playhouse would be nowhere big enough to fit my youngest girls and I also knew that I could easily do it without a pattern. I bought the fabric back in September and started working on it by October. I finally finished the day before Christmas Eve. It is 54 inches tall and 58 inches long on each side.

The front of the shop (the open sign can be turned around to say “closed”)My favorite part is the little birdie in the window.

One side has ice removable ice cream cones that are attached with Velcro.

The other side has cupcakes attached the same way.

I also made them matching chefs hats, oven mitts, and aprons.

They tell me it is the best Christmas present ever and have spent every ounce of free time playing bake shop. They have already come up with menus, order tickets, and have even thrown a grand opening party, which you had to “pay real money to get into, unless you have a coupon.” Luckily they were kind enough to give me and their dad a coupon to get in so we didn’t have to fork out the cash.

 

I’m linking up at:

Tatertots&Jello

I heart Nap Time

Christmas Card Wall

I have had a big empty wall in my living room ever since we moved in and I decided that I would fill it, at least for the Holidays, with some Christmas cards. Either the wall is way too big or I don’t have nearly enough friends (at least ones who send cards) to fill the whole thing with cards alone so I found a few ideas online, combined them with my own and came up with my Christmas card wall. I still want to get a star to put up above it all, but who knows if I will ever get around to it so here it is, for now.

For the big sign in the middle, I cut the letters out of vinyl and put them on a canvas. I spray painted red over the entire canvas, waited for it to dry, and peeled off the vinyl.

For either side of the canvas, I printed off some old looking Christmas music and mounted it to foam boards that I had wrapped with festive scrapbook paper. I punched a couple of holes in the top of each board, threaded ribbon through them, and tied the ends of the ribbon.

Once the canvas and the songs were hung, I strung some twine in the shape of a manger around it all. Finally, I attached my Christmas cards to the twine. I can’t wait to watch it fill up as we get closer to Christmas.

I linked up:

Mary Poppins Cake

My twins wanted a Mary Poppins cake for their birthday. We didn’t have a party, but we just finished reading the book by P.L. Travers before their big day and they are all excited about watching the movie this weekend. I think they will be shocked at how different the movie is from the book. I have seen the movie, which I LOVE, many times but after reading the book, I was annoyed at how different the two are. I know movies are always at least a little different from the books, but I found the differences here extreme. The book had lots of fun adventures that never made it into the movie. In the book, Jane and Michael also have younger siblings who are twins, which my twins thought was pretty cool. Even though they played a very minor role, I’m sure my twins will be disappointed when there aren’t any twins in the movie. 

The silhouette I made was based on the cover of the book.