mmm!

I have a habit of making anything "fatty". While this seemed like a good idea.. I can honestly say, it wasn't. Next time I'll stick to the plain ol' nanner :))
:)

DIY Photo Tutorial: Cardstock Paper Gift Bows (revisited)

Like the gift bow? It's not perfect, but it's cute as can be :)

I made them in 2009 & made so many, infact, I had plenty to use this year as well. If you'd like to learn how to make these quick, easy & inexpensive bows yourself, please refer to
my DIY: Photo Tutorial on Cardstock Paper Gift Bows HERE.

These are also fun to make with slightly older children. Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays! :)

Photographing my children: Christmas Photos

I spent today taking a few Christmas photos of my little ones. The wind was so strong today, that I didn't get many..and..essentially, that is my own fault for procrastinating.

I am however, pleased with what I did manage to come up with. So broke this year, that buying new holiday outfits were out of the question. Thankfully MiMi's from last year still fit. Ethan's was a bit of everything. The sweater he got as a Christmas gift last year, the plaid under shirt was off thredup, and the pants, well, I believe they were a hand me down :)

See that little old red suite case? That's from the early 80's. I remember packing my toys in it when we went back to Germany to visit my Oma. I thought it would make a cute prop.

I took these at the train depot downtown. - I actually used to work at the subway in the same building. Old + New. Can't go wrong. **PLEASE** ignore the fact that these images look pixelated (they aren't in real life) I just haven't figured out a way for them to compress into smaller sized with out pixelating, because the resolution is so high on the originals. - Yep, some things baffle me and are beyond me. lol...

peaking through the slat in the door

Handmade / Re purposed Barbie House out of Old Speakers Part I

A few (or more) blogs down, I posted about how I had this wild idea to make a Barbie Dream House out of old 70's wooden speakers.

Well, I have to tell ya, that idea has come to near full fruition.

You see, once I have a wild idea, I tend to go with it (if my budget allows). We all know I am a broke mama trying to do my best. And we all know I was not about to drop $149-180 on the plastic Barbie Dream House.

So, here are some photos of the process. Still a little ways to go, but progress is better than nothing:

One of the 70's wooden speaker boxes (that will make up the Handmade Barbie Dream House)

Speaker boxes GUTTED

Gutted Speaker Box

Speaker Boxes Stacked to show how tall it will be (less roof)

Stacked speaker boxes w/ Barbie inside to show scale

Handmade Barbie Dream House Flooring: $2.47 for vinyl hardwood strips (bought 2)

& $6 for back splash tile (for bathroom)

The only lumber we purchased $6 for the roof/3rd floor

1st floor primed (coat 1)

1 primed box, 1 sanded box, the roof and interior walls

Some of the Barbie kitchen sets we bought  w/ coupons & sales = CHEAPER than used on eBay:)

Some even come with Barbie's CAN NOT beat that anywhere!

So, there ya have it, the progress of the handmade Barbie house SO FAR. I love to re purpose things. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!! Especially when it saves me money & makes a QUALITY item CHEAPER than a brand new plastic item.  The only thing I have left to purchase are the ball feet for the bottom of this handmade Barbie house (not sure what they are actually called) and some carpet. TRUST when I reveal this it is going to look AMAZING! :) So far  I have only spent $14 in actual materials & about 76 in Barbie's & furniture. Everything else I have so $90 will have a SOLID wood piece that won't easily break with WAY more furniture AND dolls than the Barbie Dream Town House has and saving about 79 bucks :) Win/Win :)

Faux Sheep Skin Throw: Pottery Barn Vs. Kohl's Sherpa Throw

When I received the holiday edition of Pottery Barn's catalog, I noticed this beauty, almost immediately:

Pottery Barn: Faux Sheep Skin (Sherpa) Throw $79-$99

Worth the money? Certainly. Too broke to afford it? Me too.  Have no fear, Kohl's Sonoma line carries an almost IDENTICAL Sherpa throw. I received one as a gift 3 years ago and loved it so much I had to buy some more. (BEWARE of one thing: YOU BETTER wash it EXACTLY as it says OR that super soft Sherpa will MATT up and look like hell). lol:) Trust me, I learned the hard way.

So anyway, here is Kohl's version (these are my images):

Image from my Pottery Barn Catalog beside one of the Sonoma (Kohl's) Sherpa Throws, I purchased.

The sticker price reads: $53.99

But, currently they are on sale for $16.99 online AND in the store.

Want to save even more? Go to Kohls.com NOW (Weekend of 12/8/11) & print the 20% off coupon on the left and bring to the store! That makes them $13.50 each!! To see this item online click here.  Visit the store and see it in person to see just how great it is :) BTW, you also earn $10 Kohl's cash for every $50 you spend. I dropped 83 there today, but got lots of great stuff!

$79 at Pottery Barn VS. $13.50 at Kohl's..??

You know which one I picked:)  I swear they are so freaking soft too!

I purchased one for each of MiMi's two teacher's & one as a gift for someone else. 

I figure for $13.50 per teacher, it is an INEXPENSIVE but valuable gift :)  I also purchased myself another one. They have many colors to chose from. I liked the tan and white this time around. I am hesitant to wash it though since I messed up with the first one I owned and ruined the soft Sherpa hehe.

Just, gotta love finding things almost EXACTLY like Pottery Barn but for DIRT cheap! :) It's great quality, as well. Just thought I'd share with my other Pottery Barn lovin' readers :)

**Disclaimer, Kohl's did not ask, nor compensate me to share this information.

 The opinions & comparisons are mine and ONLY mine.

Hand Made Barbie House Progress

A little update on the home made Barbie house we are building MiMi.

We searched EVERYWHERE for cheap Barbie furniture. Goodwill was empty, craigslist yielded NO results, and EBay? Well.. Let's just say folks there are insanely expensive. I figured since we are saving so much NOT buying the Barbie Dream House we'd splurge on the furniture sets - NEW!

K Mart ended up being the cheapest.

Tonight we purchased:

Barbie Sister's Beauty Bathroom w/ Doll
For $26 ($1 cheaper on K Mart) everywhere else we checked wanted $30.

We also purchased:

Barbie Dream Kitchen with Doll
For $26 @ K Mart. As you can see from the link above it's right at $40 at amazon and other retailers.

The last thing I purchased tonight was:

Barbie Treats to TV Refridgerator
On Sale for $12 at K Mart. As you can see from the above link it is $26 at amazon & other retailers.

Earlier in the week I purchased both the bath tub w/ doll and kitchen set w/ doll for right at $6 each:

In total on furniture & dolls (included) We spent right at $76.

It sounds like a lot, BUT, hear me out..

These were the CHEAPEST prices I could find (even cheaper than used). PLUS they came with dolls.

The barbie dream house she wanted was $145 (cheapest) but usually $179 everywhere else. The Barbie Dream House had NO DOLLS, and flimsy cheap quality furniture.

So on average we save $100 or more AND her hand made Barbie house comes WITH barbies and NICE high quality Barbie furniture:)

I plan to sand and paint this weekend and then possibly do the reveal. (I won't add the furniture though as all the gift sets will be wrapped for MiMi for Christmas).

So you'll see the big picture on Christmas day:)

I am sooo sooo sooo EXCITED!! Going to Lowe's tomorrow to get the laminate wood flooring pieces and the back splash tile for the bathroom. This is going to be so fancy! :) Way better than a flimsy over priced piece of plastic.

CAN NOT WAIIIIT!

DIY school photos

I've never been a fan of how the school photographs my child. Usually it's not a photographer thing, but the fact it could be after lunch or recess that your child is photographed and he/she never looks as on point as when they left your house. So I took it upon myself to do it myself.

CHEAPER; I get to put her hair how I like it and position her in the most flattering pose. (I mean for a head shot). Believe it or not sometimes a tilt can make a world of difference. :D

Anyway - This is NOTHING more than a digital backdrop and a straight out of camera pose taken from my kitchen. I didn't have to retouch her face b/c I don't like airbrushing children for this type of photo.

Before, natural lighting with flash (click to enlarge)

After: Super Imposed Digital Backdrop/Dodge and Burn Edges.

No facial retouching (minus removing a stray hair).

Or refer to initial image up top for closer traditional crop.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE FOR DETAIL

Super imposed and there ya have it! A school photo for tons less! I print these babies at shutterfly or kodakgallery and usually end up with great quality.

I usually charge $10 to do these head shots and my client gets the CD with the high resolution image to print at their own leisure. Much cheaper than the school would charge some one and or Wal Mart. And no skimp on quality.