February 26, 2018

The Dollhouse

Nevermind the fact that it is nearly March... Today I'm going to share some photos of a Christmas gift that my Hubby and I worked on for our daughter. After a lot of talking and planning, where half of us was adamant that a dollhouse was the perfect gift and the other half was initially quite reluctant, the first half won! 


We decided to makeover this very pink dollhouse by Melissa and Doug. We thought this was a good starter dollhouse and we loved that it came fully furnished with sturdy pieces, which would hopefully hold up to someone who likes to test out the furniture. We didn't love the color, but we figured that was easy enough to fix.


We are so lucky that our little girl goes to bed at 6pm every night. It gave us lots of time to sand, prime, and paint all the pieces. My hubby sanded and primed the entire house, then I followed with several coats of white paint. I added some dark gray trim and my Hubby cut, painted, and installed the new black shutters to give the house a little more dimension. We left the chimney and roof as is because we really liked the color. 

I also primed and painted all the furniture. We went with basic white for most pieces, except for a gray chair in the living room (to mimic our very own gray chair) and butcher block counter tops in the kitchen (not really in our kitchen, but something we would love). Most of the style of the house is just what my dream house would be like - all white with gray and black accents. We went back and forth on if we should make the house look like our current house or *our* dream house. Clearly, Mommy's Dream House won out.


We felt like we needed a couple more pieces inside the house, so we painted a block of wood that we purchased from our local craft store to make a dresser. I also cut a piece of fuzzy fabric from my stash for a blanket and found a mini tree among my crafty goodies. Our girl is quite smitten with the fact that it is always Christmas at this house.


You can't tell at all in these photos, but I also painted faucets and handles on the appliances so they are a bit realistic. I also added wood flooring and tile which were simply printed on our color printer and adhered with Mod Podge. You can't see in the photo, but I went with a hex tile for the bathroom floor. Hubby and I had discussed wallpaper and artwork, but decided to keep the walls simple and white for now. We are hoping to add more decor elements as our daughter gets older.


I also carefully painted new people for the house to resemble our little family. Each of us is wearing one of our favorite "signature" outfits. And our little girl is carrying her Monkey. Our basset hound, really does have a heart shaped marking on her neck, although not quite so pronounced. 



We've loved watching our little girl play with her new dollhouse We noticed that she likes to have Daddy give the dog baths, have Daddy and Mommy eat giant cookies at the table (ravioli from her kitchen set), and have Daddy play games on the TV. She also loves going to sleep and having Santa (from her Playmobil advent calendar set) visit the house. And remember how I said she likes to test out the furniture? As expected, we've already caught her trying to WALK up the steps. Hahaha!


We've had so much fun playing too, and I'll even catch hubby setting it up all cute when he helps clean up. We hope this dollhouse will bring our family many years of enjoyment!

February 19, 2018

18 for 2018

Hello! I'm back! 

Is anyone familiar with the Happier Podcast with Gretchen Rubin
I'm pretty much obsessed. 

Image result for happier podcast

I discovered the podcast earlier last year and listened from episode one until I got caught up.
Have I told you I'm obsessed?

On episode 147, they introduced the concept of "18 for 2018" and I was hooked!

My "18 for 2018" has gone through a few revisions, which is why it is nearing the end of February and I'm only now ready to post something. 
I'm hoping that posting it here might give me a little accountability... *maybe?*

So without further ado, here's my "18 for 2018!"

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1. Build LEGO Disney Castle
Last Christmas, my hubby gave me this awesome set. It has been sitting in our house for a full year now without being opened. It's about time this thing was built! My sweet hubby even set up a little corner of the play room for me so I have a place to build!

2. Find pants that fit and look good for work
This one sounds funny, but I haven't been able to find pants that I like for several years now. You may recall that before I was pregnant, I was really sick... since then, I've struggled to find pants that fit. That being said, I wear a LOT of leggings. 

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3. Create artwork for our home
I've been dreaming of doing a big abstract painting for our living room or bedroom. I've been gathering inspiration on this Pin board.

4. Get e-mail inboxes to zero
I'm embarrassed. I can't even tell you what my inbox number looks like. This will be a big task, because I'm also talking multiple inboxes...

Image result for the magic art of tidying up Image result for spark joy

5. Konmari
Several years ago I read the popular book and you guessed it, I fell in love. We started tidying right away, but life happened, and we were never able to finish the whole process. Since then, I read the sequel and have been doing bits and pieces in spurts. I never feel like I can get through the whole process, but I'm hoping that we can finally Konmari the whole house!

6. Make a card organizer
I am REALLY bad at mailing cards. Even when I made cards all the time, I was still really bad at mailing them! I'm trying to resolve to be better and am hopeful that having a system to organize my cards and important dates like this might help.

7. Paint a room or closet
Since moving into our home two years ago, we still haven't painted a single wall. I'm hoping to spruce up this place a little. I also have a secret wish to paint my daughter's closet pink, which is why closet happens to be an option here.

8. Read 4 new books
My reading list is constantly growing, so I'm hoping to at least read a few this year. I am a painfully slow reader, so four is a pretty realistic goal for me. Here are some of the books waiting on my list... If you've read any of these, I'd love to hear what you thought!

Image result for four tendencies book
How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids by [Dunn, Jancee]Reading People: How Seeing the World through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything by [Bogel, Anne]I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time by [Vanderkam, Laura]

9. Start Project Life
Is Project Life even cool anymore? I ordered some PL kits and albums before our little girl was born and I've yet to get started on the growing pile of photos. Sometimes just getting started on something like this is overwhelming because of my perfectionist tendencies.



10. Sell stamps and craft supplies
When we moved into our house and I was setting up my Office/Craft Room, I purged a lot of my craft stuff. I'm hoping to be able to find new homes for several boxes of stamps and craft supplies. If you're interested, check out what I've listed so far...

11. Clean the attic
I'm not even sure if this makes sense for me to include it on this list, since ultimately, all the boxes in the attic should come down at some point during my tidying spree (see #5). I've added it though, because honestly, I feel like I could totally just pretend the attic doesn't even exist and go on with my life. 

12. Make something from Pinterest
I have so many projects Pinned that I will probably never think of again, but I'm determined to do something crafty from one of my Pin Boards this year. I've actually been trying to go through my Pins recently to clean up a bit and brainstorm some ideas.

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13. Complete an ASCA course
You may know that I'm a school counselor by day. I'm hoping to complete one of their specialist trainings this year. You know, before they become outdated or obsolete...

14. Finish 2016 & 2017 photo books
Aside from PL being on my To Do list (see #9), I also love making Shutterfly photo books. I desperately need to finish my albums from 2016 and 2017. Has anyone used Chatbooks though? I'm intrigued by their designs, especially their Rifle Paper Co. and Kate Spade series.

15. Set up the Craft Room/Office
I've organized, re-organized, and triple organized my craft room/office multiple times now, but it is continuously our catch all for all the things we don't want our little miss to get into. There are still some unfinished projects, like organizing my ribbon and adding a pegboard, so this year, my goal is to get the place completely set up, taking into consideration how we use the space.



16. Make 12 cards
I've been itching to start getting crafty again. I think that the last card I made was this one, but I honestly can't even remember! 

17. Organize my School Counseling Curriculum
Last year, I purchased a bunch of supplies to get my curriculum organized. I'm hoping to organize the curriculum both physically (books and print outs) as well as electronically (lesson plans and digital components). The good news is I have all summer...

18. Write 18 blog posts
That's right guys, I want to keep you posted on my progress, so I'm planning to write at least 18 blog posts! (Yay me, I'm already making progress on this!) But hopefully, I'll be able to include some additional content in here as well. For example, I'm planning to share my a recent birthday celebration and a handmade Christmas gift soon... so stay tuned!

So there you have it! My 18 for 2018. Did you notice a pattern in my list that shows I'm itching to get crafty and creative again?! I challenge you to make your own list if you haven't already!

February 5, 2018

Hello, Stranger!

Well, hello there, Stranger!
Bet you didn't expect to see me around these parts!

I'm sorry that I disappeared on your for what seemed like a decade. I can't promise that I'm back for good (you know I'm bad at keeping my promises) but I'm here for today, at least.

A lot has happened in the time I've been gone.

For starters, I now have a toddler. A real live talking, walking toddler! How did that happen?
And you may have guessed that I have left Cupcake Inspirations and the crafty world. Sadness...
I haven't stamped a single card since the last time we chatted (although I won't deny making crafty purchases since then...).
I've organized, re-organized, and triple organized my craft room in hopes of getting crafty in there, only to find it a dumping ground of sorts, for all the little things we don't want aforementioned toddler to touch. *Sigh*
I'm sure many more significant things have happened around here, but my brain is so foggy with Moana songs, that I can't quite think straight.

I'll be back soon with more. *Promise!*