Fri-Yay

Popping in quick today to round out our week! Time is flying over here. It's almost November, we are making plans for Thanksgiving, and I have already started Christmas shopping. It's crazy for sure. We're so excited for Halloween tomorrow, too! Gracyn's been running around playing with parts of her costume all week.

{ONE}

Speaking of costumes, I still need to finish Leighton's before tomorrow night. We're going to have a pirate and Tinkerbell and I'm pumped to see them dressed up together. Coordinating costumes for the win.

Most of G's costume came from Target, obvi. Leggings, hat, sword and eyepatch (that I had to alter a bit) all came from my home away from home. I cut up a long-sleeve black shirt from Walmart into a vest to wear over the white shirt. I got her a pair of black boots hoping she could wear them throughout the fall/winter. She's been practicing her "argh" for weeks.

I made a Tink skirt out of white and lime green glittery tulle which was my worst nightmare. Glitter. Effing. Everywhere. I figured she could wear some tights, a pink shirt and her moccs (similar), too. I'm attempting to make a headband and we picked up some wings from Hobby Lobby. I'm hoping to comes together!

{TWO}

The girls and I snuck away for a little bowling playdate with some other KCMB contributors. It was a nice way to get out of the house for a bit!

{THREE}

Leighton is SO CLOSE to walking! She looks like a little drunk human staggering around trying to take steps. She will get brave and let go of the coffee table or couch and start walking towards the toy she wants. We've been practicing walking around the family room. It won't be long!

{FOUR}

I'm thinking about a new design for this here blog. I found templates you can purchase on Etsy. I didn't even know that was a thing. They're super affordable too which is good. Because I'm kind of a cheap like that. Has anyone ever used one!? Are they easy to install and navigate once loaded? Any tips would be appreciated!

{FIVE}

Last but not least. Go Royals!!!!

Linking up!

DIY :: Half Bathroom Reveal

Welp, it's finally finished. Or as finished as it's gonna get, I suppose. Small DIY projects always seem to turn into bigger, longer projects. This one wasn't that involved, but with small kids and work, I didn't have a ton of time to work on it at one time. It was spread out over a few months, painting in shifts, waiting to purchase the right items, etc.

I really like how it turned out. And it ended up being sorta similar to my original idea/plan for this space. It always amazes me how much a little paint can make such a huge difference in a space. Suddenly, it doesn't look like a room straight outta 1988. White trim, doors and cabinetry might be my love language. I want to paint ALL THE THINGS bright white.  So fresh and so clean.

Well, clean for now. Until my kids smear spaghetti on the door or something like that.

Any who, we got the room done for a little under $380 which was more than I wanted to spend on this tiny bathroom, but it's all good. I have leftover paint which will be used in the girls' bathroom upstairs and had some major savings on the new countertop and the light fixture so it balances out a little bit with what we spent.

Now, the fun part. An excessive number of pictures! ;)

Goodbye, 1988. Hello, gorgeous. The bathroom is pretty dark since there aren't any windows so it was hard to get decent pictures. The space is small too so at times I was kneeling on a pile of dirty clothes in the laundry room that connects to the bathroom. The bathroom is also just off the kitchen so we get a lot of use, especially now with a potty-training toddler. I'm dreaming of the day we can refinish the kitchen cabinets to match the white trim in this bathroom and the dining room.

View from the kitchen. I got a little carried away with the trim paint above the door. Oops. I also used a different kind of trim paint in an effort to save money, which ended up being a mistake. I used the Walmart brand which was really thin and it ended up taking just as many coats. I'll stick to my beloved Behr from now on.

We also tried spray painting the doors instead of rolling them as a way to save time. The spray paint covered really well but left the doors feeling rough. And even though we used semi-gloss spray paint, they didn't look nearly as glossy as the trim. I ended up rolling them with the regular trim paint to gloss them up a bit, so it ended up being the worst shortcut ever.

 

Here's a list of sources and things we did to make over the space. It probably be faster to list the things we did not do or replace but that's no fun... ;)

Replaced counter top, a steal at $37 from the Habitat for Humanity Restore.
Replaced outlet/outlet cover and light switches/plate covers :: Home Depot
Changed out door hinges and door knobs :: Home Depot
Replaced Cabinet Pulls & Hinges :: Home Depot
Primed and Painted Trim White (Semi-Glosss) :: Walmart
Primed and Painted Doors (Spray paint) :: Home Depot
Painted Walls (Subtle Touch by Behr) :: Home Depot
New Towel Ring & TP Holder (Similar) :: Walmart
 
Mirror :: Home Goods
Rug :: Tuesday Morning
New Light Fixture :: Home Depot
Tin Letter "O" :: At Home
Hand Towels :: Kohls & Target
Wooden Shelf :: Target
Plate Shelf :: Sentimental Journey Antique Mall
Stool :: Ikea
Wooden Crate :: Target (dollar bin)
Wicker Baskets :: Hobby Lobby
Glass Jars :: Target (dollar bin)
Chalkboard :: Target (dollar bin)
Feather Painting :: Custom by Yours Truly ;)
Antler :: Garage De Oakley
Halloween Crafts :: Gracyn Oakley

Halloween PJ Party Link-Up

Is there anything cuter than these girlies in pajamas? Matching Halloween jammies, to be exact? I think not.  Everyone was completely ignoring my requests for a decent photo and after we were done, Gracyn exclaimed, "I can't like my boo jams!" and demanded she be changed into more acceptable pajamas. Whatevs.

They're still cute.

Linking up with fellow festive jam lovers. Go check 'em out!

Hello Happiness Blog

Ashley || I Love You More Than Carrots

Fancy Ashley

the-good-life-blog.com

Skeletons and "Boo Hands"

Every one in awhile, I get the itch to get crafty with my toddler. Not very often, because lets face it, toddlers + craft supplies don't always mix. But, sometimes we get ballsy around here and whip out the hot glue gun.

Gracyn and I scoured Pinterest for the latest and greatest Halloween crafts to make that were age appropriate and not too involved in the supply department. It was nap time for the baby and we had to go off of things we already had in the house.

There were hundreds of options so we pinned a few faves and tried our hand at making this q-tip skeleton. We also made "boo hands" as Gracyn liked to call them. Both super easy and relatively uninvolved. My kind of craft.

The supply list is short - construction paper, black marker, q-tips and glue. I didn't have any Elmer's glue in the house and all my glue sticks were dried up so I used my trusty glue gun. I only burned 9 of my 10 fingertips in the process.

We also glued the guy's head too far down on the page and ended up running out of room for the lower half of his body, so he's a little squished. But that's ok. Gracyn helped me place everything on the paper before I glued it down. Once it was finished, she wanted to paint him so we busted out some orange acrylic paint I had stashed in the closet.

It kept her entertained for a full 20 minutes, which is a success in my book. 

We made the "boo hands" (aka ghosts) by tracing her hands and coloring the page. And by this point, she was kind of over craft time so I handled the coloring. I enjoyed it, which reminds me, I need to look into this adult coloring hullabaloo.

Her artwork is displayed in the bathroom, which is a totally normal place to display children's artwork, right? Gives her a little something extra special to stare at while we continue our potty-training journey... 

We might try a few other crafts this week to celebrate Halloween. Other favorites include this pipe cleaner hand puppet and footprint ghosts (to go with our "boo hands" obvi...). We still have to carve our pumpkins, too, as we gear up for trick-or-treaters!

Happy Halloween Week!

Fall Vibes

We had the quintessential October weekend. Crisp weather, pumpkins, lattes, friends and baseball.

We took a trip to the park on Friday afternoon, headed to Faulkner's Ranch on Saturday morning, grabbed lunch and headed back to our friends' house to watch the Royals game. A full day with hardly any napping wore the girls out so we managed to stay home and do nothing on Sunday. Except, of course, make another quick visit to the park. It was wonderful.