Refashions, Knock-Offs and Furniture Makeovers

Wow, a lot has happened over at Fab Fam Five since I wrote my last post here. I can’t wait any longer to share, so here are some highlights, check ’em out!

My favorite post in history thus far:

Gap Kids Knock-Off Tulle Ombre Tank
(directions included!)

It’s so pretty and I made it, yay! Read the post for directions on how to make your own.

Chevron Wall Pallet

Parking lot trash turned into art. Hop on over to Fab Fam Five and give me your opinion of how to spice this puppy up.

Momma Got a New Toy

Singer Quantum Stylist 9960, my birthday present. It’s beautiful and has some great features!

 

Linoleum Floor Painting Tips

I was totally amazed that you could actually paint linoleum. This post links up to some great DIY tips.

House Hunting Drama

The details of our year-long house hunt. Yep, one year. And we have seen a lot of interesting things along our journey!

Side table gets a makeover

This pair of hand-me-down tables got a makeover.

 

Quick Refashion

A quick refashion tutorial for a onesie. You won’t believe just how easy it is!

 

There are a couple of other new posts too, so head on over to www.fabfamfive.com and check them out.

Thanks for reading!!

Back From Vacation

Even though we got back over a week ago, I took another week off on a mental vacation. So we’re back, and I have some updates for you from Fab Fam Five.

Today’s Post – Some Spring Sewing

A Refasion: Petal Tee

Sadly, these are the only new project updates that I have for you this week. As you can imagine, the first week back at work after vacation was a little crazy which directly effects how much energy I have for projects. I sure hope this next week is better!

Happy Monday!!

A Fab Fam Five Weekly Digest

I’m trying something new to try to keep this blog in the loop with our Fab Fam Five efforts. My followers here gave me the confidence to start our other site, and now I’ve sadly neglected you all.

So, I am going to update this blog once a week with the things that have been happening over at Fab Fam Five. We still have a lot of projects going, so there is a lot to keep up with!

Today’s Post: Pattern-less Tee Project

 Friday’s Post: Romper to Tunic (A Refashioning Tutorial)

Wednesday’s Post: Dream House Floor Plan

{Photo Via Southern Living}

Tuesday’s Post: Prepping for Our First Family Room Crash

Don’t forget, if you are interested in receiving updates on Fab Fam Five happenings, head on over there and sign up to receive them via email!

(And there is a lot of stuff that’s missing from today’s digest for the last month, so go see what else has been happening!)

Recovering Pillows

The family room is coming together quite nicely as we work on decorating it.

Here is a sneak peak!

You should go to Fab Fam Five to check out the progress on the rest of the room. Hopefully we will be done soon!

We recovered some pillows to bring the color scheme together a little better. But if you hop on over to the site, you can see some wonderful before and after pictures! Who doesn’t love before and after pics?

DIY Dresser Makeover

Dresser Makeover featured at Fab Fam Five today! Here’s a sneak peak…

Check out the great tips on refinishing and painting a dresser! Also, see the full finished product that was turned into an entertainment center. Gotta love that drawer storage!

A Mantel Update Over at FabFamFive.com

Over at www.FabFamFive.com, there are some wonderful things happening with the mantel!

Remember this from Pottery Barn?

Well, we’ve just made another addition to the mantel decor, so go check out the final product!

Here is a teaser for you… 
Hurry up, get on over there and check it out! Click here to see.

Happy Friday everyone!!

Fab Fam Five Has a New Home (And a Master Makeover!)

Today is a very exciting day, we are celebrating the launch of our brand new site! Complete with our very own domain.

We have spent a few days on this, so I apologize for taking a break from posting for a few days. You would not believe the amount of effort involved in picking background colors, creating logos, exporting/importing content, and looking at all that HTML code. PHEW! And we still have some work to do yet, but we are pretty happy with the overall result. A huge thank you goes out to my amazing hubby for making it possible.

You MUST go check it out at:

WWW.FABFAMFIVE.COM

In addition to being very busy little worker bees on the website, we were pretty busy around the house over the weekend too. So hop on over to the NEW 🙂 website and check out what we did with this space.

Before:

Yikes…Glad it no longer looks like that.

Check out the after pic HERE!

Yep, I am shamelessly promoting our new site. It’s super cool! Check it out 🙂

Weekend Crafts with the Kids

Happy Friday!I am prepping for the weekend and as always, I have something on my mind. What fun things can I do with the kids?

Because I spend a huge portion of my week commuting and at work, I try to make the most of my time with the kids when I am home. With Oaken going to kindergarten sooner than later, I am really trying to focus on the skills that kindergartners are supposed to have too, such as using glue and scissors.

Because of our bad history with scissors, (read here to learn more about our 3 year old daughter’s skullet hair cut), we have not spent much time with the kids with the use scissors. So, this weekend I do intend to spend some one-on-one craft time, with scissors, and my pre-kindergartner. Here are a few kid-friendly crafts that I have found recently that I plan to try out with my son this weekend.

Q-Tip Art 

Via La Classe della maestra Valentina.

Though this site is not in English, this project is still a wonderful idea. It’s not geared towards the use of scissors, but I do think this would be great to try with the kids. I was thinking of drawing a shape on paper and giving the kids some watered down food coloring and q-tips to create their design. Hopefully a lesson in trying to stay within the lines will be helpful!

Shredded Paper Snowman

Via Baby Center.

This project site calls for using paper straight from the paper shredder, but I think this provides a good opportunity to get some use out of those scissors. With a little help from mom (or dad) you could have some pretty cute snowman art on your hands. We have also been reading a snowman book before bed this week, so this is perfect for our family right now!

Children’s Art Mobile

Via Warm Hot Chocolate. 

Once you have had your kids create some beautiful art, why not put it on display in the form of a mobile? This is such a wonderful and unique idea! Even our little ones can take part in this particular activity. Maybe we could create some additional Q-Tip art and make this mobile too! Some assembly required by mom on this one. But if you have kids outside of the preschool age, I’m sure this is something that they could create on their own.

 Paper Heart Garland

Via Martha Stuart.

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, this is another great craft to get the kids involved in. This will be one that kids with a little more scissor and glue control should probably tackle. However, since this holiday is only a few weeks away, I had to throw it into the mix! Who doesn’t want to add a bit of festive Valentine’s garland to their fireplace mantel decorations?

We’ll post pictures after the weekend to show you how our projects turn out. I hope if you do any artsy or craftsy projects over the weekend that you are inspired by one of these.

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!!

If you have any other kid-friendly craft projects, please feel free to share!

Kids Room Makeover: A Sneak Peak

Since the kids’ room is coming right along, I thought I would share a quick sneak peek with you!

Nope, it’s not done yet. We still have a few finishing touches to add, but I just couldn’t wait any longer to share something…

That’s it for now! Is the anticipation driving you crazy?

We made names for both of the kids to help define their own space in their shared bedroom, which has also helped to fill some massive amounts of empty wall space. I traced out the letters onto some plywood, awesome hubs cut them out with a jigsaw, and we painted them with the same glossy trim paint that was used in the rest of the room. It was a somewhat crafty project that our son got to help out with while the girls were napping. In hindsight, try using primer first on plywood, the letters took about 10 coats of paint! Finally, we hung them with rental-friendly double-sided tape.

And here is another snap shot of Sky Bug hanging out before bed time, being a goof for the camera as usual. (She was supposed to be asleep….)

Maybe we can actually finish up the room this weekend? I sure hope so! I do promise to post finished pictures as soon as possible though.

Happy Thursday! 

Bacon Mac Recipe

Keeping in theme with yesterday’s post about menus and dinners, I wanted to share with you one of our family’s favorite meals. This is a delicious, easy, creamy, mac and cheese recipe that you are sure to love!

Image via Food Network

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. bacon
1 box small shell pasta
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Cook bacon until crispy. Chop and set aside for later.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add shell pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
4. In a 3 quart saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and toss in chopped onion. Saute until onion is tender.
5. Stir flour into saucepan with onions. Cook for about 1 minute, until smooth and bubbly; stirring occasionally. Mix in milk, cream cheese, salt, and pepper. Continue cooking until sauce is thickened. Add cheddar cheese and stir until melted. Stir in shell pasta.
6. Pour into 2 quart casserole dish. (Optional – top with additional shredded cheese.) Sprinkle cooked bacon on top. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and heated through.

That’s it!

After Christmas we had a ton of left over ham, so we even substituted the bacon topping for mixing in chopped ham. It was quite yummy as well, so feel free to mix it up a bit and enjoy!

What’s your family’s favorite dinner?