The Tour Part 2: The Kiddos' Rooms

Some of you have mentioned wanting to see the loft beds that Vince built for the kiddos, so today I'm showing off their rooms. I took these a week or so ago and I've since added some more touches, but to take more pics would require cleaning them again...and that's just too much work! haha

The Princess' bed is something I would have loved when I was a little girl.

Her very own playhouse right inside her room! Vince got his inspiration from Pottery Barn Kids catalogs, did a little research online and then made his own *pattern*. I think he did an amazing job!! Inside there's room for her kitchen, her Barbie house and a few more treasures.
Now, I have to admit, changing the sheets on a loft or bunk bed is quite the feat! I'm sure I look hilarious laying prostrate on there trying to stretch the sheets across!! In fact, I crack up at myself:) But at least The Princess can make her own bed each morning and I don't have to climb up there every day.
This is her dresser. It actually belonged to my grandparents and is part of a set that I used from age 7 till I got married. I'm saving the bed and nightstand for her to use later on.
This little shelf has her mini tea set collection and all those Madame Alexander dolls she's collected from Mc Donald's.

I'm not very much into *themes*, unless you call eclectic a theme. I have decorated my children's rooms with antique mall finds, treasures from my childhood and their own found treasures. I think it's more interesting and personal that way.

Next is Mr. B's room. His bed was inspired by a room layout in an old Martha Stewart Kids magazine (remember those? I've kept everyone I ever bought! Miss them!). It was supposed to be a kind of tree house/platform style. I think Vince did a great job interpreting it!

In case you're wondering, there is a ladder built in at the foot of the bed--I realize it looks like he has to climb on from the side in this photo.

His bed isn't quite as high up, since he's a little smaller. However, there is still plenty of room underneath for lots of play. His train table fits great under there as do a couple of toy baskets.

He loves it under here!! I'm quite impressed with how nimble he has become with climbing, too!

These are some shots of Mr. B's room decor. I call it *eclectic patriotic*.

His room is pretty small and the only other real piece of furniture in there is the antique chest of drawers. Hanging above it is a silhouette of my dad as a boy. It's amazing how very much like my son this looks!

Tomorrow I'll show you the playroom/schoolroom....

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while. It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it. However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it. Plus it's a little bulky. When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it! It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make. I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course. They have these little wooden door hangers for .79. I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each. I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing. I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had). Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will ...

Making Notebooks

Recently I tried out a new craft idea~and it was SO much fun!! And extremely frugal, too. That's always a bonus, right? So here we go: 1. Take your basic composition notebook (purchased at the back-to-school sales for .99 each). 2. Go to your craft supplies and get your Mod Podge ready, along with a good paintbrush. 3. Look through all those scrapbook papers you've been randomly collecting and choose some. 3. After choosing your paper for the cover of your book and trimming it to fit, start *painting* the cover with the glue. Next, give the back of your paper a good coat of glue, too. (I left the binding uncovered so that I could use a contrasting paper there later on). 4. Glue it on! Remember to smooth out any air bubbles under the paper. 5. Flip the cover open and make a few cuts on the corners so that they will fold over nice and neat, then add a little more glue to the edges of the inside cover and a little more to the paper edges. 6. Fold them over and press...

my blessed life

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