Room Fit For a Tween

We have a 4 bedroom house. 
Up til a week ago, the girls shared a room and boys shared a room.
Well you know how girls mature faster than boys?
My 9 yr old girl has all the makings of a tween.
And sharing a room with a messy, invasive 5 yr old about had her in hives.
(Boys, 11 and 7 have no interest in splitting up.)
So once our house listing expired (bummer) we decided to finally mix things up around here.

Kalla got the 'extra' room.
The one we used sort of as office (not really), guest room (rarely) and storage (mostly).
So it got a clean coat of white paint and some fun accessories.


Quilt was found at our local Goodwill, but is Target brand and I've seen them there.
SMILE pennant was made by the 2 of us over Thanksgiving break.


Curtains made by me.
Fabric from Hobby Lobby--hard to see here, but it's a pink and white geometric design.


Biggest wish was a space to set up a permanent doll bedroom.
Don't you adore the poster doll bed made for me as a girl by my paw paw and patch quilt made by my great grandmother.
To be honest, I've had to convince Kalla how much more awesome they are than the sparkly trendy doll beds in AG catalog.


Desk is a cheapy piece from Goodwill.
I painted it's veneer wood a bright white.
Chair is just a stand in til I can figure out how to get the vintage metal one I thrifted's cushion off so I can paint and reupholster it.

Decorated the white desk a bit with some washi tape.
Orange silverware holder holds all her little notebooks, mp3 player and cutsie erasers and pens.
Clear chevron box from Target holds her craft stuff.


Mirror is cheap plastic thrift find painted orange.
Blue lamp thrifted.
Painted blue plaque keeps her bowl of bracelets and sunglasses organized.
Replaced glass of cheap frame with cork board to hang necklaces on.
Far Beautiful printable from Joys Hope here.


Giant bulletin boards to hang anything she likes from Hobby Lobby.
Framed out with some washi tape.


Bed was hubby's old bed with storage underneath...SO NICE.
Don't look too close and you'll see I haven't finished painting it yet.  :)

Boys got moved to the girls' old room since it was the largest and biggest closet.
Maressa now has the bunk beds to herself and is enjoying the top bunk.
Her room will get a coat of white and some special things eventually.

But for now I'm sick.
Hence the time to post as I can't work on projects feeling like this!

Lunches for the Queen of Picky

Ok, so she's not exactly picky in the traditional sense.
She's actually a good eater for a 5 yr old, but unlike my other kiddos, a sandwich for lunch will just not do.

She's not a huge bread eater (weird I know!)  Unless it's sweet cornbread or muffins or the like.
So coming up with lunch to send to school has been a challenge.

I've tried variations of the cold cut lunch with ham and cheese tortilla wraps or homemade lunchables.
But they come home mostly uneaten.

So we've moved to hot in a thermos type lunches.
She doesn't really do soup, so I've had to be creative.

So thought I'm surely not alone in this dilemma and would share our current hot lunch list:

Maressa's Thermos Lunches

*Mac n cheese (an obvious choice, but not my fav since she will only eat the neon powdered cheese kind which on occasion is fine, but don't like her to eat it daily)
with a side of bite sized ham to eat with it

*Whole wheat egg noodles and chicken (current fav--directions on how I prepare it at bottom of post)

*chili (bean-and-chunky-anything-less) served with side of shredded cheese to sprinkle on top and sweet cornbread and crackers

*taco meat served again with cheese and tortilla chips

*scrambled eggs and cheese

*grilled chicken pieces with side of bbq sauce for dipping (I don't send breaded chicken nuggets or anything like that due to the fact it gets soggy)

*spaghetti and mini meatballs

So there you have it.  Husband says she's spoiled with these gourmet lunches, but it's often leftover dinner stuff.  Or I make a weeks worth of chicken and noodles at one time to just heat up in the mornings...actually quicker and easier than making a sandwich.  And her thermos is always completely empty when she gets home.  And she doesn't have the I'm still hungry crankiness after school. ;)

****************************************************************************
Easy & Quick Chicken and Noodles

Cook wheat egg noodles in water according to directions. 
Drain.
Stir in some butter and sprinkling of garlic powder and black pepper.
Cut up chicken into bite sized pieces (I use a rotisserie chicken from grocery store deli)
Toss and serve.  :)

How to throw a super simple birthday party for an 11 year old boy.

Back in September my oldest turned 11 years old.  Ugh. 
He is 5 foot tall now ( a mere 7" shorter than me) and in his last year of elementary school.

I threw him a small, simple party this year.


He invited a handful of friends to come celebrate.
I filled the kitchen table with junk food, koolaide and labeled plates and cups.


Party favors in paper cups I got at Target dollar spot.
I put googly eyes on and filled with a few party favors from Party City and gum.


Outside a bowl of styrofoam airplanes, glow sticks and silly string.


They came to hang out for 3 hours and just ate and played as they pleased.


Kickball and football in the front yard.


Silly string in the back yard.






Foam light saber whacking and wrestling on the trampoline.


Dinner was Z's favs...chicken tacos and watermelon.


Cookie cake (decked out in Clemson colors) and sparklers to end the night.  :)

Luke, Susan, Alice and a Storm Trooper

Hello there!
Just popping by to share my characters.  :)


Meet Susan Pevensie of Narnia


Alice in Wonderland (had a bit of injury during the fall down the rabbit hole).


Luke Skywalker


And of course a Storm Trooper

Sorry for the absence.  I guess you guys are used to the fact I come and go.  :)
Life and laziness get in the way.

Been busy painting the house up a storm.  Living room and kitchen getting a bit of a redo. 
The kids and I are crafting our way through Christmas gifts.
And I've had some luck thrifting.
So will be sharing all that hopefully soon.

And oh, I am over an Instagram now.
Due to my love of anything visual, I take lots of pics.
So if you are so inclined to keep up with me and my kidsand projects between my blog posts you can follow me at:   dmbender73



Oh and happy Election Day!
Today I did 2 very important things....had my first mammogram and voted.
One was more painful than the other!  ;)

the playroom: white is the new color

Back in the day in my first house (14 yrs ago) I had lots and lots of color.
I had no fear and painted all the walls in deep colors.
Well, I’m over it.
I’m in love with the white and gray.
My next home will defintely be painted white and gray.
Then I can add all the color in accessories.
That and an accent wall in my bedroom of giant yellow and white stripes...to go with my gray quilt.


Anyway, upon getting the house ready for it to go on the market, I painted the playroom (that used to be bright yellow) this soft white.


LOVE it!  And now my maps lining the back of the shelves really pops.




One day we’re going to add pretty paper to the backs of the dollhouse shelves.




Oh and I made new pillows for our comfy denim couch.
The middle pillow is a Goodwill find (Target ‘reject’).


I really loved some of Targets new sheets.
No need for sheets, I just bought some pillow cases and cut them in half or so and made pillows for the couch.

So that's the current look of our playroom.  :)

Oh the Hair Ties

 
A while back I got some really cool hair ties online.
I thought from the picture I knew what they were made of and confirmed upon arrival.


FOE otherwise know as fold over elastic.
Back in my children’s boutique designing and selling days on eBay FOE became a trendy item to add colorful and stretchy elastic in clothes.
Most commonly FOE is used in trim in panties.
Comes in a wide array of colors and is soft and stretchy.

One day I was wearing my new pony holder and a friend asked about it.
Apparently I was trendy and didn’t even know it. :)
 A local day spa were selling them (for like $3 a piece!!)  And the local high school girls all wear them.
So went to eBay and found 17 colors and 70 yds for about $20.
They take seconds to make.
Nine inches and tie in knot.  Melt ends with lighter.
I made me a big batch (though honestly brown is my fav since it’s the color of my hair.)
And I have so much I make them for friends and their kids.


My girls wanted some of their own as well. Pink please. And lime green.

Fun fun!

My Big Frame

I’ve had this big empty frame for some time now.
It’s actually the inner part of another frame I got at a thrift store.
This past weekend I decided to do something with it.


I simply wrapped it with strips of fabric then stapled bakers twine to each side.


Then I used small clothespins to pin up some of my favorite photos.


I really love how it turned out.

I needed something large for over the couch but something that can’t be broken.

This is our front room that we keep pretty open and free of breakables as this is the one room the kids are allowed to throw balls, wrestle and have light saber fights.  :)

I'm kinda over the red though. 
But our house is on the market so I'm not looking to start painting anything now.

I did paint one room before it went on...the playroom.
I don't think I ever showed you...maybe tomorrow.:)