Krylon Brand and the 24 in 24 Challenge

So, yesterday as I worked on one of my contract side jobs on the computer I had the chance to turn on the live feed from the @KrylonBrand #24in24 challenge. They did 24 home projects, some smaller, some really big, in under 24 hours. All of the projects included moderate assembly and all were painted with Krylon® ColorMaster™ paint with durable Covermax® technology.  It was SO fun to watch, and got my creative wheels turning. I can't wait to take some of the projects they created and recreate them in my own home.  You can find detailed instructions on all of the projects here.

I found out about the challenge via Shelley (@houseofsmiths) over at her blog The House of Smiths.  I devour posts on her blog on a regular basis.  She is SO creative and has an amazing house.  Shelley was one of the lucky people chosen to participate in such a huge undertaking. It was also fun to see Jen (@jenjentrixie) from www.tatertotsandjello.com there too. I just started following her blog and on Pinterest last month. She is also amazing and creative. Anyway these two ladies and the rest of the amazing team completed some super fun and inspiring projects. These are some of my faves.

Just look at this chic ceiling fan.  Gone is the boring wood grain of most fans.  I am loving the updated colors and the super cute pattern.  I have to do something similar to the ceiling fan in my living room.

And this is a bit of heaven for me.  I haven't posted much about it yet, but I am an avid gardener.  I LOVE working in the yard and I've been wanting something unique to hang plants in, to brighten up my front, wrap-around porch.  THIS IS IT!!  I can't wait to see how these will look.

Super cute re-purposed bundt pans.  With a little Krylon ColorMaster paint and a light kit, these little beauties could brighten up just about space.  I'm thinking maybe a hanging pendant above my kitchen sink.  Someone on the challenge yesterday mentioned it and I immediately fell in love with the idea.

I'll have to come back in a bit and update this post once they get a picture of the finished project up, but this is the sketch.  This re-purposed piece of furniture was brilliantly transformed into a lovely outdoor potting station, again speaking to my inner gardener and begging to be implemented as a permanent feature in my back yard.... I'm anxious to get this one underway as well.  *feeling giddy*





Last of my absolute faves is this cute "house number" planter; although I really wouldn't mind doing ALL of the projects I saw completed in the challenge.  I have the perfect place for something like this on my front porch.  Now all I have to do is decide which of the amazing and wonderful colors available in the Krylon ColorMaster collection I wish to use on each of these projects.  They are so cute, modern and up to date with the color trends, it'll be hard choosing :)




Which of the 24in24 Krylon ColorMaster projects do you want to make a part of your home??

Hoping to get your creative cogs turning!!  Have a fabulous day :)

Kristy

Toy room overhaul

About every year I have to go through all of the toys we own and decrease the volume by half.  Being the only grand-kids in both my and my husbands families until 6 months ago, our kids are SPOILED!!  Grandma and Grandpa take good care of these kiddos with many presents for each birthday and Christmas.  So I have neglected this during the year and while trying to clean and organize the rest of the house I kept tripping over toys and stepping on LEGOs.  OUCH!!  That's something I would only wish on my enemies.

So I decided it was time to find a place for everything and put everything in its place.  The pictures to the left show our starting point, it wasn't pretty. We started de-junking (is that a word??) and cleaning.  We gathered up two full bags of trash which included broken toys, candy wrappers, and papers.  We also pulled out four garbage bags full of toys and three large bins of toys that we either sold or delivered to the local Deseret Industries Thrift Store.

I have to say I think that was a new record in our toy clean up process!  No wonder we couldn't keep the toys from spreading to every room in the house.  I have never done much to organize the toy room, our toys have mostly been in clear plastic bins without lids, BUT THE TIME HAD COME, so I kept one large red bin to put the balls in, another set of stacking drawers to keep the dress-up extras in and our current train table and got rid of all the clear plastic bins.

Once we had rid ourselves of the over abundance, and I had done a basic sketch of where I wanted everything, then we had to start sorting and organizing the remainder of the toys.  I took a trip to Target where I bought an inexpensive toy sorter (that took about twenty minutes to put together), also a board with hooks already attached to it (for hanging up all the large costumes) and six large Lego building plates. I then scoured the local craigslist and  ksl classified ads online and found a train table that someone was selling for $10 (I LOVE a good deal).

We set up different corners for each genre of toy.  Trains and cars in one corner with our original train table (I got rid of three other train sets and kept only our original GeoTrax train station and the trains to go with it.)  The new toy bin went on the wall next to the train table and in its bins went all the animals, spy stuff, small and large cars, bey blades etc.  On the far wall we mounted the wall hook board and hung all the large costumes, next to it, in the stacking drawers we put small weapons, masks, belts, gloves and many other ninja accessories. In the opposite corner we put my sons drum set and the play guitars.

In the final corner I placed the newer train table.  This one needed some modifications for our Legos.  So I flipped to the backside of the boards and proceeded to use hot glue to attach the six large Lego building plates.  Once the boards were back in place on the table we rounded up all the Legos I had been stepping on and they happily found a place in three small bins that sit underneath the table.  It's awesome!  My boys have awoken early every day since we finished this project and sneaked into the basement to build their Lego city.  They LOVE Legos, and I am one happy momma again.  It's nothing fancy, but for a basement toy room it works!

What kind of toys do your kids love and have you found any unique ways of storing them?  I'd love to hear about it.

Awesome Night on Temple Square

Saturday my man and I had a nice evening out at Temple Square.  The grounds are gorgeous right now, the roses are in bloom, the peonies are in bloom and everything was green and alive.  This however wasn't just a trip downtown for fun, it was even more than that.  My AMAZINGLY talented sister in law Michelle had a solo performance in the Assembly Hall.

When I met my husband, Michelle was in high school, and at the time taking voice lessons from a Professor at the University of Utah.  Over the years I have had the privilege to listen to her sing on several formal occasions, and even more informal family type gatherings. (Christmastime is usually kicked off with a sing-a-long at my in-laws house) She never fails to amaze me.  She has a fabulous soprano voice, the kind that can shatter crystal.  

On Saturday she sang a large and varied repertoire, many operatic and classic Broadway songs, with a smattering of unique pieces such as one by Deanna Durbin (who happens to be one of her mom's favorite actresses).   Once again I sat in awe in the audience as she performed her songs in a range so high I could only dream of.  It was fun to hear the gasps and awe when she would belt out the high notes, or sing some impossibly rich song in a foreign language.  

One of my favorite performances from the evening was a song in which she sang/laughed.  It might not make sense on the page, so I'm going to try to elaborate.  She had specific notes on which she "sang" a "chuckle-like" laugh.  I'm still not sure how she kept her composure while performing such a funny piece, or how she managed to sing a laugh. The song was entertaining and amazing to say the least, and her performance of it was such an enjoyable thing to watch.  We enjoyed her performance thoroughly.  She did say that she may attempt another Temple Square Performance in the future.  I'll be sure to let my readers know and you can come and hear the notes reverberate around the Assembly Hall and get chills with me :)

After the performance we wandered the grounds some more, took pictures in front of the Salt Lake Temple and the fountains on the grounds.  Then we wandered our way over to the newly designed City Creek Center.  Can you believe it opened last summer and this is the first time I've been there.  Me neither!!  All I can say is WOW!  It's a fantastic place to hang out.  

I think the creek and the fountain were my favorite.  The fountains do this little show, and the kids around were absolutely entranced.  It was quite entertaining.

We went to City Creek for some after-performance dessert.  Thinking we could get into The Cheesecake Factory on short notice we went there first.  Sadly the wait was over an hour, so we climbed in the elevator and went up a floor to Kneaders Bakery & Cafe.  I can't complain, I think Kneaders has some of the best sandwiches, soups and pastries around.  We shared a bowl of Loaded Baked Potato Soup, a Chicken Pesto Panini, and then my in-laws were kind enough to treat us to a few pastries.  MMMMMMMM!  He picked the fruit tart, I picked the Cannolli, one of my all time favorites.  Can anyone resist deep fried pastry with cream and chocolate??  I think not!

Last but not least I cannot, and I mean CANNOT go anywhere that might contain delectable Belgian chocolate and not buy some for myself.  So we ran over to the Godiva store and purchased two golden tins stuffed full of various Godiva truffles.  One for myself and my hubby, and one for Michelle as a thank you for her beautiful performance that night.  All in all I loved the night.  Haven't had a cultural date night out in a long time, it was MUCH needed and MUCH appreciated.

What is your favorite thing to do downtown??  And, if you've been to City Creek Center, what is your favorite place to eat??  I'm definitely going back soon and would love some ideas!!

The Laundry Life

One of those things I never thought I'd be doing was struggling to keep up with the laundry.  In my younger years I was in charge of gathering, sorting and washing the family laundry for a family of four girls (I know ironic right!); and in college I loved to fold each piece of wonderful, warm, fresh smelling laundry to perfection, never a wrinkle, always the right size to fit precisely into each drawer.  Well, four kids later and I feel I can either live my life, or wash the laundry, and it seems there no compromise.

My hampers like to take on a life of their own now.  I happen to believe that when clothes get dirty they magically turn into rabbits and multiply accordingly, but I also feel like the hampers start to growl and moan at me as the dirty socks and underwear begin to drape over the edge and the clothes begin to pile above the top like some sort of grotesque lopsided head.

So, I set a goal, and everyday I woke up and rounded up the laundry and took it to the wash room, sorted it and started one load as large I can without discoloring anything important.  Around lunch or sometimes dinner time I tried to get it into the dryer and then fold it before I went to bed at night.  Just one week goes by and I did great!  Then my life happened again, the weekend got crazy, we got sick and by golly the next week passed by, laundry unnoticed, and suddenly I realized our hampers had taken on a life of their own again.

Then I began the process of dragging them down to the wash room, sorting them into piles too large to fit in the washer and washing them.  Unfortunately the piles came out of the dryer and ended up forming a mountain on my living room floor.  It took over for a couple of days, although I convinced myself I could get it all done in one day.  (what's life without a little self delusion?!?)  Well, here's to new and old habits, and hoping I can get the new one back on track.

What's your secret for maintaining the laundry?  I know I could use the ideas.