Kitchen Renovation Part 6 ~ Counter Tops

Welcome back to our kitchen renovation! We hope you had a great weekend! Although we still have lots and lots and lots of snow, the temperature warmed up a little bit. So maybe spring will be here soon! If you missed our previous posts about our kitchen, you may like to read Kitchen Renovation Part 1, Kitchen Renovation Part 2, Kitchen Renovation Part 3 ~ Putting Up The Walls, Kitchen Renovation Part 4 ~ Our DIY Customized Microwave Cabinet Out Of A Stock Cabinet , and Kitchen Renovation Part 5 ~ Our DIY Furniture Style Cabinets Out Of Stock Cabinets. You will have a much better idea as to where we started and how far we have come with our kitchen renovation. When we had first started planning our kitchen, we were going to purchase beautiful granite counter tops. However, when it came time to actually move forward with our kitchen the granite I had picked out was not really a feasible option. Therefore, we decided to go in another direction. I had seen many great kitchens with butcher block counter tops and loved the contrast between light and dark (I had already planned to use white cabinets with a dark wood floor.), so we decided to make our own wood counter tops. We weren't sure how well they would work out, but thought we would give them a try. There are many tutorials to follow, but we used a combination of these two: The Shabby Creek Cottage  and  Breakfast For Dinner By Loraine. They were really quite easy to follow.

Kitchen Renovation Part 5 ~ Our DIY Furniture Style Cabinets Out of Stock Cabinets

Hi everyone, we hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Welcome back to our kitchen renovation! If you are new to our blog and have missed our prior posts about our kitchen renovation, you might like to read Kitchen Renovation Part 1, Kitchen Renovation Part 2, Kitchen Renovation Part 3 ~ Putting Up The Walls, and Kitchen Renovation Part 4 ~ Our DIY Customized Microwave Cabinet Out Of A Stock Cabinet. As I mentioned in our previous posts, we were using our kitchen and trying to stay on a budget while renovating. So, although it would have been wonderful to complete everything at one time, we needed to complete our kitchen in stages. When we were planning our kitchen, I did a lot of perusing in magazines, books, and the internet to get an idea as to what would work for our kitchen. I liked the aesthetic as well as the functional aspects of drawer cabinets, as oppose to door cabinets. To get the look and function we wanted without the extra cost, we purchased stock cabinets and painted them white. We loved our new cabinets, but they needed a little extra something. I wanted a built-in look without the expense. When I saw this idea at Cuckoo 4 Design, I knew it was the perfect solution! So, we decided to extend the counter length (we made our own) past the end of the cabinets and add posts to give the base cabinets a furniture style look.

This is how the cabinets looked when we started.

Frozen Winter Birthday Party Part 3 ~ The Slumber

Hi everyone! Welcome back to Hailey's frozen winter birthday party! (If you missed our last posts, you may like to read Frozen Winter Birthday Party Part 1 ~ The Preparations and Frozen Winter Birthday Party Part 2 ~ The Food and Dessert Tables.) Since Hailey's birthday party was also a slumber party, we created a frozen, winter, castle/tent for the girls to sleep. And..... since we asked the girls to wear their Frozen pajamas, for her party, we included a "chillin out" theme as part of our frozen winter theme.

First, Chris and Brice hung the bunting from the ceiling.

Next, Chris and I hung the draping on each side of the entryway.

And then, I set up tables and chairs in our office/playroom

for the girls to eat, paint, and play games.

Frozen Winter Birthday Party Part 2 ~ The Food and Dessert Tables

Hi everyone! Welcome back to Hailey's frozen winter birthday party! If you missed our last post, you may like to read Frozen Winter Birthday Party Part 1 ~ The Preparations. As I mentioned in our last post, we were ripping up the carpet in our dining room and office which meant that we still needed to put most of our furniture back before Hailey's party. So, we kept her party simple. We ordered her birthday cake from a local bakery and purchased blue punch. Then, I baked cupcakes and cookies and used our bread tubes to make heart shaped bread for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I, also, made heart shape ice cream. (I used the same idea I did in Hailey's princess/prince/knight birthday party.) Next, I filled our apothecary jars with candy in blue, white, and silver colors. We used our white dishes to serve cheese sticks, carrots, black olives, and chips. Seriously, the easiest menu I have ever planned!

When I was going through the photos of cakes

the bakery had done previously, I saw this cake done as

a beach theme cake with seashells, etc.

And then, I saw a picture with snowflakes on cookies.

So, I asked if they could do a cake in these blue

colors and add the snowflakes for a frozen winter theme.

I was very pleased when I picked up the cake.

It turned out even better than what I had pictured in my mind.

It was a beautiful cake and tasted great!

(I added the number seven to the top of the cake.)

Frozen Winter Birthday Party Part 1 ~ The Preparations

Hi everyone! We hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day! We, as usual, had a very busy weekend, but great too. A few weeks ago we hosted Hailey's birthday parties at our home (We hosted a friend birthday party one evening and a family party the next evening). At first, the only requirement she had for her friend party was that she wanted a slumber party. So, we had originally planned a theme party based on one of Hailey's favorite book series and made plans for a slumber party (Hailey's first slumber party). However, Hailey decided she wanted a Frozen slumber party. So..... we created a winter theme party with various shades of blue and white and included stars, sparkly number sevens, and snowballs. We, also, asked the girls to come dressed in their Frozen pajamas to include Hailey's request for a Frozen party and because it was a slumber party. Since her birthday was quickly approaching, we had a limited amount of time to plan and prepare for her party. And of course, right after the holidays, we decided to rip up the carpets in our dining room and office/playroom (which were the rooms we would be using for her parties). (If you are new to our blog, you may like to read Dining Room ~ Putting Up The Walls.) This meant that our whole house was in disarray. We still had Christmas items in the family room, furniture stacked in the parlor, front entry way, and upstairs, and sanders, stain, and sealer in the dining room and office. Our house was an obstacle course. (And just in case you're wondering, we had not intended our floors to be such an involved project.) Therefore, we needed to keep her party fun as well as easy.