Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A Craft~Finally

A while back my sister in law asked me if I could make her a pumpkin person.  She wanted me to use the pumpkin candy buckets as it's head but didn't care what else I came up with.  I thought about it for a little bit and decided that the easiest way to make this pumpkin person was to use toddler clothes.  Off to the thrift store where I scored some Calvin Klein jeans (couldn't believe it-only $1.99) and a cute shirt.  Brought it home and started to play around with what I had.  It was fun to be creating something once again.  With all of this kitchen work I haven't had time to play with fun things.

Here is our pumpkin boy~little witch hat came from Target for $1.  The shirt I purchased was short sleeved so he has some jeans for arms.  He is mostly stuffed with plastic grocery bags.  I thought it was too cute and she loved it.
 I was glad to see the final creation was to her liking.  Here it sits waiting to be picked up and taken home.  A very quiet house guest.

We finally had a bit a time to carve our pumpkins this past weekend.  Hard to believe but it was our first time ever doing it.  None of us had ever tried it before. 

While cleaning out our pumpkins I found these:
 I was a bit surprised to find seeds sprouting inside.

My daughter and I worked on this one:
 It's a bat.

The boys worked on this:
 Skeleton heads~this picture does not do it justice.  It looks amazing!!!
 The hutch decorated and ready for our Halloween get together.  


I am linking up with:





Monday, October 18, 2010

The Work Goes On

We work and work and work.  Someday this kitchen will be completed.  I am looking forward to that day.  It has been a long process but the end is in sight.  

There are so many wonderful changes.  The kitchen is much more functional.  My brother is a genius.  His help has been invaluable.  Our kitchen is always in use and he has always been mindful of leaving things useable until he can work again.  We started the kitchen remodel on the last week of July, these months have been a blur.  Many days of work, painting, plastering, etc.  Most of the work is done one day a week when my brother is off of his real job.
This is the back entry before we started.
The back entry after we took out the arch (it was identical to the one you see behind the open door).  I love this open wall. It is so much better. Love it all trimmed out.
This is the left side of the kitchen before work began.
 Right side of the kitchen before work.  The doorway opened to our bedroom.  I have wanted this doorway closed off since we moved in.
Some of the painted cabinet doors, hung and with hardware.  An idea of the final product.  There are still plenty of doors to paint. It takes some time to paint them top and bottom, letting them dry well between coats, and finding space to lay them all out without disruption.

This is the opening of the dining/living room to the back entry and kitchen (notice the archway).


Here is the opening now.  We have taken down the archway and the wall. It opens it up beautifully to the kitchen.  I love the openness. 
Left side of the kitchen.
Our granite counters have been installed.  All of the cabinets are now installed,  new faucet, sink, and lights.
The before of this left side.


Small desk area on the left side.  I am looking for new desk top set.  I don't like the big basket.  It is too large for this area.  

This side is almost complete.  I need to paint two more doors and the drawer fronts.


New lighting above the sink and fan.  There is new trim around the windows.  I love the cleanness of the windows now.



Finishing the wall to the living room is the assignment for this week.  I still need to pick a tile for our floor, that will be the last big project.  The end is in sight.