What a year!!

Well, this weekend was birthday party time at the Neely house! 

We had family and friends over for a BBQ swim party that was ocean/whale themed.  I didn't get around to getting invites sent out, BUT I did pin some cute ideas on Pinterest.  That's just as good, right?? ;)

Here's my board that I pinned ideas on for his party: Austin's Birthday Party Ideas

Some ideas were used, and some I just dreamed of doing.  *ahem Whale Watermelon* 

My absolutely favorite part of the birthday party planning was making these amazing whales.  They were favors for the 4 babies (one being Austin) that were coming to the party.

This is the pattern that I used.   DIY Plush Whale Pattern   I loved making a plush toy and now I want to make more!  I think the babies liked them too.  That's what really matters.

After the whales were done, I started to work on the banners.  I just cut out triangles to the size I wanted.  Each triangle on the banner is double layered so there really isn't a wrong side.  I put the two pieces together and zig zag stitched around the sides. When I got to the top, I made the zig zag stitch a little wider so it would go around the hemp rope that I used. 

The last banner that I made was from scraps of fabric that I had in my stash.  I'm glad I was able to use that fabric - finally!

Sure, my DIYs were crafty and fun.. but what Hayley at Bee Sweet Confections does is nothing short of AMAZING!  Check out the cookies she made for the adult/older kid favors here:  Bee Sweet Confections
Her picture is way better than mine since she was able to take the picture before they were put into the bags.  Make sure you like her page and find her on Instagram.  You definitely need to check out her crazy skills.   Here's my picture.  It does not do it justice.   

Back to the party - The centerpieces were a light blue and royal blue overlay with shells, goldfish crackers, and fish whistles for the kids.  My daughter and the kids that live next door helped me and my mother in law decorate the tables.  They loved helping. 

We had hamburgers and octopus hot dogs.  They were a hit with the kids! They ate all the octopus and there were still a ton of regular hot dogs left.  A tutorial how to make them is here:  Octopus Hot Dogs .. We also had Ocean Water. I used Sprite with a little food coloring.  The fish sank straight to the bottom so I had them in a bowl next to the Ocean Water and the kids were able to throw them into their cups. 

Thank you to everyone who celebrate the big ONE on Saturday.  Austin had so much fun and I'm so happy that he has so many people that love him in his life.

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I have one last DIY to show you.  Addison wanted to make Austin a fort for his birthday.  I was able to make this for a few dollars!!  Here is the tutorial:  A-Frame Tent.

I got the wood from Lowe's.  They were really easy to find.  The descriptions in the link made it really easy to identify.  My father in law drilled the holes.  It wasn't as tight of a fit as I thought it would be so I put a couple nails in it to make it stay into place.  The fabric is a white sheet that I already had.  I cut it to size and added elastic at the bottom to hold it in place.  I also sewed a little lip at the bottom of each corner so it wrapped on the bottom of the wood.  I don't have a picture of that, but if you want  to see what I'm talking about I can definitely add a picture.

 I think Austin enjoys it. ;)

XOXO-- Sarah

Update: The Bar

The bar is back in the Giants room and it's done!  Just looking for some bar stools now. 

You can see what it started out looking like without paint HERE.  My father-in-law did sand it down before we painted and stained it.

We got the bar at Superior Thrift in Stockton.  We painted the bottom of it, stained and put a polyurethane on the arm rest part, and then laid down baseball cards and put a resin over the top of it to set it. 

This barstool is used in our kitchen island..  I'm looking for something black and/or orange, I think.

 

We were really worried about laying the resin.  We googled and watched youtube videos to make sure we didn't mess it up because we had 1 chance to get it right.  I think it turned out great!!  After doing this, we realized that the people that messed up theirs probably weren't following the directions on the box.... so follow the directions exactly and you shouldn't have many issues.

A few tips that I can give you from our experience: 

• We used this resin: Famowood 1-Quart Glaze Coat Gloss Polyurethane from Lowe's and follow the directions EXACTLY.  If you don't, you will mess it up. This was just the right amount of resin for the top of our bar.  I believe it covers 8 sq ft and that's what our bar is.
• Somehow tack down the cards/objects so they don't float when you pour the resin.  I used a spray adhesive.
• Make sure you have someone else with you to help because it starts to set pretty fast.
• Use 2 of THESE and 1 of THESE to make sure you are pouring in equal amounts of the resin solution.  One for each parts of the solution (1 qt), and a 3rd one (2 1/2 qt) to mix them together with a paint stick, following the directions EXACTLY.  Did I say that yet??
• The resin will go through cardboard.  We couldn't worry about that too much since we were using cards.  We didn't have another choice.
• Have a blow torch handy.  When the resin dried, bubbles will form.  If you lightly put heat on the bubble, it will pop.  This will only happen while the resin is wet.  Once it's dry, there's not much you can do.
• If you have a dog or two like us, we found a few pieces of dog hair in the resin as it was drying.  We were able to pull it out with tweezers before it dried.

Here are close-up shots of the cards:

 

Ask any questions you have about the resin or staining and Lucian and I will get back to you on our experience with it.  We will help as much as we can!  I know how intimidating it can be.

Sarah

Giants Room: The "Before"

Sorry, I'm doing this backwards, but I was just too excited about the "after" pictures to wait!  And there's way too many pictures to do it in one post.

This room might have been our favorite so far.  I know that it is definitely our most used room now.  

The Before:

I can't find better pictures of the walls, but they were paper bags glued to the wall.  No joke.  Who does that??  The carpet was forest green.  We were NEVER in there before.  I'm sure you can guess why.  It was so dark and drab.  

From the kitchen (before it was painted) to the ugly room -

To get to the "after," we started with a plan.  That only my dad can read and understand.

 

Then the supplies.  We only shop at Lowes.  The other store is crap.

The walls started to get torn down.  There were layers of paper bags, wallpaper, plywood, dry wall, plaster, and lath.  I might have forgotten a layer.

This room was, at some point, and add on to the house.  We aren't sure in what way.  This part was original.  I believe there was a sink and medicine cabinet where the rectangle cut out is.  Our neighbors said they had a sink there before they added on to theirs.

Part of the crew.  Dad, brother, and father-in-law.

If only we could have found this wallpaper again to wallpaper the whole room.......

 I think this was one of my favorite finds.  This was originally a doorway to the outside (most likely) or a closet.  There was a window on top of it.  I wanted to get it out to re-purpose it another way, but we couldn't get it out.  One day I will find plans for our style of house so we can see what the original layout was!  That will be an amazing find one day.

 

We also found these two pictures hidden in the wall.  I don't know who they are, but it it had a date marking on the back of Aug 74 (I believe).  This is what our backyard looked like in the 70s.  

After the walls came down and new drywall was put up, the flooring was put in.  

That ugly green carpet HAD to go.

The After: HERE

Thank you so much to all our helpers!!! 
Dad, Fred, Joe, Vincent, and Donovan!! 
This room wouldn't have gotten done without you all.  Seriously. 

XOXOXOXO

Sarah

Giants Room/Bar/"man" cave: The "After"

Finally, I took pictures of the Giants room! Someday I will get a good camera so the pictures look better than what my cell phone takes, but this works for now.

We are so happy with how it turned out.  The bar isn't quite done yet, but it will be soon! I added some pictures below.

We got the Giants console off someone on Craigslist who re-purposes old radio consoles.  

There is a middle section that opens up and is a cooler.  

I love the orange wall!

The bar will go here...

The recliner loveseat is from Ashley Furniture. it's super comfy. 

Bobbleheads, autographed baseballs, and pictures of each stadium that the Giants have played in.

The finished bar pictures will be posted soon!! It will go right in front of the bobblehead shelf.  Here is a sneak preview.  We got the bar from the thrift store. My father in law sanded it down.  The bottom part is painted black, the top edge is stained, and the top has baseball cards with a resin over them.

I tried to do the chalk paint on the bar, but because the main wood is a thin plywood type, it didn't turn out well. We are putting a coat of regular paint over it and getting it back in the room this week in time for little A's birthday.

 

 I love the way the resin top turned out!!

Until next time!!

Sarah

Update! ... and our beautiful chandelier!

I can't believe that it's been 9 months since I've updated this blog!! Time flies by when you are having fun with your baby. In 8 days our baby boy will be 1! I still can't believe it. His birthday party will be August 2nd, so I'll post pictures of the cute decorations and favors I've made after that! I don't want to give it away yet!

Here is our sweet boy now.

Awwww.... I can't get enough of that sweet face. Love, love, love...

Photo by Melissa Curry Photography

Because of little A, we haven't done too much more to the house. The one room that we have updated is our Giants room. We never used it before because it was so awful and now it's the room we're in the most!  I will post pictures tomorrow, I promise. 

** We also painted our bedroom. I don't know how I forgot about that!! We have a few more things to do to the room before it's done. Ill post a progress picture when my hubby picks up his clothes. *cough cough lucian.* Should be any day now...**

The only rooms we have left to update are the entry, guest bedroom, and bathroom upstairs. I have so many ideas for those rooms! I can't wait to get started! Check out my pinterest for those ideas. 

One other little project we have recently done is putting a chandelier in our entry. Just look at that beauty.....

Lucian found this chandelier on a local for sale group on facebook. It was broken and ugly but he saw potential right away. I can't say I did. The woman was giving it away for FREE, so I had my mom pick it up for us since she was closest. I wish we had a "before" picture but somehow that was lost in the past few months. :(

It sat on the floor in our entry foyer for 3 months! My dad said he'd try to mess around with it to see what he can do. He took off all the broken pieces, reassembled it, and rewired it. We hung it up the other day and little A loves it!! He "oooh's" and "ahhhh's" over it every time the light is turned on. I have to admit I'm pretty fascinated with it too. 

My dad can do anything!  I am so appreciative of his skills and the time he takes to do things for us! Thank you dad!

Isn't she just gorgeous??

Until tomorrow.... 

Sarah