How to make a Barbie dream house

I've been bursting to show off some of my DIY Christmas gifts, but had to wait until after the big day so I wouldn't spoil any surprises. I did quite a few homemade, or custom created gifts this year. This one is a collaboration with my friend, Kim.

She wanted to give her 5-year-old twins a Barbie dream-house for Christmas, but didn't want to break the bank on something that might break easily. With four kids, she knows delicate a plastic dollhouse wouldn't last long. So we embarked on a shopping adventure to find the right tools to build our own, sturdier version.

Originally, I was thinking we would make over a bookshelf, but then we found this storage cube shelf and it was already pink! Normally, $50-$60 for one of these bad boys, we walked on a $20 sale at Fred Meyer. Plus we had an extra 15 percent off coupon for housewares. [They had blue too, and I'm still kicking myself for not buying a couple when they were so cheap.]

The whole thing was pink, so we lined the shelves with wood-grain contact paper to give the house wood floors before assembling the shelf.

We bought a variety pack of scrapbook paper at the craft store and covered the back panels with the "wall paper" using clear contact paper to adhere it and give them a protective coating.

 I found a few unfinished wood jewelry/notions boxes at JoAnn's fabrics that made excellent furniture with a little acrylic paint.

For area rugs we cut circles and rectangles out of a bathroom rug from the Fred Meyer home section.

We painted balsa wood strips mint green and glued them to the corners to create molding to give the rooms a finished look.

Santa somehow knew the girls were getting a Barbie dream house and brought the girls furniture sets like this bathroom set complete with a flat-screen TV mounted to the towel rack. Barbie is apparently one classy gal.

 For a roof, we used a flag case from Michael's craft store.

They seemed to like it.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope your holidays are beautiful however you celebrate. We opened presents a day early to make the most of our time together. We felt very fortunate as we drove to a friend's house for dinner last night and saw a man who looked like anyone you might know standing with a sign "Need Work" and a phone number printed on it. He was visibly not your average corner sign-holder in Anchorage. My husband looked at me and said, "Kind of makes any of our problems seem smaller, huh?"

Santa was very good to us this year and I feel blessed to be spending my third holiday season with my little family. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

 "Can I please open this now?"

Gaining daylight

I snapped this photo from my balcony as the twilight set in this afternoon. Today is the shortest day of the year, with just 5 hours, 26 minutes and 58 seconds of daylight in Anchorage. Tomorrow we gain 6 seconds of daylight, which may seem small, but it means a lot as cold winter days become brighter and lighter. Cheers and happy winter solstice!

A DIY Christmas

I don't know if it's the holidays or the 18 hours of darkness a day and single-digit temps, but I get the crafty bug this time of year. My Christmas decorating started on Thanksgiving Day when I hit a 5-9 p.m. sale with a couple friends and picked up this red and gold potpourri for my interchangeable centerpiece

1. With the leftover potpourri, I filled these martini glasses on my wine rack. It was the only other place I could think of displaying the stuff where my kitties wouldn't get into it ... which could be very bad for them. I also really wanted a poinsettia this year, but skipped it for the same reason.

2. I love this centerpiece because I can change it's look every season. This year, the potpourri with the gold candle to top it off.
This year I did a couple simple sewing projects.

3. New Christmas stockings for the boys so we would have a suedo-matching set. My mom made mine (center) and has lasted the years. I used red felt, green fleece and the silly reindeer trim for Joshua and Davin's stockings. I should have known that fleece is impossible to embroider names on, but wasn't thinking about that when I purchased it. Still searching for a way to add names.

4. A new Christmas tree skirt. I've never had one and have always improvised with a holiday tablecloth. This year I bought two yards of red felt and the snowball trim to finish the zig-zag edge. It cost less than $20 and was finished in one evening.

5. This is not my project, but one of Davin's classmates made him this tabletop tree and glued candy and fruit-rollups to it. Very creative and generous.

6. One of my favorite ornaments made by my mother has gotten several compliments from visitors this year. I was so inspired by the beaded ornaments that I was thrilled to find a beaded wreath kit at the craft store this year.

7. I knocked out about 12 of these beaded wreath ornaments with my feet kicked up watching Dexter one evening. They are shockingly similar to the ones my mom made for our tree when I was too young to remember.

I hope you're having a fun and creative holiday season regardless of how you decorate and celebrate.

Looking a lot like Christmas

We decorated our tree Sunday. We chose a Grand Fir this year and the needles are not kind to my carpet, but the general effect is nice. I also made a new tree skirt this year, but more on that in another post. I'll write late about all my DIY holiday projects.

It's my third Christmas with my little family and our traditions are starting to form. Davin and I talked a lot about our ornaments as we decorated.

First big photo shoot

Saturday I took pictures of the very beautiful Zepeda family on Chester Creek Trail. They were so much fun. With a 7-year-old, 5-year-old twins and the youngest is weeks from her third birthday, things are never dull. Like me, their families live far from Alaska, so they wanted to capture a little of their surroundings in the shoot. This is my first big shoot, so any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

I am thankful

Happy Thanksgiving! I thought I would celebrate this year with a pictography of people places and things that make me thankful today. This is just a sample, because if I were all-inclusive, I'd be here until next year!

First and foremost, this guy, who not only gave the greatest compliment in life by marrying me this summer, but is an amazing cook, walk partner and friend. I'm also so very proud of him, because he's embarked on a new career this month in advertising sales for the Anchorage Daily News. Always up for a new challenge and thinking of ways to improve the lives of his family, he amazes me every day.

 This beautiful and harsh place I live. I love/hate it's weather, daylight swings and distance from the Lower 48. It's been my most faithful subject in my study of amateur photography.

 My parents, who have loved, supported and inspired me through everything. Especially my mom who taught me to follow my dreams, where ever they lie, and can take her own advice. She too, is embarking on a new adventure this year at the Seattle Red Cross. This lady is my role model. My dad for encouraging all of us, his patience and stories.

 My boy, who brings love and laughter to our home everyday. Aspiring guitarist and comedian, this guy probably teaches me more about family and what's truly important in life than anyone.

 Sister and Boy Kitty, because everyone needs a little unconditional love. And these guys have lots of it. Especially at 4:30 a.m. when I'm trying to sleep.

 My big brother and his lady. He just got promoted to to head bigshot at his engineering firm, but none of us are surprised.

 

My girlfriends for being the amazing, beautiful people they are. And for all the big and little woes and joys we share.

 My new friend Kim and her beautiful little family who have made Alaska feel so much more like home in the last few months.

My sweet in-laws who have welcomed me into their family as one of their own.

No baseball today

While I hear Washington feels a bit like Alaska this week, I think we've gotten a dose of Seattle's typical weather. It's rained on top of our snow for three consecutive days turning our winter wonderland into patches of ice, slush and mud. While school has been called off in Seattle for too much snow, we had the first "snow" days here in my two years here, for a lack thereof. The rain on top of snow made roads so slick that police responded to 89 vehicle incidents on Monday. I got off work a little early at the start of my four-day weekend and decided to walk through the baseball fields across the street to capture a little of the drizzly mess and play with my new camera.

Hello SLR, it's about time we become friends

A few days early, we found my birthday gift on Craislist today. A 2006 Nikon D50, barely used. The guy I purchased it from said he bought it on impulse and hardly used it. I've been wanting an SLR for quite some time, but couldn't bring myself to drop the cash on a brand new one until I know my way around the SLR world a little better. We got an amazing deal on it. I made my cats model for my first click around the house with my new toy. I have a rudimentary knowledge of how to work this thing, but really have a lot to learn. Can't wait.

Expect more frequent blogging, my friends.

Also, with the major ice storm in Alaska and all the snow in the Northwest, drive safe out there.