Home Redesign: Dining Table

If you are following my home redesign, you know that I am currently knee deep into a redesign at my house. I have a huge open family room that I have struggled with since I moved in. It was initially set-up with a living room and a family room (I have a formal dining room that is separate). I NEVER used the living room portion. Literally never sat on the couch. After 3.5 years, I knew I had to make a change.
My first big purchase after hiring a designer to help me with space planning was a new dining room table.
You can see the floor plan here: http://www.craftynotartsy.blogspot.com/2014/03/home-redesign-plan.html
The table is from Restoration Hardware and you can find it here:
http://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod590015&categoryId=cat2220027

Ninja Turtles Birthday Party

My nephew recently turned 6 and LOVES Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Personally I am not a huge fan of licensed character parties but I found an adorable party package and invite on Etsy that used a graphical version of the turtles. My sister allowed me to style the party and it was a blast.
Sources are shared at the bottom of this post.

I absolutely love how the balloons turned out. They were so easy to create. I used four different colored streamers and taped them to the balloons. We had to transport the balloons so I ended up having to place a piece of tape under the eyes side once we arrived to our location. If creating and not transporting you can tape the back only. The eyes were created from poster board using two different punches. You can also hand cut as I needed to do for 2 balloons since I did not bring my punches to my sisters house.

 The balloons were adorable when all bunched together.

At the party location (Rockin Jump in Dublin, CA) we were allocated a party room and we displayed the gift bags and birthday sign at the entry to the room.

The gift bags were originally going to be created like the balloons but I had also created ninja masks for the kids and they looked so cute on the actual bag so we decided to go this route. Inside the bags were toxic ooze (slime from oriental trading company with a toxic ooze sticker applied), blow-up swords, mini ninja figures, turtle pencils and ninja erasers.

The masks were created using cut t-shirts. I will post a how-to next week for this item.

The party room was set with green table covers, green and blue plates/napkins/silverware and straws.

The cake was ordered plain green from Safeway and we added the ninja topper (also sold at Safeway) and the ninja mask (blue ribbon) and eyes.

 I added a few details around the room since I love making the crepe paper rosettes.

 My son and I enjoying the party room during prep.

 Here you can see the straw flag and cute striped straws.

My nephew getting ready to blow out his candles. He loved the theme and the cake.

The balloons were so popular we ended up tying one to each gift bag for the kids to take home.


SOURCES:
Event styling: Ashley Depp www.craftynotartsy.blogspot.com
Invites and party printables: https://www.etsy.com/shop/jenrikdesigns
Cake: plain green from Safeway
Goodie bag items: Oriental Trading Company

DIY: Kisses Box

Ever since my son could talk he has saved my goodnight kisses (those blown from the doorway that he catches) in an imaginary kisses box. This past weekend we finally created a real kisses box filled with kisses.
We started by painting and decorating (with jewels) a standard box we purchased at Michaels. Then he decided that the kisses would be made of paper hearts and decorated by the two of us. Below are pictures of the decorating and final product.

Home Redesign: My To Do List

So last week I shared with you the floor plans and my choice. Below I am sharing my shopping list. As you can see it is a lot and felt VERY overwhelming as I was putting it together. I decided that I needed to pace myself and my monies. Over the next few weeks/months, I will share each item. Today I am about half way through my list and VERY happy with my purchases. I have gone budget in some areas and splurged in other areas. Can't wait to share!

Personalized Wrapping Paper

I am obsessed with personalization. I would love to monogram and stamp everything I own. My biggest struggle is whether or not I use my first or last initial.
Recently I have been really into stamping thanks to Yellow Owl Workshop and a class I recently took at Poketo. We made our own stamps (http://www.craftynotartsy.blogspot.com/2014/01/make-your-own-stamps.html).
Below is a quick guide to making your own wrapping paper.

Supplies Needed:
1. cheap dollar store wrapping paper
2. stamps
3. stamp pad

Step 1: Turn wrapping paper over to white side and lay flat on a table

Step 2: choose your stamp pad and stamps and determine a pattern

Step 3: Stamp away

This paper was created and used for my nephew Preston's birthday. he loved seeing "his letter" all over the paper.

Home Redesign: The Plan

So a few weeks ago I shared with you my before photos and my goals for the space. Today, I want to share with you my designer's plans and which route I chose to go for this redesign.
You will quickly notice that all of the floor plans move my dining room into the main space. As soon as my designer walked into my house she said "the dining room needs to become the play room and the main room needs to be your space." Below are the floor plans she developed for me.

One: In this option, I did not like that the couch blocked the fireplace and felt the dining table was too big.
Two: Loved the focus on the fireplace but was worried about the TV above the fireplace.
Three: Loved the circular dining table and couch layout but was concerned about the cost of the wall, etc.
Four: Same concerns as one on the couch/fireplace.

After much thought, I decided to move forward with option three. The first thing I did was purchase the round dining table. As soon as I moved my current furniture around, my son and I ate at our new dining room table. All of a sudden we were using the space differently and I loved it. The kitchen table (which is tucked away in a galley kitchen) became a parking spot for stuff versus a dining option. We suddenly were using our space in a much better way.

I cant wait to share with you the process, my shopping/to do list and how I dealt with the TV above the fireplace.

Looking for a great designer? Contact Kim Winthrope at kw.created@gmail.com. She is fantastic.

Hot Spots: Kidspace Museum

If you live near Pasadena and have kids under 10, you should check out Kidspace Museum (http://www.kidspacemuseum.org). It is the best place for kids. My son adores this place and we can spend hours playing and learning.
Right when you walk in you see a large open area (Galvin Physics Forest). Everything inside is to be child initiated. My son loves the air cannon, ball bounce and bottle rocket.
Inside there are real bugs (in cages), a human ant hole (which will entertain your little one for hours), a new art studio, and a nature exchange among other things.
Behind the building is the trike area, water area for the summer months and a huge garden.
We stopped by for a visit during snow days as well as their Noon Year's Eve event (which was crazy crowded but a ton of fun). A few pictures below.

Snow Days

Ball Bounce

 Air Cannon

 Special Event: Giant Blocks

 Igloo Making During Snow Days in the Art Studio

 Friends Climbing Up the Ant Hole

 Balloons and Crowds Before Noon Year's Eve

 It Is Noon: Balloon Drop Begins

The Joy of a Child