Friday, December 23, 2011

GOING HOME AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We are off to the Philippines this weekend!

Boracay, Philippines

I'm so excited to see family and friends!
I'll share some photos as we go along.

But first stop...


Disney!  Hong Kong style.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours!





Friday, December 16, 2011

CHRISTMAS CARD DISPLAY

For the past 4 years, we've been displaying our cards like this...



 I got the idea from Martha Stewart...

But I've seen other ways that are just as cute...




both from martha stewart



Do you display your christmas cards?

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

DIY: BUILDING AN ICE SKATING RINK


First (and probably the most important), you need a level surface. 
Form a frame with 2x6 boards. Here, we have 8 of them  in a rectangle to make a 26'x32'frame. We dont even bother anchoring them to each other; just stand them up.

Next, we draped a 30x40' heavy duty WHITE tarp on top of the boards. Last year we used a blue tarp, which worked fine except that it was more prone to melting when the weather warmed up (A Blue tarp will absorb more heat)
Use logs or stakes (if your frame is on grass) to prevent the boards from falling over towards the outside and fill it with water! (the water/ice will prevent the boards from falling inward). It took about 3 hours to fill our rink up (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches of ice)
Wait for about 3 days of sub-freezing temperature(the colder, the better) and voila!


Building it was easy, maintaining the rink is another story.
Now, we just have to make our own home made zamboni!



Friday, December 9, 2011

OUR HOMEMADE ICE RINK IS BACK!


Last winter, my husband built one for the first time...


The kids had a blast!




It was a huge success that we decided to try it again this year.

Now, we're just waiting for the ice to freeze and hopefully it will be ready by tomorrow.
Making one is pretty easy.  No tools required.
I'll share a step-by-step how to next.

Hope your weekend will be as fun as ours!







Wednesday, December 7, 2011

CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE


Christmas is our favorite season!  We usually go all out decorating.
 I prefer simple and neutral...





My husband and kids like traditional...







As you can see, we did both!  Everyone's happy.
18 more days to go!

Speaking of all out.  Stop by on Friday and I'll show you what my husband built last year in our backyard.  We are actually in the process of building it again.
Hint: It involves tarp and water.

Have a great day!






Monday, December 5, 2011

BATHROOM REDESIGN: THE REVEAL, TAKE TWO


This is our bathroom now after the second renovation...


This is what our bathroom looked like when we bought the house...

And if you remember, this is what our bathroom looked like after the first renovation...



Before you call me crazy, I want you to read on and find out why I renovated again.

Don't get me wrong,  I  loved the original renovation.  My problems?

The wallpaper
{water stains - cringe}

There is nothing wrong with the wallpaper itself.  In fact, I would highly recommend it especially for renters.  It really is an "easychange".  It peels right off without leaving any marks.

My regret is not foreseeing the lack of a back splash for my vanity.  The water marks just drove me crazy.  Plus, I would probably leave the wallpaper installation to a professional next time.

I wanted to replace the wallpaper with another graphic pattern without dealing with water marks so I used the Zamira Allover stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils.  



Next, the hex tiles 

{dirty! another cringe}

(This is after sweeping, mopping and scrubbing! 
 My mistake?  Using an off white grout and getting an unglazed tile.)

I was ready to replace the tiles when I saw this product at home depot

It is the traffic master allure resilient vinyl flooring.
The best part is the easy installation.
It goes on top of your existing flooring.

and it is so easy to clean!


I also replaced the gold mirror with the faux bamboo mirror from the living room.  (I'll post more on the living room later, It looks different now!)


Not bad for pretty inexpensive fixes, right?











Thursday, December 1, 2011

I KNOW YOU WILL FORGIVE ME...

when you find out the reason for my long absence...


My 3rd! Sabrina Eve.
She was born on December 31, 2010.

It was quite a challenging pregnancy.  I had the most annoying pregnancy related cough. Yes, every single day until a few days after birth.
Not to mention that we had the scare of our lives a month before my due date.  I won't go into details, but I gave birth three weeks early to a healthy little peanut!

But now, I am back!
I've been doing a lot of house projects and I can't wait to share them with you.

Remember my last post?  The main bathroom reveal.
Well, let's just say there is another reveal...





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