Adventures in DIY

DIY Miss Minutes Loki Costume

2023-08-30T01:19:00.001-07:00

Hi there!

Since Halloween will be here before you know it, I wanted to hop on to share a Halloween costume I made a couple of years ago for when we went to Oogie Boogie Bash, which is Disney California Adventure's (aka "DCA") yearly Halloween party!

I'm not the biggest Marvel fan, but I do enjoy some of the movies and Disney+ series. With Avengers Campus being a new addition to DCA that year, I decided to dress as Miss Minutes - a character from the Loki series on Disney+. I had a feeling that many people would dress up as the different Loki variants (and they did!), so I thought Miss Minutes was a great choice for a more unique character.

Now, I'm not going to give step by step instructions since I didn't document each step (sorry! I've been out of the blogging habit). And, as usual, I was winging it, so it was a lot of trial and error until I got it just right. Because of this, I won't be able to tell you how to do the measurements based on your body type/size - it will just have to be something that you figure out on your own. But, I'll at least try to explain as best as possible how I did it, in case you'd like to try it in a similar way. So, let's get to it!

To start off, here is what Miss Minutes looks like. She's a cutie!

My original idea was to make two separate pieces - one for the front and one for the back, to be held together by shoulder straps that I'd put on over my head and resting on my shoulders (not sure how else to describe it). In fact, I saw at least 2 other people as Miss Minutes during Oogie Boogie Bash and they both made theirs like that! I happened to be in line for the Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout ride with one of them - we rode in the same elevator together and we got a kick out of each other's costumes! So, we grabbed a quick photo together after we got off of the ride. BUT, you can see in the photo below, that her's was done in the other style (she's on the left - I covered her face since I don't know who she is). She really did a great job and the face on her Miss Minutes looks much more proportionate to the character.

Are we Miss Minutes Variants?? Maybe! haha

In the end, I decided to make Miss Minutes into a wearable costume. Meaning, I wanted it to be as comfortable as possible - something that I could wear while riding rides and easy to sit in. After deciding this, I sketched it out and made a plan of attack.

Pro tip: Always sketch out your ideas, even if you're not a great artist! It helps you envision your plan & make adjustments as needed. It also helps you visualize what supplies you'll need (this always helps me to make my shopping list!).

Here's my list of supplies:

* Orange felt

* White felt

* Black felt

* White gloves

* Black leggings

* Orange, long sleeve tee (I used a white, long sleeve tee & orange dye)

* Thread (orange and possibly white & black for the face)

* Hot glue (you can use this instead of white & black thread for the face)

I happened to have a hula hoop & it seemed to be the right size, so I traced around the hula hoop to get that circle shape and cut out 2 of the circle pieces Spoiler alert: this was too big for me, so I kept pinning the size down to adjust it, until I got the size I wanted.

After sewing the 2 pieces together & trying them on, it wasn't quite right. The circular shape wasn't quite staying in place, unless I had my arms out, plus I needed to adjust the holes for my head & arms.

So, I sketched it out again & decided that the sides needed a strip of felt to give it that look of a clock and to also help give it its shape.

Ignore me in these pictures, by the way. This is what working on costumes late at night looks like. LOL

After adding that strip of felt to the sides, it looked much better. It wasn't perfect, but it helped with the shape.

I then cut white felt and black felt to make her face and the little lines that make up the clock face. I originally planned to sew on the pieces of her face to the body, but her eyelashes & some of the clock lines were too thin to sew on, so I just used hot glued them all down to the base. Since it was possible to see the hot glue under the white felt, I only glued on the pieces at the edges (instead of just globbing the glue in random spots).

Pro trip: Even if I'm not going to sew, I still pin down the pieces so I can make any changes/adjustments before committing with hot glue.

Don't mind the mess, but here you can see how I added those strips down the sides. This is when I was really starting to get excited - just look at that face!

Now that I was done with the main part of the costume, it was time to put together the rest. I already had black leggings & had bought a pair of white gloves at the Spirit Halloween store.

But, since I didn't look online soon enough, I kind of missed the boat on buying a long sleeve tee that was orange. This was the moment that I realized I'd be learning a brand new skill - dyeing clothes! I bought a white long sleeve tee & a bottle of liquid Rit Dye in the color Tangerine and just followed the directions on the bottle.

Dyeing

Dyeing clothes/fabric is a huge GAME CHANGER! This has already helped me out on two other Halloween costumes and I'm loving that I'm able to customize clothes/fabric if needed! So easy!

Here's a couple more pictures of my final costume! What do you think? Also, should I do a blog post on my niece's costume too (2nd pic below, she's on the left)? For years, I had "donkey Pinocchio" on my list of costumes to-do, so we were able to finally do it that year!

P.S. I had someone reach out to me on Twitter & Etsy asking if I could make this costume for them, but I had to decline mostly because I didn't know how to make this based only on a person's actual measurements and it needed a lot of trial & error. I was kind of bummed to turn it down because it turns out that per her Twitter profile, she worked on the Loki series!! WOW! I took this as a huge compliment!

Posted by Adventures in DIY

DIY Sofa Table

2023-06-05T02:11:00.001-07:00

I'm back! I always have the intention to come back & some-what regularly post on here because I do actually miss it, but between doing craft projects, Halloween costume-making, home DIYs, working a full time job, and going to Disneyland, I'm either too busy or too tired or just simply forget since I'm not in the habit of blogging anymore. I actually started writing this post in February 2021, but never got around to finishing it. Oopsie.

But, since I last posted in January 2021, my DIY skillset has grown tremendously! I have since re-done 2 rooms by removing the popcorn on the ceilings, removing carpet, installing luxury vinyl planks, installing new baseboards, repainting, and re-doing the closets! The last 1 1/2 years have been such a learning experience and I'm so happy with what I can do now. My next project will be doing all of those things (and more!) to my bedroom and I'm excited to get that done!

Anyways, so I'm back with a big DIY. Or at least, for me, at the time, it was a big deal. A few summers ago, during the height of quarantine, I built my first piece of furniture from scratch and I'm here to share what I've learned. It should have been a fairly simple build, but in my true fashion, it wasn't so simple for me. LOL Here's a sneak peek of the sofa table I built!

(staged it in my hallway! I want one too, now!)

(its final home at my friend's house)

Pre-pandemic, one of my bffs had mentioned she needed a sofa table so she could put up some decor behind her couch. I told her about a sofa table I had seen on Jenna Sue Designs blog many years ago that seemed like it might be fairly easy to build & had been to try to make it one day. She was totally down for it, so it's actually for her!

If you are planning to build this, make sure to follow her plans that I linked above. She does a very thorough job at explaining it. I made a couple of small mistakes because, even though I had read her post completely through many times, when it finally came time to do the actual build, my brain started skipping some of the little details in her post. Oops. But, it wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed, just wasn't ideal.

I started by talking to my friend about how tall & wide she wanted the table and taking many measurements. She wanted it as tall as the back of the sofa, but not as wide. Once I had my measurements, I sketched it out and figured out what sizes & how much wood to buy.

That sketch, took me several days, maybe even a week?, to finalize, but it helped tremendously to have done that. There's actually a couple of more pages, but I planned it step by step WITH the measurements so that I wouldn't have to re-do or re-cut anything. Some things I do off-the-cuff, but with bigger projects, it's always good to have a plan. So, off to Home Depot I went to buy the wood & supplies.

I had stained a swatch of Dark Walnut on the the table top to just double check that my friend liked that color, so when that decision was finalized, I stained the entire thing.

Then I started putting the pieces together. These are the legs.

And laid the pieces out on top of the table top, just to make sure my cuts were correct.

Now, here's where my main mistake happened. Basically, I needed to install screws in the same place more than once, but I forgot to accommodate for that (I didn't leave enough room for more than 1 screw). So, I did end up having to use metal L brackets which worked out fine. Because the table was going behind a big couch, the L brackets aren't noticeable.

My dad loved to build and tinker with tools. He had a habit of buying LOTS of tools and gadgets and often bought duplicates. So, he often gave me the duplicates to try out. He had given me this corner clamp and thank goodness I found it in my stash before I started this table build because it came in very handy for this build!

After building one section, I brought it in the house to make sure it was level.

Once I knew it was good to go, I built the second section. I brought both sections plus the table top into the house to check it and...

I stained the rest of the wood & put a clear coat of Polyurethane with a satin finish. I didn't attach the table top yet because I still needed to transport it to my friend's house.

But, before I took its final home, I did test it behind my own couch because I considered making one for myself. I decided that it wouldn't work in my space. My house is very small & therefore my living room is very, very small, so it would have been a tight fit.

I also put it in my hallway & decorated real quick. I have had an Ikea bench in that spot, which has worked great for all of these years, but it's not my style anymore and I don't think I can hack it to make it into the style I like (mid-century modern or just modern), so I'm thinking I might make this same sofa table one day to put there. Not really sure yet because I now have a little ottoman there that I use to sit & put my shoes on. So, maybe I can make a smaller version of it to sit next to the ottoman? Or maybe make it wider so the ottoman fits underneath? Decisions, decisions!

I have a small SUV & the table wouldn't have fit in the back if it was completely built. So, I did travel with it in three sections. Once I got to my friend's place, I just put the 2 bottom sections together and installed the table top and voila! She now has a sofa table to display her things! My measurements ended up being perfect because the table top was flush with the back of her couch. Whew!

Once we put it behind her couch, she immediately started decorating.

She finds a lot of her stuff at flea markets and thrift stores. She especially likes going to the Rose Bowl flea market, which I still have yet to go to! One of these days, I will!

And that's it for my first post back! I know I always say this, but I do plan or at least very much would like to keep posting more. I really do miss blogging, so I will try and do as much as I can and see if I can get into the habit again. And maybe start taking better pictures/learn to edit them better. lol And like I said, I have done some really big projects in the last year and half, but also made some smaller projects, so I'm going to really try to share those soon!

Posted by Adventures in DIY

Stranger Things The Drive Into Experience

2021-01-30T01:05:00.014-08:00

Happy New Year!

Sooooo, I failed at keeping up with blogging last year - let's just call it a slow start ;) I've managed to stay very busy during the pandemic & stay at home orders (I'm in California, so it's been fairly strict here, which, whatever - I'm ok with it). All of this time at home has been making me nest, so I've gotten lots of things done here around the house: got new patio furtniture, a new BBQ grill, built a sofa table, built an extension for my workbench - I even bought some plants! I have a black thumb, so that's actually a big deal. lol I do have plans for more projects, so I’ll be sharing more & hopefully soon!

In the meantime, I want to share about the Stranger Things The Drive Into Experience that I took my niece to back in November! This special event started at the end of October & is happening thru March 21st in Downtown Los Angeles. It basically puts you into the Stranger Things world, via your car, and you "drive into" scenes that are happening all around you. I've attached the link to the event page above, but our tickets were just regular (non-VIP) and it was $97.50 for the 2 of us (cost was per person, not per car & depended on which day of the week you went) and it was about 1 hour long. It is a little pricey, but with the limited amount of things to do in California and with our love for this TV series, we thought it would be worth it. Spoiler - we really had a great time!

Speaking of spoilers, I will be sharing some photos I took during the event, so if you plan on going or just don't want to see, this is your warning.

Prior to the event, I received emails with updates, instructions on where to go & when, & a link to a Hawkins High Reunion website.

I can't remember how early we arrived - I think maybe 1/2 hour early. Upon arrival, we went through this entrance & someone checked us in via the Fever mobile app.

Oh look! The Hawkins High Mascot and cheerleaders were there to greet us!

Hmmm - isn't that Billy's Camaro?

As we waited for the "reunion" to start, we were given the option to buy some food & snacks at the Starcourt Mall.

We brought our own snacks, so we passed on getting food here, but they had given us the menu upon checking in. Once you scan the QR code, you place your order via the website and they will bring you your food order to your car! Very convenient!

They had us tune into a specific radio station at this point. There was a DJ on stage & different characters from the show going through the lines of waiting cars for some pre-show entertainment.

Even though we never got out of the car (although, I wish I would have gone to use their bathroom & taken that time to get better photos! lol), we dressed up to make it more fun. For Halloween this year, we decided our theme for costumes would be Stranger Things, especially knowing that we would be coming to this event! Can you guess who we are?

Yep! We were Joyce & Robin! Haha Dressing up ended up being a great move because the Robin character interacted with my niece during one of the scenes and my niece loved that!

Once it was our turn, we followed the line of cars into a parking garage and kept the radio tuned into the station. Employees did a great job of directing us so that we were parked in the scenes and would have a good view. Sharing some photos from the different scenes. Again these are spoilers, but at the same time, they do not reveal everything - I do want to leave some things out.

After it was over, we had the option to look and purchase merchandise. Earlier at check-in, we were given this shopping flyer.

We were directed into a parking spot for the march, where we could see banners with photos of the merch.

Outside of the driver side window, there was a little stand with a QR code on top. Just scan it & it will take you to the website to order. I then got this order confirmation, which I just realized had the wrong date.

We chose the Code Red Bundle & they brought it to us after receiving our order! And look at that detail - our items came in a Starcourt Mall bag!

This bundle included 4 items and my niece & I split them. First up, is a mystery pin (my niece wanted that).

We also got an air freshener - they had several characters, but we didn't have a choice of which one. We ended up getting Eleven, which I chose to keep.

This cute mug & the bag behind it were the last 2 items. I kept the mug & my niece took the bag.

All in all, we had a great time! Yes it's different and would probably have been better as a walk-through type of event. But, considering the times we are in right now, it was really great to have something fun like this to do! We went to this about 2 weeks after Halloween and after having hardly any Halloween events to go to (when we usually go to A LOT), this was a bright spot for us. My niece absolutely loved it and had a blast and that made it 100% worth it!

Have you gone to this? What did you think? Do you have any questions? Let me know if the comments or you can reach me on Instagram!

Posted by Adventures in DIY

Knott's Berry Farm's Taste of Fall-O-Ween

2020-10-23T11:27:00.046-07:00

Happy October! It's officially my favorite month of the year!

I know I'm supposed to be making an effort on posting more on here and I'm slowly, but surely working on it - I swear! (Really! I have a couple of drafts that I'm working on). Ultimately, I have no excuse - it's mostly just taking me time to get back into the routine of blogging again since it's been such a long time.

I'll get into those projects another time, but for now I wanted to share about Knott's Berry Farm's Taste of Fall-O-Ween. This experience is an "...outdoor dining & retail experience celebrating the Halloween season and the flavors of Fall..." starting September 25 through November 1 on Fridays through Sundays (they have since added Columbus Day October 12 and select Wednesdays & Thursdays) . Knott's has opened their entire park (sans rides) and completely decorated for Halloween. Included in the adult ticket ($35 plus tax) includes a tasting card for 5 tastings, while the children's ticket ($20 plus tax) is for a tasting card for 3 tastings plus the Camp Snoopy trick-or-treat trail. Adults may also participate in the trick-or-treat trail for an extra fee of $8. Guests of ALL ages are allowed to wear costumes (please see their website for their costume guidelines). Parking is currently free, which was awesome. Unfortunately, if you were thinking of going to the event & don't already have tickets, all dates are already SOLD OUT.

Now that I've gotten the main information out of the way, let's focus on some of the details!

The Decor

This was my favorite part of the event! They had everything decorated for Fall & Halloween. Lots of pumpkins & gourds, cobwebs, fall bunting, skeletons, & more!

The Ghoulish Citizens of Calico Ghost Town

There were some ghostly characters roaming Ghost Town! All of them interacted with park guests from a distance & are so quick-witted and funny! Definitely a highlight of the event.

Camp Snoopy Trick-Or-Treat Trail

As I stated earlier, the Camp Snoopy Trick or Treat Trail was included with the kids admission. However, if you wanted to add it on, it was $8 (paid at the start of the trail). If you don't want to trick-or-treat, you can still walk the trail to look at all of the decorations, which is what we did! It was such a really neat area that we walked through it twice - once in the daylight and once at nighttime (it was definitely busier at night, though).

The Headless Horseman makes an appearance in Camp Snoopy, but you have to catch him when he comes out. I was super looking forward to this since the Headless Horseman is one of my favorite Halloween characters, but we missed him both times we went through the trail. :(

The FOOD

Even though this event is based on food, it was my least favorite part (although, based on other people's reviews, I'm in the minority!). I'm a picky eater, so my judgement on food is not the best. lol

Creepy Cheeseburger Slider with Onion Ring
(This was "ok". Not great, not terrible)

Cheeseburger Mac & Cheese with Bacon, Panko Crumb Topping, and garnished with Diced Tomatoes
(I LOVE mac & cheese, but this was TERRIBLE. Didn't even finish it)

Blood Orange Lemonade
(This was good!)

Orange Creamsicle ICEE Float
(Yummy!)

Not pictured, but we also got:

*Graveyard Funnel Cake - this was "ok". The funnel cake was a bit overcooked. Otherwise, this would have been good.

*Caramel Apple Cheesecake Trifle - we really like this! It was great.

*MAD Shirley Temple - was refreshing.

Other Stuff!

In addition to all of this, they had vendors selling fall/Halloween items. We didn't purchase anything, but there was some cute handmade items.

They also had live entertainment performing on stage with a big screen behind it. (I don't have much information on that as we did not stop to watch and there aren't any details on their app or website).

And that's it! Have any of you gone to Taste of Fall-O-Ween? If not, did you try any of Knott's other tasting festivals? Let me know in the comments! This was our first one at Knott's and it was a lot of fun and the price was a GREAT value!

Posted by Adventures in DIY

DIY Medal Sign Display

2020-07-15T01:58:00.001-07:00

I'm back with another project! It's been a couple of months since my last post, but I haven't forgotten that I'm making an effort to post over here on the Blog more often. I've actually been very busy with DIY & projects - just a little slow with getting back into the habit of writing and getting the posts back together.

Today, I'm sharing a project that is super easy, but one to also be very proud of!

If you've ever participated in these Run events, then you probably have some medals from them that you're very proud of. Since last year, my friend & I have participated in some 5Ks at Universal Studios Hollywood & Virtual runDisney 5Ks. I wanted a way to display the medals and came up with a simple way of showing them off.

* I used scrap wood that I already had on hand - 1"x7" cut to 15". But, you can use whatever size you want!
* Next, I decided to stain it with Minwax's Dark Walnut.
* I decided to paint the word "run" on both signs. Painting is really not my thing, let alone freehand painting, so this was a learning curve for me. I'll have to practice more with that.
* Once I was done with stain & paint, I sealed it with polyurethane to protect all of that work I just did.
* Before installing the cup hooks, I decided to install the 2" D rings on the back of the sign so that the board would lay flat and make it easier to install the D rings.
* Now that all of that was completed, it was time to figure out where to place each hook. I decided how many hooks I wanted for it. Then, I had to figure out where the center of my sign was. I also decided to make 2 rows and stagger the hooks so that the medals wouldn't clunk together. I marked the center on the bottom row and then marked each spot about 2 inches apart. For the top row, I did the same.
* Once I had all of my spots marked, I drilled a small hole. Using 1 1/4" cup hooks, I then screwed each hook into the holes. Drilling the holes first, helps for when you need to screw in the hooks by hand.
Now, we're all done!

You can really design this any way you'd like! You can stain or paint the wood. Paint your words/design or use vinyl. Install more or less hooks. Use a different type of hook that will accommodate the wider strap. Install different hanging hardware. It's really all up to you and what you'd prefer - the possibilities are endless!

I recently signed up for the runDisney Virtual 5K summer series - I'm so excited to add more medals to my sign. And the fact that the medals are based on Disney attractions make it even better. I guess I need to hop on my exercise bike soon!

If you end up making your own medal sign, let me know in the comments and/or let me know by posting a photo and tagging me on social media!

Posted by Adventures In DIY

Copycat Dole Whip (just like at Disneyland)!

2020-05-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm back! See - told you I am trying this time. haha
Today, I'm sharing a Copycat Dole Whip recipe, similar to the famous Dole Whips at Disneyland! It's actually more of a smoothie that soft serve, but tastes a lot like the real deal. Also, it was super easy to make!

With the Stay at Home orders in effect during the COVID-19 pandemic, Disney has been sharing several recipes of their delicious food and snacks from their theme parks. They recently shared the recipe for their Dole Whip, however, it's not the actual recipe! Dole Whip is dairy free (click here for Dole's soft serve info), but Disney included vanilla ice cream in their recipe. Also, they use the Dole Whip mix in a soft serve machine (you can buy the mix here, but it makes A LOT!).

Quite a while back, I saved a recipe from an Instagram account I follow @disneyhungry - she's seriously amazing! She has a ton of recipes, but she has also created LOTS of Disneyland and Walt Disney World copycat recipes on her blog, Picky Palate (this is the link to her copycat recipe page).

I wanted to try making it without the vanilla ice cream, so I started with Jenny's copycat Dole Whip recipe as a base and altered it from there. It was good to use it as a starting point and for measurements.

Equipment:
* Blender

Ingredients:
* Frozen pineapple (2 cups)
* Pineapple juice (8 oz)
* Pineapple sherbet (4 scoops)
* Sugar (1 tsp)

*Makes 2 servings

Put all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until fully combined.

And that's it! Serve in glass or cup and add a cute, little umbrella for decoration! Not shown, but I also added a piece of pineapple on the rim too.

To note: Jenny's recipe suggested to freeze the mixture in a piping bag for an hour before serving and then piping it into your glass/cup. I tried this and failed miserably. lol With my recipe, the mixture turns out to be the consistency of a smoothie, yet still very delicious!

If you'd like to try the recipe that Disney released on the Disneyland and Walt Disney World apps, this is it here.

And if you'd like to try the recipe that Dole released, this is it here.

I'd love to you know if you try my recipe or any of the others I've shared here.
Thanks for visiting!

Posted by Adventures in DIY

Hello, Again!

2020-05-08T01:05:00.002-07:00

Hello! Long time, no post!

It's been about 3 1/2 years since I last posted and that year I only posted a few times. I had taken a break from doing DIY projects and life got busy, so blogging took a back seat. I often missed writing and doing projects, but lacked motivation when I had any down time.

Now, with this pandemic & "stay at home" orders happening, I've had a bit more time. Fortunately, I'm still working full time. I've been working from home for 4 years now, so that is not new for me. But, staying home all weekend is. There have been some projects that I've been wanting to do for awhile now, but was lacking the time. Now that I'm home a lot more, I figured this would be a good time to get started on some of them and get back to sharing here!

We've been sheltering in place for about 7 weeks. I've had bursts of energy & motivation, so I'm glad to say that I've managed to get quite a few things done. I've also had some bad days and you know what? It's ok to take a mental break and just relax and press the reset button.

I will be making an effort to post here more often whether it be about DIY, crafts, Disney, and (once we're back to a new "normal") travel and other fun things going on. I am active on Instagram, so if you'd like to follow along over there, just click here: Adventures in DIY Shop.

In the meantime, how are you all doing? I hope you've all been doing well in the last few years and especially lately with these crazy times we live in. Drop me a comment and let me know how you've been and what you've been up to - I'd love to hear it!

Mickey Snowman Faux Snowglobe

2016-12-12T03:00:00.000-08:00

I've made a few of these faux snow globes in the past - they are just so darn cute! My latest version happens to be Disney related. Shocking, I know.

Photo credit: Brenda at Chatting Over Chocolate

In past posts, I've shared how I've made Christmas tree ornaments out of Disney antenna toppers. On one of my trips to Disneyland last month, I spotted this super cute Mickey Snowman antenna topper, so I bought a couple of them to make into Christmas tree ornaments. But, then I got the idea to use it in a faux snowglobe!

To make the snowman and trees stand up a bit from the bottom so they wouldn't be covered by the fake snow, I hot glued them to corks and then hot glued the entire piece to the bottom of the jar (I used an old spaghetti sauce jar and spray painted the lid).

Then, just add fake snow! I was able to adjust the placement of the snow by slightly shaking the jar and swirling the jar until I got the snow placed just how I wanted it.

This little snowglobe found it's way to it's new home with my awesome friend Brenda at Chatting Over Chocolate. But, it's so cute that I think I'm going to get another snowman antenna topper to make one for myself. :)

Posted by Adventures in DIY

Adventures in DIY Has a Shop!

2016-12-10T03:00:00.000-08:00

Hey there!
I'm hoping to get back to DIY'ing & blogging on a more regular basis soon, but in the meantime, I wanted to share some exciting news. I have opened up a shop on Etsy: Adventures in DIY Shop! It's something that I've been wanting to do for a few years now and it's finally up and running!

If you've been reading for awhile, you know that I'm a big Disney fan. Actually, to be precise, I'm a big Disney parks fan. Being a Disneyland annual passholder, I go quite often. I started making mouse ear headbands to wear to the parks and decided to start selling them as well! I have some ideas for other items to sell also, but until those ideas go through development, I'll be selling just ears. for now.

Please feel free to check out my shop at the link above. My shop's main social media account is on Instagram (I post more frequently there), but the shop is also on Facebook. I also share pictures of my Disney adventures on Instagram.

I currently have Holiday mouse ear headbands for sale and a few Star Wars styles, so if you're interested, please use the link above to click on over!

Thanks!

Posted by Adventures in DIY

Nightmare Before Christmas Man-Eating Wreath

2016-12-08T23:38:00.001-08:00

If you've ever seen "The Nightmare Before Christmas", then you probably know what the Man-Eating Wreath is! I've been wanting to make this for a few years now and finally got around to it!

I actually had all of the supplies on hand, so you might too. If not, you can find most everything for pretty cheap. Supplies needed:

15 ft. garland (Dollar Tree)

Red bow (Dollar Tree)

Yellow felt

White felt

Fake red berries

Hot glue sticks

Hot glue gun

The garland was already wound into a circular shape, so I found the 2 ends and pulled them out so that they were long enough to form arms & "hands". I kind of wrapped them around from the inside of the circle to help hold the arms in place, while also holding the circle in place. It's kind of hard to describe, but you can see it in the picture below. Ideally, it would have been better to give him 3 long fingers on the hands, but I went with 2 for simplicity's sake (aka I was being lazy).

(Don't mind the mess in the picture - lots of crafting going on up in here!)

For the eyes, I just eyeballed it (hardy har har) and freehand cut the yellow felt.

Once cut, I placed them on the wreath to make sure they looked ok. Felt is pretty easy to tweak, so if you need to make any changes, do it before you glue them on!

I then cut out little black circles of felt for the eyes, but you can also use a black marker if need be. Using the white felt, I cut out some sharp teeth! Once again, I cut them freehand & left a strip at the top so it could be glued to the back of the wreath more easily.

Make sure to attach the red bow BEFORE you glue the teeth down.

And then, using the hot glue & hot glue gun, I glued the teeth to the BACK of the wreath.

Almost done!

Attach the fake, red berries with your hot glue. Do you spy a hidden Mickey??

And then add your man-eating wreath along with other Nightmare Before Christmas items for a cute Halloween AND Christmas display!

And in case you're wondering about the other items in my display:

** Jack Skellington coffin popcorn "bucket" - bought at Disneyland in 2011 (no longer available).

** Oogie Boogie - DIY'd from this tutorial on Disney Family.

** Jack Skellington tealight holder - bought at Disneyland several years ago (not sure if it's still available or not).

** Minnie Mouse as Sally - gifted from my awesome friend, Brenda at Chatting Over Chocolate, which was purchased at Disneyland this year.

** Jack Skellington jar - DIY'd from my own creation! You can see my original post here.

** Zero popcorn "bucket" - bought at Disneyland in 2015. Was still available this year at Halloweentime also. Zero's pumpkin nose even lights up!

Posted by Adventures in DIY

Disney Princesses Zippered Pillow

2016-05-30T13:07:00.002-07:00

So, I was originally supposed to share this post several months ago, but kind of forgot. Oopsie. I have been trying to learn more sewing techniques and this one might be a game changer - sewing with zippers! I made this Disney Princesses pillow for my niece for her birthday and she LOVED it!

I used this tutorial by Hey There, Home to guide me, so you should use that tutorial (don't use mine as this isn't a full tutorial - just wanted to highlight the important steps). I have now forgotten the measurements, but I just used the pillow form measurements and added an extra 1/2" per side for a sewing allowance. **Note: I made sure to wash the fabric first, so that when the pillow cover needed to be removed and washed, it wouldn't shrink and not fit the pillow later**

Following the tutorial, I bought the correct zipper size and with pins, marked where the zipper starts and stops.

Again, using the tutorial, I sewed a temporary stitch (hard to see in the picture). This will be your guide to help sew your zipper in straight and will be removed after you sew in the zipper.

Using this temporary stitch to help guide me, I pinned the zipper in place.

I don't have a zipper foot, but was able to make do with a regular foot. However, it would be ideal to use a zipper foot as it makes it easier to sew around the zipper teeth and zipper pull - so I will be getting one for future projects. Once I finished the rest of the pillow cover, I just turned it right side out & slid in the pillow form. Voila!

If you were ever on the fence about trying to make a zippered pillow cover, I suggest you try it. It's really easy!

Posted by Adventures in DIY

Cork Christmas Tree

2015-11-30T23:50:00.000-08:00

I've got another Christmas craft for you today! Now, I've mentioned in the past that I have a huge stash of unused corks in my arsenal thanks to my winemaker brother-in-law. From time to time, I come up with ways to use them and am starting to incorporate them in my holiday decor.

First, I laid the corks out in a tree shape. I just kept tweaking until I got the sizing that I wanted.

Then, I hot-glued and glued and glued and glued and glued all of the corks together, keeping the shape of the tree that I had laid out.

Feeling like it was too plain, I decided to add some color with craft paint. I felt that using just the green paint was a bit much. So, I watered it down to give a "white wash" effect. Once I had several of them painted, I just wiped the excess with a paper towel. You can see the difference between the top green row and the three green rows below it - the top row was freshly painted prior to wiping the excess watered-down-paint off and the bottom three rows were wiped down. I like how you can see the texture of the cork through the washed out color.

The very top cork was painted a washed out yellow for the "star". And since I didn't have any brown, I just left the trunk in it's natural cork.

And if I ever feel like I need a change, I can just flip it around for just the plain cork look.

I know I'm getting an early start on Christmas - anyone else out there getting an early start?

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

DIY Camper Snowglobe

2015-11-28T23:14:00.002-08:00

Can you believe it's almost December?!?! I know I say this every year to just about everyone, but time flies by so fast. I've already started getting ready for Christmas - I figure that the earlier I get things done, the sooner I will be done and have time to just relax and enjoy the season!

Today, I have a really cute Christmas decoration to share. I actually made it as a gift, but I'm thinking I'm going to have to some for myself and for other gifts! It's so easy and cute!

Supplies needed:

Clear jar with lid

Items to put in your jar

Fake snow

Hot glue sticks

Hot glue gun

The jar I used was an old pickle jar - I just took the label off and washed it. Reuse, recycle!

Most of the other supplies, I got at Michael's and made sure to use coupons!

Since my items needed a bit of a lift to be seen over the threading on the jar, I used a couple of corks that I had on hand for the base. I just hot-glued them onto the lid of the jar.

I then hot-glued the camper and one of the trees onto the corks. (I did have to fold up a little piece of cardstock to put under the front of the camper to make it level since the front of the camper didn't have wheels).

Now, just add snow!

Oopsie...too much snow.

It really didn't take much snow at all. Just enough to cover the "ground". You'll just have to shake the snow all around until you get it in the placement that you want.

I'll definitely be making more of these!

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

DIY Peter Pan Group Costumes: All of the Costumes!

2015-10-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

I've been sharing our DIY costumes for the Disneyland Halloween Party that we went to a couple of weeks ago and here's a round-up of all of them.

Top picture via of Davelandweb

I previously shared all of our DIY Peter Pan group costumes that we DIY'd and here's the last costume in our group!

My friend found this costume at Kohl's for $10! And during the first week of August! It was crazy that she was able to find it for so cheap and it was the first place she shopped at! The hat is obviously not the same, but it works. I hot glued a large feather that she bought at Joann (I think those go for no more than $5 and if you have a coupon, even better!). The only other thing she had to buy was the hook. I'm not sure how much she bought it for, but I found some Amazon going for as little as $6.

In case you missed the other costumes, here they are - just click on the link to go to the original posts.

DIY Tinkerbell

DIY Tick Tock Croc

DIY Peter Pan

DIY Tiger Lily Part 1

DIY Tiger Lily Part 2

DIY Mr. Smee

Also, here's a YouTube Video by Undercover Tourist that we're in! This is from the night we went to Disneyland for the Halloween Party. You can see us at the 1:44 mark (you can see me plain as day, but our Capt Hook, Tiger Lily, and Tick Tock Croc are also in the shot) and at the 2:21 mark (Mr. Smee & Tinkerbell). Thanks to my BBF (best bloggy friend) Brenda at Chatting Over Chocolate for sending me the video! She and her family were watching it and spotted me in it (she got a sneak peek of our costumes, so she knew what I was wearing)!

In case the video isn't working, you can just click here Undercover Tourist. This leads you directly to the video on their YouTube channel.

Our costumes have been done since the end of September because we went to the very first night of the Disneyland Halloween Party and it's so nice to have our costumes done so early! What are you going to be for Halloween???

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

DIY Peter Pan Group Costumes: Mr. Smee

2015-10-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

Here's the last costume we DIY'd for the Disneyland Halloween Party....overall, it's a pretty easy one!

We had ordered a red beanie off of Amazon for my friend's Smee costume for only a few bucks, but didn't realize it was coming from overseas. It showed up the day before the Disneyland Halloween Party (I even ordered it in August thinking that would be plenty of time) and I needed it sooner in order to make white sideburns to attach to it, so I ended up crocheting a red beanie just in case it didn't make it in time.

Proof that I can crochet. lol I already had red yarn on hand & I used a pattern that I amended from a crochet book that I have and it took me only a night to make it. I also attached a red pom pom to the top.

I also had the white fur on hand for the white sideburns. It's crazy what supplies I have in my stash! (it's from my teddy bear making days). I just used a picture of Mr. Smee and cut 2 pieces out free-hand. Then, I just sewed them onto the beanie.

We had double-sided sticky tape to help the fur stick to her face, but the tape didn't work well on the backside of the fur. And the only thing missing were the glasses! Pretty cute, though!

I'm not exactly sure of her cost for the costume, but she only had to buy the shirt (I think it was about $5 at Target) and the sandals (I believe she said they were about $8). The original beanie we had ordered for her was about $3.

In the next post, I'll round-up all of our costumes!

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

DIY Peter Pan Group Costumes: Tiger Lily (Part 2)

2015-10-06T03:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, kids. Here's the last of my Halloween costume DIYs for this year (but I'll do another post with a round up of these plus the other 2 we put together).

On the last post, I shared how I made Tiger Lily's dress. Here, I'll share how I made her accessories!

The Headband

Using a sheet of blue felt, I cut 2 strips. Ideally, you'll want to make one continuous strip. But, unfortunately, the sheet of felt wasn't enough to make one continuous strip. Womp womp. So, I had to cut 2 strips and I sewed them together on one end. I then did a fitting on my niece and safely used safety pins to mark where the strips would connect.

I thought that the felt might stretch a little bit when taking it off on and, so I decided to use velcro to hold the ends together. I just cut enough velcro and sewed them onto the headband.

Next up, was the feather. While I was painting Peter Pan's feather, I painted Tiger Lily's since I was using the same color. I just used an artist's brush and hand painted. (And by the way, in all of the other pictures of Tiger Lily, the red part matches my feather and not how it looks in the drawing in my title picture. )

Then, I just hot glued the bottom of the feather to the inside of the headband. To reinforce it, I added a little strip of felt and hot glued that. This little strip also helped the feather to not poke her head or stick in her hair.

The Shoe Covers
Since my niece's foot is tiny, I was able to use 1 sheet of felt per shoe, however, if you're doing this for an adult, you might need 2 sheets per shoe, or even have felt cut by the yard if the person's foot is big enough. I cut the sheet of felt in half length-wise and sewed one end together (as you can see below).

Using her actual shoe that she would be wearing, I pinned the felt all around the shoe and left room for her to put her foot in.

Here, you can see I sewed it all up and before trimming around the stitching, I sewed on the elastic strips for the soles. These elastic strips will help keep the shoe covers on the shoe. I wanted to make sure everything was correct before cutting (in case I needed to re-do anything).

Once I decided everything was looking good, I trimmed around the stitching and left an opening for her to put her foot in. Turn it inside out, cuff the top and you have shoe covers! It's not exactly what I had planned to do, but it totally worked to cover her PINK shoes. :)

Here's the complete outfit all laid out...

...And here's the whole ensemble on her. Adorable! She actually got lots of compliments at the Disneyland Halloween Party. A few people (cast members!) mistakenly called her Pocahontas, but DUH! Pocahontas doesn't wear a headband and her dress is totally different. (And yes, she did correct them and told them she's Tiger Lily. lol).

The cost breakdown:
Tan felt (for the dress) - $0. I already had this on hand and not sure of how much I originally spent when I bought it 4 years ago. I did use about 1 yard and Joann often has coupons, so you can get this for fairly cheap.
3 sheets of dark brown felt (shoe covers & belt) - $0.66 (I already had 1 sheet, so only needed to buy 2)
1 sheet of light pink felt - $0.33
1 sheet of hot pink felt - $0.33
1 sheet of blue felt - $0.33
1 feather (12 piece set at Joann for $2.49) - $0.20
Elastic (shoe covers) - $1.99
Total cost was almost $4! If I had needed to buy the tan felt, it would have cost me a bit more, but probably not more than $10 total. Seriously, that is so cheap compared to having to buy an already-made costume and I bet it would be difficult to find a Tiger Lily costume.

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

DIY Peter Pan Group Costumes: Tiger Lily (Part 1)

2015-10-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for Tiger Lily? This was the costume I was most anxious about since I've never actually sewn clothing from scratch. I had originally wanted for my niece to be a Lost Boy since I could easily make a costume from a hoodie with matching sweatpants, but I couldn't find any! I mean, I know it was early August when I started gathering supplies, but I figured I would be able to find some, but no-can-do. So, Tiger Lily it is!

I wouldn't necessarily call this a tutorial - I kind of was just wingin' it when I made this and there was a bit of trial and error (this is the first time I've made something that resembles actual clothing). So, I'll just show you what I did and maybe that will guide you in the right direction if you decide to try this yourself.

The dress
I made the dress out of this light brown felt that I had leftover from my DIY Miss Potato Head Costume. The felt was already folded in half (as it was on the bolt), so I left it that way - I used the folded part for the shoulders. The crazy part? I didn't take any measurements - I just laid the felt on the floor and had my niece lay on top of it. I drew straight lines on either side of her, allowing extra room. I then cut along the straight lines and I now had an approximate amount of fabric to work with. Using one of my niece's long-sleeved shirts, I outlined around the shirt (except for the sleeves) for the top of the dress and allowed for extra room for the seam allowance.

I cut a little bit of a V-neck to start out with and also so I could do a fitting on her. Using safety pins, I carefully pinned where I needed to stitch so the dress would fit her. I also marked for the length of the dress.

And also marked where the arm holes would start/stop.

Using her shirt as a guide again, I cut out pieces for the sleeves. I just made sure to cut a little wider and longer just in case.

This is how the sleeve will look after it's all cut out (you'll need 2 of these).

I pinned it to the arm hole temporarily with safety pins - when you actually sew it, you'll want to use regular pins. :)

And pinned up the rest of the dress and got it ready to be all sewed up!

And...another fitting! Looking good so far!

I ended up cutting the V-neck a little bigger. Also, at this point, I had left the bottom of the sleeves open so I could fit the sleeves on her. Again, I carefully pinned to get the width of the sleeves right and also the length.

Now is the part where you will learn from my ways. As you can see in the title picture, Tiger Lily's fringe is more of a scallop. Since I was using felt, which is thicker than regular fabric, I knew the scallop fringe wouldn't fall properly if I attached it to the top part of her sleeve, like how it is on Tiger Lily. I had already sewn up the sleeves when I decided to just make regular fringe and add it to the bottom of her sleeve. So, I had to rip out that bottom seam. This wasn't a big deal, but it would save you some time if you add the fringe to the sleeve before sewing it all up. :)

So, I just cut out 2 pieces of felt to be as long as the sleeves. I left a top edge so that I could sew it to the sleeves and just cut little strips.

To attach it to the sleeve, you'll need to turn the dress inside out and turn the fringe so that the top edge is on the bottom of the sleeves. Then, you sandwich it in between the right sides of the sleeves, like in the picture below.

This is how the sleeves will look once you turn the dress right side out. Perfecto! Next, I needed to add fringe to the front. I just cut another piece of felt that would go across the width of the dress and lined it up so it match the bottom of the sleeves. Then, just like with the sleeve fringe, leave a top edge and then cut the little slits for the fringe.

And don't forget the fringe for the bottom hem of the dress! Just cut 2 more pieces for the front & back and cut more little strips. You'll pin the top edge to the bottom of the dress' wrong side and sew.

Time for yet another fitting! WOW! It looks like a dress! At this point, I put a safety pin to mark where I wanted her belt to be.

Next up, I added these felt strips to the neckline using hot glue.

Using more felt, I cut strips for a faux belt and just hot glued.

In the picture below, I had just folded over the top edge of the center fringe and hot glued it to give it a nice top edge and pinned it to the dress to figure out the placement. Then, I hot glued that top edge to the actual dress.

You guys! This came out so good! I was so proud of myself for figuring it all out. I really don't know how I did it, but I did! In the next post, I'll share how I made her headband and shoe covers and a breakdown of the cost to make this.

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

DIY Peter Pan Group Costumes - Peter Pan

2015-10-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

Alright! Continuing on with our group Peter Pan group costumes...we have Peter Pan!

Soooo, I was too busy taking pictures of the kids at the Disneyland Halloween Party to remember to have my friend take one of me. Therefore, I don't have any decent pictures of me in full costume. So this will have to do for the "official" title picture.

I'm not going to go into every single step because I followed this tutorial by its a lisa for the shirt & hat and it was really very easy! In fact, we overheard a couple of people at the Disneyland Halloween Party comment on how clever it was to have just cut a t-shirt (one of the commenters was wearing a store-bought Peter Pan costume which I'm sure wasn't cheap!).

First, I drew some zig zags on both sleeves and just cut them with scissors.

After cutting the sleeves, I tried on my shirt and realized that it was just too big. So, I pinned the sides and sewed it all up so it fit better. BUT, if you buy the right size, you shouldn't have to do any sewing at all!

At the bottom of the shirt , I drew more zig zag lines (although, it's really hard to see the lines I drew here) and cut away.

In the tutorial, she tells you to cut the collar & then cut a slit down the middle for the new folded collar. I sometimes forget when I'm cutting out the collar, to follow the lines of the collar instead of cutting through both the front & back at the same time and that's what I accidentally did here, so the shirt kept slipping at my shoulders. It was annoying, but nothing I couldn't deal with.

Next up, is the hat. In the tutorial, she provides a template for the hat, but when I printed it out, it was too small. So, I re-drew it and saved it as a PDF file, however in order for me to attach it to this post, I had to change it to a JPEG file. If this file doesn't work for you, just message me & I'll send you the PDF file. :)

Back to the hat...I used 2 sheets of felt for the hat and using the template, I cut the pieces out. I sewed up all of the edges except for the bottom edge. You'll want to leave that section open since that's the part that sits on your noggin.

I probably could have saved some money by using red felt that I already had in my stash to make a feather, but my brain was already focused & thinking "need real feathers. must get real feathers", so I bought some feathers at Joann's. I originally had the bright idea to use food coloring to dye the feathers, but DUH! Feathers are water proof! I happened to have red paint in my stash, so I just painted the roses red. Oops - wrong movie. I painted the feather red.

I cut a little slit in the hat where I could tuck the feather in and just reinforced it with some hot glue.

Add a belt of some sort, leggings, and booties and ta da! Instant Peter Pan. Obviously I'm not in Never Never Land with that messy bed and messy hair. Ugh!

And this picture is too grainy (taken at the Disneyland Halloween Party), but you get the gist.

Here's a breakdown of the cost:

Leggings (Forever 21) - $3.60

T-shirt (Walmart - on sale!) - $2

2 pieces of felt for the hat (Joann - on sale!) - $0.66

Feathers (12 piece set at $2.49 at Joann) - $0.20

Belt - already had

Booties - already had

Total was about $6.50! So cheap AND easy!

I have 1 more tutorial coming up for ya, so I'll be back!

Also, see Tinkerbell and Tick Tock Croc for 2 other costumes in our group.

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

DIY Peter Pan Group Costumes: Tick Tock Croc

2015-09-30T03:00:00.000-07:00

Since Halloween will be here before you know it, I'm sharing our Peter Pan group costumes with you all. I made 4 of the 6 costumes and 3 of them were super easy. ;)
Next up is Tick Tock Croc!

My nephew is 14 years old now and hasn't been interested in dressing up for Halloween for awhile. But, I was able to convince him to dress up along with us with this minimal and easy Tick Tock Croc costume.
For Tick Tock's face, I ordered this green visor from Amazon. I already had felt on hand, so I cut out some pieces for his eyes, teeth, & tongue and hot glued them to the visor. I was following one of the pictures I looked at online & made his teeth pointy, but I thought he looked too much like a snake.

So, I changed it by giving him less teeth & rounding out the tips. I also made the tongue a shorter so it wouldn't impair his vision.

For the clock, I just cut out a big circle of felt & added some sticky felt numbers. I would have loved to make it a bit more elaborate, but to be honest, I was too lazy for all of that. I just added a few stitches by hand to attach it to the shirt so that when Halloween is done, it can just be easily snipped off and he wear the shirt normally.

The cost?
Visor (Amazon) - $5.99 (right now it's going for $6.74 with free shipping)
T-shirt (Walmart) - $3
Total was about $9!

I reeeeeeeallly wanted to make a tail, but I didn't think my nephew would go for that. But also, I figured a long tail would be cumbersome for walking around all night and riding the rides at Disneyland. So the tail got ix-nayed!

There's more to come on our group costumes, but you can also check out our DIY Tinkerbell.

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

DIY Peter Pan Group Costumes: Tinkerbell

2015-09-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, people! It's that time of year to start thinking about Halloween costumes! YES! So, back in July, I got our tickets for the Disneyland Halloween Party for the end of September and we started thinking up costume ideas. Yep! We started brainstorming in JULY as soon as we got our tickets. Considering the Halloween Party was one whole month before actual Halloween and with 6 people in our group, we needed to start planning early. Our original idea wasn't working out, so my friend suggested a group costume. After a bit of research, we came up with Peter Pan - I've always wanted to be Peter Pan for Halloween and with our big group, we had several characters to choose from.

First up, we have Tinkerbell.

My friend's daughter wanted to be Tinkerbell and they wanted her to have a tutu skirt. My friend had made one of the skirts awhile ago, but couldn't completely remember how to do it, so in addition to her experience, I used this tutorial and this tutorial as guides.

It was actually pretty easy. And having a cutting mat with rotary blade helped a ton! My friend said when she made a tutu skirt in the past, the most time-consuming part was cutting the tulle with scissors. We decided on 3-inch strips & I just folded up the tulle (since it was long) so that I could make just one cut per strip.

We measured her daughter's waist with the elastic for the band and I sewed up the ends. We then tied the tulle onto the elastic (it's best to click on one of tutorial links above) until it filled up the elastic band completely.

I also made white pom poms from yarn (that I already had) for her shoes. Her ballet flats happened to have cut-outs all over, so all I had to do was slip the ends of the pom poms through the cut-outs and tied them inside.

The rest of her costume consisted of white leggings, a t-shirt (you could also use a tank top instead) & fairy wings. The awesome thing is that she can use the leggings & t-shirt afterwards for normal wear.

The cost breakdown:
Leggings - $3
T-shirt (Walmart) - $3
Fairy wings (Amazon) - $6.34
Tulle - 6 yards (Joann - on sale!) - $7.98
Elastic for the waistband (Joann) - $2.99 (but could be cheaper if you have a coupon!)
Yarn for shoe pom poms - already had
Total spent was about $23, which is awesome because I've seen Tinkerbell costumes going for about $40 (she fits in adult-sized clothing).

Stay tuned for more on our group costumes!

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

Bamboo Roman Shades: Kitchen Update

2015-09-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

Well, lookie here! I have another kitchen update for ya!

I previously shared the bamboo roman shades I installed on my dining room window. When I bought the shades for the dining room, I decided to get the same exact ones for the kitchen. The blinds I installed 4 years ago, were only meant to be temporary while I was trying to decide on what kind of window treatment I wanted to do.

Installation was easy since I had already installed the ones in the dining room. The blinds I had on previously were 2 sets and the one on the left always had problems with opening. When I would open them up, only the top half of the slats would open, so I would have to open the bottom half one slat at a time. It was really irritating, so I would only open them on the weekends.

These new roman shades are soooooo much easier to open, so I open them much more often and can enjoy my view out the window and see what's going on in the neighborhood. #nosyneighbor

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

New Paint in the Hallway

2015-08-31T03:00:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to say it, so you don't have to. This isn't going to be the most interesting post by a long shot. But, I finally painted my little hallway earlier this year, so figured I may as well share it.

When I bought the house, the hallway & the bathroom attached to it were painted in what I think is Brown Teepee by Behr. I don't have any issues with earth tones, but I prefer more cool tones and lighter colors. This brown hallway is smack dab in the middle of the house that doesn't get a lot of natural light, so the dark color didn't do it any justice. It always felt like a cave.

This is the view from the living room.

(By the way, I know I took recent pictures of the hallway before I painted it, but I can't find them anywhere). And here's a view from the guest bedroom. You can see how I tested out several paint colors in the hallway. Those paint samples were up on the wall for about 2 years. ;)

I had some leftover primer, so thought I would just use the rest of it to cover this dark color. I chose the new paint color awhile back, but priming the hallway gave me a chance to think about it and make sure that color was what I really wanted.

The new, lighter color of the primer solidified the fact that this hallway needed a light and not dark color. I was already so much happier with the primer on. And by the way, this hallway may be tiny, but it sure was a pain to paint. This hallway includes 3 doors, 1 set of double-doors, a linen closet, the doorbell box, and thermostat screen. That's a lot of cutting in and taping off!

The color I chose was Dolphin Fin by Behr. When I was at Home Depot getting the paint, I was browsing their paint swatches and was shocked to see that a lot of the paint colors have changed. I asked the girl behind the paint counter and she said that they had just changed in the last few months. Whaaaat? I don't know if the actual colors have been updated also, but for sure the names have changed. Sigh.

Anyways, so here you can see how much better the hallway looks in it's new color. Such a huge difference and I just love it!

I previously only had one picture frame up on the wall, but I haven't put it back up because I'm thinking to do something different. It's just hard to decorate because it's a small space filled with weird angles.

And now that the new paint color is up, I feel like the floor tile doesn't work with it (I want to eventually change the floors anyways) and you can really see how off-white the popcorn ceiling is. I want to start taking down some of the popcorn soon and I'll probably start with this hallway first since it's a small area. (See how one project can often lead to more projects?) Anyhow, that's it - new paint in the hallway. It's nothing terribly exciting, but I love how much of a difference paint can make!

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

Bamboo Roman Shades: Dining Room Update

2015-08-24T03:00:00.001-07:00

So, I STILL haven't made my dining room table. All of the wood is just sitting in the garage waiting to be sanded down and stained. I swear, I will get to it one of these days! So, until then, here is a dining room update!

Back in 2011, I had new windows installed in the entire house. It was pretty much a necessity - one of the windows would leak water during a heavy rain and you could feel the cold or the heat coming through the windows. Not good. Since I was having new windows put in, I decided to have them turn my "world's smallest & dumbest window" into a large window that could also open to bring in fresh air, which I which I shared here.

See how ridiculous that window was? I'm guessing in the '80s these types of windows were cool? It would always be so dark in here and I love how much light the new window brings in.

Until this year, that window sat without curtains or any blinds. Since it only faces the side of my neighbor's house, I never felt rushed to put anything up (her house is a little bit lower than mine & she's an elderly woman who lives by herself - I wasn't worried about her peepin'). Plus, I was still trying to decide exactly what I wanted to do with it. Well, earlier this year, my neighbor's son put up one of those motion detector security lights on this side of her house and for some reason it stays on ALL.NIGHT.LONG and shines into my house. Time to put up a window treatment!

So, I did some research and found some roman shades at Lowe's that I really liked: Levolor Bamboo Roman Shades in Tatami. Of course, none of the windows in my house are a common size as the off-the-shelf-shades, so I had to buy a size that's bigger than my window and had them cut down.

They were super easy to install. Just follow the directions that came with them.

Instant privacy! (It's very hard to get pictures of windows, thus the crappy cel phone pictures).

Love!

And see how the neighbor's light is STILL shining?

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

Spring Fun 2015

2015-08-17T03:00:00.000-07:00

I know Summer is almost over, but I just realized I never shared my Spring Fun post. Oopsie! So, let's get started...

Spring started out with a visit to see family for my nephew's birthday. It also happened to be Easter weekend, so we dyed eggs also.

Some of my friends and I went to see Anjelah Johnson's show at one of our local casinos. We love her comedy and she didn't disappoint!

I also celebrated a huge birthday - the big 4-0! We stayed at the Wynn in Vegas (so nice!) and before heading out to dinner, we had drinks at the Vdara lobby bar where one of our friends is a bartender. Then, we had a great dinner at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab before heading over to see Jerry Seinfeld at Caesar's Palace.

Afterwards, we took a ride on the High Roller, which gave us awesome views of the city.

After the High Roller, we walked around the strip where we got our picture with a stinky, fake Olaf.

Before leaving Vegas, we had an awesome lunch at Margaritaville and killed a plate of Volcano Nachos. Yummmmm!

And what would a birthday be without a trip to Disney? We didn't actually go into the parks, but we had lunch at Storyteller's at the Grand Californian Hotel. Not only did my friends surprise me with an awesome cake, but the restaurant also surprised me with an autograph from the main Mouse. :)

What comes along with turning 40? Yep, a mammogram. I'll admit to being pretty nervous to have it done because I've heard that hurts, but it wasn't bad at all!

I was pretty bummed a few years ago, when I missed out on seeing Berlin and A Flock Of Seagulls when they played in my town for it's free summer concert series. So, when they played in a nearby town for another free concert, I made sure not to miss! Both bands played their hits, but Berlin was still awesome! Terri Nunn looked & sounded so good and she really rocked out.

It was a spring filled with comedy shows & concerts apparently! I went to see Lana Del Rey with some friends at the Hollywood Bowl in LA. And when we were headed out to dinner before the show, we walked right past an actor who was a semi-regular on "Nip/Tuck" (if you watched the show, you will for sure recognize him from the photo below. He looks pretty much the same in person).

We also celebrated baby Josiah at my friend's baby shower in May. He was born last month and is so cute!

It had been awhile since our last Disneyland trip and we hadn't gone since the 60th Celebration started, so we made sure to get in at least one more trip before our passes were blocked.

I'm not much of a parade or fireworks watcher at Disneyland, but I'd been hearing so much great stuff about the new "Paint the Night" parade and "Disneyland Forever" fireworks, that my friend and I decided to make a special trip after work to have dinner and watch the parade & fireworks. And they did not disappoint!

My brother-in-law works for one of our local casinos and I have to say, they treat their employees, really, really well! They treated their employees and families with free admission for 4 to Universal Studios Hollywood and it also included free parking and free lunch & dinner. Sweet! My brother-in-law had to work, so I took the kiddos and the babysitter. It was my niece's first time there and we all got to ride the Minion ride for the first time (she loved it so much, I had to take her on it again). My nephew & I went on the Jurassic Park ride and I got soaked, of course.

I also got to see some of the progress of the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter that's slated to open in the Spring of 2016. I CANNOT WAIT! Seriously, I think I was more excited to see this than anything else in the park.

My sister took the kids to Thailand to visit our family for a month in July, so I wanted to make sure to take the kids to do some things after they got out of school & before they left on their trip. So, one of the places we went was to the LA County Museum of Natural History. I'd never been there before, but had been wanting to go to see the dinosaur bones. My niece had been there they year before and she made sure to play tour guide. ;) We all LOVED it, though, and I would highly recommend it!

I took my niece to see "Inside Out" and she instantly declared it is now her #1 favorite movie - even ahead of "Frozen"!

I didn't realize how much I did in such a short time, but it sure was a lot of fun!

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

Updated Kitchen Shelves

2015-08-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hey there - long time, no write! Life's been busy in so many ways, so this little blog has taken a backseat. I would love to be blogging more frequently again, but that won't happen until things slow down a bit more. Until then, I'll pop on every once in awhile to share things.

Recently, I put in new shelving in the kitchen.

The black shelves I put up awhile ago were shelves I bought when I first bought my house 6 years ago. I had planned to use them as bedside tables in my master bedroom, but never used them since I bought other tables instead. So, up they went in the kitchen. I really liked having these shelves up, but the style of the shelves were a little too traditional for my taste (they're not bad, just not really "me").

I'd been eyeballing these Ikea shelves for a really long time and finally got them on my last trip there. I really like that they are more of a floating type of shelf. I also prefer a darker wood finish, but they didn't have any for use with the Bjarnum brackets, so I got the birch veneer finish. And I was surprised at how much I like the lighter color!

Eventually, the dark brown walls will get changed out for dark gray walls.

And the "Teatles" artwork was from one of my best friends from her London trip. She knows how much I love the Beatles and the tea theme seemed best for the kitchen. LOVE!

I did have to cut down the shelves a bit since they were a smidge too long. A little bit of sawing at 12am on a weeknight? Sure! My parents came to stay with me for a few days this month, so I used that as an excuse to finally get the shelves up on the wall. Nothing like a little last minute, late night DIY.

Sorry for the cel phone photos - that's what I'm rollin' with these days since I'm a bit too lazy to break out the good camera. Thanks for stopping by!

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY