It's All About the Shelves

I think the key to my sanity in a house with 4 little kids is STORAGE. That's what's going to get me through the day. During the month of April, we celebrate 3 of my 4 kids birthdays and with that a truckload of new toys, gadgets, and the smallest game pieces imaginable make their way into our home. Stuff ends up in the worst places, namely, under my feet. So, some storage solutions are in order.

First up, the boys' room!

Here's where we left off:

And after picking up 6 of these lovely shelves from Ikea, here's where we are today:

Ahhhhhh.....So nice.

Here's the little shelf unit we were trying to stuff all these toys on now:

Again, I'm in storage heaven. 

These cute frames and prints were also Ikea finds! I love the vintage car prints, you can get 5 in a package for $1 per print! I'm going to go back for their vintage flower prints for my girls room. 

My son loves seeing his most prized toys on display and the great thing is he can reach these guys with the stool we use for his closet. Win-win!

I'm just happy I finally get to display his blocks I made for him about 4 years ago! 

I am not the greatest stager for shelves, but since these needed to be functional as well as fun, I'm pretty happy with the end results. The little bins (also from Ikea) hold his smaller items such as Lego's, plastic dinosaurs, and action figures. 

And the fact that I'm not stepping on anymore surprises or tripping over that lovely ship is good enough for me. Ah, a boy's life!  

Next up, built-in's for my girls room! 

A Rock Star Birthday

Well, I'm beat. How many of you guys need a week's vacation after throwing a birthday party for your kids? Ha! Anyway, my daughter decided to have a friend party this year and wanted the theme to be rock star. I scratched my head for awhile and then just decided to go with it.

We had a fun time.

The kids showed up and immediately started decorating their own guitars (made out of poster board). We had crayons, markers, stickers, foam stickers, gems. My daughter wants to be an artist when she grows up, so this seemed a great way to start her birthday. After they were done, we had to get some rock star poses.





I didn't get a lot of pictures of the rest of the party because I was alone and trying to keep 8 little girls entertained. At one point the party evolved into a spontaneous pillow fight. Hey, we went with it. We're go with the flow these days. But, we did pin the mic on the rock star, pop the balloon (one of the balloons had a little object in it and whoever found it won), duck duck goose (not very rockery, but again, the kids had fun with it), and then musical chairs.

I saw these cupcake ice cream cones on House of Hepworths and had to give them a try. I'd say they were a hit with about half of the party goers. Luckily, we had some regular cupcakes on hand. It was still a really fun project and I'd definitely try them again.

The girls were able to play chef and make their own mini pizzas. While the pizzas cooked, we opened presents.

Our little goody bags. The labels were printed before the party and the prizes from the games made up the goody bags (along with some candy, crayons and a little notebook for our fellow artists).

The balloon garlands were lots of fun, they are strung together with bakers twine. I wanted to make one long enough to go across the room, but ran out of time and balloons. 

We had such a fun time and after 12 hours of sleep I can finally say that I'd do it again, just to see the smiles on my little girls face.

EBTKS Link Party

I am going to do something that I promised myself I would never really do. I love visiting certain blogs every morning, in front of my cereal. It's like reading the paper, checking on old friends. When I started this blog it was for a creative outlet but it quickly turned into something more than that. I loved meeting the people who decided to "follow" or subscribe and especially leave comments. I had so many ideas, so much to express, and I just needed to share it somewhere and blogland became that place. Every time I didn't have something to post, I was disappointed in myself and really wanted to try and do better.

But, I decided that I shouldn't be disappointed. I should be ok. The time I'm not using to make projects for this blog is spent doing other things. Some more important, some not at all important. I am still sort of surprised that I even started a blog, because it's so outside my comfort zone. Maybe that's another reason I did it...anyway, I'm not leaving the blog. Not at all. And when I venture to other blogs that say what I'm about to say, I always do a little sigh, shrug my shoulders and then delete them from my favorite list (and I hope you won't do that), but here goes...

I'm stepping away for a little while. Like many before me, other things have taken over my time and I have to let them for a bit. I'm positive that I will always be here, sometimes with projects everyday, other times with just a link party to get the idea juices flowing. Like today.

But, I am the mother of 4 children. And this time is so precious to me.

Just to make things clear, one of these heads is my husband...my baby is asleep. Ha!

They still like to cuddle with me in the morning. They still come to me with owies to kiss better. They still love to hear me read them a story. I am their best buddy, their teacher, their comforter, their example...and it's only for a little while longer before they are totally embarrassed to have me drive them somewhere, and then they will leave me and venture into this world all on their own. I have to admit, that thought absolutely terrifies me. Have you read the news? This world is a scary place. But, if I take care of these guys now, arm them with the things that will make them productive citizens, firm believers in right and wrong and willing to stand up for those beliefs, then I can rest a bit easier (let's be honest, I'll always worry....).

But I'm not going to stress about what to put on the blog right now. I just can't. It's going to be my creative outlet when I get creative. Whenever that might be. I hope you will keep me in your list of blogs-to-visit and come back to check out things every once in awhile. I appreciate all of your comments and support more than you know. Ahhh! I'm getting all verklempt. Ok, let's move on to the link party!

Last week's most viewed link was the EZ Instant Makeover from Small Fine Print. I love how she was able to turn her white appliance into that sleek stainless steel look without the money fuss. Great job!

Now, on to the party! Have fun!!

EBTKS Link Party

Hey guys! Sorry for the severe lack of posts lately. I'm sort of in a little rut. We're getting warmer weather which I cannot be more grateful for, but we're still sort of stuck in that in between stage. But, warm weather allows the kids to go outside and play, which is always a plus, and it also allows for some much needed spray painting projects. So, I'm getting there. Just be patient with me!

In the meantime, how about a link party? Yeah? Sounds good? Ok! Here is last week's most viewed link...

Ellen from Creative Passage and her darling butterfly Easter Eggs! Ellen has many talents and gifts and she creates the most beautiful out of the ordinary (like rocks and glass). It's a gift. Go check her out! 

Now, on to the party! Be sure to comment on each other's favorites and have fun! 

The Easter

Easter was exhausting.  I'm not saying we didn't have a wonderful time,  we just tried to pack in every single holiday activity into one day.  I'm beat. The kids had fun, though!  We found hidden Easter baskets, dyed eggs, hid and then found those eggs.  We cooked and then feasted on the traditional ham and potatoes.  It was delicious.  And then today we celebrated my son's birthday.  All day long.  He was in heaven and fell asleep in 5 seconds.  A birthday success,  I'd say.  I hope your holiday was exhausting as well... in that perfect way,  of course.