Thursday, January 28, 2010

Hugs and Kisses Banner

A friend and I are planning a hugs and kisses baby shower in February and I wanted to make a XOX banner. I came across this one at yourhomebasedmom.com. It was so adorable I made my own. She has a great tutorial but here is how I did mine.

I used Word to blow up an X and an O and then printed them out on cardstock. I cut them out and then traced them on some foamboard (the hearts I just free handed).
I cut out the foamboard letters with an exacto knife and then spray glued some scrapbook paper on them. I used the exacto knife again to slice around the paper and foam leaving a perfect fit.

After drying, I used a sharp pencil to poke holes through the shapes. An ice pick or kabob stick probably would have worked better but I didn't have one on hand. I carefully threaded ribbon through the holes and...

...TADA! A cute hugs and kisses banner. So simple!

I am getting excited to display it at the shower and use it in my own home for Valentine's Day!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

NEW backsplash and countertops!!!

Remember how I painted my kitchen cabinets back in March?!  It made such a big difference in my kitchen!  I have loved having the cabinets updated with paint and new hardware.

  We have now completed phases 2 & 3 of our remodel. 1- Granite counter tops which we had installed, and 2- a new slate back splash that was a DIY job.  (Mostly by my He-man hubby!)  Like most of you out there in the real world, we are on a budget and like to use cash for major purchases.  For that reason we do still have all of our old appliances, though we might phase them out over time. 
Here she is BEFORE.  (Yes my kitchen is a "she" because in a house full of boys I need some company!)



Here are some shots during the back splash INSTALL PICTURES.  The old tile was white and the forest green color that was popular back in 1999.  We went with slate instead of travertine.  The color is called Mongolian desert that we felt went with our new granite called Taboo. 


And (sigh of happiness) AFTER:


It was definitely worth the 9 month wait!
We are linking up with our girl Kimba over at A Soft Place To Land for her weekly DIY party!