Ding Dong the Wicked Peep is Dead!

It's that time of year--Washington Post's annual Peeps Diorama contest! This year I decided to go with a Wizard of Oz theme because I knew it would be fun to make all of the characters out of peeps. Here are the pictures I submitted for the contest:

This year I had almost all of my materials on hand, so I was glad that I didn't have to buy too much. Just red glitter, brown embroidery thread, and green paint. Oh and lots of peeps!

Here is the Wicked Peep of the West. I spray painted her green, used green pipe cleaners for the arms, and black satin for her dress and hat. I also used a stick and some dried grass for her broom. She doesn't have any legs because she is melting! 

I made the Tin Man's funnel hat and body out of paper, then spray painted the whole thing silver. To make his legs I cut off the ears of one peep and glued them to the bottom of his body. Peeps with legs! By the way, after much trial and error I've learned that hot glue is the best for working with peeps. Their sugary bodies makes it hard for anything else to stick. And you would think that the hot glue would melt them, but it works really well. Just wanted to share in case you are crazy like me and want to get crafty with peeps!

The Cowardly Lion looks just like my nephew Owen in his lion Halloween costume, because I used leftover fleece and yarn. My favorite part is how he is holding his tail because he is so scared.  

The Scarecrow was the toughest one to make, but he turned out so well! I made his hat and shirt out of cotton fabric and stuffed in some dried grass to look like straw.

Here is Dorothy in her cute gingham dress and brown hair made from embroidery floss. Let me tell you, it is not easy braiding hair for a peep! 

Of course Dorothy had to have her ruby slippers. I had some Barbie shoes and I painted them with red nail polish and dipped them in glitter.

And now for my favorite part--the closeups!

So, after Dorothy pours water on the Wicked Peep, she grabs the witches broom...

And then takes it back to the Wizard of Peep! 

I couldn't resist making the green wizard's head out of one of these giant peep bunnies!

I hope you like this year's theme. The winners of the contest will be announced in a few weeks, but I just have so much fun making my peeps!  

The Kitchen is Finished!

Our kitchen is finally done! The contractors finished up on the day before Christmas break, so we were able to enjoy the kitchen and do a lot of cooking over Christmas. 

And now for some Before & Afters!

You may have noticed something else that's new--roman shades for the windows! 

This past weekend I was determined to keep the momentum going and make the curtains.
I also made pillows for the new booth.

We love the booth and have been eating lots of dinners there. We hang out in the kitchen a lot more than we used to. Alan sits in the booth while I cook dinner and then I linger while he does the dishes!

I am also really proud of my invention for a sliding broom holder. I bought a drawer track to attach it to some of the wood trim that matched the cabinets, then added hooks. It slides in and out very easily and is perfect fit for the narrow space between the fridge!

 We are really happy that it all turned out so well and we love everything about our new kitchen!

Kitchen Project: Week 4

Look at how much progress we've made!

We are getting very close to being done! Our new booth is just waiting for the granite countertop, but it is looking great. There are just a few more things that need to done, like grout for the backsplash and installing the new window. We plan to do some serious cleaning this weekend because there is dust everywhere. Then we can start moving things back into the kitchen!

Kitchen progress: Two weeks in

We are making slow but steady progress on the new kitchen. This weekend we picked out the backsplash tile. Here are all the samples together. On the left are the maple cabinets in a medium brown finish, tile for floor at the bottom, granite counters in the middle, backsplash tile on top, and green wall color in the middle. 

We also picked a light fixture for over the new booth! This isn't the best picture because I was right underneath the light but at least you can see the shape. It's much smaller in person and not distorted. 

Today was the second day of laying the tile floor. They are almost done, just have to finish the step. 

The big holes in the walls are patched and electrical is ready to go. 

The most exciting news is that our appliances came today!

We opened up the fridge and it is amazing! My favorite parts are the ice maker on the door and the freezer has a special spot for pizza storage! You can slide a frozen pizza right in the front. 

Tomorrow the cabinets are being delivered! It's going to start looking like a real kitchen soon!

Demo starts today on our kitchen!

Its official, we are getting a new kitchen!! Today our contractors began ripping out everything. Alan and I are so excited and can't wait until this project is finished. For our sanity, this isn't a DIY project. We decided to leave this on to the pros. Hopefully it will be finished just after Thanksgiving. 

Here are some before shots of the kitchen after we had emptied everything out. 

 

 

 

Here are the plans so you can get a sense of what it will look like when it's all finished. Our cabinets are a medium brown color with a Shaker door style.

 

You can see that the side door is gone and replaced with a window. We have only opened that door about 2 times since we have lived here, so we decided to take it out. We will make the opening narrower with a smaller window so that we can extend the cabinets and countertop.

 

To the left of the sink we are going to have a pull out drawer for trash and recycling bins. Alan is so excited! And the big cabinet next to that is going to have pull out shelves.

The microwave is moving from the counter to over the stove. We bought a french door fridge with ice/water on the door (that actually works!). We also bought a slide in gas range, so there is no back to it (just like in the picture). We think it will make the space feel more open, since it is small. The best part is no more cooking on an electric stove! This is my favorite part, and I can't wait!

 

And I don't have a drawing, but the cubby area is going to be turned into a built in booth. We thought long and hard about what to do on that side of the kitchen, and we are really excited about having a booth. Right now we don't have a place to eat in the kitchen, so we are looking forward to sitting with a cup of coffee and enjoying the view the view out our front window. We are using base cabinets for the seats, so they will have open storage and I plan to buy some nice baskets. The tabletop will also give us some much needed counter space.

 

Since our kitchen is so small, we had to make some decisions for function over style. But we are very happy with the overall design and think we have maximized the functionality of our kitchen.

And now for the demolition!!!

Where did it all go??

Oh, there it is. On our front lawn.

 

 

 

Then they loaded it all up on their truck and hauled it away. Like magic our kitchen just disappeared!

Our Civil War Costumes are Finished!

Happy Halloween!! I wanted to share pictures of how we decorated our house and also our costumes!

Our front porch is ready for fall with a new orange wreath, mums, and some pumpkins. I also planted some yellow pansies in our garden, and the deer haven't eaten then yet. Hurray!

When you come in the front door, I added some spooky art to our chalkboard. I found the design on Pinterest. 

I also rearranged our mantel for Fall. There are two new things: a red wire  thingy that goes over a candle, and a tall basket that is supposedly for catching fish. They were both under $10 each and I like that they go with the colors in the room. 

Our dining room cabinet is also spookified. I added some eyeballs in a jar, books with creepy titles, skulls, and other  thigs I found around the house. It's like a witches curio cabinet!

And now on to what you really want to see...our costumes! We went with a Gone With the Wind/Civil War theme this year. I made Scarlett O'Hara's curtain dress for me and a confederate soldier outfit for Alan. I hope you like them!!