DIY Pink-Polka Dot washing machine

Let me just say that my husband is awesome & indulges me!! How many guys would let their wives get away with this?! :)

I am just going to start with the after picture because I am obsessed with my newly painted pink & polka dotted washing machine!! Isn't it fabulous? I had seen this Pin at the beginning of the summer of a turquoise polka dot washer & have been trying to find the time to do this. It was my perfect answer to wanting a new washer & dryer but not having the money for a fancy upgrade. Paint it pink & it feels like new! It was a fairly simply project, except it was a very small room to work in & I did not want to pull them out. So I only painted their tops & fronts. 

As you can see in this picture, we had just a boring, plain white washer & dryer. Drew actually brought these into the marriage :) Not pretty, but they get the job done!

I started the make-over by taping off around the control knobs. I held bowls of varying sizes around the areas I didn't want to paint and then traced around them. Next step was applying primer. I used two coats of KILZ primer. And just a warning- it STINKS!! Especially in a tiny laundry room! Drew was afraid I might be causing myself a little brain damage :)

Next, it was time for the pink! I used regular latex paint, in a very happy shade of pink. I ended up doing three coats to get it completely covered. Here's after the pink:

 Aren't they pretty?! They make me happy!! The tutorial I had been following used a stencil to add the white polka dots. I didn't have a stencil. I also did not want to trace polka dots all over it & hand paint them. So I went with an easier & faster solution. White vinyl! I used my cricut to cut out circles of various sizes in white vinyl. I then just stuck them on. Super fast & easy! Only problem- I ran out of vinyl.

At this point, I really wish I would have left the dryer white. Then I could have done it opposite, white dryer with pink polka dots. O well, too late!!

And yes, I did go out & buy more white vinyl for the dryer but before I had a chance to add the polka dots, our washer broke. Yes, our freshly painted washer broke!! Can you say OMG?!!

And in the process of it breaking, it flooded the laundry room. And the water messed up the attached living room carpet. And it seeped through the walls & soaked the master closet. Once again, OMG!!!!

I'm not even sure what I was more upset about, the washer being broken, the floors having to be replaced, or the fact that I just painted that stupid thing!!

Anyway, two weeks later & the washer has been banged around a bit but it is fixed. The lid switch broke. So that was a cheap fix. Well, except for the floors. We have also picked out new flooring that is to be replaced within the next two weeks.

Drew says the whole thing was my fault. His washer & dryer didn't want to be pink because they are manly. Whatever, it's fixed & we're on the road to new floors!!

Cake pops!

My friend Amanda was hosting a baby shower for her sister-in-law in June & asked for my help with the dessert. She wanted to make cake pops but had never made them before. I hadn't done them in a couple of months so I was all for helping! Since she has a 1 year old, I packed up all my stuff & we did them at her house. (My house is definitely not baby proof!)  Our friend Jen came over & we ended up having girls night all at the same time :) I had Amanda make the 9x13 cake ahead of time so we wouldn't have to wait until it cooled. First step is crumbling the cake into a big bowl. Then add about 2/3 of a can of store bought icing & mix well. It's easiest to use your hands to mix but it gets very messy!

After the cake & icing were mixed together, we rolled the mixture into as many balls as we could. We stuck them in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm up. While they were in the freezer I melted the candy coating. We used all blue. Can you tell the baby is a boy?

Take the white pop stick, dip into candy coating & then insert about halfway into a cake ball. I do this to about 10 before I start dipping the cake itself. I find that it starts to harden & will help the cake ball stay on the stick much better while dipping.

After dipping, add whatever sprinkles you like while the candy coating is still wet. Then stick the completed cake pop into Styrofoam while it hardens.

For the best directions for cake pop making, head to their inventor's website, Bakerella!

I think ours turned out very pretty :)

For display, Amanda had an idea I hadn't seen yet. She made a diaper cake with an extra foam lip sticking out all they way around the bottom wrapped in ribbon. We stuck the cake balls into that extra foam, so they encircled the diaper cake.

Pretty cute, huh? To read more about the whole shower, head to her blog, the Parr Family Adventures.

May wrap up - 90th!, mirror frame, sugar scrub, flower wreath

 Jolie wasn't the only May birthday we got to celebrate. This amazing lady is my grandmother, Dorothy Kelly. On May 20 she turned 90 years old! I am so blessed to be able to call her Grandmother! I love her so much! And despite her declining health, she is still a spit fire & is definitely one of my favorite people in the entire world!! Happy Birthday Grandmother!!

She likes to have blankets on her lap, so I made her this minky blanket. Of course it's pink, It's her favorite color too. I really liked the brightness of this color combo & she loved it! Mom says she uses it almost every day :)

Here's a picture of me & Drew at her party.

Mother's Day was also in May, so I decided to make my mom & mother-in-law sugar scrubs. It was a first for me & I'm not sure I'd ever make them again!! They were super messy (ok, that could just be a me problem) to make & I was never super happy with the consistency. I went with a lavender scent.

At least they're pretty :) 

I also finally framed out the mirror in the guest bathroom. It was soo much easier than when I did the master because I had confidence in what I was doing! I love the transformation!

But- do you see what happens when you ask your husband to send you a picture of the after because you forgot to? He doesn't even notice that there's a light out! O well, thanks husband!!

I also made new, colorful wreaths to go on the french doors in the kitchen. My first try at flower wreaths by myself. Not my favorite, but they'll do.

And that is May, all wrapped up. I think!

Princess (barbie) Cake for Jolie!

My niece Jolie turned 4 in May. Last year she had a Tangled themed birthday party complete with my cupcake version of Rapunzel's tower. This year her theme was any and all things princess, including a princess cake. She wanted ALL of the princess on her cake. Luckily for me, I talked her down to one princess with a cake skirt. In pink Aunt Kelly, PINK!! That I can handle!!

On my practice night, I realized that I had vastly underestimated the size my princess would need to be. Oops!

On with the skirt trials! I wasn't going for a specific Princess' look, I just wanted a very pretty, feminine skirt. Roses were cute, but we decided the ruffles were the best. I liked the purple/pink skirt, but was reminded by the birthday girl that it needed to be pink. PINK! So, skirt done! And the search for the perfect size princess begins.

  (I know they have dolls at Hobby Lobby for this exact cake, but I think they are kind of creepy!) I went first to Target, then Walmart but then by Toys R Us, I had decided that maybe she didn't actually have to be a Disney Princess. So, I grabbed a Fairy Barbie (who ended up losing her wings) and brought her home. The skirt now looks proportionate to her body, but now her legs are way too long!! Who would have thought princess searching would be this difficult?

UGH! So, easiest fix- make two skirts & stack them. As you can see on the left, I had to kind of shape the top layer so her skirt wouldn't look boxy. Luckily, all those pink piped ruffles covered alot!! 

I was super excited to show Jolie her princess cake!

And since all the guests couldn't eat off of Jolie's princess cake, I also made a Neapolitan rose cake. No one in my family can eat the same flavor of cake, so I figured three layers, each different, everyone will be happy! These rose cakes are so pretty & easy!

Here's the birthday girl with both of her cakes, because of course the candle couldn't go in the princess's skirt! She LoVeD them!! :)

Loved them so much that she was licking the icing off while we were singing to her. I did not eat a piece off that side!!

The Neapolitan was super yummy & looked really cool when it was cut! I am a strawberry/vanilla girl, so I gave my chocolate to my husband!

 And this is how the princess fared. Lucky she has any part of a skirt left after Jolie got a hold of her! That girl loves icing!!

So the party was a success & we had lots of left over cake! Makes me feel good to see something I've created make someone that happy!!