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Saturday, November 28, 2015

Who Wants a Christmas Wreath?

Hi Everyone, I'm selling ornaments Christmas wreaths for $25.00.  Shoot me an email at kaescreativeshack@gmail.com if you would like for your home or to give as a gift.

Friday, September 4, 2015

You're Invited to a Jamberry Mystery Hostess Party!

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Help me launch my business as an independant consultant for Jamberry Nails by attending my online Mystery Host Launch Party, September 4, 2015 - September 18,2015.

Join the party on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/169225090078961/

Or browse everything Jamberry has to offer at the link below.


One lucky party guest will win the Mystery Host raffle drawing at the end of the party.  You can enter the raffle drawing by placing an order (No minimum. Current Promotion: buy3get1 free nail wraps) and increase your chance of winning the hostess rewards by doing the following:

-request a free sample so you can practice putting your jams on - 2 tickets
-Join my facebook group KaesJams - 1 ticket
-Place a buy3get1free order - 2 tickets
-Refer an ordering friend to my Jamberry group page. Don't forget to msg me who you referred: 5 tickets per ordering person
-Schedule with me to host an online, catalog or local seattle area home party: 15 points
-Join my jamberry team: 20 tickets
-join the hostess of the month club (we need 12 people to join and each month one of the club members will "host" the party while I do all the work for you, in exchange each club member will commit to purchasing one wrap a month)  We can draw names each month to determine the hostess or we can choose the hostess for each month in the beginning.  15 tickets

Monday, August 3, 2015

You might notice a few changes on the blog and my Facebook page.

This summer I have come across some amazing and exciting opportunities.  I've started sewing dog collars and leashes for an online pet retailer called Pet Elegance.  I met the owner Jayna at swimming lessons earlier this summer.  At the same time I'm also trying to revamp my etsy store.  So at the top of this blog I've added a new button that links directly with my etsy shop Kaescreativeshack.

Friday, June 5, 2015

Blocks for Cora

During my pinterest journeys I came across this a post about dyeing your wood blocks.  The colors were vibrant and bright - different from your standard green, blue, red and yellow blocks that you find at the modern day Sears catalog store aka Amazon.com or other well known chain stores.  I simply fell in love with the blocks and thought they would make a unique first birthday present for Cora.  Since Cora will be turning one next week and is still in the early stages of teething -- absolutely everything goes in her mouth the dye for the blocks needed to be food safe and non toxic so I opted to use food coloring instead of water color paints.  





For this project I used the following items:
*unfinished blocks 
* food coloring
* vinegar
* bowls 
* cookie sheet
* cooling rack for baking



While Cora settled down for her afternoon nap I mixed up the dyes in the kitchen sink.  A very good suggestion from my mom for keeping the dye contained in one area.  



After mixing the dyes I invited Madeleine to come dye the blocks.  We had fun choosing which color to use for each block and beads.  I'll post about the beads soon.



We let the blocks and beads soak in the dye for over 40 minutes occasionaly rotating the blocks and beads in an attempt for uniform color.



Last but not least I removed the blocks from the dye and arranged them on my cookie sheet and cooling rack.  The blocks are being safely stored on the top shelf in the laundry closet for the next 24 - 48 hours.  

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Babyproofing complete...

Last weekend while I was at work and Cora was napping Paul tested the new drill we bought to replace my old drill that my grandfather had given me for my birthday when I was in college.  He installed magnetic cabinet locks in the kitchen and bathrooms.


Cora testing the new cabinet locks.

Progress in the backyard and its almost finished....

Right before Christmas I just happened to run into our Queen Anne Neighbor, Ari at Trader Joe's.  He mentioned that he and his fiancĂ© Mara has a play set in their new backyard that they wanted to get rid of and thought it would be perfect for Madeleine and Cora.  A few months later Paul and I started converting out back yard into our private park for Madeleine and Cora to play in.  You can see the before pictures of our backyard here - Very nice just not child friendly.

The playset in Mara and Ari's backyard fully assembled.

Paul is still smiling at the beginning of the dismantle portion of our project.

 

 
Figuring out how to take the lattice style roof off the playset was a little challenging.  We decided it would not be part of the reassemble project in our backyard.





 

Time to start loading up the truck.
 
 
 


Disassembly complete.  Time to for date night to begin


Did you have any doubts that everything would fit in the back of the truck? I originally thought we need to rent a flatbed trailer from U-Haul.  Thankfully everything did fit and our neighbor, Richard, helped us unload the truck when we got home.
 
Part TWO: Reassembly of the Playset!




All the little pieces that held the playset together.

Constructing the tower.

The frame for the tower complete...time to add the floor, ladder, and slide.

Still smiling!

Tower complete.  We had a real challenge putting the railing back in. 

Swing set complete!

Another view of the swing set.


Part two complete!  Time to head out to Gran and Pappa's house to pickup the girls.  They graciously took care of the girls for the whole weekend. 

Part Three: Cedar Chips


Eight cubic yards of cedar chips is a lot of cedar chips...
Paul and I each took turns moving the cedar chips to the backyard during naptime on our days off and then one night we just powered out the remaining cedar chips.

We have our driveway back!

Swing set complete with Madeleine and Cora's swings.
Part Three complete!

Part Four Begins....

Now its time to start Part Four: The play area gate.  Paul and I decided that we didn't want the dogs to have access to the play area.  We didn't want to be constantly dodging dog droppings every time the girls wanted to play outside.  So Paul started building a fence.

Deciding where to place the posts.
 
 
Making sure the gap between the house and the end of the fence is too small for the dogs to fit through.
the fence is almost done!



Thursday, March 19, 2015

Back Yard Home Improvement Project Continues....

My last post mentioned that we had moved to a new home in the last six months.  Paul and I made the hard decision to leave our beloved Queen Anne neighborhood behind. One of the major things we have been missing for Madeleine and Cora were city parks, that actually looked welcoming and had real live children playing in them.  Right before Christmas I are ran into one of our old neighbors who had been forced to move at the same time - Ari and Mara - also moved South to the city of Des Moines.  In passing Ari mentioned their new house had a playset in the back yard that they didn't want it and thought it would be perfect for our daughter Madeleine.  I was thrilled - Paul saw lots of work involved....

The first weekend in March was dismantle and move day.  I was able to take the whole weekend off from work.  My parents were willing to watch the girls for the whole weekend.  Even the weather cooperated for us.  We celebrated Paul's birthday with a family dinner at our house on Friday - the girls went home with my parents.  Saturday morning Paul and I enjoyed sleeping in and a home cooked breakfast together.  Then it was time to gather our tools and head over to Mara and Ari's house.


The beginning of challenging project.
He's still smiling:)
The lattice top had to go.  In the end we salvaged the 2x4's which we will use for a gate to keep our doggies out of the play area and the 4x4 beam that the swings hang from.
Dismantling is done.  Mara and Ari are planning to get married in their back yard this fall. 
Loaded up and ready to head over to its new home. 
Day Two - play tower is starting to take shape.

 

play tower complete with slide and the beam for the swings is in place.
All Done! Ready for Madda and Cora to start playing on it.

Madda approves!




 
We still have a few more projects to complete until the back yard is complete.  Progress reports will be posted as we complete each project.

Squeeze pouches for Madeleine and Cora....

After Madeleine's second Christmas I splurged at Babies R Us and bought an Infantino Squeeze station.  Madeleine was in love with squeeze pouches from the grocery store - the ones that cost anywhere from $.50 to $2 or $3.00 each!  So I thought I can make my own, save a little money.  Well I made a few and then lost interest because Madeleine started to refuse to eat the ones I made...if she knew it was green she wasn't eating it.  Didn't matter how good it was she was not eating anything green.  So I put away the pouches and squeeze station until the next baby came along.... Cora is a very independent eater.  She really likes to feed herself, and will only tolerate being fed if the food on the spoon looks like the food you are eating. 

So Cora is a little more adventure some in her eating I'm expanding my squeeze packet repertoire from just applesauce to things with vegetables and avocado in them.  With the squeeze station, frozen veggies and my trusty sidekick Blenda Cora can so many different options for snacks in the squeeze packets.

The flavor of the day for squeeze packets was banana, applesauce, oatmeal with a hint of orange, and carrot, applesauce and oatmeal.  I'm sure you can imagine that we had a big pot of oatmeal for breakfast and during naptime blenda and I mixed of up these yummy concoctions.  Madeleine was a little leary of the carrot ones.  She prefers her applesauce plain.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Getting ready for the garden...

We recently moved from the Queen Anne neighborhood in Seattle to our new house in Des Moines, WA.  At times I really miss living in the city and its many benefits.  Easy public transportation, nice neighborhood parks where you can almost always find kids playing during daylight hours, grocery stores within walking distance that don't require you to cross a major highway to get to, and lastly it was easy to be a one car family.  The downside of living in an nice Seattle neighborhood - its impossible to buy a house big enough to accommodate the average size family - leaving you at the mercy of landlords and property managers who want to make more money; settling for old, small living spaces that desperately need to be remodeled into the current century; wondering when you will no longer be able to live your small hip neighborhood (either because you desperately need more space and will go insane without it or you get that dreaded notice from your property manager saying please move).  Last July 28, 2014 our property manager notified us that our landlord would be jumping on the renovation bandwagon by raising our rent to an unaffordable amount --- if we were willing sign a 12 month lease and an astronomical amount if we wanted to just stay on a month to month basis -- because they wanted to renovate the unit we were living in.  By the grace of God my husband and I were able to qualify for a home mortgage, find a decent real estate agent, buy a house and move within sixty days.  A huge thank you to our friends who helped us with moving in many different forms -- not just carrying boxes and furniture, but pushing strollers, taking care of our pets, packing, listening, playing with madeleine, cleaning, carrying boxes and furniture....you get the picture.



 
 
So this is supposed to be post about getting ready to garden and its turned into a rant about the housing market in Seattle.  Onto the joys of home ownership...we were lucky to end up on neighborhood street where our new neighbors actually came out to meet us as the our moving truck pulled up in front of our house.  I can't wait for summer time when weather improves and more people are willing to be outside for visits as we go about our daily activities...  In preparation for summer, Paul and I have been slowly making some improvements around the outside of the house, digging up bushes, trimming tree limbs, moving compost bins etc.  I'm looking forward to being able to have a garden that I don't have to drive to -- just walk out the door.  Last week Madeleine and I planted seeds for our flower garden and hanging baskets.  I need to make a return trip to Lowes so I can buy a another mini green house for my vegetable starts.  Next weekend Paul and I will be moving a backyard item to our home for Madeleine and Cora to play on...Don't tell Madeleine its a surprise, you can tell Cora because her only words are mama and dada right now so she won't let the secret out of the bag.
 
My other outdoor projects are digging up the bushes in the front yard.  My brother, graciously cut down the tree we had in the front yard at Thanksgiving.  Its my mission to transform our front yard into a year round flower and vegetable garden.  As Madeleine and Cora grow older it gets easier to work on projects inside and outside of the house... I remind myself that taking time to play is way more important than a clean, spotless house.  I will find the balance some day.
 
Last night I carefully pulled the mini greenhouses off the shelves in our laundry room to show Madeleine some of the baby plants that had sprouted from the seeds we planted earlier this week.  So far we have one tomato sprout, some zinnia, bachelor button, cosmos and geranium sprouts.  I can't wait to get home to check for more sprouts today.