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.

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.

http://kaes.jamberry.com/party/?uid=0b271baa-6c9d-4b3a-a6ee-8ab6e0ad9454

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

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.

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.  

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 fiancé 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!

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.