Pink Poker Night ~ Girls' Night In

Looking for a fabulously fun night with all your BFFs?

Host a pink poker night!

A couple of weeks ago we had a girls' night in at my house.

I decided to do pink poker night cuz it sounded fun.

Not that I'm a great card player.

On the contrary...I just make up the rules. :)

Kinda like everything else I do.

I found this kit on Amazon.

But you don't need it...just find some pink poker chips and cards.

Bicycle brand has several pink card versions.

I got these chips on Ebay.

Don't forget all the frills...

tiaras and feather boas are a must!

Make sure everyone gets in the spirit!

The box kit included invitations, but those would be simple to make.

It also suggested having everyone bring one fun item

to make up a "bling" pot for the last hand.

You could make it whatever you wanted.

Oh, and if you just happen to have some pink

spray painted folding chairs, be sure to use 'em!

Striped straws...don't they make you smile?

I actually found these in the party aisle at Hobby Lobby for about $3.

Oh, that's where the tiaras came from, too.

Of course you need some fabulous finger food...

including pink peanut butter hugs.

Below are some peanut butter pretzels

drizzled with pink white chocolate.

Does that even make sense?

We had some pink sangria, but I was having so much

fun, I forgot to take any pictures of that...or of

anyone enjoying the party for that matter.

Oh well...I guess having fun was the bigger priority. :)



The sangria was delicious and easy!

1 - 2 liter bottle of 7up Zero

1 - bottle white zinfandel

1 - bottle white cranberry strawberry juice

sliced oranges to float in the pitcher

All chilled and mixed together

SoOoOo yummy and refreshing!

Even if your sister dumps a whole glass on her chair...

and doesn't at least use a straw to suck up what she can.

Oh, look...there's one cookie left for me.

My mom showed up with these beautiful roses.

Love her. :)

We had all sorts of other finger foods, some store bought.

No need to tire yourself out getting ready!

You need to save your energy for all the laughing

and carrying on that's sure to happen.

{shrimp cocktail is easy and hey, it's PINK!}

I'm also thinking...watermelon,

strawberries, pink lemonade...

It was so much fun and definitely what everyone needed.

A whole night of just us girls with a whole bunch

of laughing and goofy shenanigans!

But I have one little confession to make...

We never actually got around to playing poker!

We were having too much fun NOT playing.

:)

The next day I got texts or emails from everyone

thanking me for such a fun night!

I said next time, we won't even pretend we're gonna play.

Does this sound like a great time to you?

Check out the Pink Poker Night Pinterest board I started.



 If you host a pink party, send me pics...

since I forgot to take my own.

Ha!

Dealing a perfect hand here:

I Should Be Mopping The Floor
I Heart Naptime

How To Build A Chunky Salvage Style Shelf

Or how NOT to build one.

You know how over in my sidebar it says

I like to make stuff up as I go along? →

Yeah...well, sometimes that doesn't work out so well for me.

However, in this case it all turned out okay in the end.

Thank heaven.

When I started making changes to the living room I knew

I was going to want something different on the wall by the front door.

Something a little more substantial than the little shelf I already had there.

Something I created with MY OWN HANDS!!! Bwahahaha.

Sorry...I got a little Frankenstein-y there for a minute. :)

Anyway...I began searching for inspiration.

I found a great one here at AKA Design.

So I set off to make my own, slightly smaller version.

And I didn't want to follow their directions.

Because I didn't that's why.

This...is my story.

First I decided how wide and tall I wanted the piece to be.

Then we set about cutting some wood.

I knew I wanted the corners mitered so they'd all be neat,

so I had the hubby help me cut some boards

before he headed out of town for business.

Some of them were too wide for the miter saw and I

DO NOT like to use the table saw alone.

Since I didn't plan to use many nails...I cut some little

pieces to glue into the inner corners for support.

This section on the left...its inner support piece is shorter because the

smaller piece was *supposed* to fit inside the larger piece.

But *someone* didn't measure correctly and thus the

"making things up as I go along" thing really had to come into play.

You'll see later just how I "fixed" this problem.

Which I knew that I knew wouldn't really be a problem

once I put the molding on the front anyway.

Meh.

I glued everything with Gorilla wood glue...because it's awesome.

Truly.

The back of my shelf is open...there is a small 1X3 piece at the top for stability,

but I didn't make the "boxes" you see in the inspiration post.

Here's a back view so you can see the support piece and bottom.

You can see here where I added a couple of those little

support pieces to hold the bottom part to the top part.

Like I said...then it has a piece of small molding on the front...

it's really sturdy, it's not going to fall apart any time soon.

Unless I throw it down the basement stairs,

but really, why would I do that?

Here's what we've got folks:

1 - 1X8 for the top shelf {actually measures 7"}

1 - 1X6 for the top section front and sides

1 - 1X4 for the bottom section front and sides

 1 - 1X3 for the back support

1 - 1X4 for the bottom bottom, you know.

Some upside down baseboard molding, some cove molding,

and some stray pieces of what I believe are

furring strips I found in the corner of the garage. :) 

I only bought 4 foot boards because they were

easier for me to haul around by myself.

Of course, the molding doesn't come in short pieces,

so that's another story.

I filled all the seams with DryDex spackle.

I thought it might help with my impatience.

Nope.

But it sands soooo smooth. :)

One thing I did do the same...used a sample pot of chocolate

brown paint I had hanging around for my base coat.

My other furniture is black, but I didn't want that harsh of a contrast.

Then I wasted some time adding a little grey here and there.

I say wasted because, in the end...I don't think you can even tell it's there.

The whole thing got some Annie Sloan Old White and distressed.

Here's a lesson learned: chalk paint and

old crackle medium do NOT like each other.

Just so you know.

Oh well.

Ignore my unmanicured pinkish hand...and gaze

upon the hooks I had planned on using.

But Jon, in his infinite wisdom, said to me:

You're not gonna like that.

But why? I picked them and I want to use them so there!

Fine, but they're gonna stick out from the wall and you're not gonna like it.

Fine.

SO, since he IS awesome...

he suggested doing keyhole hangers.

He even routered them for me. :)

  

See how he just made a nice little cutout in the wood?

We decided the vertical piece would be stronger for supporting the shelf.

We actually made the whole a little deeper in the middle since

the screws we used were slightly domed and needed a little more space.

Here you see the finished keyhole hanger.

And yes, now it hangs flush against the wall.

Sweet.

{If you look closely, you can see how the cove molding helps

hold the bottom and top pieces together.  See? I wasn't worried.}

  

We used a laser level to make sure we hung it straight...

at this point it's already hung...he's just using the level now so he can gloat. :)

And thar she be!

Oh, it's missing something you say?

Okay...how's this?

   

Oh, I forgot...I used some Minwax paste wax over the paint.

Love it.

While at first I was mad at myself for messing up the paint with the

crackle goop, it actually kinda added to the salvage look I was going for.

Like something that had been repainted several times on top of old chipped paint.

Perfect.

Now it's home to some fun things, like my number 3 sign, a rooster,

a canvas of one of Sara's senior pics, a plaster mold of her hand when she

was 5, and one of many stars you find sprinkled throughout the house.

Like my number 3?

I got that from Antique Farm House.

Jon says: why 3?

I said: because we're 3.

No, we're 2 now.

NO...we will ALWAYS be 3.

:)

The finished shelf is 30 1/2 inches wide,

about 7 inches deep and 10 1/2 inches tall.

Chunky.

Chunky's good, right?

That's what I tell myself anyway.

Does it speak architectural salvage to you, too?

 

Sharing piles of sawdust here:

Serenity You

Cheerios and Lattes

 I Heart Naptime

I Should Be Mopping The Floor

The Dedicated House

PJH Designs

Home Stories A to Z

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Love Grows Wild

A Stroll Through Life

 Ivy and Elephants

Clean and Scentsible

Lil' Luna

The 36th Avenue

Redfly Creations

Liebster Blog Love

I'm a little ashamed to say this post is MONTHS in the making.

I kept putting it off because it makes me uncomfortable.

But...these fine ladies have felt the need to bestow some
Liebster Blog Love on me and I wanted to give them a shout out.
A Liebster award is given to up and coming bloggers,
generally with less than 200 followers,
that have inspired the giver in some way.

Please take a moment to hop on over and check out their awesome blogs.
Leave them some comment love...follow them...
stalk them...okay, not really.
Go ahead...I'll wait...GO!

Kristy from Shona Skye Creations,
Raquel from Organized Island,
Danielle from Sew Much Crafting,
and Jenn at Finding Sunshine in My Life

I'm afraid I'm gonna have to be a party poopa.
{c'mon, say it like Arnold *link has a #*!% word*}

While I LOVE that folks kinda like me and want to give me awards...
I find it incredibly difficult to pick others to return the favor to.
And...to answer not 11, but 44 questions?
I have a headache just thinking about it.
:)

So...I'm going to answer a few random ones
from each award giver and we'll call it good.
mmmkay?

And away we go:

1. Is form or function more important to you?
This is something I am constantly saying.
In a perfect world the two would always go hand in hand, but if
you have to choose one over the other...I always go for form.

2. Why do you blog/why did you start blogging?
You know...I don't really know how to answer that.
While I love to be still and love peace and quiet...I can get bored easily.
I am always up for a challenge and blogging seemed like a fun thing to try.
I keep doing it because it's fun for me. Even if no one were to read it,
I enjoy doing it, and let's face it, I think I'm hilarious. :)

3. Are you a pet person/what kind of pet?
I love animals. We only have a cat...
and I will be devastated someday when she's gone.
She's crazy. I love dogs, but can't keep up with all they need.
We don't always keep a regular schedule and it's not fair to the dog
to wait on someone to let them out or find someone to dogsit when we're away.

4. If you were stuck on a deserted island,
what ONE item would you need?
Duct tape.
Seriously...have you seen that episode of Mythbusters?

5. Where were you born?
Cleveland, OH...
home of the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame...
among other things.

Okay...that looks good.
I know, I cheated and only answered
5 questions that I picked and chose.
Yep. :)

If you would like to know about my random facts...
 Click here to see my post about my other award awkwardness.

Once again...thanks for the nominations, ladies.

I hope you all have a fabulous week!

Simple Sweets for Teacher Appreciation

An awesome teacher can make ALL the

difference in a child's school experience.

I know that all too well.

When Sara was in first grade...the teacher said she was

a daydreamer and if she didn't learn to focus

she'd never be successful in school.

In first grade, people!

Really?

Did she know my kid?

My kid was smart...she was special. 

  

 I know, as parents, we all believe

our children to be special.

Because they are.

We don't want anyone to tell us differently.

But we're talking about a child who, from the age of three,

would go somewhere {a friend's home, church, public places}

and start rearranging items by size and color

because she was compelled to organize them.

My problem with this teacher was not that

she said this, but that she ONLY said this.

She didn't offer solutions or suggestions.

Thankfully, the school year was almost over.

In second grade, she met Ms. Chacon...the world's best teacher.

She looked at Sara and said...this child is bored...

she's not a daydreamer...

she just needs more work to do

and something to challenge her.

And that realization changed everything.

I'm not saying this teacher was a bad teacher...

I'm not sure how I feel about that.

What I do know...

teachers have a tough job and

sometimes they're just wrong.

They need all the support they can get

and a little appreciation goes a long way.

I've seen all the cute printable and fun teacher

gift ideas floating around the interwebs.

I love them all...but I never really had the time for that.

I believe a simple sweet gesture says Thank You

just as much...and they get to eat it.

Here I've included what we've done the last few years.

At the top were Pink Velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

Sorry...I don't know if that's the actual recipe I used.

I used a small flower cutter on some rolled fondant and wrote

Thank You with an edible food color marker.

Did you catch that perfect packaging for portable cake?

Drop your cupcakes into a plastic punch cup...

wrap in a cellophane bag...tie a fork on with a ribbon.

Voila!  Cake to go!

One year we just did decorated cookies...

individually wrapped and tied.

Those are No Fail Sugar Cookies with some buttercream {with real vanilla}

and fondant rolled and cut with the same shape cutters.

Yes, these took some time...but I also made some cookie

bouquets for Mother's Day at the same time.

These cookies are great at keeping their shape.

And they're yummy, too.

More buttery than sugar cookies usually are...

which is a good thing in my book!

Then more cupcakes...in school colors...

with some awesome edible gold star glitter.

I didn't add the forks this time.

These were just triple chocolate fudge.

YUM!

So, even if you don't have time to make a bunch of

super cute supermom individual teacher gifts...

don't forget to say Thank You to the teachers

and principals in your child's life.

Cookies (even simple chocolate chip),

cupcakes, a handwritten note...

Heck...I can think of 5 blogs off the top of

my head that have some cute printables!

:)

See you next time!

Sharing here:

Love Grows Wild

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Home Stories A to Z
Clean and Scentsible
Lil' Luna
The 36th Avenue

High Heels and Grills
Live.Laugh.Rowe
Embracing Change
Adorned From Above
Redfly Creations
The Dedicated House
Love of Family and Home
Reasons to Skip the Housework
The Jenny Evolution
I Heart Naptime
I Should Be Mopping The Floor