I'm Twee!

Rosa Leigh's officially three today. She paused for about 4 seconds this morning after getting all decked out for school. Just enough time to snap a pretty pic before she turned back into Rosa Monster. Check out those All Star hightops. Her daddy bought those for her this weekend. We're so proud.

Vintage Play Kitchen

After obsessing over what play kitchen to get for Rosa Leigh's birthday gift, I finally found what must have been originally manufactured with her in mind! What a chic little thing you are... 

We'll see if the real thing is as worthy of my adoration as the picture. Crossing my fingers! Although it's available all over the internet, I ended up ordering it from Cymaxkids.com because they have free shipping, and it was around $145 (looks like the price already went up in the past week). It was delivered to the office today, so I'll see if I can rustle up a strong man to carry it to the truck. Then my next feat will be convincing Josh to put this thing together TONIGHT because I may die if I have to wait much longer. I'll letcha know how all of that goes tomorrow. In the mean time, I'll simmer... Sidenote: how cool are those walls! This may be just what the playroom needs.

Here tis! Rosa learned some new bad words tonight. This thing was a pain in our daddy's butt to put together, and there were a few broken parts we have to call for replacement. All in all though, I'd say it's worth it. If any of you out there are thinking about it, I suggest hiring a nimble Chinese man to assemble it.

My First Ikea Hack - RAST Sidetables

 

See my lovely new nightstand! I actually have two, and I love them each equally. This is my first ever IKEA hack. Here is the BEFORE:

I know! Aren't I amazing?? Well, I can't take credit for the idea. I was inspired by one of my favorite IKEA hacks of all time on Aubrey + Lindsay's Little House Blog. I basically did it the same way they did, but with a much darker stain (and times two). And I am positively swooning over the results. Here is what I did...

1) Bought two super ugly RAST 3-drawer chests from IKEA ($29 each). These are solid wood - great quality for an insanely good price.
2) Assembled the bodies of the cabinets, leaving the drawers to assemble last.
3) Stained both bodies with Minwax Dark Walnut stain (2 coats) and painted the drawer fronts with Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace high gloss acrylic enamel (3 thick coats). I did not sand or prime first. I'm way too impatient for all that, but I kind of regretted not sanding the drawer fronts. They are a tiny bit rough to the touch.
4) Applied two coats of oil based Minwax Polyurethane to the bodies, sanding super lightly in between coats. I went for the oil based because it was way cheaper. Also, I skipped the poly on the drawer fronts because I didn't want the white to yellow over time.
5) Assembled the drawers and attached the drawer pulls from  Lee Valley (51mm x 43mm $2.80 Burnished Bronze)

The whole project cost just at $140 (that's for everything from the cabinets to the paint brushes). Not too shabby considering I was going to order these similar ones from Walmart for $130 EACH plus shipping (and mine are way cuter)!

I know the bed is unmade. That happens around here.