Kitchen Command Center ~ Finally!

I started drafting up plans for my little Kitchen Command Center a few month ago ... and FINALLY ... I've finished! As I've said before, the hardest part about living in Europe and having a DIY addiction is actually finding the materials. This is one of those projects where I spent weeks trying to find the right materials and waiting for them to arrive. When all of my supplies came in ... I swear, the skies parted and a little beam of light glistened through my kitchen window ... I may have heard angels singing (or it could have been my iPod).

So here it is ....

Kitchen Command Center

Do you see the little ray of light shining into my kitchen? Yes, this was a happy day!

Our Kitchen Command Center features a Meal Planning Board, Dry Erase Note Board, Magnet Boards and Chore Charts ... it has everything we need to plan out our week.

The Meal Planning Board was originally inspired by Charity over at All Things Beautiful. I'll be sharing a tutorial for my Meal Planning Board later this week over at OH SO Chichi, so please stop over.

I divided our meals into 3 categories; "favorites", "fast", and "new"

I embellished good 'ole clothespins to display our meals for the week (Sun - Sat). I've shared a tutorial on how to make your own "Not Your Average Clothespins" here.

The fabric makes me smile ... and crave sweets.

A simple-to-make DIY Dry Erase Note Board for important reminders, "to-do" lists, and loving notes to the hubby and kiddo! The tutorial for this is also coming later this week over at OH SO Chichi, but you can get a pretty good idea from one of my previous projects here.

My personal favorite ... the Magnet Boards and Chore Charts! I purchased these beauties on Etsy from a wonderful shop, Abbie's House. Now I know every DIY'er has that urge to make everything themselves, but I believe in supporting others in their artistry too. I {heart} handmade! When I saw these Chore Charts at Abbie's House, there was no hesitation ... they were clean, simple, and beautifully made. She was also so kind as to create two, custom "blank" Magnet Boards to coordinate with the Chore Charts I ordered. She's great ... go check her out!

I love them so much that ... you see the top Chore Chart titled "Jaime & Al" ... that's my Chore Chart (ok, so I share with the hubby ... but we know the truth)! So much cuter than scribbling out my chores on a piece of paper ... you're NEVER too old for a Chore Chart! :o)

Abbie's House has a cute selection of "chore magnet" bundles. This Magnet Board keeps all of our "extra" chores that don't have a home under the "to do" or "done" list for the day.

The 2nd Magnet Board is for general use. I clip up mail that needs to be taken to the post, permission slips, etc. I made large, 1 1/8" cover-button magnets in coordinating fabrics to match the Meal Planning Board and Dry Erase Board. You can find my Cover Button Tutorial here.

... and one last look at the Kitchen Command Center. It makes me smile every day!

Find out how I hung everything, here!

Playground ~ "No Bye"

Spring = More Outdoor Play! This weekend we spent a lot of time outside and amongst other things, took a trip to the playground. But all good things must come to an end ...

"No Bye"

I don't know how I managed to capture this; but it's classic! Kelty is reaching back desperately for the playground ...

... but don't be sad, he was actually full of smiles! Oh how I love the happiness behind a spontaneous smile!

Not Your Average Clothes Pin 2

I just posted a really simple and quick project to re-purpose and re-style your average clothespin ... making it oh so functionally cute ... over at OH SO Chichi!

Not Your Average Clothespin 2

This is ramping up for the reveal of my Kitchen Command Center project that I started in December!

Introducing ...

OH SO Chichi ... the BLOG!

I know, why stop at 2 blogs when you can have 3? I started this little project over a year ago. Once I started posting craft projects and tutorials, Etsy business stuff and linking to craft parties ... I felt a little guilty that I was taking away from the "family" side of things. So I came up with a design concept and put myself on my blog designer's waiting list. Now, over a year later, I'm debuting my Craft and Business Blog ... OH SO Chichi!


There is still more work to be done and the blog is still developing, but I've finally gotten it to the point where I'm comfortable putting it out there. I've been spending a crazy amount of time each evening working on my "label" buttons, developing content and importing projects from "Our Journey". I'm pretty proud of the work I've done!

How is this going to change "Our Journey"? I'm still going to post my home decor and craft projects; but I won't be posting tutorials here or the projects I'm linking to blog parties. Most of my ChichiKids and Etsy ventures will be posted over at OH SO Chichi as well ... though I may make a few announcements here. I'm trying to get "Our Journey" back to family oriented stories and keeping the "business" over at OH SO Chichi ... after all, I don't think everyone that visits this blog wants to read about my son pooping his pants in public ... but, hey ... if you do, keep following along! :o) I know I actually like a few personal stories thrown in the mix over at my favorites craft blogs ... it keeps it real!

OH SO Chichi. Eventually I'll start offering giveaways and hosting project parties of my own! I'm so excited about this ... but I understand I need to build some credibility over there first. Right now I'm my only "follower" ... umm, hint. I also have a portion dedicated to Etsy! I'll be posting video tutorials for my appliques and iron-on transfers, as well as applique project tutorials and promotions!

Most importantly, OH SO Chichi is more about YOU than me. I find a tremendous amount inspiration in "blog-land" and I really wanted a place to feature some of the great people, projects, and blogs out there! I'll be featuring projects and "great finds", hosting blog parties and will be on the look-out for blog/businesses to award the OH SO Chichi SEAL OF APPROVAL ...

OH SO Chichi SEAL OF APPROVAL. I've always wanted an avenue to recognize other people for their amazing talents; whether it be a blog, project or hand-made product. You know how Better Homes and Gardens has a seal of approval ... something tried and tested that they feel is really up to par? Well, that's kind of what the OH SO Chichi SEAL OF APPROVAL is about! Whether it's an AMAZING item I've purchased on Etsy or a really inspirational blog ... I wanted a way to put the word out. So I developed the the OH SO Chichi SEAL OF APPROVAL. It's basically a way to give recognition to outstanding bloggers and Etsy shops ... and they'll have a cute little button to post on their blog or in their shop!

So, please take a moment to check out OH SO Chichi and follow along!

Scrabble Tile Decor

I randomly purchased a hand-blown glass Chicken at a Bizarre last weekend ... I know, right!? Let me tell you ... I don't "do" knick-knacks or random decorative purchases. So you can imagine when I walked into the house and showed my hubby our new "chicken" he seriously thought it was some kind of joke ... a chicken? I don't know, maybe it was the color ... but this little guy stole my heart. It was the fastest and most spontaneous purchase I may have ever made!

Moving along ... I needed to find a home for "Peep". I thought on top of our old wine barrel would be a great place. As I struggled to decorate this little corner, my kiddo pulled out the Scrabble box ... the inspiration was right there in his sticky little hands! I grabbed a really cool empty wine bottle that I had kept from over a year ago, pulled out a few tiles, dumped the rest in the bottle and voila! Then I decided it needed a little more color. I grabbed a bottle of craft paint, applied a thin layer and then ... VOILA! I love how something so incredibly simple can really make an impact. P.S.... Do you like the little love note to my hubby I snuck in there

Before (left) and After (right)

A few strokes of craft paint and 5-minutes later we were done ...

Scrabble Tile Letters with a Blue Tile Holder

"U R MY FAVORITE" ... a little love note to the hubby ... think he'll notice? The extra letter tiles are in the old wine bottle that is also used as a bookend for our Wine Journal. Maybe the hubby will spell out a new note occasionally ... hint, hint.

Re-purposed wine bottle turned decorative

... let's not forget the inspiration behind it all. A chicken named Peep.

Day to Day ...

I'm attempting to break out of my blogging hiatus! We've been so busy! We're finally feeling a little relief from Al's work schedule, Kelty had the "crud" for a week and is now back to his former active self, I've been busy filling Etsy orders and playing around with my new Silhouette machine, I started an on-line photography course and am developing a 3rd blog dedicated to my business and DIY projects! We've also been making arrangements for a medical TDY to the states for Kelty and planning a few summer excursions to Greece, Cinque Terre, and Norway. Holy cow! Here are a few moments I've captured along the way ...

We're feeling a little Spring in the air! Ok, so it's still cold but nothing we can't manage with a few a layers! We've been taking frequent family walks and enjoying the fresh air. Kelty is sporting his new Camelbak ... he loves it.

We love our little outdoor adventures. Al picked up toddler hiking poles a few months ago when he was in the "states".

Kelty donned his "work glasses" before working on his train track ... safety first! ;o)

Repairing the railway.

Kelty takes good care of his bike.

The kiddo has a slight addiction to Lucky Charms. I caught him in the kitchen digging through the Lucky Charms bag to find the marshmallow "charms" ... what's even better is that he's wearing a Lucky Charms graphic tee. Oh how I love this little guy!

The "big" slide ... I can't believe he's big enough to do this on his own and I can't believe my heart survives watching him go down it!

An early evening bike ride to visit the horses and the nearby Horse Farm.

A few cute "un-photo" moments:

Kelty has started calling the crescent moon, "Banana Moon"
Kelty melts my heart with random kisses on the forehead followed by "Love You Ma"
Kelty has this thing about playing "robot"
He picks out 3 vitamins every morning ... one for Dad, one for Mom, and one for himself
Kelty seems to enjoy burping ... then saying "cuse me"
He navigates around our new Ipod Touch better than I do!

... and that's a bit of a photo journey of our life, day-to-day.