DIY Birthday Piñata

Here's a fun and almost sickeningly-cute craft I made for my daughter Aine's 2nd birthday.

I wanted a handcrafted gift/toy/decoration for her party and found the perfect thing when I came across this DIY Piñata tutorial at GiddyGiddy. I think Teri at GiddyGiddy made hers for decorative purposes, but I figured if it was too delicate, it would make it that much easier for a 2 yr old to get to the prizes inside.

Annie's birthday is near Easter Sunday and we celebrated with family for both occasions on the same day. What other shape or animal is better for the combined events than a bunny?! Following the directions on the tutorial, I cut out 2 big bunny-head shapes from cereal boxes and a 2 in wide strip to go along the sides.

I taped it together with painters tape and made sure to leave a flap open on the side. Next I glued 2 in strips of tissue paper, cut vertically, from the bottom of the bunny-head up.

I trimmed the tissue paper around the shape of the bunny-head after finishing the front, then went through the same process on the back. Finally I added strips to the sides, leaving the flap tissue-free until after I put the goodies inside. I cut out a cute little face from colored card stock and glued it to the front. Because of all the Easter candy I knew Aine would be consuming that day, I chose to put thin wooden magnetic letters and little foam Easter egg darts inside (all purchased from the Dollar Tree). Of course, there were some lollipops in there too...a  piñata just isn't a piñata without a little candy inside! Finally I sealed up the flap and glued the final strips of tissue paper over it. 

Didn't it turn out cute?! How could any 2 yr old, or any child or adult for that matter, not love this?

And here are a couple pictures before the flap was sealed.

My daughter loved it, although the next time I make one of these for a toddler I'm going to make a little hole in the bottom of it because after hitting it with a stick about 5 times she gave up. Thankfully she had some help from her Uncle Rory and Aunt Jenny to get to the prizes.

And by the way, I was wrong about the piñata being delicate. There was very little damage to it afterwards so now it decorates Aine's new room! She wakes up in the morning and says "See the big bunny!"

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter last week!

Love the Beasts,

Emily

Hooray for the Internets!

I finally have Internet set up in the new house! It almost took them half a day to hook it up due to a squirrel's nest in the wires, but now I'm officially back and have a couple new house renovation pictures to show you as well as a little DIY Pinata project. Once my computer is fully hooked up, I'll upload pictures and share a new post with you all.

Love the Beasts,
Emily

We Have a House!...and Some Exciting News

Hurrah! After years and years of waiting, we finally bought our first house! The closing was last Friday and thankfully it went smoothly, although there is that death pledge thing that Brendan and I try not to think about :).

We love our new home and have already started a few renovations in the living and future toy room. Wood paneling was the first to go. It had coats of thick white paint on it which was starting to crack (the paint, not the wood). There were also traces of black smoke here and there from intense candle burning from the previous owner.

BEFORE:

Ugly right? Dirty walls with old carpet that leads to hideous laminate! Thankfully the floors are already up and will be covered in a beautiful carbonized stranded bamboo wood floor in a couple weeks. Although I'd prefer reclaimed wood floors, we just bought a house and well, as you can imagine that can set you back a few bucks.

DURING:

 

There's the hard-working husband taking down the paneling. Thanks to Brendan and my Papa (father-in-law), the walls were down as of Wednesday. Yesterday they took out all the old insulation (only 1/2 in thick) and today they're putting in newer thicker stuff. Apparently, if you try to pack new insulation on top of the old stuff, it's less effective. Good thing we took down the walls and saw how thin the insulation was because now we're going to spend a lot less money on heat!

What's next you ask? After the town building inspector comes to check out the new insulation job, our contractor will come in and put up sheetrock. Brendan and Papa will then start laying down bamboo in the kitchen and finish in the living and toy room after the sheetrock has dried. We're moving in once the kitchen is complete. Everything will finally be done when we put in the thresholds to the floor, add trim to the windows and doors, and prime and paint the walls. We're aiming to be done by mid-April. Hopefully for you I'll be posting the AFTER shots around that time. And hopefully for me the rooms will be done and decorated by the end of the month because we're expecting our second daughter in late June. Oh yes, the Lovely Beasts Family is growing! Thank goodness I finally get to nest!

Love the Beasts,

Emily

Almost home

Next Friday is our closing! I hope I hope it all works out. Already my husband and I have chosen paint colors and have planned out where our big furniture will go. We're putting in bamboo floors and tearing down the wood paneling in the living room so we won't be moving in until the beginning of April, but I'm still outrageously excited.

Future House Projects:

• Annie's bedroom
• Annie's playroom
• Office in master bedroom
• Vegetable garden
• Making Annie a play kitchen

Future Furniture Projects:

• Finish wingback chair
• Finish Maine chair
• Fix broken coffee table
• Fix school desk

That's the list for now but will likely take until the end of the year to complete. Yay! And I say that without an ounce of sarcasm :).

Love the Beasts,
Emily

Update! Sorry It's Been So Long!

Hello from Southeastern Connecticut! It's been more than 2 months since I've last posted and I realized that some may be concerned about my disappearance. We're okay!!! We're happy and doing well.

Moving to CT from TX, living in a hotel for a month, and now living in a rental home really is a convenient excuse to take a break from blogging. Especially considering all of our stuff is still in storage including my furniture projects, craft and furniture tools, and my poor computer. Hopefully I'll have everything back soon! We currently have an offer on a house but it's a short sale and it may take a few days, weeks, or months before we hear back from the bank. In the meantime, we're exploring the area and trying to make new friends.

Although I know I'll be able to start working on furniture soon (once we have a house), I'm facing a dilemma. People in CT aren't into the same furniture that sold in Houston, and I'm not sure if I want to continue with the furniture buy-refurbish-resell route. I will still work on furniture for our new home, but I'd like to focus my time on projects or products of a smaller scale. Something I can sell on etsy or in local stores, make in a much shorter time frame, and something I will enjoy doing. It will still be an item that is repurposed or reused, but what will it be? I've thought jewelry, paintings, or paper crafts but none of that seems right for me. My husband has one other idea I'm considering (having to do with a bicycle accessory), but we have to do some research before we move forward any further.

So that's where I'm at right now. I hope everyone is doing well and I'll make a concerted effort to post weekly so you know I'm still here. And of course, I'm always happy to help if anyone has any questions!

Love the Beasts,
Emily

Hotel Living And Hiatus

Sounds luxurious, but it's more like living in a dorm for families and business professionals. Surprisingly Annie, our 19mth old, is doing rather well. A bit frustrated because now and then she wants to go "home," but happy the majority of the time because she's somewhere new and she can swim everyday in the indoor pool.

As you can imagine, I'm on a furniture and crafting hiatus. We're living for a month in the hotel with only 4 suitcases, and there's a very high possibility that we'll be keeping our stuff in storage for longer if we don't buy a house right away. Poor Annie misses all her toys. And poor Emily misses hers!

So hopefully you'll see some fun project posts early next year, but until then Lovely Beasts is on a break. Happy early Thanksgiving and Christmas to all! See you in the new year :).

Love The Beasts,
Emily

A Big Move

Bad news? 
I won't be able to finish my wingback for another month.

Good news?
My husband was offered an amazing job in Connecticut. Yes! We're moving back to the New England area in 10 days. The funny thing is, I lived in the West Hartford for a year straight out of college and HATED it. It just wasn't a great place for a 22 year old to "find" herself. Thankfully, we'll be living in a smaller town closer to Rhode Island and it's a great area for families. Hopefully we'll be buying our first home soon. So exciting! So many DIY house projects to come!

Sorry to disappoint you all with yet another unfinished project. But look at it this way, I'll be able to finish both the wingback and my Maine chair from September. Yippee!

Love the Beasts,
Emily