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When we first began looking for a country retreat, I had visions of something rustic, simple, perhaps a little Scandinavian. But when we finally found the Farmhaus, I let the space speak to me and help guide some of my design decisions.  This is especially true in the main bathroom.  The original bathtub had a cool vintage tub faucet, and a great train rack style towel rack.  Both are pictured below:

Buying these new would normally cost hundreds of dollars, so instead I opted to save them and use them as the jumping off point for my design inspiration.  I felt these pieces called for a traditional black and white color scheme, something along these lines:

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I kind of loved the idea of doing a black claw foot tub and found one that would fit the width of our small bathroom. However, after discussing it with my plumber, we agreed that the fit would be a bit tight and would not leave and room around the back of the tub for cleaning.  After giving up on the claw foot tub, I was dead set on including a graphic pattern, to offset the simplicity of the bathroom.  If you follow me on pinterest, you’ll see I have a whole board dedicated to tile, with TONS of cement tile patterns.  However, after reading about cement tile, I came to the conclusion that it would require a little more maintenance than I am willing to give it.  It’s a farmhouse afterall, muddy boots are going to be a fact of life. Ultimately, I decided to look for a graphic pattern in an easy care porcelain.

The final mood board is a traditional black and white bathroom, with a twist of modern. This is what I’m aiming for.

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Last year I kept my resolutions simple, I wanted to get more organized.  I did well, I purged my closet, cleaned out toys, even donated gorgeous furniture I knew I just wouldn’t be needing again (btw – getting rid of furniture was really painful).

This year, I also want to keep things simple with only one resolution/goal: to get more fit. This is a hard one for me.  I’ve never liked exercise.  When I was young and single I used to exercise, not because I liked it, but because it was something productive to do with my time.  Well, fast forward many years later and fitness has definitely disappeared from my life.  Hubby is very diligent about staying fit, but he likes exercise, he regularly goes on long bike rides, he’s even signed up for a half marathon.  Me, I HATE exercise, I would rather watch paint dry than exercise.  So, for me, it’s a really big deal to put it out there that fitness is my goal for the year.  Since exercise and I are not friends, I decided it would be best to get someone to hold my hand as I get things going.  I signed up for a gym membership AND for a personal trainer.

I’ve decided to make fitness my goal for two reasons: 1) I’ve had some health related issues that have really made me appreciate the value of health, 2) our Little Monkey has had a slight obsession with death/getting old after reading Charlotte’s Web at school, and is totally freaked out about the idea that I might get old and die.  I know I can’t avoid getting old or dying, but I know I can do something to not die prematurely.  Sorry if this sounds a tad morbid.

Anyway, I know I will never look like I did in my twenties, but I’m hoping that by doing something now I can be healthy for my age.  Here’s to fitness.

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I’m a big fan of white kitchens. They are timeless, bright and clean, in fact, our existing kitchen is white. But after working on more white kitchens for clients I’m kind of in the mood to switch it up a little at the Farmhaus. What’s the opposite of white? Black. I’m loving the idea of a modern black, yet rustic, kitchen.  Here are some of the kitchens I find inspiring:

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Looking at these images as a collection you can start to notice the elements they have in common: 1) a restrained color palette, 2) a healthy dose of white, 3) wood tones to add warmth. These are all things I plan to bring to the kitchen design. But to get to the finish line, I’m also debating the finer details, slab panel or shaker profile? Hardware or no hardware? Add beams? Floating shelves or ledge? The cabinets are only one part of the design process, but the details are what really bring designs to life.

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Christmas was all about the kids, so this year I’ve decided that Valentine should be all about Hubby and me.  Plus, Big Boy’s class this year doesn’t allow Valentines.  Instead, every one in the class writes an “appreciation”, essentially says one nice thing about each person in the class.  The teacher then types all the nice comments for each to receive, and keep as a keepsake.  With that it mind, I wont be doing a classroom DIY.  However, you can check out my past DIY No Candy Classroom Valentines with printables, all inspired by school supplies:

DIY You Rule Valentine:

DIY Have a Colorful Day Valentine:

DIY Stuck on You Valentine:

DIY Can’t Erase Friendship Valentine:

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Lately, in California, we’ve had a lot of rain because of El Niño.  I’m grateful that we are finally getting rain, but this weather definitely has me all bundled up and looking to stay warm and cozy.  While our weather is nowhere near as cold as the blizzard that just hit the East Coast, I imagine that in most parts of the country getting cozy, at this point in time, is sounding really nice.  So, here’s my little recipe for a sweet, simple and cozy Valentine:

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All it takes is a card full of kisses confetti, a toasty fire and a yummy hot chocolate. Lucky for me, Hubby makes the most yummy hot chocolate.  Here’s a quick recipe for you.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar ( I like mine not too sweet)
• 1 cup milk or any combination of milk, half-and-half, or cream
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (for a little something extra)

Preparation:

Whisk together the cocoa, sugar, and about 2 tablespoons milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until cocoa and sugar are dissolved. Whisk in the rest of the milk and heat it over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until it is hot. Stir in the vanilla and serve.  Optional: Top with freshly whipped cream or a floating marshmallow.  Go here for super cute, ready made XO marshmallows.

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Finally another Progress Report about the Farmhaus remodel.  It’s about time.  There’s be a lot of progress since my last report, getting here has taken A LOT of work.

Remember that dramatic video of Hubby making a wall crash?  Well we had to rebuild it. Not only from the interior but from the exterior too.  The windows went in, we added flashing and waterproofing… and then we had to shingle. I actually found shingling to be quite therapeutic.  On a nice sunny day, it took on a zen like meditative rhythm, but I found that once it got to the mincy bits that required a lot of measuring and trimming, it wasn’t so meditative.  But we got through it and now we can say we know how to shingle.

On the inside, the big step was getting the drywall up.  For this we hired some help, because we knew from past experience that we are not great at this step.  Seeing the bathrooms with walls was huge. It really gave us a sense of the space.

Once the walls were in and prepped, I knew I could start tiling.  I’ve never tiled before so I wasn’t quite ready to undertake both bathrooms by myself, so I decided that my contractor would do the main bathroom and I the master bathroom.  That way I could ask questions and get pointers along the way.  Let me tell you, tiling isn’t as easy as they make it look on HGTV and it takes time. A lot of time when you are laying each small tile. I think I might even write a post just about tiling as a first timer.

In this shot, I did a dry fit of the floor tile in order to manage my random pattern. Even when something is random, you have to be deliberate and plan.

So after tiling, I thought grouting would be a piece of cake. Not true.  That too, was not as easy as it looks.  Anyway, it’s all done now.

So, while I was toiling away in the bathrooms, Hubby got to work in the bedrooms, stripping all the old trim, cleaning up the floors.

He then put new trim around the windows, installed shiplap walls, and installed the underlayment and the new white oak floors. Under my breath I was kinda cursing him, because each time we finished a day of work, he got to look back at a completed job, where as I toiled over wet tiles… Did I mention I was toiling over tiles?

So what do you think?  The lighting and bathroom fixtures have to go in, but the space is looking so much more civilized. I can’t wait to have this phase of the renovation completed so that we can start sleeping there at the weekend and continue working on the house while the kids play in the field. We wont have a kitchen/living room/dining room for a while, but for some insane reason, I think that wont take as long.  Call me crazy.

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With the progress we’ve been making at the Farmhaus, I feel entitled to start collecting things to bring it to life. My recent scores are this original print, these flushmount light fixtures and this simple bowl.

The print was a find at a local second hand store.  When I’m in second hand stores or thrift stores I always rummage through the art, most of the time it’s absolute junk like pictures of cute cats, or cheezy sunset landscapes, but occasionally you can find a gem.  OK, so I didn’t find another original Picasso, but it is an original signed print with a dedication by the artist.  Not only do I like the piece, but it’s already framed!  All that for a mere $20.  Bargain.

My other big score were the light fixtures which I found at a local salvage yard. I was drawn to them because of the nice fluted dark glass and the patina they’ve developed from years spent as exterior light fixtures.  I got these for just $7.50 each.  Super cheap for light fixtures, but I’m paying the price in rewiring.  I wanted to make sure the light fixtures are up-to-date and safe, so I dropped them off at my local custom lighting shop.  Little did I know I would end up doing a ton of electrical work at the Farmhaus, so I probably could have handled rewiring these fixtures myself.

Last but not least a simple, earthy Japanese ceramic bowl with a lovely olive green glaze which I unearthed from the piles of junk at the Salvation Army.  Just $3. I imagine it sitting on my future coffee table filled with something interesting and tactile.

This coming weekend I am determined to make it to the Alameda Flea Market.  It’s been ages and I miss going.

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Our Farmhaus only has two bedrooms, so the guest room is really the boys’ room.  While the boys were begging for a bunk bed, I knew that with our low ceiling height that scenario would be less than ideal so I’m opting for a good ol’ side by side set up.  So far we have transformed their space from this:

to this:

The white paint and light floors have done wonders, but my favorite thing has to be the shiplap wall (which I previewed on my Instagram). Now that the construction work on this side of the house is done, I get to have fun and design the spaces. I want their room to feel rustic yet modern, warm yet sophisticated. I want the boys to feel comfortable, but I want the space to work for grown ups too. Something along these lines, but leaning towards a more casual vibe:

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The color palette is simple, yet the black spindle beds add a strong graphic element.  The bed can go either traditional or modern, it all depends on how the room is styled around it.  I’m going modern. Lucky for me, a while back I scored a pair of spindle bed frames at auction for a mere $60.  They were in pretty good shape and I knew immediately that they would be perfect for the boys once I paint them black.

The mood board for their room looks like this:

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Everyone loves a good Before and After post.   So, I wanted to share images of a recently completed kitchen and laundry room that I designed for a client.  As you can see it was quite the transformation.  We transformed the kitchen from 60’s yellow explosion, to timeless modern farmhouse.

I redesigned the floor plan and flow.

Added in a ton of additional storage.

Added a ton of useable counter space.

Brightened up the place and made it more reflective of the owners’ lifestyles, all without removing any walls.

Here are more views of the kitchen so that you can fully appreciate the metamorphosis. Lucky for us the kitchen’s footprint was large for a 1909 house.  The soaring ceilings add to the sense of airiness.

Unfortunately, we uncovered a few structural and plumbing issues once we opened up the walls.  That delayed the overall progress of the project, but the end product was well worth it.

The punch line is that this is an IKEA kitchen.  Can you believe it?  All the cabinet boxes and interior fittings are IKEA, but we had a superb cabinet maker create beautiful custom shaker doors.  Since we were being more economical with the cabinets, the big splurge was the gorgeous quartz countertop.  Unfortunately because of how the light reflects in the pictures, you can’t really tell what counters look like, which is too bad because they have gorgeous, yet subtle veining.

But it’s the smaller details, from the lights, to the counter stools, to the knobs and pulls, that really personalize the space, transforming it from a white kitchen into a warm and inviting family mecca.

From the kitchen you walk through a pocket door to the adjacent laundry room.

The laundry room also needed a complete overhaul, not only in terms of design, but also in terms of function.

Since the space is right next to the kitchen I really wanted to tie it into the kitchen design, while not repeating the same elements.  I did so by echoing the color palette with a different interpretation.  The real wow factor here was simply giving the room its proper function by removing the awkward shower, adding in much needed counter space for laundry sorting and adding tons of storage for all that stuff you don’t need to look at. Now the room can breathe.  The hardware though elevates the laundry room to a different level of sophistication.

Wouldn’t you love to cook in this kitchen and do laundry in this laundry room?  What are your favorite elements?

Out of respect for my clients and the design process I am only highlight a few sources. Kitchen: Cabinets bases – Sektion by Ikea; Knobs and Pulls from the Cottage Collection by Hickory Hardware in the Black Nickel Vibed finish that adds great depth and character without the contrast getting stark; Semi-flushmounts above windows by Schoolhouse Electric; Cabinet color is a creamy white BM Vanilla milkshake; Wall color is a warm gray BM Stonington Gray. Laundry Room: Oak butcher block by Ikea,  Appliances by Miele, Pulls by Keeler Hardware in a stainless steel finish from the Facette collection.

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A while back, I pulled together some modern rustic black kitchens for inspiration for the Farmhaus. Since then I let all the inspiration simmer in my head for a while and then came up with the following mood board, which I’m calling Black Modern Industrial Farmhouse Kitchen.

So, what happened?  How did I go from rustic modern to modern industrial?  It all started with the black pendants. I scored 3 black enamel pendants at the Alameda Flea Market for $40 total (they are almost identical to the ones in the moodboard, except mine are vintage)  I knew I wanted a black kitchen but I never know what my jumping off point is going to be until it clicks.  The pendants set the direction in a slightly more industrial direction. To balance them out and maintain a warmer farmhouse feel, I want to add butcher block and a wide farmhouse sink. I’m also hoping to sprinkle a little extra detail with some graphic tiles and a touch of brass.

Now that the demo is done and we have started to rough in plumbing and electrical, I know I’m weeks away from a kitchen.  Better start ordering.  Can’t wait to make this kitchen come to life!

Black Kitchen Pullout Faucet | Black Enamel Kitchen Pendant | Sconce | Counter Stools | Gas Range | Brass Pull | Farmhouse Sink

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Spring is in the air and I want us to enjoy the outdoors at the Farmhaus, but the backyard/prairie is an untamed mess.  On one hand we are really lucky because the soil is very fertile and the recent rains brought by El Niño have made the land green.  But I’m imagining something a little more varied, a little more textured and very California casual; something a bit like these beautiful outdoor spaces.

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For us, having 1.5 acres is huge and kinda daunting.  I want to break up the space into areas that invite different kinds of activities some more active others more quiet, with paths the lead to exploration or solitude.  Unfortunately I have a black thumb, so I will have to ask friends who know a thing or two about plants for some advice.  I know what I like and that I want the landscape to be drought tolerant, but unlike what happens with the construction or interior design of a house, I have no idea how where to start when it comes to landscaping.

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Listen, I don’t want to air out my dirty laundry, literally or figuratively. While we’ve been camping out in the bedrooms at the Farmhaus, while working on the endless construction, I’ve noticed that I don’t have a place to put our dirty laundry.  So, I’ve been on the hunt for cool hampers that could work seamlessly in our new retreat.  Above all I want the hampers to be functional, for me that means two things 1) they need to have capacity and 2) they need to have a lid.  I don’t want the smell of old socks wafting through the air.  BUT, the hampers also have to look good since they will be out in the open. So, I’ve rounded up my top favorite 5 rustic modern hampers.

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Back in March we passed the final inspection of Phase 1 of #thefarmhausproject.  To give you an idea of what the spaces are like now, here are a few shots of our modern rustic farmhouse renovation, including: the guest bedroom, the master bedroom, bathroom 1 and bathroom 2.

Guest bedroom: new paint, new floor, new window trim, new shiplap wall, new light.

Master bathroom: new patio door to deck, new paint, new floor, new shiplap wall, new trim, new light.

Bathroom 1 (a.k.a the master bathroom): new plumbing, new tile, new fixtures, new paint, new lights

Bathroom 2: new tile, new paint, new fixtures, new lights, upcycled bathtub faucet.

Since these pictures were taken, I’ve added some furniture, made the bathrooms workable, etc. That way we can stay overnight, sometimes.  But the spaces still need paint touch ups, styling, etc.  So, you’ll have to wait for the full reveal.

Phase 2  of our renovation is seemingly simpler, but since it involves the kitchen (see here for what I’m planning for the kitchen), there’s nothing simple about kitchen remodels.

The kitchen was small, so we are planning to expand it into the breakfast area (defined in the picture below by the change in floor and the hanging blue pendant light).

We had someone help us remove the cabinets, but hubby and I took care of all the demo.  I really wasn’t planning on doing it.  I don’t like demo. But when your contractor says he’s going to do it and then doesn’t show up as scheduled, you just roll up your sleeves and get it done to keep things moving.

You can see the windows are much smaller.  Seems a crime, but it will all make sense once the kitchen goes in.  Trust me.  Plus we added a ton more lights.

Closing up the walls is always so exciting to me.

Opening up the wall between the kitchen and the dining room is the biggest structural change we are making to the house. Even taking down the old bathroom and building new ones wasn’t such a big deal because there were no weight bearing walls. However, the wall + beam between the kitchen and dining room is weight bearing, so we really had to shore things up.

Wish I’d taken a picture of the new support beam we put in the attic.  It’s HUGE!

They had the right idea with the patio door, but we just felt we wanted to make it as wide as possible. So we changed it out.

You’ll notice in the picture above, the framing of the the door is too much to the left.  I had to have it redone in order to have enough room for the trim around the door.  I hate it when things aren’t done right the first time, but those are the setbacks of construction.

The new door brings in more light and airy-ness.

Strangely the living room is getting the least remodeling. The changes here will be more cosmetic. The one big change is the fireplace. We debated whether to replace the whole unit, but the wood stove that’s currently in place costs about $3000 and replacing it would cost $3000 or more, plus installation, so for now we’ve decided to live with it and just change the surround.

For such a small, less significant room, the entrance/mudroom is causing us more grief than we thought it would.  We really just thought we’d open it up and change the flooring and call it a day.

But when we opened up the walls to run the new electrical wiring and then got rid of the terracotta tile we found a bunch of termite damage around the window and the strip of floor just in front of the window. We dealt with the floor immediately, but with the window, since we our now having to reframe anyway, we decided to put in a new window, add a proper header, etc.  Notice how this window has no real header? Not good.

So while waiting on the new window to get delivered, I’m working on the floor.  Technically, the floor should go in after the walls are closed up.  But, I’ll do anything to keep this remodel moving forward. Tile takes time, so I’m doing it now.

Installing this dark gray/black herringbone tile is quite fastidious.  I’m happy I didn’t tackle it as my first tiling job, but I am quite pleased with how it’s turning out.  The effort will be worth it in the long run.  I’m sure of it.

Still a while to go with lots of big items to complete.  I remind all the various trades that come in to help that the boys and I are going to spend part of the summer at the Framhaus so we need a house we can live in.  That definitely keeps us motivated.

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It’s that time of year when our little Monkey has a birthday (see here and here for his last couple of parties).  He’s turning 5, not so little anymore.  This year we decided to have a Star Wars party.  In all fairness, I don’t know if the theme is more for him or for me. I grew up a Star Wars fan and was so happy that franchise has been re-invigorated not only with The Force Awakens, but also the ever watchable Star Wars Rebels animated series.  Here are some DIY party ideas that are inspiring me as I start planning our little celebration.

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Have you ever noticed the backs of the bar counters at some cool cafes and restaurants, or even the cash counters at some cool retail shops? Many use tile, they can withstand a lot of abuse, but can also be used to make a bold statement and really set the design mood of the establishment. Well I’m thinking of going bold for the back of the island at the Farmhaus.  You might remember that I’m planning to go black on the cabinets. (You can check out my full mood board here.) But I also want to break up the sea of black with something a bit lighter.  I could go with a light colored island, but instead I want to go with something with a greater wow factor like a cool, graphic tiled back.  Something like these beauties:

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I’ve seen this application used a lot in commercial design, but not so much in residential design.  In commercial design you can totally understand why they would want a hard wearing surface like tile to not only inject style, but reinforce a surface that takes a daily beating from customers. sitting at the bar. In a residential context you don’t have the same level of wear and tear, but adding a little extra wow factor never hurt, especially now that I’ve learned how to tile (see here for my first ever tiling job).

Now, to the not so easy task of picking a tile that will set the right tone. I quite like these options:

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And so the quest begins. To be continued.

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If you’ve been following along for a while, you know I have this thing for black and white and #thefarmhausproject is no exception.  In fact, the Farmhaus is going to involve me using more black than I’ve ever used in a project.  I’m not afraid of you Black.  For years my wardrobe has primarily consisted of black. I blame it on my years spent in NYC.  But black can tend towards the oppressive if it’s not balanced out.  White is classic.  Grey is a natural match.  Wood warms it up.  And Brass? I think it does two things, it warms it up and injects a touch of chic.  I know, I know.  I want our Farmhaus to be modern rustic Scandinavian, but who said it can’t also be a a little chic.

The Farmhaus has many lighting needs and not all of them involve Black and Brass, I promise. But in searching high and low for my perfect lighting solutions, I thought I’d share my top choices for Black and Brass sconces.  I could have featured so many more if I’d also included sconces with two lights and three lights, but I decided to keep things simple and compare apples with apples and stick with a mostly minimalist look.  Here are my favorite modern black and brass single sconces. Hint, I’m actually using TWO of these lights at the Farmhaus, but you’ll have to wait and see  to find out where and how it all comes together.  Prices start at just $30 and go up to $350, so there’s definitely a black and brass sconce for every budget.

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It’s been kind of crazy around here so blogging has had to go on the back burner.  That doesn’t mean we haven’t made progress at the Farmhaus Project.  In fact, we’ve been using every opportunity to get the work done.  The last time I checked in about progress, we’d just started a bunch of demo.  Well, demo is easy, rebuilding takes time, but we’ve made a lot of progress.  Check out what we’ve been up to.

We wanted to modernize the fireplace.  I would have really loved to put in a new, sleek gas insert, but this wood burning fireplace is worth thousands and it just didn’t make dollar sense to remove it.

We put up new drywall to create a blank canvas and got rid of the ugly tile hearth.

I re-tiled the hearth with a 4×10 black porcelain tile in a herringbone pattern, the same one I showed you last time for the mudroom.  Why mess with a good thing, right?

We had tons of the lights put in, including some recessed lights to “wash” the new shiplap wall surround.

Then we painted everything white to brighten things up.

We did all of this ourselves, except for hang the dry wall and install the electrical.

Up next, the floors.  If you remember from our original tour of the house, the hardwood floor was laid on a diagonal.  Perhaps that was cool in the 1970s but it wasn’t the look we were going for.  We decide to put down the same floor we put in the bedrooms.

First we put down the underlayment, then on top added the floor.

The real pièce de résistance was putting in the kitchen.  WOOT! WOOT!  Take a look at it unfolding.

When you last saw the kitchen it had new windows and new electrical.  Big steps, but not a kitchen.

For the record, our cabinet maker installed the cabinet.  We could have done it, but it would have taken us WAY longer.

Once we put in the cabinets we were able to put in the floors.  We decided to put the floors around the cabinets, instead of under the cabinets to allow the floors to expand and contract.  Then we brought in the counters, sink/faucet and appliances. Having fridge was a big deal.  It meant we could keep fresh food and not run to the supermarket every time.  That’s a big deal when you have small kids.

At this point, while the kitchen wasn’t finished, we technically had a working kitchen.  I could cook, wash and store food, etc.  The space was still a disaster zone, but I could make breakfast or an easy pasta and that felt like a huge victory.

Next came tiling.  If you follow me on Instagram, you know I complained about how much tiling I’ve done on the Farmhaus Project.  Sure it’s a skill I wanted to learn, but I didn’t picture myself doing it week after week… Here is the backsplash going up.  It’s a 4×12 matte white tile.  Originally I had purchased a 2×8 tile that I’d bought online, but when I saw how small the tiles were, I decided to get a bigger tile.  I wanted to save my sanity.  I’m really glad I made that decision.

A few weeks back I polled readers on Facebook and Instagram if I should go with a linear layout for this graphic tile, or if I should go basket weave.  Everyone voted overwhelmingly for the linear layout.  It’s what I thought I wanted to do when I bought the tile, but I had a moment’s hesitation.  Your votes help confirm my initial instinct.  So, thank you to those who took the time to vote.

So, that’s what we’ve been up to at the Farmhaus.  Busy, busy busy.  At this point you probably wont see these spaces until I’m ready for full reveals.  Exciting, right?  Thanks for following along our DIY farmhouse renovation.

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We absolutely LOVE the bedroom we have at home.  We love its serenity, and how it comforts us in times of stress.  We love that it has the intimacy we seek, but is also a great place for us to have tickle sessions with the boys.  So, designing the master bedroom for the Farmhaus to hit just the right notes of calm and rustic is high on my priority list.

I took inspiration from these bedrooms:

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Each has a very restrained color palette with ample use of white. They also bring in touches of wood to add that rustic element, and keep patterns to a minimum.

Here is the mood board I’ve come up with for the Farmhaus master bedroom.  I’m calling it Modern Rustic Scandinavian.  Relaxing, right?

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I’m taking a break from some of the Farmhaus reno to catch you up on some of the other things that have been going on. Namely, our little Monkey turned 5.  We had promised him a few years back that when he turned 5 we would take him to Legoland. Even though we were juggling many different things, we wanted to keep our promise and so we packed our bags and took the boys to Legoland for a couple of days. Here are a few pics of the boys:

They had so much fun and particularly loved the Chima waterpark. Between airfare, hotel and park entrance, these kinds of family trips start to add up quickly and I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend more on a birthday party. But 5 is kind of a milestone. He’s headed off to Kindergarten and wont see many of his preschool friends anymore. So, I decided to throw a low-key Semi-DIY Star Wars party.

First up was the banner.  I bought ready made banner triangles at a party store and printed up the birthday message using a free Star Wars font.  Easy.  High Impact.

Then for some simple cupcake toppers from here.

Aside for a few black and white balloons and didn’t do much else in terms of decor. For games, we had them all make pool noodle lightsabers. I cut all the pool noodles in half ahead of time. Then set out some duct tape and black electrical tape so that each kid could make their own lightsaber. Depending on the child’s skill level/age, this activity can require adult assistance, but they loved the end result.

We had a couple of girls at the party and when the boys we running around with lightsabers, they were truly overwhelmed.  So I made sure to also have a couple more low-energy games. First up, Bingo. I bought a Star Wars bingo template on Etsy, but I’ve seen a free version here.

Then we had a sort of scavenger-hunt, where they had to find the matching cards to some ready made Star Wars matching game I had bought ages ago.

Finally, I had a pinata. This might be the last year that I do the pinata. The boys are getting too strong!

We finished it off with pizza and cake. He was so happy.  It was totally worth it.

Next week, I’ll follow up with instructions and a printable for the DIY Star Wars gift bag.

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Last week, I finally wrote about Monkey’s 5th birthday.  I didn’t go too crazy on the DIY elements of his Star Wars party. Work and the Farmhaus have been eating up all my time, so I tried to keep things on the down low.  One thing I really did DIY was the gift bag.  I couldn’t find a Star Wars gift bag so I decided to make my own.  I love keeping designs simple and graphic and I have a love for all things Black and White (see here and here for evidence of my DIY design inclination).

The design I ultimately came up with was clean and simple.  It features the silhouette of a stormtrooper and some text that reads, “Thanks for coming.  You’re a real trooper.”  Cue cheezy music, I know.  But hey, it’s a kids party.  The bag was super easy to make once I came up with the design.  I just printed 2 per sheet of paper and stuck them on store bought white paper bags.

At Michael’s I found some black sparkly tissue paper and I know I had to include it.  The paper looks like a starry sky, perfect for a DIY Star Wars party.  Inside the bag I had a small selection of Star Wars themed goodies I bought at Target, including baggies of Star Wars gummies.

If you’d like to make your own DIY Star Wars gift bag. Download the free printable here.  Enjoy!