Tag Archives: diy

Life

DIY Corner Entertainment Center

January 23, 2019 Susie @ Kirby's Kabin Blog Leave a comment

I guess its better late than never. As I was going through some of my drafts I’ve found a few posts that never made it to be published and this is one of them. I know I’ve shown a few pics of this little masterpiece before but here is the story of how it became to be.

Before the trip to PA last year we had been working on the house, as we have been doing pretty regularly lately, and had just finished up a new project:

I had been having a lot of trouble sleeping which leads me to writing or sketching in my notebook. This was one of the sketches I came up with.

I must say that Mr. Awesome nailed it! Hopefully we will get around to completing some of our other many projects when we get back on track. Continue reading DIY Corner Entertainment Center →

Weekend Warrior Project: Old Window Transformation

September 20, 2018 Susie @ Kirby's Kabin Blog 1 Comment

**This post contains affiliate links to products that we use. These links help to support my family and our blog.

We have been working a lot around this little house just trying to make it feel more like ‘HOME’. It’s been a little over a year since we moved and we are finally starting to really get settled. I feel like I can finally relax and put my feet, at least every now and then. This past weekend was not one of those times.

When I was doing my major cleaning this past summer I had thought of the idea of doing a faux stained glass window in the kitchen but haven’t found the time to do that yet. I did however decide to do something with this one BIG window that we have in the main room. It is so dirty on the outside that it has been driving me completely BONKERS!

I’m sure some of you are thinking that I should just get out there and clean it and trust me I would if I could. This window is over the pond and I have no access to it of any kind so cleaning it is IMPOSSIBLE right now. The inside has been cleaned and cleaned but it hasn’t helped a lot as the window is OLD and has seen a lot.

Before we moved in the window had been boarded up for many years, I guess someone else didn’t like the dirty view either. After we built the sleeping loft and got rid of the bukbed that had been in front of the window we couldn’t ignore how dirty it was. Then comes the fact that I moved the dining table in front of the window and we now had to see it a few times a day. Mr. Awesome didn’t really like the window and wanted to cover it up again but I like light, lots of light, and I wanted to have the window clear so that it would help to illuminate this rather dark little cabin. Continue reading Weekend Warrior Project: Old Window Transformation →

affiliate links, Family, home organization, homeschooling, Kids, Meal Planning, Parenting, Single Parenting, special needs

Loop Scheduling Made Simple With An Easy DIY Post It Note Loop Schedule

August 24, 2018 Susie @ Kirby's Kabin Blog 5 Comments

**Although I try to provide as many FREE resources as possible this post may contain affiliate links alt no extra cost to you. We may earn a small commission, if a purchase is made through these links, which helps to support our blog and our family. Thank you!

Instructions for the Easy DIY Post It Note Loop Schedule at the end of the post.

Many of us have started back to school and some of us started and then quit…errr… well, maybe I’m the only one that did that but I am happy to say that we are well on our way to getting back on track. The big project I have been working on is finished (YAYYYYY!!!!) and I am hoping it will be ready to post this weekend so keep an eye out for it.

In preparation of our new school year I pulled out our old Loop Schedule so I could change it out for this year. What a better time to show you how I do it?

Last year one of the sanity savers I used was this Loop Schedule. You may have heard of Loop Scheduling and I thought it was something new but actually it was something I had already been doing and you probably have too!

I always start the year out with all kinds of fun activities, games, and ideas for us to work on. Before our Loop Schedule I was always trying to make sure we got the ‘meaty’ subjects like Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science finished before we moved on to anything else. If we didn’t get those areas completed we would just not do the other areas.

(These links will update soon and take you to our first Kirby’s Kids Academic Adventure!)

I always felt like we weren’t getting everything done that I wanted to get done. Our days got so BORING! We would be doing the same things over and over and never had time for the fun activities that I had planned for us to do. There’s only so much time in the day so what is an overwhelmed Momma to do? Continue reading Loop Scheduling Made Simple With An Easy DIY Post It Note Loop Schedule →

Family, homeschooling, Life, Parenting, Single Parenting, special needs

DIY Giant Tic-Tac-Toe Game

August 20, 2018 Susie @ Kirby's Kabin Blog 2 Comments

**This post may contain affiliate links to some of the products and resources that we have used. These are provided at no extra charge to you and help to support our blog and family if a purchase is made through these links. -Thank you!

My kids love to play Tic-Tac-Toe and they love to be outside so this combines both of their loves into one great game. It’s really simple to make also. I really like the fact that most of the items can be found at the dollar store too!

DIY Giant Tic-Tac-Toe Game

Materials Needed:

Shower curtain or liner
Permanent marker
duct tape, you will need three different colors
a few old cereal boxes
dried beans
ruler or measuring tape

**Note: You can omit the boxes, beans, and two colors of duct tape if you happen to have 2 sets of bean bags (four of each color)

Directions:

Cut a 5 ft x 5 ft or 4 ft x 4 ft square out of the shower curtain liner. Lay it flat and draw lines to divide it into 9 equal sections with the marker. Use one color of duct to cover the lines.
If you don’t have bean bags you will need to make some really simple ones. Cut the cardboard into twenty 7 inch x 7 inch squares.
Place two pieces of cardboard together and use one color of duct tape (different from the liner grid) to seal three sides. Fill the ‘bag’ with beans and seal the remaining edge. Cover any visible cardboard with duct tape. Repeat to make a total of 5 bean bags for this color. (You can mark these with x’s, if you want.)
Repeat Step 3 with the remaining squares, beans, and colored tape. (Mark with o’s, if desired.)
Grab a friend and start playing by standing a bit away from the ‘board’. Take turns tossing the bags and try to make a row of the same color/symbol. The row can go across, up or down, and/or diagonal.
Have fun!

If you have a sidewalk or concrete you could also draw the board with chalk and use chalk/bean bags to play.

Not a DIYer? No fear you can buy something similar from Amazon:

Toysmith Giant Tic-Tac-Toe Game Cardinal Toss Across Game

home organization, recipes

Homemade Poopourri Spray

December 26, 2017 Susie @ Kirby's Kabin Blog Leave a comment

**Please note this post does contain affiliate links to which I may, possibly, earn a small commission from if you click on and purchase an item. For full disclosure click here.

Homemade Poopourri Spray

Ingredients:

20-40 drops of your favorite essential oil or a blend of oils (my favorite for this spray is Purity Blend) **you can use more or less depending on your own preference
1-2 t. alcohol
8 – 12 oz of water (just enough to fill your spray bottle– I use one like this but ones like these may work better but you would divide this recipe between them)

Directions:

Add the oil, alcohol, and water to your bottle and shake to mix. You may need to shake this a little before each use also.

Keep the bottle somewhere close to the toilet but out of reach of little hands.

Spray a couple of squirts in the toilet before you go and give it a try.

home organization, recipes

Homemade Poopourri Spray

December 21, 2017 Susie @ Kirby's Kabin Blog Leave a comment

**Please note this post does contain affiliate links to which I may, possibly, earn a small commission from if you click on and purchase an item. For full disclosure click here.

Recently I was asked to purchase some ‘Poo Spray’. We have one small bathroom to share among all of us and the idea was a good one however when I researched the prices on Amazon they were rather expensive. So rather than flushing all that money away I decided to make my own. Continue reading Homemade Poopourri Spray →