Nursery Collaging (Halloween & More AWESOME Stuff you don’t wanna miss)

So here we are. (Nearly) 39 weeks and still pregnant. In fact, at our appointment it seemed like Elliott may have some Buster Bluth tendencies (who spent 11 months in the womb) with absolutely no dropping at all! Let’s hope he comes out on his own will (without any claw marks on my poor stretched out uterus). And yes, I’m sorry for saying the word uterus (and for saying it again, just then.)

Also, if you have a moment, think of us on Monday morning. The doc ordered a dating/sizing ultrasound. Seems like baby E is on the small side and she wants to make sure everything is a-ok. As a pre-parent, I’m a little nervous, but mostly thankful to have a doctor who is on top of our care and willing to put extra time into our (officially) little guy.

Ike and I used last weekend to put a fun finishing touch on the nursery…making the collage! Here are pictures of our process in case you, too, want to hang up frames in an artfully eclectic way (or at least I hope that’s how it came off).

Step 1: Get Framed

We ended up buying our frames at Hobby Lobby, where they are always 40% the marked price. We bought 6 for just under $40, not too shabby. Or if it is shabby, just don’t tell me, K??

Step 2: Plot Your Placement

We knew we wanted the collage over the dresser. So we arranged (and rearranged) the frames on the floor in front of the dresser. This was the final selection.

Step 3: Cut it Out

It was my (brilliant) idea to cut out a piece of paper to represent each frame. That way we could tape (and rearrange if need be) the paper frames on the wall before getting out the hammer and nails.

Step 4: Arrange, Step Back and Repeat

We translated our plotted placement from the floor to the space above the dresser. Once we put the lamp and changing table back on, we realized that we needed to move a few of our frames.

Step 5: Stay Level Headed*

*Or in my case, make someone who is visually neat like Ike do the work! We just tackled hanging the frames one by one until…

Step 6:  Be Happy! You’re Awesome Collage is Done!

Step 7: Pick & Print

We are actually not done with this step. But we have plans to print out an engagement, wedding, maternity, newborn and new fam pic for the wall. Currently we also have my shower invite, ultrasound pic, custom Elliott art and EEP monogram already up. I’m really happy with how it turned out and I’m excited to finish the project!

Things to think about:

• When hanging frames, you may need some cardboard to replace the back it came with.

• Remember to have your level handy! We didn’t really measure, but having a level will keep things looking neat!

Halloween:

We celebrated our first Halloween as homeowners! The weather was perfect (and we may have forgotten to replace our porch light) so we sat out on the driveway and handed out candy. So fun!

And finally, here I am 1 day shy of 39 weeks!

Stay tuned for whatever Baby E has in store! You’ll either get pictures of a tiny baby next week OR a disgruntled pregnant lady:) Either way, see ya soon!

Possible project for this weekend: using our extra fabric to cover some canvases…We’ll see!

Shameless Plug: The Coasts on Grimm (and other cool stuff of late, like our nearly-finished nursery)

I’ve never so related to Father of the Bride Part II as I do now. The scene where the daughter finds the word “Ouch!” in Scrabble (and George gets concerned before he understands) keeps repeating in my head whenever I need to catch my breath, turn over in bed or generally move. Ike’s go-to response — “Do we need to go to the hospital?” — is actually adorable, but my answer has always been no…so far.

So as I close in on week 38, I feel kind of like a ticking time bomb. Unfortunately, no one knows how long I have to go, other than a baby who doesn’t even know the world exists yet. Elliott, the ball is in your court!

Here’s another what’s-gone-down-lately update. Enjoy!

The Coasts on Grimm

What are you doing tonight? I’m sorry, but the ONLY correct answer is watching the season 3 premiere of Grimm. The Coasts (Ike’s band with the talented Eric Mount) scored another placement. If you haven’t heard of them, do you live under a rock?… I mean check out their bandcamp here (lowers glasses, arches eyebrows and waits).

I don’t know if I’m allowed to give details, so I’ll sum it up in as few words as possible: The Coasts song “Tonight” (buy it, so you’ll be cool and know all the words). Roadhouse. Zombies. One minute of TV magic.

Enjoy your Grimm watching parties! I’m going to make a pumpkin cake for ours.

The Nearly-Finished Nursery

So, I can give you a bit more than teaser pictures this week.

Here’s some in-progress pics. We tried our best to keep Buster out, but to no avail! We finally caved when he had an accident on the blanket I put right outside the door for him to lay on. He’s our special little fur-brained fur ball. Yay!

I finally got over my mental block and decided to wash some baby clothes. Maybe, somewhere deep down in my change-wary psyche, I thought “If I don’t wash these clothes, the tiny body that’s supposed to fit in said onesie may never appear.” Crazy, I know. For some reason, taking off those tags was another step in the acceptance process.

Yet, with the piles gone, and all baby clothes, gear, blankets and diapers stowed, I actually feel SO much better, and even ready.

We are just waiting to put on some finishing touches. We still need to:

• Make final decisions on where to hang stuff.
• Buy some frames to create the newborn/maternity/wedding picture collage that currently only exists in my head.
• Throw the pillows my mom made on the couch when she gets here.

Not too bad! I’d say overall, we achieved the “Happy Baby” theme I was going for. Right now, the room is very inviting and fun to hang out in.

Thanks to:

• Erica and Amber for helping me better sort the piles.
• Ike’s mom for the beautiful quilt.
• Ike’s sister for the custom art.
• My rents for the dresser, rug, wall art, throw, changing pad and forth-coming pillows & rocker.
• I’m also very excited to use the book shelves, my Papa made them:)
• To everyone for all the bath stuff, clothes, toys and more. We’ve really not had to spend very much of our own money (really, almost $0) to prepare for this boy. We are blessed!

Just Us Two

Trying out Mugs Cafe. Yum.

The last couple weekends, Ike and I have been going on dates! I’m notoriously cheap, but as the end of the “Just us Two” era approaches I think we both feel the need to hang out and celebrate our relationship. I know we’ll always have each other, and we are both excited to meet our new addition, but after 5 years of just us (and the Bust) little E will bring a lot change to our world.

So as we wait for our new (much-anticipated and loved) family member to arrive, we’ve decided to keep going on dates and enjoying each other. Where should we go to breakfast on Saturday, LR people?

We’ll soon be joined by a handsome little man wearing this.

$10 Dining Room Renewal

Ok, this isn’t quite as exciting as the impending birth of our first child…But I feel like the recent re-birth (clever, huh?) of my dining room chairs deserved some blog time.

This easy (although a little time consuming) project was an inexpensive way to update my antique dining room table and chairs.

Before:

Here are 10 tips for this 10 dollar project!

Tip #1: Shop Local for Great Deals

First off, for my Arkansas fans (the Legion, I like to call them), I found this dining room set at The Furniture Consignment Place of Conway. I was very impressed by their quality, service and prices! If you are looking for furniture, don’t miss it!

Tip #2: Make Things Easy with a Solid, Small-Print or Graphic-Print Fabric

That way, you don’t have to worry matching big repeats or and thus wasting a lot of fabric. Plus, all that thinking will probably give you a headache.

Tip #3: Measure Your Chairs

This may seem like a no brainer, but go to the fabric store (in my case the awesome Hobby Lobby) prepared. I actually lucked out, although I measured 2 of my chairs to make sure they were the same size, I didn’t notice that the armed chair (or the throne) was a little bigger…. My fabric still worked, but watch out for that!

Tip #4: Trust your Fabric Expert

I’m new to crafty projects. So thankfully all I had to do was let the fabric cutter (is there a better term for this essential role?) know how big my chairs were and she figured out how much fabric I needed. I feel like she ended up giving me about a 2” leeway on each side for each chair. I’m not sure if that is a good rule of thumb, but it worked for me! Like I said, trust your fabric cutter.

Expert Tip: If you do go to HobLob, make sure to download their daily 40% coupon on your smartphone!!

Tip #5: Gather Your Supplies

You’ll need:

• Chairs with detachable seats

• Easy-to-work-with fabric

• Tape measurer

• Pencil

• Scissors

• Screw driver

• Heavy duty stapler & staples

• A willing partner

 

Tip #6: Make the Cut

This was the most nerve-wracking part. To make myself feel better, I removed a couple of the seats to prove to myself that my projected cuts would work. If you do pick an easy-to-work with fabric, you can probably get 2 chairs out of each width. In other words, you can buy less!

Tip#7: Un-Screw It: The Musical

Here’s where we get to the monotony. At this point, find a great album and unscrew all those seats. I’m currently jazzed about the new Vampire Weekend album, so I KNOW that’ll get you through.

Tip#8: Get By with a Little Help from Your Friend

Find a helper who is excited by the power of a heavy-duty stapler and you might find that this project nearly finishes itself (see picture)! Although I bet you could do this by yourself, it is nice to have an extra set of hands to make sure the fabric is as taut and wrinkle free as possible.

Tip #9: Musical, Reprise

Turn up those tunes again, because you have to REmantle all the chairs you dismantled. I’ll admit this was a several-day process at the Peters’ home. So I was startled several times by the burglar-inspired disarray in my dining room.

Tip #10: Sit Back and Enjoy

I really love how it all came together!

Class dismissed! Enjoy your weekend, I’ll be back soon.

Style to the Maxi*

*You’re right. That does sound weird. Just thought I’d try it.

I’m a late adopter. Case in point: I just got a smartphone this Christmas (gasp!). With technology, I like to let the fads die down and prices drop. I was also scared I’d get addicted (I kind of am) and that Ike and I’d become one of those couples who browse through dinner and never talk (not true, we watch TV, silly).

My fashion sense is no different. Although I’d love to say I’m just super classic and not trend swayed. It’s mostly about fear. I can’t tell you A) how long it took me to try tights+dress+boots and B) how many times I did try them on and then change because I thought I looked funny. Now, I live in that look for fall and winter, go figure.

I finally conquered my warm-weather fashion-block: the maxi length. AND it better not go out soon, because I just jumped on the wagon.

Here are 3 reasons why I don’t think it will be leaving the stores or my closet anytime soon.

1) Perfect combo of comfy and girly

Especially in the stretchy knit variety, this style has almost a vacation-level comfort. But, it’s a full-length skirt which makes me feel like (super) casual Jane Austen character.

2) Full leg coverage e.g. no shaving required

This is where practically sets in. Here’s my little secret: I don’t shave everyday (LOL). But I really love to wear dresses for their ease — one step, hello! — and, again, femininity. The maxi dress wraps both of my passions (not shaving + wearing dresses) in one cute package. Bonus: you can start being springy with pasty skin, too! I think we’re getting to win-win-win here people.

3) Good Temperature Control

Sorry my pics aren’t magazine-worthy, my styling assistant is a dog…

Even though they are full-length, they still feel very breezy. And for people who work in ice-box-like conditions, they completely cover your legs to cut the edge against the cold.

Sorry I’ve been gone for a while! I was too busy being in Houston buying maxi dresses! Oh and putting the finishing touches on the kitchen. You like?

Bamboo blinds! Thanks to Aunt Debbie & Uncle Charles:)

Home Owner Adventure: Bum Water Heaters and 3 Things You Can Learn From Them

Last week, Ike and I had an adventure! But unfortunately it involved cold showers and a $400 bill. So, we didn’t save Middle Earth or anything, but there was a learning experience nonetheless. Drumroll, please! The borrowed time we were living on with a 9-year old water heater trickled out two Tuesdays ago.

We upgraded to a 50 gallon heater, life in the fast lane. Woo hoo!

We are lucky enough to have a brother-in-law in the contracting business who volunteered to do the installation work the next week. Cheapskate that I am, I gratefully accepted his offer and entered the Ice Age at the Peters house.

During that week, (our garage door also went out, by the way) I learned several deep life lessons. And in awesome blog style, I created a numbered list for your readin’ pleasure. You’re welcome.

I’m also thankful for this little guy:)

1. Hot water and garage doors aren’t controlled by magic. They take time and $$ to fix, but you can live without these amazing modern conveniences…barely. Their momentary absence from my life taught me to stop and appreciate these wonders, and other “fancy” things I don’t usually take the time to notice and be thankful for (electricity, cars, new Justin Timberlake albums). And (newsflash) being a homeowner is a lot of responsibility.

2. I couldn’t be real pioneer woman unless I could keep my Nook. I spent an electricity-less evening at home as the men worked on the water heater. I was perfectly happy reading Life of Pi on my Nook with Buster on the coach. Backlit screens, another modern marvel.

3. I’m very thankful for all the family we have living so close! Ike’s dad came by our house the next day while we were at work to get his friend to fix the garage door. So wonderful! And our brother-in-law did successfully get rid of the bum heater and install the new one in our home, saving us a pretty penny. Not to mention all the times Ike’s sister lets Buster out when we are running late at work. We are lucky!

Here’s a little preview of my kitchen/dining room curtains. More pictures to come if I ever get them all hung!

Sorry to skip last week, but I was too busy sitting in the dark and not showering! Here’s to an adventureless weekend!