Ellie's Room

Our big girl has made it to 5lbs! And, she was off oxygen for about 21 hours.  She took herself off of it yesterday afternoon around 1. Yes, you read that correctly, she took herself off of it.  I came back from lunch and she had tugged enough that the tape came off her cheeks and the cannula was laying on the bed next to her.  She was napping happily and her oxygen level was great! So we left her off of it and she tolerated it really well.  During the night, they ended up having to put her back on it just while they fed her and this morning when I came in around 9 she was starting to dip down into the 80s. So they had to put her back on 0.5L.  They also said that she was refluxing bad last night and this morning for her feedings and wasn't eating as much, so we are all going to watch her take a bottles today and see how she does.  Baby steps! 

My mom was teasing me back in May that I had finished Ellie's room 10 weeks early.  Now, we are so glad that I did. I haven't had to worry about getting it done before she comes home.  I can't wait to see her in it. As luck would have it, it fits her personality perfectly.  I wanted a nursery that was soothing and neutral, but still "girly." But without feeling like "whoa, pink explosion!" every time we opened the door.  Being the art nerd that I am, I came across Edgar Degas' Dancers in Blue and then fell in love with grey and aqua bedding at Pottery Barn and the room quickly designed itself from there.  Wesley built and installed her shelves.  I love that we will be able to see the covers of the books that we put in there.

Mom, Katie, and I toted the Degas print to JoAnns and picked out coordinating fabric for the mobile that I made her. It took a long time, but it was really easy.  It is just fabric circles folded and pinned into Styrofoam balls. I turned the solid wood entertainment cabinet that my parents gave me a few years ago into a wardrobe to house nursing supplies, blankets, and diapers. I decided to keep the twin bed in the room with original plans to have Ellie sleep in her room from the beginning.   Now, she will probably end up in our room for the first few weeks so we can literally roll over and check and make sure she is breathing.   Still, I'll be able to use the bed to nap when she does and it will make a great "couch" for the three of us to sit on and read bedtime stories.

The finishing touches, from Ellie's sweet gifts to framed cards and shower invitations, made the room feel really ready for her.  It added the perfect amount of pink and personal touches.  We couldn't be happier with how it turned out and we just can't wait to bring her home to it!! I've told her all about it so I know she just dreams about being there every afternoon :)

{DIY} Scrapbook Fridge Magnets

 

Aren't these adorable? I love them and they are so easy to make.  We've got a stainless steel fridge, so I can only use the tiny space on the sides that stick out.  I wanted some magnets that "went" with the kitchen and I fell in love with these metal scrap-booking charms.  They are little pieces of art! Hmmm...maybe I"ll get some mini Monet's next time ;)  You can pick them up at any craft store in the scrap-booking section.  I got the magnets at a craft store too.  Of course, the super glue I already had.  Yes, between the {DIY office storage} and {no-sew burlap table runner}, you could probably tell that I am obsessed with love super glue. 

This little project couldn't be any easier...

You will want to press and hold the magnet onto the charm for a good 10-20 seconds to ensure that the super glue adheres. The other great thing about using the metal charms, is that they are already going to want to grab hold of the magnets.  The super glue just makes sure that they stay in the spot you want them to. Easy, right?!?

Refinished Kitchen Table

 

Wesley and I finished our newest masterpiece last night.  We refinished our kitchen table.  I could not be happier with how it turned out!  It took us a good week and a half to get it all done.  There was so much sanding, painting, staining,...and did I mention sanding?  But it was worth every sore muscle and bead of sweat. I love the smooth finished top and the antique vintage feel of the base and chairs.

After all of this hard work, I am so excited to spend a relaxing anniversary weekend in Charleston!

Happy Friday!

Vintage Travel Poster Pillows {DIY}

These pillows made the perfect birthday gift for my sister Kelsey.  She is getting her first "own place" in the fall.  We are bequeathing her our black couch and love seat, so I made a few pillows to start her out.  These are double sided, so she can flip them to mix it up. I chose this great soft cream textured fabric for the iron-on transfer side, and a cute cotton print for the back.  These are 16 inch pillows, so a yard of each kind of fabric was plenty to make 3.

Did I mention these are too easy to make?!? 

1. Cut your fabric.  For 16 inch pillows, I cut 17 inch squares.   So whatever size you want, add an inch to each side for the seam allowance.

2. Make the pillowcase.  Line up your fabric face to face, with right sides together and wrongs sides out.  Then pin them together and sew around the entire perimeter, leaving a small opening so you can flip it right side out.  Make sure this opening is at the bottom of your pillow case! 

3. Iron on your masterpiece.  I've got a simple iron transfer tutorial for you {here}.  The vintage posters I found on Etsy at {this shop}.  They so many great digital pictures and quotes that are only $1, easy to download, and you can even request them in colors.  I already have my Christmas pillow line up set!!

4. Finish your pillows.  Once your transfers are on your cases, you can stuff them.  I used pillow stuffing for these, but I have also used pillows that I just wanted recovered, or inserts that you can buy at sewing supply stores.  Once you've stuffed it, fold in the edges of your opening, pin it closed, and then hand stitch it closed. This is why you want the opening at the bottom...no one needs to know you had to hand stitch anything!

 Verona/Subway Art/Rome

And, you're done!

The Garden

 

We planted our garden over a week ago and have really enjoyed watching it grow!  We seem to get a little better each year. The first year, we tried everything from seeds with no direct sunlight, and of course, we got a few spouts, but nothing grew.  The second year we were in our house so we tried planting them directly into the ground.  Such a bad idea.  Don't do it!  We realized that it was the wrong way to go and then tried to transplant them into raised beds.  We were lucky to get one or two mini squash and tomatoes...and all of the green beans died.  Last year we kept our raised beds, added more manure and compost, and did everything from seedlings.  We had a pretty good crop of tomatoes and squash and zucchini.  We've learned to rotate where we plant, to water frequently, and of course, pick a very sunny location for the beds.

This year we added the fourth small bed for more tomatoes.  We have been starting from seedlings for the past few years, but I really want to move in the direction of starting from seeds, so we designated one bed as an "experiment" to see how it goes. We are trying out roma tomatoes..we'll see how they do compared to the 8 seedlings we bought...romaine lettuce, and green beans.  So far we had only two seed places not sprout.  They seem to be coming in strong!  I can't wait to enjoy fresh veggies soon!!

I also do a potted herb garden on the deck.  They are thriving this year!! I think they loved all of the rain we had.  

Have you ever tried to garden?!?  What have you learned?

Linking up with Shanna 

Baby Shower {Goin' Fishin'}

This past weekend, I co-hosted my first baby shower with my sister-in-laws.  Wesley's oldest sister is having her first little boy at the end of next month.  We went with a fishing theme...perfect for little Jacob since his dad loves it so much!  

All of the decorations we made to match the nursery so that they could be re-purposed and enjoyed for longer than just the 2 hour celebration.  The fishing panel art was my favorite thing that we made (tutorial here).  We also created a fishing net display that we hung the advise cards on with tiny fishing hooks....this was too easy - just some fishing net that we picked up at Michaels and stapled to the back of a frame we painted and sanded. The thank you gifts were simple burlap squares that we tied around a small plastic bag of goodies with some of the same yarn that we wrapped around the jars of flowers.  Our "bait & tackle" were gummy worms, goldfish grams, and pretzels broken to resemble hooks.  

All in all, it turned out to be such a cute shower!
Linking up with Shanna 

Monogrammed Pillow {DIY}

A few months ago I was at Pottery Barn looking for pillows for the living room.  Of all places, I end up running into the mom of one of my childhood friends.  She is an interior decorator that now does consulting work with Pottery Barn.  Small world, right?!? Of course, she asked what I was doing and as soon as I handed her my fabric swatches, she went to town. One of the pillows I got was this one:

It was on clearance and she had the fabulous idea of suggesting that I have it monogrammed to add some interest since it was a little plain.  Did she know that "just monogram it" is music to my ears?!?  The wheels started turning in my head and I decided that I could do it myself!

I've never tried iron transfer before but always wanted to, so I crowned this as my perfect project to try it out on.  I ordered Epson transfer paper.  It was almost as easy as 1-2-follow the directions. First, if you get inkjet paper, then use an inkjet printer.  I tried to cut corners and run it through my laser printer and it destroyed the paper.  No good.  Second, the tricky part with transfer paper is that you have to know which side is the side to print on and which side is the side to iron on.  The shinier side that had the smoother texture turned out to be the side to print on.  I downloaded this amazing font: Carribean Tool and set to town on my monogram:

Once I had it printed, I cut it out, leaving about 1/4 of an inch of excess:

Any of the excess, or negative space, you leave will transfer clear but still be the same shiny texture, which is why I wanted as little as possible. Then flip it over, get it straight, and iron it on! (Definitely follow the directions of your transfer paper!)

Once your done, let it sit and cool a good 2-5 minutes.

Then carefully peel it off

Now, take a step back and soak in your beautiful monogrammed perfection!

Linking up here and here 

Wooden Pictures {DIY}

One of my favorite birthday presents was this wooden picture that my sister, Kelsey, made for me.  I love all things vintage, personal, and handmade...and this is all three!  

Want to make one yourself?!?

Go check out her tutorial here

Our Weekend

Our weekend flew by.  The always seem to get shorter.  What's up with that?  Saturday morning we tried taking a few pictures... Wesley and I couldn't agree on the best place, so while we were arguing discussing, Katie snapped this one.  Of course, it turned out to be the best.  (I'm not biased or anything...but I was on team outside.) 

We decided to tackle the garage as our first spring cleaning project.  Shelves were a must, especially for all of the tools Wesley has recently gotten in order to put in the hardwoods a few weeks ago.  After several hours of not being able to find studs for the heavy duty brackets he constructed, we finally got the shelves in.

Of course, once the shelves are in and I am able to organize everything, I find the lost stud finder at the bottom of a bucket.  Go figure.  Now it has it's own space on the peg board we put up.  It is definitely my favorite part.

Now I feel pumped and motivated to spring clean the rest of the house.  After church on Sunday, we feasted to fondue and then crashed on the couch.  I can't remember the last time I had a Sunday nap.  So good!  

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Linking up with Molly

P.S. Now you can follow with bloglovin!

Spring Panel Art

You know I'm on a panel art kick right now.  Ever since I made my first one, I've been itching to make more. It's just so easy to crank out!  Spring has inspired some perfect subjects. 

Here's the one I've got on display now....

 Want to make one yourself? 

Well, here's the tutorial here, and below is the inspiration for the spring silhouettes.

Enjoy!

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Linking up here and here