Nursery Update - Another Craigslist Dresser

Hello, all! I hope everyone is getting to enjoy some fantastic early spring weather like we are here in North Dakota! We went to a St. Patrick's Day parade yesterday and it was almost 80 degrees! Who would have ever thought that you'd be able to wear shorts and a tank top on St. Patrick's Day in ND?

Anyway, we're plugging away on the nursery and this is our most recent project.

I love this solid wood (no particleboard or veneer!) mid-century dresser and at just $60, it was a steal! The top was in sort of bad shape, with some water spots, stains and dents so I went back and forth on what to do with it. I loved the look of this dresser from aDESIGNdock.

I love the darker wood drawer fronts and the contrast with the white shell. This is such a fantastic look but the dresser is going against a cream colored wall and I just didn't feel like it would look right. We decided that since it was solid wood, sanding and staining was the way to go. So...I put my husband to work :-)

My next decision was what to do with the bare wood. (Man, decisions are TOUGH!) I had three options in mind. First, a clear coat just to seal it. The color would have been super close to the crib but the contrast against the cream colored wall wouldn't have really been there. My second thought was a simple, natural colored stain and my third was a beautiful, deep walnut color.

I ended up going with the natural stain.

I'm super happy with my choice. I love the little bit of color and if we decide to go darker in the future, we can easily do that.

So, that's just a tease. You'll have to wait until the room is totally done to see the finished project :-)

As far as updates go, here are a few more. I finally got the chevron curtain fabric and blackout liner and plan on sewing them up today. While I was at it, I picked up a yard of this Dwell Studio fabric for some accents.

I also have a couple updates on the baby. My c-section is scheduled for April 23rd so unless he decides he wants to come early, that's his birthday! Speaking of him deciding to come early, I guess he's big. He's measuring a couple weeks ahead so I have another ultrasound scheduled for March 27th to get an idea just how big he is. Who knows, maybe he'll be here sooner! I guess that means we still have a lot to do!

How is everyone doing? Are you taking advantage of the fantastic weather? What are you working on right now?

Grosgrain Ribbon "Matting"

Hello all! I'm so excited to show you my favorite element (so far) of the nursery. I showed you back here the prints I bought from etsy. I'm super happy with them but I bought them in 11x14 and my cheapo frames from IKEA were just slightly bigger than that. I had to come up with a solution to hide that fact.

Here you can see at the bottom of the frame where I had a little space. It was like this at the top as well. I also didn't like that you could see the outline around the edge of print.

Close up :-)

I used an orange grosgrain ribbon to conceal the problem areas and to add a little punch of color.

I cut four strips of ribbon so it would be just slightly longer and poke out the back. I laid it right up against the glass of the frame and put the print over (or I guess, technically, "behind") it. I put the backing on the frame just like I normally would and used the little tabs of ribbon to adjust the placement so it was just right. I trimmed the excess and voila:

 

I'm loving the extra bit of color this adds and they're going to look fantastic against the gorgeous blue wall.

 

We've got the blue wall painted and the crib is up. I've been posting some progress pics on my Facebook. I'm going to order the fabric for the curtains this weekend but want to find a fantastic coordinating fabric to use as an accent so I can order them all at the same time.

So, does anyone have any ideas for a great fabric to coordinate with green and white zig zag?

St. Patrick's Day Potluck Idea

Hey all! I was going through some old pictures on my phone and saw this one and thought I should share. A couple years ago my work department was having a St. Patrick's Day potluck with awards for the most creative Irish/St. Patty's Day themed food.

I wanted to do something quick and simple but still fun and creative. I did a general Google images search for St. Patrick's Day for some inspiration and came across an Irish flag. I had appetizer style veggie pizza on my mind and decided to do an Irish play on that.

I didn't take pictures of the process because I did this before blogging but it's pretty self-explanatory and the pic of the end result should really be all you need. I used  a roll of crescent rolls and covered a cookie sheet with it, making sure to seal the seams well and baked it according to package directions to make my crust.

I made a spread with well-softened cream cheese and a packet of ranch dressing mix and slathered it over the cooled crust. I then took some mozzarella cheese and put it in a gallon sized Ziploc bag, added a few drops of green food coloring and shook it up to evenly coat the cheese.

Using cheddar, plain mozzarella and my green colored mozzarella, I made the stripes of the Irish flag on the top of my pizza. To add just a little something special, I used a few green pepper rings and little pieces of green peppers (for stems) to make shamrocks for the top of the pizza. Here is the end result:

The final result was adorable and I ended up winning first place in my department competition!

I made this with items I had on hand but this would be great with shredded carrots, cauliflower and broccoli or shredded lettuce. Really, as long as the colors work, you can use anything! I realize this flag is supposed to have the green on the left side but didn't realize that until much later. Anyway, nobody noticed :-)

I love St. Patrick's Day and made some great projects last year. First, there was my glittery Luck O' the Irish plaque. Then, I made a fun wreath with a rainbow and shamrocks. (I still love this wreath but think I'll change it up a bit this year. I really do love the area with the shamrocks and would like to do that to the whole thing.) Finally, it wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day in my house without some Corned Beef and Cabbage!

I don't know just how much I'll be doing as far as decorating and crafts go this year. I just have too much else going on. I'll be sure to keep you updated! What do you like to do for St. Patrick's Day? Is it your favorite holiday like it is mine?

Design Plan - Laura's Renewed "Big Girl" Room

I've been wanting to re-do my daughter's bedroom for a while. When we moved in to this house I just kind of threw together something that sort of "worked" but I didn't put too much thought into it. I used leftover bright pink paint from our last house and put some pretty decals up on the wall.

Well, I've been asking her for a while now if I could change her bedroom and she's refused so far. That is, until she saw this wallpaper from Anthropologie.

 

I fell in love with it instantly and she literally looked at it and said "I want that"! (Gotta love three year olds!) Anyway, I'm now saving up for one roll. I normally couldn't bring myself to spend $150 on one item for a room but there is just something about this I can't get off my mind. AND it set off a whole design idea for her room.

We've decided to put the wallpaper on one wall. It's a super busy pattern and I don't want to overkill. On that same wall, we're going to do a setup like this.

I've been wanting to do a DIY padded headboard for her for a while and thought a built-in around it would be fantastic. Here is my (somewhat decent) "blueprint".

That big rectangle on the right side is a mirror. Her closet is on the wall perpendicular to that and there's only about seven inches clearance for her bi-fold closet doors so I can't extend the shelf the whole way. I still wanted it to have a symmetrical look so I'm going to use mirror tiles and molding to create a full length mirror.

I'd like to have enclosed cabinets that are a bit deeper than the shelves above to use as night stands and plan to use sconces above the headboard or on the sides and then some recessed lighting in the shelf above the bed (bridging the shelves on the sides).

I found the picture below and loved the paint and molding on the bi-fold closet doors and think this might be worth a shot.

Of course, I need to figure out what to use to replace her builder grade boob ceiling fixture. I'd love a brightly colored fixture along the lines of these:

Finally, I found this picture on Pinterest and loved it! It would be fantastic somewhere in that room and would be an awesome compliment to the wallpaper.

I'm also thinking of yellow chevron curtains and a navy ikat on her reading bench as well as a DIY knockoff of an Anthropologie duvet. I don't expect this room to be done soon but my husband is itching to get that built-in done so you never know. In the mean time, check out my pin board on Pinterest for this room and get a look inside my head.

I'm really trying to be a better blogger and keep the time between my posts at a minimum. I've got a ton started and just need to get my stuff together to show you!

Have a great Sunday and I hope to be back this week with some updates on the nursery :)

Cooking Mishaps

Have you ever had a cooking attempt turn into something more like a science project? Several months ago I tried a recipe for something (I don't remember what) but was so surprised when my concoction turned blue.

This was garlic sauteed in some olive oil, tossed with capers, lemon juice and white wine. I had NO idea but knew my husband wouldn't eat it so I threw it out.

Well, tonight I had a similar problem. I saw this on Pinterest and couldn't wait to try it. This, being the first Friday in Lent and my husband being a practicing Catholic, I absolutely HAD to try it!

First, I tossed it with Angel Hair and some shredded Parmesan and it was soooo good! Good, that is, despite the blue garlic :(

See that? So, I did some googling and it turns out my garlic is immature (ha ha...me TOO!) and it's having a chemical reaction with the acid in the lemons. Who knew? At least it still tasted fantastic. It was light and lemony and so good. I'm a lemon freak and this really hit the spot. Head on over to Cinnamon Girl Recipes and check out this recipe. I'll be making this Roasted Garlic Herb Shrimp again for sure. I'll just be sure to use mature garlic next time!

On another note, I've finally picked out which shade of blue to use in the nursery and we're going to get started on clearing out and painting this weekend. I'll be sure to post lots of pics of the process!

Have a great weekend!

Design Plan - Baby Boy Nursery

Hello friends! I have been having so much fun collecting ideas for my little boy's bedroom. If you follow me on Pinterest, you have probably already seen my board full of ideas. I've gone back and forth with plans and was pretty sure I wanted a navy blue wall and chevron curtains but as soon as I saw this picture, I knew it was exactly what I was going for. (For all of these pics, click the picture for the source.)

Now, I'm not going to be copying the whole room but the navy wall and green chevron curtains will both be the same.  

I ordered some swatches of a few different shades for the chevron curtains and I just can't help but love the above shade of chartreuse. The fabric has been ordered!

The instant I saw these prints on etsy, I knew exactly what direction I was heading in for this room. You may not know this about me but I'm an absolute music lover and a HUGE Beatles fan. In our house, music is on more than the television and my daughter has been able to identify the Beatles (music and pictures!) since she started talking. I'm so proud of my girl :)

Anyway, I ordered the set of four and got them almost right away. The colors in these are so vibrant and I can't wait to see them hanging up in his room!

This mobile is fantastic and I'd love to DIY this. I'm not usually big on "themes", even for a nursery, so I'm trying really hard to stay away from going overboard on the music stuff. Also, this isn't a huge room so I'm needing to be kind of choosy. I have an upholstered glider and ottoman we used in my daughter's nursery at our old house and I'll be bringing that in. We also picked up a new crib at IKEA a few weeks ago. I've still got a lot of wall space to fill and I'm still trying to figure that out (again, without getting too themey).

I think that all in all I've got a good start. Now, we just need to get that room cleared out! I'm sad to be losing my office/guest room but to be honest, I wasn't using that space anyway. Well, except for storage of all my thrifting finds. Figuring out what to do with all that will be a challenge. I'm thinking major purge and rummage sale. After all, I've got a ton of baby girl clothes to get rid of!

I'm thinking that next weekend we will get started on clearing out the room. I'll take lots of pictures of the process and be sure to share. I've also been thinking that since the boy is going to get a fantastic room, it's time for my daughter's room to be updated. I'll share some ideas for that another time!

I hope you're all having a great weekend and have something fun planned for the big game tomorrow. I'm alone this weekend and will be until shortly before kickoff so instead of making a big spread with awesome apps, I'm going to be making my favorite chicken enchiladas instead. What are your plans?

Found Treasure - Mid-Century Love

Hello all! I just wanted to pop in to show you my latest "found treasure". My love of Craigslist is well-documented. I regularly buy and sell furniture and household items and have gotten some incredible deals. Well, I think that today I got my best deal yet!

Behold, my PAIR of vintage Hans Wegner folding rope chairs!

Well, I can't tell if they're Wegner or the earlier Ebert Wels version but either way, they were a steal and they're fantastic! I am planning on selling them so if you're interested, let me know! If I don't sell them, they might just end up in baby boy's room - which I'll be posting my plans for this weekend!