Coming Back

Hello, all! I have (obviously) been on a loooong hiatus. I have to admit, I've hardly even looked at any home blogs over this past year. I just didn't have the energy to be inspired. Now, over the past month or so, I've been getting the itch again and I'm ready to come back.

First, I need to introduce you to Thomas.

 

 

He just turned one on April 23rd and is my favorite boy in the whole world. He's also the main reason I've been away so long. My pregnancy with him was tough on me, and I didn't have much motivation for anything. After he was born, I just wanted to focus on bonding with him and becoming adjusted to being a family of four.

 

 

Since Tommy was born, I've also been focusing on becoming healthier and creating a healthier life for my family. I've lost almost 100 pounds through mostly diet change. Here is a before and after:

 

 

 

Actually, let's call it a before and during. The picture on the right was June of 2011, just a couple months before I got pregnant. The picture on the left is me last September. I've lost about 25 more pounds since then and still have a long way to go. I've occasionally posted recipes on here and plan to start posting some of the concoctions I've come up with over the past year or so.

 

 

My home is still a work in progress. My daughter and I did a couple abstract watercolors a few months back and finally got them hung up. They're fantastic and I'll show you more later.

 

 

 

I've also done a little rearranging and have been slowly switching things out in my living/dining/kitchen. I find that I'm more and more drawn to bright colors lately, so I'm heading more in that direction with my décor. The curtains in the picture above are gone and have been replaced with new ones, made from a duvet cover. I'll post about those soon.

 

Sadly, I still haven't finished three major projects I had planned; my deck, Laura's room, or Tommy's room. Remember my Craigslist chairs that I couldn't wait to get done? Well, those have a story to tell...a sad, sad story to tell you. I've also got a few new projects I've added to my list.

 

Anyhow, I'm going to run now to spend some quality time with my baby boy, but I'll be back very soon.

 

I can't wait to start sharing again!!





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?