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?