Henry's Nursery

It has only taken me four kids and almost four year in our house to actually have a completed nursery! When it was Charlie's room I hung a couple things on the wall and called it a day. The walls used to be a minty green. They really weren't too awful, but I was ready for a change. A fresh coat of white paint later with lots of black and white accents and some pops of color. I love it! Even though Henry will still be in our room for a bit longer, it's so relaxing to sit in there for no particular reason.

Here are a few pictures!

Most of the prints were done super cheap using free downloads and then printed at Staples. I made the curtains using some acrylic paint I already had and a $5 twin sized flat sheet from Walmart. The awesome "I am a child of God" muslin swaddle is from Modern Burlap that I got super on sale since it was slightly misprinted. The geometric H (Hobby Lobby) and pillow (Target) were on clearance, and the feather garland I made myself!

My love for mantles

We have been in our house for one year now, and I literally just got the last couple of boxes that have been sitting in our dining room this whole time put away last week. And by put away I mean put in the attic still full of stuff. Most of which was decorative stuff. Picture frames, a couple mirrors and so forth. A whole year and besides a frame collage I managed to put up in our bedroom, and a few pretty plates in our kitchen I've put nothing on our walls. One reason is that I want to be sure it's something I am going to love before putting nails in the wall. Second is not wanting to spend a fortune on things, and having to wait until I find something I like at a thrift store or have the time to DIY. Which is why I am so glad I have a mantle.

It is really important to me to have a cozy feeling home. Especially in the living room, since we spend so much of our time in there. Mantles are non-committal. If I put something up there and end up not liking it, I just take it off. Having it full and pretty really brings the room together for me without having anything else on the other walls.

I have especially loved decorating my mantle for holidays/seasons. Here is what it looks like now, all dressed up for Fall.

And in case you have mistaken me for someone who always has her house neat and tidy, think again....

Looking ahead

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a great New Years Eve however you happened to spend it this year.

We had already planned on just being home for New Years Eve, and I was totally cool with that. My bedtime comes early these days, so I knew it would be ridiculous to even attempt doing something. I would have just ended up awkwardly falling asleep in some corner, and looking like a passed out drunk girl. No thanks. The plan was to stay home with just us, eat some junk food and try out our ice cream maker for the first time...

What I done did

At end of this blog post I wrote a list of things I wanted to get done last week, and said that at the end of the week I would post what I actually accomplished from that to-do-list. Well, I'm a little late in posting that, but better late than never.

So, I did not get everything crossed of my list. Shocking, I know.

I didn't get around to cleaning out our window seat storage, and I took a look at the top of the filing cabinet and deemed it wasn't that bad. So, it remains untouched. Oh, and the toys. Nothing happened there.

But I did get my fridge cleaned out.

And got my food cupboard organized.

I organized the shoe basket, getting rid of shoes that no longer fit my big foot of a son, and went through all the boys clothes (Although not all the bins made it downstairs yet. I just hate going down there.)

I also got a lot accomplished that wasn't on my list though. Like 2 batches of chicken stock, 4-5 batches of yogurt (I lost track), made a big pot of sauce using fresh from the market tomatoes and soaked like 10lbs of beans. Well, more like 3-4lbs. But still. That's a lot of beans you guys. Now I just need to make bbq baked beans and refried beans with them!

So, I am pretty satisfied with what I got done. I definitely still need to finish that list though, but it will have to wait until next week. This weekend we have our annual Church Family Camp, so this week is FULL of writing lists, shopping, baking/food prep, packing...oh the packing. Just writing that makes me wonder how I am going to get it all done without pulling my hair out. If only we could just live on cereal all week. Life would be so much easier.

Our week in pictures

We have been home every day this week, with the exception of having to grocery shop yesterday, since Will hasn't been feeling well. The poor little guy seems to have an ear infection. The pain comes and go leaving him miserable one minute to running around and kicking a ball the next. So, we've either been snuggling on the couch or trying to pass the time away. Here is a little glimpse of our week!

 We made lots of forts.

 I got flowers from my honey.

Sam's favorite thing to do these days (along with playing with a box of Tampons) is turn the TV on and off. It is also the biggest source of aggravation for Will.

 We did some coloring.

 I caught them playing cars together!

 We made "special squishy project."  He wasn't impressed.

 Someone wore a cute striped outfit with elbow patches.

We sat on the couch and watched LOTS of movies.

 

Mommy and daddy had some chocolate covered strawberries.

 We played with race cars.

 We played OUTSIDE!

 We picked our noses.

Made friends with a stray cat.

 Thought a cat was the scariest thing in the world.

 Wore our rainboots.

 Saw some signs of SPRING!

Valentine Craftyness

So far in my married life I haven't gotten to crazy when it comes to decorating for holidays. I usually get a few gourds and pumpkins to have around the house for Fall. Christmas we get the tree, put up some lights around the house and hang a wreath on the door. No pilgrims. No Easter eggs. And usually no hearts.

It's not that I don't like decorating for holidays. I actually enjoy it a lot! I think my lack of it is partly because we have a small house, and don't have many places to put decorations or I just don't think about until it's too late. Then of course I didn't always have Pinterest to inspire me!

Valentines Day is one of those holidays that has so many cute decorating options, and I always wish I was able to decorate for. But it always creeps right up on me, and is over before I get the chance!

I was quickly browsing "Valentines Day" on Pinterest the other day to get an idea for Valentines Day cards for Will's preschool class, and came across this cute DIY Valentine's banner. I realized I had everything I needed to make it, so I figured, "Hey! Why not!" I worked on it bit by bit throughout the day, but really if I had been able to just sit and do it with no distractions it wouldn't have taken any longer then 20 minutes to make.

So here is my one and only contribution to Valentines Day this year!

As you can see it is NOT perfect. Burlap is a pain to cut evenly. But that's how homemade things should be; a perfectly imperfect one of a kind!

After looking at this picture I really noticed how colorless my little tan corner is. Maybe I will add some light pink hearts to my branches. Kind of like this:

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Here are some other ideas I would love to try someday; Maybe next year!

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Pinterest Inspired

If you haven't heard of or joined Pinterest, you should totally check it out. I'm in l o v e. I was that person who had a bookmark list a mile long of recipes, craft ideas, blogs, etc. It wasn't the most organized way of keeping track of things I liked, but it did the job. Until one day our computer crashed. We had to wipe it clean and I lost a l l of my bookmarks. Sad day. But Pinterest, oh how I love thee. It's an online site, so unless there is some crazy internet Armageddon that happens, all my stuff is safe!

Not only is it a great place to easily organize my likes, but more so a place to inspire! I have a ever growing board of DIY ideas, and I finally got around to doing a couple.

This first one is a wreath, inspired by this and this. I am pretty happy with how it came out. The only thing with using the plumbing foam is that it's on the thin side and not very firm. So having flowers on the bottom only kind of drags it down. I think it would be great though if you were doing a wreath like this one or this one.

I used some twine I had around the house from previous projects which I wrapped around the foam tube, and good old 25 cent felt and a glue gun for the flowers. Here's how it turned out!

Hi Will!

I also used straight pins to attach the flowers to the wreath. That way I can change them out with different colors when the season change!

As soon as I saw this next idea on Pinterest, I knew it was just what I needed to organize my earrings. So instead of being all mixed together in a jewelery box, they can hang all pretty on my dresser! Ignore the dark, grainy pictures. The lighting isn't that great in my room.

I used a cheap frame from Savers that I spray painted and lace trimming that I staple gunned onto the back of the frame.

I've also slowly been redecorating my room. I painted the base of those lamps a pretty yellow, and at some point will be adding some ruffles like I did here.

And here's a picture of snuggly Sam, who has been pretty crabby lately. He either has a cold or is teething, but either way all he wants is mommy.