Wreaths

So thanks to the invention of Pinterest I have anxiety over getting things done ;) No seriously, I went on for a total of 30 minutes and found two projects that had to be done in a few days for my baby shower. It ended up being 3 things but 2 came from pinintrest. I made the hospital wreath for baby Brycen and a fall rag wreath for my front door. I also painted some canvases and did brown vinyl letters on them to go above the crib. They are now nailed to the wall thanks to my dad coming over to do some handy work while Blake is deployed. I had a few things on the list for him to tackle and my mom helped plant fall flowers in my planters outside to make my home ready for fall and my baby shower that was being held at my home. I will have to do another post soon on just my fall decor...I changed things up this year since we are having a fall party for Bailey next weekend. I wanted to have one last party for her before Brycen makes his debut and steals the show. I'm so excited to get my hands on him and read books laying on my stomach again.

 Ribbon Wreath with wooden "M" - I am going to get a white paint marker to write his weight and height on the "M" after he is born.

 Fall Rag Wreath with 2 different browns, 2 different oranges, and some crimson thrown in.

His initials in vinyl on canvases...the middle canvas took a while to get the borders but it turned out really cute. 

Roll Tide Elephant Bar Stool

I purchased this stool from Ross about 3-4 months ago. I had intentions of painting cutesy designs on it in crimson and black but the more I thought about it I wanted to make a really cool stool/statement piece. About 2 weeks ago Blake took over half of the office/spare bedroom/craft room with his putting green so I guess its a hobby room at this point. In the past 4 years this room has changed from our office to our spare bedroom to my craft room to a putting green in the center of the room. In this room we have our Alabama pictures and Alabama decorative items so I wanted it to me nicer than crimson polka dots and swirls. So I looked online and there are zero Elephant Bar Stools! I thought for sure someone would have awesome bar stools but zero! I even looked at the "Rainforest" restaurant and they didn't have any elephant stools (they had every other animal but no elephants). So this is the first one! I found an elephant painting I liked that looked possible to paint and ideas started swirling around in my head. I painted the legs in crimson and modpodged (5 layers to make it a hard plastic) houndstooth scrapbook paper on the middle legs. The upclose picture of the houndstooth is not fully dried. I think it turned out great! I will probably make a few more in the future for Blake's "Man Room".... at our next house.

Bailey's Gymnastics Room

Well we finally had the carpet installed and the room is completed! It turned out really cute. We decided to put a TV in her room since she loves to watch her "mobies" or have it on in the background while playing. It has a dvd player attached to it and it was just sitting in the office so we figured it would get more use in her room and she practically knows how to operate it. I feel so blessed to be able to give her a room she truly loves - it was a lot of work on Blake's part and mine but to see her face light up when she saw all the details and things she loves in one room was worth it. Although when we asked her what her favorite part of the room was she said, "my toys!" Not the new bedding, new pillows, the TV, the cute knobs on her dresser, her toy bucket, her ballet barre, balance beam, her name on the wall, the ballet dancer on the wall, the hanging flowers...nope, she liked her toys the best and she didn't get any new toys so she liked what she already had the best. Oh well!

I was trying to think of ways to make it more about gymnastics than a dance theme. I found a few really cute rugs or thought about the puzzle tiles but since her room is carpet I knew they would come apart so after much looking I found a reasonable priced gymnastics mat! She loves it and now I have a great spot to do my ab workouts :)

These are the flowers I worked forever on. I found the idea from a blogger who posted the Martha Stuart pom pom kits and how easy they are to make. The balance beam was a yard sale find from a friend. I didn't know what we would do with it but I figured it would come handy in the future :) It was a maroon color so I covered it in pink felt and Blake pained the wood black to match the furniture.

She loves it!

I put the flowers in the two opposite corners of the room. We put the TV on her toy bench instead of the dresser since she likes it more eye level.

Bailey helped me paint these knobs. They are her favorite colors: pink and purple. We did them in 2 shades of each and did a flower pattern and polka dots on them.

I saw these done at craft fairs last year but people are charging $30 for these! I made this for about $5. Yes it took some time but it turned out so cute and matches her room perfectly. It was suppose to be a hair bow holder but it is so cute that I didn't want to clutter it with hair bows.

This is her new bedding that I found at BB&B. It has pink and purple flowers and it looks great with her black furniture. It is a bit "grown up" looking but it is so pretty! The picture above was actually my idea...didn't steal this one :) I wanted to do a gymnastics picture and could not find anything that would work for her room...oops I did steal the saying "Gymnast in Training". I also wanted to add a little Zeta in the mix so I put the fabulous 5 point crown on the tu-tu.

So I had envisioned the room to look just like this but with a free standing ballet barre made out of PVC pipe when my fabulous husband said he could mount the bar from her crib on the wall! Isn't he the best daddy! It looks so good with the bar mounted! We did end up destroying her "baby to toddler to adult" crib because he sawed down the headboard to fit a twin and then used the foot board pole to make the ballet barre...oh well I probably would have wanted a different crib for the next child anyway...that is if there will ever be another one.

Beginnings of Fall

We are still in the process of renovating the office and Bailey's room - the carpet people keep pushing the date back...the more they push it back the more $$ I better be getting off the final price. In the mean time I am still working on the accessories for Bailey's room. Last night I went to my parent's house to watch a movie with just my sister and mom. It was so nice to watch a movie and work on a project without someone asking questions (Bailey) or sitting on my supplies (Meiko). I loved working on this project and it turned out better than I planned. I will definitely be making more canvas prints!

This past weekend Blake and I cleaned out the storage shed...we have neglected it for a year and just kept throwing stuff in it until we couldn't walk in it anymore. While cleaning up I found 2 planters that were left at the house when we moved in. I didn't like the color but they were too nice to throw out. So we went to Home Depot and purchased cement colored/textured spray paint, winter flowers (pansies), and dirt. On Monday I had off so Bailey and I planted them together. Now to some people this may not be a big thing but this was my first time EVER planting anything. I mean sure I did the seed in a cup thing during elementary school but this was real flower planting. They look so pretty on my patio! Bailey and I did a great job for first-timers :)

Also this week Bailey started dance/gymnastics classes. I looked at a few places and thought we would have to wait until next year since enrollment for the fall had already ended but I called and they had one opening for her age in a night time slot so it was perfect! She took classes at her daycare one afternoon a week so we already had the shoes, tights, and leotard but not the baton! We went last week and had her baton measured for her little arms - I didn't know they did that. I figured we should have her in classes since her room is a dance/gymnastics theme :)Here she is after her first day...gosh she is so cute :) Olympics 2022 here we come!

This & That

I am still very excited about starting the process of owning a business but first things first - I am going to have a website on etsy.com selling personalized cookies and handmade items. I want to get this process going before jumping into real estate, buying furniture, refrigerators, tables, chairs....the whole package. Plus, if the website takes off then I will make enough income to not work when we move for Blake's training in the next year. I think what I am most excited about is the possibilities...there are options and it's my ideas and my motivation that will make it happen. My best friend is so excited as well which makes it fun to bounce ideas around with her.

We are STILL redecorating (meaning my house is still in disorder...going on week 3) Bailey's room to a gymnastics/dance theme and on Tuesday we started painting the new knobs for her dresser. I wish I had a picture of us working on it together. She loved helping me and then yesterday I did all the detail work on them and she said, "Oh mommy, those are so pretty! I helped paint those." I normally opt out of messy activities with Bailey just because I avoid cleaning when I don't have to. I am trying to be better at this so I am trying to find ways for her to help decorate and be involved with her new room transformation. There are a couple more craft ideas I have in store for it that she will be able to help me with. One thing I LOVE TO DO is make something beautiful out of something used, old, or cheap. I spent $6 on 12 chunky, round, wooden knobs and a few bucks on paint that will transform her old dresser (hand-me-down from when Blake was a child) into a fantastic staple for this room.

Yesterday I went online to Amazon.com to look at embroidery machines - the last time I looked the cheapest one I could find was $700 which is way too much to spend on a "hobby". But for some reason those machines have gone down in price! I was so excited so I texted Blake about it while he was golfing....I wrote like a whole page of reasons I needed it, reasons it was a FABULOUS price, ways I would use it, ways I could make things for him.....on and on....I got back the infamous "ok". I then did a few little clicks and it is on the way! Then I texted 3 close friends and they were just as excited as I was - I love how girls get excited for you! I am using Christmas money to pay for it which is good for many reasons: 1) it can stay in the box until after Christmas so I do not have to be overwhelmed with starting a new hobby 2) no one can ask me to do orders during Christmas 3) I don't feel guilty for purchasing something that wasn't "needed" but really really wanted for quite some time.