NashvillePug

2012-02-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

Guess who's been buried in clinicals, nursing care plans, and nutrition reading guides? This girl! All my friends have been asking what my next project is going to be, and I haven't had time to think about it! I've got ideas swimming around in my head, but a lack of time and energy is keeping me from getting started...

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Also adding to the lack of projects is the fact that we put our house on the market last week! Exciting and scary at the same time! I can't get involved in big projects with the possibility that someone might want to come look at our house. I also don't want to spend any more money on this house since we'll be "moving" on soon, hopefully. So, if you know anyone in the Nashville area looking for a "charming" 4BR/3BA ranch home in move-in condition and in a great, family neighborhood, let me know!!

I hope to have some small projects and recipes posted soon, so don't forget about me!

Burp Cloth Tutorial: How to Make a Pretty Baby Gift

2012-01-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

Guess who didn’t have the Internet at home last week? ME! While it was highly frustrating because I teach two online classes, it was kind of nice knowing that I couldn’t get on the computer. I’ve got a log of blog reading to do!

I’ve got an easy tutorial for everyone today. If you know how to sew a straight stitch, then you can make pretty burp cloths to give as gifts. Burp cloths are my go-to gifts for new moms because I firmly believe you can’t have too many! Ever since the day Elliotte went through every single burp cloth we owned plus some towels, I’ve given them as gifts. I used to order them through Etsy until I learned to sew and realized how easy they were to make.

All you need is a pack of cloth diapers and some coordinating fabric and thread. I like to use fat quarters from JoAnn because I can make three burp cloths with each one. These burp cloths are obviously for a precious baby girl.

Start by unfolding one of the burp cloths and measure the length and width of the center strip. Then, using a cereal box or something similar, cut out a strip equal to the center strip of the burp cloth. This will make things so much easier!

Using the cut-out as your guide, cut your fabric a little bigger than the strip. A rotary cutter makes things go super fast! I usually go ahead and cut all my fabric at the same time.

Now move to your ironing board, and iron your fabric around the cut-out. I also iron the burp cloths at this point too.

For the ends, I fold them over just like I’m wrapping the ends of a present.

Once the fabric is ironed all around, pull the cut-out from inside the fabric. Now you’re almost ready to sew!

Place the ironed fabric right side up on the burp cloth and pin it down in a few places.
Note to self: get a new ironing board cover! Gross!

Now it’s time to whip out your sewing machine! All you have to do is sew a straight stitch around all four sides of the fabric. Make sure you back stitch at the beginning and once you get all the way around the fabric. It’s “sew” easy! Yep, I typed that.

Once you’ve done all this three times, you’ve got a super cute and sweet homemade gift for a new mom and baby! If you want to get fancy schmancy, use a zig zag stitch or add some ric rack around the edges. I used a zig zag stitch on the bottom burp cloth below, and it adds a little extra touch.

Wrap the burp cloths up with a pretty ribbon and you’re all done! I love picking out fabric for these gifts and making them look pretty. I like to make them pretty for boys too.

Now you know how to make an easy baby gift that a new mom (and dad too) will use all the time! What’s your go-to baby gift? Give me some more ideas!

Linking up to some of these fabulous parties! Tatertots & Jello, Between Naps on the Porch, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Serenity Now, Mommy By Day Crafter By Night, The 36th Avenue, The DIY Showoff, Today’s Creative Blog, At the Picket Fence, Home Stories A to Z, Gingerbread, Remodelaholic, Thrifty Décor Chick, The CSI Project, Beneath my Heart, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Perfectly Imperfect, One Artsy Mama

Kitchen Reveal: Going from Black to White Cabinets

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000-06:00

The kitchen cabinets are finished!!!!! I’m am so excited to show them to you! I thought it would be fun to dig up pics of how the kitchen looked when we moved in our house 5 1/2 years ago so you could see just how far it has come. There are a million tutorials on painting kitchen cabinets, so I’m not going to tell you how to do that. I sanded, primed and painted…6 COATS OF PAINT! Going from black to white cabinets will take you 3 coats of primer and 3 coats of paint. Trust me on this one! The white I used is "Antique White" by Glidden. Onto the pics.

Here is our lovely kitchen the way it looked when we moved in. (These are the pics from the MLS listing.) Shiny, paneled walls. Peaches and cream cabinets. Linoleum floor. Chili peppers hanging from the windows. No dishwasher. It was a jewel.

And here is how the kitchen looked before I painted the upper cabinets white. We moved the peninsula against the wall and added upper cabinets. All the cabinet doors and drawer fronts were replaced. We added a dishwasher and new appliances. I obviously painted the cabinets black. We installed hardwood floors and granite countertops. We painted the gleaming paneling a pale, minty green. My chosen colors were black, pink and green.

Here they are all finished! I really love the contrast of the black and white. It’s amazing how much the white paint has brightened up the kitchen. I hardly need to turn on the lights at night anymore because they just glow.

There’s always a sweet pug peeking in while I take pictures. My counters are never this clean, but the bright, white cabinets have inspired me to keep the counters as uncluttered as possible.

Here’s the main view of the kitchen! See how gleaming it is?! And don’t you love the “artwork” on the fridge? Priceless. I wasn’t about to remove it for pics. Keeping it real, people.

We all love a good before/after, so here it is!

BEFORE

AFTER

Six coats of paint and a week and a half of hard work was totally worth it! Don’t be scared to go for it.

Perfectly Pink Baby Shower

2012-01-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

For those of you waiting on a kitchen cabinet update (is anyone waiting on a cabinet update?), they are done! I do not have pics yet because I literally have not been home during the day to take any! With school starting back and planning a party (keep reading), my days have been FULL! I promise some pics very soon if anyone is still reading…

On Saturday, I helped host a baby shower at my mom’s house for my cousin, Paige. Paige is expecting Baby Charlotte sometime the end of February. It was a family shower full of yummy food and pretty baby girl things.

Here’s the wreath I made for the front door. Two pink feather boas tied together and wrapped around a piece of pipe insulation makes a pretty wreath! I sprayed the pipe insulation pink in case any showed through all the feathers. Mom added a “C” for some cute personalization.

Mom made these cute topiaries! She wrapped feather string around a foam ball and secured the string with pins. She painted a dowel white and used glass beads in a small pink bucket to secure the topiary.

I designed the invitation using Pixlr and Picnik. Both are super easy to use, and I never thought I would say that I had designed an invitation! I will have a hard time paying someone to do them now.

The gorgeous flowers were done by a sweet friend! The china doll was mine as a child, and I can tell you that it’s a miracle it was not broken. I hated dolls!

My friend, MJ from 517 Creations, designed the beautiful “cupcake” toppers. Since we had brunch, they were placed in the Danish. Charlotte’s monogram and a pink baby onesie were the perfect little accent.

Aren’t they stylish and sweet? Thanks MJ!

We wrapped the forks in pink napkins and tied them with a pretty pink ribbon.

We had to have some pink rock candy stirrers for the coffee!

MJ also designed the “Sweet Baby Girl” banner that we hung going into and out of the “big room”.

Even the dog was festive!

The food included egg casserole, cheese grits, hot fruit, banana and pumpkin bread, sausage balls, Danish and Russian tea, coffee, and tea punch!

These two, Elliotte and my neice, Leah, were the life of the shower. E was so excited that Paige let her help open presents.

All the ladies in the “big room” at my parents’ house.

We had such a good time “showering” Paige and Baby Charlotte. We can’t wait to meet her!

I hope to have a kitchen cabinet post for you all very soon! Don’t you hate it when your day job gets in the way of your hobby?!

A Little Organization to Begin 2012

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

I don’t know about everyone else, but taking Christmas decorations down starts the slippery slope of getting things organized and purging in our house! Nothing is safe! I’ve cleaned out my closet, E’s toys, Ben’s closet, and the garage. There is lots more that needs to go!

Our kitchen table seems to be the catch-all for everything when we come in the house. It’s been driving me crazy having E’s bags and coat right there where we eat our meals. I didn’t know what to do with all her stuff until I spied this little guy at IKEA last month and knew that it would solve our bag and coat problem! I had the perfect wall for three of these, and at $1.99, they were a steal. Who doesn’t love a cute little dog bootie hanging on the wall?! I knew E would love them!

This is the wall by our backdoor. I’ve got my dry erase calendar on it which I have resolved to actually use this year! I knew the hooks would fit perfectly below the calendar, and they would be low enough so E can hang her bags and coat on her own. She loves to hang her coat on the back of the chair, so hanging it on a dog tail hook on the wall should be a no-brainer.

Here they are hung on the wall all ready for some stuff! I think they are so cute! They are really strong too. They can hold two bags of stuff without any problem!

My little, nekkid girl was very excited to hang her coat on her own hook.

I’m so happy this stuff is off our table and hanging on the wall! E comes inside and takes off her coat and hangs it straight on a hook. We also know exactly where her bags are and can get to them easily.

See those black cabinets in the top right corner of the pics above? Well, they are black no more! I’m finishing up the cabinet doors today, so hopefully I will have some pics to show you this week. They are looking really good! It’s amazing what a ~~little~~ lot of white paint can do.

Happy Monday!

What did I get myself into?

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-06:00

Long story super short: we had to do some repair work in our basement because of a cracked cast iron pipe. The result of that work landed me priming some new paneling on Monday. Since I finished priming the paneling in record time and didn’t want to waste any of my primer, I decided I should just go ahead and start priming my kitchen cabinets! I’ve had the paint for months and just haven’t found the right time to start painting. Of course, I figured the right time should be the week that school starts back and I start teaching again. Perfect timing.

I did get a whole lot done though! On Monday, I removed all the upper cabinet doors and primed all the cabinet boxes. The rest of the work will take some time. The cabinet doors are in pretty bad shape. Whoever painted those doors five years ago did not know what they were doing! (That might have been me.) I’m going to have to do some major sanding and cleaning before I can prime and paint. In the meantime, this is what we’ll be looking at:

I’m using Kilz Clean Start primer, and it is fabulous! Definitely the best that I’ve worked with so far. These are the cabinets we use as our “pantry” since we don’t have a walk-in pantry. The majority of the cabinets are on the other side of the kitchen. I’m only painting the upper cabinets to lighten the kitchen a bit. I still love my black cabinets and don’t want to lose them completely! Plus, those lower cabinets get SUPER dirty from a certain two year old and two dogs, so the thought of white cabinets down there actually scares me a bit.

I had my external hard drive out because I was making our yearly photo book and ran across this picture from five years ago. These are the same cabinets. The uppers were new and not painted (doors not yet installed) and the lowers were a lovely peach and cream. The paneling was a super high gloss, and we had vented doors EVERYWHERE (even the bathroom!)! Thank goodness I could see past all this when we bought our house! Prior to the hardwoods, there was a lovely linoleum that the pattern actually looked like there were footprints in it.
It. was. so. bad.

Looking back through all the pictures from when we first bought our house over five years ago has made me so proud of how much we have done! I’ll show you more “before” pics when I’m done painting the cabinets so you’ll really appreciate the transformation. The former owners, in addition to all the lovely treatments above, had plastic chili peppers hanging from the kitchen windows!

Happy Wednesday!

Broccoli and Mushroom Egg "Muffins"

2012-01-02T07:00:00.000-06:00

For our Christmas morning breakfast, I needed something quick and easy. When I spied these Broccoli and Sausage Egg Muffins on Pinterest, I knew I could change them up to meet our tastes. I substituted mushrooms for the sausage because I LOVE mushrooms!

Here’s what you’ll need:
1 small bag of frozen broccoli, thawed
1 carton fresh mushrooms (I used sliced Portabella)
8 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 T vegetable oil
1/2 T baking powder
shredded cheddar

Preheat your oven to 375.
Sauté mushrooms until tender. Add thawed broccoli during the last minute or so, then remove from stove.
Whisk together eggs, milk, oil, and baking powder. Add in other spices to your taste preference.
Spoon equal amounts of the broccoli/mushroom mixture into a greased 12 cup muffin tin.
Pour equal amounts of the egg mixture over the veggies and top with some shredded cheddar.
Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.
These were so good!

You can see in the pic above that I didn’t have enough egg mixture for all 12 muffins, but that’s because I poured too much in the first two! It kind of glopped out on me when I first poured it. There was definitely enough for all 12.

This recipe can easily be changed to fit your family’s tastes. Anything you put in an omelet can go in these muffins. I think I might try a Southwestern spin on them for my next recipe!
Let me know if you try them!

Linking up to some of these fabulous parties! Tatertots & Jello, Between Naps on the Porch, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Serenity Now, Mommy By Day Crafter By Night, The 36th Avenue, The DIY Showoff, Today’s Creative Blog, At the Picket Fence, Home Stories A to Z, Gingerbread, Remodelaholic, Thrifty Décor Chick, The CSI Project, Beneath my Heart, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Perfectly Imperfect, One Artsy Mama

Stenciled Burlap Pillow Covers

2011-12-28T07:00:00.000-06:00

Did I tell you that I went to Atlanta a couple of weekends ago on a girls' trip? Well, I did, and it was SO.MUCH.FUN!

Su, Me, Lu, and Heather. We are missing our other two peeps, Claire and Kristen, who didn’t get to make the trip this year.

At least once a year, my girlfriends from childhood (we went to school together for 12+ years!) get together for some kind of weekend trip. This year we chose Atlanta for the relatively short drive and shopping. We went shopping, ate, slept, and went shopping! Stops during the weekend were an outlet in Dawsonville, GA, IKEA (I was a first timer and fell in love), Lenox Mall, Crate & Barrel, and not one, but TWO Ballard Designs outlets! I had no idea there was even one Ballard outlet, so when we found out there were two, we had to check them out.

One of my finds at the Ballard Outlet were $5 burlap pillow covers! I scooped up several knowing exactly what I wanted to do with them. I've been dying to stencil something, and I finally found my project!

For this stenciling project, I used freezer paper. For those of you not familiar with freezer paper stenciling, check out this tutorial. It is so easy!! I’ve been wanting some personalized pillows for our front porch with our monogram and house number, so that’s what I decided to do. I found a font in Word I liked, enlarged the letters and numbers to fit the scale of the pillows, printed them out, and then used my exacto knife to cut the stencil out on the freezer paper. An exacto knife is really key to cutting out the stencil since you want really precise cuts so the paint won’t leak under the paper.

To make my paint fabric-ready, I added some fabric medium to it. You can also buy paint made specifically for fabric, but I didn’t have any of that kind of paint.

Here is my stencil all cut out and ironed onto my fabric. The shiny side of the freezer paper goes against the fabric, and once ironed, adheres to the fabric until you peel it off. So cool!

Before you begin to paint, make sure you place something under the fabric so the paint does not bleed onto the other side. I used aluminum foil for some strange reason, but it worked really well. I used a sponge brush to paint the fabric so I could help push the paint into the rough burlap. I just dabbed a generous amount of paint all over the fabric to make sure it was well covered.

Here’s what your stencil will look like once it’s been painted. You should not have to worry about it bleeding around your stencil if it’s been ironed on well. You’re supposed to leave the paper on the fabric until it is dry, but this impatient stenciler pulled it off after only about 15 minutes! I couldn’t wait, and it turned out fine! I guess you could have a problem if you ended up needing another coat of paint…

The house number pillow is my favorite! I think it will add such a personal touch to our front porch. The layout of your numbers will depend on how many you have. I made one for my Mom as well using three numbers placed diagonally from the top left corner to the bottom right corner.

Don’t forget to save any small pieces of paper that go inside letters and numbers like the ones for the “8”. Let your paint dry a few ~~minutes~~ hours, then peel off your paper!

Let me tell you, it was so much fun peeling off that freezer paper and seeing perfectly stenciled letters and numbers! I now see why so many bloggers say freezer paper stenciling is addictive!

Here's a completed pillow looking pretty on our front porch!

A little side by side comparison.

Have you stenciled with freezer paper? I hope I've inspired you to give it a try!

Linking up to some of these fabulous parties! Tatertots & Jello, Between Naps on the Porch, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Serenity Now, Mommy By Day Crafter By Night, The 36th Avenue, The DIY Showoff, Today’s Creative Blog, At the Picket Fence, Home Stories A to Z, Gingerbread, Remodelaholic, Thrifty Décor Chick, The CSI Project, Beneath my Heart, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Perfectly Imperfect, One Artsy Mama

Christmas Wrap-Up in Pictures

2011-12-26T21:52:00.001-06:00

Here’s a final Christmas post to wrap it all up. We had loads of fun and were blessed to be surrounded by family! I’m going to let the pictures speak for themselves (for the most part)…

E and my niece, Leah, on Christmas Eve.

My “Nanny” and all nine of her grandchildren and spouses and great-grand girls. Adding two more great-grand girls next year!

Santa made it to our house!

A Christmas explosion!

Christmas night at my parents’ house

This one was too funny not to share!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Our decorations are all packed away and we are ready for New Year’s! We don’t usually do much to celebrate New Year’s because Ben and I both think it’s highly overrated, but my bestie and her husband are flying in from Houston, so we’re headed to the Music City Bowl on Friday and then a nice dinner and fun party are in order for Saturday!

Oh What Fun!

2011-12-21T07:00:00.000-06:00

Elliotte and I had a little messy fun the other day! I broke out the washable paints and let E do her thing. She loves to paint at school, so I knew she would love to paint at home too. Every Tuesday and Thursday when I pick her up from school and ask what she did that day, she says "PAINT!" with tons of enthusiasm.

So that's what I let her do...we started with green.

I had envisioned a "hand print" Christmas tree, but E had other ideas...and that was fine.

Then we moved to yellow.

And finished with a little red.

When she started to paint herself, that's when I called it quits!

Luckily a dip in the tub took it all away.

What are some activities you do with your kids to beat the winter blues?
Christmas is just a few days away!! Are you ready?

Merry Christmas from NashvillePug!

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

We wish you a Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year!

I hope everyone is enjoying this Christmas season! I have been taking it a little slower lately and just hanging out with my family. I've been cooking a little more and just sitting back and relaxing at night. It feels so nice! We get 2 1/2 weeks off school this break, and instead of doing projects like a mad woman, I'm going to spend most of it hanging out with my girl who's out of school too! We're having so much fun right now building forts on the couch, reading, and just playing. I hope everyone gets to take some time out this season and enjoy your family!

Semi-Homemade Teacher Gifts {Spiced Tea Recipe}

2011-12-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

Every year I struggle a little to think of what to get for all of Elliotte's teachers. This year, she has two fabulous school teachers and four amazing church teachers. I really enjoy giving something homemade, instead of just going to a store and buying something or giving a gift card. All these teachers put forth so much love and effort in teaching my child that I want to put forth some effort in their Christmas gift. We don’t have much money to spend on gifts, so I got to thinking.

I found these adorable mugs at Southeastern Salvage here in Nashville, and I immediately knew that I wanted to give them as teacher gifts. They came in a pack of four mugs, so I bought two boxes.

For the homemade part of the gift, I decided to make a spiced tea mix. I don’t like tea, but I LOVE this mix! Here’s the recipe I used:
1 jar Tang
2/3 cup decaf instant tea
1 1/2 cups powdered lemonade mix
2 cups Splenda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. ground nutmeg
Add more of less of each ingredient according to your taste.

Mix it all together and then add 2T to a mug of hot water!

For the gifts, I divided the mix into 1 cup portions, and then poured it into Ziplock baggies. The one cup portions should yield about 12 mugs of spiced tea! I was able to get all six teacher gifts out of this one recipe.

I wrapped the baggies in green tissue paper and then stuffed them into the mugs. Attach a printable gift tag with the mixing instructions, and you’re done!

I hope E’s teachers enjoy sipping their spiced tea while relaxing in front of their Christmas trees! At least that’s what I picture them doing!
What do you give for teacher's gifts? Give me some ideas for next year!

Let there be light!

2011-12-08T07:00:00.001-06:00

Our garage is not pretty. It’s a garage, so it really shouldn’t be. You’ve probably seen our garage in the background of DIY posts/pictures like this one from my project table:

One of the first things you probably notice (other than the mess) is that it’s very dark. This photo has actually been adjusted for light, so it really was darker than what the photo suggests. The one and only light in the garage is in the foreground of the picture over the work bench. See that area back by the garage door and boxes? That’s where I do all my DIY projects. I used to lift the garage door up and down multiple times while working on a project so the light from the opener would stay on!
I’ve been asking for more light in our garage for a very long time now. Well, we finally got it done!! Last week while Ben was on a hunting trip out of town, I asked my Dad to come over and help me install some additional lighting. While not very exciting, it was very much needed. We he installed two more 4 foot shop lights, and the difference is night and day (pun intended)! It also helps that the garage is now much cleaner and less cluttered. Once I had some light, I got to cleaning like a mad woman. It was literally so dark in our garage that I had to use a flashlight to see which paint I needed.

Isn’t it as beautiful as a garage can be? No light adjustment in these photos!

Every time I turn on the light in the garage now, I’m surprised by all the light! I don’t know how long it will take to get used to it, but I sure am happy!

Well, I’ll tell you!! It’s my new 12 inch sliding miter saw from Harbor Freight! It was a much anticipated birthday gift from my parents. Now that the garage is cleaned out and lit up like it’s Christmas, I can start using it! I’m quite excited to start looking for my next DIY project that will require a miter saw! Crown molding anyone?

Christmas Door Decor

2011-12-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

Our Christmas door decor is up and burning through electricity! That electric meter sure is making Nashville Electric Service really happy right now! Don't you hate getting your electric bill in January? I do! I do my best to be conscious of turning the lights off, but they are so pretty!

Here's a look at the Christmas decor that surrounds our front door. I hung artificial garland wrapped in lights around the door and added a few red, green, and gold ornaments. I stuck two pre-lit topiary trees into the painted urns. And my puffy Christmas wreath is still looking B-E-A-utiful!

The daytime pics are not very pretty at all. Christmas decor meant to be pretty at night always looks bad during the day. Don't you think? All those icicle lights hanging from the gutters and garland wrapped around columns just looks horrible during the day! But it sure does look great at night! I love driving around to look at Christmas lights at night!

Here it is all lit up at night! I love how it just glows! And my yellow door is smiling too!

Do you decorate the outside of your house or just stick to the inside? Does opening your electric bill in January scare you as much as it does me?!

Make sure you enjoy the reason for the season!

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-03T14:04:00.001-06:00

This morning was Breakfast with Santa at our church. E has been very excited to see Santa and to tell him that she wants a "pig" for Christmas. Seriously, every time I ask her what she wants from Santa, she says "a pig!". She's very consistent. My niece, Leah, got to come see Santa too. The girls had a lot of fun, but it sure was a rough morning waiting until #47 was called for our picture! We will arrive much earlier next year!

Two sweet girls, Leah and Elliotte. Leah is 4 months younger than E, and Leah will be a big sister in April!

Nonna and Ba or Pops (E calls him Ba and Leah calls him Pops!) with their girls.

Santa and Mrs. Claus

E trying to decide what she thinks about Santa! After all that talk, she was not too excited to meet him!

Finally deciding that he's ok after she got her candy cane!

Christmas Mantel

2011-11-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

Christmas, Christmas time is here! I sure do love looking at all my Christmas decorations, but I can't stand getting them out and deciding where they should go! It seemed like it took me forever to get things ready this year. I already dread getting things all packed away in a few short weeks...I'm one of those that has to put my decorations away the second Christmas is over. I have to have my house back in order ASAP!

I'm so happy that I have a "mantel" to decorate this year! Making my own cafe shelves was the best thing for displaying my seasonal decor! For my Christmas mantel, I shopped my Rubbermaid containers full of Christmas decorations and used what I had. There are only a couple of new things on this mantel that I did not already have!

I've had my glittery, red wreath for quite some time now. It used to be my "front door wreath", but I thought it would look great on my mantel this year.

A mantel is not complete without some glittery ornaments.

I added some curly Q's that I used on my Christmas wreath to my WUSLU bottles. These bottles are turning out to be quite versatile!

Here is one of my new items! A well dressed pug ornament I found at TJ Maxx! Couldn't pass him up!

I have a thing for Santas...

I have so many Santas that I think I'm going to do an all Santa tree next year! You'll see many, many more Santas when I show you my tree!

I'll be sharing my mantel at this fun blogger block party!

Puffy and Personalized Christmas Wreath

2011-11-28T07:00:00.000-06:00

Have you seen all the fun, "puffy" Christmas wreaths out there in blog land? I've been wanting one for awhile now, but I didn't want to pay a lot for one. I also didn't think I could make one and have it look the way I wanted. Well, I got over that and decided to make one using some ribbon I bought at Michael's on clearance after Christmas last year. The ribbon is firm and bendable, so I thought it would make a good wreath. I also plan to use it on our Christmas tree. I decided to use two different colors of ribbon to give the wreath a fun look. This wreath was surprisingly easy to make! I am no longer intimidated!
All you need is your ribbon of choice (make sure it “bends” and holds its shape), wire wreath form, and some coordinating pipe cleaners or floral wire.

To begin, I cut my pipe cleaners in half so the ends wouldn't be so long when I tied the ribbon down. To make your loops, all you do is loop a section of ribbon and then twist the pipe cleaner to secure the "bend" of the ribbon to the wreath form from the back. You can see it better in the pic below. I was a little worried as I started out on the wreath because it was looking skimpy, but once I added in several more layers, it turned out great!

Here's the wreath with all the ribbon attached! I ended up going around the wreath twice with each color ribbon. I went around with the green ribbon, then the red, then the green again, then the red for the last layer. With each layer, I worked it into the other ribbon for the layered effect. I didn't even use all of the ribbon on the rolls!

My wreath needed a little personalization, so I painted an "M" green and then added some white dots. I drilled a hole up in the corner of the M before I painted it, so I could attach it with a pipe cleaner.

Those of you who have known me personally for longer than a day know that I am not the least bit artistic! I used to get panicked when I had to go to art class as a child! Most kids love art class, but I dreaded it! I'm a math, English, and science girl, so the fact that I actually painted something with craft paint is HUGE! (Painting furniture is totally different!) My dots are horribly uneven, but I'm still proud.

Here's the wreath with the M attached and ready to be hung on the front door.

I added a few "curly Q's" after I got the wreath on the front door. It needed a little something extra! I think the wreath looks great against the yellow door!

The curls totally make the wreath!

I love my new wreath!

For any of you paying super close attention, yes we still have a storm door. I propped the storm door open and hung the wreath directly on the front door just for the pictures. The wreath actually hangs on the storm door, but it makes for horrible blog pictures with the glare!

Linking up to these fabulous parties! Tatertots & Jello, Between Naps on the Porch, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Serenity Now, Mommy By Day Crafter By Night, The 36th Avenue, The DIY Showoff, Today’s Creative Blog, At the Picket Fence, Home Stories A to Z, Gingerbread, Remodelaholic, Thrifty Décor Chick, The CSI Project, Beneath my Heart, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Perfectly Imperfect, One Artsy Mama, Hi Sugarplum

This Week I am Loving…{Elf on the Shelf edition}

2011-11-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

Now that Thanksgiving is officially over, I can move onto Christmas! I am very strict on not putting out Christmas decorations until Thanksgiving is over. One holiday at a time! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because of the focus on being thankful and being with family. I love Christmas too, but I hate that the focus has turned to elaborate gift giving and not the real reason for the season: Jesus Christ.

I have challenged myself to remember why we celebrate Christmas and to remind E in a simple way this year. I don’t want her growing up focused on presents and asking Santa for gifts. It sure is fun to see her get excited about Santa though, and we will definitely have our share of magical moments! We will be adding an Elf on the Shelf to our traditions this year, so I have compiled some resources for some fun ways to use your Elf, if you have one. If not, it’s still neat to see how creative everyone can be!

101 Elf on the Shelf Ideas!

via

This site has some really original ideas with photos, including stuffed animal spin the bottle! Hilarious!

via

15 more Elf on the Shelf ideas from Parenting.com

via

Do you have an Elf on the Shelf? What are some of your favorite ideas? I don’t know how crazy we will get with our Elf this year since E is only two, but I’m keeping all these ideas pinned for future reference!

I'll be back on Monday to show you my new DIY Christmas wreath for my front door!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T08:25:00.001-06:00

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am so thankful for my wonderful blog buddies!

Yellow Door, Yellow Door, What do you see? (Corrected Post)

2011-11-21T07:00:00.000-06:00

*Update: I'm so sorry if you could not see the "after" pics when I posted this last week (silly Blogger). It should be all fixed now if you don't mind taking another look!

I've been contemplating painting our front door for a couple of years now. Before we replaced our exterior doors a few years ago, I had painted our front door black to match our shutters. We had white, steel doors installed, and I have been reluctant to paint the front door since (very unlike me!). Well, I finally got over it! The white wasn't bad, but it just didn't have the pop of color I've been wanting for our front door. I didn't want to do boring black again and have it blend in with the rest of the houses in our neighborhood. I had thought about red, but our house is red brick, so that wouldn’t look good either. So, what did I do? I painted the front door yellow!
I decided on Glidden's Goldenrod in semi-gloss. It was the first yellow I was drawn to while standing in front of all the swatches. After removing all the hardware, I primed the door first to make sure the paint would "stick". Then I brushed and rolled on several thin coats of paint. It really killed me that I couldn't spray paint the door! That would have been too much trouble for such an easy project.
Here was my set up last Sunday afternoon. I completed this while E was napping. I left all the hardware off the door for the rest of the day and did not close the door until the following day. I was really worried about it sticking. (And yes, Jessie, my front door was unlocked and wide open or cracked for a solid 24 hours! Ha!)

You will always find two lazy dogs lying around while I'm painting.

Here's the finished, outside view! The storm door has a horrible reflection in the picture, but it still allows the yellow to shine through!

View from the walkway. You definitely notice the new color when driving by! Ours is definitely the only yellow door on our street!

Here's a before shot of the porch with the plain, white door. Now that it’s yellow, the white door looks so plain and sterile.

Inside view of the door. Our front door is always open when I'm home, so the yellow really helps to brighten up the room. I love all the natural light the storm door lets inside, and the dogs love to lay in the morning sun.

Have you painted your front door a fun color?

Linking up to these fabulous parties!
Tatertots & Jello, Between Naps on the Porch, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Serenity Now, Mommy By Day Crafter By Night, The 36th Avenue, The DIY Showoff, Today’s Creative Blog, At the Picket Fence, Home Stories A to Z, Gingerbread, Remodelaholic, Thrifty Décor Chick, The CSI Project, Beneath my Heart, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Perfectly Imperfect

Drop Cloth Headboard with Nailhead Trim

2011-11-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

Oh, you have no idea how excited I am to share our new headboard with you! A couple of weeks ago, I asked y’all for your opinion on a tufted vs. nailhead headboard. The overwhelming choice was NAILHEAD! I was leaning that way too, so y’all just sealed the deal. I completed this project in one day a little over a week ago during E’s naptime and then after she went to bed. It really was so easy as long as you have the right tools.
Here’s a quick reminder of how the old headboard looked. It was a very pretty headboard, just too big and bulky for the room. I pulled out a really old pic of our room with the old drapes and old bedding so you could REALLY appreciate the transformation! What was I thinking with that bedding? Oh my!

After! Doesn’t it look so much lighter and brighter (and look great with my new Roman shades)? I am in love with it. I walk by the room and just stare. It has made such a huge difference in how the room feels. Read on for the tutorial, price breakdown, and LOTS more pics!

We found a piece of fiberboard at Home Depot for $10 and had them cut it to our specifications of 78”x45” for our king size bed. I knew I wanted the headboard notched out on the corners, so I made a template from a piece of standard printer paper and traced it on both sides of the board. The notch is 11 inches wide and 8.5 inches long. I just drew a curve from one corner of the paper to the other.

Then I got to cutting with my new jigsaw! It is so easy to use and fun. Ben is scared I’m going to get too excited while using it and cut off a finger…

My fabric for this project was a drop cloth! I bought two of them a couple of months ago with plans to stencil them and use as curtains. That didn’t happen after I realized it would be the perfect neutral fabric for my headboard. And even better, they were only $10 each! To use a drop cloth as fabric, make sure you wash it with a good amount of fabric softener and then iron it really well. I purchased 5 yards of 1/2 inch thick batting from JoAnn’s to use as my padding. Foam is too expensive, and I figured two layers of batting would be plenty (and it was).

This project is so much easier if you have a nice long work surface. Luckily, our dining room table fit the bill. I laid my drop cloth (wrong side up) down first, then two layers of batting, and then my headboard.

My batting was barely wide enough to staple to the headboard, so I stapled each piece separately. This took a little more time, but I had to really stretch each piece to have enough material to staple down. After the batting was secure, I went back and stapled the drop cloth down. LOTS of stapling!

Here it is all ready for some nailhead trim!

I ordered my trim from Beacon Fabric, and it was $20 for a 10 yard roll. This stuff is so easy to work with! I am so glad I did not get individual nailheads. I would have pulled my hair out! Do be careful though when stretching out the trim. I think I got a cut on each one of my fingertips on my left hand. Ouch!

I started at the bottom left of the headboard and worked my way around. You pound in a nailhead with a rubber mallet every 5th head. There’s a small hole so you know exactly where to put the nailhead.

The corners were a little tricky, but the trim cuts easily with some heavy duty scissors.

I figured out a little late in the game that it was easier to get a straight line with the trim if I went ahead and stretched it all the way across and nailed the end down. I then went back and filled in the rest of the holes. Live and learn, my friends. It’s also easy to go back and pop out any unruly nailheads. You can see a couple in the pic below. The nail stem bent a little when hammered in, so I popped them out and replaced them with a new one.

To hang the headboard, I used a French cleat. When I asked the guys at Home Depot which aisle they were on, they said “a French what?”! Ben said the only cleats he knew about were the ones on the bottom of his football shoes! I used a cleat because I was not about to hang this bad boy with D-rings. No way was I going to try and line those up straight. A cleat makes things so much easier because you can slide the headboard to the left and right until it’s in the right spot. This one even came with a little level on it, so we knew it was straight. It was $15 and well worth it! They come in different sizes, so you can use them to hang all kinds of things. I went with the 200# cleat because I didn’t want to take any chances of the headboard coming off the wall. It may not look it, but it is heavy!

Here’s the part of the cleat that went on the top of the headboard.

And here is Ben screwing the other part into the wall. It had these fancy screws with teeth around them, so you’re not supposed to use a drill. Luckily one of the screws went into a stud, so the headboard is not going anywhere!

Here’s how the back of the headboard turned out looking.

And here it is hung on the wall! So pretty! The drop cloth did have a seam down the middle of it, but I knew it would be hidden by the bed and pillows, so I was not worried about it.

Here it is all dressed up and ready for it’s debut!

Again, I’m in love! Doesn’t it look good with the shade fabric? I didn’t even plan that! I literally made the entire headboard, and the first time I saw the fabric in the room was when we hung it! I’m the kind of person who doesn’t even take paint swatches home to make sure they look good. I pick out my paint right on the spot, fabric too. It’s a blessing and a curse. I go with my gut, and it most always works out.

One more time…Before and After pic

And here was my little helper while I took pictures. She saw the headboard first thing when she woke up and said “ooooohhh, new pillow!”! So cute!

Here’s the cost break down:
Drop Cloth $10
Headboard $10
Batting $20
Nailheads $20
French Cleat $15
Grand Total $75

Not too shabby when stores are charging over $1000 for one of these!

Next up, I think I want to paint our bedside tables with chalk paint. I’m thinking ASCP Old White? What do you think?

Linking up to these fabulous parties!
Tatertots & Jello, Between Naps on the Porch, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Serenity Now, Mommy By Day Crafter By Night, The 36th Avenue, The DIY Showoff, Today’s Creative Blog, At the Picket Fence, Home Stories A to Z, Gingerbread, Remodelaholic, Thrifty Décor Chick, The CSI Project, Beneath my Heart, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Perfectly Imperfect

Tree Hugger

2011-11-11T10:45:00.001-06:00

Happy Friday everyone! My little "Tree Hugger" and I want to wish you a happy Fall weekend! We've got a hayride at church tomorrow and then our much anticipated new church building dedication on Sunday! I hope you get to enjoy the beauty of God's colorful trees this weekend! Happy Fall Y'all!

Beth
I'll be back on Monday with a post about our new headboard! I'm so excited to share it with you!

Easy Applique

2011-11-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

If I can applique, anyone can do it! I’m flying to Houston next week (girls’ weekend!) to see my Bestie, Jennifer, and I want to take some treats to her three kiddos. These are not the kind of treats that the kids will appreciate, but their Mommy sure will! She’s already seen the pics of the shirts, so I’m not ruining any surprises!

I only learned how to sew back in March when I took a four week sewing class with my Seester, Drennon. We learned to make a child’s “Johnny” romper, and the sewing bug hit. I can’t do anything fancy, but if I can make an entire quiet book from scratch, then anyone can learn to sew!
I bought three t-shirts (2 girls, 1 boy) from Wal-Mart at $3.88 each, as well as some Christmas fabric from JoAnn’s a few weeks ago on sale. I only needed a 1/4 of a yard, so the fabric only cost a couple bucks, if that. The girls’ shirts were easy. I cut out a Christmas tree and sewed it on their shirts and placed a button at the top for a “topper”. The boy’s shirt was a little harder because I thought the tree was a little “girly” for him. I finally decided on an “a” for Alex. I made the “a” using Word Art in Microsoft Word. The font is “Howser”. All I did was stretch it on the screen to the size I needed and then printed it out.

I then made sure the size of the letter would work on the shirt. I traced around the letter with a Sharpie (my black ink was running low in my printer) so it would show through the back of the page (more on that below).

Heat n Bond is your best friend when making an applique! It eliminates the need to pin your fabric to the clothing. Make sure you follow the package instructions when ironing it on your fabric.

One thing to remember when using Heat n Bond is that you need to reverse your image on the smooth side of the paper so it will turn out correctly on the fabric. (I think there is a way to do this in Word, but I don’t know how yet!) This will make much more sense when you are actually working with the paper! I turned my computer paper over (the side with the “a” printed on it), traced the “a” on the back side of the paper, placed the Heat n Bond on top of the paper, and then traced again onto the Heat n Bond. Clear as mud?!

Cut around your letter so there’s not much paper around the edges (this keeps you from wasting fabric). Then, use your iron to bond the paper to your fabric. Again, follow the package directions.

Once the paper is bonded to the fabric, cut out your letter and make sure it looks good on your shirt.

Then peel of the paper backing to reveal the “glue” that will hold your fabric to the shirt. It will be shiny but not sticky.

Place your letter on the shirt exactly where you want it to stay and then iron it on. It’s so easy!

Once your letter is bonded to the fabric, it’s time to sew! Pick out a coordinating thread and sew around the edges of the letter. I’ve used a zig zag stitch as well as a straight stitch in the past. For this project, I chose a “tight” straight stitch in bright green. Don’t forget to sew around the middle hole if your letter has one!

Here are all three shirts! I am so excited to get these on those three kiddos! I made E a tree shirt too! Hers is white with a red button.

The total for all three shirts was about $15 since I already had the thread, buttons, and Heat n Bond.

Beth

Linking up to these fabulous parties!
Tatertots & Jello, Between Naps on the Porch, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Serenity Now, Mommy By Day Crafter By Night, The 36th Avenue, The DIY Showoff, Today’s Creative Blog, At the Picket Fence, Home Stories A to Z, Gingerbread, Remodelaholic, Thrifty Décor Chick, The CSI Project, Beneath my Heart, Crafty Scrappy Happy

Men’s Shirt Christmas Pillows

2011-11-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

I went to Goodwill a couple of weeks ago looking for some cable knit sweaters, so I could make some winterized and cozy pillows for our den. I didn’t see any sweaters that I really loved, but I did see these two button down shirts that screamed “make me into Christmas pillows!”! I had seen this tutorial on making pillow covers from men’s shirts, so I knew what I had to do. The shirts were $5 each; not a steal, but I thought they were worth a try. Doesn't that look like a Christmas plaid?

We have two of these pillows residing on our den couch that I wanted to use. They measure 20x20, but I made the pillow covers about 18x18 so they would fit snugly. I like the idea of being able to take the covers off once Christmas is over and not having a bulky pillow to store.

To make the pillow covers, keep the shirt buttoned and use a rotary cutter to slice through both the front and back of the shirt at the same time. For the first shirt, I cut through the side seams, and this was not the way to do it. It really goes a lot faster if you lay your shirt flat, lay your pillow on top and eyeball the size, then cut with your rotary cutter. Plaid shirts make it super easy to cut since you can just follow one of the lines with your rotary cutter. Make sure you pay attention to the pocket on the shirt (if it has one). I liked the little extra detail it gave the cover, so I left the pocket on and worked around it.

Once your pieces are cut, turn them right sides together and sew around all four sides using about a 1/2 inch seam allowance. I love that you can sew all four sides since the button down part of the shirt acts as your opening. No going back and hand stitching!
Isn’t it cute?! I love the extra detail that the buttons add to the pillow.

And guess what? These can be taken off and thrown in the washer! How awesome is that?!

Here they are looking all nice and cozy on our den couch.

I played around with a few different layouts of the pillows…

And decided that I liked the buttons facing out the best!

There are so many different possibilities when using button up shirts as pillow covers! Go raid your husband’s closet and turn those ugly shirts into cute pillow covers! I’ve got my eye on several of Ben’s shirts…

Beth

Linking up to these fabulous parties!
Tatertots & Jello, Between Naps on the Porch, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Serenity Now, Mommy By Day Crafter By Night, The 36th Avenue, The DIY Showoff, Today’s Creative Blog, At the Picket Fence, Home Stories A to Z, Gingerbread, Remodelaholic, Thrifty Décor Chick, The CSI Project, Beneath my Heart, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Nap Time Crafters, At Home with K

I am Thankful for…

2011-11-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago while teaching clinical in the hospital, I saw the article below posted on the white board in the nurses’ station. After I read it, I immediately took it down and made a copy so I could share it. I have no idea where it is from, but at the bottom of the article, it said it had been submitted by “Frances Shipp, Weaver High School, Weaver, AL”. With Thanksgiving a few weeks away, I think it is good to remember all our many blessings. Not just at Thanksgiving, but all year long. If everyone looked through the eyes of this article, the world would be a much different place. I hope you find it as inspiring as I did!

I am thankful for the wife who says it’s hot dogs tonight because she is home with me and not out with someone else.
I am thankful for the husband who is on the sofa being a couch potato because he is home with me and not out at the bars.
I am thankful for the teenager who is complaining about doing dishes because it means she is at home, not on the streets.
I am thankful for the taxes I pay because it means I am employed.
I am thankful for the mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.
I am thankful for the clothes that fit a little too snugly because it means I have enough to eat.
I am thankful for my shadow that watches me work because it means I am out in the sunshine, and for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a house.
I am thankful for all the complaining I hear about the government because it means we have freedom of speech.
I am thankful for the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking and have been blessed with transportation.
I am thankful for my huge cooling bill because it means I am comfortable.
I am thankful for the lady behind me in church who sings off key because it means I can hear.
I am thankful for the pile of laundry and ironing because it means I have clothes to wear.
I am thankful for weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means I have been capable of working hard.
I am thankful for the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means I am alive.

“In every thing give thanks”
I Thessalonians 5:18
Beth