Ten June

DIY Linen Memo Board + Fabric Pockets

2012-05-30T08:04:00.001-04:00

Have you ever completed a project around your house and then realized it just didn't work for you? Yup, it's happened to me many a time. But my most recent victim was the DIY knock off Pottery Barn calendar I created a couple of years ago. It was such a great idea... velcro + laminated cardstock + ribbon... the perfect way to keep my household organized. Check out my tutorial here.

But sometimes, cute isn't useful. I looked at the calendar the other day and realized we hadn't updated it since... October. Hm. Maybe it wasn't really an efficient tool for our house! Time for an update.

Without much of a game plan, I ripped off all of the ribbon and Velcro pieces. Unfortunately, that peeled off a layer of cork board in many places. Wah. I knew then I had to cover it. Since I had already promised myself I wouldn't spend any money on this project, I hit up my scrap fabric stash for something lovely to cover the cork board with. How about some beautiful linen?!

I've seen so many wonderful tutorials where bloggers cover entire cork boards with fabric, but since I took the time originally to stain the wooden frame of the board, I decided not to cover the frame, but just the cork board itself. First, I painstakingly measured and cut the fabric to fit over the white cork board. It might not be painstaking for you, but I am terrible at measuring and cutting fabric. Don't forget to iron your fabric before you cut it!

Next, I simply sprayed the board with adhesive (after covering the frame with painters tape- the over-spray on spray adhesive is a bear!) and slowly laid the fabric down. My suggestion is to only spray about half the board at a time, so you aren't working with one big sticky mess. Oh and yes, this crazy pregnant lady wore a mask while spraying aerosol : )

Because (ahem) my measurements weren't perfect, the next step for me was to tuck the fabric into the wooden trim of the cork board. A tiny flat head screwdriver did the trick perfectly.

You may still have to cut or trim the frayed edges (especially if you use a fabric like linen), but overall, I think the cork-to-fabric process looks pretty clean!

So far, I loved the board. But it needed a little something something, don't you think?

I ran (okay, more like waddled at 6.5 months pregnant) back over to my scrap fabric stash and decided to whip up a few fabric pockets on my sewing machine. Yes, folks. This makes my second project on the sewing machine. (The first being my DIY baby burp cloths). Call me a sewing pro.

All I really did was cut some fabric and then folded it in two, sewing a simple stitch along the edges. Of course, leave a gap at the top so you can actually put things in the pocket! You could probably use hem tape to make this as well, if you're not into sewing. Simply turn the fabric backwards (patterned sides facing each other) and iron the hem tape around the edges. Then fold inside-out and boom... you've got a no-sew pocket!

I'm pretty happy with my new memo board. And it's already got a lot more use out of it than the old calendar did.

Yes, those are little pea pod ultrasounds up on the board! We've been storing them away in a drawer the last few months, so it feels great to get them up on the memo board for show. He's such a cutie.

I think it's the perfect addition to my office gallery wall, don't you? It's been awhile since I played with that wall (last thing I added was the DIY nailhead trim art), so it was time! Oh, and you'll notice that our beloved paper mache deer head is no longer on this wall... ol' Sally met her demise last month when she fell off the wall in the middle of the night. A DIY tragedy, for sure.

Updated any projects around your house lately?

Apartment Living Room E-Design for Brandi

2012-05-29T07:50:00.000-04:00

Hello, friends! I'm so glad to be back, alive and well. Thanks to a ton of rest and some antibiotics (and your sweet well wishes!), I'm pretty sure that most of the bronchitis is out of my system and I'm on the road to recovery.

It's been awhile since I've shared any of my e-designs here on the ol' blog. And since I was really excited about a design I recently worked on for an apartment living room, I figured it was time to share! Brandi contacted me for some help designing her new living room. The only piece of furniture she owned was the leather sofa with the chaise lounge attached that you see in the design. The rest, which needed to completed under a certain dollar amount, was up to me. Hellooo... a blank slate to work with on a budget? Totally up my alley!

By the way, you can click on the board for a larger shot.

I think this design is perfect for Brandi... fresh, young and fun! I added a few great DIY projects to keep the budget down, like this fabulous DIY chevron rug project from Little Green Notebook. I also added some great Ikea furniture, like the high gloss gray side table Brandi plans to use as a TV stand.

All in all, I think Brandi loves the design and will be happy implementing it in her new apartment!

If you're interested in an e-design for any room in your home, shoot me an email at tenjuneblog@gmail.com or check out my e-design page here!

Nursery Color Inspiration

2012-05-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

Like what you see? Me too! These colors, inspired by Glidden paints, are adorable.

For more nursery color inspiration from Glidden, some fun nursery inspiration color tools and a chance to win a $2,500 to Walmart, head on over here for more details!

Psst! Thanks for all of the sweet "get well" wishes! I've been resting up all week, hoping to avoid pneumonia and getting myself back on the healthy track. Your prayers and thoughts are appreciated : )

Under the Weather

2012-05-22T19:24:00.000-04:00

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Hi friends. I've checked out the last few days because I'm not feeling so hot this week. Apparently catching bronchitis (hopefully not working its way into pneumonia) when you're six months pregnant is not the most fun thing to do in the world : )

If I owe you an email, I promise I'll touch base soon.

Have a great week. Cough, cough.

Nursery Update: Our New Crib!

2012-05-21T07:45:00.000-04:00

Hello hello! Hope all of you had a fabulous weekend. After a crazy week last week, David and I made it our mission to relax this weekend... and with lots of time by the pool, good food and fun, we certainly did so!

We also had some time to finally set up our new nursery furniture! And I have to say... I'm in love.

As I mentioned in my other post on the furniture, we purchased our crib from here and the glider from here. And couldn't be happier with either one!

The solid wood crib is perfection. Exactly what I wanted for our little pea pod.

Land of Nod customer service has been incredible. They even sent a little "welcome to motherhood" gift to me late last week (an adorable bumblebee swaddle blanket) as a thank you for purchasing a crib with them! Can't beat that. We're 100% happy with the crib so far. I can't wait to see it dressed up with some adorable little crib linens! : )

(Psst! See that picture frame sitting on the bin next to the crib? You know, right next to my wedding dress in a box and all of the other junk we've yet to move out of this room? That'd be an adorable handmade gift for my baby boy from the one and only Cassie! How sweet is she?! I love it.)

I'm also totally in love with the glider. It needs an ottoman companion, but it's still so comfortable.

And yes, you can see that David and I have decided to use our old living room rug in the nursery! I think the whimsical yellow pattern will be perfect for little man.

Of course, we still need to paint the room. The trim and bead board ceiling will definitely go a glossy white and we're thinking of a light gray for the wall colors. But, as you know, we're going to wait on that step until we're sure we won't sell the house before the baby arrives in early September.

I absolutely love the little view when you peek in the room.

Seeing all of this furniture really makes David and I feel beyond excited to meet our little guy. It feels like September won't get here soon enough!

Friday Finds

2012-05-18T06:10:00.000-04:00

You know you got the email... but did you click through to check out the deals?

Holy smokes, Pottery Barn is having a sale and momma wants to go shopping.

How about $500 (about 1/3 of the price!) off this guy?

I really need to make that happen. This one's been on my list for awhile. Do you think baby boy would be mad if I exchanged his new crib for a rustic wooden console table?

I think this little pendant and his $60 off price tag need to jump in my online cart.

Pretty pretty.

$100 off this incredible rattan chair. Would look fabulous behind my home office desk....

Or how about $100 bucks off of some of their classic rugs? You know I'm a big fan of PB rugs, I've got two of them in my own house!

Oh, look. They already monogrammed one of their adorable fringed napkins for me.

Don't even get me started on all of their dining room tables and sofas that are on sale. Yum.

I've used this fabric in an e-design before... this roman shade is so cute and funky. And $50 off. Hey oh.

60% off of this mirror, people. Need I say more?

I'm not affiliated with Pottery Barn (unless they want to send me any of these items for free, which, of course, I'll gladly take with a big fat smile on my face), I just thought I'd let you know there are some great finds in their current sale!

Go forth and shop, friends! And have a great weekend : )

To My Baby Daddy

2012-05-17T07:56:00.000-04:00

To the man I love more than anything in the world...

to the man who still brings me a glass of orange juice in bed every morning...

to the man who tells me I look amazing even when I'm six months pregnant...

to the man who was my safety patrol officer...

(if you don't know what that means, watch here)

to the man who pretends to love to talk about blogging just because it makes me happy...

to the man who I am quite sure will be the world's best father to our baby boy...

to the man who secretly read Hunger Games along with me (and loved every word)...

to the man whose smile lights up my life...

to the best life partner a girl could possibly have...

to the man who said to me "why don't you ever call me your baby daddy?"...

to the man who was my first crush and who will forever remain my last crush...

H A P P Y A N N I V E R S A R Y , B A B Y.

Cheers to an amazing four years behind us and a lifetime of love ahead of us. I love you! Times a million.

Dream Nursery Design: the Area Rug

2012-05-15T07:31:00.001-04:00

Like what you see?

Well then hop on over here to help me pick from these and other adorable rugs for my "Dream Nursery Design" series over on BabyCenter!

Last week, you helped me pick a crib for the room. This week, find out the readers' crib choice from last week and submit your vote for an area rug. Thanks for joining the party, friends!

Weekend Recap

2012-05-14T07:45:00.001-04:00

I hope all of you had a fabulous weekend! Mine was busy, but eventful.

I've been churning out my DIY burp cloths for the baby. It's really the perfect first project to help me get acquainted with my new sewing machine before I move on to bigger projects. Oh yes, bigger projects are in the works. Muhahahaha.

We were blessed to have another showing at the house this weekend! David and I spent Saturday morning utilizing a lot of these tips for showing your house, including bringing in some freshly cut hydrangeas from our yard. Pretty pretty!

Saturday night, I had the chance to be a baller (shot caller) and ride around on this bad boy for a fun girls night with some office friends. Seriously! Hi, I'm Michelle and I ride around on million dollar boats just because. Thank goodness I know people who know people ; )

I celebrated my first Mother's Day on Sunday! I woke up to a letter from my sweet little pea pod (aka David) that left me in tears. Actually, every time I've reread it, I've cried. I have the two sweetest men in my life, that's for sure! One blessed little momma.

I wrapped up a few more hydrangeas for all of the beautiful moms (and grandmoms!) in our life, then David and I headed off to spend Mother's Day with our families. It was a wonderful day.

Three generations of mommas... me, my mom and my grandmother!

I hope all of you had a great weekend as well!

Today, I'm sharing (along with some other awesome bloggers!) about what my mom has taught me over on Emily Clark's blog. Head on over here to check it out!

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You may be noticing some changes here on the ol' blog. I'm working with the amazing Anna to make a few tweaks, so bear with us as we sort it all out! : )

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And, finally, a day late (but definitely not $75 short!), the winner of the Empire Patio Covers giveaway is....

Congrats, Holly! Shoot me your contact information via email so I can pass it on and you can claim your $75 gift card prize. Have a great Monday, everyone!

Saturday Loving

2012-05-12T08:09:00.003-04:00

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Oh, how I love me a good Saturday. Especially gorgeous spring ones like this! Getting stuff done around the house (or in our case, rushing around and prepping for a showing!), enjoying the day off and getting excited about the rest of your weekend.

With that said... happy Saturday!

In case you missed anything on Ten June this week, here's this week's round up:

Create a last-minute Mother's Day gift or finally master a photo collage with my PicMonkey tutorial.

Get inspired by Country Living and their latest DIY rustic home feature.

Over on BabyCenter, come vote to design a custom nursery! This week we're choosing a crib.

Enter to win a $75 gift card giveaway to Empire Patio Covers. You can choose great items like patio furniture covers, dog blanket covers for your car and more. Giveaway closes at midnight tonight!

Check out my article on how to incorporate floral design over on Centsational Girl. I'm flattered that it was featured by House & Home magazine this week!

You have to see my first nursery sneak peek. We got some new furniture!

Over on BabyCenter, I shared my favorite gear for helping a preggo like me stay safe in the summer sun. They're actually great tips for everyone, so come check it out.

Have a great Mother's Day weekend, everyone!

Nursery Furniture: A Sneak Peek!

2012-05-11T07:51:00.000-04:00

Well hello hello there! And happy Friday, friends.

So guess what's been going on at my house this week? A few furniture deliveries for baby Ten June!

Oh yeah. I'm excited!

As you guys know, David and I have decided to move forward with decorating our little pea pod's nursery even though our house is up for sale and we may be moving before the little guy arrives. You can read more about our reasoning for such here.

After weighing the options, we chose which room in our house we wanted to convert into the nursery. Over the last few weeks, I've been working on a few small projects for the room, like my rustic wooden growth chart and the DIY burp cloths I've been whipping up with my new sewing machine. Well, that's not really a nursery project, but it's a fun baby project that's been keeping me occupied as we slowly decorate the nursery! My nesting instincts are kicking in and I'm ready to get this room pulled together.

Anyways, we decided it was time to take the plunge and start purchasing a few furniture items for our little dude. First up? A crib and a glider! I figure everything will fall into place after these big purchases, so we prioritized these two items and actually decided to splurge on them to get what we wanted.

the crib......

Sorry for the sketchy iPhone pic, but this guy is obviously still in the box! After much research, David and I chose this crib from Land of Nod. It meets all safety standards and is constructed out of solid wood. Plus, it's design is classic with a touch of modern. Perfection! We had trouble with the somewhat hefty price tag, but we shopped around and never could find another option we liked as much. And then I saw the crib on Sarah's blog (have you seen her nursery? amazing!) and fell even more in love. When you love it, you love it, right?

So when I found a LON deal for free shipping (which saved us almost $200!), I thought it was a no-brainer. Crib sold! And now delivered and hanging out in Baby Ten June's room : )

...... the glider

Yes, yes. We splurged on this bad boy, too. Even after I complained about how expensive this piece was and how you could easily DIY a cheaper version. The chair is from Pottery Barn Kids and it's heaven in the form of furniture. Seriously, the most comfortable chair I've ever sat in.

It's a slip-covered piece that we actually got in the same fabric as our living room sofa, which we absolutely adore. And once David "butt-tested" the comparative Ikea chair to the Pottery Barn version, there was no true comparison. So we waited until the glider was on sale (it still is!) and got 10% off because we've got a registry with PB, as well. Like I said, definitely a splurge that took a big chunk out of the funds we've saved up to decorate the nursery, but it was a purchase that was important to us. I can only imagine there will be a lot of late nights in this baby!

So there you have it! A little sneak peek of the new furniture deliveries in the Ten June nursery. I am lovvvving seeing it all come together! If we can get our butts in gear this weekend, we might even have a few more developments for you in this room next week!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Flower Power

2012-05-10T13:00:00.000-04:00

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This spring, floral decor is all the rage. But there is a fine line between stylish florals and making your living room look like an old granny. In order to walk that line on the right side of the tracks, I've pulled together five fabulous tips to bringing floral decor into your home.

Head on over to Centsational Girl today to read the article!

And don't forget to enter the $75 gift card giveaway for outdoor furniture covers and pet car covers! You only have until Saturday night to enter!

$75 Giveaway!

2012-05-09T09:05:00.000-04:00

Hi friends! I'm excited to treat you guys today to a fun little giveaway!

With summer just around the corner, I know most of us are spending a lot of time sprucing up our outdoor spaces. Gotta be ready for all of those upcoming BBQ's, right?!

Today, Empire Patio Covers is here to help one of you with that process. They offer a huge range of patio furniture covers in several different finishes, including classic nutmeg, metro brown and hunter green.

Their covers fit chairs, tables, chaise lounges, sofas, hot tubs, fire pits, grills, air conditioners and more. I'm telling you, they have a great selection! I'd love to be able to cover our patio furniture when we're not using it, instead of cleaning it off every time we go outside!

Empire also has a collection of pet accessories, including some great pet seat covers. I know Maggie and Tucker would love one of these! Actually I would love it for them... less hair to vacuum out of my car at the end of every trip! Sounds like a dream come true.

Today, Empire Patio Covers is giving away to one of you a $75 gift certificate to any item in their shop! You'll also get free shipping of your products within the U.S. and Canada. Think of all the possibilities... your backyard will be fitted for summer, that's for sure.

G I V E A W A Y R U L E S :

1) Visit Empire Patio Covers and leave a comment telling me which item you'd like!

Please be a follower of Ten June.

2) For an additional chance to win, link to this giveaway on either your Facebook or on your Twitter, then leave a second comment telling me where you linked (FB or Twitter). Please link with the phrase "patio furniture covers!"

3) For a third chance to win, "like" Ten June on Facebook, then leave an additional comment letting me know you liked the Facebook page.

One winner will be chosen at random. Giveaway ends at midnight EST on Saturday, May 12th. A winner will be announced next Sunday morning! Good luck!

Loving... A Rustic DIY North Carolina Home

2012-05-08T08:16:00.000-04:00

Whenever I open up the pages of Country Living, I'm impressed. I feel like it's a magazine written for me! Every house tour is incredible, their product finds hit the spot and I love all of their recipes. And this month was no exception.

In fact, as I sat by the pool this weekend and flipped through the latest issue, I literally couldn't stop "oohing and ahhing" over an article that toured a beautiful, rustic North Carolina lake house. Lots of "Babe! Come look at this!" and "Ohmygosh we could do that!" were heard, that's for sure!

I was even more excited when I realized the magazine article photos were on Country Living's website! Score. I knew all of you would love to see this place. Let me show you why....

Emily Knotts, the homeowner, renovated her kitchen for... $31. Yup, just the price of a gallon paint!

Emily's husband, Michael, built this amazing table for $11. $11, people!!

Their living room is filled with so many amazing finds + projects. See that rustic shelf? Emily made it for $4! Hello, we could all do that! Beautiful.

This entryway melts my heart. The painted white floors... the metal pail... the old windows. Yeah, I'm gonna need to recreate this one day.

Yes, she DIYed the numbered stairs, sliding doors and barn door desks. Genius!

Now can you see why I'm absolutely smitten with Emily and Michael's home? So many beautiful images and, even more exciting, inspiring projects! I love seeing DIY design look high end. It's so refreshing!

To see more of Emily and Michael's house, check out the article in the latest issue of Country Living or on their website right here.

Psst! I started a new series on BabyCenter today. I'm asking all of you lovely readers to help me vote on certain items to design a nursery! Oh yeah, sounds like a good time, right?!
Come check it out here!

PicMonkey Photo Collage + Word Art Tutorial

2012-05-07T07:55:00.000-04:00

Hi friends! I hope you guys had an amazing weekend. I certainly did... soaked up the sun in our backyard, celebrated a dear friend's birthday, partied it up (virgin margarita style!) for Cinco de Mayo, had some showings at the house and really just enjoyed the last few days.

Remember a few months ago, when we all chatted about the demise of our beloved Picnik? Since then, I've been playing with different photo editing options. Per your awesome suggestions, I tried out lots of Adobe products, such as Lightroom and Photoshop Elements. While they're certainly amazing programs, they were a little too complicated for me. At least for right now.

But then I learned about the new, wannabe Picnik: PicMonkey. Once I started playing around in the program, I realized it was pretty good! It has most of the amazing features Picnik had along with a few more fun editing options and funky effects. Momma likes. The only thing is that they don't offer photo collages... yet. But I figured out a way around that!

Last week over on BabyCenter, I shared this tutorial I created for PicMonkey. It's all about how to create a photo collage and word art in the program. You could easily use PicMonkey to edit your blog photos, create art to decorate your house, design personalized greeting cards or even make a last minute Mother's Day gift! I love it, so many options.

I promised I would share which photo editing alternative I ended up choosing.

So without further ado... my PicMonkey tutorial!

Step uno. Save a blank page in Paint (or a similar program) and open up in PicMonkey.

Step two. Rotate and resize your blank page. I used a 5x7 for this tutorial.

Step three. Pick a font... or two! Don't be afraid to play around, they have so many cute options.

Step four. If you're creating word art, I suggest using a few cohesive fonts and colors to liven it up.

You can choose colors that are already on the page by clicking the rectangle shown and then clicking the object whose color you want to copy. So if I want the exact same color green in "mothers" for the line that says "children," I'd start typing children, click the rectangle, then click "mothers." Boom, the word "children" is the same color as "mothers."

Step five. Find a cute quote to type up! I found this one on Pinterest.

Step six. Add some fun "overlays" or clip art to your masterpiece. I faded mine to the back of the text for a more subtle approach.

Step seven. Add a border.

Step eight. Stand back and admire your fabulous word art! Feel free to print this one for personal use.

Now what if you want to add photos to your project?

Step one. Start off with a blank page, same as above.

Step two. Because there is no collage version available yet on PicMonkey, you add photos as an "overlay." Simply click on the overlay category and then choose "your own." You are given the option then to upload photos into the program! Jackpot.

Step three. Simply add as many photos as you'd like! I just chose one for this project.

Step four. Then play with all of the fun features just like we did above... font, graphics, overlays, text, colors, borders, etc... the PicMonkey world is your oyster!

Step five. Love your new creation. I think these are so fun and easy!

I've also been using PicMonkey to create the collages for my weekly preggo bump pics.

It's so fun and easy to use, I just had to share.

So, whatcha think? Are you a PicMonkey fan like me?

Atlanta Blogger Meet Up

2012-05-05T11:19:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, I was so lucky to meet up for dinner with a few amazing Atlanta bloggers. We had the best time chit chatting about blogging, design and life in general. And hello, all of these girls are the cutest! See what I mean?

Rhoda, Susan, Sherry, Lisa, Jewel, Katelyn, me, Tiffany, Anna, Lauren

Whitney and Lori May also joined us for dinner, but had to run before we got a chance to snap a picture.

It was so amazing connecting with these ladies... I feel so lucky to share the blog world with them!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Selling Our House: Showing Tips

2012-05-03T13:24:00.000-04:00

It seems like our life lately is a whirlwind chaos of vacuuming, dusting and straightening up in order to prepare the house for a showing. Which is such a blessing! David and I are really excited to show the house to any potential buyer who wants to check it out. Lately, we've had a ton of activity, which is great.

In order to control the chaos, we've slowly learned how to make the showing process somewhat of an orderly event. Of course, there's the obvious: clean your house within an inch of your life. No one wants to buy a dirty house! But there are also a couple of other things I've learned that help the showing process.

For those of you out there who are selling your home, thinking about selling your home or know someone who is selling their home, here are some of the tips and tricks of the trade we've learned in the last couple of months!

Bring in some fresh flowers.

Nothing says I'm home! more than a bouquet of beautiful fresh flowers. I try to include some throughout the house, including the main living areas and bathrooms. The above shot was taken this weekend, as I was prepping the house for two showings Sunday afternoon. Oh, and I'm a major dork because I actually add a little note that says "Peonies straight from our bushes out back!" just so the homebuyers know that these are fresh flowers they can get from our yard! Win win.

Get rid of the clutter.

No one likes clutter. That includes cluttered furniture, countertops, desktops, etc. If you think you have too much furniture in a space, take some out and put it in storage! We keep things pretty sparse around our home, so we haven't really taken this step. But most of us could use a control on the countertop clutter... I know we do! So all mail, bags, shoes, books, etc. need to be put away. As your momma always said, "everything has it's place!" It helps to keep up with this little chore the entire time your house is on the market, so you're not scurrying every time you get a call for an appointment.

Puppies (or any pets!) need a roadtrip.

You know I love my dogs, but I've quickly learned that not everyone does! David and I have made it a point to have the dogs out of the house for every showing. No one wants dogs (or cats!) pawing (or worse- jumping or barking!) at them while they're checking out a house. And even the backyard or basement should be off limits... you need to make sure that every part of your home is freely available for the homebuyers to look at. That means Tucker and Maggie and I go on lots of road trips lately! : )

Your. House. Must. Smell. Good.

I know this one is kind of a no-brainer, but for those of us with pets, this is kind of a hard task! You definitely don't want your house to smell like your pet... at all. We've found two great ways to help with freshening up once we learned your average air freshner wasn't doing the trick.

First, I spray OdoBan around our house. It neutralizes all bad odors, which is awesome. It's certainly not green like most of the cleaning products that we use, but we open up the windows when we spray it and let the house ventilate altogether. And it works... well! You can spray it on fabric, in the air... just about anywhere! It definitely gets rid of the doggy smell. Also, I use a fun trick for making your carpets smell good while you're vaccuming. Simply drop a few drops of home frangrance oil on shredded pieces of tissue and vaccum the pieces up. Voila! The smell is absorbed into the vaccum and dispersed throughout the house. Love it.

Leave a few personal touches for the homebuyers.

No, I don't mean leave out the love note your hubby left you yesterday. I try to incorporate ways to show the homebuyer that this is a home and not just a house. Anything you can do to make them picture themselves living in the house is good, in my book. I leave the homebuyers a note that gives a quick synopsis of the improvements we've made (ie. the love we've poured into the house!). I also note the great parks to walk to and tell them about our wonderful neighbors. I think it adds a personal element that they can't discover on their own, just from seeing the house. Sometimes we'll even bake cookies before the showing, which is always a winner move : )

So that's what we've learned so far in our house showing process. It's not rocket science, but these little tweaks and tricks really seem to help! And you can always use these tips when you're simply having guests over. Of course, we're not professionals by any means, this is just our two cents. We've had some great feedback and are really optimistic about getting the house sold. Here's hoping!

The Genie Series: Designer Bags & Dirty Diapers

2012-05-02T08:09:00.001-04:00

Well hello, friends! I've got a fun treat for you today. Here's a hint: she's beyond stylish, she's an adorable little blonde, she has one of the cutest kids around and she lives in my favorite city in the world. If you guessed Natalie from Designer Bags and Dirty Diapers, then ten points for you!

Natalie dropped by today to share her three "genie in a bottle wishes" with all of you! Take it away, N!

Hello blogger friends! I am Natalie from Designer Bags and Dirty Diapers and I could not be more excited that Michelle asked me to participate in her "genie series". I mean we would all love to have three wishes, right?? Tough choice is narrowing it down to just three!!

ONE

First off I would like two vacation homes. Not trying to be greedy by wanting two but I really want one in the Mountains and one in Caribbean. That way I have the best of the beach and mountains. I also need it to be big enough to bring lots of friends and family with me when I travel. Because what fun is having a vacation home if you can't bring along all your favorite people to share it with?! Oh and I also need a private jet to get us there so we can travel anytime we like.

TWO

I would like an unlimited fund for purses. Think of it as a trust fund for gorgeous purses. I love all designer purses but sadly they are so not in my budget right now! Not to mention the hubby thinks it is crazy to spend that kind of money on handbag. If I had a fund we would both be happy!

THREE

I would like a huge wine cellar filled to the brim with the most amazing wines I could ever taste. Of course it would be unlimited so the wine would never run out!

Now here is to hoping that Genie answers my wishes soon!

Thanks for having me Michelle!

xoxo

Photo sources:
one/two/three/four/five

DIY Baby Burp Cloth

2012-05-01T08:19:00.001-04:00

Cue the Britney Spears music. Because this wannabe sewer just stitched up her very first project!

Using this genius tutorial from MADE, I created a baby burp cloth for our little man! I figured simply sewing two rectangles together was a pretty easy first project,so I went for it.

I chose the fabric types (including the soft chenille on the "burp" side) based upon the tutorial. I actually bought a ton of different fabric for the tops so I could make a few of these. Okay, so I have enough fabric to make like 45 burp cloths. I couldn't say no to some of those adorable patterns!

First off, let me show you my little sewing set up. David brought up a folding table we use for parties outside during the summer. A little grody, but it works.

I could set up camp somewhere else in the house (basement? office? dining room?) but I like hanging out with the rest of the fam. It's funny because as I'm looking at these pictures, I'm realizing the lighting isn't very good in the living room... hm, might need to fix that!

Oh and I got one of these things, so I'm a true sewing professional. Word.

First step? Cut the fabric... ie. one of the hardest parts. I realized that even with my new fancy fabric cutting scissors, I'm not the best at measuring out fabric. Hopefully that skill will come with time! You simply need to cut 10 x 18 rectangles out of both types of fabric.

Pile up the adorable fabric pieces!

Then I simply turned the two pieces of fabric (the patterned fabric and the chenille) backwards, pinned them together and began stitching! Dana's explanation is a lot more detailed than mine if you are a beginner like me and need some extra insight.

After playing with my sewing machine for awhile (more details on my hunt for a machine and what I eventually chose here), I feel really comfortable using it! I even pulled out the ol' "how to sew a corner" moves I learned from my sewing 101 book! Boo-yah, look at me go.

Before you sew up the entire cloth, make sure to leave a small space open at the top of your fabric. Then turn it inside out. Yayyy, it looks like a burp cloth! : )

Next was a part that was difficult for me. You have to sew up the opening and then continue the topstitch around the entire cloth. I think I'm scared of pins (it's so hard to pull them out quickly and keep your stitch straight!) to tell you the truth, but I couldn't really get this part stitched up well.

I had trouble keeping the fabric folded down inside of the cloth while I sewed on top of it. It ended up looking kind of sloppy for me, with the little corner poking out.

Once I practice on 45 a few more, I'm going to go back and try to fix this one.

After making the topstitch around the entire top of the cloth, you're pretty much done! Dana suggests making two stitches across the top to hold the fabric together in the middle, essentially dividing the cloth into thirds. Sounds like a simple task....

This is where I learned my stitch isn't quite straight. Oops.

Just another thing to work on with project #2 : )

But all in all I'm so happy with the result!

It was actually really cool to create the burp cloth piece and know that my little man gets to use it come September! The piece is so soft and sweet and gets me all sentimental. I can't wait to make a whole pile of them, that's for sure.

Thanks again to Dana for the tutorial!

Baby Ten June Update

2012-04-30T08:01:00.000-04:00

Believe it or not, I'm more than halfway through my pregnancy! This week, I'm 21 weeks along. I've been blessed to have an amazing little journey so far... besides a few weeks that were rough during the first trimester, both baby Ten June and I have felt happy and healthy the entire time.

As you guys know, I've been trying to eat well (lots of vitamins and other nutrients!) and exercise some. Prenatal yoga has been really good to me. I'm feeling great and absolutely loving my growing belly. I can feel our little guy kicking all of the time! It's seriously the best feeling ever. David absolutely lights up when he can feel the kicks too... makes us so ready to hold and love on our little man!

Yesterday was my very first "a stranger in public commented on the fact that I'm pregnant" experience. It might have had something to do with the fact that I was in a maternity bathing suit at the pool... kind of a dead giveaway ; ) But so fun! Usually I get little side looks like hmm, I think she's preggo but don't want to say anything? I say bring those comments on. I love showing off the belly!

David and I have been documenting with a weekly picture. I decided to take a picture in the same dress every week, just because I thought it'd make for a great before & after!

And just because it's fun, here's week five vs. week twenty:

It makes me laugh because I'm pretty sure the bump has doubled in size even in the last week since I took the twenty weeks picture! : )

So that's what's going on in our neck of the woods... how was your weekend?!

Baby Baby Round Up

2012-04-27T11:27:00.000-04:00

I can never remember when I've mentioned to ya'll about my posts over on BabyCenter. So for those of you who are interested in all things baby, here are my most recent articles over yonder!

a roundup of my favorite boy nurseries

my two cents on pregnancy + exercising

a roundup of my favorite girl nurseries

a DIY stuffed glider feature

a roundup of my favorite gender netural nurseries

my DIY growth chart tutorial

my thoughts on organic cleaning products

Whether you're pregnant, know someone who is or just generally want to drool over and pin adorable nurseries, these are some great articles! And actually my latest post on organic cleaning products is absolutely applicable to anyone, preggo or not! So head on over and check them out : )

I hope all of you have a great weekend! I'm meeting up with some local Atlanta bloggers tonight, heading to a local festival tomorrow and hopefully catching some pool time at some point.

What are you up to this weekend?!

Vlog Part Dos

2012-04-26T07:28:00.000-04:00

I'm back today with part two of my Q&A video blog!

This is a fun section... I spill lots of details about me and David, our next house, my plans for the blog down the road and a peek of my big ol' baby bump. It's a good time! : )

Some things you should know:

1. I have no clue why I said whole milk. I think because I just said whole wheat? I drink skim....

2. Yes, my prenatal vitamins have made my hair grow, so I have those weird wispy baby hair bangs. You know you like it.

3. I hope you like choppy bad editing, because you'll get lots of it towards the end! I kind of kept rambling and had to cut myself off a few times : )

Without further ado....

Or you can find the video on YouTube here!

Loving... Sacramento Street Casa

2012-04-25T09:39:00.000-04:00

Have you "met" Caitlin from Sacramento Street? For those of you who haven't discovered her blog yet, you're in for a treat today!

Caitlin lives in San Francisco... it's too bad our paths didn't cross when I visited the city last year! She's a very talented interior designer with a cute as pie design blog. She recently had her San Francisco apartment featured on Design*Sponge and Apartment Therapy. And for good reason... it's gorgeous!

The perfect balance of light + airy + eclectic pieces, don't you think? You've got a beautiful home, Caitlin! Make sure you stop by her blog, Sacramento Street, and say hi!

All images are via Design*Sponge and Apartment Therapy

My Vonderful Vlog!!

2012-04-24T07:30:00.010-04:00

Live from my breakfast room... my first vlog!

Thank you guys for all of your awesome questions. I rambled through about half of them in this part of the vlog, so there will be a part two later this week. Just a heads up... part two includes a little baby bump action. Fun stuff! This part of the vlog is mainly me answering questions and spouting off my two cents about all things blogging. What can I say, the girl likes to blab!

A few things to note... there's some really bad editing that happens throughout the video (anytime I cut out means Maggie or Tucker barked at a squirrel... or I lost my train of thought, which kept happening as you can see!). Also, I apparently don't really breathe, but just talk really fast in a whole bunch of run on sentences. Suh-weet. And apparently I love the word "um." Um, I guess I was nervous.

Here goes nothing...!

Sorry for the mid-sentence cut off there at the end... like I said, bad editing! Hope you enjoyed part one of my very virst vlog. Part two is all fun questions. And maybe some singing and dancing. Get excited.

PS. I really hope your computer connection is as slow as mine... while the video finishes uploading, the freeze-frame shots of me, mid-sentence, are hilarious!

PPS. If the video doesn't show up on the blog for you, it should be available here.

DIY Wooden Growth Chart

2012-04-23T08:03:00.000-04:00

For some time now, I've been pinning and eyeing extra-large ruler projects like this. I love the simple wooden decor and the whimsical addition of a giant ruler to your house. But I didn't think it really made a lot of sense to put one of these in our home until David and I had a bambino who's growth we could measure along the way.

And now that we do have a baby (almost) on board at the Ten June house? Oh yeah.

This project was really simple. I grabbed an old wooden board from our scrap wood pile in the basement. If you don't have any scrap wood available, you can pick up a board from your local hardware store. I grabbed a piece of wood that was completely beat up and had white paint all over it, just because I wanted to give this project a completely rustic effect.

I'm lucky in that my board was already stained, but you could stain or paint yours easily.

I measured the board and penciled off tick marks for every inch. I decided to start the board at one foot, so that I could eventually hang the piece on the wall, slightly off the ground. I'll just need to remember to always hang it so that the bottom is exactly one foot above the floor. Makes sense to me!

I was thrilled to be able to break out my non-toxic craft paint for this project (one of the biggest things I miss since I've become pregnant is painting!). As you can see, I almost haphazardly painted ivory lines over each of the tick marks. I wanted this project to be fun and rustic, not too formal.

My initial thought was to create my own stencils to paint the numbers on the growth chart (just because I freehanded the tick marks doesn't mean I could freehand the numbers and have them actually resemble numbers, ha!), just like I did with my DIY rustic wooden board sign. But then I ~~got lazy~~ realized I had some old chipboard stickers I could use and they'd be a heck of a lot ~~easier~~ cuter than any stencil I made. So a coat of ivory craft paint went over the chipboard stickers and... voila! Automatic ruler numbers.

And that's all she wrote, folks. Easy peasy project, right?

Right now, our new growth chart ruler is leaning against the wall in our office (and clearly it was hanging out in the breakfast room for awhile, too). Once we find a final location for it (the nursery?), I'll screw in a bracket to the back so we can basically hang it like a heavy picture frame.

I just love the big ol' ruler's rustic look. I can picture all of us crowded around it one day, measuring our growing little man and his siblings. Functional + sentimental art... I love it!

PS. Since I've been hanging on for dear life to Picnik, this was my first post that I edited photos via PicMonkey... not too shabby!