Work with it.

I realized the part I loved the most about the woodland animal theme, besides the adorable foxes and owls, was the idea of having floor to ceiling birch trees. Naturally I went straight to Etsy to find some adorable decal birch trees. What wasn’t so adorable was the price! $120 for 5 trees and I wanted at least 10. Um, no. I don’t spend that kind of money on stickers. So I printed out a few that I liked and studied them.

I really liked the colors in this one but hubs said no falling leaves.

So then I found this one with the little bird houses and sparse leaves.

The more I looked at them the more I realized that birch trees are just straight-ish lines with branches. How difficult could that really be to just paint? I own my home, so painting isn’t an issue for me. Besides, that would be super cheap right? Um, yes, it would be.

In fact, it cost me $0 to paint the mural. I did my entire project with products I had on hand.

Here’s how it’s done!

You got your freshly painted blank slate (See above). Now set up your furniture in the room as it would be after your mural is completed (See below).

Take a piece of chalk, or other non-permanent marking material and map out where your furniture goes. It doesn’t have to be precise, just enough to give you an idea of height and depth of the furniture on your mural wall.

Frog Tape is my painter’s tape of choice. I buy it in bulk whenever I see it at Costco. It has a super absorbent technology to prevent seepage and leaks along the edges of the tape.

Now for this next part you will probably need at least a roll if you’re doing as many trees as me (I think I have 11). Basically, start at the top of the wall and just willy nilly run the tape down the wall until you get to the floor. The trick is that you don’t want it to be perfect. In fact, the more imperfect the better! Make those trees wonky and wavy, you’ll like the end result much better!

Keep in mind the marks on the wall where your furniture will be and try to keep things semi-symmetrical. I didn’t want anything directly behind the tops of the cribs so I made sure to leave a gap. You’ll see why next week when I do the nursery reveal :)

If you have one, print out your inspiration photo and tape it to the wall. It’ll help keep the shapes and heights of each tree in perspective as you work around the room.

If you can create a small portable work station to drag around, I highly recommend it! This table we got at Costco for $40 and it can support up to 1000 lbs and folds flat when not in use. So it doubles as a place to stand as well as a place to keep paint off your new carpet ;)

Once your room is all taped up put the furniture back. It didn’t end up being all that important because I liked where the trees ended up but if there was a tree that was totally out of place I’d want to know before I painted it! So just try it before you buy it! You feelin’ me?

I’d also recommend trying a few colors before you paint. Yes, yes, Rachel you always say that. You own every color on the planet in a sample pot, we know. BUT I’ve never been disappointed that I tried a few. This project being a perfect example! My original plan was to paint the trees with the same paint as my Master Bedroom but after seeing it on the walls it wasn’t dark enough or grey enough for my liking, so I tried another color and presto! Perfecto!

Once you’ve got your colors in order paint two coats from floor to ceiling using a 4″ foam roller. Super easy, it’ll take about 20m for each coat and you won’t need more than a quart of paint.

After you have applied the 2nd coat, and before the paint dries, carefully but quickly pull off the tape. You should have nice smooth straight lines once the tape is removed with little or no bleeds. I think I had one bleed where there was a wrinkle in the tape from making a curve. No biggie I just painted a branch there :)

Once your tape is off paint the branches. I used a 1″ artist’s brush, nothing fancy. It came in a pack of brushes from Hobby Lobby and I think it was about $8 for 15 different shaped brushes?

Now this is not rocket science! They’re trees! Remember the whole imperfect is perfect thing I said a bit ago? It’s still the case for the branches. Just wing it. Worse case scenario you have a cankle branch (I had 2) that you skinny up with some wall paint when you’re finished. It may not look like much more than a desolate sad forest at this point but it’ll come to life before we’re finished. I promise!

Next you’ll want to take your wall paint and make the bark details. It’s basically just a bunch of hash marks (not tags!) along both sides of the tree trunks. I used the same 1″ brush and just clumped a few here and there. I added a few knots in the trees and a little something special…

Yep, I “carved” our initials in one of the trees. Call it a signature, if you will :)

You can also see how the hash marks are just a single swipe of a paint brush. Nothing technical about it. Just drag and release!

Next you will want to decide what colors to use for the leaves. If you’re going for something super modern and neutral you can do white leaves on white tress, or grey or beige. The sky is the limit. This is a nursery, however, and I want it to be bright and playful, so I used some sample pots left over from this project and this one.

Again, nothing technical, just flicks and swishes. The art of it is the imperfection! I did one color randomly on each branch around the room, then came back with another, and then another. By the end it was all very randomly colored which was exactly what I was hoping for!

See how much more life there is now?? It’s not over the top but it’s more than just dead branches creepily looming over their cribs. I’ve absolutely fallen in love with the room since finishing this project. It allows me to have minimal decor on the walls without the room falling short.

It cost me $0. ZERO DOLLARS. Thrifty or what? *takes a bow*

My best guess if you were planning to attempt this yourself with 0 resources you would probably spend about $40-50. Considering floor to ceiling decals start at around $80 that’s still a pretty good deal.

Here’s a sneak peek of the almost finished room :)

Does it make you want to see more?? I hope so because there’s a lot more!!

Have a great weekend everyone and I’ll have the reveal locked and loaded for Monday!

Well we did! But first I want to show you why.

*looks ashamed*

Just so you know, all of the above yuckies are gone for good throughout our entire house! Just for reference am I even showing you this… because lets face it. It’s gross.

Our house is only 3.5 years old and yet it has seen a lot of use. At one point we had 3 very large dogs living here and this was their bedroom. So you betcha any time someone got muddy paws this room took the brunt of it. You can see in the photo on the left where a desk and one of those plastic carpet covers for your chair used to be because the carpet is still it’s original color. The rest is. well. mud.

Oh and then there’s that spot called “Me.” Yeah, that was Me vs. a can of Kilz oil based primer. Once I tripped over it and saw what I had done I just shrugged. No way I was going to get oil based anything out of carpet without destroying my carpet cleaner. It just added to the reasons why we needed new carpet ;)

So after a lot of shopping and price comparing we settled on HGTV Home carpet from a local flooring company. It’s a low pile loop, meaning it looks more like a crocheted sweater than a raggedy ann doll. It seemed to us it would be easier for babies to learn to walk on and also play on. We got a super upgraded pad to give it lots of cushion and chose a medium greige tone. I didn’t want anything too light since everyone knows “boys will be boys” and there will be messes.

Just to throw in a little reality check… we set these up.

Yeah, how’s THAT for intimidating??

Double trouble people! I can’t wait to show you the finished room!

I’m kind of a proud Momma :)

Are you excited? I’m excited. All in all to install crown around this 13×12 bedroom it took us only a few hours of actual work. Most of the time spent was waiting for paint to dry. Story of my life, right?

You will need 2 people to complete this project and at least one person who isn’t afraid of a nail gun while standing on a step stool/chair. Hey, power tools scare some people. Just sayin’.

What you will need:

Crown Molding in reflective lengths of your room’s walls.

Crown Molding is sold in linear feet so only buy what you need. Our room was 13×12 and the boards come in 16ft lengths. Just use the DIY cutting station at any big box store to get the amount you need. Round up to the nearest foot to make sure you’ve got plenty of wiggle room.

We used primed MDF crown because it’s cheaper.

Corner Blocks (x4)

This is the cheater step for getting around those complex corner cuts that most people (including myself) have difficulty wrapping their heads around sometimes. Besides, they’re pretty!

Nail Gun with 1 1/4″-1 1/2″ finishing nails.

I have a Porter & Cable finishing nailer and it’s been a dream. You get what you pay for. If you don’t own a nail gun, rent one. TRUST ME.

Tape Measure

Pencil

Painter’s Tape or Masking Tape (optional)

Paint (satin or semigloss finish)

Caulk & Caulk Gun

I have a 7 passenger SUV and it still wasn’t enough room to get home the 13ft boards. My best advice is run them up through the backseat and out the passenger window. Use a towel or soft cloth to protect any areas which could be damaged such as your side view mirror.

Never mind it was 20 degrees out when we drove home with the window open. I made sweet sweet hubby sit in the back to enjoy the breeze… It was… stimulating??

Once you’re home (and warmed up!) find an area to set up your boards. I used saw horses but really a few boxes would serve the same purpose. Don’t over think it! We used primed MDF so one coat of paint was sufficient. Let them dry for a few hours before moving on to the next step.

Install your corner blocks. It may seem REALLY tempting to put a gazillion nails in these things but really all you need is a few nails in each upper corner that will be covered by the crown molding after it’s installed. You can see in the photo we only used 4 nails total. The reason you don’t need a million nails is because the caulk acts like a glue. It will do most of the support for the corner blocks and the molding so don’t go too nuts.

Okay, it got dark and apparently I did not pay one iota of attention to the settings on the camera so this photo may make your eyes bleed from the discoloration BUT what I do want you to see is the “Faux Pro Tip” I discovered after months of working on my own.

So you have 2 people, a 13ft wall, and a saggy measuring tape. What to do to keep from getting inaccurate measurements?? TAPE!

Place a small piece of painter’s or masking tape every 3-4 feet along your measuring tape to keep it perfectly straight and flush with the ceiling. That way you know it’s an exact length. NEVER measure along the floor for a ceiling measurement. I have found some rooms are narrower at the top than the bottom by over an inch! Cut your boards to length and install.

Now, the first thing you will notice, and probably panic about, is that your ceiling isn’t flat 100% of the time. It’s just… that’s how houses are. There will be little wobbles as you press the board against the ceiling and the wall and you’ll see small gaps like you see in the above photo.

Take a deep breath! That is what caulk is for! Once you’ve got all your boards up and tacked every 12″-18″, caulk all those ugly gaps and cracks. Use a small opening on your caulk tube to keep from using too much caulk at a time. I prefer Alex Quick Dry Interior Caulk because a.) it dries quickly, and b.) it’s paintable within an hour should you need to paint over it. The key to caulking is to keep a wet rag handy and wipe up any “oops” spots quickly and thoroughly. Use your finger and wear latex gloves. The side of the tube indicates that caulk has been known to cause cancer in the state of CA. Do yourself a favor and keep it off your skin!

Once you’re finished give yourself a pat on the back because you just installed crown molding :)

Feel free to tell me if you have any tips or tricks you’ve learned from installing your own molding. I’d love to try out any new techniques in our next project room!

]]> http://www.thriftyinspirations.net/2013/01/29/easy-breezy-beautiful-crown-molding/feed/ 5 http://www.thriftyinspirations.net/2013/01/29/easy-breezy-beautiful-crown-molding/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ThriftyInspirations/~3/Ph1HSPh-QBI/ http://www.thriftyinspirations.net/2013/01/28/replacing-a-closet-door-how-to/#comments Mon, 28 Jan 2013 06:00:32 +0000 Rachel @ Thrifty Inspirations http://www.thriftyinspirations.net/?p=2207 Hello everyone!

As promised here is my easy breezy (not kidding) tutorial on how to replace a closet door!

So here is the offender. Basically we have a small “walk in” closet in our nursery which would be not-so-small if the door didn’t open into the closet.

Like so. Basically in opening and closing the door it consumes about 50% of the space in the closet. Super not cool Mr. Builder.

There’s this issue too. When you hang something on the right side, the door hits all the hangers on the way shut which means inevitably nothing can hang on the right side. So now we’re down to like, what? 30% functionality? Lame. We’re having TWINS people, I need 110% functionality!

Start by taking off said offensive door. We removed the handle to reuse it on the new door so we would have matching hardware throughout the room but feel free to buy a fancy knob from Anthropologie or something to replace it if you wish.

Once the door is down, using a hammer, some patience, and a metal putty knife remove the old door casing. We will be replacing this in a little while so no need to try to salvage it unless you’re sentimental about it ;)

Once you’ve got the casing off,  remove the inner casing until you get to the door frame itself.

It should look all ugly and naked like this. There should be exposed wood once all the casings are removed.

Now take your butt to Home Depot and buy a “kit door”. Essentially it is a door and new casings. Pay special attention to the sizes (not all doors are the same) and the swing orientation. I believe ours is a “left handed door” meaning it opens using your left hand across your body and opens toward you. I think. Pregnancy brain makes details a little fuzzy sometimes ;)

Once you have your fancy new door (ours was ~$60) take all the ties off and pull out your casings. I don’t have a photo of how the casings fit together because hubs was so excited he just did it while I was trying to scrounge up a snack in the kitchen. Basically it comes in two halves. The front or outside and the back or inside. The pieces very simply fit together like a glove around the door frame.

Like this! The tacks you see on the casings are from pre-assembly. The only thing holding the casings in place are those two clamps. Once you have the door and casings completely level, remove the door and using a nail gun (rent one if you don’t have one, it’ll be well worth it) tack the casings to the frame.

Once the casings are secured to the frame you can rehang your door. We had an issue with the door slouching to one side when it was shut so we used wood shims under the lowest hinge to prop the door up by about 1/8″. If you don’t have wood shims, a thick piece of cardboard will do the trick. It wont be visible so the material isn’t exactly important, just so it can sustain pressure.

Once you’re level, and flush, and plumb, and all those other words for straight, get a good interior caulk (I like Alex Quick Dry) and caulk your heart out. You can use wood filler in any areas that may have a larger depression from the nail gun. Once you’ve caulked allow to dry over night and paint!

The door itself in this photo (and still currently) is not painted. Why? We are going to spray the door with my paint sprayer when the weather is warmer. So for now we have a primed but naked door. At least it’s white…ish. Right?

After everything was finished we put 3 coats of Behr on the walls. What do you think of the color? It’s sort of a blue/grey. I totally love it :)

So that’s that for the door project!!

Maaaaany more nursery projects to come, including the crown moulding tute I mentioned!

I hope everyone had a happy weekend!

I started this blog as a means of showing my friends and family exactly what “DIY” meant to me. They said I was always covered in paint, or sanding something and since most of them live too far to visit regularly it seemed like a logical idea to post photos of what I did.

Well one thing lead to another and one of you asked me “how did you do that?” Which lead to my frenzy of DIY tutorials and home improvement projects. After finding out in August that I was pregnant, all of my DIY energy came to a halt thanks to morning sickness. The worst of that is behind me now and I’m ready to get back in the game until we welcome these boys into the world sometime in April!

It all began one February afternoon…

1. I painted my countertops in my kitchen using Rustoleum Countertop Transformations.

2. I transformed a dilapidated dresser into a beautiful sideboard.

3. I made over my master vanity by painting the cabinets and counters using the Rustoleum Countertop and Cabinet Transformations kits.

4. I did my very first spray painted project and re-upholstery attempt on this desk chair.

March was crrrrrazy busy!

1. I made over a made over bedroom set and ended up with this blue and white beauty.

2. I painted stripes in my master bedroom to give the room a fresh new look.

3. I spray painted another little project with a subtle two tone look.

4. And another spray paint project, a beautiful sofa table.

5. I added Board & Batten to the walls in our entryway.

6. Hubs and I built an outdoor sectional out of 2×4 wall studs for just over $300!

7. I added bead board to the back splash in our kitchen using wallpaper.

April was full of other painting projects and a few tutorials.

1. I painted the frame of this dresser white and shined up the hardware.

2. I experimented with my own homemade chalk paint recipe.

3. I gave a tour of my blooming perennial garden!

4. I spent an entire week in April sun up to sun down painting my kitchen white with the Rustoluem Cabinet Transformations kit.

5. I made no sew window treatments for my living room which included no sew faux roman shades and 4 no sew muslin curtain panels. Tutorials included!

6. I spent what is arguably the most amount of time on the smallest project when I used pennies to tile the top of this small accent table. Blunders and epic fails ensue.

Then in May I traveled and worked outside a lot!

1. I built 2 raised bed gardens for the hubs for his birthday for about $50.

2. I then built accompanying A-Frame Trellises for the watermelon and cucumbers.

3. We went to NYC for 9 days. It was AH-Mazing! I just highlighted our trip.

4. I turned a curb table into a beautiful matching dining set use paint and patience!

5. I finally worked on my first antique chest and gave it a two tone look.

6. Sometimes it’s the little things… like a breadbox tossed on the side of the road.

June was the first month I had my new primer gun and lots a furniture was on the agenda!

1. I made over a pretty little trio of french tables.

2. I spruced up my front entry with spray paint and low maintenance planters.

3. I spent over a week in Florida (9 hours from home) painting my parent’s kitchen/dining.

4. I refinished a drexel dresser in a sunny yellow oops paint :)

5. I painted in detail a beautiful depression era chest, named “Grace”

6. I finally finished decorating my dining room and gave a Hour Tour.

7. I transformed a heavily lacquered and scuffed french chest and nightstand using oops paint.

July was the beginning of madness for me physically. Since March of 2010 my husband and I had been trying to have a baby with little success. By July of 2012 our options were running out. During the month of July I started using a hormone that was injected into my abdomen once a day in a last ditch effort to conceive. It failed and unfortunately the massive amounts of drugs wreaked havoc on my body. I spent many days in pain as a result but I tried not to let it get me down. I managed a few projects throughout the month but it was a stressful time for my family.

1. I actually finished this project in June but if I didn’t tell you, would you have known ;) I was approached by Rustoleum to use their new Rustoleum Furniture Transformations kit and chose my Mom’s buffet to be the blue beauty.

2. I got artsy fartsy with watercolor pencils and made a goldfish on canvas in just a few hours.

3. I had a very large empty wall in my living room that I occupied with thrift store items to make a visually interesting gallery wall.

4. I did a quick and easy tutorial on how to add legs to furniture.

5. I tried my hand at paper crafting to create a unique canvas and paper peacock.

By August the physical ailment had cleared and I was able to resume normal daily project work for a few weeks. In that time I…

1. Did a refinishing tutorial on antique and vintage table tops.

2. After the tutorial I finished this beautiful french dining set that stole my heart!

3. Then I got a super sale rug :)

4. I did a Mid Century Modern chest makeover in green ombre!

5. I spilled my guts over this sewing cabinet makeover.

6. I gave a thrifted chair a nautical makeover with spray paint and ASCP.

7. And a final spray paint job on a cute piano lamp!

*****

It was on August 31st 2012 that I got my first positive pregnancy test. Little did I know I was carrying triplets. Once the trio was discovered we did everything we could to keep them all safe. Surely we wouldn’t have been given something that we could not handle, right? Due to the amount of hormones coursing in my veins I got very very verrry sick, very very verrry quickly. Unfortunately, despite all my greatest efforts to be safe and healthy insight of illness we lost one of our precious babies at approximately 10 weeks. It was devastating and my husband and I discovered another part of each other in that loss.

I’m now 21 weeks and a couple of days into my pregnancy and we are having twin boys. I have done everything in my power to protect them from harm until I can hold them in my arms. These last few months have been scary, and elating, and devastating, and exhilarating all at once. I still hold on to every hope that the 2 of them can and will make it to our loving arms. Sure I’m terrified of what having twins will be like but I’ve dreamed of them for so long I’ll endure whatever hell will come to get to the end of the rainbow.

I wanted to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for keeping me and my precious little ones in your thoughts and prayers. Words cannot express my gratitude. And for not abandoning hope when I disappeared for a month at at time.

Blogging is a powerful outlet for thoughts and emotions but it is also very time consuming. Just creating this collaboration of key projects for 6 months took almost an entire day of sitting at my desk. That’s hard for a pregnant lady! However, I have loved looking back at the past year and seeing all of my accomplishments. It makes me proud.

I hope that many of you have tried your hands at DIY in 2012 or at least made a commitment to do so in 2013. I don’t believe it takes any special talents to be able to create beautiful custom projects for your home. Just a little confidence! As always if you have any questions you can contact me and I’ll do everything I can to help you reach your DIY dreams.

I won’t be back to full time blogging but I do have a bunch of projects stock piled on my camera that are just begging to be shared. I’ll keep everyone updated on my pregnancy and share some of the projects I have already undertaken for the nursery once I can gather all of my thoughts and process some order to things.

Cheers to a bright and beautiful new year!

Hello everyone!!

I’m popping in really quickly to wish everyone a happy new year. I hope that you all enjoyed your holiday thus far and those of you up north are safe and sound in your pack of snow :)

My husband and I have been busy bees working on different projects around the house and I am planning to come back to blogging in the New Year!

Despite my growing belly and aching feet I’m feeling really great these last few weeks and have found some time to get inspired! Best. Feeling. EVER!

And just so you can see how quickly time flies…

That’s right ladies and gents, we’re half way there…

Holy moly! I can’t believe it myself but there’s the basketball to prove it. It’s still happening way too fast for my tastes though. Ready or not I guess!

And because I know some of you are dying to find out… We are having BOYS!

How long until you think I can teach them to paint?

I am carrying around two little handy men (I hope!).

Either way, I could NOT be any happier. This is my dream come true. We have made it half way and I hope you’ll continue to hold me and the boys in your thoughts that things continue on as smoothly as they have for the last few weeks.

I’ve got all kinds of helpful DIY projects coming your way next year. How to replace a door and frame, How to install crown moulding (the easy way), How to install a closet system, and a few fun, cute ways to create art for cheap!

Cheers to the New Year!!

Hi everyone :)

It’s been awhile hasn’t it? Yeah, like a long while. I could keep you here all day reading about the trials and tribulations of my pregnancy thus far but I’ve decided to just keep it short and sweet.

My morning sickness was/is a nightmare. I take each day an hour at a time but I will say in the last week to ten days things are getting better. Every day I tell myself this is what you wanted and I truly couldn’t be more grateful for these gifts.

The main reason this post is really late is that I have some bad news that is difficult to talk about. Since so many of you had read and followed along with my infertility story I certainly couldn’t lie when I discovered my pregnancy.  As soon as we had our viability confirmed I was ready to tell the world the shocking/amazing news that we were expecting triplets.

Around 10 weeks we knew that something was wrong with one of our babies due to repeated screenings which told us that there were growth discrepancies and heart rate issues. We had prepared ourselves for the worst. On October 29th we were informed that one of the babies no longer had a heartbeat and it was a loss. All the mental preparedness I had for such news went out the window and my husband and I were heartbroken. It was a very terrible time. The days that followed and the complications that arose were nothing short of terrible themselves.

After multiple hospital visits, bed rest, and lots and lots of medications later I am fine and my twins are doing wonderfully. We had our most recent appointment yesterday and the babies are laying head to feet with each other, measuring on target, with great strong heartbeats.

Next week is our unofficial “baby moon” cruise. We had the cruise booked since long before I got pregnant but I’m so looking forward to the trip now that we have been given the “all clear” from my new and WONDERFUL Obstetrician. She is watching over me like a hawk and paying very close attention to detail on my labs and ultrasounds. She’s my protector and advocate and I’m so happy she is to be a part of our journey.

I will be 15 weeks along tomorrow and we are planning to find out the sex of the babies in December just in time to announce for Christmas.

I took a picture today (a day early) of my now obvious baby(s) bump :)

I’m going to do my best to keep you all better informed and I wanted to thank those of you who have reached out to me via email, or text to see how I am doing.

It means the world to me that there are kind and wonderful people out there rooting for my babies and I to make it to the end. We were given a tentative delivery date for April 22nd which is just over 37 weeks gestation. I will keep them baking for as long as this body will let me.

I miss you all VERY much and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

Holy moly what a month it has been. Unfortunately not all of it good. I for one have been veeeeeeery sick. Like seeing lots and lots of doctors and daily phone calls and threats of hospital visits, etc. To say the least this pregnancy has been no cake walk.

BUT! In the midst of all my misery I decided to try my hand with a new product line for handmade cards by David Tutera Paper Crafts! It’s about the only thing I can do from bed when the world is spinning and I’m about to fall asleep at any moment. It really is that easy!

 I think the best thing about this new product line is that it’s a 3 step system. So even for a person like me who has never made a card in her life I can be sure I’m not forgetting anything.

Here are the 3 simple steps!

Step 1: Pick a card style. Now there are a ton to choose from, large, small, bookmark, bag tag. You name it, there is something for everything.

I think in my package I got like 6 different card styles. I really loved the cardboard/natural colored cards so I’ll use that as my example card.

Step 2: Choose a layer. I had a TON of layers to play with. Some were really intricate and delicate for wedding cards or just to make a plain card a little more formal and some were simple yet bold.

For my example card I used 2 layers to get the desired look.

Step 3: Add embellishments! This is the most fun part! There are a million (and I’m probably not that far off on the exaggeration scale when I say that) different embellishments to give your card the perfect spark to a.) really define what the card is for and b.) make it pretty!

Just look at all the pretties :)

Yes, I worked in bed (mostly). It’s become the bane of my existence but you really don’t need anything crazy special to whip up some beautiful and totally unique cards.

So since I’m kind of the type of person who likes to see something before she commits I didn’t stick everything together until the end. Mostly because indecisive me was winning the argument hands down. Options overload! Once you’ve picked your card, chosen a layer, and added embellishments there are a few different types of adhesives to choose from.

I like to keep things simple. So I just used a MonoAdhesive brand stick strip handle thinger. I’m sorry, I don’t really know what you would technically call this contraption but it has a roll of sticky tape inside and you drag it over the surface you want to be sticky and it applies sticky. Did I use the word sticky enough times?  ;)

The other option I had was glue dots, which are just like they sound. Little dots of sticky glue you just peel and stick. I liked my ‘too simple for a technical term’ thingy best.

Once you’ve put it all together… write something nice inside and give it to a loved one :)

Then make 10 more because making 1 was so easy and super fun!

In case you were wondering, we are still a ways away from knowing if it’s actually a boy(s) ;)

 But wait, there’s more!

You can win one of your own David Tutera Celebrate prize packs!

Three lucky winners will receive a $300 grand prize pack of supplies from
David Tutera’s Celebrate cardmaking line AND a personally signed book from David!
20 additional winners will receive a $50 Celebrate prize pack.

Enter here for your chance to win: http://pages.exacttarget.com/tutera-optin-blog

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DavidTuteraCelebrate
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TuteraCelebrate
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/CoredinationsPaper/videos

My disclosure 

Here are the other ladies who were chosen to try out this amazing product line!

I have missed you all so terribly much that words cannot describe. I have some incredible news to share with you though. For those of you who have been following my Infertility Story (which hasn’t been updated for a while for a reason) there is a new chapter.

We are expecting triplets!!

The unfortunate effect this currently has on my life is that I have been borderline needing hospitalization for extremely severe morning “all day” sickness. I wake up in the morning feeling hungover, I pretty much sleep as much as possible and then end the day falling asleep feeling hungover. Which is why my posts have become non-existent. Sitting at my computer is agonizing. I get dizzy and faint and it’s very difficult so happy daddy is helping me to write this.

I know, I know. TRIPLETS???? That’s what you’re all thinking.

Well it certainly wasn’t our plan but it was clearly what we were meant for. Thankfully, we have the stability and finances to support and raise 3 little people on our own. We started saving money before we decided to try to get pregnant. That was Mr. TI’s stipulation, that we have the money before we have the baby. Well, since 1 month turned into almost 3 years we have more than enough saved in preparation for this moment.

I am currently about 6-7 weeks along. We went for our ultrasound this morning and were able to see and hear all 3 heartbeats with no problem. They’re all measuring at the same pace and their BPM are all keeping pace too. So all 3 babies are happy, healthy, and growing fast.

My house is an absolute disaster. Before the sickness started I began some hardcore nesting. I completely stripped my guest bedroom, gutted the closet which was so full you could barely close the door and dragged it all out into the living room. The day I was planning to call the thrift store to come pick it all up, I got sick. There has been no turning back since then. It’s completely embarrassing but it is what it is. So far the only penalty has been kicking a giant chemistry book and almost passing out. Oops!

My sense of smell is incredible. I always thought that was kind of nuts to hear pregnant women say that but it is so true it’s not even funny! I’ve always had a pretty keen sense of smell but this is so keen that everything stinks, and thus, makes me sick. It’s pretty awful. Stupid nose.

Our expected delivery date (EDD) is currently May 8th which is happy daddy’s birthday! It’s also just in time for Mother’s day. However, given the statistical likelihood of carrying to “full term” are slim to none. The hope is that I can keep those little beans in there long enough to where they won’t be dangerously premature. I’ve been told to expect to deliver a month to 2 months early. Our local hospital has an incredible NICU and I’m confident that I am already being cared for by some of the most passionate and meticulous doctors I could ask for.

So with all of that being said, how many of you thought I was pregnant??

I’m definitely going to get things back to being creative as soon as I am able, but currently those circumstances are not enabling. The reason I have chosen to tell you all so early is that I developed such an amazing support system from telling you about my infertility that I know I can count on you all if something changes to continue to provide support.

My readers are absolutely the best! I truly appreciate all of you who have been supportive and offered me sympathy or advice or just a shoulder to cry on. You all mean the world to me.

Thank you for reading, and I hope in my absence you’ll keep creating.

I’ll be back just as soon as I can.

Ever wondered how to get that ‘old barn’ smell out of used furniture?

A talented local blogger tells you how in a few simple steps.

Check out her post at Simply Salvaged!

I have some really great news to share with you all. Big changes coming to Thrifty Inspirations but I’m still waiting on a few last minute details before I can make the big reveal.

Much love.