Sister Rally

Thought I was hard at work in the nursery this week, dincha?  Nope, nada, not a smidge because my sis came to see the twins and the four of us skipped town all the way to Florida to move in with our other sis and her little family for the week.  We did what six girls do best and had lots of fun, fun, fun.

 

We set the cousins loose on each other and let the bonding begin:The day before we left, Claire (blondie in case you’re unsure who’s who) finally almost got down “baba” for “babies” rather than the “dada” she had been using to refer and repeatedly wave at them.  They bared their toothless grins at her even so.  :)

We paid a visit to Farrah’s fave thrift store where we each came out with some great seconds.  I scored this huge round mirror for 8 bucks:Once I get my DIY tentacles on it, it’s former self will be long gone but that’s a ‘reflection’ for another day.

We also put the childrens through an hour long hunt through the treasured clearance racks at Target where I walked out with not one, but two more pairs of colored jeans (dark green and mint, in case you’re wondering)…I think I’m addicted.  Anybody else like their lower extremities screaming bright, bold colors?  Anybody else just plain addicted to Target?

We also engaged in an extremely hilarious, pee-your-pants-laughing episode reading Raquel’s diaries out loud.  In a nutshell, she hated my guts as a child, only kind-of hated Farrah’s, was in love with a few lucky boys (referring to herself a few times as Mrs. ‘insert-crush’s-last-name’), wrote to dear diary like dear diary was an actual person, and wore a couple of my rings to school one day back in ‘93 and left them there, very unbeknownst to mwah.  However, she did ask dear diary “What should I do?”  It’s unknown if a response was ever given.  (Sorry Rock.  Am I sharing too much?  I just can’t help myself!)

Then of course we dove into a few projects like making a custom dress form for Farrah out of duck tape.  She’s sure to give you the scoop but here’s a glimpse: (Face mask worn to guard a sensitive nose from the not so sensitive smell of Dollar Store duck tape.)

And then there’s the time when we concocted a face mask goo along with teeth whitening solution (equal parts baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and water apparently) and added to the two the strict placement of some cucumber slices, and thennnn broke out the camera to get this: We’re crazy and we know it.  :)

Well, the week flew by and before we knew it we were saying our goodbye’s and hitting the road home when we spotted a helicopter on the highway.  Look:

 

And that’s that.  But, me being me, you’re not getting away without some home-related eye candy I spied.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, my sister is one of the most creative people I know and her home is full of the stuff.  Her and Patrick’s little abode is so bright and cheery that I couldn’t resist snapping a couple pictures of it. 

One of the coolest areas of their house is their stairwell, where they smartly put up these shelves, one side resting on a bracket and the other on the slant of the wall.  So pretty, right?

And then there’s the perfect for fall bunting Farrah made with some burlap and twine and hung over a large mirror in their living room.  Love it and just might have to copy it.    

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For me it’s back to the grinding stone, where there’s a big nursery project waiting to be completed!  I hope everyone had as great of a week as I did and an even better weekend!  I’ve got some three months pictures of the tots to share this week and hopefully some quick takes to squeeze in on Friday so keep in touch!

Adios!

Photo Collage Bomb

I’m currently in the demanding throws of a big, much-more-tedious-than-I-thought-it-would-be project so we’re going back a few months to a project I did that didn’t turn out quite as I wanted it to.  You see, we’ve had this big, blank wall in our dining area that has just been screaming for some something to break it up: 

Fortunately, the diy hoarder inside me has a stock pile of random frames waiting to be spainted (spray painted, yes I made it up) and found a wall home.  Here are the chosen ones for this particular endeavor:After much scheming, I decided to copy the incredible John and Sherry over at Young House Love, and put up a collage very similar to the one in their first home’s living room.  I even stole their magazine monogram idea, except I made mine in Photoshop.

The first step was to spaint the mats in each frame white so that they’d all match.  For a couple of the thrifted frames, this involved removing their paper backing to get inside: 

 Side note:  Since the glass and mat were held in with nails, it wasn’t necessary to replace the backing…since they hang with their backs towards the wall, no one is any wiser.

The next step was getting all of the frames the same color.  Aqua, white, oil-rubbed bronze, silver…I went back and forth, back and forth until I finally just called it and settled on silver.  I wanted a semi-shiny, brushed on silver though so instead of going with my norm, spray paint, I headed on over to Michael’s (with a coupon of course) where I picked up some Liquid Leaf and hand painted those babies with it…aaaand hated it.  (You quick ones might’ve noticed the fast one I was trying to pull…I switched out two of the above frames I thought I was going to use for two more thrifted frames shown in the pic above.  I just couldn’t bring myself to paint the pretty white ones another color.)

It was much to matte and darker than I had in mind.  Boo.  Lucky for me, I had a can of silver spaint in my stash so they each got a quick coat.  A few hours of drying time and some photos later and up they went:

Final verdict?

I hated it. I don’t like the silver…it looks cheap and doesn’t give the punch of flavor that wall needed.  I’m still on the fence about the layout…I might add some more frames or just change it altogether.  “Stay tuned” would be the only thing left to say about it at this point.

However, it is worth mentioning what did work during this whole semi-failed process.  To figure out the exact placing of each frame, I traced each one onto a piece of newspaper, cut the template out, and taped it up on the wall until I was satisfied.  (Sorry, can’t find the picture of said process.)  Then, to hang them in the exact spots I took a note from The Scrap Shoppe blog and made my own hanging tool out of some scrap wood which worked incredibly well and will now be used every time I decide to puncture a wall with any sort of nailed-in decor.

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Like I said above, stay tuned for this wall will change as soon as I make up my mind on the direction I want to go.  As for the present, I’d better get back to the surprise nursery project that’s testing my patience.  Details to come on that soon! 

Have a fantastic weekend!

Nursery Progress: Curtains

It’s nursery time y’all!  Why I pushed getting it together until after the peas were born, I don’t know.  It’s taking me f o  r   e    v     e      r!  However, it’s evolving thanks to some same-schedule naps the twins took this week.

Here’s what their space looked like the last time we peeked in:

And here’s what it’s lookin’ like today:

Back then:

And now:  

Much improved thanks to a little decluttering, new, girlie curtains, and a snazzy new fan fixture (and minus uno crib currently in the master).  As for the curtains, the green ones weren’t meshing with the new color scheme for the room so I officially went on the hunt for something new.  I found it in the form of some Target, patterned sheers that I scored for 5 bucks a pop, hemmed to fit, and slapped up. (Sorry for the bad picture…still working on learning how to use the DSLR.)

Pretty but the room needed some color so I went on another official hunt for some peachy-pink fabric to line the new sheers with.  After searching for fabric, sheets…something cheap…I finally settled on some thin broadcloth from Hancock Fabrics that I got for $16 during a 60% off sale.  The only issue was that the broadcloth was only 45 inches wide, whereas my sheers were 54.  So, I had to do what I do best and improvise.

To do so, I cut two 54 inch pieces of fabric for each sheer, sewed them together to create one long panel, hemmed each edge, and then hemmed each to the length of the sheer it would back.  See the connecting seam?

     Since each piece was behind a sheer, I hoped that the seam wouldn’t be visible…and I was right.  No VCLs (Visible Curtain Lines) in this neighborhood.  :) 

After all of my solid pieces were sewn and ready, I simply attached them to the sheers by making a straight stitch along the top of each, connecting them.

I attached the solid backing a little lower than flush with the top of the sheer because instead of hanging the curtains from the top like so:

I wanted them to cover up the rod.  By sewing them the aforementioned way, I was able to attach the ring clips solely to the backing (if this makes any sense at all) like this:

So, up went the window curtains and presto: Another bad pic but you get what I’m throwin’ down…er, puttin’ up, right?  :)

 

As for the closet, it never did have doors to cover it’s insides so I went with the most simple solution of spray painting an old tension rod, slipping on some curtains rings, and hanging the similarly constructed fabric right on up.

Now we’re all pretty and privatized: 

 

Movin’ along to the fan, I found a large drum shade for $10 at a local discount store (Dirt Cheap) and simply put it up by resting it on the base of the screwed-in light bulb. 

I love the flavor and texture it adds to an otherwise b.o.r.i.n.g. but necessary light fixture.  What do you think?  Is it too big or does it fit your fancy?  I’m thinking of painting the fan blades a light taupe to match…should I or shouldn’t I?

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Well, there you have it.  A nursery fit for two.  There’s still lots and lots to be done including painting the dresser and lining it’s drawers, recovering the rocking chair (currently in our room), making some sort of a foot rest, whipping up some crib skirts, getting some stuff hung on the walls, turning a tablecloth into a rug, making a window seat cushion, and a surprise that I’m working on next!  Whew!

It might take me a few more weeks (dare I say months?) but it’s going to be the cutest nursery on the block (in my vain opinion)!  Check back in as I post my progress! 

Have a funderful, wonderful weekend!

7 Quick Takes

Yay!  This is fun!  Joining Jen again for…

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Tighty Whities

Short, simple, and long overdue is this post.  You see, when I was pregnant a few, several, couple of months ago and I still had the option of taking leisurely strolls to Goodwill and dabbling amongst its treasures, I found and happily purchased a super-nice pair of Gap maternity pants – white, wide leg, $5, and too big.  But, my best inanimate friend and I got on the ball and took those babies right in.

   Never mind the fact that in the ‘after’ picture a good ironing was needed (show me how to handle a burning hot chunk of metal whilst carrying most precious cargo and I’ll do it) and my head and feet were cut off  (only time for one tripod shot people, take it as it is) AND I’m obviously not pregnant and rocking maternity pants just for the sake of show-and-tell AND just so you know, I’m not afraid of wearing these babies post-pregnancy anyway so get over it…a four inch stretchy comfort band is much more tummy-friendly and hearkening to beloved sweat pants than buttons and zippers any day of the week.  :)

Back to alterations though, I don’t remember if I took pictures of the process and I can’t find them if I did.  However, all I did was get out one of my fave pairs of maternity skinny jeans, lay them on top of the wide maternities to use as a template lining the two pants up along the outside leg seams, drew a dashed line, and sewed along said dashed line.  I got this invaluable knowledge some time ago from Grace and here is another helpful tutorial since I’m obviously lacking in that department.  Needless to say, I’m uber excited and on a turn-all-my-old-pants-into-skinnies kick so look for more to come including hot pink cords from my early college days (not sure if they were ever in but who knew they’d be in now and I’d just happen to still have mine).

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Update:  Found those MIA pictures.  Not sure if they’re that helpful but they sure try and tell the story:  

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Also, in unfinished fashion, I’m planning on a nursery update post next week.  It’s not done by any means but it’s getting there.  Come read my plans (again) and give me an opinion or two on some indecision.

Have a fantastic weekend!