Five Favorites >DIY Web/Blog Design<

Join me in my first-timer excitement as I link up with Hallie at Moxie Wife with lots of others and share five favorites.  Five favorite what?  Well, pretty much anything you want.  I’ve been reading the posts linked to this little party for some time now and I’ve always found them really entertaining, fun to read, and sometimes really helpful.  I think it’s one of my favorite link-ups in the history of link-ups…such a great idea Hallie!

So, my faves this week (assuming I find time to list my five every week…here’s hoping) revolve around blog design.  I recently gave the blog here an overhaul and I did it all myself…read, free.  Everything was free.  I didn’t pay a cent to anyone to do anything.  And granted, it’s not the most high-tech, glamorous design in all of blogland, but I like it.

It took a lot of googling and a lot of html and CSS learning to stash away all the design knowledge I’ve packed in my noggin’; much of that said learning happening during the couch-sitting later months of the twin’s pregnancy.  So, without further ado, I give you my five favorite websites that give tips and tutorials on DIY web/blog design:

1.  Design It, Love it
Carolynn’s web design blog is my favorite favorite.  She’s all for helping you make your blog “pretty” and she also has another website devoted to finding and sharing free design tidbits along with free labels, printables, etc… – Fab 'n’ Free.

2.  Helplogger

Helplogger is where I find any technical information I might need like how to add social media icons and how to move certain aspects of your blog to a desired location.  They take the intimidating front of HTML and make it a piece of cake for people like me.  :)

3.  Freckles In April

Besides having a blog I get sucked into for nap times at a time, Kayla has a series on her blog, Freckles In April, called Blog Therapy where she gives hints and helps to a better blog.  She details process steps so well with pictures and explanations that she makes almost any web design tweak a walk in the park.  I’m about to head over and hit her up for her tutorial on making a customized navigation bar.  Should be fun…and up soon! 

4.  Something Swanky

Ashton blogs about dessert and design, two of my favorite things and what a happy pair they are.  She has a whole tab devoted to diy blog design.  I found her blog while searching for a tutorial on image-mapping.  Satiate your sweet tooth before you head over though or you’ll be wiping drool from your keyboard.
 

5.  xomisse 

I recently found Ellie’s blog after googling tutorials on how to move my date header and I found lots of great explanations and tutorials there.  On top of paid custom web design options, she has great freebie and downloads section I’m excited about.  I haven’t had much time to explore but I look forward to using her blog as a go-to when the design bug strikes.

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Just an FYI, I use the Blogger platform to run my blog but I know some of these websites have tutorials for WordPress as well, in case you’re looking to do some blog tweaking yourself.  :)

Do you have any others to add to the list?  Are you the sole-designer of your blog or would you rather hand the tech work off to someone else?  Or do you have any questions?  I love answering questions!  No secrets here!

It’s Like Flooring for Drawers

Or it’s a little dose of happy every time you open a plain ‘ole drawer, and who can argue against that? 

Remember the sneak peek of the drawer liner I threw into the last post on the coral desk? 

Well, here’s how they went down (all about puns over here): 

First, I grabbed a measuring tape and measured the width and length of the bottoms of my drawers.  All the drawers on this desk are the same size so all it took was one measurement.  Easy.

Then I made and cut out a paper template using some printer/copy paper.  Laying that over my fabric (and trying to center the design of the fabric with my template), a simply cut the fabric along the template.  I didn’t trace the template onto the fabric but if you’re worried about your cutting, you could turn the fabric over and trace your template first with a pencil, then cut along your lines.

Next I generously sprayed each piece of fabric with some starch and ironed them so they were nice and flat.  To ward off stains and dirt, I then sprayed them with some Scotch Gard (get it at Wal-Mart in the craft section).  Make sure to spray this stuff outside.  It’ll burn your nose hairs right off if you don’t…it’s strong.  Whew!

Then I grabbed some Elmer’s glue and made a few dots of it around the edges of my drawer bottoms…

…lightly pressed the fabric in and…

Wala!  An easy and pretty update that took me 15 minutes plus a little Scotch Gard drying time, not to mention it only cost the wallet $4.  As far as glue, you could also use some spray adhesive and spray the whole bottom of the drawer.  I went with good old Elmer in case a cleaning was in order or a change of mind occurred.  :)

The best part is that the fabric I used is the same fabric that’s going to be covering the seat of the chair I’m working on to go with this desk.  :)  As long as the rain doesn’t delay me anymore than it already has (outdoor spray painting + rain all week during nap times = no go), I’ll have that seat up and parked this weekend!  Stay tuned!

Salsa Dancing With My Paintbrush

Before we start dancing to the rhythm of a spanish techno beat, I just want to thank you all of you who commented, sent emails, and wrote messages after my little heart to heart Thursday.  I think I had tears coming out of my eyes ten times that day just because of the overwhelming love and support.  You have no idea how good it was to hear over and over that, even though my life can come across as always neat, always perfect, and always sunshiney via a “pretty blog”, that you don’t take me as some self-centered, creativity junkie with an immaculate home.  Seriously!  You are all so amazing and I thank God for you!  :)

So, dance with me.  I’ll explain why a little bit later.  It involves the desk and that my friends, is done.

I LOVE how it turned out.  A big, big thank you to Sarah Dorsey and her amazing blog (seriously, if you click over prepare for hours of gazing) for the inspiration, her coral nightstand in particular.  I wouldn’t normally go to coral as a furniture paint color.  It’s bold, real bold, and I love it! 

Before I get to the details of how I primed and painted and all that jazz, here’s a picture I pulled out of the cobwebs of this old HP of the desk in the state Anthony bought it in:
This is how our guestroom looked a few days after we moved in and threw it together for company.  Pretty, no?  Off-white trim, stained walls, and mismatched everything made for a straight shot to House Beautiful.  I kid, I kid.  Anyway, the desk was stained an ugly blackish color with red streaks…perfect for an Anthony Bachelor in college, not gonna fly with me.

Soon after our guests left, it was one of the first things I tackled.  I wasn’t sold on a color and wanted to wait to see how the rest of the room evolved before I chose that, but I took some primer to it which brightened it up a thousand times.  I didn’t care if it was streaky (don’t they call that shabby chic?), it was tons better than the black-red.  Well, that was four years ago and I never did get around to painting that baby…until now.

Here ‘tis, moved to our room (the new workshop in this casa), ready to be painted: 

One big mistake I made in priming this thing, way back before I knew any better, was that I used water-based primer instead of oil-based.  Nor did I sand it down even the tiniest bit.  Not sanding wasn’t a huge deal considering it didn’t have a sheen to it at all but I definitely should’ve used oil-based primer because it blocks out stains and wood can tend to have spots/stains that seep right through water-based anything.  (Lucky me they stayed put in this case.)  FYI for any of you looking to paint any wood furniture.  Always use oil-based primer!!!  You can used water-based paint on top of that (but you can’t used oil-based over water-based!) and all will be grand.

So, moving on, before I got to painting I made sure to stick some tape over the backs of the hardware holes so no paint dripped through them and into the insides of the drawers.  Two second protection.  You can also see the existing hardware holes I filled in in the pic below.

Here’s where things got a little dicey.  I used a pre-mixed sample of Coral Reef by Valspar (Lowe’s) to paint the desk.  At jar’s glance, it looked like the perfect coral color.  However, after I got the first coat on…
  

I had a desk the pink panther would be jealous of.  Definitely not was I was going for.  (Bummer because then a few days later I came across this desk via Instagram that Krista at Goodwill Glam painted with the same exact color.  Hers definitely comes off as a little pink too but doesn’t it look gorge?)

I didn’t even try a second coat but instead loaded the twins up and off to Lowe’s we went where, after much deliberation, I decided on getting a test pot of Valspar’s La Fonda Spanish Dancer.  Nothing like that name to make you wanna dance, no?  I wish I could say I salsa-ed while I painted but I’m not quite that good…almost, but not quite. ;)

Here’s an in-progress picture that shows the difference in the colors:

One quick aside, I’m really picky about painting furniture and the direction in which my paint brush moves.  Using a roller is a different story since you don’t see “roller marks” but paint brushes can tend to leave faint lines, which I don’t mind, but which you have to work with.  So…
The above diagram shows how I do.  Generally, I paint in the same direction as the longest part of the area I’m painting.  Makes sense?

So, desk painted and dry, the last step was to put a coat of Polycrylic on just the top of the desk for added protection against coffee mugs, pens, the normal destruction that comes with working at a desk.  (P.S.  I let the paint dry for a whole 24 hours before this step.)

First I taped off the top.

Then, using my paintbrush, I painted on one coat of the Polycrylic.  Side note:  Don’t use Polyurethane!  It tends to yellow…I found that out the hard way (sorry Maria!).  Polycrylic does not.  Clear acrylic would also work.

A few hours after I painted the top:
 

While the poly was drying I wasted no time in putting the hardware back on the drawers.  I found these pretty silver and white darlings on a 70% clearance end rack at Target a few years ago ($3.99 each marked down to $.99).

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the desk is antique – dove-tailed drawers, casters, and all – so it’s been roughed up in the past, hence why in the above pic you can see some dents and scratches.  Character is what I call it.  :)

 

And finally, you ready for this?  My favorite desk of all time: 

Here’s a sneak peek of the fabric-lined drawers: 
Tutorial on those coming up this week.  Super easy.

And now, it’s off to freshen up the chair that’s going to marry it.  Should be fun!

 

Have a great weekend everybody! 

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P.S.  Anyone else ever painted a piece of furniture?  Have any tips you want to share?  Comment them!  Also, I’m a fool for pictures!  I don’t have time to make this post a link-up so post your pictures on Bean In Love’s facebook page!  :)

Here’s My Heart

Hey Y’all!  So my intention was to pound out a “day in the life” post today, bringing you into my life and the daily realities that come with raising twins but then yesterday I read the post of one of my favorite blog reads and it plagued me almost all day bringing about this post.  In it, the blogger wrote about “mom blogs” and how some mom blogs put out an air of perfection – immaculate homes, immaculate kids, form, fit, and function all rolled into one little perfect world.  I’m not arrogant enough to think she was talking about me buutt, having a a diy blog with “picture perfect” photos of my home plastered across one of it’s pages and “outfit” posts which have me posing in my recent sewing concoction smiling without a care in the world, it made me a little self-conscious.  Typically, I’m not one to care what people think of me.  In saying that, I’m a people-pleaser and I’m very sensitive to the thoughts of others.  I guess what I’m saying is please, please, please don’t ever, ever think that because I seem to always be pounding out projects of some sort or another or always on the go, a super-mom, that that’s entirely what my life is made of.

I will admit though, my life is pretty darn perfect.  Not in “perfect” as the world defines it but perfect in that I’ve been blessed with a bountiful life, I’ve been given lots of talents my our Creator (we all have!), and I have good people surrounding me.  I have an incredible husband and two amazing adorable little girls with another little scooter on the way.  I love my house and I love filling it with pretty things and making it homey.  That said, it’s not always clean…scratch that, it’s never completely clean.  I have a really good cleaning schedule I’m pretty good at adhering to (AND I married a clean freak…borderline OCD is he) but the pictures you see on “Our Current Nest” are not typical and NOT how our house looks daily.  Proof:
 

I’ve dealt with my share of struggles in this life.  We had a miscarriage shortly after marriage followed by four years of infertility (a story I’ll share soon!)  I lost both of my parents at age 21 – one to suicide and one to a crumbling relationship.  I won’t go on because I know that we all have trials and it’s no fun to read about them.  However, I know that out of pain comes beauty, love, and joy when you unite your pain to the cross.  My joys have overshadowed the dark spots in my life one hundred fold and I know that I’m not the only one who can say that.  :)

On a little bit lighter note, two of the most commonly asked questions/comments I get told are “How do you do all you do with twins?” and “Are they adopted?/How did YOU carry and birth two?!/You’re waaay too skinny to birth twins!”, considering that two babes coming out of a stick like me aren’t very likely.  Let me clarify for my own sanity…

1)  The girls take two naps per day and they sleep at the exact same times everyday, a routine I established when they were three months old.  That gives me about 3+ hours everyday to do what I want as a stay-at-home mom.  I usually spend their first nap picking up around the house and their second I spend doing something I enjoy – painting, sewing, etc…  Some days, especially since I’ve been pregnant, I spend one of their naps sleeping.  I’m not always doing, doing, doing.  However, I am the daughter of a hard-working farmer and I’d be remiss to tell you that I didn’t inherit that hard-working spirit.  I watch zero hours of TV per week (unless I get sucked in to the “Bachelor/Bachelorette” Monday nights) only because I’d rather be doing something else and probably also because we get 11 measly channels.  If we had HGTV, I’m positive it’d be a different story.  The girls are old enough now where they play with each other and keep each other entertained, meaning that during the morning between their early rise and nap, I now have more time to get stuff done.  I could play with them all day but I love the bonding they get by playing alone with each other…and I love having more time to do my own stuff.  Had we one child, I’m sure that wouldn’t be the case but such is the blessing with two at once.  I know as you browse the pages and projects on this here blog that it might seem that I can conquer the world and paint twenty pieces of furniture in a day but I’ve been writing here for three years and so doing all I’ve done in that large amount of time really isn’t that impressive.  :)
 
[Here’s what she thinks of the rug I slaved over.]

2)  I’m pretty thin and I hate talking about it lest you think I’m a narcissistic jerk but I’m going to anyway.  I absolutely HATE when post-partum moms exclaim that they “fit into their pre-pregnancy jeans two weeks after baby!!!!!” because I know that so many moms struggle with even fitting into the jeans they have saved for post-partum.  Sorry if you’ve done that (chances are you didn’t mean to offend) and I know it’s such an area of pride, and rightly so, but being sensitive to others you’ll never hear from me how long it took me to do so.  I am lucky that I slimmed down so quickly after birthing the two babes but guess what?  I breastfed both exclusively and the calorie-burning equivalent of that is like running a mile everyday (don’t quote me but it’s something like that.)  I know I didn’t look like I gained much weight during my pregnancy but believe it or not, I gained almost 50 pounds!  For a tiny-boned girl like me, that’s a lot!  Growing up I was so very thin.  Not because I didn’t eat because I did…like two horses.  Ask my mom.  I drank wrestlers’ weight gainer powder (disgusting fyi) everyday just to look “normal” like everyone else.  I wasn’t teased in my school because of it, thank God, but I can remember walking out onto the gym floor of another school as a cheerleader in middle school and hearing the jeers of some of the girl fans of the opposing team calling me “anorexic”…in my naiveté I had no clue what that meant until I researched it at home that night only to break down in tears.  Later, in high school, I had a saleswoman in Cache relate and tell me she used to be teased for being so skinny but “don’t worry honey, you’ll appreciate it one day” and it meant the world to me.

  I’d love to steal some of those hips off of any of you or snatch up some of those “curves” but I am what I am and that’s that.  Praise God.  I’m alive, I can walk, see, make…

Anyway, I’m sorry if you click  over here for diy happiness and if I’m boring a hole into your head right now but my chest has been heavy the past day with this junk and it just feels so good to throw it out there.  It’s me.  I’m not perfect.  My life isn’t “perfect”.  But I love it.  I love making things and I love writing and inspiring others.  I never want to show-off, only to show that with a handful of change, you can make your home and your wardrobe pretty too! 

Anyway, we’re halfway into naptime and if you’ll excuse me, my bedroom is a wreck, my kitchen floor is in desperate need of a sweep not to mention the piled up dishes and full dishwasher and the shirt I donned last night that C threw up all over – gag me - so I’ll be going now.  I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed day whether it’s chasing four kids around a messy house, packing your life up to head back to another semester of college, maybe breaking out a paint brush, or just trying to get through another work week.  God bless!

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You are beautiful my beloved, there is no flaw in you – Song of Solomon 4:7

A Maxi from Scratch

While searching through a box of stuff at my Aunt’s recently, I stumbled upon a fab piece of fabric.  My sister got it at the Salvation Army for a hundred  and ninety-nine pennies several years ago but somehow it got lost in the shuffle of moving, marriage, babies…you know how it goes.  Well, finders keepers, right Farrah?  Or, I asked her if I could have it and she said “yes”.  Either way, it’s mine now…har har har.

My plans?  A maxi skirt.  How I did it?  Read and learn…and then make one yourself because it’s that easy!

Things you’ll need:
-Sewing machine (or your hands, a needle, and thread if you’re that good)  I used to use a hand-held machine I bought at Wal-Mart for $15.  That’d work too.
-Elastic – at least 1/2 inch thick
-Scissors
-Measuring tape
-Pins – stick and one safety
-A piece of fabric (read on to determine measurements)

First, I cut my newly-acquired fabric to the desired size.  I didn’t mess with the length but did have to cut some off the future waistline.  All cut my fabric measured 60 by 44 inches.  (Detailed measurements below.) 

Then, I sewed a straight stitch up the side, connecting the two cut ends and making one large tube of fabric.  I finished that off with a zig-zag stitch for fray protection.  

Next, I grabbed a package of two-inch wide elastic I purchased awhile ago at JoAnn’s for this exact purpose.  (It should read “Underwear & Pajama & Maxi Skirt Elastic”…note to Dritz.)  :)

Then I folded and pinned down a hem at the top of the skirt into which would fit the elastic.  Since I was using 2 inch wide elastic, I made a 2.5 inch hem.  You want to make sure the pocket that houses the elastic fits around the elastic snugly so that, once installed, the elastic doesn’t have room to twist.  (Side note:  the top and bottom ends of this fabric didn’t need to be hemmed since I was changing the length of the skirt.  I just left them the way they were – you can see how they looked in the above picture.  If your piece of fabric is cut on either of those ends and needs reinforcement or if you just want a sewn hem, you’ll have sew that in now before you continue to the next step.)

Starting close to my sewn side hem just because, I sewed a straight stitch all around the top of the skirt, making sure to leave a 3 inch opening through which to feed my elastic.  I also made sure to backstitch at each end…very important if you want your stitch to stay intact.  This just involves sewing a few stitches, reversing over them, and sewing forward.  At the end of a hem it’s the same – reverse a few stitches and go forward a few stitches.

After cutting my elastic to the desired length, I attached one end close to one side of my hem opening and to the other I attached a safety pin.  Attaching the safety pin helps you feed the elastic through the hem.  

You just push and pull the elastic through while holding onto the safety pin through the fabric, like so:
(Just make sure you feed the elastic through without twisting it!)

Eventually I maneuvered the elastic all the way through until the ends met once again.

I sewed those together…

…and then sewed the opening I left to thread the elastic through closed, making sure to backstitch at each end again.

Just in case you want some measurement technicalities to make your own:
The piece of fabric I used measured 60 inches (hip/waist and bottom hem) by 44 inches – a big rectangle.  I’m 5’9” so without cutting the length, 44 inches allowed me a 2.5 in hem at the top to house the elastic with the bottom of the skirt grazing the ground just a tad…just the way I like it.  I cut the elastic to 27 inches long, allowing a 1 inch seam overlap once the two ends were sewn together.  So, the finished elastic piece measured 26 inches.  I’m a size 2-4 generally so this length fit snugly around my hips and will hopefully accommodate a growing belly…thank God for elastic.  For each size up I’d say add an inch, however it’s always best to pin it around your hips first before cutting.  I tend to wear skirts on my hip vs. my waist.  Keep how you wear yours in mind when figuring out elastic length.  :) 

I did all of this in a half hour time period yesterday morning and wore it to church last night like this:

Top:  Goodwill – altered
Skirt:  Home.Made.
Flips:  unseen but Wally World
Baby belly:  Well, you know.  ;)
-Linking up with Fine Linen and Purple for (drumroll) What I Wore Sunday!-

But hold up!  I’m not stopping there.  I got a little crazy and went all “How We Wear It” with Shana and Camille. 

I typically wear maxi skirts with a form-fitting shirt, tucked in.  See?  So blahzay, I know.  But, to amp up my plain jane pairing, I figured out a few ways I could “maximize my maxi.”, if you will.  Here’s how:

> > >By adding a sarong over the top.  If I had an orange or even a yellow piece of extra fabric lying around, I would’ve used it for a blast of color with a hint of pattern buuuuut, all I had was the excess fabric.  So, I grabbed it and tied it around, creating a multi-layer skirt.

(Throw an intermission into the photo sesh…a twin awoke.)

> > >By adding a belt.  It’s as simple as it sounds.  Throw a belt around the elastic.  Could work for a grocery run but since I hate, hate, hate those, I’ll wear it to Target instead.

> > >By tying a scarf around the waist.  This might be my favorite.  All I did was grab a coordinating scarf (really any color would work) and tied it in a big ‘ole knot under the 19 week fetal bump.  Bam!  Ship me to Barbados, I’m ready!

How do you wear a maxi skirt?  Head over to Ain’t No Mom Jeans and Life In Mod and share (or use hashtag #howwewearit on Instagram!)  And, as always, comment with any questions or send me a line at beaninlove.gmail.com!  I won’t ‘skirt’ around any issues you might have, promise.  ;)