Nesting Times

This weekend I went to the DI and had one of those "hit" kind of days. It began with a perfect, inexpensive little bookcase for the baby's room, then next, this awesome retro little school desk that had me excitedly talking to myself out loud, and it ended with a lone gliding ottoman for the cheap.

It was just a little too exciting to have such a successful thrift store day all in one store, so I called Juju. Because if anyone can understand the thrills to your soul of great thrift finding days, it is Juju. I do believe going to the DI is one of her relaxing joys in life.

I wanted so badly to sit in that desk. It just looked fun, you know? Well that is a pretty dumb idea when you are almost 9 months pregnant. And I was defeated very quickly. Dashing Boy however, did get to try it out. And then he said, "He is going to love it Jenny." Which was very nice of him, as he could see my excitement and eagerness for him to approve random DI purchase.

Seeing him test that chair out and be excited made my heart melt a bit.

It is a bit riveting for us, transforming our house for our baby.

I seriously can't believe it.

Yesterday I made a long to-do list. The to-do before baby comes list (although none of it is really that important if it doesn't get done).

I'm feeling ambitious, And Dashing Boy has told me that he thinks I am in that "nesting time" everyone talks about.

But really I know the truth. The truth being that I can tell my productive energy is quickly sinking into I-would-just-love-to-watch movies and take naps and imagine our baby and process just a little bit this transition from me to motherhood.

Reupholstered Glider

A couple of weeks ago Dashing Boy and I received a wonderful gift. A still-in-great condition Dutailier glider for our nursery. It is very nice to sit on and the only thing needing some udpdating were the cushions.

Well goodness me! after looking online for replacements I found that they were over $200 for our particular glider! And so I turned to the crafty people of the blogosphere and found this lovely blog and glider makeover- the same glider as ours!

Grandma and I have spent the last four days working on it!

Here is the before:
I searched all my favorite designers collections of home decorator fabric and really loved Amy Butlers August Fields Fresh Start fabric in seafoam. It is bright and gender neutral.

I was able to find it on etsy for half price so the total cost to reupholster this glider was under $40 including the extra fabric I have to do an ottoman too!

Here is the after:
Grandma is so talented and patient. She made sure we got all the beautiful little details right!

Each piece is removable so it can be washed easily. I am so excited about it. It looks happy in our baby's room.

Thank you grandma! I can't wait to rock and nurse our sweet baby in it. I know I'll be thinking of you often as I do!

Homemade Fancy, pt 3

HOMEMADE FANCY 2009
f a b r i c p i n w h e e l s

This project is my very most favorite of all. I keep walking downstairs to stare and smile at these fabric pinwheels. Easy and fun to make, they add a sense of cheer and whimsical to the room!

I found this project on fabulous Portobellopixie under the "free projects" sidebar. Here is the tutorial.

This what the finished project looks like:

Sandi Henderson's directions were super easy to follow. I didn't have the spray adhesive suggested in the directions so I used some fabric glue that I had. Also I used regular scissors.

I was really loving this color combination! And the snowflake button is so fun! A while back I bought a bag of mixed buttons at Michaels. Some of the buttons are pretty funny, but I use them a lot in crafts!


The pinwheels are hung from the ceiling in different clusters. I used bakers twine and thumbtacks to do the job! To attach the bakers twine onto the pinwheels I used scraps of fabric and glued the twine underneath them with a gluegun.


I made a bunch of random sizes of pinwheels- the largest being 12x12 and smallest 5x5. I think the small ones are pretty cute!


This project was pretty inexpensive! I had some scraps of fabric already that I used and I also used purchased one yard of fabric for this project. Total, for the amount of pinwheels I made, I used no more than 1 1/2 yards of fabric. The total cost for this project: 2 posterboards $1 + $6 fabric = $7 total! (I had the twine and and buttons already but you can find them at really inexpensive prices-just use a coupon!)


Yay! I think I might even want to leave these up after the holidays are over!

Homemade Fancy, pt 2

HOMEMADE FANCY 2009!
presents: dollar store inspiration
These two little projects are semi-homemade and add a fun little spark to the room.

First: I wanted to add a touch of something to my living room centerpiece. I have a large, wonderful quilt hanging that my grandma made for me. So I decided what it needed was some garlands. These worked very well with this set up, but they could look fun and festive in many different places.

Here is what it looked like when I was finished:


For this project I simply purchased two white ball garlands from Joann's. They were on sale two for $5.99. Next, I went to the dollar store and found some lovely jingle bells: nine for $1.

The bells came with golden twine to tie them with. So I tied them on the garland.



Simple and festive. Total cost per garland $4. Not too shabby.


Next, well this project isn't really homemade at all but it's too fun. I was looking for a table centerpiece and I remembered that at Belle's house they had a large glass bowl in the center of their table and for every holiday Belle's mom would fill it with something fun. Fruits in the summer, tons of conversation hearts at Valentines day. Belle loved it.

I have a nice, large glass salad bowl that is used on rare, fancy occasions. So I filled it with ornaments from the dollar store.


I love all the different textures! Total cost: $4. Perhaps I will start a tradition of filling this bowl with different things too.

Homemade Fancy, pt 1

This year I wanted make things sparkle a bit more in our home for the holidays. My goal is to spend very little to no money to do this. And so I present to you:

HOMEMADE FANCY 2009!

I have been eying wreaths now for quite some time. But I must be looking in the wrong places or something because all the wreaths I like are $50 or so! Even with adding a coupon to that, that price just seems a little steep. And so, for my my first project I made a wreath. I had all the materials I needed for the project lying around my house so the total price= $0.

This is what it looks like:

For this project you will need:
Fabric scraps
a metal hanger
ribbon if you wish
a ruler
scissors
pliers
gluegun

Step 1: Take the metal hanger and with the wire cutting part on the pliers cut the top part of the hanger off. Then, using the pliers, bend your hanger around into a circle. It doesn't need to be perfect. If there are a few little kinks you won't see them in the end. Bend the two ends of the wire in opposing directions and attach them to each other to complete the circle.


Step 2: Take a strip of fabric and with your gluegun attach one end of the fabric over where the two ends meet each other. Wrap it around this area then glue the other side down.

Step 3: Now it is time to rip your fabric. I ripped mine into roughly 1 1/2 x 8 inch strips. I measured the strip length and then just arbitrarily cut little indentations and ripped them. I like the ripped look plus it's super fast and easy! I had fabric scraps already that needed a use, but if you don't, you can print a coupon online and you can get some fabric for not much. I think a yard total would be plenty!


Step 4: Tie tie tie! Take your strips and tie them around your hanger! then squeeze them all together and tie some more! (I think I could have made mine a tad bushier but thought it looked nice when I stopped). *In this step, before you are completely done, make sure to add a ribbon on the top that you will use to hang the wreath. Fold the ribbon in half, wrap it around the wreath, then pull then ends of the ribbon through the loop. Then tie some strips over it!


Step 5: Now all it needs is a bow or some other decoration! or nothing if you want it simple!


Wallah! A crafty evening and a cute wreath!

I Heart Prints.

For the last little while I've been searching for some art to hang on the walls.

Here are some of the choices from some lovely lady artisans:

I loved this one so much by Jenny & Aaron of Everyday is a Holiday I even managed to find the same frame they used in their picture!


This one of the Salt Lake Temple is sweet and simple. My camera was being grumpy ( I think it's broken) so it isn't in sharp focus. But it is a beauty and Susan of Persimmon and Pink was so nice and seemed like she must be a beautiful person also. (FYI: She is on vacation so her shop is temporarily closed but I if I were you I would go back in a few days and check out her amazing inventory!)


And this one is still searching for its frame, but is on display in the meantime. It is a favorite because 1: it is titled "Hoot Cakes" and 2: it is made by my good friend Lauren who is a budding print maker. Lauren, you need a shop so I can link to you and others can buy cool prints from you :)

Before and After.

I have always wanted to learn how to paint furniture. To make something bright and pretty out of something worn and dull.

Dashing Boy keeps teasing me that I've painted every available surface in our house (this is not true as I can see plenty more surfaces :)

And so here is a big portion of how I've been spending my time this last month:

This table was free, but empty with no chairs. So six raw wood chairs were found at Ikea at a nice, affordable price. They were painted the color of my kitchen-aid mixer.

Next, two side tables Mom and Dad were getting rid of.
These were painted a lighter shade of aqua.
Since the two tables are in separate rooms I dressed them a little differently with knobs from anthropologie.
This bench was found at a thrift store for $25.
It was painted a nice lime green- a color match from one of my favorite latte bowls.

I love the lime green against the aqua wall (the same color as the side tables)

Finally a table purchased from my Grampa's consignment shop when it was closing its doors.
a light yellow makes the room feel cheery.
The end.

for more "before and after" pictures check out my friend Randi's blog- just scroll to the D.I. Furniture Makeover!!! section in her post! I LOVE the fun colors!