4 Weeks To Go!!!

I'm going totally off topic this week from my usual design/ DIY/ craft post and I'm going to talk about something that is on my mind- This Baby!!


I'm 36 weeks today- the final date is approaching! I've been trying to be better about taking belly pics- I have hardly any of The Con Man. But I just realized I only have 3!?! Lame!

But what isn't lame is I've gotten a few of the decorations for Tiny Falcon #2's nursery in this week. I had to hang them up!

I have 3 more smaller stars on order. Hopefully they'll get here soon! 

In the meantime what's really been on my mind is the whole birth process. I want to do it naturally this time. My husband thinks I'm a little crazy but is supportive. He's a pediatrician and is present for a lot of births- so he's seen the good, the bad, and the really bad.


I can't explain exactly why I want to go natural this time- a few reasons are that I want to prove to myself that I can, and I hated being stuck in the hospital bed unable to move my lower body for hours; even after Con was born.

With The Con-Man I didn't prepare myself well, I just figured I'd see how things went and I'd decide from there. Well I for Con-Man I started having contractions during the first installment of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. 

I tried sitting through the movie because I didn't think I'd be able to come back and see it (yes I love Harry Potter- did you see the shirt I made for the last movie?) but with some encouragement from the Hubs we left in the middle. At least the theater gave us free tickets to come back!! They were not about to argue with the hugely pregnant woman.

Any way by the time we made it to the hospital I was measuring 5 cm dilated. The nurse told me the anesthesiologist was on the floor- and if I wanted an epidural I better get it now otherwise they didn't know when he'd be back. 

Needless to say I went a head and got it because I didn't know what the next few hours held in store for me. It was my first delivery and since we were at a military teaching hospital at the time it was the doctors first night on the job as well!!!

This time around I'm a little older and wiser so I've been preparing myself- both mentally and physically. I've been trying to read up online about natural birth. Staying calm, having a focal point, moving around, breathing, ect. I've also been doing strength excercises at home hoping that will help me out as well. 

I keep telling myself that I can do this; that the pain wasn't so bad last time (it's convenient how your brain forgets those things right?) that I'm a strong person and that pain doesn't bother me so much.


But I do keep picturing Katherine Hiegle in Knocked Up when she yells- "I feel everything!!"

So that's what's been mainly on my mind the last few weeks. Any advice from seasoned verterans out there? Am I totally nuts for trying to do this the really old fashioned way?

White: Working With It

I know I've blogged about this before; how I like the color white in the home but am not sure how well it would work out in my own personal home. 


There is something about it that I like though- I guess that's why I keep coming back to it. The crispness, how clean it looks, how everything else pops off of it. And the cool thing about it is that you can go with any interior style with an all white room- go super modern, go for a cottage look, minimalist, ect.

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If your thinking of going with white in a space here are some things to think about:

You either go all white or go home. The look your going for won't have the same impact if you only use white sparingly. You need to do the walls, ceiling, trim everything!

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White walls are great for showcasing an art collection, or if you have another bold color you want to use in the room. White walls will make your artwork or accent color pop better than any other color.

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White rooms aren't neccessarily cozy but they can be calming. Since they are usually minimally decorated there is something serene about them. So if your going for a calm feel fight the urge to over accessorize.

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Nothing looks nicer than natural wood and bright white. I love this combo! There's something organic and earthy about it.

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So, debate in my head goes something like this-

Should I paint a room white in our home to see how I like it? Would it even have the same impact as these rooms do? We are in a rental home so it's not like we can change the carpet or flooring...

Am I even sophisticated enough to handle a white room? Can I pull it off?

In any case I probably won't be busting out the Benjamin Moore Super White any time soon. With another baby on the way there's a lot of other things to think about- like finishing his nursery and planning Con-Man's birthday party.

What are your thoughts on white rooms? Love 'em or leave 'em?

Big Boy Room!!

Happy Monday Everyone!! I'm sad to see the weekend end but at least it means it's finally time to show you Con-Man's Big Boy Room! If you missed it you can read up what his room looked like before and on my inspiration for the room here and check out my Pinterest Board where I gathered and saved all my ideas.

Con-Man went to a little summer school last week so I finally had time to throw all his toys in his closet/ toy box  give his room a good clean up. I don't know about everyone else but every time I try to clean up after my son he pulls out other toys and makes a new mess right behind me. C'est la vie...

Anyway- in a rare moment of cleanliness here are pictures from Con-Man's Big Boy Room:

The comforter was the jumping off point for the color scheme. I saw it on the Land of Nod website and decided to DIY one myself. The pattern on the wall just came to me one day. I wanted a feature wall but didn't want anything to busy. We're renting our home so this will be easy to paint over when we leave.

I built the bed following plans from Anna White's website. You can read about my trials and tribulations here. The bed provides a lot of hidden storage; something we needed since I moved his old shelf into his future baby brother's room. 

We had the airplane already. It was a gift Connor got for Christmas. He loves to tell people he has an airplane on his ceiling. The bedside lamp is from Ikea.

I built the step stool as well from leftover scrap wood from his bed. It was quick and easy to make; but as you can see I still haven't decided which color to paint it yet.

The curtains are the same ones he had before. I made them from sheets. To refashion them I purchased some cheap orange sheets from Walmart and sewed them onto the bottom. 

I purchased the wall art from Neve Designs on Etsy.

The desk was the Hubs' from when he was little. I debated whether or not to paint it to go with the new decor. In the end I decided to leave it as it is to give a vintage feel to the room. Con-Man likes to sit here and color in his coloring books.

I made the crayons and chalk holders from stucco trays. I liked how they have an industrial look; it went well with the transportation theme of the room.

As you can see I left one wall of the exisiting chalk board paint. It was the only wall Con-Man ever drew on and I felt like all the black darkened the room.

The rustic wood wall art is made from salvaged pallets. Con-Man likes to tell people that he has Lighting McQueen on his wall!

I found the old stop sign at a vintage shop here in town. I love the bullet holes in it!

I built the bookshelves based on some Ikea spice racks I had seen online. Ikea never had them in stock so I had to DIY my own! 

I'd still like to get some bean bag chairs to put under his bookcases so we can sit and read with each other instead of sitting on the floor.

I tried to make the room bold and fun because that is Con's personality. He's outgoing and energetic and there's no denying his love of anything with wheels; especially cars. 

I'm hoping this room lasts him a few years. I think we'll be able to keep the duvet for a long time since it has a lot of colors in it; so we'll be able to change things up easily if need be.

Linking to The CSI Project!

What I've Been Digging Lately

Happy Friday Everyone!! This week seemed to fly by. Maybe it's because I've been excited about the Hubs and I's 6th wedding anniversary coming up this weekend! Yay! We're getting a baby sitter and everything- which is kind of a big deal. :D


What are your plans for the weekend??


So, remember on Monday when I created this Mid Century Modern Art Work? 

I went through all this trouble downloading an image, Photoshopping it down, ect. Well a few days later look what I find from Curbly.

Augh!! Totally could have used this over the weekend! I have it now so when I'm ready to start my other ones I'm good to go. If you want one of your own all you have to do is either "Like" Curbly's Facebook page (Thats what I did) or sign up the their weekly newsletter.

I also saw this article about Ikea offering free moving boxes to customers. 

I thought this was a pretty cool move by them- the boxes were original posters that advertised for Ikea. People could come pick them up if they needed them. The boxes had checklists, tips for movers, and best of all discount coupons for Ikea Furniture! Score!

How awesome is Ikea? I think this only happened in Quebec, but if it was successful for them maybe Ikea will continue it else where. You never know!

And I don't know if it's my pregnancy hormones or what but I've been extra inspired by some quotes lately. Here are a few:

"The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do." - Steve Jobs

"Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, some make it happen." Micheal Jordan

"You know all those things you've always wanted to do? You should go do them!"  Erin Loechner from Design For Mankind

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!!

Tiny Falcon #2's Nursery Inspiration

I can't believe how quickly my due date is approaching. July 28th is right around the corner! 

Me 2 weeks ago at my parents house

I had a little panic attack this weekend decided it was time to get started on poor Baby #2's room. We are using the room that was our office; combining it with our guest room (sorry Mom and Dad) and making it the New Baby's Room. I comissioned the Hubs to help me get the rest of the office stuff out of there and put the crib together over the weekend.


I'm using a lot of things from Con-Man's old nursery. His bedding, curtains, and some of the art work:

Re-using his old bedding

Pics from Con's old room. The dresser is now our TV credenza. I'm going to use the same curtains.

Con's old art work and shelf in Baby #2's new room.

Here's how it's looking so far- not done at all but it's a start!

No baby in here yet, just baby stuff! I'm going to use the vinyl lettering I won from the DIY Club Contest above the crib.

Using the moon theme as a jumping off point I thought it would be cool to use some paper lanterns above his crib. One large white one (the moon) and stars. Something like this:

I've ordered a few but the only small stars I can find don't come in the right colors. I might just order them and see about spray painting them (has anyone done this before? How does the paper hold up?) I have some pendant light wires from Ikea so I'll light up the moon and one or 2 of the stars.

Since we repurposed Con-Man's old changing table into our new entertainment center I needed a new changing table for Tiny Falcon #2. I found a dresser at a local thrift shop for $100. It was a little more than I wanted to pay but we don't have a lot of choices out here in the middle of nowhere so people charge what they want. It did come with a large mirror, is solid wood, and has really deep drawers so it's not the worst deal I've gotten.

The top has some water marks on it. I'm considering trying to refinish it even though you can't see it right now with the changing pad and diaper supplies covering it up.

Bummer!

I'd like to do some shelving above the dresser, no final ideas yet but I did see this on Pinterest the other day.

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They are outdoor garden baskets from Lowes and I have 1 already. I'd do another color besides pink of course!

So those are some of the ideas I have. I've also been working on the no fun stuff like washing all the old baby clothes and organizing them. 

And you might be wondering what the heck happened with Con-Man's big boy room? I did all these projects for it but never showed the final result. Well never fear! Con-Man went to summer school yesterday and I took part of that time to clean all the toy mess and take some decent pictures of his new room. 

So stay tuned next week for the reveal!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!

Modern Wood Veneer Wall Art

You know those projects that you think might be pretty easy to do? So you go for it thinking you'll be done with it at the end of the day, have an awesome project to show off on your blog, only to have it be more difficult than you thought and anything that could go wrong does?


Ya, that was me yesterday. Hence this very late almost didn't happen because I was going to throw this project out the window blog post. Why am I sharing this with you? Well I while back I made a commitment to share more of the truth of what happens with some of my projects; they don't all go smoothly.


So here we go; with some persistence I was successful with this project in particular!!

I had ordered some wood veneer wall covering samples a while back; thinking I could do something pretty cool with them with my Silhouette. 

If you want to try and order some of your own I ordered mine from www.koroseal.com. They came quickly and were free, I just had to fill out an order form. An excited Rep may call you about your upcoming "project" your choosing samples for- I just thanked her and told her we were still deciding and would let her know....


After I received my sample inspiration struck. Last week I was talking about Mid Century furniture designers; and how I wish I could own some fabulous pieces. Since I don't see myself purchasing any in the near future I thought some miniature versions would suffice in the meantime.


I downloaded images of a few of my favorite Eames chairs:

Then resized and cut them out them in Photoshop so I could import them into the Silhouette program.

After importing into Silhouette I used the "Trace" Tool cut out the shape. Otherwise the machine was only recognizing a square instead of the chair image I wanted. Then I set my print settings to cut the veneer. This took some trial and error to get the right cut depth and speed as you can see:

I wasted two sheets of my veneer with cutting problems which really irritated me. This was probably more of a user error than a Silhouette issue though.

Finally I found the right cut settings. I discovered that using the Card Stock thickness option, a slow cut speed of 3, and setting the depth of the needle to 9, and choosing the double cut option worked best.

Finally success!! It popped out pretty easily but I had to use a nail file to sand down a few of the edges that didn't cut perfectly.

Next for my wood panel I used a piece of scrap pine board I cut down to size, then sanded and painted white.

I used all purpose Gorilla Glue to adhere my veneer chair to the wood panel. I set a book on top to hold the veneer chair down. 

I thought I had used hardly any glue, but when I lift my book up later I discovered that glue had seeped out everywhere! My panel was ruined! Ugh I was so upset. I didn't want to start all over cutting and painting a whole new piece of wood. And I didn't want to waste even more veneer.

Instead I was lucky enough to be able to peel the veneer off the painted wood. Thank goodness!! See where the glue had seeped out? What a mess!

SInce the veneer came off cleanly I flipped my wood panel over and tried again. This time I barely used any glue at all. 

I was hoping to have a whole Eames Veneer Chair Collection to show you today but after all that trial and error I'm glad to have one for now. I like the way it came out. You could even do different color paint for the background depending on the look your going for.

Have a great rest of your Monday!!