Nursery Wall Letters

I'm the queen of procrastination. No wait, I prefer alliteration, so I'm the princess of procrastination. I found out I was pregnant in Feb 2009. I decided then and there I wanted my baby to have his/her name spelled out in wooden wall letters that matched the decor of the nursery. I hemmed and hawed and even considered spending almost $100 just so somebody could do it for me. On Dec 1, 2010 (a full month after Addison was born...) Zac and I went to Hobby Lobby and bought all seven letters, stencils and acrylic paint so I could begin my masterpiece!


A few months later, I decided I had no intention of painting, so what else could I do? Oooh, how about gluing scrapbook paper onto the letters!? I was brilliant! Surely, nobody else in the world has ever had my idea, right?! Then, I learned there's a technique for my lightbulb moment and it's called decoupage or modge podge. Oooh... ::cue deflated ego here::


My poor daughter has had to look at a naked wall above her crib for almost two months now (she co-slept for her first seven months). I also had a looming deadline of summer coming to an end in two weeks, which is another post entirely. Sigh. It was time I did something.


Materials needed: Alphabet wall letters (mine were wooden), foam brush, modge podge, pencil, scissors/exact-o knife, newspaper, glue gun, staple gun, ribbon

Choose scrapbook paper in coordinating colors. Addie's nursery is green and pink, but since the walls are green I chose pink for the letters.

Turn the scrapbook paper upside down and trace the wooden letters. Don't do what I did and trace them backwards. I guess I should add a giant pink eraser in my list of materials...

Have your letters ready to go!

My materials ready to go. See that blue and yellow thing? I thought that was a straight edge only to find out it's just a fancy pencil. Oops.

Once again, pay attention and don't modge podge the BACK of the wall letter. Jill and Ramona were really getting into it on TV and I got slightly distracted.

After modge podging your letter, put a layer of MP on the back of your scrapbook paper. Line them up and put another layer of MP on top of the scrapbook paper.

Let dry. Notice a letter that's missing? Yep, D. It's lost. I have no idea what happened to it but I had to run to Hobby Lobby the next day and get a replacement D. I guess that's what happens when you sit on a project for nearly a year.

I measured "five planks" for the ribbons that will be attached to the back of the letters.

There are various ways to attach the ribbons to hang the letters. I chose to already make the bows and then attach the ends of the bows onto the letters using a glue gun and then adding a staple from the staple gun for added measure.

I wanted the letters spaced out over the crib so what better place to lay them out than IN the crib?

I pulled the crib out from the wall, and nailed the "I" in the center. I stepped back to make sure I liked the placement and then added letters on either side of the "I" until I was finished.

Dining Room Chair Reupholster

I've wanted to reupholster my dining room chairs since we got them. Zac's parents graciously gave us their beautiful dining room furniture for our new house and gave us their blessing to reupholster the chairs if we wanted to. I didn't mind the fabric, but I was up for a project! It just took over a year to actually make that happen. Last summer my partner in crime, Morgan and I went fabric browsing only to come away with nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Today I kidnapped my mom and took her to Hancock Fabrics, where they happened to be having a half off sale on almost everything! Score! I intended to buy a floral or paisley print in a muted blue, or gray but look what I ended up with: yellow and white chevron print. I fell in love with the fabric instantly and knew it would be perfect. When asked, "But what about your curtains?" I responded with, "I don't love the curtains and they were cheap. I LOVE this fabric and can replace curtains easily." Easy peasy.

So, here's my simple directions on my very first reupholstering project ever.

Turn your chair over and remove screws from each corner

Close up of screw

My only materials: 1.875 yards of fabric @$9.98/yd, staple gun, scissors, flat head to remove old staples, philips to remove screws

The reason I reupholstered: stains, cat hair, outdated fabric from 1986.

Before

Goose loved jumping through the seatless chairs!

I laid out each seat on the uncut fabric so I could ensure I had enough. It was also a way to make sure the chevron pattern was aligned how I wanted to the seat.

I cut squares for each seat and just pulled one seat over to me at a time to staple. Leave approximately 3 inches on each side of the seat.

Start by pulling the fabric taut and stapling in the middle. Then staple the opposite side. Continue stapling in the middle, making sure to pull fabric taut each time. The corners are a little trickier, but there are a few variations depending on if you want creases, pleats, or a seamless finish. I attempted a seamless finish but ended up with creases, so clearly, I'm no expert.

For the most part, the fabric is lined up the way I wanted it. Whew!

After

Two out of the six chairs

So, what do you think!?

Cloth Wipes

When we first started using cloth diapers, I read about cloth wipes somewhere. I thought, "Ew, who wants to wash poop rags to reuse?" Then I thought about it... d'oh wasn't I doing the same thing with her diapers?? So cloth wipes wouldn't be any different.

When most people change a diaper they put the used wipes inside the soiled diaper and seal it all up to throw away. You can't do that with disposable wipes into a cloth diaper. So in theory, cloth wipes should be easier right?

One of my maternity leave projects was to make cloth wipes. Using this website, I bought fleece on clearance at Hobby Lobby for about $4, and cut the fleece into 4x8 inch rectangles. My wonderful mother was so excited that I was finally interested in sewing and she showed me how to use her sewing machine. I have to say, it's a lot harder than it looks and it kills your back! Even so, I enjoyed learning and can't wait for my next project. Since the material we bought was plain white, I wanted the edges sewn in different colored threads. The seams were to prevent fraying after washing. We were able to get approximately 36 wipes out of the $4 fleece!

Then came my next dilemma. How can a dry wipe clean a baby's bum? There are a couple of options for you to use. One is to buy a spray (which I did just for fun) to spray on either the bum or the wipe. I got the Thirsties spray from Tiny Birds Organic Baby. You can also make your own solution for cheap, and that's actually my plan for at home. The spray is great when you're on the go.

Summer Wreath

A friend of mine stopped by yesterday and poked fun at me for still having my lovely Easter egg wreath still on my front door. Okay, technically it's still spring so I think it's fine but, she had a point. I needed a summer wreath. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one that I loved. What's a girl to do but make her own wreath.

My mom and I went to Hobby Lobby today and I knew I wanted a modernish wreath that was inexpensive and somewhat matched my yard. For $24 and about an hour of my time, behold my new summer wreath!

Summer wreath in the making

Summer wreath is complete!

A couple of honey do projects...

"OMG that's a big hole... that's a big hole..." was all I heard as Zac emerged from the bathroom. Here's some obliterated dry wall.


Zac, smile! But, this is what I got...


"What? You're supposed to be helping me, not taking pictures." Boo!


Tilty things for the cabinet faux drawers. I had these in the house I grew up in and thought, "super easy project!" I was wrong. Way wrong.