Pinterest Party: House Projects

After buying a new house, Pinterest can be the best and worst thing. Yes, I'm getting some great ideas but essentially I have a blank slate, which means there are too many ideas for house renovations and decoration. These are just a few ideas of pins that I have done since moving in the new house (pictures of my finished projects to come) and some that I intend to do in the next few weeks/months.

Bedroom

(Photo Credit: Pinterest)

I love my furniture but recently the wood has been getting to me. I need to jazz it up. I love this dresser because it's the best of both worlds - shows the vintage wood but also has some paint as well. I will definitely be doing this the minute the bedroom is unpacked.

Carter's Bedroom

(Photo Credit: Pinterest)

We painted stripes on the wall just like in this picture. I followed the exact colors too. It looks awesome and thank God was not a Pinterest fail. The stripes aren't perfect but you can hardly tell!

I'm still sorting though lots of ideas! I want to do so much fun things outside with the pool, yard, patio and porch but I'm trying to get the rooms we use inside done too! It's so much!

Post continued later!

Quotes that Inspire Me

Sometimes we all need a little inspiration. It's been a pretty stressful week but sometimes rereading my favorite quotes helps provide some motivation. Here's just a few of them from Pinterest that might provide you with some inspiration.

I could honestly make an entire post of Eleanor Roosevelt quotes. I didn't even include my all-time favorite.

Who am I kidding? I could make an individual post with quotes from all of these people.

Happy Thursday!

Pinterest Round-Up: January Projects

It's cold out and I have a sleeping baby after 8 p.m., so what better excuse to dive into some Pinterest projects on these chilly, winter evenings and during baby naps on weekends. I've been waiting until the holidays were over and my schedule to not be as crazy to start some of these. Here's what I'm hoping to work on this month.

READ Box for Library Books

Maybe it's the librarian in me who knows how often library books go missing or get mixed up with books kids already have, so I'm making Carter a READ box for his library books to keep in the living room. His books stay in the bedroom.

Baby Shadow Box

It's taken this long for me to realize that the pile of items in Carter's room that I set aside for a shadow box are still sitting there - his hospital bracelets, rose from church, bassinet name tag, etc. 

[Image from Pinterest.]

Space for Dennis' Stuff in the Living Room

This isn't really a Pinterest project but an organization task I need to accomplish. We have a large ottoman in the living room that doubles as a storage bin. I'm going to organize the inside for all of Dennis' mail, magazines, textbooks, etc.

Baby Size Hangers

Finally, I want to make size hangars for Carter's closet. Four months late again but at first I thought I didn't need it but I realized again tonight that it would be nice to have to separate his clothes.

[Image from Pinterest.]

And I hit the jackpot last weekend at Target with Christmas ornaments, so I think an impromptu Pinterest party might be in order to make holiday wreaths. Then I don't have to store the ornaments or I won't forget until it's too late that I bought them.

[Image from Pinterest.]

What Pinterest projects are you working on this winter?

Pinterest Party: Lamp DIY

A few months ago, my mom gave me these literally butt ugly lamps that she was getting rid of and that I planned to give a little love and redo. I wanted them to replace the crappy Ikea lamps beside our bed that are awful and half broken. Well, life happened and the lamps sat in probably every room in the house waiting for new life. Finally, when I had no choice but to make the office into a nursery, the lamps ended up in my bedroom and I just couldn't look at them, so I started to refinish them.

I wanted something simple. I did some Pinterest searching but really didn't find anything I liked too much. I did see a cool lampshade using sisal rope, so I bought some of that and started in on the lamp shade. It took a lot more rope than I thought! Almost two rolls per shade! Then I painted the stand. I have to do a little touch up on the shade and I'm not sold on the stand. I think I might add a stripe or two of another color and maybe a gloss on top. This is only one of two, so once I get this one squared away the other should be smooth sailing.

I'll post an update once the lamp or both lamps are completely done.

Nursery Sneak Peak: Reading Wall

Here's a sneak peak at part of the nursery that I'm really proud of. This was pretty much a total DIY project that I pulled together from looking at multiple pictures on Pinterest. We don't really have a theme for the nursery but I wanted the books to be the focal point. You know me!

It was rather simple looking back. We painted some old shelves from my parents house for the books. I bought a few books from Half Price Books and pulled a few pages to frame. I painted the READ letters. I found the Dr. Seuss print in the Dollar Section at Target and added a ribbon to hang it. 

It was pretty affordable as well. The only items I had to buy were the paint for the shelves (which I'm also using for the dresser/changing table), the letters, books and frames. I love using books as art, so this is the perfect display. I kind of want it in other rooms too!

Below the book wall, we bought a cube shelf from Target to hold more books (are you really surprised), toys and blankets. It's working out pretty well for now. Baby Lane already has so many books and toys!

That's today's preview. Hopefully by next week I'll have the changing table done and the "gallery wall" completed. We built the crib last weekend, so progress is definitely being made and we are almost ready for Baby Lane's arrival.

Monday Minute: Gift Ideas

It seems like there is a lot to celebrate this summer and not just the usual weddings and baby showers. My bank account has taken a hit this year with so many gifts - graduations, retirements, 1st birthdays, thank yous - you name it, I probably bought a gift. I highlighted here for today's Monday Minute, gift ideas for retirement and graduation.

The director at the library retired and her retirement party was on Friday. I had never been to a retirement party and thanks to some help from Pinterest, I found a creative gift idea that I modified a bit. And of course I didn't take any pictures, so this really is a brief glimpse at that gift idea. It was a retirement bucket list, so I basically just bought different items for activities you could do in retirement and put notes on them. Some examples were an adult coloring book, a movie and a travel magazine.

(Photo Credit: Pinterest)

Then Dennis and I both had cousins graduate. I love graduation gifts and a few years ago I found this great idea on Pinterest that I've now done four or five times. It's so simple too. You just get a plastic container and fill it with lots of small things that students need in college - office supplies, gift cards, food, etc. It can be done on any budget too by the size of the container and the amount of items you put in. It works great for guys and girls too!

(Picture Credit: Pinterest)

Those are just two gift ideas. Maybe you'll find one works for your next occasion!

Pinterest Party Planning

Tonight, my sister, cousins and I had a Pinterest Party. I've been working on giving two old lamps of my parents a makeover but I took a break from that to work on what I'm calling my nursery gallery and reading walls. Here's what I've been thinking...

Gallery Wall

The gallery wall is definitely still a major work in progress. It started out as much more but then for some reason seems to have dwindled to almost nothing. This is what I do know.

1. Painted Hangers - I came across the best find a few years ago at Construction Junction when I found an entire bin of Baby Gap hangers after a local Gap store closed. My only regret is that I didn't purchase more than one. I had intended to paint them for a friend's baby but never got around to it...lucky me! My plan is to paint these and write the baby's first and middle name on them.

2. Giraffe Canvas Print - The picture below is an example of what I am envisioning for the giraffe print. I haven't decided if I'm going to use wood or canvas and if I'm going to paint the giraffes or use fabric or scrapbook paper. Thoughts? The example is painted on wood but the other examples I looked at have been a variety of the options.

(Photo Credit: Make It & Love It)

3. Gift Bag Frame - We got so many cute gift bags at the shower that I really hate to shove them in my gift bag collection to reuse. I saw on Pinterest that an easy DIY for a nursery is to frame gift bags. I'm not sure if I want to use my floating frame for just one or make a collage.

(Photo Credit: Serenity Now)

Note: It's funny that the picture I saw for the framed gift bag is the one that the previous blogger used as inspiration for the giraffe print.

4. Chalkboard Quote: There was a chalkboard at my shower for when people signed the guest book that I'm going to reuse for the gallery wall. My sister is working on writing a quote on that for me.

5. Tie: When I was cleaning out the office (now nursery), I found one of my grandpa's ties that I have had since he died. It's an awesome tennis tie, which means a lot to me since we played tennis together. I'm going to hang this on the gallery wall as well.

Reading Wall

The reading wall is what I'm putting above cube shelf that has some of Baby Lane's books and toys. This is my inspiration but my shelves are much shorter, so I have room to add book inspired artwork. My favorite!

I should add that my cube shelf is dark wood to match the crib and one not two shelves. It has six cubes.

(Photo Credit: Pinterest (Link to Blog Blocked)

1. Framed Book Pages/Covers: My original plan was to frame pages from mine and Dennis' favorite children's books but that proved harder than I expected because I didn't want to spend a lot to cut the book apart. I went to Half Price to see what I could find. I ended with The Kissing Hand and Guess How Much I Love You. I also found an ABC book from Williamsburg, which was a great find since we both love it there and hopefully Baby Lane will go there soon.

2. Oh the Places You'll Go Print: I found this in the Dollar Bins at Target. I wanted this as one of the frames but the book was so expensive and couldn't bear to cut it up for that price, so this was a perfect find!

3. READ Letters: I have four different letter styles to paint and hang above the shelves.

Alright, that's my Pinterest Party update and nursery reveal for today. Wait for pictures of finished items later on!

Monday Minute: HaPpY fOuRtH of JuLy!!

Happy Fourth of July! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend - spending time with friends and family, enjoying a much-needed vacation or just relaxing at home. My weekend mostly consisted of listening to the Party Pod, wishing it was warmer to go swimming and getting the apartment ready for Baby Lane's arrival and carpet cleaning tomorrow. Plus, due to some schedule changes I got to spend Sunday night and all day Monday with Dennis. That was a nice surprise. 

I must say this is quite possibly the safest Fourth of July I've had in a long time since I wasn't blowing things up while doing fireworks and damaging my liver with way too many jello shots and vodka gummy bears.

Here are three quick items about my holiday weekend for today's Monday Minute.

1. We've had a lot of questions about Baby Lane's nursery. It's still a work in progress but here's a little preview of one of the wall decorations using these great alphabet cards I bought on Etsy.

2. Popsicles are one of the only foods I like eating right now. It's not really just a pregnancy thing since I live on them pretty much every summer. I thought I needed something a little healthier than freezer pops or fudge pops, so I made some homemade ones today using this recipe from Pinterest. I didn't have frozen mango, so I substituted it for raspberry, which I actually like better.

3. I've been reading The Vacationers by Emma Straub this weekend. What a great summer book! I'm a few pages from the end, so I'll have a review up later this week. Check it out!

And that is my Monday Minute, a little longer today but it was a holiday weekend! Happy Fourth and I hope the fireworks where you live aren't rained out like ours!

Gift Ideas: Anniversary

Do you celebrate anniversaries with gifts? My answer of course is that every special occasion should be celebrated with gifts but of course that's just me. I love to give gifts!

Dennis and I have only been married a little more than two years, so my anniversary gift ideas today will focus on my own personal experience - 1st and 2nd anniversaries. I would like to follow those traditional charts of anniversary gifts but that isn't always the case.

Here is an example of what I am talking about:

(Image from Pinterest.)

So for a 1st anniversary, the traditional gift is paper. Last year, I ordered Dennis a small picture canvas of a wedding photo and the lyrics to our song on top of the picture. It's kind of hard to describe but I included a picture below. These are affordable gifts for any occasion because they are always on Groupon or Living Social. The picture is really simple to make as well, I just used PowerPoint.

Then I made one of those great Year in Reviews that are always popping up on Facebook. I included places we visited, restaurants we liked, etc. Then I decided to make it into a scrapbook with pictures, so that I could make a page each year.

Finally, I got 12 brown paper bags (lunch size) and put a date of a special event within our first year on the front of the bag. Inside I put a gift that represented that event. For instance, we went to some Pirate games, so I put a Pirate gift card inside. Then I had 12 gifts. Some could be very simple and cost-friendly, and others like the gift card may cost more.

This year, the traditional gift was cotton. This was a little harder. I did a lot of Pinterest searching of course. I ended up doing six different gifts that spelled out cotton and had a Post-It on each one. I also made the scrapbook page to add to the gift from the year before. So, cotton ended up being:

C: Candle (cotton smelling)

O: One pair of tickets to see Spectre

T: Toilet Paper

T: Tennis Shoes

O: One Blockbuster hit - San Andreas

N: New sheets

Well, those are two years of anniversary gifts and some ideas that could be applied tho more then the 1st and 2nd anniversaries.

Until next time, Happy Gifting!

Hey, A Girl Can Dream, Right?

Today, I'm daydreaming about my future house if I had no monetary or geographic restrictions. I'm probably in this mindset because the landlord has not cashed the January rent, I'm sick of cold showers before work and I hate white walls!

Bookshelves in EVERY Room

This might not just be my dream home but my real home one day. I want to be surrounded by books.

A Wine Dispenser 

Maybe two...one in the kitchen and one in my imaginary outdoor entertainment center. I mean who doesn't want a wine dispenser.

And a Wine Cellar to Refill My Wine Dispenser When the Bottles Are Empty

A Great Big Porch to Use Year Round

And Just for Fun...I Would Love These Too

Don't get me wrong, I love my apartment! It's a great price, in an awesome location and we have, for the most part, adequate space. But a girl can dream and I'd love this house I just created from Pinterest finds!

Some Blog Updates

I discovered last year that my blog was not really cutting it for me anymore. After much reading about blogs and thinking of different ideas, I first thought I would write a picture book blog and then maybe a gift idea blog. Both were things I liked and knew about and thought I could write an entire blog about but then I kept coming back to the idea of a lifestyle blog, which is basically what this blog is but it definitely needs some work. So moving forward, I'm just trying to do a better job with scheduling my posts.

To start, I've created post themes for each day:

Pinterest Party (Monday): Posts about different Pinterest finds, stuff I've tried, what I want to try, etc.

Tuesday (Book Review): My favorite day!

Wordless Wednesday: Photos or quotes and inspiration

Thursday: Gift Ideas

Friday: Picture Book Review My second favorite day!

Weekend: Random

We will see how this goes but it's a start in the right direction for me! I just want to write more and make posts that are worthwhile. I'll tell you right now this one isn't but I wanted to write something. Ha ha!

Until next time...

Happy New Year!

Today I'm looking forward to a fresh start in 2016. 2015 revolved around my knee surgery and recovery. Nothing much else happened, so I'm excited for more travel, time with friends and family and hopefully a house!

These are some great quotes and inspiration I found on Pinterest that I hope to live by in the New Year.

I've said this before but Pinterest is one of the best and worst things in the world. There are so many wonderful things to try, make and do but definitely not enough time. This is a round-up of  a few pins I'd love to try this year.

Reading Lists

I used this pin to make my reading list for 2016. I've already started reading. It's great to be reading again after a long absence. I know that sounds crazy but I started 2015 off reading a lot but after my surgery I kept falling asleep when I read. Then I read a lot in the summer but got really busy in the fall and during the holidays, so I'm back at it.

Organization

The paper trail in our life has gotten out of control. I need a new system. Hence why I'm pinning so many paperwork organization ideas. This is a must for 2016.

Travel

I have a conference in Denver in April, so we are making a vacation out of it. Neither Dennis or I have ever been to Denver, so I'm pretty excited to see as much as I can in a short amount of time while not in conference sessions. Pinterest is a great resource for travel suggestions.

Healthy Lifestyle

2015 was all about walking again and finding workouts that fit my knee restrictions. I'm excited to spend more time in the pool and on the spin bike. I have enough swimming workouts pinned to last me a while.

That's just a few pins I'm trying. What are you hoping to accomplish in 2016 from your Pinterest pins?

A Few Pins I'd Like to Actually Try

What is your relationship with Pinterest? Is it a love-hate relationship like mine? I love Pinterest but sometimes it can be quite overwhelming. There is too much there. Too many pins to try. Too many pins to make you feel inadequate about what you are already doing in life. Too many distractions. I'd like to say I do a lot of what I pin but who am I kidding - I don't have the time for that. Here are a few pins though that if time permits in the next few months I would definitely like to try.

Bike Wreath

(Photo courtesy of REI.)

I make a wreath every year anyways, so this pin shouldn't be too hard to accomplish. I just need to find a bike wheel. The instructions seem pretty simple. If anyone wants to learn to make a wreath, let me know! It is one domestic skill I have!

Mail Art

(Photo courtesy of The Realistic Mama.)

I'm one of the few people that still sends snail mail. I love sending it and admit it - who doesn't love receiving mail that isn't a bill, ad or junk. Everyone should be shaking their head yes! Now, I just to actually remember to do this when I send mail. I have three cards currently waiting to go out, so maybe I'll start there. This blog has some great suggestions to make mail prettier in the mailbox.

Layered Picture Frames

(Photo courtesy of Beneath My Heart.)

I doubt that I would do this for the apartment but fingers crossed if we ever get to move into a house I love this photo arrangement. I'd want to use my own artwork and black and white photos from places that Dennis and I have been together. 

There are so many more pins I want to try but I'm limited by time, money, space and tools. I remember what planning a wedding was like with Pinterest, now I'm obsessed with home decor and all I have is an apartment where I can't paint and am running out of space. Sigh...

Happy Pinning!