Nursery Mural Sneak Peek

I was recently asked to paint a mural in the nursery of our church, and I got started on it last night after work. My mural has to coordinate with the existing one that is on the outside of the children's area, which is neon green with pops of yellow and blue. I'm taking some of the same colors from the outside mural and doing something a little more whimsical and calm inside the nursery area.

Here's a quick picture I snapped with my phone as I was leaving last night:

 

That is probably only 1/6 of the room (maybe not even that), so I've already concluded that it is going to take me forever.  The only problem is, preschool starts next week after the Labor Day holiday, so I have to get it done by then. EEK. I'll be devoting every spare minute outside of work to painting this room, but it's worth it because I know it will help the church. 

Here's a little sketch so you can get a sneak peak at what I have in mind for the rest of the space:

 

Happy stripes, fun polka dots and cute little frogs. Gender neutral and adorable, if I do say so. Let's just see if I can execute!

I've also got my eye on some affordable products from Ikea to spice up the room:

gender neutral baby nursery by jgrantham106 on Polyvore.com

Ikea Fabler
$30 - ikea.com

Ikea Barnslig
$20 - ikea.com

Ikea Barnslig Rand
$20 - ikea.com

Ikea Smila Sol
$20 - ikea.com

Ikea Grönska Prickar
$13 - ikea.com

Ikea Vitaminer Vimpel
$9.99 - ikea.com

Speaking of Ikea, have you seen the new Ninni curtain line? Polka dots galore! I had my heart set on this pair of curtains for our master bedroom, but our local Ikea was completely sold out when I went to buy them this weekend. Grrr!

Ikea.com

The Ninni line has two other polka dot curtains which are a bright white with some pretty cool textures and styles. You should check them out if you're a polka dot lover like me.

* Dot Dot Dot *

The Chair: Slipcover Madness

Back in June, I told you we were going to have slipcovers made for our super awesome $5 vintage chair. My mom had found a lady near her house that was willing to make them (yes, we got two) for a really reasonable price, so she offered to have them made as my birthday present.

Why did I get slipcoveres instead of having the chair reupholstered? A couple of reasons:

1.  Getting something reupholstered is more expensive.
2.  The dogs LOVE this chair, and I like the idea of being able to take the slipcover off and wash it. Dog hair is a problem in this house.
3. More options! I could get two slipcovers for less than reupholstering the chair, so that means I can give the chair a new outfit whenever I feel like it. Who doesn't like having more versatility?!

Three months after my birthday, the chair has been returned to its rightful place in the living room and is sporting some brand new duds! (It didn't take that long to actually make the slipcovers, but my mom has had the chair at her house until they came to visit us again.

The first new outfit is graphic, funky and fun. It's a lemon yellow fabric with grey and white accents. Oh-so-geometric and oh-so-cute! This fabric plays up the mod, 50's vibe the chair already has. Did I mention this is indoor/outdoor fabric? Extra durable!

 

It doesn't hurt that it has great accessories– that owl pillow ups the cuteness factor by 1,000 percent. Even Scott likes the pillow, which is saying something. The boy hates throw pillows.

Nugget #1 is very happy to have her throne back in the house.

 

I know these pictures aren't the best, but the lovely nuggets have chewed up my camera battery charger so I'm stuck with iPhone pictures until the new one comes in. Sorry!

The second outfit is neutral and classic. It would go with anything and everything, which is awesome. This tan herringbone pattern a little heavier fabric than the first and seems like a cozy, wintery option. When I get tired of the bright yellow, I can tone it down with this slipcover and its beige-y goodness. 

 

 

Herringbone on the owl, herringbone on the chair!

Speaking of chairs, check out this rocker from the Land of Nod:

The Land of Nod

I'm thinking it would be pretty cool to convert this vintage chair into a rocking chair one day, when we're in the baby phase. I hope it holds up that long! Meanwhile, our fur babies love it just the way it is.

I picked up that cute owl pillow from Pier 1, in case you were wondering. 

* My love affair with THE chair is back on again. :) *

DIY Capiz Sunburst Wreath

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you our new Capiz Sunburst Wreath!

 

The Nester is hosting the "You Made a Wreath Out of What?!" linky party, which prompted me to think outside of the box about wreath ideas. 

Wreath Linky Party

While pondering what kind of wreath I could make, I took my mom shopping at our local West Elm. We found these awesome capiz shell garlands in the sale section ($5 each, marked down from $25 each), and my wreath idea was born!

 

First, I picked up a flat wreath form at Michaels for $2.99. Is it extremely cheap of me that I negotiated a dollar off the $4 price because it was chipped and dirty? I had to laugh at myself a little, but then again, every dollar counts! We're budget people around here. 

 

I sketched a line around the ring that ran through the center, so I could align my first layer of capiz shells to that line. This way we would have the sunburst effect I was going for, with the shells hanging off the outer edge of the wreath form. Then I got my hot glue gun and started to glue the shells to the form.

Thank you to my mom, who was very helpful with this project! She took on the tedious and repetitive task of cutting the string of garland from the capiz shells so I could use each piece individually. West Elm really makes some quality garland– there were many, many knots to undo. Thanks for helping, Mom!

 

Before I knew it, there was glue gun string everywhere.  About 20 minutes later, we had the outer rim finished and had begun the inner layer, which was aligned with the inner rim of the wreath form.

 

Another 15 minutes after that, we had all capiz shells glued to the frame. To finish it off, I glued a ring of capiz pieces around the center to cover the small holes in each shell that remained from their garland-y previous life.

 

Last but not least, I added a burlap bow as a nice contrast to the shiny finish of the capiz pieces. I especially love my bow because I used the burlap ribbon that was wrapped around my wedding bouquet. I love finding ways to reuse my wedding stuff!

 

Ooh, shiny!!

 

 

 What do you think?

Since I'm not really a frou-frou wreath person, the simplicity of it appeals to me. Everyone (aka my mom, dad and husband) seems to think it will have a nice second life as a mirror frame, so we'll see if I end up bringing it inside and adding a mirror to the center. For now it's a glimmering wreath that looks really great on our new glossy black front door!

*  Where did the weekend go? *

National Dog Day!

Did you know today is National Dog Day?

Yup, every August 26th is National Dog Day– mark it on your calendars, fellow dog lovers!

The point of the holiday is to remind people about how many lovable furballs are out there, waiting to be adopted.  Our family really believes in rescuing dogs from the local animal shelter. Nugget #1 was adopted as a puppy from the local humane society, and Nugget #2 was a $20 Craigslist adoption story. I have grown up with rescued puppies and dogs my whole life, and I believe in rescuing puppies (and cats, if you're a cat person) whenever you can.

We don't have babies yet, so please allow me to gush over my adopted nuggets:

 

 

 

The nuggets' favorite chair (above) has been at my mom's house for two months now. She had slipcovers made for  it as my birthday present, and she's bringing it back to me today! I can't wait to see how the slipcovers turned out. I'll definitely take pictures and show you guys next week.

In honor of National Dog Day, I rounded up some of our dogs' favorite things:

Nuggets Go Shopping by jgrantham106 on Polyvore.com

Target:Rufus & Coco Bronte-Stylish Striped Nylon Collar -...
$20 - target.com

Walmart.com: Majestic Pet Products Lounger Orthopedic Dog Bed: Dogs
$40 - walmart.com

PETCO Rubber Football with Squeaker Dog Toy at PETCO
$7.99 - petco.com

PETCO Chicken Rawhide Strips at PETCO
$4.77 - petco.com

Amazon.com: Penn 1 Championship Tennis Balls: Sports & Outdoors
$5.45 - amazon.com

Do you buy Christmas gifts for your pet/pets? - Page 2
$12 - petco.com

Amazon.com: Benadryl® Allergy Ultratabs - 148 tablets: Pet Supplies
$15 - amazon.com

Why the Benadryl, you ask? Well, Nugget #2 (the blonde) had a bad allergic reaction to a bee sting last year. We took her to the vet, who told us that we can give her human Benadryl if we see her swelling up again. Now we carry it with us wherever we take the puppies. She's about 50 lbs and she gets half of one Benadryl pill when she's having an allergy episode.

Lastly, I share with you my favorite dog-related YouTube video. This little cutie melts my heart and cracks me up at the same time.

 

Are you a dog lover, too? More of a cat person? I'd love to know!

Have a great weekend!

* Happy National Dog Day! *

Blog Updates & Cool Business Cards

You may have noticed that I've made some small changes to the blog. I've been visiting Spice Up Your Blog and teaching myself how to add new features, which is pretty cool. Check them out if you want new gadgets or other fun features for your blog!


 

Anyway, let's check out the new blog features!

First of all, I had to update the profile section at the top right. We are no longer newlyweds (one year down!) so that wasn't really valid anymore. And now we have an "Email Us!" button right below our profile information. Click there if you want to shoot us an email– we'd love to hear from you!

 

We also have a new gadget in the right sidebar that shows all the products we have/would like to have from our favorite online vendor, Amazon.com. We are seriously Amazon junkies– we even registered there for our wedding.  Most of the products shown are ones we actually own and can positively vouch for, but a few are on there just because they caught my eye. Read the descriptions below to see what we think about each product. The shopaholic in me loves this new feature!

 I also added some Facebook buttons at the bottom of each post. Now you can "Like"  or "Send" each post, just like Facebook. I'm pretty active on Facebook and love to comment and "like" my friends' status updates, so I thought this would be a fun feature for the blog. 

Lastly, I added an option to respond to blog comments. This may not excite you guys as much as it does me, but there have been many times I have wanted to respond to a specific person's comment. Now I can!

In Other News...

Have you seen the 25 free business cards offer from Minted.com? They're actually dubbing them "Mommy Calling Cards," but I find that limiting since I'm not a mommy. If you're not a mommy, you can customize them as business cards or anything else you might need. You get the 25 free cards, but you do have to pay $7.95 shipping. I ordered mine on Monday!

I picked this design and customized it to fit what I wanted (a business card for my stuff I do on the side– artwork, murals, etc). They come on really nice paper and there are tons and tons of modern, stylish designs that you can personalize with different wording, fonts, colors, etc. They usually charge $30 for 25 business cards, so you are definitely saving money. The special offer ends on Sept. 23.

www.minted.com

That's all I have for today, folks. I hope you take advantage of the business card deal and enjoy the new blog features!

* It's Only Wednesday? Yikes. *