AFTER!

Robyn wanted to be in the picture too...and a trooper she has been as we painted, pounded and organized (still doing).

I had to get over the NEED for all my boxes to match in shape and color. Obviously they don't, but I guess I'll be okay with that. If you know me I like things to match and I'm a big fan of squares and rectangles (using circular boxes was a major stretch for me). Maybe I'm finally branching out...

The burgundy square on the wall is a cork board made of 6 12x12 squares. The vase holds my artificial flowers. I think everything else is pretty self explanatory.

There are still a few little things I want to do but we're basically done with this part of the bedroom. Our bedroom is functional but not too decorative right now. When we get it decorated (with pictures, curtains and stuff) we'll take more photos.

I'm just amazed how much clutter we were able to eliminate!

Yeah...now projects won't be so stressful for me.

Before...

See this?My "almost-too-embarrassed-to-admit-it" craft....um--we'll call it...spot. Yes--nothing short of a horrible mess. You're probably asking yourself how in the world I get anything done in this pigsty! I ask myself the very same question. Notice there's not even a chair...and the ribbon nice and stacked on the left of the table...did that just before I took this photo. It WAS a pile of spooled ribbon that had been promptly "unspooled" by my curious toddler. In some cases the spool was completely destroyed. Then it just became a pile of tangled ribbon.

Once upon a time it was nice and organized (yeah--LAST summer right after we bought my table). But, after many hairbows, dresses, bags, etc. it turned into this. The sad thing is, Jaren has to put up with it as well because my craft "spot" is shared space in our master bedroom. So, until I get a handle on this our bedroom will be anything BUT romantic.

I (rather "we") intend to tackle this project this weekend. We bought shelves and various types of nice boxes (again LAST summer) to help me organize my stuff and paint for the room (months ago). But for some odd reason we haven't gotten around to getting it ALL put together. We intend to do it this weekend. I hope that by blogging about it here it might actually get done.

So, here's BEFORE:(can you spot the difference between the two photos?)

Hopefully, next week we'll have AFTER! Wish us luck!!

Out with the old...

Before....(check out this ancient appliance)
Not even sure I could give this away.

After...

We're looking forward to getting to know this new addition to the kitchen. It actually tells me the time and how hot my oven is. Wow--it's got knobs that don't fall off!! And, when you turn these knobs, something actually happens?! Can I finally put away the matches?! Now maybe cooking won't be so darn frustrating for me anymore.

The Baby's Room (so far)

For those who are interested (I know I've had some family really wanting to know how it's been going). So, here's the room so far:

The paint color is called Celery (thought it was too bright at first, but it's growing on me).

Decided to get some inexpensive curtains for the closet rather than put up doors. I had to make them slightly longer--just sewed on some satin ribbon. The boys and another little friend helped by painting the murals!

The curtain over the window was an unused white bedsheet that I cut, trimmed with satin ribbon and dotted with flowers.

The hanging pictures are actual pictures that I took of flowers from my yard (that was the funnest project).

The storage units are from Ikea and hold everything from diapers to toys to clothes (including laundry). Made the changing table myself (with wood, foam, fabric, ribbon, craft flowers and velcro--you can figure out how it all goes together).

These are shadow boxes (though I think I want to get three more) with flowers and duplo-like picture frames in them. The various kiddos that have been in and out of my house helped draw pictures to put in these frames.

There's still quite a few little things to get finished (like paint touch ups) but it's coming along well. If the baby came tomorrow, she'd have a room!

Though I've posted these pictures, they really don't do the room justice. Many things are hard to see, so you may have to still use your imagination!

A Holiday for Projects!

So, I know most of you spent your 4th July celebrating the independence of our great nation with fireworks, get togethers, etc. We spent ours working in the baby's room. It was now or never...that much I knew. With Jaren having Friday off I was able to have his help and get her room painted. He got the ceiling fan and light switch replaced as well as several other little things! I'm grateful for his willingness to "see my vision" and do whatever I ask him to do in that bedroom. When the room is actually done (at least mostly) I'll post some before and after pics.

We did take a two hour break and attend an ice cream social at a friend's house. We had gotten there right after the rains, so the boys were actually able to enjoy the waterslide and trampoline.

Actually we did see fireworks!! About a block away someone was letting off LOTS of fireworks in their yard. We were able to witness them from our big back window.

On Saturday we gave the boys some undivided attention (since they had been neglected for the past two days as we worked tiredly in the baby's room). We went and saw WALL-E at our local Movie Tavern. The biggest thought I walked away with: if you love the movie Hello Dolly you'll love WALL-E. It wasn't exactly what I expected but nonethe less another good Pixar movie. We certainly enjoyed it.

Maybe next year we'll make a bigger deal of it. It just didn't happen this time.

Baby Blues

So I've begun working on the "nursery" for the baby coming in August. I still have a hard time calling it a "nursery" because that sounds so fancy. Not to mention, this is the first time my newborn will actually have their own room that I'm allowed to decorate. We lived in apartments before and so decorating a baby's room just didn't happen. I need more inspiration and a little bit of help as my pregnancy limits what I can actually do in there.

I've started gathering baby girl clothes from various corners of the community (mostly yard sales but also from stores). Mothers with little girls...I NOW understand why it's so hard to decide what to buy...everything is so cute!! Anyway, in my journey to beginning a warddrobe for this little girl, I came across some clothes that I wore as an infant. Made me wonder if there are more out there. So, I started looking at some old photos of me...asking my mother if she still had some of these pretty dresses. Course, her comment was, "Don't know--they may have been used for doll clothes back in the day!" Looking at these photos really allowed me to reflect on my "baby days"--not that I actually remember them. But, isn't this little girl adorable??!!

(Remember that these photos are old and are not the best quality)