DIY - Shelf to Wardrobe

I already had black shelves from our office so I decided to use them for Emery's nursery. The big one I figured I could turn into a wardrobe. All I did was take out one of the shelves that was removable and added a bar to go across to hang clothes. Then I took a curtain rod and made a curtain that can open and close in the middle to hide her hanging clothes. After a lot of searching I found baskets that would fit on the shelves and just replaced the (in my opinion) ugly liners with new ones. All I had to do was use the old ones as a pattern for new ones with coordinating fabric for the rest of the nursery.

Here are some pics:

Shelf before

Finished product

Finished product with curtain open

I bought a rod from Home Depot, painted it black, and hung it with screws and wire so there was enough room for the hangers to hang and move around.

Baskets to hold onesies, sleepers, hats, etc.

Other shelf with 2 baskets

Basket before

Basket afterwards - Much better! :)

A Post for my Sister

***If you work, you’ll probably want to stop reading this right now (or you can continue to read, but I know you are going to find this pretty obnoxious.) If you’re a new stay at home mom or wife and not sure what to do with yourself, this blog is for you.

My sister had her first baby the other week and has now spent one week at home and told me she doesn’t really know what to do. Sure she’s been busy with the new baby, but since she can’t continue on with her “working” life, she doesn’t know what people who stay at home do all day. I have to say, the first few weeks of not working were the same way for me. I think this is why a lot of my friends always say, “I could never not work – I’d be so bored.” Sure, at first, but once you get into your routine you find yourself just as busy as a working girl. To help you out, here is how I spend most of my weekdays:

• Wake up
• Make breakfast for my husband and me and pack his lunch while he showers
• Feed the dogs
• Elton then heads off to work and I begin to pick up (make the bed, put dishes away, open all the blinds, sweep, etc.). I like the house to be cleaned before I enjoy my day at home.
• Next, I will sometimes check up on the news, read a few blog posts, write a blog post if I have one in mind (like today) and make my to do list if I haven’t already. I usually make myself a cup of green tea while I do this.
• Begin to tackle my “to do” list.

Sometimes this list consists of making phone calls or appointments, fixing something around this house (e.g.: today I’m going to try and tackle a leaking kitchen sink since it’s going to cost at least $100 if I hire a plumber and I think I can do it myself), running errands – grocery store, Target, Home Depot, etc., organizing a closet or drawer in my house, working on a sewing project – you get the idea.

Other things:

-Every day I make sure I get in at least 30 minutes of cardio workout (right now it’s a long walk each day and a strength class twice a week) and I make sure to walk the dogs and brush them with the Furminator.

-Cooking is another activity I do a lot of since I have the time. For example, I’ll make my granola for breakfast instead of buying the store-bought kind. This way I can control how much sugar goes into it and I think everything tastes so much better when it’s homemade.

If you find yourself getting bored, look around your home and think – “What needs to be organized? What needs to be cleaned?” There are always things to do. I also will have days where I just want to relax. I might look through magazines or blog posts for decorating ideas and watch a movie.

I hope this helps for all you new stay at homers. There is so much you can do with yourself and I promise you will no longer be bored come a week or two! If you have any other ideas, please post away. I’d love to hear them.

Happy Homemaking!

Morning Sewing Project - Nursing Cover

I got a text this morning that my sister was heading into the hospital to give birth to Woodburn. I’ve been putting off making her a nursing wrap so this text finally got me motivated to “get ‘er done.” These past few weeks the projects I’ve thought would be really easy have turned out to take a lot more time, but I was happy to find out this nursing wrap really WAS easy to make (took me only about an 1- 1 ½ hours).

Here’s the link to the website where I found this pattern. The only thing I did different was to add a coordinating fabric to the back. I cut this one inch shorter than the front panel and placed it under my turned edge for the hems to be sewn in. I’m not really sure how those D-rings work and as the women on the website says, the strap is really long, so I just tied it to the rings and figured she can just slip it over her head.

If you want an easy sewing project, this is definitely a good one to try and would make a great gift for anyone you know that's having a baby and planning to breastfeed.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Salad for the Carb Lover – Panzanella

If you're like me, I tend to opt for a sandwich at lunch instead of a salad because I love bread. If you're the same way, this is a salad for you!

Panzanella is an Italian bread salad and can be made in many ways. This is how I make mine - which is filling, healthy, and delicious.

This picture really doesn't give this salad justice. It's a lot prettier in person.

Here’s what I buy at the store and you can make lots of individual portions or a couple of big portions out of these ingredients over the week.

• Mini whole-wheat bagels (Thomas or Trader Joe brand)
• Fresh mini-mozerella balls (called ciliegine on the package and comes packaged in water)
• Jar of roasted red peppers (sometimes labeled as roasted poquillo peppers)
• Jar of sun-dried tomatoes (the kind I get are in an oil)
• Fresh basil
• Cherry tomatoes
• Garlic
• Red onion
• Avocado
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Extra virgin olive oil (good brand b/c you’re not going to cook with this)

Here’s what I do for one serving (definitely omit ingredients you don’t like and if you like something else, add it and see if it tastes good):

*I really don’t measure stuff out so this is approx.

As you chop, but everything in a bowl.

• ½-1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 2T chopped red onion
• 4-6 cherry tomatoes, chopped into quarters
• 1 roasted red pepper, chopped
• 1T sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• 3 mozzarella balls, halved or quartered
• ¼ avocado, chopped (keep the pit with the part you don’t use and it’ll stay good for the next time)
• 5-6 basil leaves, place on top of each other and roll like a cigar and chop

Add salt and pepper to all of your chopped veggies. Then add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and about 1 tablespoon of good extra-virgin olive oil. Toast one mini bagel and chop into bit size pieces. Toss everything together and serve. So good!

Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you add something different and how it goes. I bet strawberries would be really good in this, too. I might try that later this week.

Happy bread-eating!