And the nursery is done! (pretty much, at least)

The rug and slip-cover arrived today so now everything is pretty much done with Emery's nursery. She can come out now!

Here are some pics with comments: (Pictures aren't great so you'll have to come and visit in person once she arrives!)

Overall view of the room

View from the doorway with the name letters I made

I got this lamp from an antique mall and tore the metal birds out of it and replaced them with fabric ones that I made. My dad welded the perches onto the bar and

I got the lampshade from Anthropologie.

View from her crib (what Emery will see when she waits for Mommy and Daddy to come and get her from her crib). I still need something over this shelf. I'm thinking some sort of a mirror. We'll also decorate with pictures once she's born.

Glider chair next to the awesome basket of books from Aunt Kristen and Uncle Scott

Yes, more birds. I had this hook (hard to see in picture) with a bird on it which I thought was perfect to hang on the side of her wardrobe for her bath towels.

The wardrobe that was our office book shelf

(I made the basket liners and the curtain to hide her hang-up clothes.)

Quilt rack I got from antique mall

(I couldn't find it in black so I just painted a brown one)

Birds I made to hang over her crib

So I was gonna reupholster this chair that I got for $45 at the Home Restore, but it turned out WAY harder than I expected and it was gonna cost around $400 to pay someone to do it, so a $70 slip cover made this chair work and a deal! I also framed the prints from a calendar I got from Anthropologie this summer.

Toy basket (not too full yet, but it'll fill up quickly, I'm sure!)

Look at all those books to read!

Awesome needlepoint pillow made by Cameron

Rug from Anthropologie

The Simplest Things Make Such a Difference

...and in this case it was a hose, broom, rake, flowers, and some pine straw.

Take a look at what I did all by myself (and at 9 months pregnant I'd like to add!).

It's definitely not done, but it's a start.

BEFORE

AFTER

I'm finally able to sit in my backyard, which I'm doing right now as I write this. Gonna be a much better summer to be able to relax in the lounge chair in the privacy of my back yard instead of always having to sit on the front porch. The biggest difference, which you may not be able to tell from the pictures, is the pine straw over the dry dirt that was blowing everywhere. We realized we couldn't grow grass with two dogs so pine straw did the trick beautifully and inexpensively, in my opinion. YAY!

Strawberries!

I LOVE summer and one of my favorite things to eat during summer are strawberries! I’ve been on a strawberry, granola, yogurt kick lately and I’m excited to see and taste strawberries that keep getting better and better as we approach strawberry season. One problem I’ve had is keeping them fresh, so I did some research, tested it out, and here’s are the results.

To keep your strawberries fresh try the following:

1. Dampen a dishtowel and lay in a glass dish or a cooking sheet or pan.
2. Toss out any strawberries that have mold already forming because it’ll spread to the other good strawberries.
3. Place the strawberries onto the damp dishtowel where they are not on top of each other and preferable not touching. (Do not wash your strawberries yet!)
4. Cover with the damp dishtowel and place in the fridge until you are ready to eat.
   
5. Wash and enjoy!

I tried this last week with organic strawberries (which usually seem to go bad faster than non-organic) and it worked! They stayed fresh for DAYS! Try and get organic if you can b/c strawberries fall on the “dirty dozen” list of “musts” for organic produce. Now I have "Strawberry Fields Forever" in my head. Anyone else?

Front Yard Make-Over

I’ve been thinking and thinking about simple ideas to make our front yard look better and this weekend with my parents coming in town to help, mission was accomplished! All we did was add shutters to the front window, paint the door, and plant some flowers and shrubs. Very easy and I think it looks A LOT better! Thanks Mom and Dad for your help! And you, too, Elton. Being 9 months pregnant there is no way I could have done this on my own.

Before I forget, two things I learned from these projects:

1) When picking a color for your door, try to match it to something already in the house. At first I picked a random blue and it really looked AWFUL. Then our neighbor suggested matching it to the darker shade of brick and I think it turned out great!

2) Go with a satin finish, rather than a semi-gloss. The semi-gloss is a little too shiny and the satin is a balance between semi-gloss and flat.

Take a look at the before and after pictures:

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Now on to the dog-trashed back yard???? Wish me luck!