Nursery Sneak Peek

When we moved into the house, we went ahead and designated one of the spare rooms to the future nursery. We kept all the loose baby items and random things in there so it was never quite presentable... which of course drove me nuts! : )

Finally!!! We're able to make up the room as an actual nursery now, one of my absolute favorite parts about getting pregnant! A decorating dream come true.. a reason to design.

As soon as we found out it was a boy, I went head first into the room getting it ready... still not quite done, but it's almost there. Atleast it's ready for him to come home.

So here is a quick sneak peek at the room so far...

Wood Hanging Note Board

This little project resulted in a weekend of boredom... so what else is there to do, but a project!

We just got a new desk step up, that I haven't finished the post for yet, but I will add that soon. It's amazing and an incredible craigslist purchase. It has a lot of shelving space, but I needed a little something for the wall between our bookcases for the quick notes I just jot down and then the post it gets lost because I randomly set them down in the house to never be seen again... incredibily irritating : )

So I took a piece of old wood we had lying around from something else and cut to about the size I wanted for a little note board. Took some dark stain (dark walnut) and stained the front and sides of the piece of wood. I didn't put a coating over it as to leave it a rougher look, not like I just purchased it from Target.



After I let it dry I stapled and glued on twine wrapping it around the board pretty tight so that I could slip notes or cards behind the twine and it stay.



After that, I added a wall hook on the back and put it up.



I'm pretty pleased with it and one of the easier projects I've done.



Linked up to
DIY Showoff, Under the Table & Dreaming



Remodeled Dining Buffet

First of all, if my grandmother reads this, she will absolutely hang me. She had given me this old dining buffet with a hutch which is beautiful. However,  it just needed to be updated just a smigin to this era. That's a proper form of measurement right?

We don't currently have a dining room table, but within the next few years, I'll find a way to convince hubby that it's not just a waste of space.

So this is what I started out with...

I recently unloaded the car so it's quite a mess. Note to self - Clean the house.

Since this piece of furniture was real wood and still in great condition, I decided to prime it up before painting. I took drawers, doors and screws out and patched all the holes. I think primed every part that I was going to paint.

After making a few modifications and about 2 coats of black paint, this is what it turned out to be. I'm very happy with it. Now I'm working on making baskets of some sort to put on the shelves. They're just dying for some attention.

{After}

{Before}

I think it looks great and will work just as well with a dining room set when we decide to get one. 

Just to follow up; here are a few painting furniture tips...

1. Before painting, sand down the furniture. This allows for the paint to adhere better and gives a fresh surface.

2. Priming before you paint can be pretty important. If you don't, the paint will not stick and will just peel right off especially with laminate. I suggest having your primer tinted if working with dark colors.

3. Make sure you put enough coats on and get in the little crevices. I use a roller and then a regular paint brush to get into the small spots.

4. Let it dry! : ) I know I have a problem with this and when I let my excitement get the best of me, I later pay for it and have to remove paint from something or repaint a certain area.

Jute Decor Spheres

This is one of my favorite Pottery Barn/Pier 1 knock offs. I got an apothecary jar at the new Kroger Marketplace near our home... just $14.00!! I of course couldn't resist. So then of course I needed something to fill it with. Instead of spending $5.00 a ball at one of my faaaaaavorite stores I decided I'd buy a pack of of 6 styrofoam balls at Walmart for about $3.00 and cover them with my jute string I already had.

Don't mind the mess in the background : ). It was midterm week and not much got done.

In order to get this to stay, I just used a hot glue gun. I just started the string in the middle and started wrapping it around until I got to the other end. I think they came out great.

 I LOOOOOOOVE IT!

Bathroom Shelving

I came across an old unfinished shelf I had from the old house and was trying to think of a way to use it. I knew I needed a "hook" system of some sort in the bathroom for towels, robes, clothes... you know, all that stuff that gets hung over the shower rod or ends up on the floor : ). Since it was free, I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to test my staining skills - I might have to eat those words later. So I pulled out some walnut stain I had left over from something else and went to town.

 

You'll probably notice my hardwood floors in the background : )... that would be a lack of judgment caused by my impatience and the fact it was raining outside and 40 degrees. *Note to hubby: we need a heated garage* I made sure that the area I was working with was completely covered though.

I got it stained and let it dry. Hung it up on the wall and added 2 hooks below for towels and what not. The hooks were purchased at Walmart in a bronze finish for about $2 each.

{Before}

 

{After}

Much better I think and I have somewhere to put our stuff. Now I just need my cricut machine I've "requested" for my birthday. : )

I'm in the middle of redoing the master bathroom so I'll add full pictures soon.

Ribbons, bows, oh my!

Just another thing to add to my plate right? : ) Of course!! I definitely enjoy a little sewing. I also recently acquired an embroidery machine so I've gone nuts with it! Here are a few things I've made so far.

Also, everything I've made is for sell. I already do special orders for family, friends, etc. Feel free to contact me at Ashamrick@aol.com.

{Hair Bows}

{Burp Cloths}

{Applique Onesies}

{Pacifier Pals}

{Pacifier Clips}

{Jewelry Sets}

Just a little extra of what I do in my down time. Not that I have that much to spare, but gotta keep myself from going crazy : )

Corkboard Cabinet Door

Not sure about you guys, but loose papers like take out menus, coupons, phone numbers, intructions (Anything!!) hanging out on my fridge drives me nuts : ). And you always get those heavy pieces that regardless what magnet or how many of them you use, it still slides to the bottom. Am I right? So of course, my wheels started turning with ideas. Ironically while I was at work one day cleaning out a spare office, I came across a spare corkboard so I thought, hmm I'll just take it home and cut it out.... Didn't work.... Why? : ) because it didn't dawn on me that it might be glued... duh Ashley.

Lesson learned. So I made a trip to walmart and they have a pack of 4 12x12 corkboard pieces that didn't cost much.

I laid out the pieces how they'd be placed inside the cabinet door and marked where they needed to be cut.

I got all of my pieces put together and put some glue on the back. The set comes with square foam sticky pads to go on the back, but they've never worked for me and I have no intention of taking this down for a long time. So I used tacky glue and then a little gorilla clue.

I finally got all the pieces up and let it dry.

: ) I'm sure it'll be cluttered in no time.

Jute Cloche

I caved! Made a trip to Goodwill and I had no idea it would be so addicting! I can't believe I haven't been going before. It's a DIYers dream. I tried to control myself a bit so it cost me about $16.00 for all of this. The cheese tray being the most of it. I wasn't going to get it, but just kept walking by and couldn't let it go so I splurged : ) ... $8.00.

I also purchased a brand new looking plant with metal pot holder and a small mismatched plate, but it was currently drying from its paint job as I was taking this picture... I couldn't wait : ). I have an idea for each one. Very exciting.

So first project at hand is the Jute Cloche I made. I love it. I used the red candle/vase thing in the picture above, the glass cover for the cheese ball tray and the plate that isn't shown.

I already had the jute (or twine) along with the glue and spray paint. I spray painted the plate with an antique white so I could use it in my kitchen, white was just TOO bright. Next I wrapped the red candle in the jute/twine string.

Honestly, it didn't take me long. I started using the gorilla glue, but it doesn't dry fast so I used my back up tacky glue with gorilla glue so when it dried there would be the extra hold. I finally got that wrapped and secured my ends with just a little extra glue.

Next I placed the plate on top and flipped it over. I traced a circle around the top of the candle so I would know it was centered. Placed glue on the rim of the candle and placed it on the plate. Flipped it over to dry and stuck the glass over on top and this is what you get.

I've very happy with it. And I can always change the color of the plate when I change my mind. : )

{Love our Realtor}

I just posted my last post a few minutes ago and mentioned that I didn't have any pictures of the house prior to us moving in... well, I got an email from our realtor just minutes later with a link to the MLS listing with that information. I love her! So thank you to Allison for providing me with that, now I can post them to the blog for everyone and you guys can get the full affect.

Side note, if you need a realtor or just want to talk to someone about potentially buying, contact her. She was amazing to work with and made the horrible house buying process so much easier for us. We loved her.

Check out Platinum Realty and Check out Allison Oaks

Living Room: Before & After

Who doesn't love a little before and after? I certainly do! I turn into stalker mode full force when I see before and after. I may or may not even post these to Pinterest. That, my friends, is God's gift to use... my never ending idea board. :) I just love seeing the transformation and creativity that someone else does. So here's a little living room before and after for you.

Before:

After:

The color in the picture is a little off from the real thing, but it's Sisal from Ralph Lauren. I fell in love with it over at Thrifty Decor Chick. She used this through her entire house. I got into DIY mode and decided one weekend I was using this in the living room. Spend the entire weekend, but I got the living room, hallway and hall bath all in this color. It's a great neutral color that you can accent quite well with. 

I recently made the curtains hanging up over there on the left and made custom curtain rods for the baby window. You can see that little post here. 

{Apple Red Themed Wedding}

The day finally came, my oldest brother got married! I still can't believe it, it still feels like yesterday I was walking him to the school bus and then class to "show him the ropes". I definitely miss those days. Now, he's turned into a spectacular man that I couldn't be more proud of. He married a wonderful girl who is by far the best sister-in-law ever : ). She asked me to be her Matron of Honor so we had a lot of planning to do. Might I add... I love weddings!! My dream job growing up was to be a wedding planner so I definitely enjoyed the experience. I thought I would share a little of the wedding in case anyone else would also enjoy the ideas.

Wish I had some better pictures, but I'm working with what I got : )

                                                     {Bride's Bouquet}

{Programs that I created less than 12 hours before the wedding!}

 {Bridesmaids Bouquets}

 {Groom's Bout}

 {Headpiece - She was ABSOLUTELY beautiful}

 {This cake was to DIE for. 3 different fillings with chocolate drizzle on each layer}

{Extra lighting down the aisle}

 {Yep... they did it. Chuck Taylors}

{Finally Married!}



{Fireplace Repainted}

One feature I love about the house is the gas fireplace. The only thing, it had a brass finish. What were people thinking! lol... I wasn't going to opt out for getting a new one, I'd be nuts so I researched painting it. I found that I could spray paint it (with good ventilation!) fairly easily. If you plan on doing this, make sure you purchase the high heat (pictured below).

Our fireplace hadn't been used in quite awhile so I wanted to make sure all dirt was removed and the paint would stick. I would advice roughing the surface up a little with some sanding and then cleaning up a bit so you're working with a fresh surface. Of course, be sure to tape off ALL areas around the painting surface. And this stuff DOES travel. I had some on the floor, but my steam mop got it right up.

I let the paint sit and dry before I started removing any of the tape and paper. I did NOT want black all over my walls... accidents do happen. Here's the before and after pictures. We've gotten a mantle for it recently and I'll post those up soon.



Don't mind the shadow on the bottom : )