the snowball effect

Remember back in February when I gave you my 2011 DIY to-do list? I revised it again in April and we're getting close to checking off that little list of 11 things that I wanted to accomplish this year. While I should be ecstatic, I am instead looking at a list 3 times that size. Isn't that the way it always works? Example- #6 on the list= rearrange the living room furniture. Done son. But, after I moved it, I got the itch to change it. Enter- new furniture. Then new curtains. Then new pillows... etc, etc, etc. See my dilemma? I think that by the end of this my entire first floor will look different. For now- I will enjoy checking a few things off my original list, celebrate what we've already accomplished, and how much I love it! (All the newly completed stuff is crossed off in blue)

1- Fix the kitchen light.
2- Repaint the dining room.
3. (Neatly) mount the television above our fireplace.
4. Get rid of the Tiffany's-esque chandelier that hangs in an awkward place in our living room.
5. Update the ceiling fan in our bedroom.
6. Rearrange the furniture in the living room.
7. Add some wall art to our master bedroom/bathroom/living room.
8. Update our upstairs bathroom light fixtures.
9. Repaint the red in the half bath.
10. Sell living room and mancave couches on craigslist.
11. Find a sectional for the living room and redecorate!


#11 you saw in my craigslist post and the update on our new curtains.
#2 and #9 were painted while Everett and I were out in Pittsburgh at the end of June. It was a happy birthday present from my hubby and brothers in law. I love it. I'll post pics another day.

#4 was fun. That chandelier has been the bane of my existence since day one of living in our house. My living room is rectangular and has a fireplace which can make a layout hard enough. Add in a strangely placed chandelier that hangs about a third of the way into the room and you've got a seriously weird design. I went back and forth on what to do with it. When it came down to it, we really needed at least one hanging light. I struggled though in figuring out how it would ever look normal. One day it just hit me- I would swag the light over to the corner and make myself a reading nook of sorts. With the new sectional I was left with an empty corner, so Aaron and I used part of our discovercard cashback money to buy this little guy for our new reading nook (from target during a 15% off furniture sale)!

It matches the new ottoman perfectly and fills up some of that empty space. See that huge empty wall behind the chair... I've got big plans for it. You'll have to wait and see!

Back to the light- I knew that even if I swagged it I was still going to need a new fixture (side note- when I say swag I mean I bought a little kit that allows you to drill a hook into the ceiling to change the placement of where the a light is hanging).

I'd seen a lot of outdoor looking pendant lamps and liked the idea. I decided to peruse homedepot.com to see if they had any similar lights. They ended up having one that I absolutely loved; however, it was 125 bones. That was a no go. I wanted the pewter fixture, but decided to look at the other colors too. There was a glossy white (which I wasn't interested in) BUT it was only $43. $82 cheaper just because of the color?! Crazy right? So I did what anyone would do, ordered the white and spray painted it. I've been on a bit of a spray painting kick... I'm sure my neighbors think I'm wacky. Either way, I really like the results. It's another thing checked off our list and another step toward "finishing" up the living room. What do you think? Anyone else obsessing lately on spray painting stuff? Anyone else have a project that's snowballing?!

i love this little face

what a perfect start to my day ♥

Mom sewed and I tried not to screw it up

I've got pinterest/redesign/DIY fever. It's ridiculous. You already know that I sold our old couches and bought a sweet new-to-us sectional. (Check out that post here if you missed it.) The sectional is very neutral so I wanted to get some new curtains and pillows to bring some color into the room. Side note- we just moved to one income due to God's continued faithfulness to our family, so expensive anything is just not an option. I'm fine with that though, I love hunting down good deals. While I was cutting costs and thifting it up like no ones business, I also knew I wanted nice curtains. So, obviously, for my 28th birthday I decided curtains were at the top of my list. Seriously, curtains. Oh well, so curtains it was. I turned to by oh-so-talented mom to help me make them. I had already found the fabric at Joann's and my mom kindly paid for it and helped me make the curtains and recover some throw pillows for my birthday gift. My mom is a really talented seamstress and has made countless quilts, dresses, and curtains. I always default to her, which is probably why I stink at sewing.

I'm not sure exactly how long it took us to make the curtains--- maybe 3 hours? We started out deciding how long I wanted the curtains. I bought 6.5 yards (which is 234 inches) of fabric. We (okay so my mom thought of this) wanted both curtains to look exactly the same so we had to figure out the exact pattern in the print. It worked out and we cut each curtain at about 100 inches. Once we made sure they lined up, we started pinning the sides of the curtain. Let's be real, I suck at pinning. My mom pinned her entire curtain and I was still finishing up my first side. It was laughable how slow and terrible I was at it. Mom had us double the hem and then pin. (see picture) I guess that gives the curtain a cleaner edge. From there my mom measured to make sure that the pins did in fact all measure exactly the same. Let's just say she had to pull a few million pins from my curtain. Once that was done, Mom just sewed along the pins. Phew, that completed the sides. We did the same thing with the bottoms of the curtains.

Finally, we got the top of the curtains. I had originally planned to just hem the entire curtain (which you can do and it's probably 9000 times easier) and buy the rings that just clip onto the fabric; however, I love grommets. I don't know why, but I do. There's something about them that seems fancy or polished or something. So, I found some snap on grommets at Joanns that looked pretty simple. False. This was the point where my mom almost gave up. It was the math. The curtain was 52 inches across. We were using 8 grommets per curtain and my mom suggested we put a grommet 2 inches in on both sides and then space out the other 6 within that. For some reason though, the math was just not coming out right. My mom pinned and repinned the placement for the grommets about 6 times. Finally after an hour of hassle, she was able to figure it out. Thank goodness - math's not my thing and neither is sewing.I would've been screwed if she did throw in the towel! I taught social studies, remember? So anyway, the package came with a nice little template that you could trace on the fabric with a fabric pen and then cut out the circle of fabric (see picture).

At this point, it was all downhill. Once we cut out the fabric, the grommets pretty easily snapped into place and created these beauties:

My curtain rods were originally black, so I used some spray paint (Rust-oleum metallic spray paint- satin nickel) and they ended up matching my grommets perfectly!  Here are some other shots and the pillows that we recovered.

 

There are still plenty of things that I'd like to finish/change/paint in the room. See that black mirror by the entryway- I'm spray painting it white as we speak. See the space between the curtains- I'm looking for something to fill that space. I'm leaning toward a circular framed white mirror. Anyone other ideas on how to fill that space?  I'm also debating between pulling the curtain back and leaving it hang, DIY-ing a sign for the other part of the room, finding some accessories, and possibly a plain yellow or green fabric for a few more pillows. So there you have it. Progress in the living room. Later this week I'll show you the other side of the living room with a new light and chair! Here's the quick before/after of the living room from just a few weeks ago:

I love the way they turned out and loved that I got to make them with my mama! 

Thanks Mom- you're the best! 

ipad 2 giveaway...

Okay, so I'm not giving an ipad away (sorry), but my dear friend Katie is! Katie and Ryan Enns are friends and fellow believers that are part of our Providence family. They have this incredible desire to adopt a little girl from Congo. So, in an effort to help them get started, there is a giveaway going on. Click over to their blog and enter! Not only will you get the chance to win a sweet new ipad, but you also have the opportunity to come alongside them and help them fulfill this desire to adopt! I'll be back this weekend with some major living room updates - oh word.

living room sneak peek

Here's a little sneak peek at the pillows and curtains my mom and I made this week. Okay, so Jan made most of them, I did a little pinning (which I'm terrible at), ironing, and snapping on some grommets. It was definitely a labor of love at points, but I couldn't be happier with the outcome- curtains especially! I can't wait to see them up at the house along with some other projects that Aaron took care of while I was in the burgh this week! Stay tuned for lots of living room/house project updates next week. For now, here's my mom's handiwork and a new pattern I found to change up the look a little. (I'm still searching for the perfect olive green or mustard yellow to complete the pillow ensemble.)  Whoop whoop!

ahh summer, how i love thee

bittersweet

That was today. I have been anticipating this day for the last 15 months. The day that would finally be my last as a teacher and the end of being a working mama. And while I am full of joy for this next chapter, I couldn't help but be sad to leave Downingtown. In fact, I was a blubbery mess this morning. Amidst cleaning out my desk and writing thank yous to the many people that I have come to know and love, I couldn't get the lump out of my throat. Saying goodbye to the school that made me a teacher and that gave me the opportunity to teach and invest in the lives of over 500 kids was hard. It was weird to leave something that I love so much and had worked so hard to become. I went to lunch with friends from the social studies department and then ran a few errands with Sara. Missy texted to tell me that she was hanging out with my friend Carla and to pick up Everett over there. I pulled up to the house and saw a few cars of friends that I recognized. My mind was kind of a blur and I was in my own little world as I walked around the back of the house. Kids were playing and I assumed they were having some kind of Providence (my church) mom's gathering. I walked through the doors and there were 10 of my friends yelling surprise! I cried. My sweet friends threw me a surprise party to celebrate my "retirement" and new career. It was such a blessing, so unexpected. I felt so loved.

So, today was bittersweet. There were lots of tears and moments of pure happiness with the realization that Everett is my only job from here on out. And, I'm thankful for 5 years in a career that I have loved and that has made it hard to leave.

buddies

Everett and Nolan. Nolan and Everett. These boys love each other, partially because they've been subjected to hanging out regularly because their parents want to! As they've grown, the boys have started playing and interacting and loving each other.  It's so fun to watch!  Saturday we were hanging out with the Lusby's at my in-laws pool. We got a one year update pic to compare to our pictures from last year. It's crazy how quickly these two have grown from tiny babies to crazy toddlers. Yeay for great friends and especially for great friends with a great kid! 

sometimes you just have to stop and play in the puddles

Sometimes I have to stop myself --- stop myself from saying no Everett, you'll get dirty. Sometimes it'd just be easier to tell him no because I don't want to clean up the mess afterwards. But, at the end of the day, I want to be a mom who seized those opportunities, a mom who played and laughed and got dirty with my kid, a mom who took the time to enjoy these fleeting moments. So we did. We got dirty and wet, but it was well worth the smile on his face and his squeals of laughter. It's a good reminder for me that in the busyness of life sometimes you just have to stop and play in the puddles.

mothers day- take 2

A year ago I had a tiny little two month old. This year I have a running, laughing, wild 14 month old. It's crazy how much has changed about Everett--- his looks and all the things he can do and eat, and yet there's so much that remains the same... his sweet smile, his happy attitude, and the JOY and the fullness he brings to my heart. There are so many blessings in life, but one of the greatest is being this little boys mom!