Ready to Occupy

It's been ages since I posted, but I've been so busy with crafty projects that I just wasn't ready to show you anything. Now I am!

I had my baby shower yesterday (can you believe it!?) so I was working hard to get the baby's room in order for the girls to see it. Here's how it's looking so far. (I apologize for the bad lighting and color in the photos, it's a tough room to take pictures in).

The colors are a little washed out, but this is the view from the doorway. There should be a shelf above the dresser/changing table, but that hasn't made it's way onto the wall yet.

 Both the dresser and the chair are from IKEA. I hope to add some rick rack or fabric to the chair at some point but I'm not sure if that project will take place any time soon. The rug is from Land of Nod, the crib is a hand-me-down from a friend.

I made the bumper out of the giant pile of fabrics I told you about before. Did you know you could buy a pack of precut crib bumper foam at JoAnn? Me either. It's nice & sturdy so I don't have to worry about it smooshing down too much when the baby gets a little bigger. You can't see it well in this picture, but the skirt is a blueish floral with a rick rack trim & a layer of flat eyelet underneath (same as I did for the curtains).

Here's a closer look at the bumper. I got the idea for the x's from Schnibbles Times Two (you can see the quilt on the cover of the book). I always knew I wanted patchwork for the bumper but wasn't sure how to do it. I made the x blocks first & then added the gingham border to get the pieces to the right size for the foam. It was a very tricky project, but I'm happy with the result. The opposite side is vertical striped (you can kind of see it in the photo above).

I knew for a long time that this was the dresser we'd be using. It just seemed like the perfect size to use as a changing table and the drawers are huge! It's from the Hemnes collection at IKEA. I told you about the knobs I ordered (dreamscapedesigns on Etsy) in a previous post, I really love the way they add a little fun to the dresser. I used a set on the closet doors too. Nick wants to build a sort of tray thingy for the changing pad, but I might just change that plan to some really strong Velcro (we only have 5 weeks!)

Another thing I knew I wanted was the alphabet. I labored over how to do this for a few weeks. I could make my own, but who has the time? I love these, but the color scheme wasn't right and I thought they'd be too white on that white panel wall. The set I got, I had seen in lots of places over the last couple years. I ended up purchasing them from Amazon because they had the best price. I got the teeny clothespins from Amazon too! I just used little nails, very thin ribbon to hang the cards on & thicker ribbon tied in bows to cover the nails. When baby gets big enough to reach the cards, this wall will likely change.

And here's the last big project I made for the room. I had this adorable honey bun laying around and thought it might be fun to use it as the top for a mobile. Naturally, I wanted to make whatever would hang from it. I labored over this project for a long time too. I couldn't decide if I wanted flowers or animals or what! In the end I bought a crochet pattern from Amy Gaines and changed things a little so I got the animals I wanted (I had to have a monkey in there!). It was a chore to get the critters to hang right (and Mr. Pig still isn't cooperating), but they're pretty good now.

Here's a better view of the frog & pig. I loved this pattern...it was easy to follow and super quick to make. I may have to make some more of these little guys with rattles or bells inside.

And now some Etsy love. I bought 3 prints from different Etsy sellers. I used a nice textured piece of scrapbook paper as a mat for this card from Belle & Boo.

I couldn't believe this could be any cuter in person than it was online, but it is! It's from When Guinea Pigs Fly and hangs above the dresser on the right. I don't have a photo of the 3rd print I bought from Trafalgars Square, but it hangs to the left of the dresser in the same frame as this one (also even cuter in person). I love Etsy!

And last but not least, another item I didn't make but I really love:

The lighting in my house is awful at best so I needed to add something near the chair. I found this lantern at a local toy shop and fell in love with it. I'm not into princesses as a general rule, but this thing is just too cute and the colors are perfect! I used a fixture I had laying around from IKEA and a dimmer switch (also from IKEA). At least I can turn it on pretty low if I need to. And yes, you can get dimmable cfl bulbs, yay!

In the end, I'm happy the room is pretty much ready for baby BooBoo and I like the look. One of the comments yesterday was that they liked how it's not too "matchy-matchy", that's a huge compliment in my book. I don't do matchy-matchy.

Now, I just need a baby to live here....I'm so ready. This has been an amazingly uncomfortable pregnancy for me, my back is so done (but I know it's worth it)!

Making Room for Baby

I'm sure you're all dying to know what I've got planned for the baby's room, right? I don't want to keep anyone from sleeping at night so I'll give you a quick preview, haha. (I apologize in advance for the wordy post).

As I mentioned before (I think), I already had fabric collections picked out for the baby, boy or girl. Now that we know it's a girl, I've placed the order and received a delicious box from Fat Quarter Shop (LOVE that shop, btw. Can't say enough about their customer service and man are they fast).

Here's the fabric in all its glory...

Everything but the gingham is from the Dolly Dresses collection by Lakehouse. I decided I wanted to go with the fact that it's a girl but not with a theme or anything too princessey or anything like that. Just bright and cheerful with a feminine flair. I got a ton so I would have enough to make a patchwork bumper and a quilt to hang on the wall above the crib.

I'd said earlier that I might paint the room green, but after going through the fabrics, I decided on a periwinkle blue color. It's just going to work better with the rug we like and the curtain fabric etc.  I went with the color in the middle. I painted the room yesterday and I'm really happy with the color, it's not too blue and not too lavender.

I've painted 3 walls this color. The 4th wall will have white wood tongue & groove paneling, kind of like wider bead board, like this. I'm going to have white wood blinds and white trim too. The pink gingham you see above will be an upper gathered curtain that goes across the window with the white floral as curtains. I might add some rick rack or eyelet trim to the gingham curtain too, not sure yet. That blue floral on the bottom is going to be a crib skirt. I can't show you a picture of the crib because it's being given to us by a friend. It's a honey colored wood, very nice & simple, but I don't have it here yet.

 We got this dresser at IKEA and will place it along one of the colored walls with a changing pad on top. I can hide all my diapers & stuff in the top drawer. I might even use some of my fabric to make a colorful cover for the changing pad, we'll see how it goes.

I've already purchased some fun hand painted knobs for the dresser on Etsy. I'll show them to you when they arrive in a few weeks, but here's an idea...

We got new white closet doors as well (no more dark brown ones, eugh), I'll use two of the knobs on the closet too. Cute, no?

That's about all that we have lined up so far. I am still looking for a cozy chair. I kind of hate the usual nursery glider, so it's been tough. Not to mention the fact that Nick is 6'3" tall. Find a nice looking chair he can lean his head back on, I dare you! haha

I hope to pick up some fun artwork on Etsy too, but I haven't decided on anything yet. I know I love this..

and I saw this in a shop not long ago. I think it'd be so cute above the changing table/dresser.

So, that's how the baby room is shaping up. I'll post some piccies when I have them. It's hard to photograph a bedroom you know. :)

Here's a view of the bump at 23 weeks (disregard my face and hair, I don't photograph well and I don't exactly go get my hair done when I'm about to paint!). :) Too bad about the popcorn ceiling, let's just work with what we've got.

That's a home made belly band, btw. Yep, I'm not paying $20 for a stretchy piece of fabric. No sir.

Dining Room Conundrum

Not too long ago I came across a great display of this collection in a (somewhat) local quilt shop. If I hadn't seen these in person, I may not have taken notice. But I'm telling you, up close, they are divine. I got some bits and brought them home to show Nick. As usual, he was really interested. Ahem, okay, maybe interested isn't the right word, but he did like what I got. haha Anyway, I thought some of these prints would look great as curtains in our dining and living room so I set about acquiring the right amounts.

Here's what the dining room looked like when we bought the house. It's still about the same, minus the weird Japanese sliding doors & window covers and the useless doorway to the kitchen. It's nice and open to the hallway and living room now. I think it's time to decorate!

These are the fabrics I'm using for the curtains. The red will be the majority with the bottom, say 18", in the grey. We currently have an oak dining set (hand me down, but nice enough) with khaki shabby chic seat covers. I figured these two fabrics would blend nicely with what we have and add something to the space

Now for the conundrum...

This is the paint color we chose. It's sort of mushroom and would likely change with the light (or lack of) in the room. It's nice, it's neutral...and now I'm afraid it might be boring too. I don't know why I'm so afraid of color! Actually, I was pretty happy with it until I made this...

Now I want to paint the room aqua. Is that wrong? I think it would be fine with the chair covers and even better with the curtains. Nick and I were just sitting at the dining room table, eating some cake, when I noticed these are the exact colors of my place mats, and what I did for my wedding! (And Nick wasn't sure about aqua, red and brown together!!!! Such a man.)

Anyway, what do you guys think about a watered down version of a shade of aqua for the walls in my dining room? Can you see it?

Insert helpful replies here:

p.s. I mean a very muted, on the grey side, aqua. Not AQUA!!!

A Little Before and After

Since we moved into our new house I've been doing a lot of painting and door removal and whatnot. I thought I'd share a few of the improvements with you.

For the most part, the house is in good shape. There's just a little bit of 60's leftover. There are a lot of closets in the hall and entryway upstairs. They all had these unpleasant, dark louver doors on them. yuck! I removed all of them and replaced them with the old curtains I made for my condo.

For the long, and not so deep, closet in the hall I just got rid of the doors and painted the shelves white. It's sort of like a built-in for our dvd's now. Some day, Nick will make it into a real built-in. I've repainted all of the dark trim and the bedroom & bathroom doors are white too. That's much better & brighter. You see, Maple likes it. She loves to sit under that skylight.

Now, for the bathroom downstairs. Next to the kitchen, which doesn't look as bad as it really is, this was the worst room in the house. The only room that hadn't been touched in a long time. Enough dark brown for you? It was so ugly that neither Nick or I would even use it. haha

This past weekend my mom & aunt came for a visit so it seemed like a great time to fix up the bathroom a bit. I'm sure at some point we'll do a full remodel, this will hold us over nicely for now.

I put in a new, inexpensive peel & stick tile floor, painted the walls a nice light grey-blue, painted the cabinet white & added some nice chrome handles & pulls. We bought an off-the-shelf laminate countertop at Home Depot to replace the ugly brown one along with two new sinks & faucets and we have a new bathroom! This room also had some ugly closet doors that quickly got replaced with a handmade white curtain (of course). The only thing I have left to do in here is make a little curtain for the window. Not bad for less than $500, right?

Waiting for the Cable Guy

Today we're getting TV, but I'm not really excited about it. We don't watch a lot of TV and we HATE cable. Unfortunately, when your house is surrounded by really tall tress, satellite isn't an option. sigh So, today I'm waiting for the cable guy. Expecting someone always throws off my schedule, I have lots of hallway trim to paint today. Anyway, while I wait, I thought I'd pop in and share a few more pictures from the new house and surrounding areas....

We were happy to learn that there is a little farmer's market at the shopping center by our house. We picked up this gorgeous bouquet for Jenn last weekend. (She makes a mean brunch.)

This weekend we headed over to Bainbridge Island for a barbecue. We love it over there, it's so much like Nova Scotia, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous!

I found my local quilt shop last week too, that's a relief. It's in a really cute little country village full of shops & cafe's and it's only about 10 minutes away. Perfect.


Nick put up my curtains in the sewing room, they really soften up that ugly aluminum window.


Yesterday I got this cute little pot of silk flowers for my window. I added the fabric trim this morning, the pot was just too white. Pretty cute, no?

Now I must get to work. No more fun stuff for me.

Still Here and Working On It

Hi, it's me again. I'm still digging through the mountain of boxes, but I had to stop in and say hello. I'll just share some quick piccies of what's going on here at the "Chocolate Box" (this house is soooooo brown).


I was very happy to find out that the tree outside my kitchen window is a Japanese Maple. Just what I wanted! Here's a view from the driveway.

It's not as grey and horrible in Seattle as people say it is. My house is generally very dark though - it faces East. This weird little built-in barbecue table in my kitchen enjoys the sunniest spot in the house. I think this area will be even sunnier when the table is removed along with the wood stove.

I painted most of the living room the other day. If you look above the window on the right you can see how much contrast there is from the new paint to the old. oops! The wall by the fireplace will be slightly bolder, I swear. I'm just happy to have all those books unpacked!

I did say I painted "most" of the living room. Ladders and I don't get along. That ceiling gets a little high. I need a tall, dark & handsome Englishman to help me complete the job. Hmm, Where can I get one of those?

I've got myself a little office space across the hall from my sewing room. One or both of my kitties is loving the bed in there when I'm at the computer. This will double as the guest room until I find time to paint and re-floor the bedroom downstairs.

My first sewing project in the new house - Sewing Room Curtains! They aren't hung yet, but at least they're made.

Back to work now, I'm making 3 Coupon Organizers for my shop. Don't worry, there's still lots of painting to do, I won't sew too much. :)