Master Bedroom Re-Do

It had been almost 4 years ago that we moved into our house. Our (my parents) bedroom was the only room we hadn't touched yet - it was time for a change.  Evidently it's the one room I didn't take a picture of when we moved in, probably because it was nothing special.

After cruising through Pinterest I found some inspiration.  Then it was time to convince Dustin that he needed to do this project for me :)  After 4 hours in Menards, two tired Kiddos and much more money spent that I thought we would need :( we headed home and got started.  It turned out SOOO much better than I thought it would.  I'm so happy with and and love waking up in my bright, sunny bedroom!

My Baby furniture!  Dad painted it an off white color with a little bit of pearl in it.  I put new hardware on it and dustin replaced the drawer glides.  They are like new and I LOVE them :)  Dustin also built a surround for the TV and mounted it to the wall to get it up off of the dresser. 

My changing table.  And my mirror project!  Dustin HATES my coral mirror but I think its one of my favorite things in this room.

My beautiful headboard!  I got the old door at the Antique Shoppe here in town and Dustin built the whole headboard and frame.  We decided to go a head and go with a king sized bed this time.  And he wired up mason jar reading lights on each side complete with the vintage looking edison bulbs.  We each have our own switch with a dimmer.... awesome.

Of course Boo was sitting so pretty on my bed this turned into a little Boo photo shoot.

I just love this little guy.


Maternity Shirt Re-Do's

A couple of weeks ago I was so over my maternity clothes.  I decided to take a couple of those shirts I had from Asher that I never wore and try to make them just a little bit cuter... if it was possible.

I started with one of the ugliest ones I had.  That way if I totally ruined it I could throw it away.

Just not flattering!

After seeing this tutorial on Pinterest I found out that ruching the side seams is actually much easier than I what  I did on the swim suit. 

I measured about 4 inches down from the arm hole and about 2 inches up from the bottom hem.  The I measured the space in between divided it in half and added about 1.5 inches.  Got all that?  I then cut a piece of elastic that length and pinned it the 2 inches from the bottom and 4 from the top.

I then secured the elastic right on top of the seam where the top pin was (making sure to back stitch).  Then just stretch the elastic to come down and meet the other pin and sew.  It will look pull itself together and you're done!

I also like a more banded bottom so I cut a small slit in the inside hem of the shirt.  I measured a piece of elastic around my waist and fed it through with a safety pin.  Make sure to pin the other end to the shirt so it doesn't pull through!  Then I just sewed the elastic ends together really good and sewed up the hold I cut in the shirt.

Still not exactly cute but its bettter!

Asher thought I was pretty.  Thats all that matters anyway!  And this took about 20 minutes.

So I grabbed 2 more shirts I paid about $3.00 each for and I had never worn.

And did the same thing!

Tid Bits

It's Friday again - yay!  I'm ready for the weekend so here are a few tid bits from the last week.

• My belly button popped out.  WTH?  It didn't do this until about 35 weeks with Asher.  I showed it to The Sister Tuesday night and she said "Ewwwwwwwww you have a third nipple."  Thanks Sister.
• Brantley will be in Bloomington on April 28th!  This is BEYOND exciting.  I'm going to be huge and pregnant but cannot wait to go :)
• We are going to Pekin this weekend to spend some time with Milissa, Ryan and the kiddos and to meet their new puppy Ella!  She looks so sweet and I think Asher is going to love her.
• And finally my heart is breaking this week for The Grieder Family.  Brooke and Blake lost their sweet baby girl Charlotte on Monday.  I've been a long time follower of Brooke's blog because I've always thought her lil guy Clayton reminded me of Asher.  Isn't that the amazing thing about blogs?  You get a glimpse into other peoples lives and feel that you truly know them.  The last 6 months I've watched her be the strongest Mama while her sweet baby girl fought for her life.  Charlotte was lucky to have been born into a family with so much love to give her.

And finally, some pictures from the last week.

Here is my sweet boy faking sleep.  Faking sleep but still screaming at Meme to play "Bwantley Yogurt LOUD"  He's funny. 

Very dark but here is Dan at the Popejoy Chirstmas party at Conklin's.  Him and Hippie brought 3 mason jars full of homemade Baileys and they were gone in no time.  I've had it before and its yummy! 

My Bubby trying on his new PJ's from Dustin's Mom.  Although he doesn't look it he was excited to have monkeys on his feet! 

I made myself another purse.  A bigger one.  Thank God cuz I carry a lot of crap. 

And finally I made Brudder his crib sheets!  Can you believe that?  Mom asked me if I was gonna start churning butter next.  I found this tutorial on pinterest and it was pretty easy.  I had been looking for crib sheets for the last few weeks but couldn't find anything that matched and they no longer sell the ones that go with his bedding.  I was able to find the exact color I needed in a really soft jersey fabric.  I'm pretty impressed with myself.

Swim Suit Re-Do

I think the only thing worse than trying on swim suits at 22 weeks pregnant would be trying on suits at 32 weeks pregnant.  Ugh.  Seriously depressing.  I turn 26 in a week.  HOW did this happen?  As one of my classmates said to another on Facebook a couple of weeks ago - "Sorry I forgot your birthday, but since its only 4 years until we turn 30 I figured you wouldn't mind."  30 doesn't seem old until its you that is creeping up on it.

Anyway, the weekend of my Birthday we're taking Asher up to Kalahari for the weekend with my family and the Bruckers.  I bought this suit when I was pregnant with Asher and I'm guessing I never tried it on because I had planned on wearing it boating at about 37 weeks with him.  But at that time I was about 30 pounds heavier than I am now with a lot more baby.  There is no way that thing was gonna fit.  Good thing it rained that weekend. 

I put this on last week and immediately freaked out because it fit so weird.  The last thing I  wanted to do was buy another maternity suit when this is my last little bugger :(  I briefly thought about scrapping it all and wearing a bikini.  Then I remembered that my Dad was going with us and he would have a serious fit if I tried to wear a suit with my belly hanging out (HI DAD!).

Can you see that?  How awkward.  So I thought it would look better if the sides were pulled in and maybe ruched.  So I looked at some of my maternity shirts to see how they were made.

Since I still had a bit of room (and Lord help me if I ever have to wear this thing when I get any bigger) I decided to just cut the seam out after I tried picking it for a while.

Then I ran a basting stitch down both sides.

And started to gather each side.

I wasn't sure how far to go and I wasn't gonna try to put it back on so I just guessed.

In all of my shirts I could tell that they placed a thin elastic over the ruched sides.  So I bought some 1/4" black elastic.

Then I just sewed it over the ruched seam.  Ok, so it wasn't that easy.  By the time I finally got it done I was sweating and cussing.  My machine did not like the swim suit material.  I did make one more modification after this because when I tried it on it was still too big around the bottom.  I just brought in the sides at the bottom a little bit more.

What a difference!  I don't have to buy a new suit and all it cost me was $1.49 for some elastic.  Oh, and some blood, sweat and tears - litereally.  Now if only I can wear my yoga pants to the pool - my ass and legs in the bottoms are not pretty :)

Leg Warmers

At Christmas I saw one of Dustin's cousins in the cutest leg warmers.  She said she got them at the Antique Shoppe so I sent my sister there the next day to pick me up a pair but of course they were sold out!  So on that particular day I was wearing a sweater dress that was about to become indecent for work due to my growing belly..... so I cut it up and made some leg warmers out of it.

ByeBye sweater dress.  

As you can see I had a little helper.

To start with I kind of measured around my leg where I wanted them to hit at the top.  I wanted mine tapered so that they fit down in my boots better.  I cut them so that the finished seam at the bottom of the dress would be the top of my leg warmers. 

Then I folded over the bottom raw edge and sewed it in place. 

Then I folded right sides together and sewed along the long edge. 

I turned them back out and I was done.  Not too bad.  And pretty quick. 

I plucked the buttons off of the dress before I pitched it.  I will eventually sew all 4 buttons on but I was 10:30 at night and I was ready to go to bed. 

Too bad that the boots I really wanted to wear these under are too tight with them on.  But its not the boots... its me.  My legs/arms/face are getting fat!

Pinterest

A couple of months ago I got on the Pinterest Bandwagon and I must say I am in love!  It does make me wish I was more creative though!  Here are just a few things that I have tried from my "pins."

Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti Casserole

I actually made this last night.  It was really good and something I'll make again.  Dustin does not like spaghetti but loved this.  I also made homemade garlic bread which would have been really good if I hadn't burned it.  When they tell you to watch it while its broiling they mean it.

Boozie Bears

Gummy Bears soaked in vodka.  Hmmmm I made these last night.  A batch for the little shop party they're having on Friday and one for the Weber Christmas.  I won't be having any but I'll let you know how they turned out!

**UPDATE**  I went to get these out of the fridge this morning and it was a solid block of gummy in the bottom of the container with some vodka floating on the top.  I'm not sure if I did something wrong but these went down the disposal - in one big gummy brick.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Asher loves to help cook so I was looking for a new cookie recipe.  These were a great combo of my two favs - oatmeal & chocolate chip.

T-Shirt Scarves

These were surprisingly easy.  I did have to do it twice because the first time I used one of Dustin's shirts that had a seam running down the sides - don't even waste your time.  The shirt needs to be seemless around the middle.  The only one I could find at home was my favorite Hanes Mens white V-Neck that I sleep in.  It worked fine but with the size I used it was too long to just wear once around my neck and too small to wrap around twice.

Homemade Hand Cream

I love this stuff.  Asher has a problem with really dry skin so I was pretty excited when I saw this.  You have to do a little looking to find the Vitamin E Cream (it was on the bottom shelf with lotions at Wal-Mart) but it is so thick and creamy.  I use this as a body lotion everyday myself too.  Great for winter skin.

DIY Microderm Abraision

This is so easy to mix up and works really good.  I just put mine in a little tub and keep it in the shower.  I have found if you leave it on too long it will burn just a little bit.  It isn't something you would want to use several times a week.

Crafty Weekend

I had a pretty productive weekend.  I don't know what it is but Pinterest makes me wanna be all domestic and crafty.  I had seen a link for a You Tube video on how to make a wreath and garland out of that deco mesh stuff so I called Mom and The Sister Saturday morning and we headed down to Hobby Lobby to get some supplies.  I also got a few more things for Asher's room.  Can't wait til I actually get everything hung up!

 Here is the video I watched this week:

I used an inexpensive wreath to wrap and tie the mesh on. 

This was not hard.  But it was kind of a pain in the butt.  I didn't see the type of wreath used in the video at Hobby Lobby. 

It didn't turn out too bad considering it was my first project. 

I also made garland that will match my tree. 

Then I made a batch of laundry detergent.

I also made a Sticky Bun Recipe that morning but unfortunately I ate most of it before I remembered to take a picture.

Saturday night we had Heidi's surprise 40th 30th Birthday Party! 

Asher was very excited for the cake!

We're putting up the tree today and taking Asher on the Big Choo Choo tomorrow.  He is SOO excited :)