Baby Blanket Round-Up

Baby needs a blanket! Here are some of my favorites:

1. Love the colors and pattern in this hex-quilt from Blueberry Park. Her stitching on the solid pieces is beautiful.

2. Super simple and very baby blanket from Needles. Maybe with brighter more modern colors?

3. This one was from Etsy by Mulberry Patch Quilts.  So far it is my favorite. It is no longer available for sale (boo!) but I think it could be replicated. It would be a great stash buster quilt.

4. You & Mie's Sunburst quilt is adorable.  She lays out the tutorial pretty clearly, but it still seems harder than the rest.

5. Mod is all the rage right now and this is a great design. Another cute Etsy find from Peace Love and Quilts.

It's been a long time since I quilted but I'd love to make something for the little one. I'm definitely leaning towards #3. It looks like a good beginner quilt.

Any quilting tips from all you quilters out there? I'm not hopeless but I'm not great either.

Cheers!

It's A….

Boy oh boy! We had a great ultrasound early Thursday morning and am happy to report out little BOY is doing great! Now the name debate begins…

Thank you for all of your well wishes and congratulations. This is a very exciting ride to be on!

Cheers!

It All Started with a Trip to Costco…

A few weeks back we went shopping to price out hardwoods for the downstairs. We had no plans to buy and hit up the usual places: Lumber Liquidators, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. A last minute decision that I needed Costco pizza and we stumbled on the best flooring deal I have ever seen!

This beautiful strand woven solid bamboo flooring was $2.03 sq/ft! Can you believe it? We snapped up 11 cases of it and have been letting it acclimate to our downstairs for the last week. Instalation begins this weekend. I'm stoked. This was one of my big "want to get done before the baby comes" items and it looks like we are well ahead of schedule. For once! 

Sometimes it pays to wander through Costco, just for the heck of it.

Cheers!

And That's Why I've Been So Moody…

That's right. I've switched to no-voc paint. Wine and cheese night has turned in to cheese night. I have a secret baby board on Pinterest.  Long, hot, baths have turned in to short, warm, showers.  We've combined the guest bed with the office. In other words, we are having a baby!

Obviously this has knocked me out a bit (as evidenced by the complete radio silence for the last 2.5 months), but now that I can keep regular food down and have some more energy I'm excited to start doing things again! We've already started some long awaited projects that get us closer to real nursery progress. Yay!

I'm due March 28th so that makes me about 20 weeks along, which means, we get to do our Anatomy Ultrasound this week! As long as the little one shows us the goods, we will find out if I've been growing a girl or boy (or dinosaur).

Can you tell we are thrilled? Thrilled! This was a long time coming for us, and I am so happy that even if I've been having a tough time everything else has been looking good.

Cheers!

I'm Back!

After a much needed rest I'm finally back to writing. Also making a come back- my cookbook shelves.

Hopefully they last better than the last set. I love them! I can see everything and I actually use my cookbooks (shocker right?).

Hope everyone had a great summer! Mine was definitely full. 

Cheers!

Beginnings of a Fireplace Makeover

I didn't mean to take the summer off, but between visiting family, my 29th birthday and the beautiful Seattle weather not much has been getting done. I have however managed to get a few more projects a little further along. This one is shaping up to be one of my favorites.

Here's the fireplace right after we moved in

and here's how it is looking today

 We are still working on matching the trim on the mantel but that should be getting fixed shortly (famous last words right?).

The rug is from Urban Outfitters. I love it.

We have plans to add some tile around the fireplace, replace the screen, and replace the hearth so I'm starting to get plans together. I'm thinking something art deco but in neutral colors.

This little sitting area is my favorite place in the house. It is the first thing you see when you enter so I love that it is fun and silly. It sets the tone for the rest of the place.

I'd love to recover the chair and eventually get the poster framed but i'm not in a rush.

So there you have it. A start of something great I'd say.

Cheers!

DIY Sparkly Shoes: Take 2

Two years ago (almost to the day) I made these sparkly shoes. What I didn't tell you is that they ended up being a complete and utter fail.

After one wear the paint and glitter started peeling off. No good. But my love for sparkly things persists so when this tutorial came around I gave it another go.

I started off with a pair of Tom like shoes from Lands End. I loved the idea of them, but the light color just wasn't practical.

I grabbed some gold fabric paint, gold glitter, and fabric Mod Podge and went at it. In the end I sprinkled even more glitter over the glittery paint just for the fun of it and then sealed it all in with MP. I let the whole thing cure in the sun and gave them a walk about.

Good as gold.

What was different this time? I think the fabric paint adhered to the fabric shoes better than the acrylic to the faux leather. Only time will tell but I've worn them on two long-ish city walks and no peeling or chipping. I'm calling it a success!

Glittered anything lately? Nothing is safe I tell you.

Cheers!