Wall Decor

I had an idea to cover four canvases and put them inside of a frame. I went to the FM stores yesterday and picked out 4 different fabrics. I think this was the hardest part of the entire project. The FM stores has so many great fabrics which sometimes makes things hard. After getting a second opinion from a nice girl that works there I successfully picked out my different fabrics.

Getting Started

Measuring the fabric to make sure it will cover the sides equally. 

I already had two canvases that I painted so I stopped by Hobby Lobby to grab two more. I decided that covering the canvases would be a lot easier than painting all of them. I stopped by my Dad's to borrow his staple gun again. I am figuring out quickly that a staple gun is something I am going to ask for at Christmas time. I have had my Dad's more than he has in the past 2 weeks! Thanks Dad!

After getting the staple gun I was able to get started on the project. I first had to measure how big I needed the fabric so it would cover the entire canvas. After measuring all 4 fabrics I began stapling the back of the fabric onto the canvas. 

Once I had all of the canvases done I laid out the design inside of the picture frame to see how I wanted them to go. I then hung the picture frame and all of the canvases on the inside of the frame. It took more time to hang the project than it did making it! I am going to keep this in mind when wanting to redo another room. This project was cheap and very easy!

I decided to hang this above the dresser/changing table! 

I am very pleased with the finished product of these canvases. The best part about this project is that I have fabric left over and am going to attempt to make a quilt out of it. Bringing all of the fabrics and colors together in a quilt to go on the baby's bed will look great. I love it when things come together that I hadn't planned on! 

Check back later this week to see the quilt!

First Pictures of the Nursery

After getting the trunk seat done, I was on a roll and stuck to it. Thursday I started to sand a dresser that we purchased at an antique store in Seymour. The dresser was a dark hunter green. I started on the drawers on thursday and was able to get them completely sanded and painted. I think that they turned out great. I put contact paper inside them to make them a little bit nicer. I also put back on the knobs which I think look great. The date on the knobs is 1960!

Friday I decided to start on the main piece. I sanded it primarily to smooth it down. I had found out with the drawers that I didn't need to take the paint off completely. Why do more work than I needed to? After sanding I started painting. It took 2 coats to cover it and you can still see hints of dark in the piece, but we like it and think it looks more rustic. After it dried we brought it in the house and put the drawers in it and fell in love! I think it turned out pretty good!

To make this week even better, we bought one of our friends cribs. Her two boys never slept in it, so it is pretty much brand new. New to us anyways. She was glad to get rid of it and we were happy to have it. We spent Friday night getting the crib and coming home to put it together. We had a few mishaps while putting it together, but once we got those first few things worked out we were on a roll. I think it matches the rocker great!
I can't help myself to think of movies when the couple is putting together the crib and how that will be me someday. It has now become reality by putting together a crib and being able to see it every time I walk by the nursery that yes we are having a Gumball! This feeling is scary, but amazing all at the same time!

Here is the first look at the Nursery with all of the furniture in it! We still have a few more projects, but it is very exciting to be this close with 3 months still to relax! 

Trunk Remodel

Well today was a day of working for this girl! I had been given an old trunk from my neighbor about a year ago and thought it would be a great piece to put toys in someday in the future. That time has come that we need it. I had the idea to put a cushion and fabric on top so it would make a little window seat for the baby to sit on when she gets older. The inside will be used to put toys in and other things we might need.

The trunk started out Pink when I got it. If I liked lots of pink stuff and thats what the baby's room was going to be in then it would have been a great color, but I am doing gray and yellow. After 2 trips to Lowe's today I now have transformed the pink trunk into a great yellow trunk. Little did I know that the trunk had been painted before the pink. I got stripper to help remove the paint and realized that there was a dark green before the pink. So I stripped the pink first and then the green. Once I was finished with that process I was able to use my new sander to sand the trunk so it would be smooth to paint.

The pink is what the trunk started off as. After taking the paint of with stripper I found the green underneath. This is before I sanded the green side. 

 This is after I finished sanding the trunk and before it was turned yellow! 

 After sanding it was finally ready to be painted yellow. Steven and I had picked out the yellow sometime last week and I was just itching to get it on there to see what it looked like. After 2 coats of paint it is yellow and beautiful!

I got fabric at JoAnn's in Springfield to match the curtains and yellow on Monday. My friend Andrea helped me cut the cushion and fabric. We stapled the fabric on the lid covering the foam cushion. I couldn't have done this without her or Steven. Steven graciously took off the hinges for me so I could do this project and he graciously put the lid back on for me too.
The trunk is finished and now only needs to be put in the room. Thank you to Andrea and Steven who helped me with this project. I can't wait to see what it will look like in the room. Even more having a toddler crawling on it in a couple of years!

Andrea helped me measure the fabric and the foam to fit the lid. 

The finished trunk!

Registering

Who knew there was so much baby items to choose from?! We registered two nights ago and I feel like it is a little overwhelming. Do you get Huggies or Pampers? Do you get this bath or that bath? I feel as though there were more questions and uncertainty than when we registered for our wedding. If there are certain things that you could not do without please let me know. I am up for all suggestions and comments.
We have done a little more in the room since I took pictures last. The room is finally completely cleared out and now we are ready to start moving new things in. I had the bright idea the other night to put a cubby shelf in the closet that we already had. This helped provide more space in the room as well as saved us work in the closet. Now we already have a shelf on top of the cubbies and don't have to make a shelf to put in the closet. I am excited to find little baskets to put in the cubbies so I can put bows, socks, etc. in them. Looking forward to the rest of this summer to get the room completed before baby gumball's arrival!

This is a picture of Steven putting the door back on. We had to remove it to get the cubbies to fit into the closet. Its hard to tell in this picture but there are 12 cubbies and its not just a black blob. 

Baby Gumball Coming Soon!

Well it has been a while since we have blogged, but we have exciting news that most of our friends and family know. In September we will be welcoming a new addition to our family. We are having a little girl!

Currently we are working on cleaning out our office to be the nursery. We sold our desk and shelf yesterday in a garage sale and I have been working hard to clean out the room to make room for baby girl! 

(I don't know why these pictures are sideways.)

We used to store all of these boxes in this closet which we are recycling. The closet is quickly filling back up with baby clothes and diapers. We still have lots to do, but are making good progress. 

The next question is to paint or not!? 

We are doing an animal theme with mainly grey and yellow colors. I want to get gender neutral bedding so it can be used in the future. Our entire house was professionally painted before we moved in so I am hesitant to paint the nursery. I think that the taupe color would still go good with the theme and color scheme that we will have. What are your thoughts?

Gold Division Champs!

Last night proved to be one to put down in the books. The Republic Tigers basketball team came from a 10 point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game against the Hillcrest Hornets. The boys led the game only in overtime for the first time since the first few minutes of regulation. After battling back and forth we turned out to be the stronger team that everyone knew we were and won! We only won by two points with the final score being 43-41.
It was such a great experience being there as this is my alma mater, but now even more since Steven is coaching. I have seen him get pretty excited with games before like when they won the GLVC his senior year, but this was right up there with that. Something that really stood out to me that he said was "this was always a dream of mine when I was in high school, and to be able to see these boys experience winning the Blue and Gold was great! I am so blessed to be a part of this group." Now those of you that know Steven know that he said this with the biggest smile on his face and with as much excitement as if he were playing. I wish everyone could see the "little boy" I come home with and the giddiness that basketball brings out in him.

Congratulations Tigers and Coaches! It was a wonderful week spent with you all and a great ending!

How About Those Wild Cards?

Unbelievable.  That word barely describes the run to the World Series that the St. Louis Cardinals just completed.  Wow.
Lauren and I were fortunate enough to attend game 2 of the World Series at Busch Stadium.  It was a tough game though as we had to witness the Cardinals blow a 1-0 lead in the 9th inning and a chance to go up 2-0 in the series.  Lauren said that I took the loss like it was one of my basketball games.
The next week we traveled to Ft. Lauderdale, FL on my Birthday, October 27th.  Because of the rain Game 6 was pushed back to that day.  We had just landed in Atlanta when the game started.  I just followed Lauren's lead to our next gate as I kept watch on my phone at the gamecast on ESPN.com.  When we took off the Cardinals were struggling and mid flight we had to endure dropped fly balls and runners picked off as the Rangers took a 7-4 lead when we landed.
By the time we made it to the hotel to check in it was the bottom of the 8th and we arrived just in time to see the Cardinals strand 2 runners on base and the score was 7-5, thanks to an Allan Craig hr.


After we checked in we headed up to our room to watch the 9th inning.  In the elevator a Rangers fan had some prophetic words.  He said, "Hey kid, keep your head up.  I've seen the Rangers blow leads like this all the time.  The Rangers are real chokers."  I just shook my head and told him I hope so, trying to be a fan and hold onto what little hope was left.
Little did we know that when we entered our room that magic as about to happen in St. Louis.  After watching the top of the 9th we decided to get the Rally Squirrel out just for good measure.  I started chanting "Rally Squirrel" on every pitch and as the Cardinals began their comeback I danced around the room with the rally squirrel.  The people below our room were probably thinking that some monkeys moved in above them.  When David Freese hit the game winning walkoff hr following two comebacks in two innings from down two runs, the dancing was then mixed in with a few jumps on the bed.  I couldn't go to sleep for another hour or so because I was so excited.
The next day for game 7 we went to Duffy's.  Duffy's was a sports bar with about 17 large projector screens showing sports on all of them.  We were lucky enough to be sat next to 2 Rangers fans.  We tried to show good sportsmanship but we also rubbed in the amazing victory that our St. Louis Cardinals had just recorded.
Now a week later I'm still getting goosebumps everytime I see the Cardinals celebrating on the field at Busch Stadium after Allen Craig caught the last out.  Only thing that I keep saying is Unbelievable.  Wow.

They Did It For Torty      #11in11

Steven