Lighting Indecision, White Gallery Frame Woes, Blog Housekeeping

Good morning friends. I hope you're having a b-e-a-u-tiful week so far. I'm supposed to have about five different projects done by the end of this week but it's been slooooow going (as always). 

I think I have a bit of apprehension to start two of the bigger projects (wall stencil + bean bag chair) because I'm worried that they won't turn out. It's a silly attitude to have but I kind of get frozen by fear of failure. I've got three days left before back to work, though so it's crunch time!!!

{Insert pep-talk here.}

In other news I had to go and pre-register on the hospital yesterday. All of a sudden this baby thing is starting to get way real. Ahhhhhh! Panic!!!!!! I don't have any diapers or strollers or bottles or anything practical yet. What I do have is a tiny little numbered t-shirt that I picked up on sale last night for Little Ninja. I'm so good at priorities aren't I?

And, some more random stuff. 

Blog Housekeeping

I've been playing around with my Photoshop skillz the last few weeks, trying to get the hang of making those inspiration board things. I was also getting tired of my old blog header so I decided to start playing around with a new one this week. I really have no idea what I'm doing but with a little help from Alex here's what I came up with.

Before:

After:

It's not perfect and definitely not very fancy but I'm pretty happy with my novice skills so far. Which one do you prefer, old header or new header?

Also, I had no idea that with the new followers gadget, Linky Tools, you have to update your own posts?!? I read that somewhere and had no idea. Can anyone shed some light for me on how to do this? Kind of strange if you ask me.

Also, also, are blog Facebook pages really necessary? I created one this week but it looks so ugly! Does it connect more people or is it just a waste of time?

White Gallery Frame Woes

I've mentioned my frustration on this topic before, but I just have to vent again. My plan for Ninja's nursery was to have a gallery wall of framed alphabet cards.

I wanted at least six large frames or eight smaller frames. You can see where I was testing this out yesterday:

However, this town is so frustrating. There are only TWO places that sell white picture frames off-the-shelf: Michaels and Chapters.

The Michaels ones are cheaper quality so I went to Chapters yesterday to get my six large frames. They only have four. They are out of stock and cannot tell me if they will be getting more in. They also cannot tell me if they can order any more. They also do not order stock from other Chapters locations. Seriously!??! What kind of business is that!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?

So, I headed to Michaels instead. They have some newer gallery-type frames and they were on sale to boot. Except the mattes on the Michaels frames don't quite cover the corners of the alphabet cards. So I need double mattes for them. Except they only have TWO mattes on the shelf and won't order any more because the computer says there are ten in the store when there are clearly not. What kind of business is that!?!?!?!??!?!!?!?!

So now I have no frames to frame my alphabet cards and that was one of the easy projects I was supposed to get done this week.

My options now are 1) a 4-hour road trip to Ikea or 2) buy some cheap Wal-Mart frames and spray-paint them white. Booooo and boooooooo.

Woe is me.

Lighting Indecision

With only six weeks left until Little Ninja jumps on the scene, I need to choose a light for his nursery. I've been going a little crazy with the purchasing lately so it's not in the budget to order a fancy-schmancy one online. 

Here were some of my ideas:

A) Oil-Rubbed Bronze Semi-Flushmount by World Imports - From Home Depot

We purchased a similar one for our bedroom from Lowes (which was on the small side) but I think this one is a bit bigger. It's cute. Cost? $52

B) Hampton Bay Morovian Star Pendant - Home Depot

I love the idea of this light in a nursery, however the Home Depot version is a pendant light which means it would hang down a bit in the centre of the room. I think I'd only use one or two chain links but it's still a pendant light. Alex isn't a fan of this one but I think it's pretty cute. Cost? $150

C) Steel Polyhedron Pendant - Homesense

The above picture is a fixture from Restoration Hardware Baby (priced at $400). It's kind of funky. I found an almost exact replica at my local Homesense store and brought it home to try it. Holly from In the Fun Lane used it in a little nook off of her kitchen and it looks really cool (see her post here). However when I brought it home, it just looked weird in the teeny tiny room up against the ceiling. I still have it but haven't returned it yet. Cost? $79

D) Good Earth Semi-Flushmount - Lowes

I came across this post by Chris over at Just a Girl. She just installed this linen-look drum shade in her craft room. I really, really like it! I thought it might tie in with the circles in the stencil that I'm going to use on the accent wall in the room. Plus, it's close to the ceiling and very neutral. I think this is my favourite choice at the moment, although I've heard it's really big. Cost? $84 

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So, I'm really needing your advice today. Please pretty please click on the link at the bottom of this post that says "Leave a Comment". You don't have to have a blog to do it, AND it can even be anonymous. You can even scold me for not buying practical things for Little Ninja if you really want to. I won't be mad.

P.S. It's sunny here today and the snow is melting off of our deck. Yeah!!!!

P.S.S. I really feel like an english muffin with cheesewhizzzzz but we don't have any english muffins left.

P.S.S.S. Thank you so much to everyone who left sweet comments on my last post (Numbered Dresser).

P.S.S.S.S. Bye!

Numbered Dresser - Before and After

I'm a day past my self-imposed deadline but that's okay because the dresser for Little Ninja's bedroom is finally, finally, finally done.  

Happy dance!

I feel so relieved that little dude now has a stash for all of his mini hoodies. (He only has one hoodie so far but I've still got a few weeks to build a collection.)  ;)

Back to the dresser.

I originally bought the dresser almost three years ago at the Christie Lake Antique Show. It was old, it was crusty, it was only $90. I loved the size, shape, and style so I didn't think twice about bringing it home. Except it sat in our basement for way too long gathering dust and taking up space. See, it had quite a few layers of old paint already, all crackled (which I kind of like) but the base colour was a hideous hunter green which just had to go.

A few weeks ago my awesome dad offered to strip the paint off for me so that I could finally get it ready for the baby's room. Here's a photo of the dresser after all the paint was stripped off: 

I knew I wanted the dresser to be white, but I also wanted to add a little bit of interest and depth so I did a two-colour paint finish. I'll explain in the step-by-step tutorial below:

1. Remove Old Paint

We did this step for a few reasons although you don't always have to strip the old paint off before repainting old furniture. There were too many layers of paint, there were deep cracks in the top paint layer, and I wanted to get rid of any yucky old paint in case Little Ninja decides to chew on this dresser at any point in the future. My dad used a heat gun and a metal scraper to remove all of the old paint layers. He did this in the garage with the doors open for ventilation.

2. Sand

Before priming the dresser, I gave the whole dresser a very light sanding by hand with some fine grit sand paper (150 grit). I then wiped it down with a damp cloth.

3. Prime

I usually prime furniture with Benjamin Moore's Fresh Start Primer, but I ran out. On a routine trip to Home Depot I picked up a different brand instead. It worked fine.

4. Paint With Base Coat Colour

I chose to use grey as the base colour for the dresser. This is the colour that I wanted to show through underneath the white after sanding and distressing. I chose a very light grey (leftover 1/2 tint Grey Owl just because I had a bunch leftover from painting the living room / dining room). It is a soft, neutral colour that I know will go just about anywhere in the house. I painted this coat with a brush for all of the crevices and a foam roller for the flat surfaces.

5. Paint with Top Coat Colour x 1

Once the grey paint coat was dry, I painted directly over it with my top colour: Cloud White by Benjamin Moore. I chose an eggshell finish to make sure it was a bit more durable (I still don't like using pearl or semi-gloss paint on furniture even though that's what the paint store always recommends).

6. Paint with Top Coat Colour x 2

Once the first coat of white was dry, I painted a second coat of white on top. It just looked better that way.

7. Sanding & Distressing

When it was time to scuff up the freshly painted dresser, I went back and forth between using an electric sander and sanding by hand with 100-grit sandpaper. The sander worked really well on the top of the dresser and the drawer fronts. The side panels were so small that I used the sander and a sanding block by hand. 

8. Add Hardware

The dresser already had holes pre-drilled for drawer pulls / handles. I found some 3" industrial-looking pulls at Home Depot for about $5 apiece. Ouch, I know. Don't tell anyone that I spent 50 bones just on the handles. I also wanted to add a little something fun since the dresser would be going in the nursery. I really like the look of numbers on dresser drawers but I decided against stenciling numbers directly on the drawers. Instead, I found some adorable "house numbers" at one of our local hardware stores (Canadian Tire). They have a stick-on backing so they can be easily removed if I change my mind or decide to use this dresser somewhere else one day. 

And, the best part. Photos!

Can you see the grey paint showing through?

Brushed nickel 3-d numbers. So cute!

Boyish looking drawer pulls.



Hopefully Dude'll learn how to count to five after staring at this dresser all the time.



The after picture.

So, what do you think? Do you like it, do you like it, do you like it? It definitely fits in with the vibe I was going for in the room. Old / new / modern / country / industrial / fun. Uhhhhh, does that make sense?  

And here's a before and after comparison shot since those are always super fun:

Sharing Here:

Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch, DIY Project Parade @ The DIY Show-Off, Craftomaniac Monday @ CraftO'Maniac, Creative Bloggers' Party @ Homemaker On a Dime, Tip Me Tuesday @ Tip Junkie, Get Your Craft On Tuesday @ Today's Creative Blog, Tutorials and Tips @ Home Stories A to Z, Piece of Work Wednesday @ Primitive and Proper, Tuesday's Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed, Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

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What I've Been Working On + My Dogs Are Cute

The above picture is a little sneak peek of the dresser I've been working on. I'll share all the details when I finish this sucker tomorrow.

See that? I'm giving myself a deadline. Hold me accountable, k?

In my mind I can do projects a lot faster than in real life. Why am I soooooo sloooooooow???? I thought I'd be finished this dresser by now but I'm not. I don't think stopping every two minutes to get a snack and check my email help in the productivity department.

In other news, my dogs are cute. I really wish they didn't always look so forlorn though. Especially when they are so darn spoiled.

P.S. I've been trying to convince myself that it's spring/summer by making toasted cucumber and tomato sandwiches for supper two nights this week.

Oh no. I just made myself hungry by typing that. Gotta go. ;)

Nursery Plan Part 3

Hey Girlies (and the one boy who reads this)(oh wait, it's Alex).

Sorry I haven't been around the last few days. I've been busy 1) watching a new teeny-bopper show (I'm too embarassed to tell you what it's called) and 2) going to bed at 8:30 p.m.

The most super-amazing news of all time is that tomorrow is my last day of work before the March Break. 

Oh, nine days of lazing around I love you so much already!!!!!! I love you and want to marry youuuuuuuu!!!

I will thoroughly enjoy a week of rest and relaxation (a.k.a. working on Little Ninja's room) but I am a wee bit jealous of my teacher friends who are all going on tropical vacations next week. Silly me chose getting our floors refinished instead of sun and beach sand. It sounded like a good idea at the time..... wah wah wah. ;)

{Note: I still do like the floors, though.}

I did work on priming and putting the first coat of paint on the dresser for Little Ninja's room this past weekend. I didn't finish it yet but I'll make sure to share some pictures when it's all done.

In the meantime, here is my little plan for another wall in the baby's room. It's another tiny wall. If you've noticed a trend this room is teeny, teeny, tiny, tiny.

Again, I just might be trying to cram too much stuff into one space, but here goes.

Plan for Wall #3

1. Four / six white gallery frames over the crib. They have some really nice ones at Chapters but they also have some new cheaper version ones at Michaels. Haven't decided if I'm splurging on these or not yet.

2. A cute mobile. Those are essential, right? The above-pictured one is the Transportation Mobile from Pottery Barn Kids. It's painted metal cars n' stuff. Adorable. Although it's got a hefty price tag so I might craft up my own mobile.

3. Alphabet flashcards to frame in the four / six gallery frames over the crib. I already purchased the above-pictured ones from Chapters last weekend. I love them!

4. Eli's Elephant Nursery Bedding, also from Pottery Barn Kids and also already purchased. I'm making progress!

5. White Straight-Up Crib from The Land of Nod.

In case you missed my little plans for the rest of the room, here they are too. Hopefully everything will jive well together without looking too matchy-matchy or too random. I'm nervous! I want it to be the perfect little room.

Plan for Wall #1:

Plan for Wall #2:

My goal is to finish the following projects by the end of next week:

• Repaint / distress / add hardware to dresser
• Order curtains
• Install 3 crown molding ledges
• Sand / add casters to antique crates
• Frame and hang 6 alphabet flashcard pictures
• Stencil wall #4 (I'll share my plan for that wall soon, too)

Eeek, that's quite the list already....... :)

How 'bout you? Are you off on the March Break? Where are you going? Whatcha doin?

P.S. I've been playing around with Photoshop trying to make those little inspiration board things. Not perfect but I'm getting better I think!

Nursery Progress: A Crib and Some Bedding

Dude needs a place to sleep!

So we made it mission critical to choose and order a crib and some bedding.

Choosing.Is.Hard.

I knew I wanted a white crib with a simple design. I finally narrowed it down to this one:

I chose this crib in particular because I really liked the simple design, the colour is a crisp white (as opposed to the creamy antique white at Pottery Barn Kids), the price wasn't too bad, it's made out of solid wood, and it had really good reviews.

It's called the White Straight-Up Crib from The Land of Nod.

We had to order it from the States though. The shipping quote they gave us wasn't all that bad, and the cost of everything worked out to be the same as the cost of a fancy-shmancy crib at our local Babies R Us. So we went ahead and ordered it.

Alex put it together and while it looks great, it also looks GIGANTIC in that teeny tiny bedroom. I just might have to re-evaluate my original furniture placement plan.

I'll show you a pic soon, k?

We also had to decide on some crib bedding. I was looking for a quilt and some crib sheets that had some soft colours. I also wanted the bedding to go well with the wall colour that I had already chosen. It was hard to find anything with a greeny-grey but finally I found this set:

Simple and cute, just what I like. The greens in the bedding go nicely with the wall colour of the room without looking too matchy-matchy. Just what I was hoping for!

It's called Eli's Elephant Nursery Bedding and we found it at Pottery Barn Kids in Toronto.

We got the quilt, the bumper, the sheets, and a little pillow. (Apparently bumpers are bad now, though? Huh???) I wasn't a fan of the crib skirt so I'll have to find a different one from somewhere local.

I'll take a picture of the crib with the bedding as soon as I have a chance. I gotta jet though 'cause after a challenging work week for both of us, we're off for a dinner and shopping date. Oh yeah, baby!

Happy Friday! P.S. What are you up to this weekend?

25 More Things

1. Two weekends ago I complained that I didn't have any projects to work on. This past weekend I could have worked on five different projects.... but I was too tired. Wah wah.

2. I watched 50 First Dates last night and then went to bed at 9:00 p.m. Livin' it up at my house! Woo woo!

3. I went to Homesense after work yesterday for some retail therapy. I ended up buying a new garbage can for the kitchen. I brought it home and told Alex it was a present for him. I think he liked it???

4. Yesterday I ordered a tea biscuit from Tim Hortons on my way home and attempted to butter it while driving. I dropped it on the stick shift and now there's butter and crumbs all over the car. I'm making a mental note to clean it all up before Alex sees it and freaks out. But knowing me I'll probably forget.

5. Now that we refinished the hardwood floors on our 2nd floor, it makes me really hate the yucky main floor floors. They look extra crusty now. Crus-ty.

6. I'm dreaming of the day (hopefully soon) when I can sit out on our back deck in the sunshine, with a t-shirt and an ice-cold pepsi.

7. I've been spending all of my time and energy worrying about and planning a cute baby room and cute baby outfits. Maybe I should start reading up on how to actually take care of a cute baby.

8. Sci-fi movies aren't my thing. Alex thinks I'm too judgemental that I won't even give one a chance. So I tried to watch a new release called In Time (mostly because Justin Timberlake was in it). But the characters exchanged time with their arms. I had to stop the movie. It was just so dumb!

9. I've been having the worst sleeps lately. It doesn't help that Lexie has decided that from now on she is going to sleep half on my pillow and half on my face.

10. I'm afraid to move this blog over to Wordpress. Alex thinks I can do it myself (with his help). I'm afraid everything will get lost and messed up. I know I should just go for it.

11. I actually like cleaning up the yard in the spring. Doesn't everything seem fun in the spring?

12. Yesterday at work we spent the better part of the afternoon learning what "tattling" is. Glamorous, yes I know.

13. Our basement is taking forever to finish. It's so hard to decide where lightswitches and outlets and potlights go. Drywall will be soooooooo nice. I heart drywall.

14. We almost purchased a second house (a street over from our house) for Alex's parents to rent. We had an offer ready but another one was accepted before ours. Sarah and Alex, Real Estate Moguls. Hmmm, sounds kind of good.

15. I tell myself every year that I'm going to go strawberry picking and blueberry picking. I always, always, always miss the time when they are in season.

16. I had an allergic reaction once and my lips swelled up about triple their regular size. Wow, did I ever look hideous for those few days!

17. A few months ago I was craving processed cheese and bologna. I ate them. Alex thought I was gross.

18. I almost ate a mushy grape yesterday. I spit it out just in time. It was disgusting.

19. Sometimes I listen to reggae, sometimes country, sometimes folk, sometimes pop, sometimes R&B, sometimes rap. NEVER classic rock. Shudder.

20. I mix my chocolate milk half and half with white milk, kid-style.

21. I love my iphone.

22. I want to start offering online design consultations through my blog but I'm afraid that no-one would take me up on it.

23. One day I want to be the kind of girl who has pretty necklaces and purses. I've been wearing the same heart necklace from American Eagle for the last five years.

24. When I was at my cousin's wedding on the weekend, I was reminded of how much I hate high-heels. I kicked those suckers off real fast.

25. Even though I've probably never met you, you feel like a real friend. True story.

Nursery Progress: A Chair and a Rug

A few posts ago I shared a few plans for our tiny little bedroom that we're turning into a nursery. 

But before I start working on all of the little details and projects, I need to get some of the basics in order.

And that meant making some big (for me) decisions. 

Decision #1: A rug.

Decision #2: A chair.

If you've gotten to know me at all over the last while, I am SO indecisive. I usually go back and forth a zillion times when I want to make a big-ish purchase and take at least months and months to make the final decision. 

Except I kind of have a two-month deadline (ahhh! panic!!!!) so I had to just go with my gut and pick some stuff.

For the rug, I knew I wanted a natural fibre rug for the colour and texture. Ikea has a large, regtangular, jute rug for $149 but I thought it would be slightly too big for the teeny tiny room. All the furniture in the room would probably have to have sat on the rug and then you wouldn't be able to see our newly refinished floors!

Tarnby Rug - Ikea

My other choice was a smaller, round jute rug from Pottery Barn for $188 (plus duties & shipping). I thought the round shape would soften up the boxy room and let a little bit of the floors show along the edges of the room.

Round Jute Rug Natural - Pottery Barn

I ended up choosing the round, Pottery Barn rug. And it got here yesterday (what! what!). I like the fact that it is fully reversible (I anticipate a lot of car crashes happening on this rug), it isn't kiddish, and I can potentially use the rug in any other room of the house later on since it will go just about anywhere with just about anything.

{I think the lady at the post office really liked it because she helped me carry and load it into my car. I also think she knows that I love online shopping since I am over-the-moon giddy every time I have a package to pick up.}

The next decision was for a chair. Everyone and their mother told us to get a rocker/glider. But, a) we don't really have room for one, b) I can't find any cute ones that I like, and c) rocking motions kind of make me queasy. Okay, they actually make me a lot queasy.

So we decided on a tiny, comfy, washable chair from Ikea.

Extorp Jennylund Armchair - Blekinge White - Ikea

It was only $229, it goes with all of the other furnishings in the house, it's not too kiddish, it's tiny, it's comfy, and we can use it anywhere in the house later on if we want to. Score. Alex stopped in at Ikea on the way home from his basketball game last weekend to pick it up. So now we have:

A rug AND a chair. Progress, baby, progress.

Here is how they're looking in the room so far:

It's a start, right?

A Wooden Box

Hey there. How are you doin' this week?

I'm doing reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal good. Four-day week this week, tomorrow's Friday, got my stencil in the mail today, fun rock concert with the hubs last night, and Alex is making me a surprise supper at this very moment.

Life is good. :)

So 'member I was on the hunt for some wooden crates to use as toy bins? Well I was a bit grumpy that the only ones I could find (and ended up buying) were coated with a shiny, orange-y varnish. My mom offered to strip the varnish off for me and she was able to finish one the other day.

She brought it over the other night so I took a few pictures to show you. I know you love old wooden boxes as much as I do.......

I still need to do a light sanding in some spots as well as add some casters to the bottom. I went looking at a local hardware store and most of the casters were plastic and really ugly. I'll have to check Lowe's and Home Depot this weekend.

I'm really loving the dovetailed corners. I also like how narrow the boxes are so they will fit all snug against the little wall in the bedroom.

Hopefully my mom will bring over the second one this weekend (hint, hint if you're reading this) so I can finish 'em both off and show you how they look in the room.

Oh yeah, here is another inspiration picture for you. I know you like those too.

Image: Pinterest
Original Source: Home Made Simple

Well that's it for me for tonight. I'm hoping to catch up on my lack-o-projects this weekend. See you soon!