DIY For Daddy

   Previously I mentioned that Pj and I had spent an afternoon "DIY-ing it up" making a present for the Hubs. Here's what we made!!

   That's right! We jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon and made our own mugs! Pj was a little unsure at first when I handed her a mug and a marker and told her to colour. I guess all those lessons on how we don't colour on furntiure, or walls, or floors, or dishes stuck. But, after I assured her that in this case it was okay...she went to town! She loved it! We used white ceramic mugs from Target and instead of using normal sharpies (I had read that they don't really work), we used black paint markers. I baked the mugs after they had dried and they seem to be holding up to use. We wash them by hand and not in the dish washer in order to avoid the paint from scraping off. I think, after reading many blog posts on the subject, I would use oil based sharpies next time - they seem to have a better track record for surviving normal every day wear and tear! 

   I assure you that Pj did actually have fun. This has been her "smile" face lately. All the effort in the eyes and she forgets about her mouth!  :) 
   Pj was so excited to bring Mark his Christmas morning coffee in his new mug! And Mark thought it was the greatest. Pj decorated his mug...but when she was done she dictated little sayings for me to write on it. Things like "I love you the MOST!", "I love you to the moon and back" and "best Dad". I think that Mark was pretty touched :). 
   Anyways, that's it for my DIY follow-up! It was so easy and I think it made a wonderful (and thoughtful) gift! 

Day 2: DIYer

Well, its day two of my 30 Day Picture Challenge (see here) and I am posting another picture - I have to admit: I am doing better than I thought I would! 

DIYer. 

Here is the BIG reveal of my thrifted dresser turned TV stand!! I LOVE it! I found this dresser at the Restore in Guelph (Habitat for Humanity) and convinced Mark that it would be perfect for our living room. I took it home, painted it using Martha Stewart's Chalk Paint (my new favourite thing!), and here we are! Mark helped turn the top drawers into a shelf to hold our gadgets but other than that - its my baby! I am cheating a bit today and sharing another picture (;D). 

Here is a close-up of one of the four drawers. I spent PJ's naptime today finishing them. I decided to line the bottom of the drawers wiht some fabric that I bought for who-knows-what project 2 years ago! I think that they look fabulous!!! :D So excited about my new piece of furniture! 

I SEW Did That!

   For the last couple of months I have been spending random afternoons with my Mom sewing. As a child I remember my Mom sewing very often and we (my sisters and I) were often clothed in her creations. I decided that it would be pretty special if I could sew something for PJ to wear so I took a pattern and some fabric and my $14 "garage sale find" sewing machine to my Mom's house and we got busy! She is a lot faster than I and finished two dresses and a boy's baseball hat in the time that I finished one little dress for PJ....but she is a good teacher and I am starting to feel slightly more confident sewing. Here are some pictures of my first project!!

The finished product! 

Here are some pictures of the dress on my very cute model:

   I think she looks pretty cute! Not bad for my first time attempt at sewing!!! I am excited to sew more things...and am already looking for new ideas! 

This was her expression when I told her that I had sewn this. Complete awe! :)

I made that!

   When we found out we were expecting a baby one of the things I was most excited about (other than the baby part) was creating a nursery. After we finally figured out where we were going to live (thanks to my sister:)!) and got moved in, we started to prepare the room. We didn't know if we were going to have a boy or a girl so I wanted to make sure that we had a room that was gender neutral...but could be "boyed" or "girled" up. We choose a cool light teal colour and decided on all white furniture. Although PJ is now almost half a year old (what?!) we still haven't completed the room. There are some last finishing touches that need to be completed, they are:
- curtains (my mom is going to help me with this!)
- ABC wall decorations (hopefully my dad is going to help me with this!)
- some other wall art 
- paint all the door knobs for the furniture the same color as the wall (hopefully my sister still has our knobs she can help me with this!)
   Really, its not a very long list and mostly is just fun "finishing touches". These are the things that I am starting to really enjoy. Since we have been married we have only rented...and although we are in another rental my sister has been kind enough to let us bring our own 'personal' touch to our home...it really does feel like home (more so than any of the other places we have lived so far)! These finishing touches are an exciting part of making PJ's room feel like a homey and comfortable part of our home! 
   This past month I decided it was time that I tackled the only item on my list that didn't involve one of my family member's involvement - wall art. I knew that I wanted some sort of framed something (pretty definite aren't I?) for the wall behind my glider (love my glider!), so I went on pinterest and started looking for some ideas. A lot of the things I pinned brought me to Etsy stores where people were selling their nursery designs for $20+! I looked at all of these options and thought, "I can do that!". And that's what I decided to do. I went to our local Bibles For Mission Thrift store and bought some old frames for a total of $7. Then I went to the fabric store and chose a couple of pieces of fabric that I liked and that I thought would match my wall color and white furniture. Finally I sat down at my computer, took an hour or so, and designed some different 'posters'. I also printed off a free downloadable bible verse poster from this blog: The Flourishing Abode (such a talented woman and an interesting blog!). I printed my designs and the one I downloaded at Staples, bought some supplies at Home Depot (paint brushes and trim white paint), and went home to craft! Now, if you were to ask anyone who knew me...they would tell you that I am not the most creative person around...so, I was quite nervous but I thought that I really had nothing to lose and perhaps some money saved and a decorated nursery to gain!
   Here's me attempting to take pictures of the process:

The picture frames before the transformation - I forgot to take a picture of them before I took them apart but one was a picture of a thatched cottage and the other an old fashioned bouquet of flowers. Both nice pictures....but not for PJ's nursery. By the way...notice my flowers? They are pretty and Spring-like!

Then I painted the frames. That's my hand painting...I think I have good form:).

We used my sister's old pizza box to protect the table from my paint...it mostly worked but our table now has some white paint splatters. Oops!

All painted! I think they already look better :D

One of the fabrics I used as backing for my poster. First I ironed it out to remove the creases . 

Then I covered the original picture's backing.

All covered!

Next I placed the text poster on top (this is the download from The Flourishing Abode) and put it all together into the frames!

This is the other picture/poster that I made - I forgot to take pictures of the process (oops!) 

The completed product! I think that they are pretty good. They will look great in PJ's room and I did it for a fraction of the cost of buying and having them shipped from Etsy! 

   I had a lot of fun doing this craft, so much fun in fact, that I have designed a couple more posters and went out to buy some more frames from BFM. I think having three or four in a sort of frame collage on her bedroom wall will look great! Who knows? Maybe I'll become a creative crafty momma yet!