Thursday, April 24, 2014

DIY: Disney Notebooks

Hey there Disney fans!  I have a quick and easy Disney inspired craft project for you today!  These notebooks are perfect for school or for office use (I've been using mine to plan out all of my blog posts!)  Here is what we are making:


First, gather your supplies: a notebook, patterned duct tape, scissors, black cardstock, circle punches or templates, Mod Podge, and a sponge brush.

Next, cover the front and back covers of your notebook with the duct tape...







Then use your circle punches or templates to cut out one big circle and two small circles from the black cardstock and position them on your notebook.


Put a coat of Mod Podge on the back of the circles and glue them down.  Then give the front side of the Mickey a coat of Mod Podge to make sure all the edges stay down.


And there you have it!  A totally personalized and super cute Disney notebook!  If you really wanted to get fancy, you could write your name or a cute saying on the Mickey with a paint pen for even more personalization!

Sunday, April 20, 2014

To Do List Progress: 48 Days to Go!

Holy goodness this baby is going to be here so soon!  I cannot believe how fast time is flying!  We have made some good progress on a lot of items on our To Do list (sadly none of them are ready to be photographed yet), but I did want to share with you the items we are crossing off.  Mostly so I can see the progress and not feel so overwhelmed!

Here is our updated list:

To Do:

Paint my office
Move Mr. B's desk into my office
Paint our bedroom
Paint my dresser
Paint Mr. B's dresser
Move futon and TV into bedroom
Paint nursery
Get (and assemble) nursery furniture
Paint bookshelf for nursery
Paint dresser for nursery
Organize all of Baby's stuff
Decorate nursery

Mr. B is very excited to be able to cross off all of the room painting.  It was a loooong process, but all the main rooms in our house are now freshly painted.  If you didn't see my dresser makeover last week, make sure you check it out--I love the final result!  Today we got to go to Ikea and get the furniture we need for Baby Bee's room.  The crib is already assembled and Mr. B is putting together the dresser as we speak (or as I type).  I promise I will have some pics of some of these updates for you soon, just as soon as everything is all put together!                                                                            

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

DIY: Dresser Makeover

Hello lovely readers!  I am back from Spring Break!  I would like to say that I am rested and relaxed, but that would be a lie.  While we have gotten a lot done over the past couple of weeks, it seems like there is still so much more to do!  But I am super excited to be sharing this project with you today, it might be one of my all-time favorites.

This is the dresser that was in my nursery when I was just a wee little baby.  It's obviously great quality, and obviously not so attractive anymore.  So I decided to give it a little makeover!  Here it is in its before stages:


And here's what I did to make it pretty!  First, I took off the lovely old brass drawer pulls.


I knew I was going to use a single knob on the drawers, so I filled in the extra holes using wood filler.


Then it was sanding time (aka my least favorite step in the furniture painting process).


Then it came time for priming.  Remember to always use super thin coats when priming furniture.



Then came the fun part, the painting!  I used Martha Stewart metallic paint in Thundercloud.  I actually had it left over from painting our kitchen tile, so I didn't even have to buy new paint.  For the dresser, I used a combo of a small foam roller and a foam brush to fill in the nooks and crannies.



Then I attached these awesome acrylic crystal-looking knobs that I found on Amazon.  I seriously looked all over the place before turning to Amazon, I should have known to start there in the first place!  I got ten knobs for about half the price of any others I found at hardware stores.


And here ya go!  I absolutely love how the dresser turned out!  I also love the fact that there is sentimental value to this piece, but it is still something that fits in with my current aesthetic.



Here is a side by side of the before and after:


Stay tuned this week for some of the updates we have completed around the house as we get ready for Baby Bee!

**This post uses an affiliate link.  If you follow the link and purchase the product, I will receive a small commission.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Baby Announcements from Minted

It's hard to believe it, but Baby Bee is about two months away from making his arrival and it is all starting to feel really real.  We still have so much to do, but I'm trying to stay calm and not freak out about it too much!  One fun thing I get to think about is picking out adorable baby things, like announcements.  When looking for announcements, I turned to one of my favorite paper sources, Minted.  I discovered Minted through my wedding blog and was so excited to see they carry fabulous baby announcements in addition to their gorgeous wedding invites.  I pulled out some of my favorite contenders to share with you today!  If you click on any of the pictures, you will be taken directly to the listing for that particular announcement!

http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?u=925261&b=120126&m=17025&afftrack=&urllink=www%2Eminted%2Ecom%2Fproduct%2Fbirth%2Dannouncements%2FMIN%2DAL7%2DBYA%2Fbig%2Dbaby%2Dname%3FdcC%3DJ%26org%3Dphoto

http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?u=925261&b=120126&m=17025&afftrack=&urllink=www%2Eminted%2Ecom%2Fproduct%2Fbirth%2Dannouncements%2FMIN%2DUZH%2DBYA%2Fcrib%2Dsheet%3FdcC%3DB%26org%3Dphoto

http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?u=925261&b=120126&m=17025&afftrack=&urllink=www%2Eminted%2Ecom%2Fproduct%2Fbirth%2Dannouncements%2FMIN%2D8UA%2DBYA%2Fvintage%2Dinfo%3Forg%3Dphoto

http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?u=925261&b=120126&m=17025&afftrack=&urllink=www%2Eminted%2Ecom%2Fproduct%2Fbirth%2Dannouncements%2FMIN%2DWUB%2DBYA%2Fcute%3Forg%3Dphoto

http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?u=925261&b=120126&m=17025&afftrack=&urllink=www%2Eminted%2Ecom%2Fproduct%2Fbirth%2Dannouncements%2FMIN%2DAV3%2DBYA%2Fweights%2Dand%2Dmeasures%3Forg%3Dphoto

http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?u=925261&b=120126&m=17025&afftrack=&urllink=www%2Eminted%2Ecom%2Fproduct%2Fbirth%2Dannouncements%2FMIN%2DJ89%2DBYA%2Four%2Dlittle%2Dcontender%3Forg%3Dphoto

http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?u=925261&b=120126&m=17025&afftrack=&urllink=www%2Eminted%2Ecom%2Fproduct%2Fbirth%2Dannouncements%2FMIN%2DBRG%2DBYA%2Fbright%2Dhello%3Forg%3Dphoto

http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?u=925261&b=120126&m=17025&afftrack=&urllink=www%2Eminted%2Ecom%2Fproduct%2Fbirth%2Dannouncements%2FMIN%2DK47%2DBYA%2Fhailey%3Forg%3Dphoto

Which one is your favorite?  When I decide (and when Baby Bee has made his grand entrance) I will share which one I end up picking!

**This post contains affiliate links.  If you click these links and purchase the items, I will receive a small commission.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

March Instagram Dump

Hard to believe another month has come and gone!  I spent most of March working like a crazy person, so there's not much going on in the way of fun Instagram pics, but here they are anyway!  If you want to follow me on Instagram, click the camera in the right hand sidebar!

My main work project was the musical I directed at my junior high.  Here is one of our set pieces...

And here is my good friend Brianna testing out the safety of another one...

I finally got around to updating our baseball map with our dates from last summer...

And because I had a craving, I decided one night to whip up some cupcakes...

I hit third tri!

It still boggles my mind when I come across my own images while browsing Pinterest.  Can't believe how many repins I get sometimes!

At our favorite beer bar, I was stuck with the root variety...

Baby Bee got to attend his first Dodgers game!

I always feel like I'm coming home when I go back to Dodger Stadium...

And a hot dog with mac n cheese and Fritos on top?  Yes please!

And finally, the beginnings of a very productive weekend last weekend, Starbucks and Home Depot!

Can't wait to see what April has in store for us!