Naming Art

One art project done, three to go.  This next art project is focused on the kids' names.  I purchased these letters at Michael's for around $30 total and then purchased some additional paint.

At first, I wanted to decorate the letters with circles and stripes, but after looking around the room and all of designs that would be up, I decided to paint each name in one solid color. 

Here's Nathan's name finished in blue.

Here's Madyson's name complete in red.

And the names together on the wall.

Two projects to go to finish the kids' room.

Furniture... last minute arrival

Our furniture finally arrived about two hours after I went into labor.  That's right - two hours after.  We were at home getting everything cleaned up for the furniture to arrive the evening before Madyson was born when I went into labor.  I knew that I had some time to get to the hospital, so we decided to wait for my mom to arrive to watch Nathan and hoped that the furniture would arrive before we had to go to the hospital.  As our luck would have it, my mom arrived minutes after the furniture arrived, so it was chaos.  However, I really wanted to get all the furniture out of the boxes and get rid of the cardboard and styrofoam, so we unpacked the dressers and nightstand.  Then, we finished getting packed, slept for a bit, headed to the hospital, and Madyson was born about 14 hours after we had the furniture unpacked.

Thanks to my dad and Nathan for getting the crib together while we were at the hospital.  We absolutely love the furniture.  Find out how we picked this furniture here and the bedding here.

Getting closer to finishing the kids' room.

Bunk beds

After buying the lumber back in March and April, the bunk beds are finally complete.  My husband and dad built the bunk beds from the plans at Knock Off Wood.  They started working on the beds at the end of May and continued to figure out different ways to ensure that the bunk beds could adjusted to two separate beds as well.

Here is the long awaited pictures of the final product (including the new bedding):

Here's to getting the room complete... checking off item #2.

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

On Saturday, October 23, I will be walking to make strides against breast cancer.  After having my daughter just a little over two weeks ago, this walk has even more meaning to me.  I am walking to fight against breast cancer to create more birthdays for future generations.  My goal is to raise $150 to help fight this disease.

To donate or join the team, click here.

Thanks for all of your help in supporting Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.

Wall Art

Here is the first project for some wall art for the kids room.  I bought two 12"x12" canvases at Michael's last week for $4.79 each.  Then six small bottles of paint for $.85 each.

I started by painting one canvas yellow for Madyson and one blue for Nathan.

I let Nathan start by painting his canvas with green and orange.  Then, we added his hand prints in red.

For Madyson, I did her foot prints in purple and green.  I wanted to do her hand prints, but I thought it would be too difficult to keep her hands open.

After both canvases were dry, I took paint markers (which I had previously purchased for a different project) and added their names to the top of the canvas.

Total for this project was around $15, but I have lots of paint left over for some additional projects.  Once I have the room complete, I will add pictures with these on the wall.

Decluttering

Since I am now off work for the next couple of months, I finally have some time to do all of the projects that I haven't had time to complete.  Here's my to-do list:

1. Clean closet
2. Finish kids' room
3. Scrapbooking (this has piled up over the past three years)
4. Start and finish re-decorating master bedroom
5. I am sure I will think of more things over the next couple of weeks.

So here's to checking off item #1 on my list.  This week, I cleaned out my closet.  These garbage bags are all of the extra clothes that we will be donating.

I don't have before and after pictures, but here is an after picture, so you will have to imagine adding four garbage bags full of clothes, plus two bins of maternity clothes.

Last month, I read two blogs that talked about O Magazine's article by Martha Beck's called "The Joy Dividend".  In the article, she broke down shopping and money into four categories:

1. I need it and I love it
2. I don't need it, but I love it
3. I need it, but I don't love it
4. I don't need it and I don't love it

This week, I went through my closet with these four categories in mind.  I decided that everything in my closet should fit into the top three categories because I will wear it if I love it or if I need it.  For example, I don't really love socks, but I clearly need them (especially in Minnesota).  However, when buying any new clothes, everything needs to fit into category one or three.

With these categories in mind, I tried on a lot of the items in my closet.  I was true to myself in the fact that I asked myself - do I love this?  If not, it went to the donation pile.

This project felt so good.  This is one of the many projects that was weighing me down.  Now, on to finishing the kids' room.

Back on Track

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  Our second child was born about 10 days ago, so things have been a little crazy.  We are working on finishing decorating the kids' room, so look for lots of posts over the next couple of days.  Thanks for understanding!