Welcome to the Hundred Acre Wood. . .

So if you follow me on pinterest then you know that I am not planning a Winnie the Pooh themed nursery. We did however just complete one of the steps to make our little nuggets room look more of a woodland theme.

Jose had to go on a quick trip to Chicago for school this past weekend and I took that opportunity to try my hand at painting some birch trees on the wall where the crib will be. Now I am not an artist by any means but thanks to this helpful tutorial I had the confidence needed to tackle this woodland adventure.

I actually read several tutorials about the best ways to do this and most of them included using an exacto knife to cut bumps into your tree trunk. Well lets just say that wasn't happening for this momma to be. We worked too hard to patch these wall for me to go putting another hole (or 50) in them. Thankfully the tutorial mentioned above did not use an exacto knife but instead just made the tape bump out at certain points. The only downside to this was that I did end up with a little bit of running because of the bumps in the tape. I solved this problem by just adding branches anywhere that my paint ran. It worked out kind of nicely because I have a problem with trying to make things too uniform but this way I couldn't. (OCD much, why yes I am.)

I won't bore you with a step by step since she explains it so well in the tutorial above. Instead I will show you tons of pictures of the process and finished product:

So there you have it, our little nuggets nursery mural. I hope you enjoy. Have you ever painted a mural on a wall? Were your hands shaking? (mine were) I would love to hear about your DIY nursery adventures!

Linking Up With:

http://www.maisondepax.com/2014/02/give-me-the-goods-no-47.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=give-me-the-goods-no-47

http://www.ablossominglife.com/2014/02/frugal-crafty-home-blog-hop-62.html

http://www.creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com/monday-funday-55/

Nursery Update: The Ceiling is Finished. . . Almost

Hello and happy Monday! If you saw the post on Friday then you know it was a crazy week around here last week. We, thankfully, did not get it as bad as Atlanta and my

heart definitely goes out to the people stranded there on the interstate or sleeping in stores. I promised on Friday that I would be back today to share the progress we have made on the nursery. Well here it goes.

The ceiling for the nursery took MUCH longer than anticipated. (I feel this always happens with DIY projects we undertake, anyone sensing a theme.) So, instead of the one weekend or really one day we thought it would take us, it took two full weekends of work. However it is done now, and I love it. I thought I would quickly share how we accomplished this in case any of you are crazy enough to attempt a ceiling redo.

First things first, you must gather the appropriate supplies. For us a life saver in this project was the air compressor and finish nailer we bought. I would not have wanted to tackle this project without them. Here is a list of the supplies we used to get this job done.

Supplies: 

1. Air Compressor 

2. Finish Nailer

3. Nails

4. Chalk Line 

5. Molding Removal Crowbar

6. 4 inch Wide Solid Wood Planks (V-Grooved) (these can be found in the wainscoting/bead-board section of Home Depot)

7. Lock-tite Power Grab

8. Stud Finder

Now, on to the "how we did it" phase of this project:

Step1: You need to measure your room and decide how many packages of the wood planking you will need. Then you must remove the molding if you have it around the ceiling. 

Step 2. Since you are working on the ceiling you will need to find where your rafters are. These should be every 16 inches on center. 

Step 3: Once you determine where these are located then you need a way to mark it. Here's where the chalk line comes in handy. Mark your rafters all the way across the room.

Step 4: Once you have these marked you are ready to begin placing your planks. We did on 8 foot section and then a 6 foot section alternating each line. 

Step 5: Apply the Lock-tite power grip to the back of one of your pieces. Next press it up onto the ceiling. This is where two hands come in handy. Have one person hold while the other person nails the board into place. 

Step 6: Repeat the process along the width of the room until the whole ceiling is covered with wood planking. 

As you can see its not a difficult process to wood plank your ceiling, but it takes a lot more time than originally anticipated. Also, if your ceiling is not level (like ours), you may run into some bowing issues with the planking. Luckily, we fixed this by creating small gaps between rows until we were back to level.  The V-Groove planks allow for a little gaping without letting the drywall ceiling show through. Now all we have left to do is put a sealant on our beautiful ceiling. Let's hope that process doesn't take as long as putting this bad boy up did. 

Hope you guys enjoyed this project. The next nursery update will be the painting of the walls and a special mural for our little boy. I can't wait to show you guys!

Featured on:

Give me the Goods #46 by maisondepax.com.

 

Curly Girl Update 1 year 6 months

Hi all! Sorry for my lack of posting this week but we had winter storm Leon coming through which meant everyone freaked out and work was a little crazy but I am here now and I will be updating you guys Monday on our nursery progress (hint: we finished installing the ceiling).

Anyway I was looking back through old posts and realized that I have not mentioned anything about curly girl products since last January/February. So I thought I would share with you how my routine has changed. If you want to see the original post then go here. I am just going to start with what I am using now and some transitions I have made.

I did give the diva curl line a try and I really liked it. However at $18 a bottle that was just too steep for my budget. Since then I have been using a hodge podge of things. Mostly the loreal ever pure line but when I went into target a few weeks ago to purchase the ever curl products they were no where to be found. I mean there was a spot for them but no product. I then spent an hour in the hair care isle trying to decide what else to buy. You should have seen me looking like a lost puppy on my phone reading reviews of each product I picked up. I finally settled on the Organix Macadamia Oil Shampoo, Conditioner, and hydrating mask. I have to be honest here their price tag was what attracted me the most.

However now that I have used them I am in love. I do not think my hair has felt this soft and touchable since I was straightening it everyday. (Which if you look at some recent pictures on here you will notice I had been doing for a bit). I am back on the curly girl wagon though after finding this shampoo and conditioner combo. I will give you a little run down of how I use each product.

Curly Girl Routine Revisited

http://nymag.com/thecut/2012/02/best-bet-organix-macadamia-oil-collection.html

Organix Macadamia Oil Shampoo: This one is pretty self explanatory, wet hair and lather in. For those of you strictly following CG then you will be happy to know this is sulfate free. 

Organix Macadamia Oil Condition: So for this one I put a little on my hair while in the shower just to be able to finger comb the knots out. Then I rinse this out. Once I get out of the shower and towel dry my hair I add more of this wonderful conditioner and scrunch it in. (Like you do with gel)

Organix Macadamia Oil Intensive Moisture Mask: So this definitely lives up to its name. I put this on about once a week in the shower and put a shower cap on. Go about my normal shower business and the last thing I do is rinse this out. It leaves my hair so silky and soft. 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/La-Bella-Lots-of-Curls-Styling-Gel-22-oz/10534339

La Bella Styling Gel: Yup this is the one constant in my CG routine.  I love this gel and if they ever stop making it I may have a breakdown in target. (just saying)

So there you have it, a little update on my CG routine. I hope everyone fared winter storm Leon okay. I know here in the low country we are still seeing ice and very cold temps (for us anyway) but never fear it is supposed to be 70 on Saturday. I am praying it actually makes it there because I am tired of winter already. Anyone else ready for spring?

"Are you sure you are not having twins?" And other things to never say to a pregnant woman.

So this has been on my mind for a while and when a friend and I were discussing it at lunch I decided it would make an excellent blog topic. I am sure I am not the only pregnant person to have an issue with this. It seems as if the second people find out you are expecting then the unsolicited opinions and advice start rolling in. I mean I am thankful for the people in my life that give real advice. I am however sick of hearing how wrong I am in my thinking about some things (cough... Cloth diapering. . .). Now I know I am a novice at this parenting thing, but I am not an unintelligent person and there are just some things that you should let me figure out for myself. If I eat my words later on, then I give you permission to gloat. Anyway enough of my ranting lets just get to the list of things you should never say to a pregnant woman.

1. You must be due any day now (this may be the case but she doesn't need to hear that she looks large or ready to pop and if it's not the case then you are sure to make her angry)

2. Are you sure it's not twins? ( I mean really people how many times must I say that I am only having a SINGLE baby) 

3. Well when I was pregnant I . . . (Insert here worked out everyday, ate only organic, ate anything but what you are currently eating) This is not helpful ladies. I mean how would you like it if you are steadily expanding and someone judges your every meal. I think I may start doing this to every person who does this to me pregnant or not.  

4. Can I touch your belly? We'll thanks for asking but if I don't know you then the answer is no. I find this to be the strangest thing. Why do you want to rub my belly? I mean the baby cannot feel it and chances are you may get kicked. Also it's just weird people especially if you are not close friends or family. I mean really. 

5. Make sure you do. . .( insert some thing that I will probably forget immediately after our conversation) Unless I asked you what to do about a certain situation then I don't want/need the advice. I know you mean well but you may be being offensive without realizing it. 

6. Oh you want to do a natural labor/birthing experience? Let me tell you how horrible it will be. I know people really believe this is going to change my mind but at this point I am stubborn enough I wouldn't asks for drugs for anything.  (So I will be the lady in May screaming obscenities in the delivery room. Nice to meet you if you are delivering in Charleston in May.)

7. When are you due complete with belly rub to a non pregnant person. Yeah this one should get you smacked people. I have a dear friend that works with me who people think we are twins (we don't see it) and since I have been open about this pregnancy she has this happen to her on about a weekly basis. This is just WRONG. 

I hope this list doesn't offend anyone, but I do hope you will think twice the next time you decide to offer advice or just speak to a pregnant woman. We have enough crazy hormonal issues going on that you may not walk away unscathed. 

Wardrobe Wednesday: Week 24

Hi all! I am going to keep today short and sweet because I need to start putting paint on those nursery walls. Anyway here is the 24 week bump pic. Enjoy!

Cardigan: Old Navy (non maternity)
Sweater: Destination Materinity
Jeans: Thrifted Liz Lange for Target
Boots: Thrifted (from a goodwill in Montana)