More Nursery Love

via Armelle Blog

Have you seen this nursery?  I love the colors.

Wall Stripes

I saved this tutorial for how paint the stripes on a wall from Young House Love.  I really like this blog.  I'm sure the stripes are something that's just easy to figure out but I was happy to see someone was kind enough to just walk me through the math so that I only sort of had to use my brain.  Maybe it will help in your nursery.  I have dreams of stripes in my home some day.  I'm not sure if it will be this house or the next house but it will happen.  Lazy is a big part of what is holding me back right now.

just made these

k...so after i posted the last thing, i decided to go ahead and try it. you're not allowed to not love these. i don't even want to hear about it! (just kidding). i whipped these up in photoshop. i think they are cute.
nell

like these too

Having silhouettes of my kids like these would make me feel like nie nie. I found a tutorial here (http://andersonfamilycrew.blogspot.com/2010/01/make-your-own-silhouette-picture.html) of how to make them. But I think I can figure out an even easier way in photoshop. I'll keep ya posted.
nell

my new nursery

So for Christmas, Trev's parents' present to everyone was that they would paint one room in their house. I adore this room (more pics here). Do you think they'd go for it?
nell

Glitter Toes--DIY version

So, am I a nerd for wanting to try this?

Organization

In my perfect world I am awesome at organization and planning.  In my real life I kind of stink at it.  I've really been wanting to create some sort of weekly schedule so that I can get things done around the house and free up more time on Saturdays to actually play as a family.  Essentially I'm trying to experience some sort of cleaning nazi conversion (yes, I'm going to the dark side).  Brian has been the trusty laundry man in our house for the whole time we've been married.  Yes that means I've had someone else to do my laundry for the last 7.5 years.  With his new work schedule and working longer hours it has been hard for him to keep up and he's frustrated.  So I decided I would take over and then maybe I could start adding some cleaning tasks each day so that I can get everything done and thereby open up our Saturdays for more fun or just being lazy.  Naturally in my perfect work it is going great.  In my real life it sucks.  I know that right now it's just because I'm juggling my work life too and one day I won't have to do both but for now I do and it sucks.  By the way this long ramble is leading to something. :)  I've been having a hard time keeping track of all of the "to do lists" in my head and started trying to use a planner but I'm not loving having to write down the same tasks each week.  Yes, I have to write them down b/c my memory is crap since I had Eliza and I can't keep track of work and home. So I use Microsoft Outlook for work but for home I want something on paper b/c the computer isn't always handy/functional/in a central location so that I see it all day.  Anyway, my point to all this is that I came across an idea that I'm going to try.  Michelle at {Chez Moi} has been taking some organization class and came away with this idea called a "brain box". 

It's a recipe card box that's divided out into daily tasks, monthly tasks and seasonal tasks.  It's totally one of those that you need to click on the link to see how she's set it all up.  I totally think this is a great idea.  You create cards for each task and then file it under the appropriate sections.  Then each day you pull out your to do cards for the day and get to work.  I don't know why this speaks to me they way it does, but I think it's going to be my new plan of attack.  I like that I do the work of creating the box/system once and I don't have to mess with it each week like in the planner. I got annoyed with re-writing my consistant cleaning jobs in my planner each week.  Plus the physical aspect of refiling the card back into the file box when each task is done somehow feels better than a dinky checkbox in my planner.  I know, I'm a nerd.  Organizational items and office supplies thrill me, so that's probably the real reason I like the idea. :) 

Michelle got the idea from an organization class that a woman named Marie Calder Ricks teaches.  She's published a few different books that I've seen at Desert Book from time to time.  I think I'm going to hunt some of them down at the library and see if I like her stuff.  Her blog is here.

Scrappy Game

I dream of one day being cool enough to make my own memory game like this one.
nell

Yum

I saw this recipe on Cafe Zupas blog and thought of you.  It's a recipe for that Zuppa Toscana soup that you like at Olive Garden.  We could totally make this.  I also have a recipe somewhere to make their breaksticks and italian dressing at home.  Naturally I saved it but never tried either one.  But I think this soup is definitely going on the menu at our house very soon.

Ha Ha Ha

So I totally laughed when I saw this on etsy. I think an anonymous package to be sent to a Ms. B. Bitter may be in order. Mom and Dad would be thrilled. I would giggle. Baby would possibly topple.
nell

Baby Names

So I'll be living vicariously through your for the next 9 months.  Just plan on it okay? :)  I was reading CJane's post about baby names tonight and thought of you.  Do you read CJane?  She's great.  Her post is about choosing "out of the norm" baby names and the comment section has a TON of different ideas.  Some of them seem like ones that would be up your alley.  Others are just plain crazy.  Reading it makes me want to start making a list of baby names that I love.  Brian and I can't have any boys in the future because I don't have a single boy name on my list.

1. Claire---I love it and Brian hates it
2. Ella---Brian is only so so on this one.  I have time to convince him otherwise.  Wouldn't Ella Claire Warburton be cute?!  Hmm, maybe I could convince him on Claire if we use it as a middle name.
3. Jackson---okay, I lied I do have one boys names that I like.  I'd call him Jax for short.  Of course with a mom named Jill that still brings a flood of torturous "Jack and Jill" memories from my school days.

week 5

So here's my inspiration for my maternity series. He's working on this new one too which I love. If Trev was more of a sport about it, I might be able to pull it off, but he's uninterested. So my maternity series will be self portraits. And since I have a blog wink wink, I will put them here. The pics will be relatively boring for awhile, but we'll pick up steam as the baby (hopefully not babies) grow. Have I expressed to you my truly deep worry that I'm having twins? Nothing concrete, but somehow I can't get it out of my head. Crossing my fingers...
nell

I should have been a model

It's entirely possible that after driving home last night I put Eliza to bed and then jumped in the car and ran to Wal-Mart at midnight in search of my very own $1 shirt.  Naturally I had zero luck and left without said $1 shirt.  I still had the itch to find some sort of deal so I went to Kohl's tonight and found this sweater on sale for $10 and the yellow necklace for $8.  I had visions of the yellow necklace screaming FABULOUS against the teal sweater but I'm not sure it's screaming as much as I want it to.  What do you think?  Don't let yourself be distracted by the beautiful model.

Tonight I also learned that it's not easy to be your own model.  After about 20 shots I felt like this:

I didn't have luck in the clothes department at Wal-Mart but I did find this beauty of a bracelet for $5.  I think I love her and she made the midnight trip worth it. 

Maybe I could be an arm model.  The modeling industry is mine for the taking...

random

found this today. it always makes me laugh when people contribute that last line as a Jesus quote. is it okay that i put wierd stuff like this on the blog? do you want it to just be DIY ideas? i can change, i promise!

Love It

This Kate Spade add makes me happy. The End

Zippers

I found this tutorial today and decided that we need to start experimenting with zippers.  Can you believe those little ruffles are zippers?!  I think they are darling.  Then again maybe it's just b/c they remind me of my gray shoes that I love.  Dunno.

I also think we could make really cute bracelets like these too.

 

Or you could bedazzle some shoes. This would be the part where I would have created a nice photo montage but have no idea how to do it.  I've not mastered my Photoshop Elements yet.  Yes I've had the program since Christmas 2008 and yes it still scares the crap out of me.

DIY Maternity Jeans

So I found this link ages ago and saved it.  It's a tutorial to make maternity jeans out of a pair of your old jeans and a t-shirt.  I didn't ever look too close at the directions.  I did today and it seems a little complicated but not too bad.  It may or may not be worth it but when the $6 gap jeans start getting snug maybe you could experiment on one pair.

DI finds

So Sunday, as is customary, I came home from church, ripped off my dress, and pulled out my favorite jeans to change into. Except it seemed as though an accident had happened in the dryer, shrinking them in such a way that they refused to move their jeanie selves up over the hip region. It seemed like an epidemic, as 8 subsequent pairs of pants yielded similar results. GRRR!!! I've heard that in your second pregnancy things start to shift easier and faster than the first time, but holy cow, I'm only 5 weeks pregnant! I didn't even have any bigger jeans to use, because I gave all my too-big clothes away to a girl down the street who was loosing weight right behind me. I was stuck! Monday morning, Mom and I headed right to the to DI to hopefully find something that can bridge the gap between now and prego pants. I found 2 pairs of GAP pants for 6 bucks each! (Located on model) I also found this fabulous wrap sweater (perfect for the apparent rapid growth) for 5 bucks. Mom found the two IKEA chairs and bought them for me for 5 bucks each. Eva is modeling the white one (because she was jealous I was taking pics of me, not her), and Pretty Princess ($1.50) is modeling the yellow chair. Pretty Princess (as named by the birdster) turns out just won a spot on the reality series "Extreme Doll Makeover"...more on that to come later. :) Have a great day!

We need these

Stephmodo is hosting a giveaway.  We need these for spring.  Hurry and go up our chances by 50%!  I love the gray cardigan.  So cute, no?

I also love her blog in general.  It's always so stylish and sophisticated.

What I love today....YOU BABY!!! Happy valentine's Day

wanna make this...

I love how this looks. It makes it look expensive. Tutorial

Fused Plastic Grocery Bag Tutorial

Here's an idea of what you can make out of the fused plastic.  I saw these a while back and thought they would be cool but I wasn't sure I could really see myself messing with it.  But just think, you could make your own fabulous IKEA-like bags.

Tie Bracelets

I can't decide if these are cool or not. I kinda like them.

dude...i totally brag about my linking ability, and it didn't work. nerd alert. i'll try again. the fused plastic tutorial

How to fuse plastic bags

Um...I thought this was way rad. I don't know what to make out of said fused plastic once it's done, but it looks awesome. (Instructions Here) Are you proud of my linking ability?
nell

Lovely

wish these were my legs...(source)

Hello Green-Eyed Monster

This little beauty is now mine.  I tried to see if any of the local stores had any in stock so that I could go see it in person, but no luck.  So, I'm taking a chance and crossing my fingers that I love it as much in person.  I think it would be so cute for Easter and well every day after that.  

I found this on Old Navy's site today.  I love her too but I'm not sure she's $27 cute.  This looks like it would be so comfortable and snuggly, doesn't it?  Sadly I haven't had much luck with the ones I've tried on that are this style.  The front always ends up going down to my knees and looks ridiculous.  Maybe this one is different... 

Dork with a New Toy

I love this blog idea. I have no idea what I'm doing and therefore feel technologically inept but I like the challenge. I also like the challenge of finding new lovelies to share. Is it bad that after my first post I kept checking the blog to see if you'd post/respond like a 15 year old girl waiting for her crush to call?


Oh I should also say that if there's anything blog design wise that you want to change, feel free it's your blog too. The blog header was just something I threw together really fast while experimenting. If your amazing Photoshop skills can create something better then go for it. Again I have visions of awesomeness in my head with no idea on how to create them. I did find a blog called The Cutest Blog on the Bock with tips and tricks on how to do things. They also have free backgrounds if you want to make your blog all cutesy. I'm not sure I'm feeling cutesy but they do have great tips on how to do different design things with your blog.

Wish I took this...

Found in ellagraph's store on etsy. You're going to have to teach me to do all that link stuff. I have no idea...
nell

Scrabble Tile Love

Such a fun little Valentine craft.  Though I can't decide if I'm really into the whole decorate for every holiday like some people can be.  But if I were into it, this would be one easy peasy little project.  Found the tutorial on the blog 320 Sycamore.

Felt Play Houses

Liza's felt play house is still a pile of felt in my room of death.  I have dreams of it being wonderful and no desire or energy to make it.  Here's where this giveaway comes into play.  So many choices, aren't they lovely?  I'm one of 1150 people who entered to win.  You can enter until Feb 15th.  A girl can dream...

Good Art

I also very much enjoy the work of Peter Callesen. His art makes me happy.
Nell