Inspiration & Application

So my friend Maria recently invited me to this website, Pinterest, where you can save pictures from things all over the internet and categorize them into topics like books & travel & food.  I was delighted by all the fun things my friends share there and realized this would have been a very helpful resource a few months back when I was snatching images from all over to help me with the baby room.  As it is, I have a bunch of pictures and no referring websites to give proper credit to their sources.  Anywho, enough with the chatter.  Want to see how things have come together?

This is baby's bedding~ lots of circles and bright colors that led us in our decor decisions.

The Rocking Chair~ This was by far the biggest project in the nursery.  We received a wonderful rocker from Kyle's family that was aching for some new upholstery.  Here's how it started:

Silly me~ this is the best picture I have of it from before the transformation.  It's behind the clashing pillow.  Merry Christmas & Happy It's a Wonderful Life.

Kyle stripped it down to reveal what was beneath....

We needed some inspiration for this chair.  After a little sleuthing online, here are the two looks that appealed the most~

I'm not sure if you can tell, but this love seat shares the similar duck head armrest feature.  I liked the velvet look with white trim, but red wasn't the right color.

The brown and white rocker here is obviously a lot more contemporary than ours, but since we were going with a circle theme for the nursery, I liked the colors and the paper lanterns above.

Kyle then sanded it really well, and we painted it in our living room while enjoying the Ken Burns Civil War series on PBS.  What ought to have been the highlight of the transformation was not recorded with my camera.  Shame on me.  My little sister, Miss Foo, and Kyle reupholstered the chair with a brown canvas and all new stuffing.  Lastly, Kyle and I hot glued a velvety trim to cover the rough edges and staples.

The Bookshelf~ We inherited a rickety little bookshelf from my parents.  It was not the most attractive thing with stains all over it.  I've used it for years (since I was in college).  As a testament to how ugly it was, there are really no pictures of it on my computer with the exception of this....

See it in the corner on the right side of the page?  This was right after we moved in.  Also, note the brown-framed pushpin board next to it.  It was recently transformed, too.

Kyle reinforced it's loose joints with some nails and wood glue.  We gave it a few coats of fresh white paint, but I wanted to make it a bit more special.  How about a background color?  Inspiration~ (this one I know for sure was from Young House Love)

 We picked out an apple green paint sample from Home Depot (only a couple of dollars) that went with the green in our baby bedding.  After a few applications, here's what we have...

Wall Art~Remember the pushpin board from above.  I wanted to make it into something a bit fancier for wall art since the nursery is big and has a lot of bare space to be filled.  Inspiration~

I saw this cute idea for button topped pushpins....

...then I saw this cute button art (probably on etsy).

I painted the frame white (lots of white paint in this nursery), had my little sister cut and whip stitch a big piece of brown velveteen for me, and superglued buttons to push pins.  I printed off an "H" in a fancy font off the computer to use as a template to have as the center ("H" is for Hamilton or Hamiltot or Hamboy~ whatever you like really).  I am terrible at pictures and couldn't prevent the buttons from glaring in each picture.  This is the best of several (can I blame my camera?)....

I wrote about this before, but I'm not sure I showed my inspiration (a pillow from etsy) for baby's watercolor.

My painting with colors to suit the room.

Since I enjoy a little needlecraft from time to time, I wanted to do some fun & easy projects for more wall art.  Here's my inspiration...

This is the idea I wanted to follow~ felt & thread designs framed in the hoop.

More birds~ I really think they are so cute!

After seeing these pillows, I wanted to apply them to the hoop framed look with my own colors.  Here's what I did~

Kyle and I are really happy with the projects we did to prepare for the little one's arrival.  In the coming days, I'll reveal the whole nursery to you.  Since this is a long post, it's time to call it a day and enjoy dinner with my sweet husband.  Only 3 weeks to go!  As Austrians are known to say to babies, hasta la vista!

Knick Knacks

Knick Knack Paddy-Whack~ We had a baby shower that was sort of a one last hoorah with friends before the baby arrives (and while I'm still able to sort of maneuver through a large group of folks).  Since we have most of the essentials covered thanks to our first baby shower with Hamilton friends in North Carolina, we thought it'd be nice to beef up baby's library.  After all, no Hamiltot of ours can live in our home and not be a lover of books.  Our friends chose some lovely stories they cherished from childhood and inscribed the covers for our little one.  I'm so excited that our friends and family will have had a part in expanding our boy's imagination. 

Aunt Foo selected The Velveteen Rabbit with original illustrations and even whipped up a velveteen friend for baby.  How sweet!

Knick Knacks and Thingamabobs~ Remember Kyle's Christmas stocking?  Well, it's been sitting for months in my sewing bag waiting for its finishing touches~ the bobbles.  I had been meaning to shop for odds and ends to sew onto it for ages but only got around to it when Kyle and I went to Babies'R'Us located conveniently next to a Michael's.  Behold my handy work...

Cutie collars and beaded reins for each tiny little reindeer

Not the fanciest, but Santa now has a bundle of candy canes thrown over his shoulder with a lovely ribbon.  This was the task I dreaded most and probably could have done better if I had been more strategic.  So long as Kyle approves, I suppose it'll do.

Trinkets for Pere Noel's staff

A classy button for his skate

Hard to see but there are beads in the center of the swirls

The final product~ next time you see this jolly old fella, he ought to be transformed into a sock sack.  I'm leaving him in the capable hands of Miss Foo (see velveteen rabbit above for her seamstress skills).

Knick Knack Knock Knees~  Or what I think are knees... This baby is super busy, and he's keeping me at the doctor a lot these days.  We visited 3 doctors this week.  We went to the dentist because pregnant women are at a higher risk of having dental problems (I have experienced a good bit of bleeding each time I brush).  We learned that I should make sure to get enough fluoride, and if I get infections in my gums it can lead to pre-mature labor and a low birth weight for baby.  Next we visited a pediatrician just up the street.  We met a very kind doctor who gave us great information about the services they offer.  He sounds smart because he has a sweet South African accent (being South African and all).  The only down side was that the front office staff were a bunch of sour pickles~ they need to get a little joy working around all the children.  On a brief side note, I've worked in both daycare and the front office for a healthcare center.  Both those jobs can be pretty taxing so maybe I can be strategic about praying for these ladies and learning about where they are coming from (I might also mention that I was inspired by this blog post by Pat Harley).  Finally, today baby and I ventured to the OB.  All is looking good & like a good little man, he has been head down for 4 weeks already.  He and I are on the same page so far about his exit strategy.  I need to practice my birthing skills though before the big day...

32 weeks and still squeezing into my jeans (but just barely).

My mom sometimes talks about "LRBs" or "little round bellies".  I think we have surpassed the little part, but I'm not sure a "BRB" or a "big round belly" would work....

Speaking of knocking knees, I am in love with Fred Astaire and delight in most of his movies.  There's a cute number (which features neither him nor Ginger Rogers) in the Gay Divorcee I'd like to share with you.  Seems like the casting office wouldn't hire any female dancers who weren't blond.  Brunettes need not apply...

Every Time A Bell Rings...

Zuzu's teacher may not have dressed her to go out into the cold when she sported a pinned flower on her dress, but she did instill the principle that every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.  I'm always grateful that this is true for Clarence, but I wondered this week as I was completing my cross-stitch project of a stocking if there may be another equally good reward for angels.  After all, it takes comparatively a small amount of effort and little time to ring a bell; I started my project in January and it took the better part of three months to see it through.  I would submit that the angels deserve a week long trip to Tahiti every time I complete a cross-stitched Christmas stocking.  May I share my results with you?

A row of green was added under Santa's skates followed by some fancy reindeer each with its own style of saddle

Beneath the reindeer's hooves are a collection of colorful squares.

The complete stocking

A close up of all those funky squares

Hee Haw & Merry Christmas Kyle!

Home Hum

Ever have one of those weeks where you have nothing to talk/write about?  For days I've had the urge to write, but every time I sit to put some words down, I come up with nothing.  I walked around my lovely apartment a time or two and found some things to share. 

Guitar & banjo suspended... now to figure out how to make the floor area a bit more usable...

This is the Bible study I'm doing~we're reading one book in the Bible a week starting from Genesis.  I <3 the Amazing Collection.

Remember my cross-stitch project?  It's a Christmas stocking for Kyle & I'm making progress.

The most backstitching I've ever done in my life.  Some serious sewers may say I haven't been living.

More progress even though Santa looks more squat in this shot.  I picked light blue for Kyle's name~it definitely doesn't show up as well in the photograph as in real life.

Happy St. Patrick's day!  My old digital camera embellished my photos back in the day with digital stripes.  Someone out there~ if you get to enjoy a Guinness today on this oh so Irish holiday, do it for me.

She's Crafty

My sisters are both quite skilled in practical crafts.  My big sister has cross-stitched a number of beautiful samplers; they are very good.  My little sister sews like a genius and makes really sweet items like costumes to purses to stuffed animals.  Once upon a time I was an avid cross-stitcher and amateur knitter.  I even tried my hand at transforming an old pair of jeans into a funky backpack.  It was not a success, and thankfully there is no evidence proving it ever existed.  I considered that perhaps my adult craft was writing, but it's not like I can frame a blog entry and put it on my wall.  Well, my little sister has upped the stakes by throwing knitting into her cute bag of tricks.  On top of that, you could say my big sister professionally writes since she is a minister and master of sermon composition.  I had to do something, but what?

KHud's angel sampler is impressive.  They are cute.

Miss Foo administers moon justice with friends in her Sailor Moon costume.

Remember this small attempt at knitting I accomplished last summer?  You are looking at my finished product... *sigh*

Well, it turns out that color coding my calendar with Crayolas isn't exactly special.  Furniture organization was much easier with my college furniture~so becoming more feng shui seemed a little senseless with all the heavy stuff in our home.  I have yet to find a way to make doing the dishes or laundry creative though I've considered stacking/folding in an unusual way (think Lincoln Logs).  Turns out rhythmic running will never qualify for Olympic status; as a matter of fact~most runners run rhythmically.  I won't even try to become a chef extraordinaire~have you met my husband?  Just give me a box of mac'n'cheese and Rotel, and you have fancy noodles.

Back to square one... Happily, opportunity came knocking.  Over the holidays we used a borrowed stocking for Kyle that needed to be returned to its homeland (North Carolina).  My mom and big sister invited me to come along to the local cross-stitch shop.  They picked out some new projects, and I felt inspired to pick out a little something something for the hubs.  Now I couldn't execute this stocking single-handedly.  Big sis, KHud, whip stitched my edges and helped me get started.  She even penciled Kyle's name onto the pattern for me.  Miss Foo, the younger sis, will likely construct the actual stocking part of the stocking.  It's basically like I'm doing nothing.

Au revoir tete de bonhomme de neige.

Now if you are into cross stitch, I'll share the magical details.  It's on a linen fabric that looks a bit rustic (as you can probably tell from the image).  I'm using a DMC floss, but I'm using 4 of the 6 threads at a time so it stands out (rather than 2).  There~now that I've revealed the secrets of my trade, I will bore you no more.

A blurry finished product from the cover of the pattern.  There is no Robert in our Ham fam.

My progress~it's a headless Santa.  Less than cheery....

The goal is to have my part done well before the holiday so that it can be a stress-free project.  Also, it's a bit addicting; perhaps I'll tackle a sampler or something else before 2011 comes to a close.  Once again, I can feel like I fit in with my oh-so Sense and Sensibility siblings.  Happy day!