My Fall Mantel...Finally

Hopefully you haven't been waiting on the edge of your seat for this post.  Life with twins is B-U-S-Y and I cannot promise how often or when I will be posting ever again.  Ha.  If you are interested, you can sign up to receive my posts (when they go up) via email.  Just type your email address in the right sidebar under "Subscribe to this Blog" and hit submit!

So....our fall mantel.  I kept it simple and used mostly all things that I already owned.

I placed some cotton that I got from work last year in a small thrifted brass vase.

The white pumpkins are plastic ones that I spray painted (also from last year).

The gold candlestick is last season Target and the felt leaf garland is another project from fall 2013 (excuse the awful pics from back then).  

I just love the colors in this print.  And at $1.50, it's hard to beat.  I printed it on some card stock and popped it into a frame.

The bird in hand print is a postcard that Clare Elsaesser included in one of my orders from her Etsy shop.  

Happy Fall, guys!

Posts Coming...I Promise

So, I hadn't planned to have so much radio silence for so long here on the blog after the twins were born, but they are keeping us very busy.  I did find time to put together a simple Fall mantel and add a few Fall touches around the house, which I'm hoping to photograph this week and show you.  I'm also planning on making a Fall wreath for the front door and grabbing some mums and pumpkins in the next few weeks.

I had my first pumpkin spice beverage this week...a Pumpkin Spice Frappucino.  It was my first time trying it and it was tasty.  Seth also made these easy pumpkin cinnamon rolls this weekend and they were tasty.  Pretty rich but super tasty.

For now, I'll leave you with this cute picture.  (Don't they look so happy to have their picture made? Haha.)

 

How can my babies have changed this much already???

Introducing Oliver and Iris

As many of you know (or may have guessed), I've been absent from the blogosphere because the twins arrived!

Oliver Andrew and Iris Joy were born on June 19th at 10:44pm and 10:45pm, respectively.  Oliver weighed a whopping 7 lb 10 oz and Iris weighed a respectable 6 lb 13 oz.  They were both 20 inches long.  

I am so thankful (despite my extreme discomfort) that I was able to carry them to 38 weeks and that they were big, healthy babies.  

Oliver is solid.  He is eating and growing like a weed.  He is always moving and flailing and trying to go somewhere.  He is a pretty content baby except for when he is hungry.

Iris is more petite and the sweetest little thing.  She is overall a fussier baby and she will let you know as soon as her diaper needs to be changed.  She is a lady after all.  

And just in case you were wondering where their loyalties lie as football season approaches...

They will be two months old next week!  We are establishing somewhat of a schedule and some daily routines around here but they are babies and are still unpredictable little things.  

DIY Tree Mobile for Twin Nursery

Here's the quick rundown on how we made our tree mobile.  (Inspired by this.)

We used a gold macrame ring, fishing line, and balsa wood.

We found a simple tree template and used it to trace and cut out three different sized trees.

Seth used a tiny drill bit to drill a small hole in the top of each tree.

Then, Seth left 1/3 of them natural, stained 1/3 with a light coat of Minwax's Special Walnut stain, and stained the remaining 1/3 with a heavy coat of Minwax's Special Walnut stain.

Then, I simply used fishing line and tied the trees onto the macrame ring in a random design.  I varied their heights and the different colors as I went along.

We tied three lengths of fishing line at even intervals around the top of the ring, brought them together, tied a knot, and hung the mobile on a white screw hook.

Simple as that.  :)

New Sconces for the Front Porch

Our old porch sconces were a bit too traditional and oversized for our taste (but they caught somebody's eye as they were snatched up the night we set them out at the curb).  

I ordered our new sconces back in December but they arrived with two broken pieces of glass.  Apparently, I snagged some of the last ones because when I called to exchange them, the sconces were backordered for months.  The customer service rep offered to send replacement glass pieces instead.  I told her that was fine.  Turns out those were backordered as well, but were due to come in before the sconces.

Well...four months later and we FINALLY received the glass pieces (which were thankfully well packaged and intact).  Seth replaced the broken panes and wired the new sconces.  

I love them.  They are a much better fit with our other outdoor updates and they give off more light than the old ones.

The glass panes are seeded glass, which I really like.

We potted some coleus and I'm calling our Spring/Summer porch done.

Plywood Mountain Accent Wall in Nursery

I'm back with the tutorial on our nursery's accent wall.

My inspiration:

1  //  2  //  3

Apparently, the painted mountain mural has become a thing lately.  I liked the idea of painting the mountains but I also wanted something a little different.  So, my idea of using 1/4" thick plywood and attaching it to the wall was born.

Supplies:

• 1/4" thick plywood (we used three 4 x 8 sheets)
• painters tape
• measuring tape and pencil
• jigsaw with fine tooth blade (to avoid splintering your wood)
• drill with countersink bit
• screws
• wood filler
• stain of your choice
• polyurethane of your choice

We started by laying out our pieces of plywood side by side as they would be when mounted on the wall.

I used some scrap pieces of wood as a visual guide for where to tape off my peaks and valleys and used painter's tape to map out my design.

I just stepped back and played with it as I went.  I tried to alternate higher peaks with lower peaks and wider based mountains with more narrow ones.  

*TIP: Get plywood pieces that are the same base color (i.e. NOT what is pictured above).  It will make your life easier when trying to get a uniform look with stain later.

After I was satisfied with my design, I used a pencil to trace it out.  I just carefully followed along the inner line of the painters tape and found that I didn't need a straight edge.

It is probably difficult to see, but the board above has been marked with pencil.  We removed the painter's tape and Seth used our jigsaw to carefully cut out the design on all three boards.

Before moving them into the house for installation, he applied stain to the cut edges.  We figured it would be easier to do this now versus after installation so that we could avoid getting stain all over our wall.  

Then, we simply mounted them up piece by piece using our countersink drill bit and screws.

Next, Seth sanded the holes smooth, applied wood filler, waited for it to dry, and then sanded it down.  I believe he also did a second round of wood filler and sanding (it often shrinks down when it dried and requires a second application) before moving on to staining.

I chose Minwax's Special Walnut stain for him to use.  He applied it in sections, wiping the excess away before it dried completely.  He did one full coat of it and then applied two coats of Acrylacq in a satin finish.

I don't have any progress pictures since I was banned from the room during staining and sealing.  Seth left the window open and used a fan to pull the fumes from the room and direct them outside.

As for the clouds, I mostly followed this tutorial.  I used this wrapped wire from Jo-Ann's.  After forming my clouds, I used a small piece of masking tape to hold the ends together before spray painting them gold.

We used small finishing nails to hang the clouds.

I really love how the mountain wall turned out.  It brings in that natural, rustic, outdoorsy feel that I was hoping for.

Modern, Outdoorsy, Gender Neutral Nursery for Boy/Girl Twins

Is that a long enough post title for you?  Since there isn't an overwhelming theme to our nursery, it makes it a bit more difficult to describe.

I am super happy with how this room turned out.  It's gender neutral, contains my favorite colors (blue and green), incorporates some elements of the outdoors (oh how I miss the mountains of east Tennessee!), is modern, fresh, happy, and inviting.  At least I think so.  It's pretty much perfect for us.    And hopefully, the twins will agree.

So...without further ado...here is our nursery!

mountain accent wall & clouds - DIY, tutorial coming soon  |  alphabet print  |  leather chair - snatched up for half off from West Elm, no longer available  |  schumacher print pillow  |  green pillow  |  aqua pillow  |  mouse pillow  |  fox pillow  |  sleep bunny  | sleep sheep  |  cribs  |  chevron geo dot crib sheets  |  raccoon storage bin  |  rug

I think the Schumacher zimba print pillows are perfect for the room as they echo the lines of the mountain accent wall.

tree mobile - DIY, tutorial coming soon  |  swoop art  |  canoe paddle art  |  owl art  |  tripod floor lamp - DIY  |  changing pad  |  changing pad cover  |  changing pad tray - DIY  |  boon organizer  |  dresser - thrifted  |  glider (was on sale and got an additional discount, but still a splurge)  | lane side table - yard sale find refinished  |  brass swan - thrifted  |  brass owl - thrifted  |  dohm sound machine  |  wooden toys - yard sale  |  curtains

We decided to incorporate a chair for me and a chair for Seth since we are having two babies and might enjoy sitting in the nursery together while we each cuddle one.

picture ledges used as bookshelves  |  wooden train toy - yard sale find  |  campfire nightlight (a splurge - I couldn't help myself)  |  brass rocking horse - thrifted, gift  |  felt bins

My sister-in-law is making us one more piece of artwork to hang above the glider, but otherwise, the room is complete!  I can't wait to introduce our little ones to their special space.

overhead light - DIY  |  bamboo and sheepskin ottoman - DIY