{Master Bedroom: The Reveal}

Early last week I shared our fabulous new headboard with you here! And might I say, Thank you so much for your sweet comments and excitement about how it turned out! That project must have really got our juices flowing because that following weekend we managed to find and refinish new nightstands we found on craigslist, upgrade from our old queen mattress to a new cal-king AND build a new platform bed! Our Master bedroom is finally done (well, for now..) and we are absolutely LOVING it!

My husband would really love to share a tutorial for the platform bed he built, as he really couldn't find anything similar to how he built ours. So I'm going to give him the spotlight on Monday to give you a nice, detailed tutorial. But for the rest of you who are just here to see pictures, stay in your seats because that's exactly what I've got for you today!

 So without further ado, our Master makeover...

{Custom Headboard: A Labor of Love}

The last time we chatted about our Master bedroom, it looked a little something like this:

And our list of to-dos still looked like this:

• Replace ceiling fan
• Purchase and possibly refinish nightstands
• Upgrade to a Cal King bed
• Get a full size mirror (like this one)
• Eventually put up crown molding
• Build a headboard

 I'm so excited to share that a good chunk of that list has been checked off! This weekend my awesome hubby completed our headboard, which means that our to-do list now looks like this:

• Replace ceiling fan
• Purchase and possibly refinish nightstands (Found what we want and ready to purchase)
• Upgrade to a Cal King bed (Currently in the market)
• Get a full size mirror (like this one)
• Eventually put up crown molding
• Build a headboard
• Build/purchase closet organizer

Obviously we have made other small changes here and there over the course of a year, but this project has definitely been the most drastic improvement to our room so far! We're quite smitten with the turn out and amazed at what a big difference it makes in the overall feel of our bedroom.  But before I go on with the details and a brief tutorial, here she is in all her glory:

You might be wondering why we made it so wide and the answer is that we made it to fit a Cal-King bed that we are currently in the market to purchase - Yay!!! With that upgrade, there will be about a foot of headboard on each side. Of course that is our personal preference, but you could certainly cut it down to your desired width.

We really wanted the headboard to be a dominant element in our bedroom as we've chosen to keep our room simple with minimal furniture. I really love the rich tones and masculine/rustic balance this addition gives our space!

All-in-all, this was a fairly simple and inexpensive project. More than anything it required time, which these days is quite precious around here, so I consider this a labor of love from my husband!

I have put together a short step-by-step for this project below if you are interested (I apologize that I don't have any pictures of the process so please feel free to ask if anything is unclear or you have questions!)

Materials:
Eight 8 ft. Pine boards cut to the size you desire $4/each
Three 6 ft support boards  $3/each
Sand Paper: 80 & 150 grit Already had
Steel wool: 000 (an alternative would be 220 grit sand paper) $2
Stain: Minwax Wood Finish in Red Oak 215 $7.50 for 1 Qt.
Polyurethane:Satin finish (You could also use a Polycrylic) $15
Pack of disposable sponge brushes $4
3/4 in. brad nails and 2 1/2 in. finish nails Already had

Tools Used:
Palm sander
Nail gun

Step 1: Distressing For multiple reasons, we opted to start with new pine boards and distress them ourselves. Starting with eight 8 ft. boards, my husband went to town using various methods to stress the boards. Some of which included: pounding the boards with a double-thick bag of nails and screws, creating marks with drill bits, burn marks, making grooves with a chisel and screw driver etc. This process requires a lot of experimentation so don't be afraid of a little trial & error. Our goal was for each board to be unique so there was no right or wrong method. Once you have distressed the boards to your liking, you want to sand down all of the corners and any rough edges, first with the 80 grit and then the 150 grit sand paper.

Step 2: Staining Once you have sanded the boards, you will need to wipe them down with a damp cloth to remove any dust and particles. Also make sure that your work space is cleaned up well. You probably want to test a small area that has been sanded down first to make sure you like the stain. After you are sure about the stain color and you have mixed it well, apply one coat to the boards. Because we wanted some variation to our boards, we wiped the stain after applying for a lighter effect on a few boards, while leaving the stain on the other for a darker look. This is really up to you and how dark you want your finish. Allow the stain at least 24 hours to dry.

Step 3: Durability Once the stain is completely dry you are going to apply the polyurethane coats, allowing at least 24 hours in between for each coat to dry. You will want to apply a minimum of 2 coats for durability. Once each coat is dry and before reapplying, sand down the boards with your steel wool or 220 grit sand paper.

Step 4: Assembly After you have decided the order you want to boards to be assembled, you are ready to attach them to your three support boards. You will want to place two of the support boards so they are a few inches smaller than the width of your bed and place the third board in the center of them. When your stained boards are laid out evenly cross-ways on the support boards, begin nailing each board in place using the shorter brad nails. Once they are all attached, position your headboard in place and attach to the wall with the longer finish nails in the bottom of each support board. We also placed a few at the top of the headboard for additional support, using a small spacer board in the gap to account for the baseboard.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check back soon for the finishing touches on our Master bedroom makeover!

{DIY} Headband Storage

Over these past eight weeks, Claire's collection of headbands has multiplied by leaps and bounds! It didn't take long for the basket I was storing them in to completely overflow. And when I could no longer see most of them, I decided it was time for some additional headband storage. Enter my little afternoon project.

I'm quite proud that the inspiration for this little solution was all my own, no Pinterest necessary! All it took was a piece of twine (which I already had), two drawer pulls ($1 at Michaels) and two packages of hot pink, glittered mini-clothes pins ($2.99 for 10 at Michaels). Granted, I could have saved a few bucks and glittered some clothes pins I already had, but I saved myself the time and the glitter mess (since, as we all know, glitter is the herpes of craft supplies!) which was totally worth the extra money!

All in all, I am really happy with the turnout! Three cheers for simple, inexpensive (and not to mention, cute) organization!

Ruffled

I am a girly-girl to the core. And as such, have a soft spot for anything and everything with ruffles! So when I saw this super simple tutorial for a ruffled lamp shade, I was ALL over it! Especially since this particular lamp needed a little love. And a little love it got! It is now officially my favorite lamp in the house (at least until I fix up the two we just snagged at a garage sale)!

And the icing on the cake-I had all the materials necessary, so this little lampshade makeover was 100% F-R-E-E!

Just as a reference point, here's what it looked like before..

Happy Tuesday!

Adventures in Canning

This weekend my mom taught me to jam! Or rather, how to can our very own jam. And admittedly, it was way easier than I expected it to be! All these years I've been intrigued with the idea of canning, but assumed it entailed a lot more time and effort than it actually did. The basics: mash, mix, boil, pour and seal. Imagine that!

We ended up with a batch of raspberry jam and batch of blueberry spice jam (which smells of holiday bliss), but now that I feel more confident in the whole process, I have a whole slew of varieties to try! Watch out - I just might become a canning fool!

For Modesty's Sake

I am a full-fledged believer in breastfeeding. So much in fact, my freshman year of college I did a persuasive speech on why breastfeeding is so beneficial for my Communications final...And because of this fact, I have absolutely no problem with a woman nursing in public.

However, I totally understand and respect that breastfeeding is not for everyone and that it's a very personal choice. So, with respect to those who do not wish to see me nursing my baby, and for modesty's sake, I whipped up a few fantastically cute nursing covers (like these and these)!

I've seen them in several stores and drooled over a few lovely patterns, but once again my frugal side kicks in and I can't help but pull a, " I could totally make that!" when I see the $40-$50 price tag. Naturally, making them myself was my chosen alternative. And get this, I made both for only $18!!

After browsing a few patterns, I settled on this tutorial I found over at made by mama monster for her detailed and simple instructions and the fact that she included the wired top so I can see baby while she's nursing. I just love how they turned out! A full report on their usefulness after baby arrives:)

Sew Thrifty

Baby spit up? We've got that covered! We are officially stocked up on burp cloths, thanks to this little Tuesday night project. And the best part-they were super affordable to make! Thanks to plenty of leftover fabric I had from other recent projects, the only thing I needed was a 12-pack of Gerber cloth diapers (the old school kind), which I ended up finding at Walmart for $12. That brings each burp cloth to $1 a pop!

Everything I read about homemade burp cloths said cloth diapers were the most absorbent since they're made for baby's bottom. I love them to pieces, and hey, these might even make wiping up baby girl's mess a little more pleasant...maybe...

One Frame, Two Ways

This little project started with an all too familiar trip to Goodwill a few months back. I was browsing the housewares when I spotted two hideous brass frames filled with two even more hideous prints. They were deplorable to say the least, but since the frames themselves were quite unique, I was sure they could be salvaged for something a little less, well, hideous! Especially since they were marked down 50% . 

Sadly, within a few weeks of purchasing them we bought our house and into the spare closet they went, completely forgotten about. Until a few weeks ago that is, when all things buried in the depths of the closet were discovered. It was then I knew exactly how I wanted to re-purpose them. I must thank my mom for convincing me not to put them back when I started second guessing my purchase!

So without further ado, I give you, my new earring holder and Baby Girl's hair pretty holder! I am beside myself giddy that one simple purchase was able to fulfill two crafts I've been dying to make!

{Of course, until Baby Girl gets her own hair pretties, mine will be proudly displayed}

And this couldn't have been simpler to put together! All you need to do this yourself is:

1 frame, any shape and size
1 can spray paint
Depending on the size frame, about 1-2 yards of pretty ribbon/lace
Hot glue gun

After gently popping out the glass and picture, I (actually, Chris) gave each frame a few even coats of white spray paint and waited 24 hours for them to dry. After picking out just the right ribbon and lace, I simply hot glued strips to the back of the frame, making sure each strip was pulled taut so there was no sag. After a few minutes, you're ready to load em' up!

Don't you love discovering treasure in your own mess?!

Nesting and Boppy Covers

Call it nesting to the tenth degree, but I spent last weekend purging, organizing and completely cleaning out our guest/craft room! All for the sake of having a clean room to complete the bazillion sewing projects I currently have on my list of things to make. With the insane amount of energy I've encountered lately, I figure I'll take advantage while it's here!

My first project was sewing my own Boppy cover. Since all the covers I was finding seemed crazy overpriced ($40-50 each!), I decided that making them myself was the route I wanted to take. Plus, I could customize with a fabric I loved!

With a little advice from my friend Taryn, who also went the DIY route, I was off to Joann's! And in a few short hours, I ended up with this:

Ahh, I LOVE this pretty combo of celery, blush and coral! It's so girly and chic!

 So glad I decided to make my own because not only was this a really simple project, but I saved a lot of money since I was armed with a few 40% off coupons for Joann's, which I constantly get in the mail!

p.s. - wouldn't these make a wonderful baby shower gift?!

For anyone interested in making your own Boppy cover, I used the Simplicity pattern 4225.

Here's the breakdown of what this little project cost me:

Nurture Nest Pillow insert: $17
3 yards of fabric: $18 (enough for 2 covers)
Piping: $5
3' velcro strip $.50
Total cost: $40.50

Next on my list: a nursing cover and burp cloths!

Nursery DIY: Closet Craftiness

With a closet full of clothes in all different sizes, baby girl's walk-in needed some serious organization! Several weeks ago I found some cute closet dividers that were made of plastic so you could write the various sizes on the tags, which I loved! But with a price tag of $18, I was sure I could DIY something just as cute. And then I stumbled upon this wonderful little tutorial over at Fresh Crush, which was perfect because I already had everything I needed! A free project I can complete while watching a rerun of Friends? Sign me up!

Now my Sweet Pea's clothes are separated by size, making it much easier to determine what she might still need!

Dreaming in Gray

I shared a while back that Chris and I planned on getting the master bedroom re-do started. Unfortunately, others things have gotten in the way. But I think it's finally back on our radar. And guess what? I've changed my mind on the paint color...shocking, right? So for that, I am thankful because I am even happier with my current choice.

As for my inspiration, I am completely awed by the picture above. I love the serene, calm, yet romantic feel of the gray room. I love gray! Now if I could just convince my husband to replace the current ceiling fan with a chandelier, we would be set!

Keep your eye out for Master Bedroom makeover part 1! Coming soon!

image/via

Bedroom Talk

After living in our house for nearly 2 months, I have a nagging urge to finally paint our bedroom. We initially decided to focus on the downstairs since it's the area everyone sees the most and also to get a feel for what we wanted in our bedroom. I'm not gonna lie to you, it's been really hard to wait on this project! But, it gave us ample time to not only live in the space, but get a better grasp on how we wanted the whole project to go down.

I'm not saying I know exactly what I want for the master re-do just yet, but one thing I do have is a paint color and I'm excited! Details to come as this little project unfolds!

Now to find a free weekend! Happy Thursday!