do you tutu?

I know I know, more photos. But every day is a photoshoot opportunity when your mom is a photographer. She's my little willing model and I couldn't be more happy to practice on her.

milestone mania

We're experiencing lots of new things around here these days. A first tooth, lots of first foods, and the first ponytail. First night sleeping in the crib, first time lowering the mattress height to avoid a bebe escape and the first time 'normal' crawling instead of just crab walking. That last one has led to the first bumps and bangs. She's not exactly stable but she's determined and stubborn and hardwood floors aren't getting in her way. This is the stage I've been waiting for, all the exciting milestones and a mobile little happy bebe in tow. And I'm pretty sure she's enjoying every minute too.

upcycled soap boxes: baby blocks

Thanks to a good deal on Amazon, I had several of these soap boxes. I'm storing the soap themselves in a glass jar, so I don't need the boxes anymore. Now what to do what to do, recycle reuse right?

I know, make some baby building blocks, brilliant! {Unless you have a baby with a tooth and a tendency to chew on everything. I learned the hard way and had to re-cover a couple boxes.}  Now I can keep adding to the collection whenever I have a toothpaste box or any small box I come across. It was simple really, I just sat myself down with a few rolls of wrapping paper and went to town. I let bebe play with all the leftover shreds of paper and she was in paper-ripping heaven. That managed to keep her occupied as I finished the whole project.

I even went overboard and covered a shoe box to store them all in. BUT it's not perfect so there's no way I'm showing you the inside...all in all a simple, free, quick project.

this old foreclosed home: three season porch reveal

So here it is, the last unfinished room in the house. The room I stared at through the kitchen window. Every time I did dishes, there was that giant glaring reminder of the one last giant project to mark off my list. Now let's not go crazy and think I get things DONE, because really, if you notice the green painters tape up on the ceiling, you'll see I clearly do not finish projects start to finish. Instead I do the big gloomy part of it first, and then leave small little easy things to finish later. Because, well, if I didn't have an ongoing to-do list, I just wouldn't be me.

Here are a few of the disturbing before pictures. When we bought this house, it needed more than just help, but the outside porch and the landscaping in general was long neglected. This screened in porch sat like this for a while, and then we cleaned it up a bit, tore up the carpet and the sagging screens, and used it like a deck. But there was so much potential out there and I couldn't see letting that go to waste. 

Since we adjusted the kitchen layout so much, we had to remove the two existing windows to make room for the slider. We also had to lose the single door to the deck in exchange for our laundry room off the kitchen. The slider let in a bit more light, but the porch roof was blocking a lot of sunlight, so we added a skylight before finishing the ceiling.

We kept a lot of the wood shakes and added more to fill in where we needed. We had a contractor come out and create a wood floor, a slatted ceiling and windows surrounding the structure. Unfortunately I had to do the finish work on the inside, and since we completed the structure by December, we had to wait until spring to paint and lacquer the wood. Oh and then I had a baby and you can't exactly lacquer a ceiling with a baby strapped to your back. 

With a lot of help from friends and my mother-in-law coming over to watch the baby, we were able to get it finished within a week. It was a ton of work but the results are amazing. And then the roof leaked. A few times. It needed repair before I dared go spend money on furnishings and a rug only to watch them get ruined. So a project that should have taken a month or two took a year. Well, almost. But I give you, our finished {except for the molding to hold in our insulation, sheesh...} sunroom.

The chairs are Ektorp arm chairs from IKEA in white, $250 a piece, but I did comparison shop and couldn't find anything cheaper. These were by far the best most comfortable option, and I knew I had to have white to avoid the sun fading any other color. The rug was from IKEA as well, at 6 1/2 x 10 feet the $200 price tag wasn't awful. The poufs were made by me at about $25 for both. The rattan rug was a clearance deal at Lowe's for $10.

This is my favorite little picturesque corner. I love the star {free from a friend and painted white}, the coat rack {$10 from IKEA but found in the box at Goodwill for $2}, the sign was a goodwill find that I painted with chalkboard paint, and the boot tray is from Target. 

The floor was painted a nice porch blue, I can find the exact info if anyone's interested. All the white trimwork was painted bright white in Behr's paint and primer in one.

The orange side table was also a friend freebie, but it's an IKEA table that I'm not sure they carry anymore. I simply spraypainted it orange to fit in with my theme. The small basket is from Home Goods, $15. The coasters I made. The glass hurricane was something from my old stash and I revamped it by glueing some jute around the base.

This larger basket was $35 at Home Goods, so it was a splurge but I happened to have a gift card, yay for me.

So far, I've spent a lot of time out here in our new 'second living room'. I think it'll be well worth the investment for the dog, the bebe and me. Because we all love our fresh air, minus the bugs...

Congratulations, it's an eater!

This girl is a big time eater. Food food and more food. She's loving everything we put on her plate and she wants everything she sees. Which is good, except that I've had to resort to eating my lunch in a closet...

the orange shoes I never wore...

Are now updated with a preppy twist.

I bought these flats on clearance at Old Navy, pre-summer. I adored them, but surprisingly enough there aren't a lot of outfits that call for bright orange flats. Since I wasn't exactly comfortable rockin' the ultra-bright orange on my feet, I thought there had to be a way to subdue them a bit. Thanks to Pinterest's simple search function, I found some inspiration here.

I fashioned a couple of bows out of some scrap fabric and hot glued them on. Voi la! I'm very excited to wear my new old shoes...

vase upcycle

I'm no perfectionist, and I'm ok with that but if you're not, bottom line: don't try this. Basically, I cut a piece of fabric and glued it to the glass vase using mod podge. Simple, quick, cute. I realize I'll have to be careful cleaning it but, again, I'm ok with that. Maybe this project is better for things devoid of water, like candle holding, makeup organizing or pen stashing. Think about it and go use up those tiny pieces of fabric in your stash...

Sadie baby

Our Sadie hurt herself this weekend while we were away for the day. I'm guessing she jumped off the bed and slipped a disc or popped a hip out of joint. She's having a hard time getting around, so after a very expensive trip to the vet hospital that gave us no answers, she's on rest and pain pills. She is acting a little more like herself today but I'm keeping a close eye on her:

the nursey, all grown up

So being that LC is my first bebe, I wasn't really sure how to plan and prepare for her or her room. Now that she's been here a while, I have a better understanding of what I need in her room, and that's why it's changed a bit. Here's a refresher of what it used to look like: pre-bebe room.

And here's some of the new design:

A new floor rug, a definite must with an unbalanced sitter:

Some shelving for more gadget gathering, like a noise machine:

And for books:

And now for some details. Pink glitter frame with chalkboard paper displays birth details.

Baskets for holding extra blankets.

Our updated feet art:

A peeking baby:

A couple of pine boards with a cool grey stain for wall shelves and a basket for floor toys:

Well I guess that's it! It's my favorite room in the house...