Baby Room Wall Art

I can NOT believe that I never got around to posting the cute wall art I hung in baby E's room! He's only, like, 14 months now. Think I need to do a post on finding balance here soon...

Anyway, my dear friend Brit made the cutest wall art for her son's room using her Cricut. I just HAD to have some for E's room, so I picked a cow, hippo, fox and frog to match some of the things we already had for his room.

She did such an amazing job!!

I knew I wanted white frames, so I found some chunky ones on sale at Michael's, along with four corresponding pieces of scrapbook paper.

I simply used sticky tabs on the animals (incase I ever wanted to use them elsewhere) and framed them without the glass.

I had the hubs hang them in baby's room -- one on each side of the window, and one on each side of the door.

Now E's old enough to recognize the animals, so it's become a morning ritual to say hello to each one. Love 'em!

The Big One

My sweet baby turned the big O-N-E today! It's SO hard to believe a year has come and gone so quickly. We celebrated with a trip to the aquarium today, and his party with the rest of the family's on Saturday. Needless to say I'll be scrambling over the next few days to get the house clean... or at least look clean...


Also been busy making decorations (including the super easy pennant banner below), so will share those over the next week. It's amazing how easy it is to get caught up in the decorating side of things, especially since there's really no "baby friendly" birthday activities. If they can't really do anything, guess the house should look pretty, right? ;)

Baby Room Letters

Finally getting around to a project post!!! These letters have driven me insane for awhile. Simply because I wanted them finished before baby E was born in July... and it's now February... better late than never, right?

So I had the idea of making letters for E's room, thinking it would be a quick project. But I got caught up in work, baby and everything else and these got put on the back burner for awhile. Now that I have work off my plate, I finally got them finished. Did they turn out exactly as I pictured? Not quite. Am I super excited they're done? Definitely!

I started with plain white letters I got on sale at a craft store (can't remember if it was Hobby Lobby or Michaels).

I thought they might look small on the wall, so I wanted to attach each to a canvas.

Using baby's bedding as inspiration...

...I drew out an idea of how I wanted to paint each canvas.

And then I started painting...

And then I took a few months hiatus, where they sat in this spot on a table up until a few weeks ago. After finishing the canvases, I painted the edges of the letters before attaching them with non-toxic craft glue. I also used a few adhesive stickies on the backs just to make sure they didn't fall off.

I am soo glad to see them done and finally up on the wall!

I think they look small in the picture, but it does take up a nice chunk of wall space. And I think the colors turned out great -- for some reason, the A is my favorite.

I think for the next kid, we're going with a vinyl wall decal ;).

Linking up to this fabulous party:

Baby Shower Cupcakes

I was sorting through some photos for my next project post (finally!), and ran across this photo of my adorable cupcakes from one of my baby showers:

Aren't they cute?! The colors and patterns match baby's room. Now, if only I had one... or three... to eat right now...

Entertaining Baby on a Budget

Entertaining a 6-month old has become more challenging. And, doing it on a budget can sometimes be even more challenging. Face it, there are times when feeding, toys, spit up, explosive diaper, tummy time, nap, toys, diaper, tummy time, assisted sitting time, diaper, spit up, feed, nap, repeat repeat repeat wears out even the best of mommas. It's always nice to get out of the house and do something -- for not only your own sanity, but to help stimulate baby's developing body & brain with something different. Especially when baby's a social butterfly like E.

But, it's not always easy to do that when you want to save money -- a daily outing can add up quickly. So, here's a few of the ways baby and I like to spend the day... without spending a dime (except, of course, for gas):

1. Feed ducks at the park, using whatever stale bread or crackers you have at home
2. Hang out at the library and let baby stare at the other kids... or beat books against the table.
3. Set up a play date with friends who have babies similar in age.
4. Go to Cabelas and visit the fish tank -- baby will be mesmerized for hours... and it's free!
5. Dress baby up super cute (and I mean SUPER cute), take him into any store, and let him squeal & smile at every person that stops to talk to him. After the 20th person, he'll be worn out and ready to nap all the way home.
6. Walk the mall, provided you can skip the good sales and bypass the uber-good smelling pretzels. Combine this and #5, and you've got a winner!
7. Go to a dog park and watch the pups from outside the fence. Granted, if your baby doesn't like dogs, this might not be the best idea...
8. Take a walk around the neighborhood. Or, load up the stroller and take a walk around a new neighborhood. Never know when you'll discover a new park.
9. And, if all else fails, lay out a blanket in the backyard. When he gets bored looking at the trees, lay down a magazine for him to rip up. Holy moly, he'll stay so entertained, he'll forget about his dirty diaper.

Of course, I'm sure there are a million ideas on Pinterest that I have yet to explore. What are / were some of your favorites?

Photo Op

Pinterest is an amazing, addicting thing. So many ideas, so little time! And when I do find something cute, I always hope I can remember it when the opportunity presents itself. I came across this absolutely adorable picture before Christmas:

Precious! So when we were putting up our tree, I scared the bee-jeebies out of J, the hubs, when I said to stop with the lights and grab the baby while I grab the camera.

Didn't work quite as well, but still a cute picture. Love the expression on his face, like "Momma, are you sure this is safe?" :)

1/2 Year Birthday Cake

Awhile back, my mom told me a cute story of how my grandma had made my brother a "1/2" year birthday cake. So when my munchkin's 6-month birthday rolled around on Wednesday, I thought about doing the same. But, after a day of reading books at the library (read: trying to keep him from chewing on books at the library) and feeding the ducks at the park, I kind of forgot about the whole cake thing until on our way home. So, I stopped at Kroger and saw the cutest little cakes -- and only $3.99!

I picked up one, along with a blue gel icing tube (pen?) and some star candles.

I cut the tip of the gel tube off at an angle so it would be easier to write on the side of the cake. Surprisingly, it was super easy and didn't drip.

Then, I cleared sprinkles off the top and wrote his age -- "1/2" :)

Cute, huh? After dinner we added the candles and let E stare at it for awhile before blowing them out, cutting him off a piece, and letting him smash it to bits. Luckily he didn't put any of it in his mouth, though his clothes (and us) were covered.

Cheers to many many more wonderful months ahead, sweet boy!

Happy New Year + Getting Organized

Hi there! Wow, I can't believe it's another new year already. Seems like I just got used to writing "2011". While I haven't officially formed my resolutions yet (maybe not procrastinating should be one of them?), blogging more is definitely one of them. Which goes hand-in-hand with finishing all of the projects I half-way started and getting organized around the house.

Another priority is getting -- and keeping -- the house clean. I cringe at the word, as the house is a total dump right now. Working from home while taking care of my now almost 6 month old has resulted in a quite neglected house. I found a great 15-minute cleaning schedule on Pinterest, and I'm hoping it's the miracle I'm looking for! You can check it out at Organizing Made Fun. Starting it today, so I'll let you know how it goes next week.

And, just because I'm a proud momma and love showing off his royal cuteness, a family photo with E taken back in November (copyrighted!):

They really DO grow up fast! :)

Hello + Pinterest

Hi there! Can't believe baby E is 3 months old today. Crazy! It's been such an amazing time, too. Sure, I've had a few moments where I think I lost my marbles, but he's so much fun -- a little silly, a lot feisty, and growing like a weed right before our eyes.

Hoping to start some new projects soon, but in the meantime you can find me on the addicting Pinterest -- http://pinterest.com/marmithon.

Enjoy!

Our Big Arrival

Well, we finally welcomed our baby boy into the world last Monday.

Can't believe he's already a week old! Still adjusting to life at home and with each other, but we're all doing great. He's asleep in my arms right now, and typing with one finger is exhausting, so will hold off on project posts just a bit longer :)

Also looking forward to dropping the baby weight in the next few months -- maybe I'll do a weekly weightloss / motivation post? Would love any inspiration to fit into my "real" jeans before fall!

Baby Update!

Well, baby is officially due tomorrow, though it seems he's being quite the procrastinator. We're being induced Sunday night if he doesn't come before then, so do a baby dance for us! I would think he's got to be ready, he's done some growing in the last couple of weeks...

Hurriedly trying to finish some last minute baby room projects, including his letters for above the crib...

One of these days I'll finish sharing all of the projects, including some no-sew pillows and hand-made animal art. Stay tuned! :)

Hi Baby

As we get closer to baby's arrival, I've been casually searching for cute birth announcements. Not sure if these are my favorites because I like the actual card, or because the babies are just adorable!

{via Tiny Prints}

{via Tiny Prints}

{via Shutterfly}

{via denadesign}

I also like the idea of doing a magnet version for close family and friends. We all end up sticking them on the fridge anyway, right? :) Know of any other great places to find announcements?

Baby Room: Before & After

Guess I missed WIWW again... oops! Maybe next week? :)

Super excited to get new bedroom carpet installed today, even if it means our house is now littered with bedroom furniture and crap. Over the last few months, we've finally gotten around to fixing up our room, so I'll show it off after the carpet's in... and every thing's back in order... maybe a week or two? :)

In the mean time, the baby room is really starting to come together. Which is a good thing considering we only have 4 weeks to go, if that!

So incase you missed the "true" before, you can see it here. But here are a few of the clean befores:

And the afters:

You can read more about hanging the moulding here and the not-so-great paint experience here. It was hard to find curtains in the right length without having to special order, but we finally found these brown ones on sale at Pier 1. Will be perfect for blocking out the afternoon sun!

LOVE this curtain rod from Lowe's. J thought it was a little girlie at first, but he likes it now that it's up.

J also hung the new ceiling fan (Lowe's again... I think we're paying their electric bill...) in place of the crappy gold flushmount.

And also hung a new light fixture over the sink. Guess where we got it?

Still need to paint the bathroom (probably just a brighter shade of white), but it's starting to look cute. And most of the accessories for the bathroom? Baby shower gifts from Target!

So the Potterybarn towels I ordered don't exactly match, but I still like them. Maybe I'll just stick them back for when baby's older...

Still loving the crib my parents bought us and the Target bedding (geez, maybe we're paying their electric bill, too!).

Added the little sheep rug...

And the vinyl tree from Babies r' Us.

We flanked each side of the crib with storage cubes from IKEA and storage boxes from various places for books and toys.

Still need to get the dresser upstairs, which we'll also use as the changing table, and I need to finish his letters and pillows. Also have some other adorable baby shower goodies to put out, too. Overall, I think it's pretty darn cute, and it's fun to finally see it come together!

Linking up to these fabulous parties:

Creative Bloggers Party & Hop @ Homemaker on a Dime

Before & After Party @ Thrifty Decor Chick

Remodelabolic's Anonymous @ Remodelaholic

Friday Favs Party @ Nap Time Crafters

DIY Project Parade @ DIY Show Off