Stenciling. Aka: What In the World Was I Thinking?

I got a wild hair to stencil our half bath.  Just to mix it up.  I think I started this project three or four months ago.  The mess in our bathroom has been ridiculous.  The whole stenciling thing didn't seem hard.  I ordered the stencil online, got it in the mail, and went to work.  It was more tedious than I thought.  And messier.  It's not for the faint of heart.

I am pleased with the results though.  Not too shabby and definitely more fun than plain beige walls.

 If you do decide to take the plunge and ignore my warnings, here are some tips that helped me out along the way:

1.)  Find the right brush.  I used a few little brush art brushes that I already owned but I'm sure there is a better one that I could have used.  I went through several and found that the stiffer the better.

2.)  Load the paint on the brush and use a paper towel to get most of the paint off by swirling the brush around in circular motions.  If you skip this step, your paint will go on too thick and run under the stencil.  I did this and still had some paint runnage.  Beware.

3.)  Hold that stencil down baby!  Another trick to keep the paint from seeping under the stencil.

 4.)  I found, through trial and error, the neatest method to be brushing from the outside edge of the stencil to the inside.  Again, keeps the pattern nice and neat.

I had to go back over everything and do some hand touching up.  We re-did our artwork for the walls too.  I bought frames for cheep at Michael's and painted them all this goldish-silver color to make them look uniform and more expensive.  We also made the subway signs above the toilet by followimg this tutorial.  It was super easy.

Now I want to live in our bathroom.

Finley Elise and Wood

She's here!

Finley Elise was born Tuesday July 19th at 2:12 pm.  It was an easy, fast delivery and we feel so blessed that everyone is healthy and happy.  We are a little sleep-deprived but otherwise in love with our new addition.

We told Hudson that her name would be Finely Elise Wood and he calls her "Finley Elise and Wood".  So far he is a wonderful big brother.  He is concerned about her when she cries and wants to look at her and hug and kiss her.

We think she gets prettier everyday.  But we are probably biased.

The Giant Bag

Sometimes it really is the little things in life that excite me.  I'm not really sure why I have been so excited about these bags from Lands End but I got them in the mail yesterday and can't wait to use them.  Maybe it's because I can't really get excited about clothes at this point so canvas bags are all I have left.  Sad, I know.

The large is huge and the extra large is ginormous.  I love it.  Casey decided to test out the extra large.

At least we know it's durable.

Hudson's Big-Boy Room

If you've been following Hudson's escapades, you know that he has been in his "big boy room" for a little while now.  We just got the whole room completed this week.  I've been working on getting some finishing touches done.  In other words, I've been dragging my feet.

Here was the before:

Obviously this was after paint and trim, which made a huge difference.  I had my favorite trim man put in some big thick trim.

Isn't he a keeper?

Here are the afters:

We are super happy with the results.  This guys likes it too.

RESOURCES:

 The Big Stuff
Wall Paint:  Sherwin Williams in Lime 
Headboard:  Pallets that we scored for free.  We sanded them down and stained them in Minwax Americana then did a coat of clear finishing wax.
Nightstand:  Ikea.  Click here to see how I did the transformation.
 Dresser:  His old changing table.  We got it from Rattles and Rhymes.
Bedding:  Serena and Lily.  This was our splurge.  I cringe at the price.  I figured I could make up for it by saving in other areas.
Chairs:  Ikea.  I really didn't want to spend much on a chair so we found this one for super duper cheep and I added the nail heads from Lowes to make it look a little more expensive. 
Side Table:  A Pottery Barn leftover from his nursery.

The Small Stuff

Lamp Set:  Home Goods (I was going to paint them yellow but liked the color in the room and decided to leave them as is).

Pillow:  Anthropologie.

Lamp:  Another nursery leftover.  Initially from Walmart.  I just added the new ribbon trim with a hot glue gun to match this room.

Light (ceiling):  Ikea.  I painted the navy stripe on to coordinate with the bedding.

Toy/Book Storage Bins:  Antiques from Scott Antique Market.  We added the wheels on the bottom so Hud could roll them around if he wanted.  They are from Lowes.  $3 for a pack of 2.
Poof used as an Ottoman:  Yet another nursery transfer but I bought it at Target a couple of years back.
Lamp on Nightstand:  Home Goods (my new favorite lamp source... can you tell?).  It was silver but I liked the shape so I painted it in chalkboard paint and recovered the lampshade in burlap.
Wall Collage:  "H" was another nursery transfer I painted to match the new room (from Hobby Lobby).  Frames from Michaels. Antique turtle shell from Scott's.  Deer antlers from Casey's collection.  Vintage-looking signs from World Market.
Growth Chart:  Tree Ink Press shop on Etsy.
Coat Hooks:  Hobby Lobby (another half off deal).
Face Jug Pottery:  Custom Turkey Creek Pottery.

Driftwood Candle Holder:  Anthropologie.

Hamper:  Target (again, from nursery).

Showers

I've been busy trying to get things ready for the baby so once again, I'm behind on my blogging.  Just imagine how it's going to be when the baby comes...
A couple of weekends ago we had our two baby showers.  First up was my shower at Eclipse De Luna.  We got lots of cute girly stuff.  I feel a little more prepared now.  A little.  I'm not sure I will ever feel totally prepared.

That Sunday our class at church gave us a shower.  We are just so thankful and feel so blessed to be surrounded by wonderful family and friends who care about us and are there to support us as we get closer to our new arrival.  We can't believe how close it is getting!