My Favorite Tablescape

A little while ago the Nester posted this blog about Tablescapes and it really caught my attention. I don't have a lot of tablescapes in my house that aren't full of mostly picture frames {my weakness by far} but fortunately there is one in my house that I am proud of. It is the bookshelf that doubles as a nightstand in our beach guest room. I always like to play around with this tablescape and make small changes, it is a nice way to experiment and have fun! Plus it's the one room in the house that my four year old hasn't overtaken with toys so it's kind of like a breath of fresh air to just be in there.

Looking at these pictures just reminds me of how long I have been planning on "beaching" this bookshelf with some creamy white paint and lots of distressing. That is at the top of my to do list {more like my to do after everything else gets done! list}.

~Momma to Bug~

Nursery Room Bookshelf ~ Before

One of the things I was looking the most forward to with becoming pregnant again was decorating another nursery room. This time around there is not a lot of furniture that we need to buy thanks to a tremendous sense of obligation to keep Arielle's crib and dresser as described in this post. But not all of the furniture is set in stone because we do need to replace our old glider and get a new bookshelf.

From the moment I found out that we were having another baby I began searching craigslist for a bookshelf to makeover. It took nearly four months but I finally found one that I really like. It could stand to be a couple inches deeper to accomodate bigger baskets but for $35 I can't complain much considering that it's real wood and not laminate. I plan on priming it this weekend so it is ready for a fresh coat of paint after we find out if we are having a boy or a girl, however, I am torn between color choices for either. While I am really inclined to paint it white that sounds so boring! I guess my ultimate decision will depend on what color I decide to paint the walls so I am getting ahead of myself.

I am looking forward to making all of these decisions and many more so I can get started on all of my nursery room makeovers...stay tuned!

~Momma to Bug~

4 Going on 24?

I started to write this post four days ago and was very happy about the title because it described what Arielle had been acting for the past week. However, she is four and her mood changes in the blink of an eye. Suddenly she has been acting more like a two year old. To put it eloquently, she has had a few number two accidents out of the blue and I don't know what to make of it. She didn't even have those types of accidents when she was potty training believe it or not. If she is trying to get my attention it sure is working. This must be a glimpse of things to come when the baby is born and Arielle is getting even less attention.

Let's rewind to last week when she announced to me that when she was grown up she was going to get married and have babies. She went on and on about how she was going to have babies so that she could take care of them and feed them. I later found out that she told her teacher the same thing. I know the fact that I am pregnant probably has a lot to do with her recent decision making but I can't help but think she is WAY too young to be planning this out right now. Then today out of nowhere she came up to me and tried to "french kiss" me, not once but twice. She was not happy when I told her that kissing that way was inappropriate. She seems to be in such a hurry to grow up, it is almost saddening but at the same time it is refreshing to be reminded of her pure childhood innocence. She is just telling it like she sees it.

On another much greener note, we had to dig up our front yard tree that was not coming back to life. The tree that we got to replace it is beautiful! It's called a Ft. McNair Horse Chestnut and has beautiful pink flowers in the spring. Although it is a slow growing tree, it gets very tall and top heavy. I hope we can be here long enough to see it get that big.

~Momma to Bug~

Mother's Day Treasure

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year, despite the rainy and chilly weather. It started off perfectly when everyone let me sleep in and the rest of the day was just as good. I asked for a new Pandora glass bead to add to my charm bracelet and got what I wished for! Besides that I got to spend all day with my family. Arielle has been going through a big "NO" phase in the past couple of months which has been trying and I have been trying not to lose my patience too often. I decided that instead of getting mad and yelling or telling her not to say no to me, I would just take one of her toys away when it happened. So I created a "Reward Chart" that she could earn stickers when she did one of three things (help, make a good choice or listen) and when she gets five in a row she can earn back a toy. It has been working well but she is still testing me more often than not. Today was no exception but she made up for it at bed time because she didn't even ask me to lay down with her for a little while or cling to me as I tried to leave the room (a habit that I am trying to break quickly).

This weekend I took Arielle to some garage sales, which has become one of her new favorite pasttimes! I didn't find anything good to buy but I did find this large wicker chest sitting on somebody's driveway for FREE! While it is not in perfect condition, it functions well and still looks great. I am thinking about spray painting it for the new baby's room. White if it is a girl, dark brown if it is a boy. We find out in three weeks (if we can help it) so stay tuned for the transformation. I will have to install child-proof hinges somehow and I am wondering though if I should remove the feet or keep them. What do you think?

~Momma to Bug~

Glass Bead Magnets Project

First things first, thank you so much Chris for all of your inspiring posts about decorating and crafts. And for mentioning my name and doing a post about budget-friendly magnets at my request! I love your blog, Just A Girl!

Now, here are the glass bead magnets that I was able to whip up in just a matter of a couple of hours. They truly are inexpensive and easy to make but look like they cost a fortune! These make great gift ideas and with all of the leftover sheet metal that I have from making my magnet board, I'll be making some more little ones for presents as well. I plan on finding some picture frames to reuse at garage sales this summer!

~Momma to Bug~

Egg Carton Flowers

Since I work from home on Tuesday mornings, I have been trying to think of easy projects that Arielle can do while I work. One of my favorite blogs for craft ideas is The Crafy Crow so when I saw this post I just couldn't resist making the flowers. I had egg cartons saved up from Easter and found some random pipe cleaners left over from other craft kits so I didn't have to spend a penny! Instead of using paint, we used markers and even I joined in the fun. This was such a fun project to get the creative juices flowing. After we finished I found a small vase, stuffed some tissue paper in the bottom and VOILA! They turned out so cute I think I'll keep them around for decoration in my bedroom on my nightstand. What better way to wake up in the morning than to see these beautiful flowers that me and my daughter made together!

Here are the supplies we used:

It's easy. First you cut the egg carton up into "flowers". Next you color the flowers with markers. Then you poke a hole in the middle and insert the pipe cleaner. It really is that simple!

Hopefully every Tuesday we'll have a new craft to share!

~Momma to Bug~

A Magnet Board Project

Now that I'm out of first trimester and feeling much, much better I am getting back into my creative mode. I have had this very large, silver frame sitting in the basement for the past year {since my bedroom makeover} as I was unable to sell it on craigslist. I was reading this post at one of my favorite blogs, I saw the picture of the magnet board in the background of the third picture so I thought what better way to reuse this beautiful frame! After contacting Chris and finding out how easy it was to make I just couldn't resist. Plus, I had been thinking about using this particular wall next to the kitchen to display Arielle's artwork since we were running out of space on the side of the stainless steel fridge.

Off to Lowe's we went in search of sheet metal which was the only thing I needed to buy to finish this project. We found that they sell precut sheets which are a heavier guage of metal and they cost more money than I wanted to spend {the size I would've needed cost over $28}. Fortunately, we found some lighter-weight sheet metal that they sell by the roll {20 inches by 10 feet; I needed 20 x 38 inches}. The roll only costs $13!!! My husband warned me there would likely be creases on the sides from being rolled up and he was right but they aren't that noticeable especially after you hang all the stuff on it. I struggled a bit to get the frame back together as it is a custom made frame and had to be completely disassembled then reassembled without the glass and with the sheet metal. I was able to pull it off and I am pleased with the end result!


To complete the look I am going to have to find some MATCHING black magnets. This will really give it that final touch and make it look more cohesive and less cluttered! Since I took the pictures, Arielle has added some more of her artwork and the hodge-podge of magnets doesn't appeal to me at all. Anybody know where I can find some good looking, affordable magnets?

~Momma to Bug~

My Photo Gallery Wall

I've always wanted to have one of those "unplanned" but organized photo gallery walls that you see in Pottery Barn catalogues. Since I can't bring myself to buy several matching, expensive picture frames I decided to work with what I already have. I chose the staircase wall to put my gallery because it just looks so empty and there is nothing else that I can think of to hang there. I took some randomly placed pictures down from around the house and bought one new one {on clearance at Home Goods for $7} to complete my collection.

So here it is, my version of a wall photo gallery:

These are the best pictures I could get as it was very difficult to photograph. Now if I could just get around to updating some of the framed photos to more current ones.

~Momma to Bug~

Happy Tears

Yesterday, Arielle and I were cuddling on the couch and she turned to me with a big grin on her face and said, "I have happy tears!" Then she said, "Why do I have happy tears?" to which I replied that her eyes were watery and that is why she had tears {I think she has some springtime allergies}. The point of this story is that I couldn't think of any time that I had ever mentioned happy tears to her, so how did she know what to call them? From her perspective she was happy to be spending some quality time with her mommy and it just so happened that tears were coming out of her eyes, so they must have been happy tears? The perspective of pre-schoolers never ceases to amaze me.



~Momma to Bug~

Dressing Up

Arielle received a Hannah Montana dance mat, video, wig and guitar for her birthday. She had a lot of fun dressing up and dancing and singing her heart out! I am amazed at how well she knows the words and can sing the songs.


~Momma to Bug~