Keeping Track of Dates

Well I've hit the nail on the head with my craftiness.  I decided to purchase 2 scrapbooks, 3 scrapbook calendars (needed 3 because since I put 13 months in the books I needed to have that extra calendar page) & then some extra clear pages to add into the scrapbooks since the scrapbooks didn't have enough pages in them for all 13 months.  Then I put the scrapbooks together 1 by 1. 

The first book I did for Harrison.  There are 13 calendar pages in the book; June 2011 - June 2012.  The purpose of the book is to record special dates to remember.  Like on June 15th Harrison went to the zoo for the first time or on July 27th Harrison took his first few steps by himself.  So on and so forth.  Just wish I would've come up with this idea when he was a baby because I don't remember the exact date that Harrison sat in his bumpo for the first time or sat up by himself or crawled.  When his first tooth came in...  You get the picture.  The guilt just makes me sad. 

Then I put together a second book for Eloise.  Again there are 13 calendar pages ranging from December 2011 - December 2012.  I'll be able to record all the important dates for the little mr and miss.  I'm sure Harrison will lay the guilt on me down the line.  I can hear him now - 'mom, why didn't you do a book for me for my first year?'  Tears, tears, tears (i'm the one with the tears mind you). 

Now my babes will be able to look back into these books years from now & see all the important first time experiences that they experienced and when exactly that was.

Quite crafty huh? 

Enjoy the pics & the joy I feel for stealing the idea from one of my husbands hometown friends.  Yeah, I may have been crafty but it wasn't originally my idea.  So sue me!

XoXo
me

Making A Chalkboard!

Well after fishing around on Ebay, Etsy, and Pottery Barn, I've decided to make my own chalkboard.  Actually the husband had to do it because I was very much pregnant at the time.

We loaded up the car & we all headed to Home Depot and this mama got herself a piece of plywood cut into the size of 41" x 29" and then I had some trim cut so I can have that around the edges so it's nicely framed.  We then picked up some chalkboard spray paint, primer spray paint and black gloss spray paint.  The man at Home Depot said that since I planned on priming and the plywood we purchased was pretty smooth, that we shouldn't need to sand.  Then the husband picked up a wood clamp and some wood glue.

Here are the pictures of the final result:

Items purchased:
  Chalkboard spray paint - $ 4.67
  Wood glue                         4.57
  Primer spray paint              3.44
  Black glossy spray paint     3.44
  Oak trim (2 pieces)            7.68
  5.5M plywood cut to size   7.17
  Quick grip                        16.94
Total Cost                        $47.91

This price is not too bad considering the ones I was finding on Etsy were going to cost me anywhere from $60. to $120. then shipping costs which were around $18.  I liked the ones on Pottery Barn but they were $150.

My mom sure would be proud of my craftiness.  Once we get the downstairs playroom all set-up for the kiddos, I plan on devoting an entire wall to some chalkboard paint and letting them have a hay day writing all over that sucker.  Here's to the future of that but for right now, here's to me getting my kitchen the way I like it (for now).  Still many many updates we have to do to the entire house but this will hold me over for the time being.

XoXo
me

Fireplace Mantle

From day 1 I have wanted a new fireplace mantle for our living room.  I fell in love with our house and one of the reasons I did was because of the brick fireplace.  It takes up one entire wall in our living room.  But, the mantle that was in there was a complete joke!  For such a statement piece how could anyone think that a 2x2 board would be sufficient enough?  Not I!  So... I had my dad make me a new one and here is the finished product.  Enjoy the before & afters!  I think my favorites are the afters.  :)

Nail Polish

**Well, I ended up taking my polish off today.  It did last 5 days though.  But... I'm caving in & I'm heading to a nail salon near me for a shellac manicure.  I am still impressed with the CND stickey base coat though.  Good find.**

Just thought I would share yet another post of mine regarding finding that perfect polish that will last longer than 2 days.

I think I may have.

I purchased some CND stickey base coat.  I splashed some of this bad boy onto my nails then I applied my polish and then finished with Seche Vite top coat.  The base polishes I used here if you're interested are both by Essie:  Tart Deco and A Cut Above, Shattered Pink Diamond Glitz.

I applied this polish on Friday, March 23rd.  Let's see how long it will last.  As of today, we're golden!