Mud Room Project

My husband spent a couple hours over the past week working on a house project for me. A few weeks ago I finally decided I was fed up with our system at the back door. By 'system' I mean the way we were storing our jackets and children's winter gear. Everything seemed mismanaged and I was sick of having my hubby's work jackets piled on top of my nicer smelling jackets. So naturally I began to peruse Pinterest. This pinterest thing paired with nesting is a very bad idea. We have a very large mudroom that enters through our garage and carries through the pantry, but the space was just not being utilized. Plus we have a large coat and shoe closet, but coats rarely seem to ever get hung up on their hangers. We needed a more convenient and quick way to stash away our 'stuff'. These are the ideas I found:

simple and efficient and we liked
the idea of two rows of hooks
(one for adults one for kids)

these colours go well with our home, and again
a very simple idea, although probably wouldn't use
our storage space for decor

slightly more complicated but a nice
polished look, plus the bench cushion is cute

Loved this one for the use of the corner space
which is exactly what we were dealing with

 

A nice one piece unit

Liked the idea of the overhead cabinets

We talked about the pro's and con's of each idea and came up with three possible options. 1) We built a unit ourselves. Probably more cost efficient but maybe wouldn't be as professional or polished looking 2) try to assemble something ourselves from pre-built pieces such as good ol' Ikea. Again relatively cost effective but would it be durable and reliable for such a dirty and "lived-in" space. 3) Hire a woodworker or carpenter to custom build a unit for us. Least cost effective but would result in a beautiful addition to our home. 

Being pregnant and indecisive we went back and forth and finally settled on doing nothing at all. After allowing some time to pass my husband suggested he give it a whirl. He is not a woodworker by trade but anyone who knows my darling hubby, knows that he can pretty much tackle anything. He is a hands-on kind of guy and is awesome at every project he takes on. From car building to plumbing, to deck building to tree and flower planting, he is seriously amazing! Anyway we decided to go with a shelf row of hooks, followed by a lower row of hooks, followed by a bench. We designed it to have space for baskets on the top shelf as well as under the bench. 

I dont know how he just knows this stuff, but it turned out awesome. I am so pleased with our mudroom now and feel so much more organized. With a second boy on the way I know we are going to need lots of room for muddy boots, hats, winter gear and coats. It is perfect. 

working away with Dad

The mirror that used to hang where

the shelves are now

The finished product.
Still needs a bench cushion but we will
see if I get around to that before baby

#2 Bedroom

And just like that we are finished another bedroom. Thanks to my partner in crime (hubby) for patiently assisting me with painting, curtain rod hanging, camera mounting and so on. I will take credit for my involvement though! I have started to gain confidence in my picture hanging ability and of course hemming the curtains. Anyway when Al was a little wee babe we had his room done up in clouds and lambs. Lots of soft gender neutral colours, which we just recently swapped out for a more exciting big boy look (see blog post from December). This time we went with an owl and tree look for the baby's room. Still gender neutral with black white and taupe, but not as soft as Al's was. We also threw in some green as well. It has been unofficially decided that Al's colour will be blue and baby's colour will be green. Mostly to differentiate towels, cups and other things that may get mixed up along the way. Anyway enough already, here is the finished product!

Bedding is coming, I had it custom made
so it should be here soon!

And just to conclude I thought I might add how funny it is to look back at how I had Al's room done up as we anxiously awaited his arrival and how we now have baby's room done up while we wait for him. There are many differences in the items I have stocked and the things that I knew were critical to have in the room. First time around you just have no idea. I feel like this time I am a lot more prepared with useful and essential items versus cute decorations and things inconveniently packed or placed. 

Before & After

BEFORE

AFTER

Al's room transformation from little peanut to big boy! 

Now that we are finished this it is time to move on to Baby #2's room. 

If you don't follow me on pinterest, you really should! One of the great things about putting your babe down for a nap is an hour of alone time! And what do I do with my alone time other than cook, clean, plan, write lists, fold laundry... I craft! I love all of the things I find on interest and with my newest addition, the sewing mating, I'm hoping to work on a few new projects. Around Christmas time I posted about some of the DIY projects I had completed, inspired by pinterest. My midline photo wall, glitter shoes, christmas decorations, tons of baking recipes and the list goes on. Well in last few months I have worked on a few more and am inspired to start a few new projects in the coming months!

Post-Christmas a few things I have accomplished include:

tried out the no-bake energy bites, and I must say be careful they are truly addicting

baked some no-bake cookies (seems like an oxymoron)

whipped up a batch of slow-cooker baked potato soup!

decorated my own Toms

made my own scrapbook paper iPhone case

Made candy apples

New Pinterest-Inspired Projects:

Sew some hooded towels (with my own labels)

Sew an apron

Bleach Pen Art Onesie

Try a muffin tin recipe

Try the vanilla microwave cleaner recipe

Make a shelf frame for my bathroom

(post bathtub photo's in the bathroom)

Create a laundry station

I'd like to make something like this but
with a shelf instead of a blackboard
Where do I find a shelf?

I'd like to set up a laundry station just like this, outside our
laundry room for the when the kids (well Kid right now) are
older they can take their baskets with their clean clothes
and put them away. Simply Brilliant!

DIY

My latest addiction... Pinterest, has been keeping me busy lately. Not only just on the website, but also trying all of the DIY projects I come across on there.  Nothing I create seems to turn out quite the way it looks on Pinterest but still think my creations are cute. So I though I'd share a few with you. 

Mid-Line Photo Wall

Olive Oil  Photo Jars

Wreaths

Scrabble Frame

30 Sucks

Birthday Number

Im not quite finished the Mid-Line Photo Wall. There are a ton of frames to fill and I am still deciding what pictures to use. I was not sure if I wanted to stick with black and white photos but now seeing the almost finished product Im glad I stuck with no color. We also made our midline a bit larger than the example on pinterest but I really love how it turned out. It filled a main feature wall in our house that we have left blank for over a year now! And I used 2 tubs of frames that were sitting in our basement collecting dust!

The Olive Oil Photo Jars didn't turn out too terribly but I think I would probably use Photos where the subjects are smaller, next time around. When the subjects are too large in the photo the oil distorts them a bit, making them look like  images in the circus mirrors.

The Wreaths I would say turned out bang on! Finally a pinterest success!

I am super excited about the Scrabble Frame. It is a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law (pretty sure she doesn't check out the blog... I hope) She is a huge scrabble fanatic so I think she love it. The frame is a shadow box from Micheal's that I used a 40% off coupon for (ended up being $19.00) and the scrabble tile I ordered off Amazon for $12.00. All in all a really cute gift under $40.00

The 30 Sucks and Birthday Number are both for Sandy's birthday coming up in a week and a half. I loved the 30 sucks because it was so cute. I also really liked the idea of the birthday number, I accidently forgot to turn all the pictures black and white but I really liked how it turned out! I used all dirtbike photo's of him to keep with our dirtbike/checkered flag theme for his 30th Birthday Party!

I've been having lots of fun doing these projects, and I am sure there will be more to come! Next item of business, trying a few recipes off pinterest. Yum Yum! Anyway today we are pre-making a bunch of meals to get us through the busy Christmas season! Between family pictures, Christmas party's, gift shopping, working out, packing and so on and so on, we are going to be very busy for the next 35 days. We leave for Mexico on January 4 and it is going to come faster than I can imagine!  I still would like to share some of our family photo's and some updates on my mission pre-baby body but I will save that all for next blog update! Happy Holiday Season all!

18 to go

Well I am officially down 39 pounds since having Alexander, and only 18 more to go! That's right , that means I gained 57 pounds with this boy! But that's not what's important. What is important is that I'm getting it all off before the next pregnancy, and I won't make the same mistakes (ice cream) during my next one! Ive been doing bootcamp twice a week, strollercize twice a week, running and working out downstairs in our home gym. I'm normally not much of a runner but I've really started to get into it! I did my first 7km run today in 56 minutes, with a stroller. Not bad if I do say so. There is also the healthy eating, but today was cheat day and I have enjoyed me some treats! I am really careful with my diet all week but on Saturdays I let loose. I find this is the best weight loss method, as it helps me stay on track 90% of the week. 

We have officially started working on Christmas gifts, the homemade ones at least! But I won't say too much as I don't know who is reading and I don't want to spoil the surprise! Only 10 weeks until Christmas! Sandy and I are hoping to buy a trailer this year for Christmas so we won't be doing gifts but Im hoping to surprise him with a few homemade creations! That also means only 11 weeks until we head to Mexico for Ky's wedding! Can't wait. Daddy spent the day putting up Christmas lights, our house/yard is going to look like a Christmas wonderland this year! While Dad did that we attempted some hand and foot prints for our baby book... fail! There is paint everywhere! But it's still cute so we will save them!

Great Grandma is coming up to visit for a few days so she will be here tomorrow. We also need to visit Aunty Elyse since she just got her wisdom teeth out. I didn't want to tell her this before but I would definitely consider child birth better than wisdom tooth removal. There is no prize when you get those puppies removed! But hopefully she has a quick recovery! Anyway it is pizza night so off we go to enjoy the last few hours of "cheat" day! Have a good weekend all!

Oh and Happy First Birthday to Chevy!!

Bootcamp officially kicked my butt on Thursday night! It is getting harder and harder as I get bigger and bigger, but I am determined to keep working out to the best of my abilities! So many women get put on bed rest that I feel like its a blessing to still be able to work out, so plug on I will!

 I had a great day yesterday with Chantelle! We spent the day on Whyte Ave, doing some shopping and having a Julio's lunch date. Afterwards we went to Ikea to load up on furniture for my office/craft room. What a huge help she was, as the bigger I get the less I can do. Its amazing how creative you can be when you are pregnant and losing your independence. Anyhow we got a jeep full of furniture home and put it all together. What's even more ironic is that as I was taking out the old desk I had an inquiry on Kijiji about it, and sold it within the hour! Perfect, I didn't even have to move the desk downstairs into storage! So the craft room is now finished, although I'm not totally satisfied with the shelves we put up I think all in all the room looks really great. Now I don't have to hide this room anymore! I will post some pictures later! 

We also had our 3D and 4D ultrasound yesterday (remember this is the rebooked one as last time baby wasn't cooperating) and it was great! Little baby looked so cute, it was such a fun thing to do. It was almost like cheating the system of pregnancy and being able to see what is coming in 10 weeks. TEN weeks that's right 3/4 done! Wooo I cant wait to meet this little guy, sleep on my tummy, and have normal size feet again.  Anyway just started my day with some yummy waffles and we are about to head out to the farmers market!  Looks like it should be another great day!

Have a great weekend everyone

He's got his whole body squished into a little ball, snuggled up having a snooze

Look at that cute little nose!

The Room

What an exciting night! Sandy and I spent the evening shopping for the final baby items we needed! We found some great deals by surprise and luckily we are now finished the baby's room! Now that I have that off my plate, I am going to focus on a few things around the house to get myself ready for the summer! I spent Monday night organizing the basement and I am hoping I can finish up the office. Lastly I have a few things to finish decorating to make our house feel really "home" ish. I'm feeling really motivated to get the house ready and I might as well take advantage of this motivation and energy while I have it! I will be back to blog more after the weekend, as we have our anniversary and Mother's day coming up!

Sandy rockin' in the baby's room

Baby's Crib