Painting the Roses White

Chalkboard Plaque

Wall decor always poses a challenge to me for some reason and the nursery wall decor was no exception. I fell in LOVE with these little vintage chalkboard wall hangings on the RH Baby website and so I ordered the large rectangle one with a special spot in mind to hang it!

credit: RH Baby & Child

BUT... unfortunately RH has sent me 4 different "sorry for the shipping delay" emails and so I got too impatient. Yet again I figured I could make my own version...even though I was SO looking forward to this one.

Credit: RH Baby & Child

I had no idea where I was going to get 'coloured' chalkboard paint...so I looked up online how to make your own coloured chalkboard paint and while at Michaels picking up supplies for the concoction low and behold I found that not only does Martha Stewart carry the PERFECT gray chalkboard paint but she also had shades in mint, and robins egg blue and of course black which I picked up as well! Martha you rock!

I also picked up some champagne coloured ribbon and chalk!

For the MDF board I needed I went to Home Depot where I rummaged through the scraps and found this perfect sized piece...and since it was my lucky day the guys at home depot sent me on my way free of charge!

I used a dinner plate and a measuring tape to try and get the cuts right. I admit they are a little off but it just adds a not so perfect touch which I don't mind. Here is my final product, complete with a French saying to welcome our baby home to!

Giddy-up!

Although I did order a few items from the Restoration Hardware Baby site, I set out to create a few 'look-a-like' things of my own. One nursery item I fell in love with was this little vintage rocking horse off of the RH website...

credit: RH Baby & Child

At $149 it wasn't that out of our budget so I was considering ordering one.

Credit: RH Baby & Child

It was on an earlier trip to Michaels for something else that I spied the craft of the week which was this little raw wood rocking horse which actually gave me the idea to make my own version of the RH toy instead of ordering one...and at $39 I couldn't resist!

So off to Michaels Craft Store I went again...in search of the perfect craft paint for the task at hand. To my surprise the Martha Stewart Craft Paint was 40% off! Score!

I started out glazing the wood with the "rootbeer float" shade, then added the eye and some dark areas with the "vanilla bean" shade and finally white washed the whole horse with the shade called "wedding cake". And Voila! Baby's own RH dupe!

Nursery Inspiration

One of the most exciting things I can think of is waiting until the day your baby is born to find out if it is a boy or a girl! Since we don't know the gender of our baby I set out to create a very neutral nursery that would be perfect for our baby boy or girl! One of my all time favourite decor stores is Restoration Hardware and so I have to admit I clocked many many hours on the RH baby & child website collecting ideas and inspiration for our little nest!

Here are all my favorite nursery inspiration photos:

credit: Decorpad

credit: Restoration Hardware Baby & Child

And there you have it... after hours of drooling over their website design gallery I chose elements of the rooms that made my heart sing and got my mojo back!

Earth to Rebecca!

Hi guys! Wow it sure has been a long long while! Im pretty certain I've lost many of you along the way...and I apologise. But the past 8.5 months have been the busiest, craziest ones in my entire life! And I know I have said that before but cross my heart! So to start I should let you know that shortly after we got home from our Christmas Vacation in Palm Springs I learned that I was PREGNANT!!!!! I still can't believe it and here I sit ready to pop!

Right now I'm in my 35th week and the due date has been set for October 8th! We are actually taking some time off to travel back home to Victoria to have the baby!!!

So as far as this pregnancy goes (my first) I really have nothing to compare it to but I can tell you one thing....BOY OH BOY was I sick for the first 4.5 months. So sick that I had Nathaniel throw out ALL of our house hold area rugs, relocate the cat litter to the basement, and hide all my body lotions, perfumes, scented candles, and home fragrance oils :( Anything that smelled like anything HAD TO GO! Even our poor dogs got a lot less attention during those first months....poor fellas. I barely got through my last semester of my university degree....but am happy and relieved to say that on June 21st I graduated with my Biological Sciences degree! Just in time too as it was a goal of mine to complete my degree before having kids :)

So alas this is why I have all together abandoned the world of blogging. Pregnant, with almost every side effect I can think of, and scrambling to make it to class... I just didn't have any mind space or energy for any decorating, painting, or blogging. In fact, I JUST started and finished the nursery in the past few weeks...

So for the sake of this blog being somewhat of a journal of my life here in Edmonton I thought I`d post a few photos of the evolution of my 'bump'!

Here I am at 21 weeks...the first sign of a bump!

This is a pic at 7.5 months...getting bigger :)

And almost 8 months...

Here's a 3D ultrasound photo of our little dove!

32 weeks

34 weeks

Here's the most recent pic at 35 weeks!

We are so excited about this new adventure in our lives!!! And in only a matter of weeks we will have our very own little bundle of joy!

Bryophyte Art

What are Bryophytes you might ask? Well the easy answer is Moss (and Hornworts and Liverworts)! And it just so happens one of my University courses this semester is all about these tiny little plants!

One of our lab classes we went on a field exercise to collect various species of these guys to get a feel for their diversity! So after the day was done and I had collected over 20 different kinds of moss, I had an idea!!! Why not make my own moss book plates? So I picked up a bunch of small cheap frames at Ikea and some paper and glue....

I carefully removed each species of moss from my lab book (I had taped them on LOL) and glued them onto the paper backings I cut to fit the frames. While the glue was drying I carefully wrote the scientific name of each moss on the paper and a few of the species unique growth/life characteristics! (these are easy to find via google)

Here they all are framed and ready to go up on the wall! You could really do this with so many different things although I really do think mosses are so perfect for this because there are so many different kinds, they are easy to find, and they add the most beautiful touches of green to your home! No matter how dry they get they won't lose their colour! And you can always fake the species genus name lol!!! I mean how often do we have a Bryophyte expert over? hee hee!

I can't wait to hang them up! I'm going to do a full wall of these!

Happy American Thanksgiving Weekend!!!

Lest we Forget

I can't believe it's been a whole year since my soldier left for Afghanistan! Last Rememberance Day Nathaniel had only been gone for 11 days. My sister and I attended a memorial service at Rundle Park here in Edmonton....watching the widows, parents, children, brothers, sisters and friends plant crosses for their lost loves...heartwrenching. I remember just looking at my sister and hoping this wouldn't be us next year on this day. It was a sobering reminder to the reality of what was going on in our lives.

This year, Rememberance Day has a whole new meaning to us. Rememberance Day has always had personal meaning in our family; my Grandma lost her first love Dennis in WWII and my Grandpa fought in the same war and lost two of his brothers. This year we have lost a few more that are close to us. Nathaniel lost five of his good friends in Afghanistan. So this blog post is my small tribute to them. To say thank you. To say we miss you. To say we will always remember. And never forget.

We Miss you Fitz

Boo!

It's that time of year again!!! Halloween! Witches, goblins, vampires, ghosts, and ghouls! Carving pumpkins, the smell of ginger and spice, and foggy nights! My favorite excuse to tell ghost stories and watch a favorite spooky movie every night! We watch scary movies a lot any way for fun, but when I know Halloween is coming up we literally have a scary movie marathon as a sort of a countdown! My favorite movies to watch around Halloween are the Shining, the Witches of Eastwick, Beetlejuice, Hocus Pocus, the Witches, the Hand that Rocks the Cradle, the Good Child, the Exorcist, Halloween, Sleepy Hollow, the Birds, Dracula, the Addams Family and SO many more....which are your favorite scary movies to watch?

I was searching online for some Halloween inspiration and my favorite arts and crafts are always found over at Martha Stewart! I just LOVE these pretty antique lace inspired pumpkins!

A new Halloween inspired use for those garden cloches!

A haunted pet cemetery in your front yard!

Just like Holly and Jessica I have a huge obsession with these black crows! I have a few from last year I dug up!

Eerie specimen jars!

I LOVE these wool pumpkins!

All you need is some garden clippings, a few drops of food colouring, and a few jars to make this ghoulish display!

(all photos above from Martha Stewart)

We had so much fun the other night carving up these pumpkins, roasting the seeds, and eating delicious pumpkin pie!

I tried a Martha Inspired lace pattern on my pumpkin and put a quick wash of cream coloured craft paint on it!

Here's our front porch with our creepy carvings!

I hope everyone has a Happy and Safe Halloween weekend!!! And don't forget to keep your pets safe indoors :)

Birdcage Atrium

A couple of Sundays ago my good friend Holly and I hit up an antique auction to score some new treasures!! Since I accidentally slept through the first two hours of the auction (oopsie) I rushed to meet with Holly and see if there was anything sweet left! And luckily there was!!! It seemed like birdcages were a popular item that day since they had 3 there up for auction! The first one was a gorgeous ornate black iron one which sold for more than either of us were willing to pay. So after the second birdcage sold, I had my eye on the third!....duh duh duh... You guessed it, I'm now the proud owner of that birdcage..... and a beautiful old mantle mirror, spending a total of $70.

I always loved old birdcages and this one was no exception...but the true excitement for me is what Holly suggested I do with it....convert it into a plant atrium!

The first chance I had, I flew on over to the most gorgeous garden center imaginable...Wellington. Holly showed me this hidden gem of a store over a year ago and I've been dreaming of secret gardens ever since!

I lucked out too because it just so happened Wellington was having a 70% off sale! You don't say!

There were so many to chose from, too many! Herbs, succulents, grasses, ferns, little flowering plants, and pots galore! I wanted something useful so I chose a combination of herbs and some lavender for the beautiful fragrance! I chose a cute little fern, two types of lavender, bluegrass, rosemary, thyme, and some woolly thyme (fuzzy leaves).

I loved these grey terracotta pots which came in all shapes and sizes...I thought these were perfect for my caged little garden!

I loved how old and worn these pots looked and some of the plants even had bits of moss growing on the soil.

Nathaniel even expressed how much he loved our new plant atrium! I was actually surprised he noticed!

I haven't had the best track record with plants in the past... but so far so good with these little guys. And since I love my little atrium so much I've been extra good at taking care of my little photosynthesizing friends :) I must say it's nice to have some plant life around here.