My First Homemade Wreath

Ah, fall is lovely. Even if all we Floridians get is a slight break from humidity, I'll take it.

After updating our door from this...to this...

...I was inspired to create a wreath. And since I'm pretty cheap, I had the idea to create a basic wreath that I could simply change out the flowers/decor depending on the season.

Had no idea how I would actually do this, but I found myself leaving our local crafts store with a foam circle, some felt, floral wire and a glue gun. I had the idea to use some of my leftover burlap and hot glue strips of it all around the wreath. So I started there.

Let me also mention, hot glue and I have been reunited in a glorious way. I have forgotten the wonderful ways of hot glue. It's so instant and so effective. My kind of combo. Just under 4 bucks for this baby...oh yeah.

Anyway, back to the wreath. So I hot glued strips of burlap all around the wreath. I then had come across a few felt flower tutorials. Found here and here. Super easy, however, in reference to the red roses, originally I went through all the hassle of cutting out a template, tracing it on the felt and cutting it out. When really, all you needed to do was cut a swirl. So I only used the template once, the rest I cut out by freehand.

So after I finished my flowers, I wanted to figure out the dilemma of how to get them on the wreath in a way that I could take them off so I could interchange my wreath from season to season. I landed on hot gluing the flowers to a single floral wire. I then wrapped two separate floral wires around around the wreath (weaved through the flowers wire) and tightened the wire by twisting it in the back.

It surprisingly worked to my relief. I then used some old cinnamon broom branches (yeah, from last year...lol) to surround the flowers...and ta-da!

Here you can see the green floral wire that I wrapped around the wreath to secure the flowers...

Here's a close up of the flowers...didn't take step by step photos, but I truly just followed the instructions mentioned earlier (minus the cutting out of the template part, I just cut them freehanded)

And here she is again from far away...

I'm almost happy with it. I plan on adding a little banner across the center of the wreath to say something like "Welcome" or something season appropriate, but I haven't gotten my head around what material to use, cause paper wouldn't last long out there.

Overall, I look forward to watching this little wreath evolve. I could see making flowers for spring with bright colors and even having a birthday banner that goes across it for our birthday weeks.

Anyone else crafting it up for fall?

Bump Update!

How far along? 27 1/2 weeks (third trimester!)

Total weight gain/loss: Not sure, I find out at my next appointment

Maternity clothes? Just two pairs of maternity pants, but just received a large amount of hand-me-down clothes from a friend. So appreciative! Just when I really was running out.

Stretch marks? No

Symptoms: Feeling great, get a little leg crampage here and there, but nothing major.

Sleep: Sleeping great still...but starting to realize it's going to get harder and harder to get out of our platform bed...it's soooooo stinkin low.

Best moments this week: Lots :)

Movement: Definitely feel movement, however he's not a huge mover still. I'll feel him here and there, but it's not constant. I'm thinking he's pretty comfy. :)

Cravings: Nope

Gender: Boy!

Labor Signs: None

Belly Button in or out?  In-ish

What I miss: Nothing really right now, just enjoying this pregnancy

What I am looking forward to: Many things, but trying not to be anxious and impatient though. Just trying to maintain trust and faith right now...the feeling of having the whole house together and ready weighs on me, but really I know everything will work out. Oh and I'm really looking forward to the baby shower!

Weekly Wisdom: The orange drink to test your glucose really isn't that bad. (gonna find out on Friday!) Update - the orange drink wasn't bad at allllll! Tasted like orange soda with no fizz. It was even chilled to my delight as I had it in my head it was going to be room temp...anyway, glucose test is officially conquered!

Milestones: Finn should be about 2 lbs now! So amazing. It feels like he was just a grain of rice a few months ago. Also reaching my third trimester is quite a milestone, I'm able to pre-register now at my hospital. 9 or 10 months never felt so unbelievably fast.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I thought it would be fun to show the reality of our home right now. You know, sometimes looking at blogs or Facebook, you can think that some people's lives look so put together and so dang perfect. So I thought it would be slightly funny to show a bit of our home's realness...in all its goodness, lol.

So let me start with the first room you are greeted by when you walk into our home. Doesn't it just scream, "Welcome!"? lol

First, I'll state that Rob and I are going to be getting new carpet in the three bedrooms soon. So we started emptying the closets in two of the rooms and we're in the process of going through all of our tubs and randomness. We hope to have an attic floor built soon to store this stuff instead of keeping it in the closets.

Even though it looks like madness and I totally can't stand this room, it's definitely the chaos before the calm. Getting truly organized has been something I've really wanted for us. Thankfully, I don't feel the need to hold on to every single little thing, so we've been able to throw/give away quite a few things that really we don't need/want.

The reason I felt inspired to write this post is all due to when I was taking the below picture of my new burlap pumpkins...I found it comical what a little good framing will do that prevents you from seeing the craziness lurking only feet away, lol.

Also, here's a little sneak peek of what I'm dreaming up for this room...

So let's move on...here's the other two rooms that we're having to pull everything out of. We haven't moved any big stuff out yet since we're not exactly at the point of getting new carpet installed.

Beautiful, huh? :)

And well, here's our back porch. Yep, that pressure washing only lasted so long before the dirt blew right back in! Rob and I both have dreams for this space. One thing's for sure, we're getting rid of the Jacuzzi. We tried it when we first bought the house (after extennnnnnsive cleaning) however it's just not our thing. We could see even closing the porch in one day and making it another bedroom/den as well as a fully functioning laundry space (right now the washer/dryer is located in our main hallway).

As far as trying to keep the lanai clean, it doesn't help having Jack who runs outside in the dirt/rain and brings all the muddy goodness in with him. If only we could train him to wipe his little paws.

Here's our backyard...definitely green, but also most definitely cray-cray. If only Rob or I loved the act of yard work...one day we'll get to hacking at this area and make it nice...front yard in my first priority though. Maybe we'll wait till Finn is a little older and we can recruit him to help us back here, lol.

So there you have it...there's some bad and ugly for ya. The nice thing is, I can just retreat to a finished room in our house and forget about the craziness lurking around us. It doesn't work every time, but it works. God's helping me to learn to not let it all affect me...it is hard when you're an environmentally affected person, but He's helping me.

So here's to life and all its realities! The good, the bad and the ugly.

M&M Cookie Pie

When Rob came home from NYC, I wanted to make a little something for him. Ya know, try to be domestic. I found this recipe on Pinterest for an M&M cookie pie. It was super easy even though I'm so inexperienced, that I didn't even know what it meant to cream something. I know, don't laugh all you bakers and kitchen pros!

Basically it's just an M&M cookie baked in a pie pan (glass or metal)...once it's done you just slice it like a pie and you've got yourself a cookie pie. Genius.

It was pretty tasty, definitely will make again. If only baking and cooking didn't produce endless dishes...

A Bit of Fall

Just wanted to share a few things in our home that have been newly added in the spirit of fall. Hoping this year in Florida we may be able to truly have some fall-like (Florida fall-like) weather.

Heck, bring on Florida winter weather, I'm ready. :)

I have numerous mason jars around the house, have used them for many different things...and even though it seems like no one likes candy corn (I can only eat one or two in a day), I like the look of it sweetly contained in this jar. And I just couldn't pass up buying some fun size twix and snickers. Love how the store clerk asked me as she was ringing these items up if this was for me or for the baby. Lol :)

I found these pumpkins at HomeGoods. Mmm...burlappy.

Fall without a cinnamon broom? Impossible! :)

And here's a latest bump picture for ya. I'm 26 weeks today and still feeling great. Third trimester begins next week, oh my.

I hope you all are enjoying the season! Especially you lucky ones with trees that change color and weather that's below 80.

Love to you all! :)

Birthing Classes...to do or not to do?

I just visited my hospital's class page and a bit of instant panic rose up in me, lol. I wonder if it would just be better to show up the day that Finn is coming, and deal with everything then. Lol. I'm sure it doesn't hurt to do these classes, but I'm just curious for those who went through it, was it helpful in the end? Or did it just bring about more worry?

I've been privileged to witness two live births, so I've seen all that goes down in the room and I'm very thankful for that. So I'm not sure if I need more info, or just deal with it then. I guess more info and practices wouldn't technically hurt, but I wonder if that would leave room for worry to come.

So I'm looking to hear your experiences. Any mom's/dad's out there take any birthing prep classes at your hospital? Or did you opt out and just learn things here and there?

(Ps...I made my very first craigslist purchase! I bought some metal vintage outdoor chairs for only $10! They need love, but I think they're gonna look amazing! Will share once they're done!)

Finn's Room Update and a Sneak Peek!

The walls have been painted! Hip hip!

Here's what we were dealing with before to refresh your memory...

We were left with this blue wall once we removed two huge mirror panes that were glued to the wall. The problem we encountered was that only some of the blue paint peeled off like wallpaper, which left us with an uneven wall with all sorts of various texture.

Rob sanded it down on the edges that wouldn't peel off, and then applied texture to the wall (to match our other walls). My mother-in-law then primed it and applied two coats of paint and ta-da!

So much better. The color I chose is called Smooth Stone by Glidden, however color matched to Behr so we could us the paint and primer duo as well as no VOC. This is the lightest color I have ever chosen and am absolutely happy with it. With a number of dark pieces that are going to be in this room, I wanted to keep the color light and neutral for all the various decorating changes we'll wanna make in there as he grows older.

My vision for the room is for it to be light and airy, but still fun. Definitely have realized that without being too themey, the room will have touches of nautical as well as a whimsy feel.

So here's a sneak peak of my vision for Finn's room...it's not fully developed in my head, just the basics are. The colorful accessories will fill in as we find them. :)

We have a few existing pieces that we already own that we are using for his room, the black/brown wardrobe as well as a black/brown desk (not the exact one pictured) that we're going to be using as the changing table. Plan on using some of Rob's items that he had as a little boy too in there.

A ton of color will be brought in with the accessories...(I see homemade wall art projects in my future), crib bedding, fun stuffed animals, a wall for his books, a drawing/craft table.

I plan on bringing touches of nautical with the raw rope as curtain tie backs, the round mirrors that remind me of portholes, and using materials like burlap and wicker. Speaking of wicker, HomeGoods is the place to get baskets...just a tip for everyone, baskets are so dang cheap there! Especially when compared to Target.

Overall, definitely looking forward to the day when it's all pulled together and ready for our little man. Definitely doing all of this on a budget, not trying to break the bank or anything. Just keeping those creative juices flowing.

Happy new week to you all! :)