Saturday, June 29, 2013

Follow me on Bloglovin'

Hello Dear, Friends!


Google Reader is going away on July 1st. I have ignored all the blog posts with all of the warnings for as long as I possibly could  assuming it wasn't true or in case everyone was just misunderstanding what Google was saying exactly. Anyway, I am now following all of my favorite blogs on Bloglovin.' It was very easy to import all of the blogs I'm currently following, from Google to Bloglovin'. If you don't already follow me and want to, please add me by clicking on the link above.

Thank you,


Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Olivia Grace is here!

Hello, dear friends.

"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young". ~ Isaiah 40:11

Olivia Grace has arrived!


This little beauty was born at 5:10 pm. on Tuesday June 18th. She was 6 lbs., 7 oz, and 20 inches long. 


~ The story of Olivia's arrival ~

I was not feeling well all day on Monday the 17th. We finally went to the hospital around 8:30 p.m.. We stayed for a few hours and then went back home to take a bath, eat, and get some rest with the idea of coming back to the hospital to be admitted around 3 in the morning. 
 I thought that I would be a hero like my Mom who had eight natural births but by the time we went back to the hospital to be admitted, I decided that I was not going to do a natural birth. I made my husband promise me that I wouldn't cave in and change my mind in the times when the contractions weren't so bad. I tried going without the epidural until I couldn't take it any longer with the back labor that I was experiencing. I like to think of myself as a more natural person. I stay away from a lot of medications, cleaners, try to eat organic  when I can afford it. I had read all sorts of articles that I had researched pinned or saved somewhere. I just personally couldn't do it after all. I was able to sleep until I would experience the horrible contractions. My contractions widened to more like 9 to 13 minutes apart, I was dilated to 3 at this point. Our wonderful nurse who had been with us at 8:30, then three o'clock and throughout the morning woke me up to walk the hospital. I much preferred walking when the contractions were happening. Stopping in the hallways and holding railings was somehow easier than laying in bed writhing in pain, holding onto the side rails. As I got up my nurse warned me that the woman screaming in labor was doing a natural birth and not to get upset or worried by hearing her. You could hear her screams from everywhere on the floor. It was horrible! We finally went to another floor just to get away from the sound. We walked for about an hour. We finally heard a baby from the screaming woman's room. I was very happy and relieved for her.  
 I went back and laid down as the contractions were getting regular again and that's when the horrible contractions with the back pain started. I waited awhile longer to ask for the epidural. Once I was dilated to about 4 was when I asked for it. I was able to rest for a few hours, as was Nate, so we could prepare for the labor to come. The epidural was not as bad or painful as I expected, so that was good.
Around 4 in the afternoon I started feeling a lot of pressure and I knew that my time was close. They told me that I was fully dilated and they called for my Dr. I felt ready to push right then. Our wonderful nurse Tonja began to get everything ready. I was a little out of it from all the pressure, but I could still talk.
Once they were ready for me to start pushing Nate and the nurse coached me on pushing. The nurse offered for me to use a mirror, I never thought that I would want to do that but it really helped to see what I was actually doing.
They asked me to stop pushing so that the doctor could come in. That was very hard to do! Once, the doctor was there I pushed a few more times and she was out! In all, I pushed for 22 minutes and our beautiful girl was here and in my arms! There is nothing like that feeling when you first see your child and they put her in your arms for the first time. I just couldn't stop kissing her! My husband said that I did really well and I didn't yell once or scream. I can't really remember at this point! Nate cut the umbilical cord and I get to hold her for quite awhile while the doctors and nurses do what they do at the end. Yikes! I'm giving a lot of personal information but I won't go into detail about all that. Once we were all cleaned up, I finally got to eat. That was pretty amazing too! We were moved to our suite shorty after that and Nate's family was there to meet her. 

It was so special that she has so many loved ones that wanted to welcome her into this world. 

"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate."
~ Psalms 127: 3-5

Our little family is so loved!




More beautiful photos that my sister-in-law, Whitney, took. They're all so precious to me!







Olivia's second day ~ A few photos that we took




All ready to go home! She's so tiny and gets so swallowed up by her car seat!

We are home now and loving every minute of it. Nursing has been a bit of a challenge, and of course, she's sleeping days and pretty restless at nights, but it's all to be expected. 

I hope you enjoyed the beginning of Olivia's story!

Love,


Sunday, June 16, 2013

Nursery Project# 5 ~ Coffee Filter Wreath

Hello dear friends!

I have a coffee filter wreath tutorial for you today ~


I love peonies!


We have some beautiful plants in our yard and I have so 
enjoyed them while they've been blooming in our backyard in the last few weeks. 


They even inspired me to make a coffee filter wreath for the nursery. The wreaths always look like peonies to me for some reason.

I've been wanting to make one for some time. They're all over Pinterest. I didn't follow any blog tutorial though. There are so many beautiful photos out there but I just did my own thing and hoped that it would work!

The Coffee Filter Wreath ~


I dyed the first stack of filters with a tea stain to get a pale beige color.

The second stack of filters was a mix of water with three drops of red food coloring and two drops of orange to get my pale pink color. 

It took a few days for the dyed filters to dry. I finally used my blow dryer to complete the drying. It wrinkled up the filters a bit and it worked perfectly!

Then I obviously just used white and unbleached filters to round out my multicolored scheme.

I tried flattening the non-dyed coffee filters as I went but they really didn't flatten near as much as the dyed filters. 


 I then made little rosettes out of the filters with each of the four colors and hot glued them together.


And then just started hot gluing them to the wreath.


After awhile, I started to make bunches of rosettes and then attached them all in a row.


I filled in gaps with single filters where needed.


I love the color combo! I have so much white, beige, and antique white going on in the nursery that breaking it up with lovely shades of pink here and there just looks so pretty to me!

The Banner ~


I also wanted to make a banner to go with my wreath. I used stencils, a sharpie, burlap, muslin, and tan colored thread.


I used the cardboard piece to the right as my template and then cut the burlap smaller.


I hand stitched the burlap to jute string with a muslin backing

This was the most time consuming part of the project for me! I do not sew and I always have a horrible time with it.


The wreath and banner all finished and hanging from the door to Olivia's room!

I bought the pink fabric and lace flowers and the ribbon for the bow from Michael's for the final touch.

Love,


*Update: I would now recommend wrapping your Styrofoam wreath with ribbon or tape before hot gluing the coffee filters to the wreath. The wreath fell from the nursery room door yesterday and broke in half. There was no way to fix it so I had to throw it away. If it had been reinforced in some way I don't think it would have broken in half like that. So sad about it still!

Linking With ~

Creative Home Expressions ~ The Creative HomeAcre Hop
TwelveOEight ~ Pretty Things
So Much Better With Age ~ Give Me The Goods Link Party
The Farmhouse Porch ~ Tuesdays the Scoop
A Diamond in the Stuff ~ Time to Shine
Savvy Southern Style ~ Wow us Wednesdays
Saving4Six ~ Think Tank Thursday
The Fine Craft Guild ~ Link Party
The Charm of Home ~ Home Sweet Home
Common Ground ~ Be Inspired
The Shabby Nest ~ Frugal Friday
My Repurposed Life ~ Catch as Catch Can
My Romantic Home ~ Show & Tell Friday
Dear Creatives ~ Inspire Me Spotlight
Funky Junk Interiors ~ Party Junk
Love of Family and Home ~ Inspire Me Please Weekend Blog Hop
French Country Cottage ~ Feathered Nest Friday
VMG206 ~ Brag About It &
BeBetsy ~ Brag About It


Sunday, June 2, 2013

Nursery Project #4 ~ Shopping for Vintage Treasures

Hello, lovely friends!

 I found some great treasures in the last few weeks at my favorite antique store, Changing Thymes, and a wonderful new store called Caledonia Vintage Marketplace.
 I just needed a few items to finish out the decor in the room and a few practical items too.

First, I found this amazing piece at the store in Caledonia to go over the crib!


This piece was $25 and I think it was a really good deal as it's pretty much amazing!

I then went in search of a hanger and an old white dress to hang from the hooks.


I also found the three pillows at the store in Caledonia. The booth they came from was a wedding stagers booth. All of her items were amazing. Anyone in the Grand Rapids area getting married with a love for vintage style should really check this booth out. She had a spot for old items that were actually for sale and I fell in love with these pillows right away. They were $4 a piece.

At Changing Thymes I found ~

The white basket with the sage gingham lining for $6.99


 The picket fence box was $3.99

The little watering can was $1.99. It reminds me of Peter Rabbit and it goes perfectly with my theme. 

The baby gown is just beautiful and in really good condition! It was $14.


I searched high and low for a vintage looking hanger and I finally found one at the second Changing Thymes location. It was hanging with this darling little clothes pin holder. I really like the actual holder and hope to someday find another hanger to actually use that part of the piece. It was $8.99 and came with about 10 clothes pins. I needed the clothes pins for another project for the nursery, so it was perfect!


I have now painted the hanger in Old white, painted the clothes pins my sage color, a mix of  Old White and Provence (again, for another nursery project). 

I still have another item or two to hang from the hooks.


I painted the watering can with my sage color first and then ended up going over it with Provence. It's now a wonderful dark green color that matches the watering can in the books a lot better.


The baskets on the changing table ~



I'm still not ready to post pictures of the whole nursery. We have blinds and an area rug to buy, curtains to hang up, and a few more pictures to hang before it's completed. My rocking chair and table are painted and I've just completed the last coat of paint for my rocking chair bench.

~*~ 
Happy treasure seeking to all!

Stores & Businesses:

~ Changing Thymes ~ 
(Now with two locations)

4165 Chicago Drive
&
2900 Wilson 
Grandville, MI 49418

You can visit their Facebook page here.

~ The Caledonia Vintage Marketplace ~

9968 Cherry Valley Ave.
Caledonia, MI 

616-891-1918

You can visit their Facebook page here.

Something Borrowed Vintage Staging & Rentals

You can visit their Facebook page here.

Love,



Linking With ~

TwelveOEight ~ Pretty Things
Creative Home Expressions ~ The Creative HomeAcres Blog Hop
The Tablescaper ~ Seasonal Sundays
 Better with Age ~ Give me the good Mondays
Knick of Time Interiors ~ Knick of Time Tuesdays
The Farmhouse Porch ~ Tuesdays the Scoop
A Stroll Thru Life ~ Inspire me Tuesday
A Diamond in the Stuff ~ Time to Shine
Savvy Southern Style ~ Wow us Wednesdays
Ginger Snap Crafts ~ Wow me Wednesday
Ivy & Elephants ~ What's it Wednesdays
Saving4Six ~ Think Tank Thursday
Lamberts Lately ~ Create it Thursday
The Fine Craft Guild ~ Link Party
The Charm of Home ~ Home Sweet Home
Common Ground ~ Be Inspired
The Shabby Nest ~ Frugal Friday
My Repurposed Life ~ Catch as Catch Can
My Romantic Home ~ Show & Tell Friday
Dear Creatives ~ Inspire Me Spotlight
Funky Junk Interiors ~ Party Junk
Love of Family and Home ~ Inspire Me Please Weekend Blog Hop