Mommy Corner: Nursery Tour

Well it has been a crazy busy week; I had to stay home two days this week with a feverish baby.  Man this two jobs thing is nothing like it was in college, must have had more energy back then.  None the less I did get some quality snuggle time with the youngest, most of which was in his nursery.  So after staring at the walls while I rocked for hours on end, I decided now is the time to give you all a tour. 

Let me start by saying how in awe I am of all the amazing bloggers out there who are incredibly talented when it comes to design.  I don’t think I’ll ever have the nerve to give you guys a full on tour of our entire house, because it is just not ready for its close up.  I have a very eclectic style, and many of the rooms are a mish mash of all the things that make me happy while making our home feel cozy.  I borrow so many wonderful ideas from all the talented blogger/designers out there.  I also love color, lots of different colors.  I wouldn’t say crazy or saturated color, but I am not a fan of white walls decorating.  My boys' rooms are very old fashioned in the sense that I carried out a central theme to the N^th degree in soothing colors that I thought were conducive to happy, well-adjusted children. 

I’m the kind of person who likes to open Christmas presents at Thanksgiving so of course we knew we were having a boy well in advance of the nursery plans.  I didn’t know I was going to be a blogger back then, although I did make a mood board just to show family before they threw me a lovely baby shower. 

 

Because this was my second child traditionally there shouldn’t have been a shower, but because it had been nearly 7 years since I laid a hand on baby gear, they felt a shower was an absolute must.  Everyone was so generous and the shower was beautiful. Look at us, doesn’t this look like a wonderful bunch of hostesses.  I am very blessed when it comes to these ladies.

Let me say this, babies are expensive.  Those boogers cost money and all the baby gear can really put a strain on the wallet.  We have an amazing baby store here called Cullen’s Playland right around the corner from my office and I stopped in frequently to peruse the clearance section. That is where the nursery inspiration began.  Carter’s Bumble there on the shelf, the entire collection 50% off.  And I mean every piece of the collection.  My family purchased the bedding set, bumper, and lamp. I was able to go online at Amazon and picked up the diaper stacker, valence and decals.  That was pretty much the jumping off place.

We had a bed offered to us and I was planning on piecing together a stylish nursery with furniture we had, and maybe look for a changing table, but good fortune smiled on us once again in the form of a sale at Cullen’s.  This Munire Rockport furniture set came with a convertible crib, side rails, 6 drawer chest with hutch, and 5 drawer high boy for the bargain price of $999.99. 

I tell you if we hadn’t been filling out our baby registry the day before I’m not sure my husband would have gotten a full grasp on what a deal that was.  So home with us that went. I should mention here that we split the pieces and put the 6 drawer dresser and hutch in the older boy’s room to give him more storage space and a place to put his TV. Also, I was able to find a few things on Craigslist. The glider was $100, again purchased after we shopped the ridiculous prices of the new glider at the Big Baby Mart, and the changing table $50. I didn't mind mixing the wood tones in this room, however I did mean to paint a couple of the tables in here white. Guess I should have done that before he was born, there would have been more time for it.

This room was a guest room and I had just painted the popcorn ceiling and the walls the year before. So there was virtually no wall prep to change the paint color.  But the floor, that was a different story. This room was in dire need of new flooring.  I was leaning away from carpet, as most people are these days.  I wanted something easy to maintain, and not have to worry about allergens with a new baby.  We decided on laminate and after considering all the options we chose this Hampton Bay Tuscan Red Cherry laminate from Home Depot.   We cut the old carpet into manageable strips and hauled it to the curb through the front door. Then began the arduous task of removing the pad and scraping tons of old glue off the slab.  I was pretty big by then, but don't think I didn't get down on the floor and help do some scraping.

It was affordable, had rich beautiful color and I really loved the texture on this floor. It has a very natural texture without looking man made. We are very pleased with it and we plan to use it elsewhere in the house. 

The paint colors were chosen by the very talented young man at the Home Depot paint counter. 
I told him my plans for two colors.  He told me he couldn’t color match the bed sheets because they were to transparent in the machine. But I kid you not he walked over to the samples and pulled out the two that matched perfectly.  It was like he was some kind of color picking savant.  He chose Behr Misty Surf and Rich Cream, I was thoroughly impressed. I got the idea for the two colors and the stripe from a picture and decided I needed two colors and something cheerful to break up the two, so that is where the decals came in. 

So here you go, our baby boy’s nursery.  It really is one of my favorite places to sit and relax. Have a look, I welcome any thoughts or suggestions.  Thanks for stopping by and come back for this week’s kid friendly recipe. 

Technicolored Dryer

Well this morning I wanted to talk muffins, nursery, or maybe a project or two around the house.  But this morning’s post was hijacked by a Technicolor dryer.  Therefore I am taking this opportunity to address every mother’s biggest nightmare (okay maybe not the biggest, but definitely in the top 10), a melted unidentifiable substance in the dryer.  Dun-dun-dun! 

 

 

 While going about my usual early morning chores I thought I would empty the dryer and put on another load.  Much to my horror I was greeted immediately by a psychedelic pink mystery stain just inside the door.  My mind raced as I began to assess the damaged by carefully inspecting every piece of clothing I pulled out front to back, inside and out.  Thankfully the stain missed white school uniform shirts, uniform shorts, many of my favorite "go to" t-shirts, and even my baby’s handmade crochet blanket made for us by a friend.  The mystery product seems to have gotten caught in the crevice of the door and melted there missing almost every piece of clothing in the overstuffed dryer.  Do I have a laundry angel or what???

Now what to do about this so that I can continue with the chores and get back on track with my morning routine? I started with my first string product for things like this and immediately grabbed up several paper towels and a bottle of Goo Gone. 

It did the job beautifully and cleaned the mystery stain little by little.  When I began to notice the paper towel was spreading the color rather than picking it up I got a fresh paper towel. 

Next I used the sharp point of an old kitchen knife to dig some of what I am sure was a bright pink crayon out of the inside crevice of the door. 

While I was scraping out the last minute bits of crayon I noticed it had melted down inside the lint catcher, seeing as how there was no way that would ever touch the clothes I decided that was a lost cause and let it go.  There is no danger of the crayon offender every reaching the drum because the front piece of the lint catcher is separated from the main drum by a lip created by two separate parts.  I am fairly confident in my decision the leave it alone and hope for the best.

So there you have it my dodged bright pink bullet and a mommy endorsement for my favorite crayon removing product.  I will do my best to get those other post I mentioned ready for prime time. 

 I should mention that I got a fantastic deal on my front load washer and dryer, when a roommate of mine moved to an apartment with no W/D connections in her dream neighborhood. She bought the floor displays at Home Depot and got the pair for $900. While we lived together I purchased some very nice slip covered couches off Craigslist. She loved the couches more than I did so we made a trade, and I paid her the difference.  Seriously, I was happy to give her the equivalent of $900 for two appliances I had fallen in love with, and I got two for the price of one really. Thanks roomie for the great deal, your W/D are still going strong. 

Have a wonderful week and remember to check all pockets before throwing kiddy clothes in the wash. 

PS: I am making the most delicious pork chop recipe for dinner tonight, more on that next week.

Critter Catcher

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween.  I must say that I had a spook-tacular day, despite the fact there was a 90% chance of rain at 6 o’clock last night, poor trick-or-treaters.  The two that came to my door got a half a bowl of candy each, yay!

Today I am posting a quick fix for the back yard to make a new fence critter proof, mixed in with a couple Tool Talk tips.  Being a corner lot has its advantages to be sure, extra square footage and only one fence neighbor to name a couple.  However you often end up home to the block's utility needs.  Case in point: There is a pad mounted transformer in the back corner of my yard.  For many years it was surrounded by a makeshift fence that consisted of some chain link precariously placed against the wooden fence separating me and my neighbor.  Several months ago I was contacted by the electric company who informed me they had been working on the transformer and wanted permission to take out the make shift chain link and build me a wooden gate to give them easier access.  Well again, I’m no fool I immediately said yes and gave them my blessing.  When I returned home that day I had a shiny new fence/gate that not only hid the transformer but gave me more privacy. 

Now there was the trouble of Harry.  Harry is a sweet little Dachshund we adopted from the Feliciana Animal Welfare Society. He is named after one of my son’s favorite books Harry the Dirty Dog, but in reality it’s more like Harry Houdini.  

 For starters he can spring a good 4 feet into the air, he has been known to clear the wall separating the carport from the back yard, and has used every bit of patio furniture I own to facilitate his escapes.  The gap left at the bottom of my fence was simply not going to work for us. 

 

 I grabbed some wire mesh I had on hand, an oscillating tool, gloves, tape measure, staple gun, and a couple extension cords. 

 I began by measuring the length of both sides of the gate.  Here’s a handy tip, if you need to take a few measurements for a quick project like this one, use a piece of painters tape to write down the numbers on your measuring tape. 

I laid out the mesh and clipped it to my table to hold it still.  While cutting my second piece I burn up my oscillating tool and ended up cutting the remaining mesh with utility scissors.  It wasn't easy, but it worked. I need to invest in some tin snips.

With the two pieces cut to length I hauled the needed tools to the back corner to get started. I wanted to mention how much I use the extension reel below.  It brings the outlet closer to me so that I don't need to link 200 feet of extension cord.  It is so handy for large power tools and long expanses like this project.  

 I began by cutting away some of the brush with a pair of B&D Alligator Loppers I bought off the clearance rack at Lowe’s.  I don’t mind buying things out of the box to get the better price. 

 

Also you can see the Velcro straps I keep on the end of my cords to secure the plugs and keep them from coming apart while I am working. 

I then stapled the wire mesh to the bottom of the gate using my power stapler.  I went back with a hammer to tap in any staples that weren’t flush and checked for any puppy sized gaps.

That’s all there was to it.  I have said before that I want to share the truth and nothing but, so I will admit that the plan was to cut the second piece on an angle to account for the change in grade, but I was in a hurry to finish this project before I had to picks up the boys and stapled it on upside down. Arrgh!?!

 

But in the long run it worked so I figured when I put a new flower bed back here and plant a tree no one will notice.  Another project tackled, bring on the next.  

Yard Work and Bargains

Good Morning.  Here's a quick bargain tidbit related to today's upcoming post.  After I purchased my home roughly 3 years ago, I was strolling through the lawn & garden section of the local Walmart when I came across a group of mowers with orange flags tied to them and discounted prices on the labels. 




Walmart Mower

Turns out that Walmart sent off several returned mowers to be refurbished and was selling them at nearly 60% off the original price.  I quickly claimed this baby for the bargain price of $99.99.  It is a mulching mower, so there is never any bagging or raking to be done.  As a bonus it was not self-propelled so I was able to kill my yard work and cardio birds with one stone if you will.  Seriously this mower is still going strong and hasn't caused me a moment’s trouble in the last three years. I am always careful to be sure I run it completely dry before putting it up for winter, and I usually blow it off with the blower to keep it clean of debris before storing. What a deal, right? So be sure to ask your local stores if they have any refurbished mowers for sale. More on my yard triumphs this afternoon.