Garden FAIL

Remember when I planted a garden? Even though all previous plant experiences had been a bust? Even though I was very pregnant and only about to get more pregnant? Even though I was about to get very distracted by a co-dependent tiny human? Yeah, that didn't end well.



I've gotten a few cherry tomatoes out of it and one pepper. While this is pretty much a 4x4 disaster zone (Like so much of the rest of our yard, but that's another story.) at least it's a start. I'm really optimistic that next year I will try again. And maybe someday I'll keep up with my garden for a whole summer. Maybe even a fall planting. I'll take it one summer at a time.

Sugar Scrub: Cheap, Easy and Tasty

When it comes to beauty products I generally stick with the basics, but my favorite non-necessity in the bathroom is sugar scrub. I haven't had any for years because I'm cheap, would rather buy a new pair of earrings, and am too lazy to use it when I have it. Which is why making my own sugar scrub is pretty much the best idea ever. I really want to host a baby or wedding shower now just so I can make up lots of these as favors.

I used this recipe and added a couple drops of lavender to recreate my favorite Bath and Body Works scent, lavender vanilla. (I probably should've started with one drop of lavender since I made only half the recipe.  They're not joking when the say to go slowly with adding the essential oils.)

And yes, this also makes an excellent snack. But not after you add the essential oils. ;)

The Nursery Plans!!

*drum roll*

After much debate and purchasing of fabric swatches and pinning of various inspirational photos, I am ready to reveal the decor plans for Elizabeth's room, a.k.a. 500 things Katie thinks she is going to sew in the next 5 weeks.



Here is her room before and where it stands today. (Special thanks to my dad and Lee for getting it painted while mom and I went to a shower and ate cake. Yummy yummy cake. And I brought home tons of fabulous baby things. If Zoey did not shed so much, I probably would have already tried out half of it on her. I'm sure Zoey would love to ride in a baby swing while wearing a sundress.)

I wasn't a huge fan of the shade of pink the previous owners had chosen, not to mention the 500 nail holes that needed to be filled, so I went with a khaki. The blue box in the bottom right corner are the new blinds we'll be putting up because I hate the pink fabric ones. (We're actually replacing all the fabric blinds. They were so tricksy to peek out of.) You can see the random miscellaneous pile of Rubbermaid tubs that have been living in here since we moved in that we still haven't found a home for. Also note the adorable llama painting in the glider from a very talented friend. Adorable! What little girls' room doesn't need a llama?! Love it!

In case you're curious, the crib is the Alpha crib by DaVinci, chosen for it's real wood and non-toxic finish. Because I'm paranoid, the crib mattress is organic. The glider is a hand-me-down. We're still looking for a white dresser that can double as a changing table with some extra room on top to store diapering supplies.



I'm planning on recovering the glider and making the crib skirt and bumper. I've got the fabric for it, so now to find the time and courage to proceed. None of it should be that tricky, but I'm still nervous. And the picture didn't turn out super well, but the flowers on the crib skirt are coral and yellow.



A few other projects include decorating white, floor-length curtains (with black-out panels) with pink and yellow yo-yos (like this) and brown buttons in the center, sewing little baggies to organize Elizabeth's stuff in my purse, and making some cloth wipes.

My hope is to take one day next week to do nothing but sew, sew, sew. It sounds splendid. Sadly I haven't spent any significant time with Laura my sewing machine since Halloween (Things I can tell you now but couldn't tell you then: That was the day we found out we were pregnant!).

Our Garden is Growing!!

On Thursday I planted our garden and I must say, I'm ridiculously proud of it. For someone whose idea of enjoying the outdoors involves drinking on patios and whose idea of getting "my hands dirty" involves a sewing machine or glue gun, I feel like this garden is a big step in the direction of...I don't know...the direction of facing my bug fears in the name of cheap, readily available, quality produce?! Lee measured, placed the large metal rods and tilled up the ground, but I did everything else. And it turned out awesome.



The tomatoes and peppers we'll be growing from transplants starting next month (like my chart told me to), but here is everything else, neatly planted and labeled in their square foot of space.



To protect my pride and joy from squirrels/rabbits/opossums/mice, I fenced it in with some chicken wire. Only cut myself twice! I'm particularly proud of the fence. It seems so handy of me. I also sprinkled cayenne and pepper around the edges because I've heard that helps too.

As of today, the cilantro and broccoli were sprouting!! Despite the fact that my container plants have failed in the past, I seem to be a natural at in-the-ground gardening.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I've made a few sad attempts at gardening over the past couple years. Despite my lack of success with growing my own foods, I've decided to not let that stop me and this year we are expanding! After all, year 1 the apartment balcony was shady, and year 2 I didn't water. So this year, with sun and watering, I'm hoping to reap a successful harvest.

We've decided to do a 4x4 square-foot garden without the raised bed to save money on buying all the soil. We did get some manure to mix in with our current soil to increase its quality.

Here's our little spot, waiting for its manure, seeds and transplants!

And here's the current planned layout.



If all goes well this year, I'm hoping to expand into more root vegetables next year, like carrots, potatoes, onions and garlic.

Welcome Spring

When we moved into our house last summer, I decided we would ignore the yard for the first year to focus on the sprucing up the inside. Sadly, this means our yard looks kind of poopy. I feel sorry for our neighbors who have to look at our yard. I feel sorry for the previous owners because I think I've killed most of the plants they spent so much time cultivating. (Although I was planning on digging them up and doing something different anyways.)

We have plans to clean it up this spring. Dig up some stuff, plant some stuff. Lee has declared war on the crab grass and will not rest (well, I'm sure he'll rest a bit) until it is all gone. I'm hoping to have an herb garden and maybe some berry bushes but I've heard those are tricksy.

But despite the way we've let the yard run amok, some flowers have managed to pop up. I have no idea what they are, but they're pretty and bring a smile to my face. Welcome Spring!

In the Next 142 Days

There are 142 days until July 1. Since I'm due in mid-July, I'm setting July 1 as the deadline for the house projects we want to get done before the baby.



In the next 142 days, we will:

+ Paint all the trim and doors in the house white. (Currently some is tan and some is white.)
+ Paint the hallways and family room.
+ Paint and decorate the nursery of course!
+ Paint the deck. (Before we bought the house the previous owners replaced a couple steps but couldn't paint them, so we have 2 steps to paint.)
+ Slipcovers for the couches.
+  Finally unpack the stuff in the basement.
+ Clean the windows.
+ Plant an herb garden.
+ Make some front yard landscaping changes and maybe a few in the back yard.

I think it sounds doable, but feel free to stop by with your paint brush and/or shovel. ;)

Ding Dong the Blue Carpet's Gone!

We don't need to discuss how pathetic it is that we had hardwood floors installed the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and I am just now showing you pictures. Let's just celebrate that there are finally pictures.

Incase you forgot, we bought a house with blue carpet. Thankfully, it was only in two rooms: living room and dining room.



After several months of saving, we finally got some lovely hardwood floors that match the hardwood floors in the bedrooms. We also painted.





So lovely! Except that the couches don't match the new wall color (And Zoey walked all over them with paint on her paws. Whoops! Right after I told someone how good she is about staying out of the paint.) and only half the trim is painted, but those are on the list of things to do soon. In the meantime, I'm pretty happy just to own a blue-carpet-free home. (Does it count that the blue carpet now lives in the garage?)

Pinning Away

Have you heard about Pinterest? It's one of my more recent Internet obsessions, and while I'm hesitant to sign up for one more thing, Pinterest is totally worth it. It's invitation only, but requesting an invitation is easy and I got my invite in a week. So do it. Today.

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Katie on Pinterest

With Pinterest, you can easily "pin" inspiration photos from around the web to your boards. You can install a "Pin It" button in your browser's toolbar and next time you see something drool worthy you can save it to one of your boards. You can follow others and their boards and re-pin items you like. Basically, it's photo porn for those with an affinity for interior design, art and fashion.

Source: ohdeedoh.com via Farrah on Pinterest

You can follow my boards and pins here.

The First Nail* in the Wall

*The first nail is the wall was really for either a shower curtain rod or towel hook, but this is about the first aesthetic hole in the wall, so much more noteworthy.

Up to this point, Lee and I have hung nothing cute on the walls. I wanted to get all the painting, curtains and furniture worked out first. Since that's been going a little slowly, the walls remain empty. But now that I'm working from home, I felt the need for some kind of bulletin board/dry erase combo. I wanted to be able to pin up reminders and pretty pictures, and have some dry erase lists that I could easily take off the wall to write on and then put back. Of course, this needed to be cute.

After many trips to Staples, Office Depot, Target, Walmart, etc., we have the solution:

The corkboards are from Michael's, as are the glass picture frames which I bought for a past project. I'm loving it! So much nicer to look at than a blank wall (although beautifully painted).

Now to tackle those to-do lists...