My New Desk

Here is a picture of my new computer desk!  I can't believe how well it turned out for just about $20 (and we will have plenty of stain and polyurethane left over for other projects which will make them free)

It fits in the room so much better than the old one.  Trust me.  I was going to get a picture of the other one, but while I was at our women's conference today my precious husband moved it out (well over at least) and set up this one for me.  Isn't he wonderful.  I didn't even ask him to!  Which is why there are lots of cables and things still out.  He hasn't had time to completely organize, but he assures me that they won't be seen and that most will be hidden under the bed.

The desk really feels (and smells) like a new piece of furniture!  And as I am typing I just can't stop feeling the smooth, shiny surface.  We have stained a couple of other cheap pieces of furniture, but none has turned out this well!  (I am glad we got our practice in on those.) 

So, learn from our mistakes if you ever attempt staining:
1. It is not as hard as everyone makes it out to be, so don't be intimidated and don't live with a piece of furniture you don't love when you can stain or paint it! (Although a garage does make the process much easier, because you do not have to finish all in one day or risk leaving the piece outside)

2. (I think I have already shared this one)  Try to skip the power sander if possible, start with hand sanding and if that doesn't work or is too incredibly hard try the power sander.  We can no longer really see the damage the sander left but I was very worried until we were completely done.

3. DO NOT use the stain with the polyurethane already mixed in.  We tried this with the other things we have stained, because we though it would be eaiser.  It doesn't work the same!

4. Follow ALL directions on the can!!  However, you may need to leave the stain on a little longer than it says if you want the wood to be really dark.

5.  After applying the first coat of poly. the directions say to lightly sand.  This does not mean to just scuff up the surface for the next coat (I was afraid to sand too much).  You need to make sure the surface is completely smooth, but don't sand enough that you are getting through to the wood and taking off color.

Easy Framing Idea

My handy husband is at it again.  Our guest bathroom, well let's just say there's not much to it.  It is a teeny space with just enough room for the essentials.  Whoever designed the house wasn't much on the extra frills, especially in this bathroom.  We don't even have a real light in there, just this dim one on the fan (that's a project for another day).

Well, the mirror was just that, a mirror.  They glued a rectangular piece of glass to the wall.  Not even any of those ugly clips that help hold it to the wall.  So, I knew that getting the mirror off would probably be more trouble than it would be worth.  I had thought about trying to hang a frame around it, but, as you can see in the pictures below, the sink is in the corner of the room, making the mirror about 1/8th of an inch away from the wall.

The other day, I was reading a blog and then clicked on another blog (you know how it goes) and before I knew it I was on this woman's site who had the same problem as me.  She framed her mirror by using crown molding and paint.  Her's turned out very well and seemed very easy and inexpensive.

First of all, we bought that white crown molding that isn't really made of wood so that it would not bow.  Then, we glued it directly on the mirror with liquid nails.  If the next owner wants it down they will have a job on their hands, but it looks so much better!

I thought about leaving the frame white but with our off white sink and counter top it looked silly.  I love the oiled bronze look and most of our fixtures have that look throughout the house.  On the same blog were instructions for making that look, so I thought I would give it a try.  I think this lady did it with a light fixture, but it worked on this as well.

Paint a base coat of dark brown paint.  When that is completely dry, use a natural sea sponge to dab on bronze acrylic paint.  Wash out the sponge and use the damp sponge to dab off excess paint until you get the look you want.

The paint was left over from another project so the only expense was a couple bucks for crown molding, liquid nails, and the bronze paint.  The total was probably about $10. 

So Many Toys

My handy husband made this shelf for me so we could store some of Sterling's toys.  I found these cute baskets at Hobby Lobby 50% off and painted it brown. I am very pleased with the way it turned out.  I am trying to decide if I want to get a few more baskets or leave some of the toys exposed.

Sew Busy

I decided that it was time to begin putting up window treatments in the house (since we still have none up).  I decided that Sterling's room was the place to start since maybe covering his window would block some light and help him sleep.  The only problem is there is a toy box/window seat under his window so I was going to have to get some kind of shade.  I was looking for some kind of roman shade or balloon shade.  But after looking all over town and on the internet, I came to the conclusion I was either going to have to pay a fortune or make it myself.  Since I don't have a fortune to spend on window treatments I decided to use my new sewing machine and make them myself.  Between my mother and I, we figured out exactly how to put it together (which is the most difficult part), and I revved up the sewing machine.  It was difficult and of course I picked the hardest fabric to work with but I finished.  I got Alex to hang them this week and this is how they turned out.

 

Seeing this picture reminds me that I really need to paint that toy box.

  

I must say I am very pleased how they turned out.  So if anyone needs some custom drapes done, give me a call.

  

Also, I just put Sterling's stocking together.  My mother crossstiched our stockings when we were little, so I decided to carry on the tradition with my children.  My grandmother taught us all to crossstich when we were little, I think Jameson even learned.  I started working on it before I was even pregnant.  Actually, we weren't even ready to have kids at that point.  I guess I need to get started on the next one, because this one took me about two years (maybe more)!

A Little Paint

Here are some pictures of what I've been up to this week.

 I finally got somethings on the walls.  Originally I wasn't going to do letters above his crib, but I think they turned out cute.

 

Thanks Tori for the animal print idea. It goes well with his nursery!

I painted a stool for his bathroom.  Now he will be able to reach the sink to wash his hands and brush his teeth in a year or so.  Until then his Daddy knees have really appreciated having somewhere to sit while giving Sterling a bath.

Here are some paintings I did for Sterling's room as well.  I got the animals from the toile scenes in his bedding fabric.  I did them a few months ago, but the only frames I could find that were the right size were black so I just got around to spray painting them brown this week.  The frames were $3.50 at Hobby Lobby, the spray paint we already had, the paper cost $0.50ish a piece, and I used textured scrapbook paper for the matting that cost $5.00 for the whole pack (I only used eight sheets out of about 25 sheets so you do the math).  This was definitely one of the most thrifty projects I've done in a while.

  

Doctor's Visit

Sterling had his six month appointment today. He weighed in at 20lbs 12oz and 27 1/4 inches. That is the 89th and 82nd percentiles respectively. He is a BIG boy! He did so well with his shots too and didn't even cry with the first one. (Although he screamed when the doctor was talking with me, which is completely out of character for him.) He is doing really well with solids, obviously he LOVES to eat. He is eating cereal and a fruit or a veggie once a day, and we are about to have solids for lunch too. If we are eating anything around him, he watches us intently with his mouth open. He has also started sitting and can sit steadily for a few minutes. He's just growing so fast.

Sterling and Tripp at the lake. Tripp was making Sterling laugh so hard! They were so cute together.

We Finally Closed!

We have finally closed on our house. It has been a LONG ordeal and one thing after another, but finally on Thursday we were able to close! Actually, we had to sign the paperwork twice, once on Wednesday and again Thursday. But it is now a done deal. We have workers coming in on Tuesday to do the floors and then we get to move in!

Here are some more pictures:


Smiling at KiKi



The Vaughn's

The Whole Winter Clan (and we all match)

The Siblings



KiKi and Colonel



This was Alex's outfit that Nanie made











This is one of my favorites!





Nanie and Pop

All Smiles

Ch Ch Ch Changes!

These pictures were taken today (except the first one was from last week). He was in a really "smiley" mood, and so we tried to capture it on camera. However, once I got the camera out he wasn't so cooperative. But I got the end of a few.

I can't believe that Sterling has been in our lives for a whole month; then again, sometimes it feels like he has always been here. I definitely wonder what we did before we had him. Now our days are filled between feedings and dirty diapers with just staring at our pretty little boy! Everyday we are so amazed at what a precious gift being a parent is. He is doing really well. Last night he even slept about seven hours! Of course that was with me reaching down to put his paci back in his mouth, but I am counting it. I think he has really grown in the past few days

As if a baby weren't changing our lives dramatically enough, we are moving! We are so excited to be moving to Rainbow City, AL. Alex will start March 1 at Rainbow Presbyterian Church as the new youth minister. We are so excited as the Lord continues to direct us and provide for our every need! Last weekend we took the final step in our interview process and were able to meet many of the youth as well as attend church. We really love the people there and are really excited to begin our ministry in Rainbow City. (The grandparents are excited that we will now only be about an hour away!) We are going Monday to look at houses in the area, so please be praying that we find something and are able to close quickly so that we have a place to live!