Weekend Projects

     I have been back at work now for 3 weeks and things are going better every day.  The more I sub, the less anxiety I feel about it.  I am finding that I like elementary much more than middle school or high school.  I'll continue to do all grades because a job is a job, but I have much better days at elementary.  They are sweet, eager to participate, and they don't have cellphones!
     This weekend I worked on a few projects for the nursery.  It might seem like I'm getting the room ready too early, but Daniel works weekends and I need to entertain myself somehow.  So I'm putting the nursery together a little at a time.
     The first project I did was a paper pennant banner to go above the crib.  Just this morning we felt an earthquake so there's no way anything heavier than paper is going above that crib!  I got some scrapbook paper, cut it into triangles and strung it along.  It was super easy and I think it turned out cute.  I added a little teal to the color scheme, which I think works these days as a gender neutral color.

     The second project I copied almost exactly from a watercolor I saw on Pinterest.  I just fell in love with it and knew I could duplicate it.  Here's the inspiration:

     Here is my process:

     And here is the finished product!

     I'm more than a little proud of it.  I think it turned out awesome!  Since I already had the frame, canvas, string and tools, both of these projects cost me a total of $2.98 at Michael's.  So far this nursery is far from breaking the bank.

     Tonight we are starting our two night stay at Daniel's work.  They are celebrating the opening of a new building and pool at the resort and letting the managers' families check it out first.  Stay tune for pictures! :)

First Week Down and an Origami Fox

     I made it through the first week of school and I'm ready to start week 2.  I'm in the same classroom again this week because the teacher has jury duty.  I LOVE long-term assignments.  I am a creature of habit most of the time and I like to know what I'm getting into each day.  This week I have had the pleasure of teaching some great 9th graders including a bunch that I taught for three months last year in middle school.
     This is the first "start" (if you can call it that) to the nursery.  The chest has blankets in it.  I want to cover it with something soft like the faux sheepskin rug from Ikea, and put stuffed animals on it.  This bear has been mine so long that I don't remember when I got it.  I carried it onto the plane from SLC to Portland to make sure I wouldn't lose track of it.  It's going to belong to this lucky baby now.  Don't you just love that plaid bowtie?!

And this....is the first piece of diy artwork.  I stumbled across this origami fox on pinterest and decided it needed to be folded and framed.  It's the first of many nods to the adorable fox in this space.

     If you want to make an origami fox (and you should), the instructions are here.

Nursery Ideas

These are some of my favorite inspirations from Pinterest.  If you can't tell, I'm obsessed with a fox theme.  I'm also drawn to geometric prints and I have to incorporate a little Wes Anderson where I can!  I've decided to do the nursery in a soft orange, beige and white and then add pink or navy blue details when the baby arrives.  The hardest part will be trying to stay gender neutral when gender-specific baby stuff is so darn cute!

There is a lot of opportunity for some DIY projects and I'm very excited about that. It will give me something to work on while Daniel is at work on the weekends.  My first project is to get all the stuff that's in the nursery packed up and down in storage.  Considering my wedding was 13 months of preparation, I'm going to need all of the next 7 months to pull off this project!

DIY Art for our Bedroom

I started this art project last weekend and had to put it on hold during a busy work week, but I finished it last night.  I took a few photos of the process so you could see how easy it was.  I bought a canvas from Joann's that was on sale for $10 and spent another $8 on masking tape and paint.  I absolutely love how it looks in our bedroom.  When I see it in the room with our older furniture, it reminds me of a quilting block and I can't wait to get the quilt from Utah that my grandma made for us.  It will look so beautiful folded at the foot of our bed.

Don't think I'm this creative!!  I got this idea off of pinterest.  First I painted a random design.  Then I made a triangle cut out pattern.  I used the pattern to help me place the masking tape and create identical triangles. My plan was to paint the whole thing white, but as I started painting from left to right, Daniel noticed that the ombre (sp?) effect looked really cool.  So there you have it.  Our bedroom finally looks a little more complete. :)