Nursery Chandelier {& a tutorial}

I'm finally posting our nursery chandelier! I was trying to decide whether to show H's whole room all at once or not, but I'll go ahead and share this little part because I'm so proud of it!

Now, most of you creative bloggers won't find this that exciting, but I am really proud! ha!

I wanted do to a chandelier in her room and found a few online that were way over budget {like $300!!} - plus, who would pay for that?! So, I set out to make my own and made it a goal to stay under $35! Not only did I make my own, but, I came in $1 over budget ~ $36!! :)

What do you think?!  The feel of the room I am going for is very simple and serene.  I could have added more color pops or different trim, but I like how simple and girly it ended up.

So here's how I did it and a little tutorial ~ although it was pretty simple and I just made it up as I went; so you could probably figure it out!
1. I searched many places, but ended up finding a nasty, beat up light fixture at the Habitat Restore Shop in my hometown.  This picture does not even do it justice how nasty it was. I had partly cleaned it before taking the pic! Cleaning was easy - only needed water and a towel.  {cost: $5.30}  Then spray paint.  Husband took care of this for me since smelling aerosol is frowned upon during pregnancy ~ and because he offered! It took 2 coats to get it beaming white! {cost: $6.00 at Lowe's}

2. Next you need to find lamp shades.  Again, I'm always making things hard on myself! I looked everywhere except for right under my nose! I needed small "clip on lamp shades" that were rounded so that I could cover it with fabric easily.  They had lots to choose from that had more of a design to it, but if you want to cover, you need the plain ones. {cost: $8.00 total for 6 at Lowe's...but we had a gift card. they are regularly $5.64 each}

3. Find fabric you want to cover your shades with.  Make a template by rolling your lampshade over paper {I used tissue paper so it would easily fold} and then matching it up and making sure you have a little extra fabric for the top and bottom to fold over.  {cost: free}

4. I got lucky with my fabric! :) I actually used one side of my crib bed skirt to cover the shades! Most crib skirts will come with 4 sides.  So unless you have one of the cribs where it will show, you don't need the 4th side.  I also knew my lavender shade was hard to match up with other fabric's so I was excited to use it.  I was nervous at first to look too matchy-matchy, but I'm ok with it in the end. :) My crib skirt is also reversible, so I actually have an entire other piece of fabric to make something else out of...maybe. :) Below are the pictures of the steps I took. {cost: free b/c it was a shower gift!}

5.  Once you've traced your template on to your fabric and cut, it's time to apply! I used Liquid-Stitch glue because it's easy to work with and I'd used it already to make my wedding table runners and family room curtains and I liked how easy and well it worked.  I started by applying a small amount on to the lamp shade edges and slowly applied the fabric little by little making sure there were no bubbles and it was staying on track.  *Make sure you start and end with the seam of the lamp.  Then you just fold over the extra fabric from the top and bottom.  It only takes about 5 minutes to dry and it dries clear! {cost: I already had this, but it's usually about $4 at Hobby Lobby.}

fold over your end seam so it will look better

6.  Add trim.  I had it hanging for a while without trim, but thought I needed to add some just to give it the 'nursery' feel. *spoiler alert: my nursery isn't very baby-themed, but you will see when I share the entire room* I bought a few different samples, but ended up going with the rosettes because I liked the 'boutique' and girly feel it gave me.  To add, I just measured the trim, cut, and applied to the bottom only with my Liquid-Stitch glue and let set. {cost: $13.42 for 1yd. 3/4in. at Hobby Lobby - a bit pricey!}

7. Add small chandelier light bulbs. {cost: $2.99 at Wal-Mart}
8.  Get your hot husband to hang! :)

I thought about adding crystals around the bottom but I have a tendency to go a little too far so I decided to quit while I was ahead!

Hope you like!!! It actually gives off more light than the standard dome fixture that was in the room before!
I'm adding this to:

Tailgating!

I'm working on a slew of tailgating items for the upcoming football season, and thought I'd share a few favorites of other things I've found that go along with football & tailgating {that I can't make! ha!}.

How cute are these? I think little H will need some to go with her UK onsies!

{via}

I think little H's Dad would just die over this cute outfit! Good thing the NFL lockout is over!

Aren't these soo cute? Well, if you are an Alabama fan. I love houndstooth. I wish we had adopted this cute addition to our colors! These are little stickers so you could apply before the games and take off the next day!

{ via}

OK, maybe a little too far, but still cute!

Chocolate Truffle No-Bake Pie

I was in need of a dessert, and we had a reason to celebrate on Thursday! More to come on that...  But it's so dang hot everywhere I go {ha!}, I needed one that wasn't going to heat up this house! Enter in this lovely no-bake treat. :)

via

And of course, oh-so-easy.

What You Need:One 6-oz ready-to-fill chocolate-flavored crumb crust
17 squares individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
1⁄4 cup canned evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)
1 1⁄2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
Whipped cream, for serving
How to Make:
1. In a medium saucepan, cook the caramels and milk over medium-low heat, stirring often until the caramels melt and the mixture is smooth.
2. Clean the saucepan and cook the chocolate chips, cream and butter over low heat until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth Pour over the caramel and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours.
3. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.
*the recipe called for crushed pecans under the layer of caramel, but we don't do pecans :)

Hubby stated it was the best pie he'd ever had. While I do not agree with this statement, it was pretty darn yummy! :)

Thankful Thursday - Linky Party!

Ok! Here's my first Linky Party! Hope you join!

Here are the rules!
1. Become a follower of the Host {ME!}
2. Copy and paste the button {picture} above and add it to your Thankful Post, and link my blog address
3. Click on the Linky below, and add your url for your post*****

4. Have Fun viewing other blogs! :)

Thankful Thursday!

1. I'm thankful for my very sweet husband who does things like this too often for me to not share! :)

2. I'm thankful my family made it to vacation safely {even though I am not getting to be with them:( }

me with the boys before they left

3. I'm thankful for having found such great friends to work with...even though most of them won't be working with me this year!

4. I'm thankful for my God!

5. I'm thankful for all the precious moves, flips, turns, and kicks I feel from this cutie!

6. I'm thankful for some very awesome answered prayers we've recently received!! :)

7. I'm thankful for the summer to get all this Long-Term Sub folder stuff mostly organized! Shoo-Wee!! It's a lot!

8. I'm thankful I sold 2 straw cups from my store (they are so cute, pics to come!) and was able to purchase this sweet smocked dress for the little one next Fall. {I have an agreement with myself that I only purchase things I 'want' off money made from the shop!}

What are you thankful for?

*****UPDATE: I have had NO time to get the Linky up and ready. So, for the first one,  just leave a comment with your blog post. Be sure to look at everyone else's posts! :)

Maternity Pics Preview!

We took Maternity Pictures last night and our photographer already had sneak peeks ready for us by the time I woke up {7am!}! Here's a few...more to come!

Saturday Night Love

We had one heck of a fun Saturday night!!! Two of my friend's got married to wonderful guys ~ one a surprise and one planned!! So here's the crazy story of the night along with a few pictures!

Andrea {my friend I taught with} had her wedding on Saturday. I was her guestbook attendant. :) Her rehearsal dinner on Friday night was so fun too, but I don't have any pictures from that night... My other friend Whitney {from childhood} was having an engagement party on the same night.  Well, she had planned it just about 2 weeks before, so I decided I probably wasn't going to make it since I was in Andrea's wedding.  Meanwhile...I secretly found out Whitney was planning a SURPRISE wedding that night for her guests! WHAT?! haha! She lives in Australia after following her love of her life {I should post a story about this, so romantic!} and was only going to be in the states for 5 days!  Also, Brian was in Cincy this weekend taking his tests Friday and Saturday. He wasn't getting out of the test until 4:00 on Saturday and I hadn't talked to him at all that day to tell him what I had found out! So... I went to Andrea's wedding around 4:30 for pictures and so. Her beautiful ceremony was at 5:30 and ended promptly at 6. Well, Brian arrived at our home around 5:50 - so I ran home to pick him up, we drove very quickly downtown to see Whitney, and then drove out to Keeneland and made it before Andrea's wedding party was announced into the reception! Shew! I was glad I got to do both, but wished I was able to stay with Whitney longer, too.  She graciously invited us over to her brunch on Sunday morning and we were able to catch up with her and her sweet new hubby, Rick!

Here are a few pictures from the night~

pretty Andrea

the flower girl ~ Gabriella {mary's daughter}

at Whitney's Engagement Party {before she changed} me, Whitney, Allison, Alison

Whitney and her Dad

Whitney, Rick, and Rick's Dad who came in from Australia to perform the ceremony

Boys at Andrea's Reception: Rick, Brian, Trent, Andy

Andrea dancing with her Dad. I think this has become my favorite part of wedding receptions.

Me and my Baby Daddy :)

I'm with all the girls that left us at work! haha Sara, Me, Katharine, Tricia

some of the girls with Andrea: Mary, Sara, bride, Katharine, Me

me and my team teach :)

my crazy dancer-hubby and the bride!

teaching Andy "the bernie"

My favorite part of the night - they brought out warm donuts at 10!!! I was pumped! :)

getting it

Bride getting down!

our little group of teachers with Andrea :)

Sunday Morning brunch with Allison and Whitney

It was such a fun weekend! I love it when big groups of friends are able to get together! I love that I got to see two wonderful girls marry wonderful men!!! It seems like it's always getting harder and harder to get everyone together, so weddings are the perfect thing!! :) And, even though there aren't any pictures, I was a trooper-preggo! I danced the whole night away {seriously, until midnight!}! Luckily, I was smart and wore flippy flops! :)

Thanks Whitney and Andrea for including me in your special day!

*PS- don't forget to look here and tell me if you're interested! :)

30 Weeks Down!

Man! When my What to Expect App. changed the countdown to 9 weeks yesterday...WHOA! It's really getting close!

sorry, i realize not the best pic!

Pregnancy Highlights:
Size: Baby girl is the size of a head of lettuce weighing in around 3.2 lbs and 18 in. long. 

What's Developing: Her brain is working overtime! She can perceive all 5 senses now! She's also making faces, hiccuping, swallowing, breathing, and pedaling with her little hands and feet. 

Weight: I lost a pound from last week...

Movement: I'm still feeling her move, but it is not as constant as it has been.  When I sit on the couch in a certain way I can definitely feel her move.  I'm still keeping track of her kick counts - which haven't been hard to find in an hour if I sit a certain way!

Cravings: So, honestly, I have still never had those crazy movie cravings where you eat the weirdest combos and have your hubby go out at all hours of the night to get for you. {I'm sure he's glad!}  I did always think that would be sort of fun though! I've tried to limit my desserts since I was getting a little crazy on them, but I still love my Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal at least 2 times a day!

Symptoms: The fatigue is definitely back! It's hard moving all day long!! :) haha Pre-teen acne, leg cramps and back cramps are mainly the worst things now.

Sleep: Same story. I don't. Oh well! It's just preparing me for life after the baby, right?

Best Moment of the Week: Brian and I made a list of what we thought Harper will look like when she makes her debut.  We didn't look at each other's lists until we were finished! We had to write which of our features she'd have.  Our lists were actually very similar! So can't wait to see! :)

:) No More Pity Parties!

Ok, I had my pity party, and now I'm way over it. :)

Thanks for all your very sweet comments and emails I received! How sweet is it to have bloggy friends who are praying for you?! XOXO

I read back through the post and felt sheepishly about it.  It's all things.  Silly things.  And it truly doesn't matter! But hey, I'm keeping it real, right?!

So...in lieu of my pity party, I've decided to maybe do my first Linky Party ever! What do you all think? I was thinking of doing a Thankful Thursday or Magnificent Monday or maybe True Tuesday to  link up and post things that make you smile or that you are thankful for.

If you've never participated in a linky party - it's so easy! You just click the bottom on the bottom of my post {once I post it} and then you link up your post from your own blog. These are great to participate in and it usually brings traffic to your blog!

So, if you think you might be interested in this, leave me a comment! If I get maybe 5 ??? people I will choose a day this week! :)

Hope you're having a wonderful Sunday!

Matthew 6:31-33

“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

it's been a stressful month.

I'm trying really hard to not throw myself a pity party...but it's hard today.

I'm also trying to just recount all the blessings I have right now, too. But again, sometimes, do you ever just get down and feel like crying? I'm there. Right now.

Car.
This past month {and a few weeks ahead of that} we've been dealing with my jeep.  It's not very old and doesn't have many miles on it, but once the dealership warranty ran out, we've had major, costly problems and taking it in and out of the shop for about 5 weeks. Thankfully it is now *hopefully* fixed, but not without a LOT of cost to us that we really didn't have.

Brian.
He's been prepping for a pretty major certification/test for the past year. But this month, he's been cramming hard every night when he gets home from work and usually on Saturdays and Sundays.  This weekend he'll be traveling to go take the test.  We'll both be glad when it's over, for things to get back to somewhat normal and him being less stressed, and for us to actually have some time together rather than saying Goodnight.  He's also been stressed about some other things I can't say on the blog right now...but let's just say, it's been a long month.  Also, the test is really expensive {as was this program} and we thought his work was going to pay for it - well they didn't. So that's been hard to do right now as well.

Furniture.
Ya'll know the saga of the crib. He said, she said crap I've been dealing with with the people from the store. We still don't have the corrected crib.  Well, just found out the only chair I've wanted this entire time has been ordered for 2 weeks {they told us it would take 4-6 weeks to get in} is now out of stock with no date in mind to restock it. It's from the actual company, so it doesn't matter where I order it from. I'm not getting it.  I admit we waited a little late to order it, but, with all the extra expenses we've had this summer, we thought we were being responsible and waiting until we could re-save up the money to order the chair and pay it in full, as to not add any more to the credit card bill. So, looks like I got punished for being mindful. :( Anyways, I don't know what to do at this point. I don't want another chair or design. I wanted that one. We've been waiting to paint one wall of the nursery to match the chair color and damask design.

Work.
I still don't have a long-term sub.  I can't move into my classroom without someone getting the boxes down from high shelves that I can't lift, and my school closes before my husband or Dad get off work. So not quite sure how I'm going to work on my classroom.

Ok, if you've made it this far in my post, I'm sorry. :( I just needed to vent. 

Anyways, I know things don't revolve around money, but it's much easier for people that have extra money to say that.  I wish I wasn't so upset over the chair, but I am. I know it's bad to be upset over something materialistic, but I am.  So, now I'm off to make a mental list of all the things I should be focusing on; like the health of my family, my friends, my baby...

30 Week Doctor Appt.

This morning we went in for our 30 week check-up and ultrasound.  We were both really excited because we hadn't had an u/s for a couple of weeks, and this one was supposed to be a great one because we were going to get lots of 3D pics! Well...Harper had other plans! :) She wasn't feeling up to getting her precious picture taken, so we only got one picture. But that's ok, because everything checked out great and we were able to watch her a little bit on the 4D screen.

Harper officially weighs 3.1 lbs!! She also already has lots of hair! Isn't that neat that you can tell that from an ultrasound? I guess the old wives' tale could be true?! I have had lots of heartburn lately!
She's also officially still showing that my correct due date is Oct. 1. So...looks like we have 10 or less weeks to go!

Here's the picture we had taken from my phone. It's not the best, but you can still see her chubby cheeks, cute little nose, and puffy lips! {the dark part on her face is the cord}