Ringing in The New Season.

We've been rather enjoying the entry to fall around here. The weather has been beautiful, and I have been doing nice fall-ish things. Like riding my bike, for example. Chad and I went out for a short jaunt last night (short! I promise. Otherwise I'd be wearing a helmet!) and it was so lovely.

I've finally been decorating the bedroom a little, and it makes our space feel so much more homey. I am loving the burlap, and this ampersand (I love ampersands!).

 I bought a paint pen at Hobby Lobby that I was super excited about (which, truthfully, ends up writing a lot like a sharpie would), which I used to scrawl our names all over the '&.' It feels a little high-school-yearbook-ish, but I still think it's cute. 

Also in the bedroom decor arena (and this was why I bought the burlap to begin with), we gave our bedside lamp a little up-do. Actually more like a re-do, from when I botched painting green chevron stripes on it forever ago. After insisting to Chad that is looked "whimsical" for months, I gave in and re-did it. We like out it turned out.

 

Things are feeling nice and fall. How are you ringing in the new month?

Friday's Musings and Our New Bedroom!

Today is Friday and I didn't have to work today! Well, other than writing some casenotes from yesterday's sessions. I have several co-workers who work 4-day weeks, and I've always been jealous. This week I set the goal to get it all done in 4 days, just to see what it was like. Yesterday I got 8 hours of therapy in! (I realize that may just sound like I worked an 8 hour day, but when you consider meetings and driving, it was actually a 13-hour day with no breaks). I actually don't know how I did it... but today has been nice. It may or may not ever happen again.

I've had some experiences with therapy this week that felt like setbacks, but I am trying to view them as learning experiences. One client's parents dragged her to a residential treatment facility one night when she was "out of control." It was so disappointing, because I really felt like we had started getting somewhere, and I had to close the case because insurance would consider mine a duplicate service (if I were to continue seeing the parents while the girl is in residential, that is). If the parents would have called me, I know I could have helped them to work through the heat of the moment and make a more reasoned decision about what was best for the girl. But then again, maybe mom and dad didn't want to be talked out of it. Sigh.

Anyway, it was a day off and I got to spend part of it in the dental lab with Chad. I drilled little shapes into a practicing board, sanded stuff, used a little mini saw to sort of "floss" in between some fake teeth, and mixed up some cement-y stuff to make an impression. Oh, it was fun. And now I  need to go train. Must train. Don't want to train today. Will. Must.

The bedroom makeover is complete. The rug I ordered arrived yesterday. I like how it turned out. Do you think I did an okay job pulling the browns and black together? (black rug/black bed frame; brown door frames and furniture; blackish brownish ottoman and pillow cover)

I have to say I'm super pleased with how it turned out. I'm not much of a seamstress, but I had such a fun time making the curtains and the pillow cases (thanks, Duane & Andrea for letting me use your sewing machine!). It feels so much better being in that room now than it did before--oh, how I wish I had some before pictures. It was pretty blah.

Bedroom Makeover, Part 3

Just an update. Curtains are done, lamp shade is touched up, furniture is arranged how I want it. I am SO happy with how it is turning out. I have two things left on my wish list: an accent rug, and something(s) to fill up the one wall that is completely bare. (I am so needy). I LOVE this print on etsy http://www.etsy.com/listing/55086613/clink-illustration-print-rosy-pink?ref=sr_gallery_1&ga_search_query=clink&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=all&ga_facet=clink and have been eyeing it for a while now. Isn't it so cute? I love the little people in it. Then I started wondering how successful I would be at creating my own little cartoon Chad and me. I think that will be this weekend's project. I may end up buying the etsy print after all, depending on how it goes. :)

Bedroom Makeover, Part 2

Worked some more on Project Bedroom today. Sewed up these curtains, along with matching throw pillows, and painted the top of this little lampshade (although, it needs touching up--I wish I was better with paint). Fun, fun! If only I didn't have to go to work now...

Bedroom Makeover, Part 1

I have been DYING to decorate our bedroom. Since we moved in, it has pretty much been on the back burner as far as decorating goes. Suddenly, about a month or two ago, I became overwhelmed with wanting to get the UGLY out of the bedroom. Mostly, it was just boring. White walls, beige carpet, brown door/door frames/window frames, and a BLACK bed frame (black and brown, cringe). Oh, and a hideous  bright red dresser I picked up at a yardsale last summer.

My main goals for the room: I want it to be calming, coordinated, and creative. Three c's. I've done some thrifting, fabric shopping, and rearranging, and I think it's time to start showing off a piece or two a day on the blog. Hooray for making a beautiful place to live!

So, here is the ottoman I picked up at goodwill. It actually doesn't look too bad in the pictures, but it was pretty dingy (the fabric, in particular). I had looked around at ottomans at target and walmart, and liked a few of them, but *didn't want to spend $100. (Note: "didn't want to" and "do you think money grows on trees?!" are used interchangeably here). I think it turned out pretty nice! I'm really excited to pull the rest of the room together with what I've got. Stay tuned!

before: cute little frame, dingy fabric-covered foam pad on top.

after: looking good, right? painted the legs green and upholstered with some fabric that  I'm hoping will tie the brown and the little bit of black together (if you can't tell, the fabric is a little of both). 

Feliz Dia de Reyes!

Well, today was our big Dia de los Reyes (Kings Day). We had a small (very small) handful of presents leftover, since we haven't exercised much self-control in the present-opening arena. The funnest part of the day, anyhow, was probably hiding little slips of paper inside the Rosca, and then finding them. I've never actually had a Rosca before, but I knew it was supposed to be a big circular sweet bread (I saw one at Walmart, go figure). Ours was an orange monkey bread Rosca. Really, you're supposed to hide a little Baby Jesus figurine in the bread for one lucky person to find. (or money? okay, the point of this is not for me to educate anyone about the traditions of Dia de los Reyes, because obviously I'm taking stabs in the dark.) Anyway, we didn't hide a figurine. Instead we wrote out lists of our favorite memories of 2012 and resolutions for 2013, wrapped them in tin foil, and hid those in the bread. It was fun to pull out each other's and read them. New family tradition? Maybe. I think the game could only be enhanced by little kiddos clamoring to pick the right slice of the Rosca.

Also, we've been working on a couple of home-improvement projects. One of my Christmas presents for Chad was a new area rug! Only instead of forking over $100 for a big one, I decided to buy some supplies so we could paint one ourselves (people do that now!).

I looked around a lot on different blogs and found that plenty of people were painting cool prints and designs on flat-woven rugs (see here, http://tatertotsandjello.com/2012/05/how-to-paint-a-rug-seven-tips-to-a-perfectly-painted-rug.html for some examples), but the one I wanted was a $40 rug from IKEA, and IKEA doesn't ship items and they're not in our area. So for some reason I thought a drop-cloth would make a great alternative. The problem we have run into is that it soaks up paint like crazy (hello...probably because that is what it was designed for). But a couple of coats later, it is looking better.

My pointers on rug painting:

1. Paint is expensive. If you buy a drop-cloth (around $15), a rug pad (also around $15), and paint ($11 per small can, and we used 3), and other supplies like brushes and painter's tape, you might be spending just as much as you would have to buy a rug. (But still, maybe not. Some large rugs are upwards of $100.) But on the flip-side, you can pick your own design and colors, which might be worth it to you.
2. Get a rug pad, to keep your rug from slipping.
3. A drop-cloth is good because it is cheap, and readily accessible online or at hardware stores. However, it soaks up paint, so be prepared to paint multiple coats. All things accounted for, I probably would have preferred that plain flat-woven rug from IKEA, but that's hard to say since I've never tried painting one.
3. Use painter's tape, just like others recommended. It'll save you from ugly or time-consuming mistakes.
4. Choose a design you love, and then figure out how to transfer it to the rug. We did a google image search for the letter S until we found the one we liked best. We printed it in a word document with a grid overlay, and then we drew the same grid onto the drop cloth and used it as a guide to sketch out our S.

I'm excited to see how it turns out. Happy Kings Day! You should give someone a hug to celebrate.

Resin Earrings

One great perk of marrying a dental student is access to unusual craft ideas and tools. Last week, Chad brought home some "Ortho Clear" and "Ortho Resin" and we made earrings. Well, we are making earrings. I actually need to put the posts on the backs still. (Or maybe make them into necklaces? We're on the fence.)

Step 1: We started out with a concept--little piano keys drawn on paper with a pen. We sprayed the paper with a clear finish because Chad thought the resin might make the ink spread and ruin the image.

Step 2: We had some thin metal strips to wrap around the outside of the paper (I wish I could explain that better...basically, the paper is flat, but we wanted it to be suspended in the resin so we needed something to hold it all together.)

Step 3: Sprinkle ortho clear (a powder) into the mold a little bit at a time, followed by the ortho resin (a liquid), which solidifies the powder and causes it to dry clear. Repeat this step until you've achieved the thickness you want.

should have had the mask over my mouth--the resin stuff  smelled pretty toxic.

don't I look like I belong in a dentist's office?

putting his skills to good use.

pretty cool, right?

It was a fun way for me to play around with some of the tools Chad gets to use at school. And now I get to wear little pianos on my ears! Awesome. I would love to find out what the non-dental-tool equivalent of these products are (I'm sure similar things exist in the crafting world). If you know, do share!

Easy DIY Upholstery

I'm pretty proud of the way this turned out, so I'm sharing it.

Right after we moved to Louisville, we bought a table and chairs for $40 at a yard sale. The table needs to be sanded and re-finished, but it's sturdy and has 2 leaves you can put in and with a tablecloth on it, no one knows it technically still needs some work. Anyway, I've been wanting to jazz up the chairs for a while. Not that there was anything wrong with them, I just wanted to add some color to the room.

the original chair. not bad.

 So, I bought some cool fabric. I meant to purchase laminated cotton, because I thought it would be best to wipe up spills and keep clean. And in fact, I thought that's what I bought until it came in the mail. I guess I must have gotten distracted while looking at all the great prints, because what I had purchased was more of a sturdy, textured cotton (but not laminated). Anyway, I adore the print and think I'll shop around to see if there's some sort of finishing spray I can put on it. In case you are in the market ever, I got it from fabric.com for about $7.

cute, right?

The project itself was easy and only took me a couple of hours. I roughly measured the amount of fabric needed to cover each seat, and cut out the fabric. I unscrewed the seats on all four chairs, considered ripping out the current upholstery (but decided not to waste the time), and just wrapped each seat up like a little present with the fabric and hot glued it to the bottom of the seat. The tutorial I had read suggested using a staple gun, but I didn't have one and I figured hot glue would work just as well. So easy. The hardest part was screwing the seats back on to the chairs. I guess these chairs were probably made by hand at one point, and the screw holes didn't seem to line up quite right unless you paired the seat with the exact chair it came from. So that part took some trial and error. But overall, an easy project, and . . . voila! Here's what the new dining room chairs look like! I'm super happy.

Fall Projex

I don't know why I felt compelled to misspell the title of this post--I never think it's very cute when people/companies do that. Whatever.

I got a job! A full-time therapy job! I am so excited. This lady is gonna be bringin' home the bacon, proudly earning the title of "sugar mama." Oh, and hopefully helping people change their lives. No big deal. I'm keeping my little private practice gig going on the side, so things will be a little busy. But good busy!

My job doesn't start until October 8th, so meanwhile, I am still the housewife. And it hit me today that I had better live up these last two weeks. This realization propelled me into ultra housewife mode--which to me means. . . CRAFTS! (I might be really offending some true housewives out there--my perception of housewifery is probably pretty limited if I think crafts make up a major portion of the housewife's work. Well, do they? The verdict is still out on that one.)

Anyway, check out a couple of my fall projects. I stole the candy corn tree idea from pinterest, and the wreath was an original creation. Fun, huh? What else should I do in these two weeks before full-time work sets in? Your ideas are welcome.

straw wreath, old jeans, t-shirt and jean flowers, twine, brown bag paper, hot glue.

dead branch found in yard, candy corns, hot glue, cheap vase. pretty nifty, huh?

 

The Home Office

I'm happy about how the therapy office is coming together. I have my first client coming tonight, and I am so excited but so terrified at the same time. I'm not sure if that's a function of not seeing clients for a month, or because I'm a little more on my own now. Probably the second one. I was feeling so competent working under someone else's umbrella for the past year and a half. And I guess technically, I'm still not completely alone--I have a supervisor and I will be in either group or individual supervision for about 8 hours every month--so I'm not alone. However, this is my business. My name. My reputation. The ever-present pressure of desperately hoping I can help the person who walks in to see me, on top of this new pressure of keeping them coming back, satisfying them and helping them reach their goals so they will speak highly of me to their friends--it's a lot. That's all.

But, I can do it. Right? I love therapy. I love meeting people, helping people, being with them in the room to see the insights and the fights and the contemplation and the change. I love every aspect of what therapy is. I just hope I can remember that over the roar of my nervous pulse.

What a wonderful thing that my dream job starts today.

Louisville is for Lovers

I have so many things I could blog about. (Not because my life has been overly eventful the past few weeks, but because I stopped blogging. Ha.) We love our new place (pics to come) and the wedding was fabulous (pics to come). But for now, a nice post about fun Louisville and some of my favorite things so far:

1. We went to a Mumford and Sons concert a few days after we got here. The concert was at the Great Lawn, which is right along the river. Our good friend James came with us. The concert was a graduation gift from Chad. He knows what I like! We had a great time.

2. We are enjoying having a backyard, and also owning some cool camping accessories (thanks, Grandma Davis!). Camping in your backyard is convenient (and sometimes more comfortable than sleeping in a room sans air-conditioning, in Kentucky, in August. Actually, we have air-conditioning, we just don't always like turning it on at night.). What a blast!

3. It's fun having a house to do stuff to. It's also fun having a husband who teaches you how to use power tools.

Stay tuned for: wedding, Florida trip, visit to Taylor & Jenny in Nashville, the house, and my thriving therapy business (that last one is a bit of a stretch, but I'm staying positive!). . .

Wedding Sneak Peek

I love seeing how things for the wedding are coming together.

I've mostly gotten announcements sent out, except for a few stragglers.

I am feeling terribly stressed about getting everything done so I can come home and get married (who decided it was a good idea to try and finish a master's program the week before the wedding?).

Luckily, my mom is a saint and she's doing tons of stuff. So is Chad's mom. Today my mom was telling me about the floral arrangements and how she had asked someone to help her with them but then, on second thought, she decided maybe to do them herself. She just didn't want to be left out. She said, "I mean, it is my wedding! [pause. . .] well, I mean, sort of. Okay, it's your wedding." Haha. Oh, Mom. Anyway, here's a sneak peek at some of her craftiness.

cute framed chalkboard I found at a yardsale. Mom painted the frame green and added the little bow. Now what to write on it. . .

banner...will be hung with twine or something

another cute banner

  

I Made Me a Shirt.

So, I came across this blog post for a DIY Christmas sweater a week or two ago, and have been dying to try making my own version ever since. Check it out:

I started with a plain tee-shirt, and I chose a graphic online to put on the shirt (this was the most time-consuming part--did I want a whale, a tree with heart leaves, or a bike? I ended up with none of those things.) I used parchment paper to make the stencil of the graphic, and layed it out on the shirt.




I used sparkly silver fabric paint to fill in the stencil.



And added some heart raindrops.



Voila!