Chandelier Makeover

     When I found out I was having a girl, I knew I wanted to add a little "bling" to the room with a mini-chandelier. The one I really liked was from Pottery Barn, and retails for $138.

     I knew that I didn't want to spend that much money on a new light fixture, especially since we had two other chandeliers hanging from the ceilings of our office and spare bedroom (don't ask my why!?) The only problem was - they were ugly, and brass.

     I decided to make over the smaller chandelier we had in our office for the lighting fixture in the nursery because I knew I also wanted a paper lantern mobile and I didn't want too much going on in the room. So, before, we had a VERY old ceiling fan in the nursery that looked like this:

    The chandelier began its  journey looking like so:

    One hot summer day I enlisted the help of Mom & Dad to spray paint the chandelier. I used a Rust-Oleum Universal Paint & Primer. I originally wanted the color of the chandelier to be a pearly white, so I chose the "Pearl Mist" color.

     We spray painted by hanging the chandelier from a tree branch outside. The spray paint turned out to be more of an incandescent color than I was expecting, so some of the brass finish underneath showed through slightly. In the end, I actually liked the color better than if it had just been a glittery white. It has a pewter look to it, which is nice, and ties in with the other hardware in the room. 

      

   Finally, I bought three packs of crystal beads from the craft store and used wire and hot glue to attach the beads to the chandelier.

     I debated with putting shades over the bulbs, but right now, I like it the way it is, especially since the hubby installed a dimmer, so now we can make the lighting as bright or dim as we like, which looks great with the reflection of the crystals.

    I think it's super cute for such an affordable make over project. My only wish is that it had a longer chain so it would hang lower on the ceiling, but there was nothing we could do to remedy this problem. I definitely am looking forward to re-doing the other chandelier. With a little spray paint, it is so easy!

DIY: Button Art / Hairbow Holder

     I am generally not a very crafty person, but I wanted to share a little project I did for the nursery a few weeks ago. I took several things I saw and wanted to buy from Etsy, and tried to save some money by doing them myself. Although it didn't turn out quite as beautiful or cute as my inspiration products, I think it turned out cute, and it was a lot of fun! :)

Here are my "inspiration" pics:

      I fell in love when I saw this beautiful button monogram, which this seller creates by hand sewing each individual button by hand onto silk.

     I also knew I wanted to have a place to display, hang, and organize all of baby girl's hair clips, like this one:

         

   Because I don't have a lot of wall space in the nursery (thanks to all the OTHER things I am planning on doing), I decided it would be good to combine the two using a canvas I had laying around the house and the metallic paint I was planning on using for some of the letters on the ABC wall. 

     Then I used a wooden letter "M" that I bought at Micheal's to trace the shape of the letter and hot glue the buttons on the canvas (I WISH I could sew them all on - but that just wasn't going to happen!

(Sorry the lighting is so terrible - taken with my camera phone!)


















     Next, I picked up some matching ribbon to hot glue around the edges of the canvas, to use to hold the canvas to the wall, and to hang the hair clips from.

     Finally, it was ready to hang! I think it turned out pretty cute - and it was way less expensive than buying the individual pieces through someone else! I really like the idea that I made a few little pieces to put in baby's nursery as well. 

     Now it's all ready for her little hair bows and clips....let's hope she has a little hair! :)

2 Year Anniversary

     Yesterday Billy and I celebrated our two year anniversary. It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating our first year together! Last year we took a wonderful weekend away in Charlottesville and imbibed in much wine tasting at several vineyards. 

     This year we had a much more frugal, low key celebration, but it was just what we needed, as my pregnancy drags on into the dog days of summer, I'm working summer school, and my uncomfortableness increases by the day. 

     After reflecting a lot about what these past two years have brought us, both joy and struggles, we spent last night putting into words what we love about one another. It's amazing how the qualities you love about your partner change with the seasons of our lives.

Billy, you are strong. You follow your heart and aspirations even when it's difficult to do so.

You are selfless. You always have the best interest of your growing family in your mind and are constantly seeking ways to be the best provider you can be for us, (even when I don't realize or appreciate it.) You work so hard every single day and I know it's all for us. You are caring. You want the best for me and our unborn baby and I know you are going to be a wonderful father by the way you show your love already each day. You work hard to establish trust between us, even with the little things you do, and that matters so much to me. You are my best friend. Through our many transitions this year you have become not only my spouse, but my partner, and I can't wait to continue to develop and deepen our friendship as a team, as we embark on our new adventure in the next chapter of our lives. Love you. 

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