Finders Keepers: Campaign Dresser

Guess what the Habitat Restore was throwing out last week?!!!  I found this fabulous solid oak Drexel Campaign Dresser under a pile of goods waiting to be discarded on Thursday.  I spoke to the store manager, and he said that they couldn't sell it because it required too much work.  My mom who was with me convinced me that I could handle refinishing it, so I inherited this dresser for free and have been working on it over the weekend.

This gorgeous dresser from Lonny Magazine was my inspiration.  This image has been popping up all over blog world and pinterest and I couldn't get it out of my mind.  

Here's the before picture.

And still wet with paint, here's the after.

It's in the sewing room for now, but may find it's way up to the kids' room.

McCord's Maple Comes Home! (& oh the fun with playdoh)

When McCord was born - almost 2 years ago, Bo had a great idea to plant a tree in his honor. 


The day we planted McCord's Maple at our old house.  He was just 2 weeks old.

I still remember when Bo and I went to pick out McCord's maple at the nursery.  It was one of my first times away from McCord while he slept at home under his grandmother's watch.  Bo and I really deliberated which tree would best represent our son (seems so funny now!) but we were so serious about this decision.  Then when Mc was 2 weeks old, the tree was planted at our old house on Surrey Lane.  We took Mc's picture in front of the tree each month for his first year of life to monitor his growth (and the tree). 

And then we decided we needed a bigger house.

Mc at 12 months next to his Maple.  This was the last photo we took of Mc in front of his tree before moving and leaving the tree behind. 

You can imagine how anxious I was when we sold our house in the heat of summer - I wanted to make sure the buyers would allow us to come back to get the tree in the winter when its survival rate during transplantation would be much higher.  And I am so glad to say that day has arrived. 

19-month-old Mc and his Maple - reunited.

Welcome to your new home, Maple.  We hope to be here for many years so we can enjoy your new leaves budding out in the spring and your brillant fall foliage each year.  And you'll have another tree to keep you company soon when we plant another one in May to honor Baby #2.

And - in other random news, we made this playdoh recipe today and it was so easy, I may never buy store-bought playdoh again.

This is the kind of picture you get when your toddler wants you to take a picture of him playing with the playdoh while also watching to see how the picture turns out - all at the same time. 

Oh, the fun!

Why I Love Valentine's Day

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

I love Valentine's Day.  For me, it's not about the flowers or the chocolate, but I love the handmade spirit this simple holiday inspires.    It's especially fun with little ones and gives us a great excuse to roll up our sleeves and get messy crafting all in the name of making someone a Valentine's card.  Plus, I get to be a kid again too enjoying these fun projects. Last year Mc and I made a couple of onesie's and a taggie for him to chew on.  My how he's grown!  Gone are those days when I could plop him down on a blanket with some toys so I could sew.  Now we enjoy doing activities that are a little more interactive.

Here we are enjoying Valentine's 2012.

We did this heart stamp finger paint project to design a Valentine for Daddy.

Of course, paint got in places paint's not supposed to go.

And then we made a few more of these neat heart-shaped crayons for all of Mc's Kindermusik classmates.





Here's McCord at Kindermusik enjoying a marshmallow after passing out his Valentine's to his friends - BTW handing out Valentine's is a hard lesson to understand for a 19 month-old, but eating a marshmallow, much more fun!



Opening up a Valentine's surprise at breakfast.

Then Mc had to do a quick change into his Presbyterian College attire so we could enjoy our family Valentine's date: the PC vs. Winthrop basketball game. 



Go Blue Hose!



And check out the score at the end of the game!  Our little Alma Mata beat the Eagles by 3 points!  What fun!



We can't wait to celebrate this special holiday with Baby #2 next year!

Guest Bath (almost!) Complete

We're missing a doorknob and the ceiling needs to be painted, but otherwise, we're almost there.  I couldn't wait to post pictures of our Guest Bathroom.  It has been a long work in progress, and we're so glad the renovations are almost over.

Basketweave tile. German Lap Siding. Glidden paint color - Wood Smoke.

All of the light fixtures I found at thrift and antique stores.  The vanity is a converted dresser that we already had.  We picked out a Cararra marble remnant for the top. 

Under mount sink came from Habitat Restore

The nude screenprint is one that I found years ago at a thrift store for less than $10 and had it reframed.   The artist's name is Phyllis Sloane. 

For before pictures, click here.

Girls Weekend + McCord

Last weekend my mom, sister, and I had a wonderful time hanging out at the farmhouse where my mom grew up, and McCord loved playing with his cousin Calla who is about his age.  My mom has been renovating the house for the past few years and decorating it with sentimental items from her childhood. Thought I'd share some photos of the interior of the house - the vintage vignettes are so thoughtful and sentimental.  The decor makes it so warm and welcoming.

Memorabilia under the coffee table glass

We worked on this Valentine's craft



...and we made these heart-shaped crayons for McCord and his cousins



And we managed to find some time to do some thrifting.  It was a great weekend!

McCord Visits the Circus

The Barnum & Bailey Circus came to town last week, and Bo & I couldn't resist taking McCord to see his first circus show.  The day was full of lots of firsts because we rode the train for the first time to get there.  McCord loved the entire event, but in his usual style, he remained pretty quiet and stoic through the whole thing.  When the elephants and tigers came out though, he stood up and clapped.  They were by far his favorite!  Here are a few pictures and a short (and eventless!) video for me to remember the weekend.

Moving Furniture Back To Our Bedroom

The remodeling isn't finished yet, but we're getting there.  We're so close, Bo and I can finally move back into the master bedroom (which used to be McCord's nursery, about 4 months ago).  This means I can start decorating, and I'm pretty excited about that. 

It still has a long way to go, but here are some progress pictures.

This is a picture of the headboard my dad and I made.  He built the frame in a couple of hours, and then I took several days to upholster it in some linen fabric I've been holding onto for a while and add nailhead trim.  Our contractor hung it today!  I have had my eye on upholstered headboards for a while and finally found a great tutorial at 12 Devonshire.  I also checked out the links she included.  I am so appreciative of fellow bloggers who share their creative projects.  Many, many thanks!



Never mind that our nightstands don't match - it's on my to do list - but I'm cheap and don't like spending money.  It may take me a while to find something matchy in my price range.



I found a whole bolt of fabric at Blacklion a few months ago for $10.  I had no idea what I was going to use it for, but the color worked well for my design scheme in the bedroom, so my mom suggested I make coverlet out of it.  I still have a little fabric left over for another project.  The pillows are from Pottery Barn outlet and the chevron lampshades are from Target.

The glass shop installed our glass door for the master shower yesterday. We ended up choosing the frameless design.

Here's the marble slab we picked out for the vanity top.  Still looking for the right mirror to go in this space.

As you can see, McCord prefers brushing his teeth over his hair.



Right now I'm working on some window treatment for this area - lots of sewing to do in my future!



This has nothing to do with remodeling, except the renovations have inspired me to spruce up the rest of the house a little bit.  We are finally putting pictures on the walls after 6 months of living here!  My next design challenge is bookcase styling.

And in other news...

This little guy turned 19 months old today! 

We've been paci - free for over a month now, we're back to a napping schedule, and he's learning how to do all sorts of things on his own.  Sometimes when I pick him up out of his crib in the morning, he looks like he has grown up over night.  He's only 19 months-old, but I know I'll blink and he'll be 19 years old and asking for the car keys.  How I adore this curious little guy.  He's all-boy, yet such a lover.  It's not unusual for him to bang his tractor on the table, turn to me or Bo for approval, and then when he sees disappointment on our faces, run to us for a hug. 

Life is good.