A Pirate's Life for, him!

Baby K is cookin' away. As a first time parent, or a parent of a new baby at all- one of the fun things is setting up the nursery! We're lucky enough that we have family close who LOVE to help with fun projects. I'm usually against 'themes' of any kind, but with a sweet little baby on the way- how can you resist!? We've chosen "Peter Pan" so little man can grow with the theme if he chooses (Disney, Pirates, etc). 

We started with a base color that we thought the baby would like- and that we'd be able to live with as things change. AKA- blue, hello, its a boy! My in-laws were nice enough to come help Hubs with the painting and the assembly of the dark chocolate nursery furniture. The dog and I took care of supervision. 

I did my research to help us save some time (and money) to make the room look cute but not silly. Research states that babies LOVE contrast: black and white, light and dark, etc. Cue Etsy.com to the rescue! We ordered silhouettes from a few different places to make the room look complete: ParkLaneCotoure, had the "Second Star to the Right" silhouette, ItsOnTheWallsDecals, had the Peter Pan Wall Scene that let us use specific pieces, and  WallsofText had Peter and Hook. Each decal came within days AND with easy to read and apply directions. In one evening (with help from Mom and my sister) we were able to cut, place and adhere all of the silhouettes. No mess no frustration- perfect for a preggo lady. 

Every room needs curtains- right!? Well, I happen to have this fear that my child will be part monkey and did not want him climbing the walls and long curtains just seemed too tempting for that type of possibility. Enter super creative, MOM or OMA as she's going to be called soon. We scoured pinterest and other sites for treasure map, pirate theme and peter pan curtains and the final result was AMAZING! We have a custom treasure map curtain to complete the nursery. 

The room, for us, is absolutely perfect. We love it- now all we need is the April baby! He can definitely take his time, though... no need to rush, especially with all of this winter weather. 



Keepin' it Sane in LoCo
-Meg

 

Chalk isn't just for sidewalks anymore...

It started on the first day of the new year! Hello 2014- let's do a house project... Luckily for me, Hubs was totally with me. He was even the one who suggested we scrap the "DIY chalkboard wallpaper" from one of those bargain-sites and make one of our own. 10 Points for Hubs! 

We had a large, unused wall in our kitchen. Chalking the entire thing- not a good idea so we did some measuring, decided to add a shelf and voila: chalkboard wall!

Here's how we did it: 

Materials from Home Depot or your local hardware store:
*Rust-oleom black chalkboard paint
*Cut-it-yourself trim (we used 2 68in pieces and painted them with black paint)
*Decorative shelving brackets
*2 36in Shelves- they come in many colors, we chose black

*Painters Tape
*High-quality small roller
*Necessary tools for measurement and installation 

1. Measure out and level where you'd like the chalkboard wall. Tape lines to keep paint within the designated area.
We used a laser level and taped along the lines to create the outline of the board.

2. Using small roller, roll out chalkboard paint. Hubs painted 3 coats waiting about an hour between each coat.

 

 

3. During dry time- put a coat of black paint on the frame pieces. 

4. When dry- remove painters tape and install brackets onto the shelves. Install shelves onto wall as per manufacturers instructions. Make sure to install on a stud or to use anchors so the shelves will be secure. 

5. Using a nail gun- secure leveled frame pieces to the outside of the board. 

 

 

Ta Da! We let the paint cure for three days before doing a chalk wash (rubbing the side of chalk all over board and erase to prepare for use). Enjoy!

 

XO-
Meg