Deep cleanin’ does the body good…

Okay, I know weird title. Maybe it should say does the mind good…either way a clean house makes me happy.
Anyways, I’ve decided to deep clean my house.  Meaning…clean every square inch room by room.  I started with the kitchen today.  Inside & outside & top & bottom of the cabinets, stove, counter tops, fridge, sink, floors…including taking everything out of my cabinets and purging what I don’t need.  I hate clutter and lately I feel like my house is getting too full of clutter.  Especially with all the baby stuff.  It feels like Babies R Us exploded in my house.  It’s driving me crazy.  So I’m on a cleaning rampage. 
So kitchen is almost complete…check.
Here are two cleaning tips I used off of pinterest:
#1 -- Cleaning the glass door inside your oven: make baking soda paste and spread it on for 30 min, then scrub off.  I’m about to go scrub it off but it’s turning brown so it looks like it’s working.
#2 – Floor cleaner: (Heavy duty floor cleaner recipe: ¼ cup white vinegar 1 tablespoon liquid dish soap ¼ cup baking soda 2 gallons tap water, very warm.) Done this, works super well and leaves everything smelling amazing.  I even started out on the cabinets and counter tops…worked great.  Everything smells good.  Especially with using Dove dish soap.  Love that stuff.
Now I need to go buy some more baking soda since I’m about out after these two recipes.  But my kitchen is smelling great, so this momma is happy.  I have to say, scrubbing your floors works well for taking out any frustrations you have…not that I’m frustrated, but that’s just what I was thinking while I was furiously scrubbing the grime off my tiles. :)

Nursery Reveal!!!

The day has come…the nursery is finished (well, almost).  It’s close enough that I’ll take pictures while it’s clean and neat  

Here are the pics of  my baby girl’s nursery!

First up, the white & yellow damask curtains and the freshly painted grey walls.

The crib, with newly sewn crib rail covers and a crib skirt.  Hoping to get a crib bumper (the breathable kind or I’ll sew something)

The Tree…this took a bit of time.  But using tips from JustaGirl’s blog, and a friend let me borrow her artist paint brushes…it came out pretty good I think.  It was a bit difficult to paint a straight line on a textured wall.

Then we have the dresser, which was a bit time consuming but I’m liking how it fits in the room.  You can also see the beginnings of the photo/picture wall I’ve started.  Can’t wait for my SIL to take my maternity pics and our family/newborn pics so I can get some beautiful photos on this wall.

Rugs were made by Joe’s grandma and they match nicely.

Closer shot of the photo wall…

“You are my Sunshine…”

“Winnie the Pooh” quote…

Closer look at the crib…

I lined the dresser drawers with different papers I got from Ink & Paper.  Just followed tips from this site. What’s even more awesome is Ink & Paper took a few days to ship and I just figured it was because of Memorial Day weekend.  They, without me even asking, refunded my money…including shipping.  So I got the paper all free and when it came, it was a lot more paper than I thought it would be.  So awesome!

Butterflies that I purchased when we were in Florida.

So what’s next???  Well, I will be filling up the dresser, organizing the closet (notice I didn’t post that because it’s full of clothes and the baby bouncer, jumperoo, sling, etc, etc.  It’s organized, but looks jumbled because of the big items I stuffed in there to get out of the way.)

I’m also making these fabric poms…just need to find time to cut out hundreds of circles of fabric.  I’ll take this project with me to Indiana and hopefully get it done there.

I’d also LOVE to recover my glider (which is currently in the boys room, but will be moving back into the baby’s room), but not sure I can.  Here is a site I found where a lady did hers and it’s exactly how I’d want mine to be.  The cushions on mine aren’t the most comfortable and the back needs more padding so I always stuff a pillow behind me.  We’ll see. It will have to be done after the baby arrives, so I’m not sure I’ll get it done.  But I can dream can’t I?

Memorial Day

We had a nice day as a family this Memorial Day.  I went shopping in the morning and was able to get a few things checked off my list.  Grilled out for lunch, boys swam in their little pool in the afternoon, while I finished working on the dresser for the nursery.  Made hot wings for Joe for dinner and the boys & I just had leftovers (we aren’t quite into spicy food like daddy is).  Isaac caught a frog earlier in the day and we told him he had to let it go at the end of the day because we didn’t have any food for it.  Oh and we made a trip to Chick-Fil-A after dinner for milk shakes.  I love their ice cream…so yummy! 

Here are a few pics of the boys right before they let the frog go.  Also, pics of the dresser that took several days to clean, sand, prime, paint, paint a 2nd time, antique, drill holes for new glass knobs, put on a clear coat of polyurethane to protect it, and finally screw on the glass knobs.  Then Joe & I moved it up into the baby’s room.  Don’t worry, I did help carry it, but we made lots of stops along the way and it wasn’t too heavy.  Here are the two sites that I got my information from on how to paint the dresser and what to use, etc.:  http://justagirlblog.com/painting-furniture/ and http://movitabeaucoup.com/2010/07/19/how-to-antique-and-distress-furniture-with-paint/ and then I plan to do this to the drawers once I get the paper to put in the drawer: http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/03/nursery-progress-lining-our-dresser-drawers/

So here are the pictures from today:

 

Isaac’s tree frog…they seem to like our deck, especially our grill & grill cover or my plants.  Not sure why…

Isaac & his frog

 

My boys..Isaac & Seth

The dresser before: (I already had taken the hardware off and pulled the drawers out)  It was quite dirty inside and I had to rip some thick cardboard out of the middle since it was all warped.

The dresser after: I just love the pretty glass knobs.  I had no idea what I was doing with antiquing it.  Just used sandpaper and a flat head screw driver.  Wish I had looked up tips on how to do it because you can use wax to make it a bit easier.  But I think it turned out okay.

The big reveal of the nursery will be coming soon.  I just need to hang a few things and move some stuff so I can take pictures.  I was just too tired tonight (sorry, but you’ll have to give this 7.5 month prego lady a break).  So later this week I should be posting some pictures….