Hutch Transformation

In case you're wondering (I'm sure you all are, right!?) why the lack in posts lately... We've been a bit busy.

Turning this...

 

Into this...

Before I decided to paint, I made one small change that started it all... 

Coffee Filter Wreath

Apparently DIY wreaths are all the rage in blogger land. If you read craft blogs, you've probably seen them. I wasn't reading craft blogs, so I wasn't aware they were all over the place. I saw a pic of a burlap wreath that someone I know made, and from there I found tutorials for those and coffee filter wreaths. I still plan on trying one of the burlap ones later because they are pretty cute and look terribly easy, but I wanted to do something different first (than what my friend did, I mean - didn't want to copy too much). ;)

So, I sat down one evening to make myself a coffee filter wreath. Was it easy? Yes. Very. Did it take long? Nope. An hour or a bit longer, while watching tv and taking my time. Was it cheap? Pretty much. I got the foam wreath at JoAnn's (without a coupon...), brown coffee filters are pretty cheap, and then some pins. (Don't tell Ryan that after I started making the thing, I read you can find the wreaths and filters at the *dollar* store.... Whoops.)

The good thing about making this wreath is that there is no right or wrong. It is not meant to be perfect or a specific way. You just go with it.

The bad thing about making this wreath is that there is no right or wrong. It is not meant to be perfect or a specific way. You just go with it.

Going with it is hard for me sometimes...Trying not to make something perfect is hard for me sometimes. Not having a "right" way to do something is hard for me sometimes.

Or all times. Whatever.

As I started out...and pretty much until I was almost finished, I kept wondering Am I doing this right? Does this look right? Should I be doing more of this? Less of this? and checking the tutorial I was using from another blog. It's ridiculous. Then I would tell myself to relax, get over it, and just press on.

So, if you make this and you start off thinking it looks like a hot mess, just press on. Push through it to the end. You might consider giving up halfway through. I thought about it a few times. Don't. Go with it. You might not find that as difficult as I did...

I didn't take pictures of the steps or anything. I really wasn't sure it was working... But here's the tutorial I used. And really, if you google "coffee filter wreath" you'll get (more than) plenty of hits. There are some with white filters, but I personally like the brown. I like how the tutorial I used...her wreath used fewer filters and looked looser, but in the end, I think mine turned out pretty ok. I finally stopped trying to fold the filters just right and did them all randomly. I fluffed them up some at the end and moved some around if it needed it. I love how it's not perfect in the end - you don't want this thing to be perfect! Don't put it somewhere that will get wet if it rains, though. These would look good inside, too. I'm trying to cut out dust collectors, though (how on earth would you clean this thing??) and have no really good place to hang one inside right now, so it's on our front door - where I needed something to hang.

And here is my wreath...

Closer view

Not too bad, after all.

No more gardening today!!

I was outside during Aiden's nap trying to neaten up this area in the back - since we've focused mainly on the front flower beds so far. After a few minutes, I look up to see this spider less than a foot from my hands... I said a few choice words and got my rear back inside rather quickly (well, and came back out to snap some pics and then got back inside - thank goodness for zoom lenses!). This thing is at least three inches or more across, including the legs, of course. HUGE, even by North Carolina standards. For someone who is TERRIFIED of the tiniest spider (that would be me!!), this was beyond frightening.

Anyone know what this thing is? Poisonous?? I'm rather grateful our neighbor is an exterminator - we'll see if he knows what it is! Either way, I'm not sure I'll be back out there anytime soon. Maybe the back yard flower beds can just become overgrown....

A little closer (zooming - not me moving closer!)

That spider next to the big one is a normal sized spider, not a teeny-tiny one.

Keep in mind those little white flowers really are little. This sucker was huge.
Tell me that's not scary.

Go on - try!

Friday Fill-Ins on Sunday...

...because we moved on Friday and haven't had one extra minute. Still don't, but I'm taking a very quick break (while Ryan isn't around to scold me for being on the computer). ;)

So...here they are! Let's see how short and sweet I can do this...gotta get back to work! Answers in bold.

1. We are now living in our new home.

2. My favorite thing for dinner lately has been anything quick and easy - and things we actually have ingredients to, which is tricky since most things have been packed away!

3. The neighbors have three dogs that go bark! bark! bark! They also have a baby the same age as Aiden. (And invited him to come swim in their baby pool the other weekend....while the dogs sat there and watched. No thanks. Those dogs are pretty big and scary looking to me. But the neighbors do seem to be nice.)

4. A nice long walk around our new neighborhood is something I could use. Maybe in a few days when we can relax a bit more and take time to do something other than unpack.

5. I could use some good news. It seems lately that most news lately is not so good - poor health for some, people not getting along, things breaking or costing too much money (that last one is more with us while the others are more with others). Let's have some more good going around now, shall we?

6. When all is said and done, I'll be able to relax a bit more. But ALL is never completely said and done, is it? It seems there is always more to do.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting all the big stuff into the new house, tomorrow my plans include Camden's soccer tournament (could be three games if they do well - spread throughout the day with no time to go home in between) and Sunday, I want to UNPACK lots of stuff and get some things put away and cleaned up before some company arrives during the week!

Update....Camden's team DID do well - went to the finals and came in second place. It was a long day (and I missed the last game, which I HATED, but it couldn't be helped - will explain later), but the team did really well and deserved it. I'll give more soccer details later, along with pics! For now...it's back to unpacking!!

House Update

We've been slaving away at the new house, mostly painting on the boys' rooms. They look great! We did some fun stripes in Aiden's room, and Camden opted for a single color in his - which will look great with his current bedding and new bedroom furniture that we'll be getting in the fall. I know some of you warned us how much work all this painting would be, especially the stripes in Aiden's room. It has been a while since I painted anything like this, but it really wasn't bad at all. The painting was easy, actually. The hard part has been trying to do it with a baby around - a baby that does not want to be confined to a play yard or an activity jumper (boy he loves that thing when he wants to play in it - but when we need him in it for a bit b/c we have supplies everywhere...no sir!). And then also having a bored 10-year-old that doesn't really want to help watch his baby brother play in the one open space he can... Anyway, we still managed! And the rooms look great!

We've done some other stuff around the house, too. Ryan mowed the lawn - after dishing out a nice chunk of change for a new lawn mower, weed eater, and all that good stuff. We've bought fans for all the bedrooms and living room, along with a new chandelier for the dining room (because the one that is in there now is just NOT ok). We've taken a lot of kitchen items and boxes of other things to the house already - things that don't need to be on carpeted areas b/c we're having the carpets cleaned later this week (and they're being cleaned by GREEN means!).

Here are some updated pictures... Same album as the other house pics, so just go to the ones you haven't seen!

Our House

Painting Day 1

Day 1 of painting the boys' bedrooms is finished. We got both rooms primed and are ready to put the color on the walls tomorrow! It's been a long day with a big trip to Lowe's (and lots of money spent - will do again tomorrow), lots of painting, and lots of time spent in the new house. We learned a few things....

The painting wasn't so bad at all, so far. We haven't started on the stripes we'll be putting in Aiden's room, but I've worked with tape and the chalk line before, so, although I know it will be work, I also know we'll be fine. :) Ryan and I work really well together - we usually do. We're a good team.

Aiden pretty much hates the pack & play when it comes to playing in it. He's never spent awake time in it, really, and he didn't think he should start today. He slept through most of the priming in the first room - and let us know he wasn't excited about being confined while we finished, even if Camden tried to play with him and entertain him. During the second room, we let him have free reign in the master bedroom, with the pack & play as a "gate" at the door. He did fine, but we learned something else...

Camden is not such a great baby sitter. Not-so-much. We might have to figure out a way to take turns tomorrow instead of both Ryan and I painting together. Might take longer, but...oh well.

While Ryan is a big perfectioninst with many things...painting is where my perfectionism comes in, apparently (and this was just with the PRIMER - we haven't even started on the stripes!). We're both perfectioninsts - and usually in different areas.

Aiden likes banana peppers (the sweet kind). Is there anything he doesn't like??

If you try to put Aiden in his car seat when he is tired, he will SCREAM his head off. The last few times we've went to put him in the car when he was tired this happened; it's more of a recent thing. It's not a lot of fun for anyone involved. I hate him crying.

Downtown Apex (the city we drive through to get from our new home in Holly Springs to our apartment in Cary) is a pretty happening place at 9:30 in the evening. That makes me smile.

Michael Buble helps calm Aiden down. I've noticed that he seems to like Buble's "Mrs. Jones" song. I hope this isn't any sort of sign for what's to come eventually. (If you have no idea why I say that, check this out to see why.) It's a good song, though, with very calming music, so I can see why he likes it. There are others on the cd that seem to help, too, which is nice.

More to come tomorrow....hopefully with pictures. We took some today, but it's very, very late, and I'm too tired to bother. Soon, though!

Help Wanted

If any of you locals (to us) are free over the weekend and want to help paint or watch the kiddos while we paint, you're more than welcome to stop by and help out. :) Just comment, email, or call my or Ryan's cell for more info. We'll be painting the boys' rooms Saturday and Sunday. Thanks in advance!

CLOSING

We closed on the house today! The place is officially OURS.

The seller wasn't at the signing, and I had kind of hoped she would be. We wanted to meet this lady... As soon as we put in our offer, she stopped taking care of the yard. Her realtor had to twist her arm to get her to mow it sometime last week. It looked terrible! Over a month of no mowing...come on. She was still living there up until yesterday. And aside from it being rude to us, there are ordinances about not mowing your lawn in the subdivision. (I think the realtor had to use that angle to convince her to mow...)

Then she took all the window treatment hardware down to take with her - when it was in the paperwork that it would stay. And left all the holes for us to deal with. Nice. Her realtor didn't even know she took it and said to give an estimate for what new ones would cost, and we would get a gift certificate. Then the seller decided to just let us keep the old ones, but she's out of town for two weeks, so we have to wait...

Then just other little stuff here and there. Thanks, lady. We never played hardball or tried to get anything special when we put in our offer. So, I'm not sure what her deal is. We think maybe she's just not so considerate? Oh well.

Either way...the house is OURS now! We spent some time today cleaning the walls to prep for painting, getting sample jars of paint to test out in the place, and doing other little things like that. We won't move in completely until the beginning of June, so we have a few weekends to paint and clean and take some things over ahead of time. We have a busy month ahead of us!

While there today, I kept thinking that it didn't feel like OUR place quite yet, even though we were there vacuuming, cleaning, etc. It felt like we were doing all that stuff to someone else's place. I'm sure it won't take long, though. The novelty will wear off soon enough, too. Haha!

We only took a few pics today - not much going on quite yet. But we'll update the album as we make our changes and make the place our home.

Our House

Our Big Secret Revealed!

You might have noticed me refer to some "secret" lately...well, we can finally share our news with the world. We just bought a house! Our first house. :) We've been tossing the idea around for a couple years now, going back and forth, but some things have come up lately that made us want to take the plunge. It's a great time, and we'll be in the area for a few more years, so it makes sense.

We had a rather stressful experience getting our house.... We put an offer on one place and the seller countered but not in the way we wanted. We were happy, though, because while waiting...another house went on the market. A really nice house. In a great area. And for a lower price. So, we went to see it.

While there, we found out someone else was putting in an offer. The seller agreed to wait and hear ours, too. We offered the best we could. The seller asked the others to come back with their best offer - so apparently it wasn't as good as our offer. And after waiting and waiting...apparently it still wasn't as good because WE GOT IT! We've been waiting and waiting again...for the loan to officially be approved. It took longer than we expected, and while we weren't worried, we're relieved to finally have the official word that we are buying this house! We've been keeping this from the rest of the world (except for family and a few friends) until we knew for sure that everything was working out. It's been hard not to spill the beans! (And we have to a few people...just not on public sites like this.)

We're very excited, and so is Camden. He will need to switch schools - but there is a new school RIGHT next to us (literally - we just walk to the next street over, cross that street, and then there you are...never even have to leave the neighborhood, really). And it's a year-round school, which we are thrilled about. (Yes, really.) Another plus - this is a really growing area. We'll be in Holly Springs instead of Cary (but who can afford to get a house in Cary?? Especially with a YARD?!). Cary is so expensive since it has seen - and is still seeing - so much growth...but next in line are Apex and Holly Springs, both getting lots of attention for being great "small towns" to live in and have a family. All the growth that is coming to those areas are great for us. There is a new grocery and hospital branch being built right down the street (within a mile), and lots of other things popping up. Also, a new high school is next to the elementary, and a middle school is being built at this time. This is all so great for us for when we sell it in a few years (so all of you guys who are thinking we'll never be moving back home....don't bet on that!). ;)

Here are some pictures from our first walk-through. Keep in mind, the furniture, etc, all belong to the current owner. We'll update with new pics once we are in and start making our changes!

OUR House

YAY!