Meet the Coopster

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Sunday, April 29, 2012

Our little Coopster was born at 9:21 p.m. on Wednesday night weighing in at 8 lb 7 oz (Woah!)(Oh wait, remember that huge belly picture?)

He is officially the cutest baby ever and I have the certificate to prove it.

He gets this title even when he scrunches up his face and looks like a grumpy old man. 

I heart him.

He's the cutest.

Okay, I'll stop now.

I don't have a million pictures (yet) because apparently newborns eat for 22 hours of the day/night.

I will share my two favourite photos so far. The first one is a silly Instragram photo that I snapped in the hospital and the second is a picture that I tried to make look fancy by using some filters in Lightroom.

Okay, here he is.

P.S. Feel free to ooooh and aaaaaah as much as you like. I won't mind.

P.S.S. His name is Cooper. But he likes to be called Mini-Coop. I know, I know, what's with me and the nicknames?

Okay, here he is for real.

Loungin' at the hospital. Two days old.


Chillin' at home. Four days old.

Tomorrow we have a "photoshoot" booked. Me and him. I'm the photographer, he's the model. I may or may not bore you with ten thousand photos of him after that.

:)

P.S.S.S. Do you see that chin? Ca-ute-ness!

Little Ninja's Nursery

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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

This is going to be a pictures only post today, k?

Lots and lots and lots of pictures.

My plan is to do a separate post tomorrow with links, info, and sources on where I purchased everything in the room and/or how I made stuff. 

I'll also make sure to include the room dimensions, paint colours, as well as before pictures from when we moved in and the room had blue walls and pink carpeting.

 
Well, here goes. My interpretation of a neutral little boy's nursery that isn't theme-y, blends in with the house, and has a little bit of a modern / cottage vibe.













































Well...... (biting fingernails)...... do you like it?


Sharing Here:

Show Me What Ya Got @ Not Just a Housewife, The Creative Spark @ Clean & Scentsible, Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest, Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage, Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous, Simply Klassic Sunday @ Simply Klassic Home, Picture Perfect Rooms @ Funky Junk Interiors, Room Evolution Party @ Evolution of Style, Kids Rooms @ Thrifty Decor Chick

A Not-So-Productive Day

14

Monday, April 23, 2012

Well, I think my productivity is officially slowing down. I had so much that I wanted/needed to get done today.

I heart Instagram.


My list included:

going to the post office to send off some adoption documents
- laundry
- vacuuming
walking the dogs
- driving to Lowes and Homesense for some small errands
- tweaking the last little details in Ninja's room 
- taking millions of pictures of Ninja's room
- writing super detailed nursery blog post
- making supper

Less than half. Humph.

Alex just got home from work and I've already instructed him on how to make pogos and then deliver them to me in bed so that I can continue to lie here and finish watching:



How 'bout you? Were you productive today?

DIY Growth Chart Tutorial

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Saturday, April 21, 2012


I am so, so excited that I finally tackled and finished this project. It's been on my to-do list since I first saw my original inspiration pictures on Pinterest. Here are the dreamy photos that inspired this project to begin with. Totally not my idea. This is me being a big ol' copycat.

Image: Pinterest
Original Source: Silhouette America Blog

Image: Pinterest
Original Source: Dear Lillie

I knew I wanted some chocolate-y brown wood in Little Ninja's nursery since everything else is so light and white. I love the faded stripes in the first photo and love the scale and wood-tone of the second photo. 

So, here's a step-by-step tutorial on how I made my own version of the two.

DIY Growth Chart Tutorial

First, I purchased a large pine board from Lowe's. I chose the nicer looking wood that has less knot-holes. I didn't want them bleeding through under my purty white stripes. I also dug out some wood stain that I already had from a previous project. I used Varathane Gel Stain in Special Walnut:

Supplies: Pine board, foam roller, gel stain.

Using a foam brush, I applied two coats of stain on all sides of the pine board. I waited a few hours in between coats and made sure to apply the stain outside where there was lots of ventilation. Stain = stinky:

After two coats of Special Walnut stain.

I found some large number stickers at Michael's that I thought would be super easy to use rather than making my own number stencils (like I've done in the past). I also don't have a Silhouette machine or anything fancy. Stickers it would be:

Large number stickers from Michael's.

I tinkered around with the measuring tape for a while trying to figure out the measurements. It helped to lay the stickers out on the wood to visualize how it might look:


Figuring out the measurements.

Once I decided where everything would go, I used a square thingy from the basement to make sure the lines for my stripes were nice and straight:

Marking the lines for my stripes.

Next I taped off where my stripes would go, and also taped off a section at top and bottom where I wanted Alex to trim the board with his table saw:

Taping the stripes.

Once my board was trimmed I painted some 6-inch stripes using a small paintbrush and some flat white paint that I had leftover from a previous project. I applied two coats of paint for the stripes:

Painting the stripes.

Next I removed all of the tape:

After removing the tape.

I wanted my numbers to be white, so I made sure to apply the background of each sticker to the unpainted wood sections:

Adding the stickers.

After making sure the stickers were adhered really well, I painted the inside of each number with a small craft brush. I ended up needing three coats of paint for inside each number:

Painting the numbers.

Once the paint was dry to the touch, I peeled off each sticker, and was left with crisp white numbers:

After removing the stickers.

My stripes and numbers didn't stay crisp-looking for long. I let everything dry overnight and then used an electric sander and 100-grit sandpaper to sand the living daylights out of 'em:

After sanding with 100-grit sandpaper and electric sander.

I wanted the board to look really worn and faded and old since I have some really crisp and new elements in the nursery. I wanted quite a bit of contrast.

So...... here are some photos of the finished project, although again I'm trying not to show you too much of the room just yet. :)







Pinterest challenge - done!

I think I might be smitten.

We installed the growth chart behind the door to the room since that section of wall was kind of bare-looking when the door was closed.

{Note: I decided not to add any ruler lines because I like how simple it looks and didn't want to make it too busy looking.}

Now I only have two more little things to tweak this weekend before I show you the whole room on Monday.

Weeeeeeeeeee!

P.S. If I missed any steps or if you have a question about this project please feel free to leave me a note in the comments section. :)

P.S.S. To see the growth chart in the finished room, click here.
Sharing Here:

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest, DIY Link Party @ AKA Design, Flaunt it Friday @ Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade @ The DIY Show-Off, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm, The Creative Spark @ Clean & Scentsible
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