Weekly Pinterest Roundup/planning a baby shower

What am I doing right now? You may be asking. Ok you're probably not asking that at all but I'm here and I'm typing so I'm gonna tell ya. I'm sitting here eating Dark Chocolate with sea slot toffee and drinking coffee trying to motivate myself into creativity.  Sadly, this is not unlike most other mornings.

What I am getting ever more excited about, however, is the upcoming baby shower I'm planning for my dear friend, Ashley. This will be Ashley's 5th child and let me tell you all previous 4 are just as adorable as can be so I cannot wait to meet the little girl that will be coming later this year!

When I found out that she was having a little peanut I was just way too excited. My mind started racing with a billion ideas and of course I took to pinterest to fill in the rest.

I don't want to spoil anything but she has decided on a mid July summer garden party themed shower in shades of baby pink and light grey. Of course I have been snatching up everything I see in pink and grey whenever I am out and the designated area in the craft room is now blossoming with baby hued decor and items!

I also recently invested in a Cricut Expression and I have a feeling that bad boy is gonna help me make this shower extra extra adorable!

Here is a roundup of pins in her baby shower board that I'm absolutely smitten with and a few ideas I have for making this the best baby shower ever! Get ready for pink overload!

1. Pink Lemonade in mason jars

Since the party will be in the peak of the summer, we will definitely want guests to cool off! Being from Baltimore, even northern Virginia seems like the south to me so putting drinks in mason jars just seems so appropriate! 

2. pink and grey

pink and grey

pink and grey!!!

LOVE this color scheme and I am so happy she picked it! I like to consider myself moderately crafty so the majority of the decor I've already made or I'm planning on making. I'm kind of a bit obsessed with these colors now...how much do you think Shaun would oppose me painting the bedroom like this? ha!

3. Dessert table/candy bar

I swear Ashley and I were on the exact same wavelength for this! Obviously since I am planning this there will be several treats from The Random Bakery involved and I was thinking of doing some additional little treats as well. When Ashley texted me and said she wanted a candy bar I was like yes! perfect! assolutamente!

4. Photo Booth

DIY backdrop

and fun props! 

I know a photo booth is not the most common thing for a baby shower and is typically seen at weddings and NYE parties. But every party I have ever thrown or been to where there has been a photo booth has been a great success! I think people open up and act more goofy when there is a photo booth, plus everyone gets pictures instead of one person roaming around with a camera and missing out on the fun! Plus to look back on all the pictures would be such a fun memento and it would be nice to make a little album for Ashley so when her baby girl is older she can look back at all the warmth and joy that was created to celebrate her birth! 

5. Thoughtful notes and fun games! 

these are just a couple cute examples of the fun we are going to have! Ashley came up with a really fun balloon game and I stole the idea from Allisons baby shower to have a "decorate a onesie" table where the onesies can be strung on a line with clothespins afterwards so mom can admire all the sweet handmade messages from guests to baby girl! 

So theres a little snippet of the awesome baby shower coming soon! There will be lots more fun things and plenty of adorable pictures to follow up with. I cannot wait to celebrate this day with Ashley and her little peanut! 

Thrift Store Furniture: Before and After

So I may or may not have purchased a mid century dresser at the Salvation Army a little over a year ago and left it in the garage until just recently to collect spiderwebs and dust (much to the chagrin of Shaun). But I did have really big plans for it and I did finally end up baking good on my word and painting it!

I actually planned on purchasing more thrift store pieces over the past few months but Shaun was slightly reluctant (exasperated is more like it) because I hadn't touched the dresser.

Since I got the dresser it spent most of it's life in the garage until one day Shaun got a storage system for the garage and insisted the dresser had to get the boot. We carried it upstairs and put it in the extra "junk" room that we were using as storage for the time being.

Well cue another one of my inspirational cleaning days and said room became my craft room, spare bedroom went into old craft room and the dresser ended up with it. Again it sat for about a month before I finally ended up biting the bullet and painting it. But paint it, I did and I feel so much better now with a functional piece! I still have to give it a light sand and a wax but I've already started on a billion other projects in the house so as soon as I sand the next piece I'll knock this one out at the same time. 

I really wanted to get some Annie Sloan chalk paint to do up this baby but the short trip to Warrenton provided to be just too much for my 10 mile radius of motivation to handle. I also discovered that apparently the stuff is quite expensive as well. This dresser is pretty banged up, not an antique in any sense of the word so I didn't want to waste a ton money if it turned out horribly.  But then, I thought, if I'm already DIYing this, why don't I see if I can DIY the chalk paint as well??

So I took to the inter webs and after a lot of googling, I found a quick, cheap alternative for less than $10. Plaster of Paris mixed with latex paint.

Easy peasy! I got to mixing, adding a little bit of hot water to get the right consistency and voila! I had the perfect, no prep piece painted within a couple hours.

As you can see there are still a few tough spots on the drawer fronts that I will have to touch up. I'm also thinking of getting new drawer pulls. Maybe something cute from Anthropologie?

Bear gets very jealous whenever I am taking pictures of anything other than him. So he likes to sneak in there occasionally to make sure I know he is watching. I think he has perfected his pose.

So there you have it! Bear is enjoying the new dresser in the spare bedroom (which he has claimed as his own) and I'm pretty happy that I finally got it knocked out. Now onto the coffee table!