The crib skirt is done and I have to say I've impressed myself on this one!  It turned out just as I'd hoped.  The mattress arrived today and helps complete the look-  just add a cream bumper and a coordinating fitted sheet to imagine the whole look in your head.

This project was completed with the help of a tutorial video I found on YouTube for a no sew crib skirt-  yes, that's right, my inner seamstress didn't even have to thread a needle for this masterpiece:)  Plus, I ordered enough fabric to use for some accent pillows on the rocking chair and window seat.  I may even have enough left to fancy up the windows a bit...we will see.

A similar crib skirt retails for no less than $95 dollars.  I was able to get this fabric for $11.90/yard (I needed one yard for the skirt but bought three yards total to have for other projects).  The other items I needed to "sew" it all together cost under 20 bucks with coupons from Jo-Ann Fabrics.  I'd say we got a designer look with a much cheaper price tag here-  totally worth the couple hours it took me to fabricate on our rainy Sunday!   

Lately...

Dan has added plumber to his resume-  Our water heater busted last weekend so off he went to Lowe's to make a hefty purchase while I babysat Abbey who was not allowed inside until we had running water again (see muddy paws below)...which wound up being around 9:30pm.  BIG thanks to our neighbor who slumped over in our crawl space with Dan late into the evening helping us get this done fairly easily and surprisingly quickly.

The water heater didn't get us down for long.  All three of us got nice hot showers, then Dan and I were able to attend a fundraising event the next night for work.  A Toast to the Triangle is an annual event put on by the Tammy Lynn Center to raise money for everything needed to keep serving our community of children and adults with special needs.  We had such a great time sampling food from some of the city's best restaurants and pretending like we could win some pretty pricey items from the silent auction.

With another threat of snow coming tomorrow, we have never looked more forward to spring time.  The weekends tease with 70 degree sunny days.  Then the weeks cover us with clouds, wind, sleet, and yes, more snow flurries.  I am beginning to regret all the snow I was so hopeful for this time last year as we prepared to move to NORTH Carolina.  But we have't let the weather stop us from gearing up to spend a lot of time outside in the coming months...we've already gotten a new azalea and two rhodadendruns in the ground:)

Baby T is at 21 weeks and constantly on the move!  The crib has arrived and is waiting on my motivation to get the crib skirt up and running-  pictures to come soon (assuming my inner seamstress cooperates and I create a good product).  We've also been craving a bit of sweets over the last few months.  I've baked up my standard chocolate chip cookies, tried out a new peanut butter cookie recipe (Martha of course), and today added sugar cookies to the mix (Dan suggested I add M&M's left over from our trail mix) and I have to say they are good!  (Gotta fit into my new maternity pants somehow, right?!)

We've been able to cheek out two more local eateries.  Relish-  need I say more than fried green tomato + pimento cheese grilled cheese?!  And Mo Joe's-  I've also had a hankering for burgers and the Old Raleigh Burger (chili + slaw, I left out the raw onion) did the trick!

Lastly, Dan is outside before the rain comes in, breaking ground on our next project that we are super excited about.  This time we've drawn inspiration from our former kitchen sink...wait until you see this!

  

We knocked another nursery project out today-  revamping my grandfather's dresser that we wanted to use for Baby T.

The dresser was really in great condition considering it'a age (circa 1940's) with the exception of a veneer issue on one side-

A while back we had someone from an antique furniture restoration shop visit the house and check out the piece in hopes that we could get it refinished and looking fab for the baby.  When he left, our heads were spinning-  no way should it cost over $1,000 to re-veneer one side of this piece.  We priced it out on a couple other sites and quickly realized we needed another plan.  

This Old House to the rescue (once again)!  In our last issue they featured a dresser that got a facelift from a little creative painting...

This seemed more our style and definitely more in our budget:)  Particularly when you use $3 oops paint in a perfectly neutral color.  

This project was quick and painless- First, the veneer peeled right off.

Then, Dan sanded everything down smoothly.

A couple coats of that oops paint to add some color and a distressed finish.

Now the dresser is ready to be filled with cute little clothes and blankets!

Before and After comparison:

Getting closer each weekend to a finished nursery!

  

  

The fabulousness of the window seat (storage-bookshelf) deserves a second post to wrap up this weekend.  Guided by a few inspiration pictures and plans from none other than This Old House, we set out to create our own unique piece that would fit our space and vision.

I can't really begin to explain to you what exactly we did.  All I know is Dan started with some 2x4's, made a cube, and the rest just kind of came together perfectly...

We used the trim paint we already had on hand to coat the piece-

We also picked up a yard of quilted neutral fabric and some foam to complete the seat-

It turned out better than we ever imagined!!  No more wasted space from the dormer window-  this piece is ready for years of use as a shelf to hold books and knick knacks, a cozy reading nook, and a prime hide & go seek space:)

One step closer to being ready for July!

The snow melted and we've been braving the still frigid temperatures checking out some more of our local scene-

Trophy Brewing & Pizza Company- Best pizza in town so far and definitely best pizza we've had in a long time.  The atmosphere was super cool-  very small, first come first served family style dining at the few high top tables that are available.  The website gives you an idea of the menu options but the chalkboard that adorns a wall by the intimate dining area will give you all the details you need to order when you're there.

North Carolina Museum of Art- I've been wanting to get to more museums ever since we officially settled in to Raleigh but we've been bad about taking the time to plan a weekend around it.  Then, a Champagne + Chocolate event came around at the NCMA and we decided to go check it out.  What better way to prepare for Valentine's Day than by sampling local Chocolates and other sweet treats while Dan enjoys 2 glasses of champagne?!

I wish we'd had more freedom to roam the museum and view some of the permanent collection but we were mostly kept to a single area.  We definitely want to get back and see some art but it was a neat way to see the museum at night and satisfy my sweet tooth by getting to know some of our local sweet shoppes.    

We sampled from-

Bittycakes

Carolina Confectionery Company (yummy toffee pictured above)

Chocolate Smiles

Edible Art Bakery and Dessert Cafe (chocolate covered shortbread in mini container above)

Sweet Traditions by LeAne - more Cookie Whoopies, please!

Videri Chocolate Factory

Iris, NCMA- the unique museum restaurant open only one night a week (mmm...macaroons!)

In baby news:

We are 16 weeks along-  Baby T is about the size of an average turnip weighing in around 5 ounces and measuring about 5 inches.  While my belly is busy finally starting to show signs of a baby, Dan has been busy getting the window seat I told you about under construction in the nursery...

Cool School has also been updated with some inspired activities for January and February-  don't forget to check it out!

  

Last weekend we braved the Raleigh Kids Exchange-  a HUGE consignment expo that visits the Fairgrounds twice a year.  We thought we were prepared, having read some info on the website about bringing your own bags (or wagon, depending on what items you were in the market for) and anticipating lines at checkout.  Reading the FAQ's on the website did NOTHING to prepare us for what we experienced-

Everything baby, and I mean EVERYTHING, was inside this gigantic warehouse.  Crazed mom's and on-edge dad's armed with previously mentioned wagon's were clearly on a mission.  Dan and I walked around dumbfounded, pretending like we knew what we were doing.  Eventually we found a rhythm and even got brave enough to pick up some items claiming them as our own.  After over an hour of hunting and gathering, we decided we'd by no means seen it all but had seen enough.  There we were ready to figure out where the check out was, Dan carrying our board books, Baby Einstein DVD's, toy links, and clothes hangers all inside a baby bathtub, when we saw the line.  An estimated hour long line for an estimated 12 dollars worth of goods.  It just didn't add up.  Sadly, we abandoned our bathtub and its contents.  Even though we left empty handed, we are glad to have witnessed the chaos of the Kids Exchange and may even brave it again one day when we have our sights on bigger ticket items.

In other baby news, I found this great website where I have been eyeing some fabric for the crib and nursery.  When I discovered they send FREE swatches, I went a little overboard.  Look what arrived in the mail!

I think I've narrowed it down to liking this one the best-

But, before we make any decisions, we plan to head to JoAnn Fabrics this weekend (coupons in hand) to see what we can find to compare.

And, in other Raleigh news-  today was my third snow day!  Check out the scenery we've had...

Abb LOVED it!

Hard to believe tomorrow's already Friday.  Temps will be back into the 50's-  Happy Weekend!

   

Never a dull moment in this Towler household.  If you've not heard the latest yet, here's a belated Christmas gift for you...

That's right!  Dan and I are expecting a little one this summer and couldn't be more thrilled to finally share the news.  You won't be surprised to hear that nursery plans are already underway including my Handy Dan constructing a window seat for our precious addition.  Details to come as we get things going.

The news of the baby has hardly slowed us down from continuing to tackle projects around the house.  Gotta get these things done so we can 100% focus on the nursery- right?!  

We will call today's post Design on a Dime (an old HGTV show I used to love).  You will be amazed at our latest creations and how little was spent out of pocket:)  I apologize in advance for the lack of before, during, and after pictures here.  Let's blame it on pregnancy brain.

Up first- Wreath.  Once I took down the Christmas wreath, the door looked so bare and lonely.  I decided to throw together a quick little burlap wreath that would keep the door company in these winter months until we can dust off the Easter wreath this spring.  I used a wire hanger we had at the back of the closet, strips of burlap I had on hand (from the fab shop at Dan's office), pine cones salvaged from the Christmas wreath, and ribbon from my stash.  Ta-da!  Cute + free.  Nothing better!

Up Second- Paint.  I've been wanting to paint our study for a while.  I even knew what color I wanted it to be without any hesitation; Elephant Skin by Behr.  Then it happened.  The luckiest trip to Home Depot.  Ever.  There Dan was (while I was getting my hair done), grabbing the few items we needed for our weekend projects, when I got a text...the paint sample of the color I wanted next to a gallon of what they call "Oops paint" that is significantly discounted because it didn't turn out how the customer wanted it to.  

Unbelievable!  It was almost a perfect match.  And for $7 instead of $40, I was sold.  He brought it home and after I contributed my pregnant portion of the painting job, the taping, sweet Dan trapped himself in the study (with the windows open) and painted the room all by himself.  Here are a few before pictures of the bland walls we were working with...

And the sweetest husband hard at work...

Up next- Table.  Dan has had these old Coke crates for years and I've never quite known what to do with them.  Then it hit me last week.  A table!  We needed a table for our study, to help tie some of the furniture pieces together.  So we got to brainstorming how to utilize the Coke crates as a table.  Luckily Dan salvaged a piece of particle board from our old laminate countertops during the kitchen demo.  He was able to cut it down to size, paint it black, and screw the crates right onto it to give them a stable base.  For legs we used 4 wrought iron corbels (if they look familiar that's because we used the same ones under the bar in the dining room).  All we had to buy for this project was a can of black spray paint.  Looks pretty neat, huh?  It definitely adds function and purpose to our space as you will see in pictures later, and for a single-digit price tag!

(Now I'm on the lookout for a collection of some sort to fill in a few of the spaces inside the crates)

Last Up- Light.  I posted over two years ago on my previous blog about a trash to treasure item I had been given by Kaelan's mom.  Remember these wheels?

Soon after they'd been given to me, I painted them white and knew they could be transformed into something.  At the time, I just didn't know what.  Luckily, I managed to keep them through two moves, determined that they truly were a treasure (not trash).  They have since been transformed into an industrial + modern light installation in our ever-evolving study.  All we needed to complete the project was a swag light kit purchased for under 20 bucks.

Loving the shadows the wheels make on the ceiling!  

Now, check out the entire room with all of the updates-

Putting that jug and glass bottle collection to good use!  

Keeping our eyes peeled for interesting art prints for the big bare walls.

And there you have it-  Another exciting weekend here in Raleigh!