kitchen update & bathroom oops!

so one day i came home to see my favorite kitchen mat in the middle of the living room... with a hole chewed through it. who can guess who done it? yea, Buddha. that kitchen mat was the inspiration for my kitchen decor, i loved it. i wanted to decorate the kitchen to match. i was bummed he destroyed it. but thats what he does when it rains, he gets into trouble. pent up energy i guess.

but last week Pete and i had been talking about getting a large area rug for underneath our kitchen table because in the winter i never want to sit at the table because the tile floor is SO cold. we stopped in home depot one night and guess what! they had a 5x8 area rug in the same pattern as my little kitchen mat! NO WAY! oh the little things that make me happy!

it came in today and i was so excited to put it under the table. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

now we need to get curtains in the same family of colors, any ideas on what style would look good with those windows?

and now here's my OOPS!

i wanted to paint our guest bathroom upstairs. its already decorated a dark grey, black, and white. i picked out a couple of paint chips from home depot, came home and decided on the lighter shade of grey (pebble grey). that was my first OOPS, not that i knew it yet. (I SUGGEST YOU ALWAYS GET PAINT SAMPLES FIRST AND PAINT IT ON YOUR WALL BEFORE DOING THE WHOLE ROOM, AND DONT MAKE A DECISION UNTIL THE PAINT SAMPLE HAS DRIED!!) i went with the lighter shade because i thought the darker one would make the room appear smaller.

on sunday pete painted the bathroom. when he was done i went in to inspect it... our bathroom is a baby blue, dolphiny grey color... why me? i HATED IT!

so this morning, we went and got paint SAMPLES and i slapped some on the walls. and of course the darker shade of grey that i should have gone with was a better match. but i knew that if i asked pete to repaint it he would be MMMAAADDDD! so to help my case, today i spent a good hour taping off the bathroom so that he couldnt complain about having to do it too much. hopefully it gets done soon.

in these pictures, the walls dont look baby blue, dolphiny grey but they really are, even pete will admit it.

YUCK!

the color on the right is going to make it on the walls sometime soon (i think) and this time it will be the right shade of grey (fingers crossed).

the chosen color (on the right) is Granite Grey. what do you think? or should i go darker?

i guess i could still change my mind, we havent bought any paint yet, just the samples. so what do you think? the one on the left or the right?

Blog of Many Titles

WHAT I WANT:
I have been drooling over this Pottery Barn mirror for the last 3 months. I want it, it would look PERFECT above our dresser in the master bedroom BUT i will never buy it. Pottery Barn has amazing things in their cataloge but not for a price i'm willing to pay. can you believe this mirror is $699.00!!!!!! thats right, your eyes arent playing tricks on you. $699.00!!!!! ok so for now i search craigslist and ebay for it at a cheaper price and stalk Home Goods for something similiar. no luck yet... keep your eyes open for me!

MERRY CHRISTMAS:
i never posted what our Christmas cards looked like this year. If you didnt get one, i'm sorry! so consider this from me to you!
PS: i am now WAAAAYYY bigger than that picture.

FAILURE TO NOT SO BAD AFTER ALL:
awhile back i had bought two picture frames to go on our nightstand in the master bedroom. i loved the price and the look of them but not the BRIGHT stark white color that looked like it was glowing. so i decided i would buy them and give them a spray paint makeover.
i spray painted them in heirloom white and then used some antique glaze paint texture by Ralf Lauren. i painted on the glaze and wiped it off as i went. it looked great! but it had a funny texture that smudged off of the glossy spray paint. so then i decided to spray paint it with a clear matte finish. BAD IDEA!!!!! there must have been some chemical reaction between spray paint and Ralf Lauren glaze because the clear matte spray paint immediately started to eat away at the glaze and make it crackle. but after staring at it for 5 minutes in awe i decided that it kind of added to the look i was going for. the smaller one turned out better because of the amount of detail to the frame, the larger one is still cool looking but not my favorite.

I HATE CHAOS:

so i decided to organize the pictures on our fridge. i needed to put the new power saw to good use anyway. i bought some scrap wood at home depot and spray painted it back to match our fridge, then sanded all the edges to give it more texture and depth. Once dried i spray painted it again with clear matte spray paint finish (it did not eat away at my base color this time, phew). then i took kitchen clamps and glued them to one side of the wood and glued magnets to the other (fridge side). and 'ta-da' no more fridge chaos. i have 2 more to make but i got tired...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY:

i mentioned before that i had done a remake of a wreath for my front door for Valentine's Day, it finally stopped raining so i could take a picture of it. i had a wood frame that i spray painted black (i know i need to expand my color choices) and took all of the backing out. then i took a styrafoam heart and wrapped it in twine. this takes forever by the way. i added a little bit of red wiring to give it some color. and then i hung the heart with some thick red ribbon.
I LOVE IT! i think i'll change out the heart for a clover for st. patricks day. my neighbors even enjoy it too and have complimented it.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

WITH LOVE,

THE HAFEN'S

Gus Gus

my camera takes awesome pictures. this was probably one of my better big purchases. cant wait till theres a little baby to stalk around the house with the camera instead of the cat and dogs.

Its here! It's finally here!

12 weeks is too long of a wait!

BUT

finally

the crib has arrived!

sooo, turns out that when we went to pick it up, the box didn't even fit in the yukon. we had to tear into the box at the store to get it all in the car, and then when we did we had to tie one of the doors shut.

of course i insisted that Pete put it together as soon as we got home and surprisingly it didn't take very long.

The crib is A LOT bigger than i remember... but it wont matter once its turned into a full size bed, then it will look awesome.


He was sweating by the time he got it up the stairs. Good thing it was easy to put together because otherwise i never would have heard the end of it.

Now we just need a crib mattress so i can put all the super cute baby bedding in.

Her room is so cute! I cant wait until its all put together, just need the bedding and a couple of organizational things.

A PICTURE WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

30 Week Update

- My back achessss!!!!
- My feet hurt
- And my bellybutton has not taken on the most attractive shape
- wondering when it will pop out, looks like any day now.
- i'VE ONLY GOT 10 MORE WEEKS TO GO!
- The crib just arrived, I cant wait to put it together and see her room finally complete.
- She is 15.7 inches tall from head to heel
- And almost 3 lbs. (like a head of cabbage)
- And man am I moody! sorry pete!
- I havent gotten a restful sleep in the last few weeks. For some reason I sleep more soundly when I take a nap than when I sleep at night. It must be those frequent potty breaks.
- I have a Dr. appointment tomorrow morning, and after that I start seeing my Dr. every 2 weeks.
- Only 65 days to go!

Power Tools and Crafts

Our purchase of a power saw last week was a success! I got to try it out on my first project this week (with the husbands help of course). I saw this great idea for a holiday decoration a few weeks ago but I never found time to actually do it before christmas. better late than never right? and now i'll have it for next year.

I got:

Wood from Home Depot ( i think it was a 2x6?)

Wood Stool Legs from Home Depot (in 2 different heights)

Wood Finials from Michaels

Round Wood Plaques from Michaels

Spray Paint in black from Home Depot

Sand Paper from Home Depot

Twine from Joanns

Burlap fabric from Joanns

Double Sided Screws from Home Depot

Decorative Brads from Michaels

and

Stencils from Michaels

The assembly took a little help from my husband. He screwed the stool legs into the round wood plaques, as well as the Flat pieces of Wood into the stool legs. then he also screwed the wood finials on top - all with double sided screws.



After they were spray painted, and dried. i took some sand paper to them to make them look distressed and to take away some of the shine from the spray paint.


I cut the burlap fabric into pieces to fit on the flat wood parts and then used stencils to create the letters, i used acrylic paint and stencil brush. ( FYI - Burlap makes a mess! especially when cut!)

I put these decorative brads on each corner of the burlap, it was easy cause they pushed right through the burlap.

I had twine left over from making my Valentines Day wreath (pictures to come as soon as it stops raining) i used the twine to tie on the wood finials for extra decoration.

I hot glued the burlap and brads in place. AND FINISHED! TADA! they came out so cute!

I cant wait until next christmas, I can just see these on my windows with some fresh garland and candles. I love christmas!

FINISHED PRODUCT

This idea is pretty cool cause you can create it to fit whatever you want. You can use it as a picture frame (use cute decorative clamps to hold your picture in place), recepie holder (use sheet metal instead of burlap and magnets to hold your recp. in place), or instead of burlap get some mesh wiring and hang earings on it.

My next project is a couple of picture frames that i painted and distressed to match our master bedroom, but... i smudged them thinking they were dry too soon, i'll have to redo them another day.

She Cooks?

I have been doing way more cooking than usual. I figure I have a brand new house with a brand new kitchen, I might as well put it to some use. The other night I made Broccoli and Cheese Quiche but tonight I made Shepherds Pie. I think it is my new favorite and it was so easy to make. We ate it before I could take a picture to go with this post. Just goes to show how good it was. If you're interested:


Shepherds Pie

What You Need:

1-1/4 lb. of red potates cut into chunks
3 large cloves of garlic, peeled
3/4 cups of sour cream (I use Knudsen Light Sour Cream)
1/2 cup of Kraft Shredded Sharp Cheddar, divided
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
2 Tbsp. of flour
4 cups frozen mixed vegetables - thawed
3/4 cup of reduced sodium beef broth
2 Tbsp. Ketchup

Make It:
PLACE potates and garlic in large saucepan, add enough water to cover. Cover and bring to a boil. reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain, return to saucepan. Add sour cream, mash potatoes until smooth. stir in 1/4 cup of the cheese.

PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees. brown meat in a large skillet. stir in flour and cool 1 minute. Add vegetables, broth and ketchup; cook 5 minutes. spoon into an 8 inch square baking dish. cover with potatoes.

BAKE 18 minutes. sprinkle with remaining cheese . bake an additional 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

(Should serve about 6)

ENJOY!

I've also been doing a lot of crafts but the rain brought that to a standstill today. I have so many half finished projects laying around because of it. Paint just doesnt dry in wet weather. I'll have to post pictures of them once I can get them finished.

Oh The Little Things That Make Me Happy:

i've been doing A LOT of blog stalking lately. sad i know but i've become obsessed with home decor and craft blogs. OBSESSED! its got me thinking about a lot of projects that i want to get accomplished.

When Pete and I lived in apartments at North Creek (dont ever rent there) all of our tools, dirt bike gear, snow boarding gear, and wake boarding gear got stolen. We've gone awhile without tools and slowly we are getting our stash back. This morning i talked pete into going to Home Depot to purchase a power saw (i didnt have to try hard). And i wanted a staple gun but i found something even better, it does nails too!

LET THE CRAFTING BEGIN!

29 WEEK UPDATE:

- I'm starting to get a little stressed about the little things, like organizing her room and getting things done around the house before the baby comes.
- I'm getting tired faster from doing all of these things.
-I have a whole walk in closet packed with clothes and nothing fits.
- I miss gymnastics, i can feel my center of gravity changing but i can still hit a good handstand :)
- Different smells gross me out.
- I'm grumpier in the mornings, I think its because sleeping comfortably is a lot more difficult.
-I think I can distinguish between her body parts when I feel her move around.
- I feel like I can't breath after I eat a big meal.
-The baby weighs about 2 and 1/2 lbs (the size of a butternut squash)
-And the baby is a tad bit bigger than 15 inches from head to heel
-Only 73 more days to go!

28 Week Update

I should have started doing this a long time ago but I wasnt the best blogger then. AND I finally got a new laptop that actually works. So...

28 Weeks:
- I have gained close to 17 lbs.
- Getting my shoes on is becoming difficult, I find it easier to put my socks on before my pants. :)
- I have finally started wearing my maternity jeans. I only own one pair.
- I get up to go to the bathroom at least twice in the middle of the night.
- I experienced my first leg cramp in the middle of the night. It was probably the worst pain I've felt in a long time. I was sore for 2 days afterwards.
- I got my results back for the glucose test and I PASSED!
- The baby weighs 2 and 1/4 lbs. (like a chinese cabbage, not that I know what that is.)
- She is 14.8 inches tall from the top of her head to her heels.
- She can blink her eyes which now have lashes.
- She is adding billions of neurons to her brain
-And adding more baby fat to her body.
-Only 79 more days to go.

The Hafen's:

Pete, Sharmela, Gus Gus, Buddha, Ashes & Baby Hafen

Our Home

Baby Hafen's Room

Our master bedroom is a work in progress...

Japan Trip 2009 (finally posted)

I figured out a faster way to upload all my pictures. Picnik.com is an awesome site!