DIY Lamp Shade: Decorating the Nursery

One of the final things I needed to finish Grace's nursery was a small table lamp. A few months back, I was in Hobby Lobby, and I came across these lamp shades that were 'normal'-shaped lamp shades that were self-adhesive so you could cover it with whatever material you wanted. I kept this in the back of my mind...knowing that I wanted to make the girls' quilts and thought this would work out perfectly. (You can go here to see Grace's quilt.)

I ordered the material for this lamp shade a couple of months ago, but finally got around to doing it earlier this week. I didn't think it would take very long, but to my surprise, it took SO much less time than I even thought!

First of all....I ended up buying this little table lamp.

I chose this instead of a 'normal'-shaped lamp shade for 3 reasons....

1. I thought it was cute.
2. I didn't necessarily need a lamp that would exude a lot of light because I didn't foresee us ever sitting with Grace in that glider, next to that lamp to read books before bedtime, because I just figured that we would all be reading book together in the floor or on a bed or something.
3. The material I bought is striped....and I wanted these stripes to be horizontal to contrast the vertical lines on the wall. However, with the normal-shaped lamp shade, I was afraid that I would not be able to keep the lines straight. Make sense?

I didn't realize it until I sat down to make it..... but there are directions right there on the shade!

It even tells you how much material you need. And since I already had ordered my material, I ordered way too much, but it kind of works out because I'll make a pillow case for her one day when she is able to have a pillow in her crib.

So I measured around the shade and added an inch. Then I measured the length... and added 2 inches....so that 1 inch would be hanging off of the top, and one inch would be hanging off of the bottom. The directions actually say that you can take the outer wrapping off and use it as a template...which would have been so nice if I had bought the normal-shaped lamp shade (say that five times fast), but since this one was a straight cylinder, I just measured it and then cut it myself.

One thing that I was very impressed with was how easy it was to pick the material back up and replace it if you messed up. This was something that I was worried about....that the shade would be so sticky that if you didn't get it right at first, then it would mess up the material. But this was not the case....it was easy to lift back up, then re-smooth it back down.

Then I took my scissors and cut along the rim of the shade at the top and the bottom.

I used a hot glue gun to glue the seam....

Now it's time for the trim. I bought this ribbon....


And once I put it on....I started to think that maybe I didn't like it...that maybe it needed something more. But by this time...Grace was waking up from her nap and I decided to just go ahead and put it in her room anyway.

And I think I like it the way it is. Simple.

Baby Calendar

When I was pregnant with Parker...I started a scrapbook that basically catalogued my pregnancy through her first year (although- I stopped at her 10 month page...so I still have some work to do to finish it up). I made a commitment to myself then...that if I were to have anymore kids...that I would do the same.

Well....2 and a half years later....I have that second child...and have yet to start her scrapbook.

On the upside...I have this blog...something that I did not start until Parker was 6 months old. So this has done a decent job of writing down my thoughts and posting pictures. But there are still those things....even smaller things that I don't blog about that I'd still like to remember.

I have word documents saved on my laptop with each of the girls names that I can go to to write certain things down like "words that Parker says incorrectly, but it's so cute I don't want to forget." But even this isn't always accessible when I need it.

I found another idea in a scrapbook magazine (back when I was scrapbooking :) that said to hang up a calendar next to the changing table and jot things down as they happen. I thought this was a great idea...I mean....how many times a day are you standing at the changing table? I did not ever get around to doing this with Parker, but for Grace I wanted to make sure I did get around to doing it because I want to be able to write down/remember some of the little things that I wrote down/remembered for Parker. (well- that was a mouthful!)

Ok.....to my point. Sometimes it takes me a while.

I wasn't looking for a fancy calendar...in fact....I wasn't really looking for one at all. I just wanted a plain white monthly view of the calendar with little squares with the date in them so that I could write things in them. But 2 weeks ago...I visited Borders Books to find a calendar to hang on our refrigerator....and found this!


I could do without some of the decorations on the front....but it was a total accident that I found it...and even better....it was on clearance for $4.00!!!! What a steal!

I like how this calendar is laid out...beginning with a page of her first picture along with her stats and information...



Then....it entitles each new month with Your First Month, Your Second Month, etc. And you're able to add a picture for that month....

Although this is not a scrapbook....this calendar offers a little more than a 'regular' calendar.

So this is what I am doing....

I hung it up right beside her changing table....

Then I am able to write down the little (or big) things that happen....like her "birth-day...", her "2 week well-visit" along with those stats...

Her "one-month birthday"...

And her "first bottle...which was given by her Daddy"

Maybe one day I will get around to scrapbooking for her...but at least this way...I have the information needed regardless.

her birthday cake.

I had the best of intentions of posting more on Parker's birthday over the weekend. But then reality sat in....and a 10 page paper, 6 case studies, 1 clinical learning journal, and 4 nursing journal articles got in my way...to say the very least.

So...tonight I was planning on posting this mega-gigantor-momma post of "all things Parker's 2nd birthday," but due to the volume of pictures I have ;) .....I am doing the cake part tonight and the rest....later. :)

I got the idea to make this rainbow cake from here. She gives an example of how to make this cake Weight Watchers friendly....but I made this one with 2 boxes of white cake mix and just followed the nice, fattening, delicious directions on the box! (NOTE: I did add 10 minutes to the cook time since I was cooking 2 boxes instead of 1)

For the coloring I used this stuff....


It's a concentrated gel (rather than regular food coloring that is runny) so that it does not mess up the consistency of the cake (and/or icing). I love this stuff.

And a little goes a long way!

And it stains. ;)


So then you divide the cake mix into 6 bowls and color as you choose....

Then start making your layers....


And "Tah-dah!!" ...as Parker would say!


Even though this blog showed her before and after pictures...mine turned out different. And I like how this one turned out...I'm sure it was an accident, though. As I am sure I could never get it to do this again. Haha!


So then I iced the cake. For some reason I couldn't buy the store bought kind (nothing wrong with it...it probably would have been better if I had of....but I didn't want to for some reason). So I made this buttercream icing with butter, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. It was good....but it really just comes back to the whole..."I'm not really that big on cake" thing. BUT....give me a Snicker's, oreo, cheesecake, it could even be an oreo-cheesecake, strawberry shortcake, drumstick, brownies...and I'm there! (and maybe it would have tasted a little better if I had not forgotten to get ice cream!!!)

So here's the final product...

And now for some close-ups...






Of course...Parker's favorite part of the cake were these M&Ms....which is what I thought would happen and why I added them to the cake in the first place. I knew she wouldn't be enticed by the rainbow cake that I spent quite a bit of time making the day before.

No....she would have been happy with just a bag of M&Ms!

This is just really neat! (or at least...I think it is...)

I recently found this blog called No Biggie. She has some neat ideas...she sometimes has a Wishlist Wednesday or Quick Tips or Friday Favorites. Anyway- through this blog...I found this website called Poladroid...and it's this free application that you can download and it transforms your pictures into 'polaroids.' It's so simple and I think they're too cute!

I'm not sure how it is on a PC...but on a mac...when you open up the application a large polaroid icon pops onto your screen...and you simply drag the photo that you want a polaroid to be made of...then it makes the noise that a polaroid camera makes when you are snapping the photo...and then- even on the screen you wait while the photo finishes...just like a real polaroid!

Ok- I've gushed enough. Here are a few examples...I was limited on the pictures that I had to choose from since I am on my laptop...but you get the idea.

(and the reason this next photo is really, really green is because it was originally a black and white photo)