..Projects..

So I promised in 2012 I would write more posts.. hahah someone should be laughing! This has been my busiest year yet. I have started a home design business called Bless'd Nest Designs.  Here is the website.. hoping to put up more pics in the portfolio section soon. Bless'd Nest Designs
I am still teaching full time with a particularly challenging class, going to school fulltime for my Masters in Education Leadership & Administration- someone cheer I am in my last two classes!!!! And I am in my probationary year of teaching with my certificate which means that I have extra classes to hold the certificate. Yet after this summer I will hold a traditional certificate.. which hopefully with my masters, two years of teaching and a traditional certification someone will want me in their district so I can get insurance and benefits!!! As you can see I have been BUSY! Oh and don't forget once a week bible study held at mi casa..Yet I have still managed to keep my head on straight somehow.

Well like I said in the last post I spent christmas eve in the hospital due to a serious concussion. It took me all thru January and some of Feb.  to finally start feeling better. Head injuries are no fun- after being in the classroom all day I would come home with a migraine and clunck out.. I got behind in my masters and my teaching certification classes and on grading for work because I just had the worst headaches, eye strain and vertigo. Plus for 6-8 weeks it was light duty- no working out. Finally I am back to ME! Walking every day with Nate and Scout, catching up on school work and just feeling good! Which is prolly another reason why I am so behind in updating yall on our lives..sorry!

So with feeling good comes with some changes to the house :). Next week I go to Atlanta to help my first big client, than I pick up my furniture from my grandmother's house. Can't wait for all of that and spring break! Nate and I have some big gardening plans for spring break. This past Monday marked our delivery date of our baby.. it was a rough day for me. But we decided we were gonna plant a flowering tree in honor of the baby in the back yard.  After Spring break it won't be long till we are sitting pretty on a beach in flordia and than visiting with my biological father's parents ( Grandma & Grandpa Cates) in oregon. Which Nate has never been to the west coast so it will be a blast.

In Home Decor News..lol..  I am working on my gf's house in Atlanta as well as an office of one of my bible girls! So while shopping for their rooms I came across this awesome garden stool at home goods. I love garden stools and wanted one all summer long. I looked at good will, consignment shops but because they are so trendy they were all over priced. This one was marked down due to season and it has a paint drip on one side.. my philosphy is a flaw makes it that more unique! So I brought it home and it looks great with the added white I need in the house plus the detail match my other new purchase over the fireplace.

 Here's the stool with my lovely tulips from Nate..

In addition to that spectacular find, I moved the three mirrors over the fireplace the the formal living room side where my french couch and hutch will be and now have this beauty..See how the detail of the mirror and stool play off each other?

Oh and those candle sticks are Miranda Lamberts and Blake Sheltons wedding candles..I bought the candles at Home goods for 4 bucks and they are PB knock offs of the map ones which go for almost 30 bucks a candle.. these aren't tropical maps like PB, But of europe..suprisingly nate liked them too. So the back story on this beauty of a mirror is it is handcarved in Bali and if you look closely it has leaves as the corners which remind me of a mirror we had in our honeymoon suite which was a thatched roof cottage. Nate said it is girly but he likes it. Allison always says I need more feminine items in the house and I think this one is great. But in the reflection of the mirror is the fan.. lets be real you have to have a fan in Houston. It is hot like 80% of the year and removing it would be ridiculous especially with the tall ceilings.. we just need the extra air movement. But I hated the frosted glass boob light cover. I wanted to order a drum shade kit I saw online and researched it but they started out at 300 bucks. So while at lowes I looked at fans with drum shades.. I like light to be deflected so I thought it was the perfect solution. Fans with drumshades are ridiculously expensive.

 Look at this beauty for 700 bucks-Drum Shade Fan!!Well I don't know about you but I thought it was an easy fix.. I took of the boob light and I have a rod that goes down the center of the fan with a nut that holds the old boob light cover. I just hooked a lamp shade right over.. total cost nothing!

So what do you think??? I love it.. I know it isn't everyone style but hey it makes me happy. I also love things that aren't like everyone else house. Everyone has a fan with those ugly light covers on it. Why not make it a little different?

In addition to that lighting project, we also installed a chandy in my dressing room area in the master bedroom. I have a narrow hall which on one side has a vanity which I store my jewels at and the other side is our master closet with massive mirrored doors. I just wanted an added touch of sparkle. I still need to get a chandy linen cord cover but other wise she is pretty and I love seeing her when I get ready (she being the chandy people)!

The door you see closed is my master bath.. I'll give ya better pics later- as you see we've been busy! Last on the project list is changing of the hooks in the master bath.. remember I changed the knobs on the vanity to vintage glass..which makes the chandy in the hall the perfect transition to the bathroom with all it's vintage shabby chic knobs! Below are the pics I posted way back..

Well the shower hooks were just plain silver and nothing spectacular.. we have had since oh probably my college days and they were starting to rust.. If I  really wanted to I could have spray painted them silver again.. but instead I found these beauties..

It was the perfect match to the pulls on the cabinets- I had to have them and they add the perfect amount of sparkle to our morning routine..

Well that's all that I have now.. we are having beautiful weather lately. Mild temps with lots of sunshine. All the plants think it is spring so I can't wait to get my hands dirty in the back yard over break.

Labor Day Weekend..

The three day weekend was full of catching up around the house, DIY Projects and School work.

I came home Friday and decided the small changes I made in the entryway were nice but the gallery wall looked empty above the lamp.  Below  is the pic of the small changes I made last week.. but for some reason it just didn't seem like it fit. So I sat and stared at it till I could refigure it in my head..

 Here is what I did.. I added two new pictures and reworked the ones I had.

 First I added this color one here with the scenic view of Hawaii and moved the pic of my sisters with Nate next to the lamp. Above the lamp I added a vintage map print of Hawaii. I think it evens it all out perfectly! It really makes it seem like the shorter glass lamp is meant to be there now. (Remember I had the lamp that is in the dining room there before and it is taller.)

Than on Sunday I went to my mom's to sew the curtains for our third bedroom. I forgot that I needed 4 panels.. I was just thinking curtains for the window(2 panels for the closet and 2 panels for the window). So I ordered more fabric for the windows with pom pom trim in green! Which we'll finish those next weekend. But we did get the curtains for the closet up so I can hide all our junk now! I love love chevron.. so I chose a fabric that is gender neutral and would be perfect for a baby (if we are blessed with one) or an older child (if we end up adopting later).  This room will eventually be a child's room so I wanted something that was timeless and fun yet neutral enough to go boy or girl.

The fabric I chose is by Annette Tatum and panels would sell for $180.00 each. I spent less than $12 a panel and I will have four panels and tie backs!! Plus we had extra for pillows.   I love the results. The chevron has a lighter aqua that blends with the walls and a teal plus lime green. So if we have a girl we can add pinks and if it's a boy more greens and browns!

Here it is closed with my grandma's stool recovered in the same fabric as the rocker.

Here is open.. Mom and I are working on Tie backs so we can tie it back if needed or close them. The tie backs are going to be made with Annette Tatum Blue Alphabet material. It is so adorable and we'll make extra pillows with it too.  I think kids will have fun with this being a stage or reading nook later.

We had extra fabric so we made a regular pillow case cover and a lumbar pillow. When my additional fabric comes in we will make more pillows and it will become a reading nook like YOUNG HOUSE LOVE did in Clara's Room here:

Plus I figure it never hurts to have additional matching pillows. I really believe in pushing your children to be creative and push literacy. So if I can make a small cool nook for them to play games and read than it's an extra plus! I mean it already hides the clutter!

Than yesterday, I went shopping with one of my BFF's Kourtney to find decor for these cuties (Kylie & Chole) big girl room. Love these girls and their need to accessorize!! LOL..

We had a great time eating lunch and buying goodies for their big girl room which I will show you soon!

But Kourtney wanted a solution to cover all her clutter in her laundry room too. I suggested wood blinds like YHL did in their last house. But we couldn't find an affordable solution. So I suggested curtains.

Here is the before with all the clutter we all have.. and here is the after with no sew curtains!!

Kourtney wanted a traditional fabric that would match the rest of her house.. we found this on clearance at Hobby Lobby and it coordinates so well. I love that it instanly streamlined the laundry room. We made two panels so she can easily access her laundry supplies and there is room next to the washer to hang clothes on the rod that the curtains hang on. The curtains cost $10!  Next on the list is painting her laundry room (which will be free since we already have it) and organizing her 3rd bedroom once we finish the girls' big girl rooms!

Hope you enjoyed my projects. I have more curtains DIY projects coming soon..plus the girls' room. I hope everyone had a great labor day and please pray for all those in Texas that are being effected by the wild fires. Two people I work with had to evacuate their homes and still don't know if their homes  are ok.

Gallery Wall Finally Completed..

Remember that post way back when I asked Inspired Room to have a gallery wall party (and I bragged about her mentioning me and feeling famous-gasp!).. well I finally got around to taking all those photo frames I collected from Ikea and Target and filling them and placing them in the stairwell last Thursday. I really love SawDust & Paper Scraps wall and wanted to recreate that.. but got lazy and did all black frames to tie in with the black mirrors over the fireplace which are visible as you walk down the stairs. It started out like this..

I let it soak in and decided it needed changing.


To hang them I just laid them out on the floor to see what is best.. but hope on over to YHL-Hammer Time and see how they hung them using paper to measure the perfect measurements, make sure their level..etc. I am not a perfectionists and I have learnt that to fill holes in the wall,  toothpaste hardens and you can paint right over it. I am not afraid of nail holes. So I just started nailing em up and if I stepped back and it didn't work I took it out and tried again. I am sure YHL way of the paper templates is much easier and faster since the finished product took me 3 hours to do. But I completed it and I love the way it looks.

Looking Up stairs

 Closeups

Than I decided I wanted to add more especially the hibiscus painting is from one of my sweet students and I love it soo much. The other pics are from our wedding, trips to Saint Louis, Washington D.C., Key West, Bahamas and Hawaii of course plus other random good memories from our seven years together. There are two pics of sea turtles we swam with in Hawaii, two shadow boxes filled with trip memorabilia (one has our wedding invitations in it) and maps also on the wall. I love that we still have room to add pics when we have kiddos.Two of the frames are these awesome art frames from target. They open and you can store art work inside.. you can see them on YHL wall too: Art Frame!! and Here TOO!!

Here it is looking down the stair well...  I am so happy with the end result and Nate loves it too!
I also hung at the top of the stairs our sign from Hawaii. I put maps from the Flordia Keys behind it.

It says The Embley's and every letter is a different mural in itself. It is very cool.

In other news I have pulled out all the bathing suits and summer clothes because it is soo hott. I love sporting the shorts, flip flops and tanks. But I also own a ton of capris since I can wear them multiple places. I wore this last week while cleaning my class room out. I love the hawaii lei look of the tshirt.. and boy was I dusty, sweaty and worn out after cleaning my classroom out.

Well I'll post about our Memorial Day Weekend soon.. hope you are enjoying summer!

Last Week at School

Wednesday was graduation day for my fifth graders I had to push them out of the nest and hope that they could fly. Hope that everything I had taught them this year would be instilled in them for life.  It was a sad but happy day.. here is a pic of the celebrations in the classroom (looking bare since I took everything down for summer already).. I would show a close up of the cake... but privacy issues I shouldn't publish any students names or pics of them. Sorry I can't show you the awesomeness of it or any pics of my happy fifth graders.. but you can imagine!

The cake was hawaiian with hibiscus flowers and their names with Congrats 5th grade! They all loved it! In addition I got lovely lovely gifts and very kind words from Parents. It was a great ending to my first year teaching and I feel so confident about next year.

In addition to it being the last week of school, Nate's mom and stepdad were here and helped paint the 3rd bedroom which will eventually be the nursery. I told you there was a change in store.. so here are a few pics of what happened. More to come later ( I still have to pack my classroom for summer).
Here is the room before.. no close up of the awful ceiling  which had holes from the previous owners stereo speakers and horrible dirty walls and the yellow baseboards with gaps between the walls.. uck but you get the idea-

Than Arnold prepped the room by filling all the holes with putty, painted the ceiling and than the first coat of blue..

This is the second day after three coats of paint. The rocker looks awesome it really takes the turqouise out in the fabric and I think the color will be great for boy or girl (Nate picked it out)..we hadn't put the blinds up yet.

Here are the finished pics

Doesn't the dresser just speak volumes against that paint.. like it was meant to be. I love having family peices redone in this room.  We still need curtains but the room is ready for use and the rest of the decorating will have to wait till we are expecting.

And here is a pic of the hard workers- Nate helped out too.. it was such a relief to have it done so Nate doesn't have to do this huge job alone later.

 It took them two straight 8 hour work days to prep, paint ceiling, walls, and trim. Remember that black trim on the window. Nate's mom even caulked the trim so it looks professional- no more gaps for our future baby. The next day Nate installed the blinds again and the room looks so lovely and peaceful! I love it.

Here is a pic of the day lillies I cut from the front yard aren't they gorgeous.

We're having a memorial day party this year since we'll be gone for our typical 4th of July party. So hope everyone has a great time this weekend.

Exhausted..

Last week was an incredibly long week.. I had projects to do around the house, my ring to get fixed, hair appts, my mom's appt, Nate's appt, than spending all day Friday setting up for the science festival and all day Saturday at the festival. Needless to say I am exhausted. Even after my extra day off Monday I am still exhausted.  I slept in Monday- but than last night I stayed up late trying to finish my presentation for my master's class and with yesterday off today really is my monday! I hate Mondays! Luckily for me, I get to go and see Jake play tball tonight and play with lil miss Mia. Yesterday I also got to snuggle with Miss Gracie Lewis and play with Gordon ( I say play but lil G Man is shy around me).. he warms up right when I am leaving..lol. Guess I will have to spend more time with him this summer.

Well last week I showed you my DIY calendar for our family. I wanted to create a family message center of sorts on this wall. Keeping it fun! I wanted somewhere where we could display notes, pictures and maybe eventually kiddos art.

I have decided that when I first decorated our house it was too serious and grown up. It wasn't to my tastes because I thought I needed to decorate according to what everyone else was. When in reality I like things fun, light and not serious at all. I like bright colors like white, blue, greens..etc. And even if I change my mind later at least I gave it a shot right. Plus your house should be a reflection of you and what you love so now I am trying to build that in our home.

I loved the kitchen gallery memo wall I created but I thought it needed a tack board and some color. I didn't want to put too much up and make it too busy since it is a narrow hallway. Plus I couldn't find any boards I liked that weren't over 100 bucks (I love Ballards with the lovely frames). Than I went on DaySpring with my 25% off and found great stuff for the gallery wall in the stairs and the kitchen.


I found this awesome metal strip with clips to display art, notes or pictures. I also loved that the clips had scriptures and inspirational qoutes on them with cute things like flowers. I took a close up of the clips. they have this in black and brown. I love them and it wasn't expensive.

 

I also found this awesome plague and I loved the bright colors!

Here is a pic of the whole wall now.. I love it and how inspiring it is. Plus we can display our favorite people next to the calendar too!
 

Hope you like the gallery wall!
I have all the frames for the gallery wall up the staircase but have yet to start. I know the pictures I want to display but I want to hang the frames first in case I want to rearrange the frames. I bought another frame from DaySpring to display. Here it is:

I really liked the saying and the beach theme to it.  And here is my stack of frames just waiting to be hung and filled. I got two shadow boxes to fill with hawaii reminders of our wedding/honeymoon trip. Oh and yess that is my backpack on the ground too..lol.

On an end note- someone in our house is enjoying the spring weather and the windows open (Bella). She just adores sitting high in windows and furniture. Here she is stalking birds from the window. Bella and Smokey actually fight over open windows so Bella always ends up in the bathroom window because she is mobel enough to get up there.

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