Bow Board- Completed!

On Friday, I posted about my next "crafty" project- a bow board for Kate's room!  I shared these inspiration boards that I found on Pinterest:

So I decided to try to make one myself. Here is a list of everything I used, and the total I spent on this project:

1. Frame- FREE (we had it leftover from our yardsale)
2. Piece of MDF board- $6 (bought a whole sheet but used about 1/3 of it)
**Note: this should be cut to fit in the back of your frame. I cut mine 1/4" shorter on all sides to account for the batting/fabric that would be wrapped around the MDF.
3. Quilt batting- $7
4. Ribbons- $3 for 3 rolls
5. Fabric for background- $8 for a yard but again I used about 1/3 of it
6. Paint- Blue was free, pink was $1
7. Wooden letter (optional)- $1
8. Stapler & staples- FREE (already had these)
9. Small nails for attaching back- FREE (already had these)

Total Spent = $26

Here is the frame that I used, with my little helper in the background.  She was outside with me while I gathered all of my supplies.  Once I started the painting, she went inside with her Daddy to avoid any fumes.

And here is another view of the frame I used, and the wooden letter that I picked up from Hobby Lobby.

I painted my frame using the leftover paint from Kate's dresser and I picked up a small bottle of paint from Hobby Lobby for the wooden letter.

Since I had everything together so I was ready to get started.  The first step was to paint the frame and letter.  It took 2 coats of blue on the frame because I didn't want anything to get gloppy (is that a word?). And, I ended up putting two coats on the letter too just because. 

Once everything was dry, it was time to put it all together.  The actual assembly was pretty easy.  I didn't take any pictures during this process, but basically I just wrapped about 3 pieces of quilt batting around my MDF and secured it with a few staples.  I used a regular stapler/staples and occasionally the staples would just crimp up and not go through the MDF but I really didn't end up having too much trouble.

Then I wrapped my fabric around the board and secured it using staples again.  I chose to use a white minky fabric because I love how soft and plush it is. Plus, I picked some pretty bright ribbons to use on the board and there are a LOT of colors going on in Kate's room.  White kept it pretty simple.

Then, I measured the width of the board and determined how many rows of ribbons I wanted.  I chose to do 5 rows of ribbon so I just cut/measured/stapled those on there.

Next I secured the back onto the frame using a couple of small nails, which I nailed in at an angle.

Last, you can attach your letter to the corner of the frame for a more personalized bow board.  I actually ended up deciding NOT to attach it to my board because I thought that it looked a lot cleaner once all of the bows were hanging.  Just personal preference.  Anyway, here is how it turned out!

  

And here is a close-up of the board and ribbons....

And here are a couple of pictures with the board holding all of the BOWS Kate has so far.

 

I love how it turned out! Not bad for $26.  These are selling on Etsy for well over $50 so I didn't spend even close to that and got EXACTLY what I wanted.  Now, I still need to get Kevin to hang it up for me. :) 

Has anybody else out there done anything crafty lately?  Have you found any good ideas from Pinterest? If so, feel free to share them with me!

Next Crafty Project

So I'm still addicted to Pinterest and thought it was about time I do another one of those projects that I just keep pinning about.  (You can see my last project here).

So my next project was a bow board for Kate's room.  I had plenty of "inspiration" to make one of these with the massive amounts of hair on Kate's head and her overflowing basket of bows.  So, I got to searching on Pinterest to see what others have done.  There were a couple of different styles of bow boards:

 

Decisions, decisions.  Frame or no frame? Place ribbon vertically, horizontally, both, or diagonally?  Right away, I decided I wanted mine to have a frame for a more finished look.  Beyond that, I thought I'd just play it by ear.  So I refined my search again to bow boards with frames and then started pinning.  Here are a few of my "inspiration" pins.  

And since I'd figured out what direction I was going to go in, I was off to gather my supplies and get to work!  I finished Kate's bow board a few days ago and I just LOVE how it turned out.  Now I just have to get Kevin to hang it up so I can take a few pictures and post an update!

We're out of town tomorrow.  If you care to see how my finished bow board turned out, or if you want to know how to make one for yourself, check back on Sunday.  :)  Happy weekend everyone!

Kate's Talking- Sorta!

Kate has gotten a lot more animated in the past week or so.  She is so fun to come home to in the evenings.  Words and pictures (alone) don't do it justice so here are a few short videos! The first one doesn't get really good until about 18 seconds in!

And because I can't resist- here are a few cute pictures too!

Oh I love it, and love her! 

Wordless Wednesday

Two Month Birthday!

Wow! What a difference a month makes! Kate is now sleeping 7-8 hours a night, smiling all the time, and bringing us so much joy. I can't believe she is already 2 months old! People always say that "it goes by so fast" and I have to say, it sure does. Here are a couple of pictures from this afternoon.

See how much she's changed in just a few short weeks? She's changing every single day. 

Happy two month birthday Kate! We have enjoyed every minute with you over the last two months. We love you! 

My Favorite Things of Fall

Fall is here and it is my favorite season of the year! So, in honor of that I thought I'd make a list of WHY it's my favorite season!


1. College Football:
I really didn't have ANY expectations from "my" football team this year (Clemson).  With so many freshman starters, a new QB, and after watching the first two games against Wofford and Troy, I was just hoping that the Tigers at least had a decent season. Wow. I have been pleasantly surprised at how well we've played the past few games.  It's been so exciting to watch them play and it's been fun to see them beat teams ranked in the top 10 for three weeks in a row.... which, by the way is an ACC record.  This week, Clemson was ranked #8 in the nation- their highest ranking since 1991.  Let's just hope that they keep this up and that this ranking isn't the kiss of death for them.  Oh, and another plus is that Kate just looks SO cute in her Clemson cheerleading outfit.

2. Fall Weather & Clothes:
Who in the south DOESN'T love fall weather? This is probably for sure my favorite season weather-wise.  70 degrees and sunny- yes please!  Even when the temperature dips a bit cooler than that, it's better than sweltering heat and humidity.

Day	Night
Sunny High 73°F Precip 0%	Clear Overnight Low 47°F Precip 0%

And because the weather is changing, so is the clothing.  Blue jeans, sweaters, and scarves, oh my!  I wear blue jeans pretty much year round anyway, so it's nice to be able to wear them without people looking at you like you're crazy because it's 100 degrees outside.

3. The Food & Smells:
Fall food is the best.  Especially the desserts. Anything cooked with pumpkin, cream cheese and/or cinnamon = YUMMY!  Oh, and Caramel Macchiatos and White Chocolate Mochas from Starbucks are another one of my fall favorites.  I realize that these are served year round, but I'm not big on drinking coffee when it's 100 degrees outside, so I save them for fall and winter.

And along the same lines of the food are the smells. I just love the scents of fall. I love being able to put the following scents in my Scentsy and make the whole house smell delicious...
Baked Apple Pie
Cinnamon Bun
Pumpkin Pie
Oh my goodness. Just typing all of that makes me want to go bake something... or go to Ingles and walk through the bakery section.

Here's a super easy fall dessert that I made last weekend...

Sopapilla Cheesecake

Ingredients:

-3 cans pillsbury butter crescent rolls
-2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (softened)
-1 cup sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/4 cup butter (melted)
-Cinnamon & sugar

Instructions:

Unrolled and spread 1 & 1/2 can crescent rolls on bottom of un-greased pan. Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Spread mixture over crescent rolls. Unroll and spread remaining crescent rolls over mixture. Spread melted butter over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

4. The Holidays:
Halloween and Thanksgiving- who DOESN'T enjoy these two holidays?  Halloween is going to be so much fun this year as it is Kate's first Halloween.  Isn't she going to make a CUTE little watermellon? I know she looks THRILLED to be all dressed up.

And Thanksgiving is always one of my favorite holidays of the year. Thanksgiving = family time. And Thanksgiving = lots and lots of yummy foods.

5. The TV Shows:
Ah, I am so glad when my shows are back and the season premiers are on TV!  I mean, I really need to know if Kate Beckett is going to live or die (but seriously, she's the star of the show so she CAN'T die) and Rick Castle is just so funny.  I'm glad they're back on Mondays.  My DVR is all set and ready to go!

So those are a few of my favorite things about fall. I think that the only thing that I DON'T like about fall is that the days are getting shorter and shorter. :(

Anybody have anything else to add to the list? Did I leave anything off? What are YOUR favorite things of fall?

Crazy Exhausting Fantastic Friday

Whew. It is 11:43 and I don't know how I'm even functioning right now. I'm exhausted, so I'm thinking that this will be a short post so that I can crawl fall into bed!

My first week back at work went well, but I am GLAD it is the weekend and I have the next 2 days to spend with my cute little girl!  Kevin met me at my work today at 4:30ish so that we could drive to my parent's house to spend some time with my brother, Dameione.  He lives in Wyoming but is in town for his high school reunion.  It had been TOO long since I'd seen him.

Just wait until I post pictures of Kate in the CUTEST little outfit that Dameione brought her.  Let's just say, Kate is getting in good practice if she ever decides that she wants to be a cheerleader. :)

Goodnight all! Happy weekend!