dresser dress-up

It took less than $15 and 15 minutes to take August's dresser from this:

To this:

And the verdict?

One happy baby...

and one slobbery drawer pull.

All of these knobs came from Hobby Lobby and were $2 - $3 thanks to a 50% off sale.

xo 

nessa dee

Hello, Monday!

I hope this post finds you stuffed and thankful! We had a nice Thanksgiving holiday with the family, but now that it’s over, I’m having to wean myself off of having delicious desserts with every meal, or as a meal replacement. It’s not easy; I have a major sweet tooth.

This morning…

:: We are slowly but surely getting things decorated. The kids’ rooms were the first to get hit by the Christmas bug.

     

:: It’s been hard to keep the kids focused on school with little reminders telling them that Christmas is just around the corner.

:: I have had my tree up since last Tuesday, but it’s yet to get dressed with the exception of one large Mickey Mouse ornament. It’s on my to-do list for today.

:: Someone’s been making his list, and checking it twice. Legos seem to be at the top this year. He wants every set, grandparents.

:: I’m bracing myself for tomorrow. I’ll be turning #%, and I’m not ready to admit it.

Happy Monday!

xo

nessa dee

“Welcome Christmas, bring your cheer.”

I cut my workout short this morning when I remembered it is December 1st and I hadn’t filled the advent calendar with candy. So off to Target I went in shorts in 46 degree weather, shocked that it is already December. Stress started to set in as I rushed through the store, knowing that I still have a bunch of projects to finish before I can even think about Christmas shopping. I know this month is going to fly by in a blur of holiday frenzy, but I don’t want to be so rushed and so stressed that I miss the magic, especially the magic seen through my kids’ eyes. So I decided to stop thinking about what has to be done for a moment and start the month off with something special. I picked up some hot chocolate and marshmallows, a couple of Christmas plates, and made homemade cinnamon toast for breakfast. I wanted to slow down if just for a moment and take the time to enjoy the beginning of my most favorite time of year, and help to spur on the excitement in my children that has been steadily building all year.

After breakfast, the kids started the countdown by getting their candy out of the #1 pocket of our advent calendar.

Tonight, after soccer and piano practice, we’re going to watch a Christmas movie, and then read a Christmas book [part of my other advent calendar idea…I’ll post about it soon.]

I know this season’s going to be busy and stressful, but I don’t want to let all of that get in the way of enjoying this time…especially when my kids are small. I know that one day, the traditions will be juvenile and the season won’t be quite as magical, so I want to take advantage of this time and soak up every little ounce of the joy while Audrie and Finn are young. I want them to remember these times and these traditions and hopefully, one day share them with their own children.

xo

nessa dee

Glitter, Glitter Everywhere

Can you guess what we did over the weekend? I’ll give you a hint:

Have you figured it out, yet? Yep, our house is an explosion of tinsel and lights. It’s a bit early for us, I usually pull all of the decorations out the day after Thanksgiving, but since we’ll be travelling that day, and since I kept promising my eager children that we would start decking the halls soon, I was doomed. But, now I get to enjoy everything even longer!

I think my absolute favorite thing when decorating for Christmas is giving the kids free reign to hanging our ornaments we’ve collected over the years. I put myself in charge of the boring ornaments like the glass balls, and berry sprigs, but my kids get the rest. For me, as a child, there was such magic in unpacking and hanging all of the ornaments. It was just as exciting as opening presents on Christmas morning. Now, I love getting to see the wonderment in my kids’ eyes. It sparks such great memories. Plus, seeing where my kids choose to hang their ornaments is just icing on the cake. It’s not perfect, but it’s so much more charming and beautiful than I could have ever dictated. And every time I walk by the tree, I can’t help but smile.

The kids get their own tree to decorate as well. It’s housed in Audrie’s room and it’s full of bright colors, birds and memories from our Disney vacation the Thanksgiving before Finn was born. It’s always the first thing out of its box when we start to decorate.

And then there’s the advent calendar. Audrie and I made this last year, and it’s now one of our favorite things. I’m not sure where to hang it yet, but it will find its place, get filled with candy, and utilized to its fullest, my kids will make sure of that.

By the end of all the decorating, with boxes and glitter and pine needles everywhere, I kind of turned into the Grinch. But, once I got everything cleaned up and out of the house, and saw how excited my kids were when everything was done and lit and sparkly, my heart grew three sizes and quit being green and grumpy.

Now, back to work.

xo

nessa dee

The Blues

That was an unintended blog break. I guess I was recovering after revisiting DC with everyone. Well, I've currently come down with a case of the blues. It's not because my dog chewed up two of my paintings and I had to delete them from my Etsy store. (Does anyone want a dog, by the way?) And it's not because we're already into April and I've yet to come up with specific New Years resolutions. (Now I am depressed.) Nope, I'm in the process of redecorating my kid's bathroom/guest bath and the walls are now, you guessed it, blue. A light, bright blue to be exact. Not unlike this picture:

(Pottery Barn)

It wasn't the first shade of blue, though. The bathroom started off more like this:

(Pottery Barn Kids)

See the difference? The idea was to lighten the small, dark bathroom, which I have dubbed the cave. It started off a deep shade of ochre with a night sky, the whole Tuscany villa type thing, something I was into five years ago. But, my tastes have changed, and I wanted something lighter, fresher, more airy; something that could be paired with fun, bright colors for the kids (like this rug that I bought from Target ),or be paired with neutral accessories for a more sophisticated look. (Black and white toile maybe?) Well, the first color was nice....on my skin out in natural light, but since I couldn't drag my windowless bathroom out into the sun, the glowing electric blue had to go. The second color, custom mixed by me, well, it was definitely toned down when painted right next to the first. Once the bathroom was completely done, though, it was hard to tell the difference. (I can, but my husband thinks I'm crazy.) Oh well, I'm not repainting it for at least another week. I'm hoping once it's accessorized, it will be less shocking. In the meantime, I'll just have to live with the fact that anytime you walk past the bathroom, you look something like this:

Nessa Dee