So, after having Baron, I had to skip a couple Fridays of posting projects while we've been adjusting to our new addition.  And to be honest, I may just be posting projects every other Friday for a little while.  We'll see.  Anyway, onto a Fall wreath.

This was a super easy project that I'm sure you've already seen somewhere.  This was just my first hand at it.  I cut strips of fabric about 1 inch wide and 4 to 6 inches long.  I bought a wreath at the dollar store - any kind will do.  Then I just tied the strips of fabric around the wreath until it was full.  I used 3 different fabrics that I already had at home.  I would definitely choose different colors for a little more dramatic look for fall if I had actually bought the fabric, but hey - this wreath was about $2 so I can't complain (and greens and that brownish/orangish colors are fall-like aren't they?).  Anyway, if you buy fabric, I think you'd only need about a half a yard.  So just wrap your strips around the wreath and double-knot it.  Done.  Although, I do feel like this wreat is missing a little something.  Do you?  Maybe it's just the blah colors.  Here's another look.

And the back side.

Hope you like it.  By the way - my goal was to have Westen's and Baron's Halloween costumes ready to post today, but I'm not finished with Baron's.  Oh well.  Check back for that project next Friday.  Have a lovely weekend!

Well, we're over 2 1/2 weeks into Baron's newborn stage and overall it's going great!  Saying Baron eats like a champ might be an understatement:)  He thinks when he's awake he should be eating, which results in me nursing him sometimes every 2 hours.  Thankfully, my momma is still here so while I'm trying to stretch that time out a bit, she's helping take care of our sick Westen (more on that in a minute), cleaning my house, doing my laundry, you name it.  Is she superwoman, you ask??  I'd say yes!  I thank God for her.  Moms are great, aren't they!!  So, yes, Baron's well.  He is sleeping about a 4 hour stretch during the night which I think is awesome for how old he is and the fact he's only getting my milk.  He's getting a little spoiled with mom and Uncle Ryan here because one of us is always available to hold him while someone else is playing with Westen.  And my little Westen - he's been sick ever since we brought Baron home.  It was a cold last week that's lingering this week and then what we think is a little virus of some sort.  Say a prayer he'll be healthy again soon.  Poor little man.  Anyway, here's a look at what we've been up to around here.

Westen, Uncle Ryan, and I cleaned and decorated pumpkins with markers.  I forgot to take a picture of our completed pumpkins but it was the decorating of them that was the fun part anyway.  We put the completed pumpkins on our front porch.  Ryan's had his name on it. Westen's had a beautiful picture on it (by Westen), and mine said "It's a Boy!" so anyone passing by could join in on our celebration.

Here's Westen and Ryan watching a movie, that I highly doubt was actually 3D, but are wearing the glasses nonetheless.  But who says that can't be fun!  Uncle Ryan's the best!!  And doesn't Westen look like maybe he's 3 or 4 in this picture??  He looks so big to us now that Baron's here.  I have to remind myself he's not even 2 yet!

We went to the park one day this week.  Ryan and Westen liked the swings!

Baron's been doing a bit of napping, to say the least!

Westen got to drive Daddy's car.  And, on a side note that I think is hilarious, me, mom, Ryan, and Baron came home from Sam's yesterday to find Austin sitting in a fold-up chair in the driveway next to his opened car door where Westen was playing inside the car.  Like it was his new play area or something.  I guess Westen was having so much fun in Daddy's car that Daddy decided to have a seat and let him play.  I wish I had a picture of that;)

And here's just a sweet picture of Baron after one of his sponge baths (the darn umbilical cord has yet to fall off, so on with the sponge baths:().  I'm not sure if there's anything better than the sweet innocent smell of a freshly bathed newborn!  He's precious!

That's right!  Baron weighed 9 lbs. 8 oz. at birth and was almost 22 inches long. (And yes, Baron's great grandmother made that sweet little hat in the picture above; 91 years old this month.  Can you say "amazing"??)  The short version of this miraculous story is I woke up having contractions that morning around 6:45am, went to the hospital by 9:30am, was admitted around noon, then had Baron at 3:30pm.  If you're like me and love to hear everyone else's labor and delivery experience, click here for the down and dirty details.  As for everyone else, I'll spare you;)  Next are some of the first pictures taken of Baron's life.  And yes, his eyes are just swollen.  They're fine now.  The pictures of his first bath are my favorite.  The nurse giving him the bath, Mallory, was awesome!

Baron's Mamaw and Papaw were here for his birth which was awesome!  They missed Westen's by just a few short hours (driving from KY that is), so this was special.  They were in the room during my labor for the last couple hours and waited outside the door during delivery listening intently to our every words (urrrr - grunts) and waiting to hear that sweet sound of a baby crying to welcome a new life into, not only their family, but the world!  I was so happy that I got to share this miracle of an experience with them this time. Baron's Nana who was there for Westen's birth, this time graciously carried out the role of doting grandmother.  She stayed at our house with Westen while he napped and then joined us shortly after Baron was born.  During our stay at the hospital, Baron had some sweet visitors that wanted to welcome him with cuddles and kisses.  They included his Mamaw, Papaw, Nana, and Papa of course, plus Aunt Rissa, Aunt La La, Uncle Ryan, Miss Elizabeth, and 1 day old Miss Kohen (more on that in a minute).

Thank you all for coming to see us and for your support and love.  On a side note and about Miss Kohen: so I was due October 16th, my friend Storm (Kohen's mom) was due October 20th, and our friends from church Pastor Kent and his wife Hilary were due October 22nd.  Storm went into labor Saturday night and had Kohen at 1:18am on 10-10-10 (cool birthdate, huh?).  Austin learned Monday morning while dropping Westen off at school that Hilary had gone into labor Sunday night and had Baby Tori Monday morning (10-11-10) at 2:18am.  We showed up to the hospital Monday morning around 9:30am and had Baron at 3:30pm (10-11-10).  Isn't that funny that we were all in the hospital at the same time!  So while we were told to walk the halls for a couple hours before we were admitted into the hospital Monday morning, we headed down the hall to visit the new babies and proud parents.  Kohen was discharged Monday; Tori Tuesday; and Baron Wednesday.  God has a sense of humor, doesn't he:)

Baron had one especially important visitor while at the hospital.  His Big Brother Westen.

That day, Westen spent much of the time seeming to know something was going on, but still just kind of went about his way playing like he always does.  Occassionally, he'd go check out "baby", then go back to playing.  Over the next couple days while he was with his grandparents, anytime mommy's or daddy's name was mentioned he'd add "and baby".  He started associating "baby" with us right away.  Since we've been home I've been so happy with Westen's interactions with Baron.  He is mostly sweet to him giving him kisses and touching him "nice".  He's also a typical little boy though, so he growls at Baron too like he's trying to scare him:)  Baron will have to get tough soon!

Yes, we're all in the hospital bed together.  There was even one point in our stay that Austin was in the bed watching tv while I nursed Baron on the couch.  A sight to see for the hospital ambassador that walked in on us like that.  That's my husband!!

This is the day we left the hospital.  We took a similar picture of Westen when he was born and I love it so I thought we should make it a tradition.  Isn't he precious!!

And you may be wondering what Westen's been up to with everyone fussing over Baron. Well, not to worry; he's still having lots of fun, as always.

Sheeeeesh!  That was a lot to take in all at once.  I can usually update this blog in less than an hour.  Feeding Baron every 2-3 hours is taking up much of my time so sorry it's taken me days to get you some pictures.  Give us a little time and we'll get back on track.  Hope this finds you all well.  And thank all of you who said prayers for us during this momentous time of our lives! 

For this third Friday of Projects, my efforts lately have been going into our dining room.  I'll actually mention a couple projects in this post because they all ended up in the same pictures.  Here's a picture of our dining room about 2 years ago.  We had just bought this table from World Market (love that place). (And sorry for the poor lighting in these pictures.  It's hard because of the big windows.)  Particularly take a look at the faux oak wood book case (and there's another one on the other side of the window), the Kim Anderson photos on the wall (sweet, but a little too cutesy for my taste at this point), the too short table runner, and the faux buffet table against the window.  I do love that table though!

Here's the dining room now - 2 shots.

So, I think taking those book cases out really made this space look more clean cut, not so crammed (now our guest room looks crammed because that's where the book cases are for now;).  It may be hard to tell, but we did purchase the matching buffet table last year that's against the window.  The bottom picture shows what's actually a little night stand (from our guest room) that matches the dining room furniture perfectly with a tall vase decoration.  And the other side of the window hosts a small hanging cupboard (which I found in the Country Sampler magazine for $40 which is awesome compared to any true antique hanging cupboard which price anywhere from $200 to over $1000).  Here's a closer look at the cute little cupboard.

On to the actual projects.  First up - the table runner.  I made this table runner from burlap.  It was super easy and I love it.  My intention was to make it for the fall, but really I think this can be used year round.  So, all I did, was first measure my table's length.  Then I knew I wanted a 6 inch over hang on each end, so I added 12 inches to the table length.  Plus, I knew I'd need some room for a seam to sew it so I added another 2 more inches (for a 1 inch seam on each end).  I think most table runners have a width of between 14 and 18 inches.   I just measured and made a guess on what I thought would look right.  I wanted a 15 inch width.  I added 2 more inches to again have room for a 1 inch seam on each side.  Piece of cake, right?  I went to JoAnn's, where they were having a sale and I had a coupon.  I bought 3 yards of burlap for like $1.79 a yard.  Sweet!  Here's where I made my mistake though.  I came home and cut the burlap out to my measurements for the table.  Then I remembered I might should've washed the burlap.  So I threw my already measured and cut burlap into the wash and, of course, after it was dry it had shriveled and frayed quite a bit and would now no longer be the fit I wanted for the table.  Soooooo, I measured, cut, and used that piece for the buffet table instead (which I hadn't planned on making a runner for, but oh well - lesson learned;).  I still had enough burlap to make the runner for the table.  After the pieces were cut, I broke out the ironing board, I folded and ironed a 1/2 inch on the sides, then folded and ironed a 1/2 inch again.  That's where I sewed a straight seam.  Then I did the same to the ends.  Project Complete!  Two runners for about $5.  Here's a closer look.  I did iron the entire runner before I put it on a couple weeks ago, but it now looks like it needs to be ironed again, doesn't it?  Anyway, I've thought about paint stenciling a "B" on each overhang of the runner, but haven't gathered the courage to do that yet.  What do you think?

I do love all fall decor, thus my huge bowl full of pumpkins and gourds, but I can imagine reds and silvers for Christmas on this runner and even pretty spring colors too.  It may stay out year round!  On to the next project - the reclaimed wood shelf. Take a closer look.

I love this project and shamefully admit that I'm kind of stoked and proud of it.  I found this project posted on www.ana-white.com which is awesome (if you like using power tools and doing a bit of woodwork, you have to check this out.  Ana White rocks!).  My 9 month pregnant butt went on a mission last week to find a, what in my house we grew up calling a "skid", but what everyone else calls a pallet.  Yes, this shelf is made from a reclaimed pallet.  I looked up "free pallets" on craigslist and found a place just around the corner from our house that's always trying to get rid of them (which is perfect because I have so many more projects lined up and I could use them).  I basically cut one end of the pallet off using a hand saw (the front of this shelf is actually the supporting side of the pallet).  I measured the opening of where the items on the shelf are now sitting and just used other slats from the pallet to cut those pieces out using a jigsaw.  I think this may sound confusing. If so, visit www.ana-white.com for the full tutorial.  That's what I used.  Last, I used wood glue and a hammer and nails to fit the pieces (that the items on the shelf are actually sitting on) in.  I also bought framing hooks which Austin drilled into the back of the shelf for me, although you could drill these straight into studs on your wall.  Project Complete!  I did sand down some of the dirty areas and you could always paint it, which I may do eventually.  But for now, I kind of like the natural wood look and I think the more character the wood has the better.  Like in this last picture, there's a stamp of some sort on the right side.  Who knows where this pallet has been? Okay, maybe that kind of stuff's not your cup of tea.  But I really like that country home/ cottage look of distressed furniture.  And this was basically FREE!  You can't beat that!  I'll probably end up making more of these shelves - think books, magazines, pictures, you name it.  How do you like it?  And you won't hurt my feelings.  Trust me, I'm not sure Austin's as into it as I am.  But he couldn't really turn down his 9 month pregnant wife who'd put some sweat into building this sweet shelf, could he?

Aren't these two precious??  They have no clue that something equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane is about to hit them next week!!  That's right peeps!  I said next week!  This is the final update on Baby Baron.  I went to the Dr. on Monday and basically, if I don't have him on my own between now and Monday, I'll be getting induced on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.  Yikes!!  In the words of my momma, we're about to upset the apple cart in Westen's world and as for Cousey...who knows if he'll ever forgive us!  We are ready for this little boy to finally get here!  Bring on sleepless nights, achiness, and dirty diapers!  But don't forget the precious smell of a newborn and all that cuddling we get to do;)  Sooooooooo... having said that, check back at the end of next week or maybe even the beginning of the following week (just in case I'm too tired) for pictures of our brand new addition.   And maybe whisper a little prayer that all goes well;)  The Brownlee Family is about to expand!!!

Like I said last week, Friday is going to be my day to share projects.  I've been working on so many that I thought I'd share 2 today.  First is a baby blanket I made for my friend Storm's baby Kohen (due Oct. 20th).  Take a look at the finished project!

This is the 3rd blanket I've made like this and it's not perfect, but I get better at it each time so I'm making progress.  I had to order the Alabama fabric (you can usually find any sports teams online at JoAnn's or Hancock's) and I ordered 1 yd.  It's fleece.  I also bought 1 yd. of black fabric and some Wright's satin trim.  Basically, I put the 2 fabrics together and cut out the biggest square I could.

Then I sewed a straight line around the perimeter of the 2 fabrics put wrong sides together with I think 1/2 inch seam.  Next is the tricky part - the satin trim.  I looked it up online (there's a million tutorials and they're all pretty much the same, so just google it. I can't find the actual one I used).  Actually, before I looked it up online I tried it myself thinking I could wing it.  Not so much.  I thought I'd have to cut 4 pieces of the satin and sew one to each side.  After the first side I could see that wouldn't work so I had to seek help (gotta love the internet).  It's actually one long piece that goes around the entire square and 1 package of the Wright's satin trim was enough.  The hard part is the mitered corners.  The rest is a piece of cake.  And, of course, you'll want to use a coordinating thread for this part as it'll show on both sides.  That's it.  A custom baby blanket for our Alabama fan friends (uggghhh!).  Go Gators! 

Next is, obviously, Cousey's new bowls!  We've had just 2 regular looking bowls sitting on a little mat for Cousey's whole 4 years.  I saw this idea in a magazine probably 3 or 4 years ago and have since wanted to do it for the Cous.  First, I had to find 2 sweet little chairs for a reasonable price (that took probably the first 3 years and I finally found them at Ross so you know it was a good deal although I can't remember how much).  Then they sat in our garage for about 6 months before I finally did anything with them.  Here's what they looked like when I bought them.

Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures, both were taken at night.  So, I found the center of each wood seat and marked it with a pencil.  I measured the chairs and found I'd need about 6 in. diameter bowls that had a lip around the top edge so I could drop them down in the chairs.  I found those at Ross for $2.50 total for both.  I then traced a circle where a hole would need to be cut using a bowl I had that was 6 in. in diameter.  To make a long story short, I used a jigsaw to cut the holes out.  I had to start it by drilling a single hole into the chair so I could have a starting point for the jigsaw.  Then, I unscrewed the wooden part of the chairs and took them off so I could paint them black.  I used all spraypaint for the primer, black spray paint, and sealer (which I figured would be helpful since it's bound to get wet).  Before the sealer, however, I used a stencil I printed from word's clipart to paint little white paws just using acrylic white paint and a small paint brush.  Last the sealer.  After all was dry, I screwed the seats back on, and dropped the bowls in, then Cousey had dinner.  I must admit, the chairs are a teeny bit high for Cousey.  He can totally reach it but has to adjust his eating style:)  We may try to cut those iron legs down a bit.  Any suggestions??  I love the way they turned out!