The Bump

Last weekend we had some maternity pictures taken with our awesome and talented friends, Stephen and Whitney. We had so much fun with them at North Park and are excited to share a few shots from the day. Thanks S&W for helping us capture this fun time in our lives! 

Dresser Redo

When I started to make plans for setting up Ella's nursery, I was set on painting her dresser (and Josh was gracious enough to humor me). I did a lot of research online and Pinterest, but was unsuccessful in finding direction for painting an IKEA dresser - so hopefully this helps others.

We painted a white dresser, but I believe this would work with any color.

The biggest issue I faced in redoing the dresser was the glossy paint that IKEA uses to finish their furniture. I couldn't get any paint to stick to the finished dresser front. I tried primers, sealants, and various different paint types. Ultimately, the only thing that worked was lightly sanding the dresser where we wanted to paint. I then added my painted design and used a sealant to get the glossy look back over the entire dresser. I ended up using Martha Stewart's paint line for the dresser.

Thanks to my Uncle Chuck, we were able to add a bright finishing touch to Ella's dresser. We used glass paint to add bright yellow glass drawer knobs - I think it makes the whole piece come together. Thanks Uncle Chuck! 

Note - when you do sand the front of your drawers, do so lightly.  You do not want to remove the color, so in my case - I brushed off the gloss, but the entire drawers remained white.

I suggest painting the drawer fronts before assembling the dresser, however, if you already have your dresser set up, you should still be able to complete your furniture revamp.

Danielle's Shower

I'm sorely late in posting this blog, life has been crazy lately.

Last month, we had a baby shower for my sister-in-law, Danielle. Due to Danielle being on bed rest throughout her pregnancy, we had the added treat of having my new niece, McKenzie, at the shower with us! And as you can see in the picture below - she perfectly matched the theme of the shower. :) [My sister-in-laws from left to right: Danielle, Rachel, and Katie]

We wanted a shower that was going to "fit" Danielle and her personality - and as a Mary Kay consultant - she's never far from the color pink! We decorated the room with black and white with accents of bright pink.

The more we scanned Pinterest - the more we become committed to have all pink, white, and black food. We had strawberry and angel food cake kabobs, pink chocolate covered popcorn, chocolate cupcakes with bright pink frosting, strawberry gooey cookies, pink stuffed oreos, strawberry rice krispie treats, strawberry marshmallow pops, and much more! Here is a look at the food table.

 

To bring together the theme - we used the strawberry marshmallows as holders for the food labels. We used the paper we had created the invitations with as well as the games for the shower. We also made our own serving trays with black and white plates and cups as stands. My mother-in-law also made beautiful poms with tissue paper that really added color and texture to the room - it wouldn't have been complete without her touch!