Jaxon's baby announcement

As far as cards for announcements go, let's keep it cheap.  I can't believe cards are sooooo expensive!  After fishing through some websites for ideas I decided to make my own card with PicMonkey.  If you haven't heard of PicMonkey it's known as the "poor man's photoshop."  It's for cheapies like me who don't want to spend tons of money on photoshop.  TRY IT.  You'll love it.

Walmart has 5x7 stationary cards for about $ .70 each.  Which is great deal in comparison to Shutterfly, TinyPrints etc.  Up to 1/2 the cost.  I can't wait for my announcements to arrive!  So excited to show off my little man:)

Python Contact Paper Make-overs!

When I was pregnant everyone told me "You don't even know how much this baby will change your life!"  You know when you hear something over and over again but don't understand it until it happens to you?  Um yeah....now I fully understand!

Having a baby is amazing.  Yes my life has completely changed.  There is nothing quite like being a mom and I love it.  I'm in the changing diapers, feeding, and sleeping cycle.....over and over again.  Maybe doing the dishes here and there haha.

I'm a huge HGTV fan.  House Hunters, Property Brothers love love love.  In the wee hours of the morning (trying to get Jax back to sleep) I discovered The High-Low Project.  Um how have I never seen this before?!  I LOVE it.  It is now a recorded series on my DVR and I've seen more episodes than I can count.

Why I like it so much?  It shows you how to find high end looks on a low budget and if you can't find what your looking for, DIY.

Last night I watched an episode with a great idea that I hadn't thought about.

Sabrina Soto found a luxurious high-end python dresser that looked a lot like this:

I found this dresser at http://www.1stdibs.com/

It was around $10,000 and the budget she received for her client's entire room was $5,500.  So obviously this called for a DIY.  Her associate(I forget his name but he is reeeeeally good) ordered an unfinished dresser online, and PYTHON CONTACT PAPER. Yes contact paper!  Who knew?
Something so easy I never thought of.  It ended costing around $300.  Honestly if you took an old dresser and sanded it down the cost would be even less.

I've searched and searched on the internet and python contact paper is hard to find.  Designyourwall.com  had some animal print contact paper around $90 for a 32 foot roll.  That may be a little expensive for some, so I found some bloggers that can help you in your search...

Pawleys Island Posh

Sweetie Pie Style

Maggie Rose Interiors

My Newborn Baby Pictures!

Meet Jaxon Adam Gardiner!!!!  Born October 7th at 2:58 pm, 7lbs 15oz, 20 inches long.  He is our little angel!  So excited that he's finally here.  Of course one of the things I was looking forward to was our newborn photo shoot.  Ah!  So in love.  These are a few of my favorite shots.  

If you live in the Northern Utah area, Amy Shaw is an AMAZING photographer.  I highly recommend her:) Her website is sheffieldshawphotography.com. You should check it out....she has great ideas and really good pricing.

{Wreath of the Month} This is Halloween!

I pretty sure I just joined the "Halloween's my favorite holiday" club.  Maybe it's because this is my first Halloween decorating my own house.  And I've been going crazy with the decorations! And Nightmare Before Christmas is constantly playing in my head.  My husband came home yesterday to a chaotic mess of black and orange on our kitchen table.  Should I be doing the dishes?  Probably. But crafting is so much more fun.

I love wreaths, as I suppose any Pinterest-loving crafter does, so this is my first stab at my "Wreath of the Month."  Every last Thursday (or so) of the month, I will be posting a DIY wreath.  Ta da!  I'm so excited.  So for those of you, like me who get sick of decorations fast, can at least enjoy a flare of change at least once a month.

First off, if you haven't gone to JoAnn's in a while.....NOW IS THE TIME.  Best deals right before Halloween, especially for fabic.  And also Target's "Spot on the Dot" has great $1-$3 Halloween decor.

Everything I bought for the wreath I found at JoAnn's.  I'm a fan of anything big and sparkly, hence the boa.

With one yard of the Tulle and 2 yards of the orange netting, my total came to  $15.75.  Not bad!

I prefer my strips to be chunky, then I layered them for more volume

Most people use pipe cleaners to tie the fabric to the wire frame.  I just used black yarn that I found lying around the house.   A little more time consuming but saved me a couple of bucks :)

I did the orange first, and then implemented the black into the wreath.

I used a hot glue gun and glued the boa to the netting.  This gave me some control over the crazy black feathers.

I saved extra ribbon to hang the wreath.  And here's the finished product:

As I said before...I LOVE Halloween!

Check out my blog next time for my Thanksgiving wreath.

15 New Born Pics for your Little Man

Oh. my. heck.  Aren't these the most melt-in-your-mouth-cuteness pictures ever?  Since the excitement of our new addition has overtaken me I've been stuck on pinterest looking at pic after pic.  You've probably have seen some of these before, but these are my 15 most favorite. Can't wait for my own little man photo shoot.

And now for my ultimate favorite (Adam is a HUGE Nationals fan, so we are definitely doing this):

Feel free to share with me your favorite photos too!

First-time-mom hospital checklist

I can hardly believe that I am having a baby in 5 WEEKS!  Although I definitely do feel it every time I stand up on my cankles....and every time I use my big preggo belly as a placemat.  Since I am a first time mom, I have NO clue what to bring to the hospital.  Which is why we women all love pinterest.  I searched for a good list of things I need to take.

Utlimately this website called lollyjane.com was my favorite.

Love love love.  I thought this was so cute!  And then I kinda got addicted...oops.  And now I am in love with their website. So check it out.  And wish me luck.   

Spice up your old air vents!

I live in a cute little 1940's home.  Which is awesome(and I love), except for......the dreadful air vents.  Anybody with me on this one?  You know....those honkin' huge metal radiator looking things that take up half the wall.  Yeah those.

Um gross.  

Especially in this color, with a little left over 1940's grime.  

THERE IS HOPE.  Since my living room colors are grays, yellows, and greens, it was time for a change.  No more ugly (is that color gold?) vents.  

Time for a trip to Walmart.  I love their spray paint, especially the Krylon nickel color.

Wipe the vents down, spray, let them dry and whhhhaaaallla! 

Rather than a nuisance, a nice, matching vent. 

10 baby nursery favorites

Since little Jaxon is arriving in October.....it's getting down to crunch time.  After looking at a million and a 1/2 nurseries, these are my top favs.  I LOVE the modern nursery style with the big and bold patterns.

I will also give a shout out to paint.  It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint or a simple accent wall can do especially if your money pocket is a wee bit tight.