Homemade Seashell Wreath

Remember last month when I saw this shell wreath at the Rose Bowl Flea Market? Well... it was $25 dollars, so I "hmmmm'd" and "hawwww'd" and ended up passing on it. But I kept thinking about it so I went ahead and made one myself....

I went to Michael's and got a twig wreath...

A bag of sea shells...

And then headed over to my mom's because we all know that we can get a lot more crafting done with Gramma is taking care of the little one...

I already had the glue gun so that part was free.

And then I individually glued each shell onto the wreath like a collage.

Here is the finished product!

Here is my new shell wreath in it's new home... on the side of our vintage bookcase (which we purcahsed last month at... you guessed it... the Rose Bowl Flea Market).

I'm really excited about how it turned out. I'm hoping that since we live in Southern California I can get away with keeping it up for a few more months... it doesn't seem to be cooling down around here anytime soon!

I'm linking to: Making Monday Marvelous @ C. R. A. F. T. *** Mad Skills Party @ Mad In Crafts *** Get Your Craft On Tuesday @ Today's Creative Blog *** Lucky Linky @ Lucky Star Lane *** Thrilling Thursday @ Paisley Passions *** Weekend Wrap-Up @ Tater Tots and Jello *** Make It 4 Monday @ Cottage Instincts

Stairway Makeover

The first time we looked at the house that is now our home, the first thing we saw as we walked in the door was the stairway. Our house was built in the 1970's and the stairway was original. It was built before there were building codes determining the space between each bar, so my mommy-radar was sounding on high as I noticed that Liam would fit right through those bars with little to no effort. EEEK.

So, high on our renovating priority list was replacing the stairway.

Above are the before pictures and below is the BIG REVEAL of our brand new craftsman stairway. We are absolutely in love with the finished product. It is safe as can be and is a beautiful focal point in our home.

We are still shopping for a new lighting fixture to hang in the stairway and this lantern is on the top of my list. It is an outdoor lantern from Pottery Barn, but I think it would work indoors as well. What do you guys think?

Make sure to check out some other amazing transformations over at The Shabby Chic Cottage!

Drop by for "Feature Yourself Friday" at Fingerprints on the Fridge!

Check out what other ladies are getting accomplished this week over at New Nostalgia and A Little Knick Knack!

And check out what's going on at the Remodelaholics Anonymous Meeting!

The Hillside Home...

Here I am...

... as promised (although one day late)....

... blogging straight from OUR NEW HOME.

In case you are new to my blog, let me give you a quick---really quick---recap. My husband, Ryan, and I have moved 3 times in the last 5 years. We have owned 2 townhomes---our first was a fixer-upper on the Central Coast here in California and the second was "back home" here in Orange County. And just this past weekend, after a 6-week long escrow and 3+ weeks of renovating, we moved into our first single family home. THE HILLSIDE HOME.

We are officially moved in... if that's what you call your house looking like a bomb went off, your garage overflowing with boxes, and your backyard full of furniture as if you were starring on your own episode of Hoarders.

Saturday was our first night in our new home and it was just perfect... I was so excited that I could hardly sleep.

Although we worked so hard this weekend that now, on Tuesday morning, we all feel as though we have been hit by a truck.

I wish I had pictures to share with you guys, but we have been so busy that I haven't had my camera hanging from my shoulder 99% of the time like normal. Plus, I was afraid of what all of these hot, sweaty, tired men would do to me if I was snapping pics while they were lifting heavy furniture.
Thank you for all of your kind words and well wishes along the way. Now the real fun begins.

This Little Light of Mine...

Call us overzealous, but we went ahead and ripped all of the old lighting fixtures out of the new house. We did this for two reasons. 1.) It was fun. 2.) They were god-awful-ugly. However, we are now realizing that we are going to be moving into a house on Saturday that has zero lighting. Hence, I have been spending my entire night online shopping for all things illumination. Chandys, pendants, and sconces. Oh my. Here are some of my faves so far. Have a fabulous weekend... and I will talk to y'all on Monday... live from our new home! Eeeeek!

{photo sources: ballard designs & pottery barn}

Liam's First Nursery

It looks like the majority of the renovating at the new house will be done tomorrow. Which means.... we are moving in this weekend! I could not be more excited.

We dropped by last night to take a look at the process and I was thrilled with how the paint in Liam's room turned out. It got me thinking about when we painted Liam's first nursery in our last home. I was still pregnant and anticipating Liam's arrival. It was such a fun season...

Here are some pictures of Liam's first nursery during and after. I figured it might be fun to compare this nursery with what his new one will look like.

During:

{{Me with my pregnant belly.}}

{{"Daddy" and "Uncle Rah-Rah" hanging the polka dot border from Restoration Hardware.}}

After:

(The only things missing in these after pics are the changing table and the personlized artwork that we hung above it. I will try to track down a picture and post it.)