Hepburn and Houndstooth » DIY

Hump Day [Photo] Dump Day

Rhonda Gail — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:00:00 +0000

I have so many random pictures on my phone and had intended to fully blog about some of them. But ya know what? It’s just not happening. Too much going on this holiday week. So instead, you get lots of photos, some with explanations, some without.

Harper shared his train with Quentin.

Sharing is hard. Harper fell asleep here that night.

This was the first day I got dressed in something other than maternity pants… new yoga pants.

I’ve also been pairing my yoga pants with men’s flannel, because my stuff doesn’t fit.

My new favorite, Chicken Parmesan Bake. Recipe coming soon. In fact, I have lots of new recipes to add to the “Simple Recipes” page.

Oh yeah. That happened.

Loving cloth diapers more and more every day.

Quentin hates tummy time…

… but loves resting on the floor after.

Nick has been playing a lot on the Wii, with his tongue sticking out.

I got dressed and did my hair for Nick’s Kindergarten Christmas program. That’s always news.

Always with the weird faces.

Wrapped teacher gifts with NOTHING wrapping-related, since I forgot to get anything. Used mark. delivery bags and covered the logo with scrapbook paper and free printables. The gift was body lotion from mark and rhinestone-studded pencils, if you’re curious.

Just a funny example of the weirdness that abounds in our home. Irreverence and reverence sharing a wall.

This little dude has been smiling at me!!!! The highlight of my life!

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Nursery Peek

Rhonda Gail — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Quentin’s nursery took a backseat to actually taking care of HIM for awhile. I’m back to working on the finishing touches before I reveal the final result. But the part I’m most proud of, I can no longer keep under wraps! Here is his dresser before and after!

The dresser originally was in my dad’s house for many years, then we took it over, using it in Nick and Harper’s room. It was beat-up and boring. My mom bought a new dresser for Quentin’s room as a gift to us. For the big boys, we were going to paint the old dresser orange. Well, once the new dresser was put together we realized it didn’t look right in Quentin’s room and was a bit too large. So we put the new dresser in their room and painted the old one for Quentin’s room.

Dresser before, in the big boys’ room (after beginning to remove hardware):

Dresser after, in Quentin’s room:

Huge difference and such an inexpensive project! My mom already had the gray paint from something she did at her home. The hardware was sprayed with Krylon oil-rubbed bronze. Our only cost was the spray paint! I was 9 months pregnant when this was completed, so my mom did the sanding and first coat of paint while I deep-cleaned the room. We ran out of time and I ended up doing the 2nd coat, which was fine. I’m so excited.

I can’t wait to show y’all the whole room. It is everything I imagined and more!

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Homemade Laundry Detergent

Rhonda Gail — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0000

People generally act like I’m some crazy hippie when they find out that I make the laundry detergent for our home. The same general reaction comes along with the news that I clean almost solely with vinegar and steam, use cloth diapers, and buy as little paper product as possible.

So, I’m a bit crispy (don’t quite qualify as crunchy)…. big deal.

Anyway, once people understand that not only do I save money, but also help the environment, and actually have fun making it, they want to know how they can get in on homemade detergent.

It’s so easy.

The key players:
Gallon ice cream bucket (you can use anything, but this holds a lot and gets a tight seal, which reduces the amount of clumping)
Washing soda
Sun Oxy (you can also use Oxy Clean, but Sun Oxy is only $2- available at WalMart)
Borax
measuring cup
something to stir with

The steps:
Dump equal parts washing soda, Borax, and Sun Oxy into bucket. Stir.

That’s it. Seriously.

Usage:
The scoop that comes with Sun Oxy is the right size to use one scoop per load. I use half a scoop for diapers. I just dump it in while the water runs before I add the clothes. If you have front-loader, I don’t have any directions for that. I’m old school.

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Accountability

Rhonda Gail — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:00:00 +0000

I am the world’s worst these days about making a to-do list and not following through. So, to hold myself accountable for all the things I plan to do this weekend, I’m going to share my to-do list and update on Monday!

1. Create a mark. binder. I need to reorganize my mark. business and what better way than with office supplies?! I love an excuse to buy binders and dividers! I’ve been very slow on this project because of my desire to find just the right pink binder…which doesn’t seem to exist.

2. Hit up the thrift stores. I need various small furniture items, baby items, and kids’ clothes like you wouldn’t believe and the thrift store is the perfect place for these treasures. I will make it this weekend!

3. Purchase supplies for nursery wall art. Dustin and I came up with the perfect wall art for Quentin’s room. It’s going to be quite cheap to make, too. Unfortunately, I procrastinate too much and I’m still missing most of the materials.

4. Launch Halloween special for my mark. customers. I’m trying something different for a promo and hope to introduce it over the weekend!

5. Steam floors. I have a love affair with my Shark steam mop. I usually mop as much as possible, but simply have not had the time and my kitchen floor is gah-ross!

6. Print coupons and meal plan. This used to be a matter of weekly routine, but when we ran out of printer ink weeks ago and I ran out of….steam, this fell by the wayside. Our grocery budget has shown a huge difference. Back on the wagon this weekend!

7. Run stemware and baby bottles through dishwasher. I have bottles left over from my other kids and my wine and martini glasses haven’t been unpacked since we moved. Well, in about 5 weeks, I’m going to be needing all that, so I may as well do it now!

There are MILLIONS of other things I’d like to get done, but I don’t want to list them all, then have to come back on Monday with a pitiful follow-up! Let’s keep those goals attainable, shall we?

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Nailed It: My DIY

Rhonda Gail — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:00:00 +0000

I recently showed you some of my favorite nail looks I found on Pinterest. Well, I finally attempted one! I am so in love with it and can’t wait to try different color combinations!

I love that it’s neutral enough for me to wear to work in a professional office environment, but still fun!

The polishes I used are a discontinued mark. shade for the base and a L.A. Colors Art Deco nail art pen for the glitter tips.

As a reminder, this is the inspiration pic:

(via Pinterest)
Mine certainly isn’t as beautiful, but I was basically just testing the technique I look forward to trying different colors!

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Nailed it!

Rhonda Gail — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 02:00:00 +0000

Pinterest has become a huge source of inspiration for me and I’m telling you…if you aren’t on Pinterest yet, you need to be! I have found so many ideas for my nails, for fairly easy nail art.

(Flickr via Pinterest)

(The Cool Hunter via Pinterest)

(Sweet Talk On the Spot via Pinterest)

(via Pinterest)

(Passion Nail Art via Pinterest)

(via Pinterest)

(Lyndar the Merciless via Pinterest)

Awesome right?! After getting so much positive feedback when I tweeted and facebooked this picture of my zebra toes (done freehand, thankyouverymuch), I felt confident I can do some of these fun styles.

The nude with the gold glitter tips is my absolute favorite, so I am going to try it over the weekend! I’ll obviously show you when it’s done!

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For I know the plans I have for you…

Rhonda Gail — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Over the weekend was my cousin’s baby shower. Saturday, I was all packed and ready, about to head out the door with my family to my hometown an hour away, where the shower was. We had plans to spend the night with my mom and I would go to the shower Sunday. Just as I was leaving the house, mom called to inform me that the shower was RIGHT NOW. We had our days mixed up! I was super upset and disappointed! There was nothing that could be done about it though, so we just went on to mom’s anyway.

Though we missed the shower, we dropped off our gifts Sunday. My gift was a canvas wall art that I poured my heart into!

I have had lots of inquiries about making this for others, may be carrying similar items in my Etsy shop soon. If you want a custom canvas, email me for a quote!

I linked this to Today’s Creative Blog for Get Your Craft On Tuesday!

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Hump Day Dump Day

Rhonda Gail — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:05:00 +0000

1. My kids don’t have baby books. I don’t know when their first steps were, when they said their first words. I don’t even know exactly what their birth weights were. I do, however, have a manila envelope full of stuff for each. I plan to make a shadowbox for a few key mementos per child and the rest will go in a box.

2. It is now imperative that I buy some “his and hers” towels. Whether they’re monogrammed or we’re just assigned our own color, I can no longer use my lovely husband’s towels. Any time I pick up the wrong towel, I end up with fine, freshly shaven hairs all over me. They poke me all day long.

3. I noticed this morning when I was reaching for my deodorant that we always have 2 sticks each. Dustin tends to buy a twin pack so he doesn’t have to think about it for awhile. I’m a coupon shopper, so I often end up with a couple. Right now, I have an unscented (my preference) and a clean shower scent. The unscented is my every day deodorant and I use the scented one when I don’t yet have time for a shower. Nice, huh?

4. Over the weekend, Nick and I did a quick bed rearranging. Their beds were parallel, but we decided there needed to be more play space. They are in love with this set up! I actually like it a lot too.

5. Another mini project I tackled over the weekend was a jewelry storage solution that cost me $0. When we first moved into this house, there were little gold hooks everywhere, in the most random of places! so I took these out of the bottom of a kitchen cabinet and out of the trim around our closet door (?!) and put them to work! all the hooks are full now and I’m kinda loving it. I’m thinking I’ll even construct a frame around it for prettiness, since we no longer have closet doors (ripped out those baby-finger-smashing accordion doors months ago).

6. My kid eats now! Harper has always been a great eater, but Nick was another story. All he ever wanted was fast finger foods – crackers, cookies, chips, nuggets, fries, rolls. We finally put our feet down almost 2 weeks ago and it has paid off! He has even found things he LOVES, which I didn’t expect. It has not been easy for any of us and we’re still having to work hard at it, but I feel so good about how far we’ve come! Look, here he is eating ice cream (yeah, he really didn’t like ice cream. Too much work, I guess?)

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Quentin’s room

Rhonda Gail — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:00:00 +0000

I’m nearing my third trimester now and I’m ashamed to say that I am totally unprepared for baby Q! If he came early, I’d be in a heap of trouble! I know that babies really only need a place to sleep, diapers, and food. That being said, you should see Quentin’s room. We’ve been trying to clean it out, as it currently serves as storage. That’s not as easy as you would think, though. More than half the stuff in the room needs to be donated or sold. I am so close to just bagging it all up and tossing it out, but some of it is pretty valuable. I have been slowly listing stuff on eBay and Craigslist, but I’m just not fast enough. I’ve been hit by a lot of pregnancy pains lately, making my productivity slow to a crawl. When I actually have energy, I have to use it to play with my kids or clean the kitchen. I’d love for that nesting to kick in!

Currently, the poor baby’s room looks like this…

Well, I have done a little work since that was snapped, but it’s still a crazy mess, and definitely looks nothing like a peaceful place for a baby to sleep! I have a few plans for moving things around this weekend. Let’s hope I don’t get derailed!

Now, on to the fun stuff! I started an inspiration board for the room, but somehow lost that file completely. So let me share with you some images that are inspiring me. I am going for gray, yellow, and turquoise in the room, with no real theme. I like things quite simplistic.

The color inspiration pics:

(urban comfort via pinterest)

(etsy via pinterest)

(pinterest)

Some details and DIY projects I want to incorporate:

(Honey We’re Home via pinterest)

(Design Dazzle via pinterest)

There’s so much more and I add more to Quentin’s pinterest board every day! You can see the board HERE. I have lots of projects to tackle, mostly cleaning out the room and finding a dresser to paint and use as a changing table. I’ll keep you all updated on the progress, when there is some. Wish me luck, I’m going to need it!

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$.49 Coffee Station

Rhonda Gail — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Today i’m showing you something I made back in October and never blogged about! It’s something I love and use every day, so it’s worth mentioning! Beside our coffeemaker lived a whole grouping of stuff used to make coffee…plus whatever else my dad decided to shove into that spot at any given time. I knew I needed a dedicated coffee station.

I found an old school letter tray at the thrift store ($.49). Gotta love that mauve color. Right? No. I sanded that shiny finish then gave it a few coats of spray paint. I wanted a glossy red, but all I had was matte.

Then I had to find the right fabric or scrapbook paper for lining the tray. I wanted something slightly vintage looking, but needed it to look nice with my truly vintage china sugar dish.

Mod Podge time! I applied a layer of Mod Podge, paying close attention to how far I brought the glue up the sides. I knew it would dry a little glossy, so I wanted it to be neat. Then I placed my chosen paper and smoothed it down with my fancy smoothing tool. Or medicine blister pack. Whatever. After that dried, I gave it another coat of MP.

Once it had dried, I loaded it up with our coffee supplies! (This picture was taken this morning. Admittedly, I decluttered the tray a bit before shooting, since our Ovaltine and Mio lives there too. It was a bit much.)

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