For those cute, tiny, grimey hands!

Although I am not a mother, I have children in my house more than not these days!  I have the privilege of nannying some of the most amazing children as my job while in nursing school. The two families that I spend the most time with both have 3 year-old boys and have captured my entire heart. I have been a part of their lives since they were only 10 months old and it has been an amazing journey.  It didn't take us long to start acquiring everything that comes along with children in our own home.  Our guest bedroom always had bed rails on the bed, toys everywhere, diapers, bath time necessities, sippy cups and so on.  I may sound like I am complaining but I honestly wouldn't have it any other way.  These boys are continually the highlight of my week and my life wouldn't be the same without them.

Our guest bedroom is now "their" room.  They refer to this room as theirs with their bed, their toys, their movies, their stuffed animals, and so on. We have three toy bins for them, a basketball goal on the closet door, a plethera of children's movies, and of course their bedtime stories all within the guest bedroom. This is always a great conversation piece for any adult guests we have to come stay in our guest bedroom :) With my little munchkins always running around and playing, they obviously get quite dirty as that is what little boys do best! They are also using the potty so we are constantly washing our hands between potty breaks and me being a germ freak. The boys LOVE their stool in the bathroom because it gets them closer to the sink but it still doesn't get them close enough; they can just barely get the tips of their fingers to touch the water with the stool helping them.

So, I took to Pinterest and instantly found the perfect FREE solution! Here are the items needed:

Any shampoo bottle will work!

Moms.. That is ALL you need!! Depending on your faucet shape you will have to cut accordingly for it  to stay on the faucet. Here is how I did mine:

I cut across the entire bottle where you see the arrows placed. Then, I simply cut a 'U' shape out of the remaining plastic making sure to leave an area uncut at the top to rest on the faucet. Lets take a look at the photo below to help you make sense of it...

Easy as that and you have your own faucet extender! I did sand down the pointy edges to make sure no one poked themselves as the edge can be somewhat sharp. The boys love it and think it is a "weally cool wata faw!" (Translated as a really cool water fall, duh.)

This was a simple project that was fun, easy, and totally worth it! And of course it takes care of those cute, tiny, grimey hands in your home-sweet-home.

Enjoy!

xoxo,
A

The Art of Making New Look Old!

Any homeowner knows that decorating your house is a never ending process. There is always something you want to add onto, change, and of course in my case, create. J and I have lived in our home-sweet-home for three years now and I think I have more projects and ideas on my "to-do" list now than when we first moved in! Y'all should see the face the hubs give me when I say, "So I was thinking....". It's one of those run-for-the-hills looks, and he has it down-pat. Nevertheless, he is always my helper and there to cheer me on throughout the process.

Our cozy little abode has high ceilings in the living room which I love as it gives us an open, spacious feel. However, it is hard to decorate and find large enough decor to fill these walls. It has taken me three years to figure out something to do with this one particular wall and I have had at least ten different ideas. I knew I wanted some sort of shelves so that I could switch out the decor throughout the seasons and not have it be so permanent; yet, everything I saw in the stores was so.... perfect. I know that sounds strange but I am a lover of all things rustic. That's right, the older the better. There is something whimsical about the imperfections that my heart just adores and can't get enough of.

I went to Target, BB&B, Pier One, Hobby Lobby, a furniture store, and even the flea market and found nothing that I wanted!  The closest shelf I found that was "rustic" was all white with tan streaks of paint to make it look weathered; no bueno, friends.  I wasn't budging on the rustic shelves I was picturing in my mind and let's face it, we don't have the patience to sit around and wait on brand new wood to age outside in the rain over the next 5 years.  So, at the end of the day, I knew I would have to persuade my ever-so-handy Dad to create my perfect shelves!

Hmmmm... I think to myself, 'What do I want these said shelves to look like?' which in reality was me searching Pinterest for hours on end. I found a couple pictures to give Dad an idea of what I liked, but wanted them to be our own design. Dad kept asking me specific measurements and I obviously told him exactly how big it should be in hand gestures (which annoyed him to no end) and we were off to Home Depot! We got the respective wood and a large chain link so I could beat the tar out of distress the wood. Ladies, if you are having a rough week, seriously think about taking some chain link to some old wood; it was all kinds of fun and quite the arm workout!

Well, even though we picked out the most beat up wood in the store AND distressed it with chain link, wire brushes, and hammers, it still wasn't exactly what I wanted. It needed some age to it. I didn't want to pick out a stain alone because again, that was just too ordinary. I hopped back on Pinterest and found a way to age wood with just two ingredients!

Needed Items

1 Mason Jar

Distilled White Vinegar

Steel Wool

Soak the Steel Wool for 24hrs, Remove the Steel Wool and use a paint brush to apply the vinegar solution.

At first, it didn't do much of anything. So, Dad and I decided to go get some lunch, some gray stain, and re-visit our aging process. Much to our surprise when we got home, the wood definitely turned "old" looking! It was amazing! We added a little gray stain to darken it up, but the vinegar solution really did the trick and got down into the distressed marks on the wood to give it some serious character. You can use this trick on any wood to age it easily and obviously on a small budget.

Before

After

Dad went with my specific hand gesture measurements and design and really did an amazing job!! They turned out to be more than I ever imagined and look perfect in the living room! What do you guys think??

I am in love with my new shelves and just had to share! This is a super easy technique but you have to be equally patient to let the wood 'marinate' in a sense and reach its full aged potential :) Enjoy & get crafty!!

xoxo,

Amy

Ahem.. Update!

Hi Nesters! It has been a hot minute since I have posted, I apologize for that.  But, I have been sick with what I like to call "the junk"and preparing for several nursing school tests while working as well. Needless to say, life has been a litttlllle jam packed! I just wanted to give y'all some updates while I am working on a post about some more recipes J and I have been indulging in.

I cannot contain my excitement. Seriously. Not that it takes a lot to make me giddy in the first place, but I haven't been this excited to travel in a while! J and I decided we need a little getaway for the two of us and we are going on a mini vacay to Asheville, NC in March for a couple days!  I know, I know... you thought I was going to be going to another country or something.  However, I have quite the reason to be ecstatic about this! And so the story goes..

As I was on the phone with my sister telling her how excited I was, she asked me a question, "Have you and Josh ever been on a trip together just the two of you??".  Now, many of you probably remember we just got married five months ago so we OBVIOUSLY must have gone on an amazing week long honeymoon. {Insert loud buzzer telling you are incorrect HERE.}  That's right, you heard me, we sadly didn't get to go on a long honeymoon and put our toes in the sand or drink fruity drinks with umbrellas in them.  Why, you ask? Well,  I had to head back to my hardest semester of nursing school a tad over 48hrs after our wedding day. Yep, you heard me (AGAIN), I had to go back to school almost immediately after our happily ever after.  Nursing school is a little different when it comes to attendance.  Unless you are hemorrhaging out of your eyeballs, you better be there. So, J and I took a small 24hr trip to the wonderful Waters Edge Inn on Folly Beach; but, Josh got sick. (Josh & Amy=0, Vacation Demons=1).  All of our other trips have either been with my family, his family, friends, etc etc. We have been together for almost 6 years and have not had a vacation where the ENTIRE stay was just the two of us! Hence, Nesters, my extreme enthusiasm for this trip!

We will be staying at Hotel Indigo which is a swanky little oasis of art and funky decor nestled in downtown Asheville.  Literally everywhere we want to go is under a mile away, and most of them not even half a mile.  We have researched the local restaurants, wine bars, breweries, bakeries, art galleries, and boutiques and have a list of places we want to go!  But what I am most looking forward to is having NO plans for three solid days. We can go here, we can go there, and it doesn't matter if we are "late" or "early" because no one will be waiting for us! Maybe I am just strange, but it sounds absolutely heavenly to me. Three solid days of just me and the hubs doing whatever the heck we want.

I will be writing a post all about the places we went and what we loved and/or hated to let you guys in on the best hidden treasures of Asheville.  For those of you that don't know Asheville for anything besides the Biltmore, it is such an eclectic little town full of art, local businesses, and gorgeous views; some strange, some awesome, and some in between. It's pretty much amazing.

Until then, I will be working on some new food posts and my first 2013 Pay It Forward handmade gift! I have it all planned out, just need to find some time to construct this beauty.  If you are wondering what my Pay It Forward gift is, it is simply a challenge for you to create 5 (or 6 in my case when you have two friends bickering over who should be the fifth slot!) Pay it Forward Gifts. They can be gift cards, a book, your favorite coffee, a handmade gift, or whatever you think that person would love! The catch is, you don't pick the recipients.  You simply make a FB status that you are doing the 2013 Pay It Forward Challenge and the first 5 people to comment on the status will be the lucky winners. Join in the fun and start the challenge!

With Nursing school back in full swing and working on the side, it will take me a tad longer to get posts out; but, I am hoping to put more into them when they are posted! I hope all of you are well and enjoying the month of February... where has the time gone?!?

xoxo,
A