#boddingtonscorner

Hiyeeee!

I know, I know, it’s been a while, but that’s only because of I’ve been in a hole the past three weeks home-owning my ass off.

And while everything hasn’t been kittens and rainbows, I REALLY don’t need to hear yet another sarcastic, “welcome to homeownership” from another person. Thanks a lot. That comment really helped me fix my moldy gasket on my washer – which, after calling the home warranty company, finding out it wasn’t covered, crying for approximately three minutes, deciding I could watch a YouTube video to fix it myself, couldn’t, hiring two separate handymen to come out and try their luck - was finally fixed. Now I can finally do the laundry. Praise the Lord.

In all seriousness though, it’s been a really good learning experience and post-washer trauma, I could finally get going on some of the projects that I’ve been dying to start! So here it is folks, my first DIY project to share with you!

Freshening a builder-grade fireplace

Here is the before/after!

So much better, right?!

The first step was to update the oak colored mantel and refresh it with a white paint. So I taped, sanded it a bit, primed twice, and painted it with a white semi-gloss paint.

The second step was removing the gold hardware and pulls. This was a little more difficult and required a drill.

It’s so funny because every time I am on Pinterest, and find a project I want to do, I immediately IM my husband to ask if we have some tool that I need to complete it. For the drill, the answer was “yes, but it isn’t all that great.” My thought was, doesn’t it just have one purpose? It either works, or it doesn’t? No? Maybe that is just my thinking, but it did the job here.

These pictures were really just for me so that I could remember how to put it back together later. (Note that I should have taken more pictures because that was the hardest and most frustrating part.)

I wiped all the hardware down with disinfecting wipes and then spray painted them with Rustoleum black spray paint.

While it dried, I headed to Home Depot to pick up some new pulls. Turns out I had to go twice because one size does NOT fit all. Don't laugh! This was my first project! And, as it turned out, there was only one 4-inch pull in the entire store. So, that made that decision very easy. They weren't black, but luckily, they would work. Word to the wise: plan ahead, measure, shop online.

Once the spray paint was dry, I tried to put it back together. Tried being the key word. But it was so difficult! I couldn’t get it back together! So, sadly, the fireplace sat half done for about a week until I could enlist my husband’s help. Then! Along came the long weekend, where we made a list of all the projects we wanted to complete! I slyly wrote down “put back together fireplace” in between “go to Costco” and “put up dog door” in hopes that he might tackle it. Well, my list idea worked, and after about an hour and a half – and a few swear words later – it was finished!

I felt really bad that he had to help on such a frustrating project, and promised to finish one of the next projects all by myself. Spoiler alert – that promise has yet to be kept. I guess it’s true what Brit said: Boys, sometimes a girl just needs one. ;)

So, even though it's 99 degrees here today, Boddington is dreaming of a white Christmas snuggled up by the fire.

We won't tell him that there's like a 0% chance of snow here.

Before:

After:

Thanks for stopping by! Let me know what you think in the comments section!

Just keep swimming; if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all; and even miracles take time. These life-lessons are just a few of many great things that Disney has given us over the years.

Perhaps one of the greatest things Mr. Walt gave us was the happiest place on earth. That’s right; we’re talking about Disneyland. (Were you thinking Vegas? I know, me too. But we're talking about Walt, not Wynn.)

Disneyland is more than a place for kids. It’s for the child in each of us to come out and play! That said, it’s no wonder my step-mom loves the magical kingdom! And recently, when she told me that she was planning a trip to Disneyland, and her birthday being TODAY, I thought there must be something I could get her to help her...

And so, the Disney Fund was born…

Just a mason jar, the Waltograph font, and some labels...

...add some hugs and kisses (pun intended) and a little seed money to get the fund started, and you’ve got yourself a start to a savings account to make this dream come true!

Now, all I have to do is find out how to get b-boy approved as a service dog to get us all into the park, and we’ll be set!

Happy Birthday Laura! Have a great great day! You deserve it.

Xo,

My, how nine months flies by when you aren’t the one that’s pregnant! It seems like just yesterday that Caity showed me the positive pregnancy test, on what seemed like a typical Wednesday evening where we’d planned to make salads and drink wine.

Well, as you can guess, we skipped the wine…or at least she did! And nine months later, after all the planning, talking, and wondering, Jack Michael came into this world on Sunday, June 1st! That is, after many many hours of waiting by the proud parents.

I mean, I was on the edge of my seat too, but let’s be honest; I hit up Home Depot on Sunday, while Caity birthed a real-live human being. I guess she wins. But I did get some pretty great paint samples for another very exciting project I’m working on…

…but back to the miracle of life.

Jack is so freakin’ adorable that I can’t even contain myself. I am not super familiar with newborns, but he was so sweet, and didn’t cry once while we were there in his 19th hour of life.

I know having babies is like 100% normal and everybody does it, but there’s just something about it being your BFF’s baby that makes it all the more wondrous. That’s why I couldn’t go to the hospital empty handed!

Behold, the birth announcement poster…

(This birth announcement now available on my Etsy store.)

Boddington gave it his blessing before we left for the hospital. Okay, so he just likes to lick the wood frame - sorry about your dog-licked frame, Jack.

Keeping with the nautical theme, of course, it will hopefully be a great addition to their adorable nautical nursery! It holds all his deets so he never has to wonder where or when he was welcomed into the world by his very excited parents, grandparents, and self-proclaimed God parents – that’s me, of course.

So welcome to the world Jack. I can't wait to give you more hugs and kisses!

Oh!! And in case you were wondering, no one from the baby shower guessed his birth date right! Better luck on baby #2 folks!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

B and L

As promised, I wanted to come back and talk about one of my favorite things that I worked on as part of Caity's nautical baby shower - the DIY origami boat favors.

Originally, I had wanted to do something like this. But when the price was $5.00 for just three gift boxes - and that adds up quickly - I went in search of alternatives. So, when I saw this adorable nautical baby girl shower, I knew I wanted to incorporate origami boats in some way. So why not with the favors!?

So here’s what you’ll need if you want to do something similar:

A piece of paper for your boat

A crafting knife

Lollipop sticks for the mast

Paper for your flag

Cellophane

Ribbon

Scissors

**Note that I had to recreate some of these steps with regular paper. I am still learning that I need to document everything as I do it for this blog! I will get better, I promise!

Fold your paper into an Origami boat - I used a tutorial video similar to this. (This might take you a few tries, or maybe that’s just me!)

Poke a hole in the top of the boat. (I used my crafting knife but you could also use scissors.)

Push a lollipop stick through the bottom of the boat and up through the hole that you made.

Cut a piece of paper into the shape of a flag to use as your sail. (I just used a post-it for this example, but you can see in the original, I cut the piece of paper in the size of a swallowtail flag.)

Cut two slits in the paper for the pole.

Poke the lollipop stick through the holes.

And back to the original (At this point, as a little extra, I added some twine).

And you’re done! Now just add some donuts (or whatever you would like your favor to be!) and wrap it up with some cellophane and tie it with a bow!

Then you can sail off into the sunset...