i need a baby girl

to model this hat.  

Actually this isn't a new hat or anything but the bow is a new idea.  I think it looks cute but I want to see if it translates into cuteness on a real, live bambino.

This hat was made for a sweet, sweet friend of mine who is due with her first baby the end of this month.  They decided not to find out the sex of the baby so she needed a hat that could be baby boy or baby girl.  So I made this little bow pin.  If it is a girl she can keep it on but if she has a boy then she can take it off.  So I am hoping she has a girl and takes lots of pictures!  And if it is a boy I hope she takes a tons of photos too - and maybe she'll throw the bow on for one picture - just for me.

HINT HINT

By the way she is going to have the cutest baby ever because she is so freakin' adorable (plus I saw her and her husband's baby photos - precious).

This teddy bear hat has been very popular with my custom orders.  I just made this hat for another friend of mine.  She asked for it in brown but instead of the cream, we made it pink.  I forgot to take a photo of it but it turned out cute.  She also ordered booties and a pacifier clip to match.  I think it turned out well.

Thanks for stopping by!

change in plans

I am so so sad.  It definitely isn't the end of the world but our contractor just called and pushed back the start date on the kitchen.  The original start date was next Monday, November 1st.  Now it has been pushed back a whole week to Monday, November 8th.  I truly hope this does not keep getting pushed back.  I would love to have the kitchen finished by Thanksgiving.  I fear that if it keeps getting bumped back we will stretch into December and prime holiday baking.  Enough whining though.  I'm very thankful I even get a new kitchen.  It will be very worth it in the end.

No matter the start date we are ready.  This past weekend we spent our entire Sunday (and Bran's only day off) at Ikea.  It definitely is not what Bran wanted to do after 6 very long and grueling days of work but he is a good husband so after church we trekked out to the big blue box.  It was a nuthouse as usual.  I really do not love Ikea on the weekends - I actually quite hate it.  So after hours in the kitchen department, a few more waiting for the cabinets to be pulled and packaged we found ourselves here.

Five full carts filled with boxes

Needing to fit in here

 And here

View from my seat looking back - I had to hold this wood all the way home

 So after loading the truck up, we had to unload it all and carry it to the basement

Fortunately that is where our work ends and the contractor's starts.  So glad I do not have to assemble these.

kitchen update

It has been awhile since I gave a kitchen remodel update so I thought I would quickly fill you all in - assuming you care.  I was really thinking that we would be bustin' out cabinets and tile floors by now but unfortunately life does not conform to my daydreaming - but if it would, imagine the things I could accomplish?!?  Am I the only one that simplifies ideas and plans in my head?  It is a deadly disease for someone who dreams big and has the stupidity to attempt those dreams and then ends up having to run away.  I will not run away.  Nor am I going to be the one who will pour all my blood, sweat, and tears into this kitchen.  Apparently, my father-in-law will be!  He has been applying for the assistant contractor job these past weeks and I just heard from our "head" contractor that he got the job.  His first day is November 1st.  I have full confidence in their cabinet kicking, hammer smashing, power tool wielding skills.  I only wish I could join them, just a little bit.  That is part of the fun - working hard, accomplishing the thing you will enjoy for a long time - it's a rewarding feeling.  Maybe they will let me step-in on my lunch breaks.  Maybe.

So in case you didn't catch it earlier - the kitchen remodel will officially commence on
November 1st.
 Which I think is a pretty great day to start.  A nice, fresh monday, right after Halloween and of course my dear friend Kara's birthday.  It seems fitting too since Kara is a star in the kitchen and will help me inaugurate the kitchen when it is finished.  She also accompanied me on many an Ikea trip for the planning stages of the kitchen.

So this weekend Bran and I will be busy picking up the last of the items we need.  Like all of them.  We have the tile ordered and it is in the warehouse so we need to pick that up.  The cabinets have been designed and are ready to order but apparently Ikea knows how to provide so they are ready same day so we will pick those up as well.  And then there is the small task of going to the stone yard and picking out the granite!!  I am beyond ecstatic to pick out the granite.  I will definitely be bringing the camera along and posting all about the yummy slabs!  Oh and last but not least we just got the most amazing news EVER.  We are getting a gas stovetop.  This home is purely an electrical home - no gas whatsoever.....the previous owners felt that it was safer to convert to electric everything.  And Nicor told us that it would be no problem (and FREE) to convert back to gas.  So we are appliance hunting this weekend too.

There is much to do between now and November 1st but I will not be a stranger during it - hopefully.  And you can bet your little bottom you will be getting full updates through the messy tear-down to the full finished project.  So stay tuned.  I promise pictures - lots and lots of picture - because what good is a blog without pictures?!  So to appease your need here are just few random ones.

Granite contender - Bianca Romano

I love the open shelf concept.  Am I daring enough to tackle it?

Oh the cookbooks and mugs.  I wish I was.

Oh but these are similar to the cabinets we chose and we are doing the white subway backsplash.

Granite contender #2 - Bianco Antico

pretty

oh second thoughts now - I really like this tile for the backsplash?!

I am using yellow to make the white, grey, and slightly black kitchen pop so I really want to make these for the windows......I love this fabric with the grey scalloped edging.

Thanks for visiting!!

Amana Antiquing

So while I was in Amana to spend some quality time with my girls, seeing Maria's home and the beauty of her land we did manage to fit a few antique excursions in.  It is so amazing to go shopping with Maria and her mom.  Her mom is an interior designer and Maria has her mom's eye and taste.  It is so fun.  I hope I get to go with them again soon!

Now I only managed to come home with one amazing item, there were many others I wish I would have jumped on.  Another trip must be planned.  But in the meantime check out some of the pics I snapped as I was drooling.

We visited a store called Sisters.  It was so charming and full of many different farmhouse finds - architectural salvages, old furniture, garden items, retro items and even some great local artists items and new home accessories.  The place is so packed with things I felt like I had to look through everything twice - I know I missed so much.

I loved the outhouse on the property.  The roof was covered in moss, the paint was perfectly worn and chipped and above all I loved the corbels.  I really wanted to rip them down and use them to hold some shelves up above the butcher block in the kitchen.  I am still on the hunt for now.

So here is the one purchase I made.  It was a steal though.  I bought these for $20 each to hold up (pretend to hold up) the butcher block.  It just needs something.  I think they were so cheap because they are simple and not in the best shape but totally workable.  They had a few chips but for what I am using them for I actually was already planning on trimming it up so it is perfect.  I can't wait to see them up.

So just for some perspective.  Here is the corner of the kitchen with the butcher block.  This isn't going to change much with the kitchen remodel.  We thought about getting cabinets in this corner but the window makes it difficult and we still need the space for the dogs.  So we are going to add the corbels to under the butcher block to give it some interest and then we are taking down the black shelf thing and replacing it with three sets of open shelfs with smaller corbels holding it up.   

 Back to the shopping though.

This was the entrance to one of the stores.  I want it for my house.

I regret not buying this stool.  Dreamy.

The farmland the stores sits on.  I love the fact that I am finally searching for country, farmhouse goods in the place where they really come from.  It is so authentic and raw.  So so many great finds and much more reasonably priced then the suburbs.

So I got too distracted to take any more photos.  I didn't even snap photos in the other stores we visited and they were just as amazing.