Feather Lamp Shade

For months I was trying to figure out a cool, girlie thing to do with a lamp for Morgan's room.  I tried coffee filters but that wasn't my fave.  I tried ruffles but that didn't do it for me either.  Enter Target home decor section.  I saw this cute feather lamp and knew that I would be trying that out to see if it hit the spot.

Inspiration: Target Lamp

Feather Boa (got mine at Hobby Lobby)

Lamp Shade Before (leopard) /After (coffee filters)/ and Before (coffee filters)

Add some hot glue and the boa...

After

It is working for me right now.  I am happy with how it turned out.  The only issue it had is my fault.  I grabbed some light bulbs and didn't look at how powerful they were.  They were 60 watt (for the chandelier) and I put them in.  A few minutes later I could smell melted glue and I'm sure it would have turned into burned feathers if I hadn't caught the mistake and put in 15 watt bulbs instead.  

Painted Curtains

You know how you fall in love with navy striped curtains and can only find them for like $200?  Well, now you can have those a-maze-ing curtains for only $20.  For both 8 ft panels!  Yippee!  

All you need are two flat twin sheets from Walmart.  Get the ones for $4.97 each.  They're the MainStays brand.  You also need painters tape, a tarp (or something to put under it), a paint brush (I used a spongy one but I would prefer a roller) and the color of paint you want.  I also got the paint at Walmart for $9.97.  It was the Better Homes brand and I had them tint it Rich Navy (not sure by whom).  

I made marks every 10.7 inches on both sides and the middle.  Then I put the tape below the marks for the white stripes and above the marks for the blue stripes.  Does that make sense?  So, in other words, since you're not going to paint the white stripes the tape will only be where it will be white.  You need the whole 10.7 inches for the blue.  If that still doesn't make sense, just email me if you have questions.

Then paint the stripes.  

Remove the tape when you are done.  Mine took two coats of paint.

I needed a way to hang them so I took the case that the sheets were in and cut six strips about an inch and a half thick and six inches long.  Normally I would prefer that they were sewn on, but I can't find my sewing machine, nor do I want to sew.  So I pulled out the glue gun and glued them on the front and back.

Then they're ready.  Enjoy how your room looks every time you walk in.  You'll end up walking in just to look at your work.  I promise.  

Linking up to the parties at the bottom of the blog.

Plus: 

Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesday

My Repurposed Life - Catch as Catch Can Party

2805 - Potpourri Friday

Serenity Now

betweennapsontheporch.net 

Morgan's Room

Mmmkay, we moved again.  It's over.  Hurray.  And now I have rooms to decorate and piles of totes (we went with totes over boxes this time -- so much easier) to unpack.  

We've actually been in our new house for a week and a half.  This is the view from our back yard.  I love it.  It kicks the trash out of our last house.  And not in upgrades and amenities.  It's open and bright.  Those count for a lot more to me now than granite counter tops (especially tile granite counter tops, which I think are complete crap).   

Anyway, I have finished one room.  Morgan's room.  First of all, it is time to transition from a toddler bed to a big girl bed.  We only have three bedrooms in this house (until now we have had four, two for guests) so I wanted Morgan to have a queen sized bed so if we have a lot of guests it can be used as a second guest bed.  And I've been dreaming of navy and white.  That said, here is Morgan's new bedroom.

Before

After

I found this golden brass bed on craigslist and decided to paint it white.  It still needs one more coat, but it's good for now.  And I had to change that light fixture.  Absolutely had to.

I got the sheets at Ross and the bedding at Target.  You can find the sheer hangy thing at IKEA or Bed, Bath, and Beyond for like $20.  I upholstered the chair in the back corner and inherited the nightstand from my grandma about 30 years ago (and since have painted about 90 times).  The lamp has feather lamp shades and I made them but got the idea from some I saw at Target.

I have been planning and plotting the navy and white decor for months and I'm really really excited that the time is here!  During those months, I knew that there would be navy and white curtains in her room so I painted the curtains (actually, the twin sized flat sheets for $4.97 at Walmart plus $10 paint).  Full tutorial here.

It might not be typical decor, but I wanted to have a fan in the room because sometimes a certain husband snores and I cannot sleep with that so I sleep next to a fan.  And sometimes the said snoring is so loud one of us just has to leave.  However, I'm so accustomed to having the white noise of the fan so now that I have a space in Morgan's room, it's good for me to have in there.

This is the chair in the corner.  Tutorial here.

This is the silver and lace nightstand next to the bed.  You can find the tutorial here.

This is the sunburst mirror in the corner (with an actual mirror instead of the blue thing).  You can get the tutorial here.

The feather lamp shade tutorial is here.

Since this is probably my favorite room I've ever decorated, I'll most likely be linking up at the parties at the bottom of the blog.

Plus these:

Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesday

My Repurposed Life - Catch as Catch Can Party

2805 - Potpourri Friday

Serenity Now

betweennapsontheporch.net 

Gender Reveal

Hey guess what.  I have a project to post!  Not today because we're in the middle of moving but I'll give you a hint.  Skinny jeans.  Actually that was more than a hint.  It was kind of the title.

Anyway, what I do want to share today is this...

(It's the gender of our baby, by the way.)

Who wants to go shopping?!!!

China 2

Day 3.  Shopping.

First we had lunch with another business acquaintance (who gave me a pearl necklace -- sure do love business in China), then we shopped till we dropped.  

There is nothing like shopping in China (unless it's shopping in Mexico, where things are also made in China).  We went to a 5 story mall with purse shops, scarf shops, shoe shops, watch shops, iPad case shops.  You name it, there was a shop for it.  In all I think we spent 6 hours shopping that day.

I got a mani.

And we rode home partly on a rickshaw with a bike with a motor until the motor died and the guy wouldn't peddle (I don't blame him).  We caught another rickshaw attached to a motorcycle.  This is the first time I thought I was going to die.  Driving in China is crazy.  Being in a rickshaw motorcycle driving crazily with other crazy drivers was total insanity.  It was fun but I told Tom I wouldn't do it again.  I mean, I have a kid.

Day 4.  The Great Wall.

This was my favorite day.  We had breakfast at the hotel around 7:30 and hired a car to take us to the wall at 9.  It took about an hour and a half to get there but it was a part of the wall that was less crowded than a part that was closer.  Anyway, we rode a lift up the mountain to the wall.

Then we hiked for about 40 minutes.  It sure was great (bahaha! -- I'll be here all night)!

And went down the mountain on a slide.  So. Much. Fun.

There were a bunch of shops (surprise!) at the bottom.  This is my favorite thing that I saw.  Get it?  I would have purchased the shirt but there is no way I would dare wear it.

We rested at our hotel for a couple of hours after the wall and took another cab to a restaurant that the hotel recommended.  I took this picture because that is the menu.  Huge!

The food ended up being like $200 and there was no way we were paying that in China (or anywhere else for that matter) so we left.  I was so ornery.  Poor Tom.  But in my defense, I hadn't eaten anything but an apple since 7:30am and it was after 4pm and I'm pregnant!  Hello!  So instead of finding a place to eat we decided to go to another mall and shop.  And I was happy. 

Last day.  Shopping again.

We went to another shopping place this day.  Still huge and still had everything the others had.  In all we ended up with two Louie V purses (one for a diaper bag), wallets, D&G purse, Pashmina scarves, silk scarves, two D&G coats, 12 Polo shirts, jewelry, art, sunglasses, 3 iPad cases, 4 pairs of Toms, dresses for Morgan, knick-nacks, candy, carry-on suitcase, ties, MontBlanc pens (to replace the one I threw away), and I'm sure there is more.  

We went to dinner at a popular Peking Duck restaurant.  Tom said it was something I absolutely had to try while I was there.  And it was good.  

This guy cut up our duck for us.

This is the certificate (of authenticity?)  for our duck.

And our little duck pastry dessert with fig inside.

We ended the day shopping at one of the other malls and took the subway (all day, actually).  Here is a picture of a Beijing subway at rush hour.

And here's a bathroom.  They were all like this at the shopping place and I tried not to have to go ever.  I ended up using it one time.  It's all about hovering low and not stepping in it, which is difficult but manageable. 

I had a really great time alone with my best friend and 20 million other people.  I'm proud of Tom for keeping up his Chinese and being able to take control and negotiate well.  This may be the only time I make it to China and I'm grateful I got to go.  What a cultural experience!  The Chinese love their country.