Shanna's Baby Shower

Shanna's Baby Shower. The event I have been planning for weeks. Stressing about. Shopping for. Finishing projects for. (Does it bother anyone else that those sentences end in a preposition, which means they are not grammatically correct? Doesn't bother me enough to figure out how to change it.)

Anyway.

It was a bit frantic the few hours before. I took a lot longer to make the frosting and decorate the cupcakes than I thought. J helped so much. I appreciate him so much. I told him thank you at least 17 times throughout the day.

Here he is making the baby carriage out of the watermelon. It looked fabulous.

I stole this photo from my sister's Facebook page because I forgot to take a close-up!

My beautiful painted table with the awesome spread. It was a jungle theme, can you tell? Those ham and cheese rolls were a big hit.

Jennifer won the diaper raffle. And then won baby bingo, but was gracious enough to allow the game to continue so that someone else could win.

The big cupcakes.

The little cupcakes on my stand. J was washing something at the sink.

The lion was on the invitations...which I made in photoshop. They turned out pretty awesome if I do say so myself.

J was waiting to cut the cake and he unintentionally looked creepy.

If you're wondering why Dano is in all of the photos in the next sequence, it's because I stole these from FB too. I have some gorgeous sisters/mother. You're welcome for the eye candy.

She's not taller than me! I was crouched over holding something and it was awkward OK!

Shanna got some really good stuff. You can count on my family; my parents and sisters got her a car seat, a pack-and-play crib, a bathtub, and more. Look at all those presents!!

Baby bump.

The boys were in the back room playing video games.

One of the games was to make a play dough baby. Shanna judged the winner.

This is the one my mom made.

The other game was to give out a list of animals and write down the baby animal name. For example, a baby fox is a kit. That game ended up being hard, but it was with the jungle animals theme.

Someone made a sperm and egg.

Opening presents.

I probably shouldn't post this, but this is hilarious. I would take a photo like this.

After everyone went home, my Dad and brother came over and we had a family dinner. There was a very intense game of Jenga.

We manage to keep each other entertained.

I think my sister had a really good time. I know she got a lot of stuff she really needed, so I am really glad. I am beat. It is such a relief to have that done. I've never hosted a shower before and it is WORK.

Labor Day and a $26 Ottoman

Here is the ottoman I found at Goodwill for $10. You can tell that the faux leather is completely cracked and the bottom is pretty scratched up. But I saw the potential.

Kristi and I took it apart and got to work.

She took the bottom piece and painted it while I took the top piece and re-upholstered it. Then we got together on the glorious holiday that is Labor Day and finished it.

But first we had some baby shower favors to make.

I am so glad these two helped me. This project would have sucked otherwise.

It was Kristi's idea to tie the bags with little rubber bands (the tiny hair bands) and add the cute little babies on the front. She is a creative genius.

I made that up myself, hehe. Pretty proud of that. Those are bath salts, in case you can't tell.

In order to do the buttons, we had to buy a wicked long upholstery needle.

There were only six buttons but I am pretty sure it took an hour. You don't even realize how hard it is to stick the needle back through and get it through the tiny hole in the board. I've done this twice before when making headboards (found here and here) and it's still not easy. At one point my mom and dad both tried to help, and they can vouch for me that it is not as easy as it sounds. I ended up sticking myself and bleeding three different fingers, because you have to feel around and go by touch, and you tell it's finally through when you bleed all over the new fabric.

But it looks fabulous. $10 plus $16 in materials - you can't beat this $26 ottoman.

Table and Cupcake Stand

I bought this table from a friend who was moving for $30. The top needs some work. But I like the curved legs and I'm a sucker for antiques.

It sat in my garage for long enough.

It's a drop leaf, "gate leg" table that can open up to be a larger size. So it stores nicely.

The day I was sanding the headboard I was also sanding this table. The top sanded nicely but the bottom was in really great shape, and the lacquer did not want to come off. Later I bought some Klean Strip Sander Deglosser, which is a liquid sander, and rubbed it on the bottom. I decided I was going to do things right and primer the table (I usually skip that part because I'm impatient) so let's hope the paint sticks.

But first I ran into a problem. I folded the table down to bring it inside, and it broke. I'd always had a problem wrestling that side of the table down when I would adjust it, so I knew that piece was loose. It was nice that it finally broke, because now I could go about fixing it.

So I went to the hardware store, got some wooden dowels, drilled out the old dowels, and re-attached it.

That is J's hand, just so you know. I do not have man hands. And I really appreciate him, he always helps with my projects.

You can see how the gate leg slides in and out. They just don't make tables like this anymore. I am in love.

I struggled with the decision of staining vs. painting. I felt like I should probably just stain the top and restore it to its old beauty. But I really, really wanted to paint it red.

I decided I was going to do what I wanted to do. It's my table dangit.

So when painting, there are a few things to note. Protective gear is important. But don't burp when you have that face mask on. It's nasty. And wear your husband's shoes so that yours don't get paint on your own.

That is the cupcake stand I glued together. E6000 is the glue to use. It's a candle stick and a plate. Oh yeah.

Here is the finished cupcake stand. I'm pretty happy with it.

I don't have a finished shot of my table yet. It's not completely done; there are small crevices to touch up. And now I can't decide if it needs a glaze to tone down the brightness. But there's no way the glaze is happening before the baby shower, so you should see it in the baby shower post, after next weekend.

Glass Etching

My life is a little crazy right now. I'm waiting for the liquid sander/deglosser to dry on my table and then I'm going to go out (in the heat) and primer my table. I have a deadline of getting it done by my sister's baby shower next week, so I am hustling. I am also fighting a migraine. I went to bed with one last night and when I woke up I could tell it was just sleeping behind my eye, waiting to its time to wake up and start yelling. So it's not too bad right now, but going out in the heat is definitely not going to help.

I definitely have a nap planned for today.

So in between all of the planning and shopping for the baby shower, I am in the middle of a three day weekend. And I STILL don't have enough time. I was waiting for my glass etching cream to come in the mail (ordered from Amazon) and while it should have been here Wednesday, it didn't come until Friday. The wedding was Saturday. J and I had dinner plans with his family Friday.

So this is what I was up until 1:00 in the morning on Friday night (Saturday morning) doing.

On a positive note (because this whole post has been a bit complain-y, sorry) I love love LOOOOVE my silhouette machine.

Sorry you can't really see it, but you're going to have to take my word that it really looks good. I am loving this as a present. Le Bel is their last name. So when you loan your dishes to something or bring them to an event, you'll definitely be getting them back - it has your name on it!

I didn't fully wrap it because a) I wanted to show my mom and b) I am lazy. But in the envelop I included some of my favorite recipes that my J makes for me. So I thought it was a pretty fabulous gift. All three of those dishes are etched - I should have taken more pictures, but like I said, my life is crazy.

I have a ton of cream leftover, so I am going to have to plan more projects.

I am going to enjoy my holiday tomorrow. I have brunch plans with two good friends and then I'm meeting up with some family to hang out (and they will be helping me with shower stuff, so double bonus!).

Blogs to come on Kristi's fabulous ottoman, the baby shower (next week), and the seriously fabulous cupcake stand I made for the shower (inspired from Pinterest).