Happy 1st Birthday, Lucy James

I can't believe it's here already. Lucy's first birthday. I've said it a dozen times, but it is truly crazy how the past year has flown by. I love this girl more than I ever thought I could love someone.  Her laugh, those eyes, the way she wraps her arm around my neck and plays with my hair when she's falling asleep. I treasure every little moment from the sleepless nights to the first smile. 

Come back later today for a guest post from Jordan about our little girl and tomorrow for her 12 month (or should I say 1 year) milestones.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUCY JAMES! We love you!

Lucy's First Year Through Instagram

Lucy's Birthday Week is finally here. I've been scrambling to finish up tons of last minute projects for her party this upcoming weekend, but I'm making sure to squeeze in a few blog posts here and there about our little birthday girl. Still to come this week: Lucy's 12 month milestones, a guest post from Jordan, and an update on my life as a mommy. And of course, I'll wrap up the weekend with a post to share all the DIY decor I worked on for the party.

Now for today's Lucy post...

I feel fortunate that we are in the age where you can have a camera on hand at every moment through your cell phone. Most of my favorite photos of Lucy are the candid ones I take with my iPhone when I catch her in a funny or sweet moment. I didn't realize just how many Instagram pictures I've dedicated to our little bug until I started to gather them for this post. I can't help it, she's our world. 

Enjoy a quick view of Lucy's first year through Instragram.

Paint Dipped Silverware DIY

This past week I made some paint dipped silverware to use for Lucy's birthday party. I was inspired by some of the photos I saw while putting together party ideas. It looked easy enough to recreate and I thought they would be a nice addition to the coral theme of the party.

Wanting to keep the cost of this project low, I snagged this set of silverware from my local Dollar Tree. Two pieces of flatware were packaged together for a dollar. I bought enough to make 6 full sets of silverware in case we decide to use them after this weekend for a fun dinner party theme or some other get together.

Choosing the color of the paint I wanted was easy since I had her party color theme already planned: dark coral, light coral and white. Because of the specific color I wanted the silverware to be, I needed to use craft paint. Spray paint would probably work just as good if not better, but there was no coral spray paint.

To get to work, I taped off the top half of the silverware where I wanted the paint to stop and to cover any part where food would touch. Once the tape was set I got to work painting each piece of silverware.

I found out the hard way just how easy it is for craft paint to chip. I had a few spots that needed touch ups due to the silverware banging against each other and chipping off pieces before I was able to seal the paint. You want to keep this in mind if you are stashing the silverware somewhere between coats (since I wasn't able to finish this project in one sitting). I also applied several coats of craft paint to keep the color dark.

To make sure the paint didn't chip once I was finished and the silverware had dried, I coated each piece with a layer of acrylic sealer. This stuff is great for sealing paint, mod podge, anything really. I used it previously for my fabric coasters and they have stood the test of time. 

One of the things I like about this sealer is that is makes the paint look glossier and more finished. It also made the silverware feel smoother than the craft paint alone. Sealing the silverware is definitely key. This step is also why it's crucial you cover the top of the silverware so you don't get any acrylic sealer where food is going to touch. 

Once the acrylic dries, simply peel of the tape and enjoy your pretty new silverware!

The Great Bed Swap

When I was younger and lived with my parents, one thing I liked to do was rearrange the furniture in my room every few months. It was the easiest thing I could do to make a difference in the room without spending any money or doing anything 'big' like painting the walls. It was sort of a challenge to me to figure out different ways to arrange the room.


While we weren't necessarily rearranging the rooms, we did do a furniture swap between the guest room and our master bedroom this past weekend. I was craving something different in our bedroom and was starting to get tired of all the dark furniture along every wall of the room. I had talked to Jordan on several occasions telling him that when we move next I want to swap our bed with the bed in the guest room. 


Here is one of the pictures I took just after I put up the new curtains in the guest room. 

With the white walls, white bedding and the bright sunlight, you can see the bed frame sort of gets washed out. With all the white in the room I decided we needed a darker color to frame out the main focus of the room - the bed.


Here is the guest bedroom after swapping the beds. 

Please ignore the mess around the room. The pile on the left is all the bedding and comforter and feather mattress that we took off the bed to swap. We haven't put it fully back together because we are toying with the idea of moving some of the furniture around in the room. That and I sort of OCD wash the sheets in our house so these will be making a pit stop in the laundry room before getting back on the bed.

It's a little hard to tell with all the junk in the room, but the dark frame really works in the space. We are considering moving the bed to a different wall, creating more space in the front of the room for our guests to move around. 

Now onto the master bedroom. I didn't take a proper 'before' shot the day we did the swap because we did it at 9:00 at night. So I had to rummage around some old photos to get a picture of the room with the black bed. 

And the master bedroom now. 

Again, ignore the messy, unmade bed. I took the picture during the small window of time I had while Lucy was eating her lunch and was too busy to notice I stepped away (about a minute and a half). How much better does it look with the white bed? I feel like we should have done this swap months ago. The height of the tall bed is perfect for the thin wall space between the windows and the white of the frame pulls in the curtains, frame and lamps already in the room. 

Little by little I have been making small changes in our bedroom. I don't often show photos of this room for a number of reasons, mainly because it's usually an unmade bed with toys scattered all over the room and clothes tossed in random piles in the corners. It's our most 'lived in' room where we spend lots of family time cuddling and watching the tube together. I do have a plan for the empty frame above the bed and am on the hunt for a great rug to put on the floor beside the bed. And I'm actually considering stepping away from my sheer comfort zone and getting real curtains. I am such a lover of natural light and have a fear that 'real' curtains will make our room dark. But I think they will also make the space look more finished. 

For now, I will say that the great bed swap was a success!

Resale Finds and a Few Tips for Reselling Baby Clothes

I'm a huge fan of all things resale. As you all know I frequent thrift and resale shops on a regular basis to find great pieces for our house. What you may or may not know is that I visit resale shops to stock up on some Lucy clothes as well. I've mentioned before that I'm pretty picky when it comes to Lucy's clothes. I'm not a big fan of the usual baby brands and prefer to stick to places that sell a little more 'grown up' or 'trendy' looking style (meaning I like to dress her like me). That being said, I still don't like to spend an arm and a leg on a dress or pair of pants considering she's growing like a weed and can only wear them for a few months. While I generally purchase her clothes from places like Baby Gap, H&M, Children's Place and Old Navy, I am careful to stick to sale racks, bring coupons, and use my Gap/Old Navy credit card on days when I can score additional discounts. I've also been lucky to find some great staple items at resale shops for a fraction of the price. Last winter I bought two winter coats, both Baby Gap brands for less than $10 each. I also was able to get a few nice pairs of Gap and H&M jeans that would normally run $20-$30 for about $7 a pair.

Since Lucy is changing over to her 12 month clothing I thought it would be a good time to go though all her clothes that I've kept since birth, pack away a few of my favorite pieces that I want to keep either for sentimental reasons or because I may need them in the future, and simply resell or donate the rest. Because she had so many clothes, I wound up with 4 shopping bags worth of collected clothes. There are two resales shops in Delaware that are fairly close to our house. One wasn't accepting anything I had to sell so I went to my 'usual' spot. In the end, the shop bought about a quarter of the items that I brought in and gave me $50. It might not seem like a lot, but that's a pretty good sell for me. While they looked through my things I browsed the racks to see if I could find anything for Lucy for the fall. 

Here are my finds.                                                               

The boots are also from Old Navy and cost $2.50 for the pair. When I went to check out, I told them I would be using some of the money to purchase my new items. So I spent about half of my earnings on the four pairs of jeans and boots. They cut me a check for the remaining amount. I was really pleased with what I found. I spent about $25 on what would have cost me probably $100 or more if I had bought new. In the end I was really happy with what I accomplished.

A few tips for reselling clothes:

- Make sure to call ahead to see what, if any, items are being accepted. I've learned that most places accept items (specifically clothing) for upcoming seasons. Meaning don't expect to sell a lot of summer clothes in August. The first store I called told me they were only accepting clothes 18 months or larger and would only give store credit. You definitely want this information before you pack up your car and lug all your bags to the resale shop only to be turned away.

- Know from the beginning that not everything you bring is going to be bought back. Whenever I go to resell, I generally am given half to 3/4 of my things back. It's just how it is. They are usually up front in saying that they are very selective about what they take back.

- Be realistic with your expections. You aren't going to be getting $5 or more for any items. Many resale shops will spend between $.50 to $2 per item when buying from you.

- Understand that many resale places are picky. They want nice brands, good quality and trendy items. If you think something is ugly, tacky and you'd never use, chances are they are going to think the same. If you don't want to buy it, why would they?

- Don't try to sell damaged, stained or worn out clothing.

- You can always try a second resale shop to see if they will buy anything that was leftover, but I always take the remaining clothing and donate to Goodwill or pack them away for the next donation truck that comes aroud.

- Although I didn't mention it, most resale shops also accept furniture, strollers, toys, books, etc. I'm not sure how picky they are or what kind of money they pay for these items as I haven't sold them before.

Have you had any resale scores??