Instead of Napping

Continuing the thought-train of this post, I often get asked, "So do you nap when the babies nap?" And the answer is, probably not as often as I should. I know my pregnant body could use the rest, but I'm too easily lured by the prospect of quiet, uninterrupted alone time to sleep. Most days during morning naps I get on the computer and visit my usual haunts {e-mail, Google Reader, Twitter, Pinterest} and then either Internet surf or blog; during afternoon naps I try to get householdy work done and prep dinner.

This past week, I got bit by the nesting bug. Bit hard. Several nights I was awake in bed, listening to Christian sleep and making the longest mental list of everything I want to do before newbaby comes. If just planning and wishing accomplished anything, I would have redecorated every room in our house already. My usual self would leave plans as plans, but I've been feeling a bit ashamed of my declaration in this post that I don't let Pinterest affect my day-to-day life, so last week during morning naps I actually did stuff. To wit:



1. Immediately after moving in, Christian and I put up the curtains that used to hang in our old living room in our current eat-in kitchen. Not buying new curtains saved us money, but there were some issues. In addition to the panels being about ten inches too long, we were left with a curtain hardware mis-match that was driving me crazy. {See the before here.} Last week I finally got around to fixing the problem. I cut the silver grommets off the top of each panel, then hung the panels upside down with curtain clips that matched the already-installed rods. I then pinned & hemmed the curtains to the right floor-skimming length using the sewing machine Christian got me for Christmas. It may be cheesy, but now I smile every time I look at them.

2. I have a vision for Max and Maggie's bedroom. A vision that includes gray walls, chalkboard paint, colorful art, and paper mache letters above their cribs. Letters kind of like these, only I want to spell out my babies' names. And I don't want to pay three dollars for each letter when I need eight letters {and an ampersand}. I found this tutorial on how to make paper mache letters out of cereal boxes, and since then I've been a busy crafting bee. I love how they're turning out; I think the final product will be perfect. The problem here is that I can make the letters more quickly than we use up boxes of cereal, so I've only half-finished three letters so far. {If you live nearby, I would greatly appreciate the donation of your empty cereal boxes.} Also, how does one hang paper mache letters on the wall?

3. I was itching to try out fake calligraphy after I saw this pin, and then my friend Madeline went and created something awesome. She even hung it on the wall. And I thought, "I could do that right now." So I did. I used a line from Christian's and my song, "Your Song." {I had to look up the lyrics to make sure I got them right; apparently when Ewan McGregor sings them in Moulin Rouge he changes up the words a bit.} And behold, I even hung mine up. I really did. I'm hoping it's the beginning of an awesome gallery wall.

4. For my sister-in-law Catherine's birthday in December, I got her a membership to Flower-of-the-Month Club. {Meaning, I promised to plant flowers in the hanging baskets she has in front of her house once a month. I just wanted it to sound fancier.} For January I planted purple violas and white-and-purple pansies. I got some plan white pansies, too, but I ended up not needing them. I couldn't bear to throw them away, and it seemed silly to go through the trouble of returning them to Lowe's when I only would have saved four dollars. So I planted them in pots I had sitting in my yard. Now they're cheering up my kitchen table.

Is there anything you've been inspired to create lately? I'd love to hear about it!