No Dads Allowed {What I Made for Father's Day}

If you are my dad, my husband, or my father-in law, stop reading.

Now.

OK, now that that's taken care of, here is one of the Father's Day buckets that 

I concocted for each of the dad's in my life.

I bought 3 buckets at Michael's for $1 each and used my handy dandy Silhouette

to print the "World's Best Dad" sticker out of vinyl.

Here's a closer look at some of the ingredients inside the bucket:

I tried to create a theme relating to dads:

"pop chips"- I found these at Meijer

Pop Rocks

Life Savers

Mr. Goodbar

Sugar Babies- this one I'm only putting in Wes's bucket,

along with a label that says

"Thanks for helping to create such a sweet baby."

Cheesy? Maybe.

True? Yes.

Above are the labels that I added to a few of the items,

tying them into the father's day theme.

Again, cheesy, I know.

What can I say? I like a little cheese. :)

I was hoping to find "Dad's Rootbeer"

but since I couldn't find that brand,

I found these labels and just covered the root beer bottles

with them.

The travel mugs that I am putting in the buckets

are the kind with inserts that you can decorate.

Here are the photo collages I made that will

decorate the mugs:

Now I just need to figure out the best way

to print them since they are an odd size (4 x 8).

Any suggestions?

Happy nesting,

and happy father's day to any dads out there

(though I don't suspect there are too many of you

reading this)!

P.S. Sorry for the poor quality of some of the pictures!

My camera got thrown into the shower

by my little walking tornado :)

Spray paint + Entryway + Easter

Hello friends!

Do you remember when I showed you 

our drab entryway?

Well it looking a little something like this:

{Boring}

Well, I'm glad to say our entryway looks a LITTLE

bit better now than it did back then.

But first, I have to show you a treasure that

I found at a local antique mall.

I forgot to take a true "before" shot,

so you will see it mid-transformation.

Check this out:

Do you think this is as great as I do?

Well just wait... it's about to get much better!

Wah-lah! Our not perfect, but much better than before entryway!

I still need to find some branches or something of some kind

for the tall red vase under the mirror,

but I would LOVE to eventually do a board and batten

treatment to the wall in this area.

But, for now, this will have to do!

I added a basket under the bench, handy for storing Claire's shoes.

I added a framed photo under the hook thingy (forget what those are called),

and I put a bonsai plant, or whatever that is, next to the bench.

I got the plant from my parents' house a long time ago.

The pillow has our last initial on it made from buttons hot-glued onto it.

Here's a closer look:

And, one more look at my fun new mirror!

What are some fun thrifty things you have found lately?

I thought I'd end this post with a few shots from 

Easter Sunday.

This year, the true meaning behind Easter seemed especially

significant to me.

As a new parent, I've found myself wrestling lately

with the idea of death- thinking about what would happen if I or Wes 

were to die and what that would mean for Claire.

Morbid, I know.

But, death is part of life and something we all have to deal

with at some time or another.

Wes, as a nurse, is faced with death regularly and so

hearing stories from him also reminds me of how

fragile our life on earth truly is.

Anyway, all this is to say that this Easter,

it really hit home to me knowing that I can rest

assured that Jesus conquered the grave, and death is not the end,

but really only the beginning for those who are in Christ!

And for those of us left behind when a loved one dies,

we have the great Comforter here who knows our pain

and can offer us peace that passes understanding.

This is truly something to celebrate, and to live our lives for!

Check out this song by Matt Maher...

I hope the lyrics touch your spirit as they have mine.

Here are some pics of our Easter Sunday!

{I think this one is my fav!}

Have a great week, and happy nesting!