"...what little boy doesn't love airplanes?"

I can truly call Branflake's room complete! I'm so excited! I'm also very pleased with how everything came together. Although there was very little planning behind it, the colors worked out perfectly.

A BEFORE photo taken from the real estate listing. Notice the lovely 

Razorbacks logo consuming the entire wall. That was fun to paint over.

And now, the reveal...

You can see my most recent Pinterest Project outside of his bedroom door.

 

We love his ceiling fan, which was a gift from some friends. It's a P-40 Tiger 

Shark. His little area rug is so fun and I foresee him playing with toy cars on it in the future.

 

I found these wonderful, free vintage alphabet printables and couldn't resist 

adding them to the wall.

 

The colors in the war bird curtains coordinate so well with the wall and 

valance and tie the ceiling fan into the room - what little boy doesn't love airplanes? 

  The valance is a wood box the previous owner attached above the window. 

We used it as a shelf to display special things such as my old stuffed bunny, 

PB's blankie, and a jar of marbles my dad played with as a boy.

The dresser was mine when I was a little girl. It used to be white and girly, 

but I painted it with chalkboard paint and changed the pulls. 

Now, it's perfect for my little boy.

 PB built the bookshelves for Branflake's little library and I painted them to 
match the valance. The box holds his toys; I put my favorites on display.

 The moment I discovered "Wookiee the Chew" I couldn't resist using it as an 
opportunity to pay homage to our Star Wars love. Yes, R2-D2 is a fish tank.

 

The changing table is tucked inside Branflake's huge closet. I like it in 

there for stacking and hiding things and will probably insist that PB 

install shelves once the changing table is outgrown.

Branflake loves crawling around in his new room and exploring everything.  He has so much fun.

Paint:

Wall color is Olympic Honey Beige D15-2
Valance and bookshelf color is Olympic Abracadabra D51-2

Pinterest Project

Every so often I'm going to take a stab at copying a project I found on Pinterest. I'll link to the original and show off my own, along with any notes or observations regarding my experience with the project.

Today's project:

Ruler Growth Chart: Pottery Barn Knock-off

My board is a bit darker than the "original" knock-off. It instantly soaked up the walnut stain and there was not much to wipe off. If I had the chance to do this over I would have gotten the board damp first so it wouldn't have soaked up the stain so rapidly and would have been easier to wipe off.

I sanded and rounded the edges and corners. The board is a cheap wood and it chipped in a few places, but that just added to the aged appearance.

The wood took to a Sharpie just fine and I had no problem with bleeding. I tested it on the back of the board first, just to be sure.

Like MJ over at 517 Creations, I adjusted the placement of the numbers so I could hang it six inches off the floor. Because I chose to put it in a high-traffic area, PB screwed it directly into a stud as a permanent fixture we'll use to document Branflake's growth each year.

When I first showed it to PB, he was convinced that I'd purchased it for a small fortune and couldn't believe it when I said that I'd made it. Yes, honey, I am that good.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the project and how it turned out. It was a lot of fun to craft and now it's even more fun to show off.

::EDIT:: I shared this on Young House Love's Pinterest Challenge.

"...sitting in the fruit bowl collecting freckles."

I had a couple of bananas that were about to go bad that I'd originally purchased to mash up for Branflake. Alas, the little booger has recently decided that he isn't interested in bananas so they've been sitting in the fruit bowl collecting freckles. Hating the idea of just throwing them into the compost bin I decided to take action.

I started off with this recipe, but modified it based on what the reviews said. It's pretty perfect.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 2 mashed, overripe bananas
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups chopped walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two loaf pans or prepare as muffins (muffins will have reduced bake time).
2. Sift the flour, salt and baking soda into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the butter or margarine and sugar until smooth. Stir in the bananas, eggs, and walnuts until well blended. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture, and stir just until blended. Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans or muffin pan.
3. Bake for 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted into the crown of the loaf comes out clean. Let the loaves cool in the pans for at least 5 minutes. Eat warm if you like (I do), but it's also great chilled in the fridge.  Use saran wrap to keep in the moisture.

Voila!

I made one loaf and 16 muffins with this recipe. The loaf has been a good breakfast for me over the last week and the muffins were shared with my parents and accompanied us on a couple of day trips.

"Does anyone know what to do with this stuff?"

In a mad rush to get the Bird House ready for *cue dramatic music* the in-laws I've been avoiding the internet and all its procrastination power. Oh! How I've missed being able to plop down at my desk, catch up on facebook drama, and write for a little while. 

The last couple of weeks have not been easy. Branflake has gone into ultra-super-clingy mode, just in time for moving and settling in, of course. Much of my day is spent entertaining him and trying to keep him from crying and driving me ballistic. Because I'm spending my days with the babe, I've had to spend my nights catching up on housework and unpacking.

I got the house pretty well situated for visiting family, spent the holiday weekend entertaining and wondering what the fuck I can feed my mother-in-law, who decided to go on a "gluten free" diet. We had to take her to a health food store to get her own special bread and organic vegetables because the meals I'd planned and bought for at Wal*Mart didn't fit into her diet. 

Have I mentioned PB's folks hate Wal*Mart and get all Judgey McSide Eye whenever we say we bought something there?

Now I have a bag of gluten free oatmeal sitting in my pantry.

Does anyone know what to do with this stuff?

Despite my complaints, we had a great holiday weekend complete with tubing down the Buffalo River, shopping the sales at the outlet mall (two Banana Republic dresses for $16 - I rule), a trip to Eureka Springs...

...a new pool for Branflake...

...PB burning burgers and bratwurst on his new grill...

...blue-cherry pie...

...and, of course...

...fireworks.

More to come later, Grumpzilla is awake.