DIY Headboard

I hope you didn't think this was going to turn into an "all about my pregnancy" blog!  There is still a lot going on in our world and most of it doesn't involve me being pregnant!!!

We have been in our new home for a little over 2 months and things have come together nicely!  There are still a few "big" things left to do but I promised myself I would take my time and find the perfect pieces!!!  With that being said....I had searched and searched and searched for the perfect tall upholstered headboard.  I even talked to a few companies about having something custom made.  I chose not to for 2 reasons.  #1 I refuse to pay $3k for a headboard...most quotes were between $2k and $3k...I know that I have expensive taste but holy college fund I am not that crazy!!!  Reason #2 I am impatient!  I want what I want and I wanted it yesterday!!!  Most people were quoting me an 8-12 week turnaround!  I just can't wait that long!

The greatest gift that the Navy has given me are some amazing girlfriends.  Specifically my girl Krystal...there isn't one thing that this girl can't do...move over Martha Stewart, Paula Deen, and Nate Berkus!  She can cook, DIY, decorate, restore furniture, draw up house plans, and anything and everything else in between!  If she ever moves close to me again you need to watch out because we are starting a business and taking over!!!

Krystal suggested I make my own headboard!!!  I didn't think I could do it but she gave us very detailed instructions, picked out my fabric for me (at a great price in NC) and sent me on my way!  Check it out...

Leif building the headboard

Looking good...

ironing the heck out of the fabric

Here it is...minus the nail heads

Where's Aiden?

We still need to add the decorative nail heads to the edges but I haven't really decided what type of finish I want so that will have to wait!  It will obviously look a little more "lively" with some nail heads but so far so good.  I am pretty pleased with how it turned out...it's not perfect but I doubt anyone is going to come in and point out the flaws :-)  I will take a slight imperfection over an overpriced headboard any day!!!  The total cost to build this was under $500!  Now I need to find my next project....Aiden's big boy room, the new nursery, or the toy room???

Bunny Bait

After posting a picture of some Easter treats that I made for Aiden's class, several people suggested I blog about it!  So here it is...the details of "Bunny Bait"!  First let me say that I did not design or even think of this idea on my own.  Like many, I found this cute idea on Pinterest and just had to try it!  I will tell you how I did it and then I will tell you what I would do differently!!

Ingredients:
2 cups rice chex
2 cups pretzel sticks
1 bag of tender white popcorn
1 bag of white melting chocolate
Easter M&M's
Spring Sprinkles (think cupcake sprinkles but in spring pastels)

Spread Chex cereal, pretzels, and popcorn on cookie sheet (I used wax paper on my cookie sheet)
Melt white chocolate according to directions
Pour over first 3 ingredients and stir to coat
Sprinkle on spring sprinkles (do not stir after this or else you will coat colored sprinkles in white chocolate)
Add M&M's
Let sit until chocolate is completely cool (to speed up the process put it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or so)

Break apart and put into bags with pre-printed label...again, I did not design this label...I simply found the template, printed it to card stock, cut it out to fit the candy bags I bought at Michael's!  Easy Easy...

Here is what I would do differently...
Less popcorn...the amount of popcorn was overwhelming and it sucked up all of the chocolate.  I only used 3/4 a bag...next time I will use 1/2 a bag
More Chex cereal...I think Chex with a chocolate coating on it is way more appealing than popcorn...the chex got lost in the popcorn so next time 3 cups of Chex.
My pretzel sticks seemed really long so next time I will break them up
More Chocolate...I used 1 bag...could have used more!
More Sprinkles and M&M's...I found myself adding sprinkles and M&M's to each bag for color...
One last tip...spread the mixture as thin as possible on the cookie sheet...it was hard with all of that popcorn but it makes it easier to coat everything in chocolate and spread the sprinkles and M&M's more evenly for better color appearance!!!

Aiden Approved!!!