Recreated Old Door

Somehow Steven and I ended up with this old door...there was once upon a time that we snagged about 4 doors in one swoop at an abandoned house that was about to be demolished, but we can't remember if this door was found there, or if it in fact was used inside our home at one point. Either way, we have a thing for old doors, but this is the first time we've upcycled any of them.

I first got the idea for this project from this picture than I found on Pinterest:

Via Apartment Therapy

Right away I knew I wanted to recreate this idea for Finn's room and I already had the perfect door waiting on me in the shed!

So I set to work....first, I power sanded this monster.

Then I used a sponge roller brush and started painting the door with New Avocado by Valspar, the nursery's accent color.

After having a bad run in with magnetic paint(it was one big block of solid, I couldn't stir it worth anything!), I decided to just go for chalkboard paint for the panels. And to make life easier, I taped off each section to get clean lines.

After the painting was all finished, Steven pointed out that there were lots of paint bubbles and that I should scrape them and give it another coat of paint....well, after scraping, I liked the imperfect chipped look, so I decided against throwing on another coat and left it as is. I'd like to think that this had more to do with taste than it did with laziness, but either way!

Then it was time to recruit the husband to do the hard part and hang it up for me!

He screwed two screws into the back, with a heavy duty wire wrapped around each screw.

Then he found the center of the wall and hung the door from its wire on a wall-mounted screw. 

Mom and I found these super cute owl hooks from Hobby Lobby, so I had Steven hang those as well..

I love Hobby Lobby, especially for their cheap prices, and these hooks were total Anthropologie knock-offs. I had been eyeing some from Anthro that were about $12 a piece I think. I got these little owls for about $2.99 a piece...however...it is important to remember that Hobby Lobby is cheap for a reason! Both hooks popped straight off these guys as soon as Steven had them screwed on tight..

I guess my husband is just too strong ;)! Well, I'm not too disappointed, you really cannot beat that price, and these are more for looks than function. Maybe a little wood glue? They look alright without hooks too I think.

I had a little fun with the chalk and here's the finished project as of now!

I'm thinking about adding a hanging rod along the bottom for some extra storage, we'll see how much energy I can muster!

After all that Steven needed a nap with Bear...

And Banjo just kept looking as cute and confused as ever!

Staying Busy while We Wait

There are just two more weeks until Finn's due date! Each day I'm trying to get more and more prepared while fighting back the most random fatigue. It's pretty surreal knowing that at just about any moment I could be on my way to the hospital!
I washed all the bottles we have....and second guessed whether I was doing it right the whole time!

Taking each piece out of the box and reading all the tiny directions and warnings almost got me overwhelmed, but I pulled through! I don't think I've washed a baby bottle in my life...possibly once or twice when I babysat in Jr. High, but either way this was worth documenting!

I also grabbed a few more plants to liven up the front porch...

Lantana

Icicles (I love the color of this plant)

And Rosemary

I found a place for all the begonias that me and mom got for free...

Then I cut back all the unruly brush next to the porch...

Hung up a new wreath that I made with hot glue and split peas...

For a tutorial on this wreath click here.

And we're doing alright!