Updating Her Nursery Decor, Chapter 2

The day Jim took that polaroid of me, I took the above of him.

Notice that Kelly did indeed have a window treatment in her room at one time!  But sadly, that blind and valance went missing the same day as my good can opener, my blue Sharpie and all my freshly-knit kelp tube socks. I still think it was the butler, but he’s too long-gone to Mexico to ever know for sure.

Anyway… back to the above fuzzy photo!

Chance, the poochie at Jim’s feet, was our firstborn — a puppy Jim surprised me with in 1992. And the poochie in Jim’s arms is Chance’s firstborn, Peach.  Beloved Chancie died from complications of an attack by either a coyote or large dog when Kelly was 2. But Peach is still with us!  She’s 12 now, and sweet as ever.  Still very active.  And still excellent at puking on carpet instead of tile.

Directly below, flash forward to January 1st, 2010… Not so tidy of a corner.

But… January 5th saw things looking better in the olde clearing-out-and-making-over-Kelly’s-room plan!

And yesterday saw the room as below (’cept I’m not happy with the lighting in the first photo, boo hoo.)  Oh well….. I’ll survive.

But this one is nice, I think!

So there you have it!  The current state of Kelly’s closet corner, as we embark upon ousting the decor I so lovingly prepared during my pregnancy to usher in the new Club Penguin era.  Are you excited!?!?!?

Can I get a whoopity-whoo, or two ?!?!

Have you ever wall papered a room?  Or decorated one?

Have you ever had a can opener go missing, even if just a manual one?  Quite frankly — I like manual can openers, have used them exclusively for years.  They are best overall, don’t you think? Or do you?

Well, by golly — let’s do up a poll and find out just what Jannie Funster readers think!

And don’t forget to come back and see how your can opener life experience compares with your peers, as more and more votes pour in.

xoxo

Before. Later. And Now.

polaroid credit:  Jimmy Funster

“Your face looks the same and your hair was darker, but no offense, Mom –  you were really fat in that picture.”

“I was 8 months pregnant with you.”

“Oh.”

As I was saying last post, Kelly’s room is undergoing a complete overhaul.  Bye-bye sweet teddy bear wall paper, boo hoo.

Hello Club Penguin ??    Whoo-hoo!!

I can’t remember which I found first — the wall paper or the “Kelly” peg-shelf, but they matched and that was good enough for me.   The peg-shelf  (is that what you’d call it?) has not been moved since I hung it up back in the summer of  ‘01!  (A Lilian Vernon purchase, I think.)

Here’s how that corner looked yesterday…

And below — brace yourself — here’s how that window wall looked a few days ago… (Dear Lord.)

But….  here’s how it looks this morning!  Ahhhhhh — Progress!

So tell me (ladies — obviously,) did you get chubby all over during your pregnancies too — even your legs?!

Has your kid’s (or your) bedroom ever gotten that wild (second to last photo, obviously) ??      But Vered, Blogger For Hire is exempt from this question, because I KNOW her kids’ rooms would NEVER EVER look like that.  Right, dear Vered??  

Have you ever shopped Lilian Vernon??

Have you ever been to Spain?  I never have, but I really really really like the music!

xoxo

“Doll Bed With Wine,” “For A Dear Friend” & “Kelly’s Korner, About Two Hours Ago”

Part 1… Two days ago I posted (wow has it really been 2 days already?? Seems like last year!) about my doll trunk stenciling.

Today I present The Bed.

This first part could also be called, “I Painted And Stenciled A Doll Bed And Drank A Little Wine, Tho Not Necessarily In That Order And Not Necessarily At The Same Time, But I May Well Have A Glass Of Wine Later On Today — Probably In The Bathtub, As Soon As I Post This.

PART 2…

And today is New Year’s Day!

2010 — whee-haw! Bla,bla,bla.

I was born in 1964.   What year were YOU born in?

Anyway… as to the new year…

A wonderful blogging friend sent me a desk calendar for Christmas, wow — even after her first mail to me was rejected!  (I’d forgotten to tell you guys I’d let my P.O.box go.) Thank you very much, Dot!  It’s beautiful and I’ll enjoy it every day over the next 12 months and no doubt will be sharing pages of it here.

I wish my photography did justice to how pretty the card is, with sparkles.  The matching little envelope sticker is such a sweet touch too.

BEAUTIFUL!!

“Just like a white winged dove, sings a song, song that she’s singing.”   –  Stevie Nicks.

And…..  I swear I did not know about today’s calendar quote (below) when I took the above doll bed / wine pics much earlier today. Wow, talk about cool!!

And finally, or Part Three –  below is a picture of Kelly’s bedroom as it looks now.  When I was 6 months pregnant with her I painted and wall papered what you see below — teddy bears in hammocks and general teddy bear cavortation, if the latter is even a real word.

But now…  I am embarking on redecorating her room, the teddy bears having run their course! (I planned on starting the redo last May –  but why rush into these things??)  

Kelly has mentioned a Club Penguin theme for the decorating, but I think that will date too fast or she’ll tire of it, so I suggested maybe flowers or butterflies.  What do you think?  Any ideas?

I apologize for the fuzzy picture of the bedrooom corner but I’m too lazy to get up, take another one, and do the whole uploading / resizing / USB switching thing [from my iPhone].   I’ll post some clear pics of that wall paper one day, and the complete bedroom befores and afters — of course!

All in due time, Grasshopper.   All in due time.

(Oh, I painted that old dresser too, about the same era I was decorating her nursery — June 2001.)

And…  one more picture to ’round this all out.

Wait!  One more — of our dining room, a couple hours ago too.

Blessings, now and always!

Wine and a bath await.

xo

I Stenciled A Doll Trunk!

Yes, I recently tried my hand for the first time at stenciling — a bit of “friggy-work” as Mom would call it, but once I got the hang of it, it was fun. And rewarding!

I bought the raw wood trunk at Hobby Lobby for $16.00 — had a coupon for 40% off any one item.  Check online — they run specials!

Kelly just loves the trunk, so great to keep Kirsten’s accessories in. (Kirsten is The Doll, for newcomers to this site. Kelly is The Human Child who lives with her father and me.)

The trunk measures 12″ wide x 10″ deep x 10″ tall — perfect size for a six-pack of beer — wouldn’t I be the fancy one all the ball games, toting my beer in that!  

Might stencil another for my donuts!

But back to serious-land…   I noticed the “real” American Girl Doll Kirsten trunks were recently selling for an average of $250 each, for those lucky enough to snag them off eBay — they are no longer available from the maker.

Jim (The Father of our Human Child,) says I should paint more of these and sell them on eBay!  Maybe next Christmas, if I refine my skills — this was just my first attempt.

I also painted and stenciled a matching table, chairs, bed, and a little shelf for Kirsten for Christmas, which I’ll be showing you in near-future posts.  So stay tuned!!

And God bless!!

And yes, all these pictures were taken with my trusty iPhone 3GS.  (The yellow stencil sheet is kinda fuzzy because I cropped it considerably.)

Boo-boop-be-doop!

Five Little Lightbulbs

Lightbulb 1:  Grumble.  Mumble.  Woe is me for still having no place all my own in this perpetual house remodel.   Then a brainwave hits and I commandeer one corner of the dining room for my funsterment correspondence haven.  Yay!

Then, TWO brainwaves in one day (I had to have a lie-down later,) for better traffic flow, I take a couple leaves out of the dining table.  We can always bring those and the extra chairs back when needed.
 

Btw, our dining room was a bland old bedroom we converted and opened to the kitchen.  Jim did all the wood-working, tile etc. himself.  You know my creative Jimmy!  Yes, he even made the corner cabinet with his own two hands, he fashioned that scallop thing from a cast he made of an old one we bought in Maine.   

This print I bought in Bermuda inspired the room’s theme. 

And in case you’re wondering - no we don’t have any other pink rooms in our house!  No pink decor at all elsewhere, except for Kelly’s room.

Lightbulb 2:  I make a note to buy an attractive basket or box to hold supplies for my new treasure corner.  Later I spy the perfect box on a book shelf – one I bought full of stationery 15 years ago. 

Lightbulb 3: I yearn to upgrade to a better camera such as the Canon below. Imagine Jannie with a decent camera?  Wicked!

As I wonder how to justify such a non-necessity, yet another miracle of brainwave seizes me.   That gently-used stuff I’ve been meaning to sell on eBay — that’ll give me plenty of guilt-free cash for a new camera, and then some!  Maybe enough to buy new sparkles for my kilt.

Lightbulb 4:  How I can possibly stretch dinner for 3 into dinner for 5?  (Hubby forgot to mention guests were coming.)  But by adding more lettuce and croutons to the salad, cooking extra potatoes and slicing the salmon smaller, we have plenty - with some to spare.  Plus, the guests brought cake and wine – my kind of guests!

(the gymnast at four.  this photo enlarges.)

Lightbulb 5:  Kelly informs me 5 minutes before we leave for VBS (Vacation Bible School) that it’s “Jersey Day” and she’s to wear a sports team shirt, which we don’t have.  Then it dawns on me that the emblazoned gymnastics tee she got at camp last week could work.  After all, gymnastics is an Olympic team sport, right?!  She goes for the idea.  (Whew, slid that one past her.) 

Friends, it appears I already have what I think I need or want.  How ’bout you?  You lucky that way?