While I can't exactly say that I've spent the break thinking about the direction I want to take this here blog, it has been in the back of my mind for the past year. About a year and a half ago I received an email from an editor of a big magazine showing interest in sharing my home in print. Needless to say, I was ecstatic. We exchanged over fifty emails/pictures over the course of a year and a half and I was encouraged not to share too many pictures of my house on the blog or with any other sites. I do not mention that here to impress you, but rather to explain the lack of personal posts in regards to progress on the house. Though this possible magazine feature may still "be in the works" (after a year and a half, I'm having my doubts though), I've decided to just do my thing here regardless. I find this blog to be such a creative outlet, and that is more important to me than any possible "success". Last year I decided to blog less, and to do more quality posts….and I want to continue along that path. For me, that is the only way I can be the wife and mom I want to be, keep up with my responsibilities and other hobbies, AND keep up with this blog.  I also would like to talk more about things/issues that are important to me here, so that posts are not all decor and clothes (as much as I love them). Though I'm not the gifted writer I wish I was, a few thoughtful posts seems more true to who I am as a person. Lastly, I would like to turn my attention to (finally)starting an etsy shop this year. I have been running this idea over in my mind for a couple years now, and I feel this is the year to make the jump. So those are my thoughts on the future of RestlessOasis….now here is another one of my little Charlie:

Below you can see the DIY pom-pom garland I made a while back, and more recently my mom turned R's old crib sheet into a pillow for her bed because I loved the fabric so much.

Ps. Hope you enjoy Halloween tomorrow…this is R's first year of tricker treating, and I'm excited to watch her experience it. If you're running low on costume ideas, here are R's costumes the past couple years.

 Connor simply cut the curvy part off to give me a cleaner look and I put on a quick coat of poly. We then drilled a hole through the tip and with a needle put the string through tying a not at the top.

The last step was to wrap the wooden dowel with the hanging string at the desired height. That's it! So simple, and I love the results. You're getting a little sneak peak into the nursery here…..more coming I promise!

This Friday finds me thoughtful and inspired.  Earlier this week, I read Erin's articulate piece on minimalism.  It got me thinking about my own life and how over the years I have gradually become more and more of the "less is more" mindset.  In truth, I have the Army to thank for a lot of that (and those seven out of state moves in eight years)…..there's something about packing and unpacking repeatedly that makes you want to carry less around.  I also think a lot of it has to do with how I'm made- bottom line: clutter stresses me out.  I've always found that simple spaces make me feel peaceful and relaxed.  In reality, there's still progress to be made….areas in need of growth.  In a consumerist culture (and the blogosphere often isn't any help)  it's difficult to navigate between "need" and "want".  

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I'm not sure if I have talked about it much here, but when we bought our house our realtor mentioned that in our neighborhood, any remodeling we put into the house (such as floors/kitchen/bathroom) we would probably not make up in profit.  While I always imagined us buying our first house and completely making it our own by remodeling, the reality has been that since we don't plan on being in this house for more than a few years (and it's not our dream house), it really doesn't make sense to make expensive changes if there's no end profit.  My attitude (though it needed help at first) this whole time has been to make the best with what we have without any real structural changes.  It's been a challenge to make our newer home unique without remodeling, but it in a really good way.  I've found myself challenged creatively more than I ever have….which brings me to my next point- the nursery.

(When our kitchen nook was picked as one of the finalists in the Considered Design Awards, I laughed to myself when the judge mentioned the floor adding to the space.  Little did he know it has been a point of contention for me, being linoleum rather than real tile.  

Being pregnant with our second means we have all the necessities, what a blessing! However, as a second born myself, I knew right away that I still wanted to make a special place for this next girl. I've heard all the jokes about taking less pictures of your pregnancy the second time around and less pictures of the baby, and I felt determined to make as much a big deal of this little girl as I made of Reese. After all, most of her clothes and toys will have been her older sister's, so a special room prepared for her seems like a nice way to welcome her into the world without being excessive.  I started right away with a mood board, and the more I looked at it the more I realized how expensive it was becoming.  Not only that, but I was realizing that things we already owned I was going to need to replace just to work in that room….and then of course she and Reese would probably be sharing a room in a couple years, so all of those things would possibly be of no use in a while.  The more I thought of it, the more it didn't resonate with me. So the nursery is my next challenge to myself- to make it special and unique using mostly things from other parts of our house (with a couple extra smaller items).

Here is the start- I pulled the rug from the office and the Fiddle Leaf just wants to be in this room (it was on the verge of death in our living room).

When designing a room, I usually start with a pattern that I love…….whether it be fabric, an art piece, a rug, curtains, or wallpaper.  I find it's easier to build a cohesive room that way, and mixing patterns isn't as tricky when you start with the ones that you love.  In this case, I fell in love with the Robert Allen folkland fabric, and probably would have used it to make a crib sheet.  Not seen in this mood board, is the crib and other furniture we already have…..I'm still unsure how I want to rearrange our furniture in the house between the two girls.  More on that later!

1. wood Henna letter

2. brass sconce

3. Robert Allen folkland fabric

4. green velvet drapes

5. Viking mobile

6. brass llama 

7. triangle blanket

8. forest poster

9. wood shelf

10. gold pillows covers

You guys!  I had the biggest surprise this afternoon when I found out I was one of the five finalists (in my category) of Remodelista's Considered Design Awards.  Obviously, I have been a huge fan of Remodelista for some time now which definitely adds to the excitement.  With over 1,000 applicants in the US/CA/UK,  guest judges chose the finalists, and now it is up to readers to vote for the winners.  You can vote every day until August 8th, and I am in the "amateur living/dining space" category.  The dining nook is the space being voted on…..thanks guys- you're the best!

The After:

As promised, today I'm sharing with you just how I made our dining room lighting. Maybe you've wondered how I bought those brass parts for so cheap? Or maybe you noticed the word brass in quotations and had a sneaking suspicion that they are not brass parts…….if that was your guess then you are correct. As much as I would love it to be real brass, we all know that if it was, the lighting would cost way over ten dollars. So here is my secret ingredient…..STRAWS. Yes, the lighting is actually made of straws. I was pleased that at two different points, friends who came to the house and saw the lighting in the works assumed it was made of brass. I was secretly worried that it would look like straws, but I think I can safely say that I pulled it off.

So really, there are only 4 items you need for this DIY: 

-straws (without the bendable portion).  I used black and there are bits of black that come through where I missed with the spray paint, and I felt like it helped with the overall "brass metal" look as opposed to being perfectly gold.

-gold spray paint

-string and needle

-a pendant light kit (I used this one, it got horrible reviews but it worked for me.)

*I already had the straws, gold spray paint, and string on hand….then with a coupon the light kit was only $10….win, win.

First, you want to pull the string through three straws in a row.  Then cut the string and create a triangle.

From there, I simply added triangles to create the shape I wanted….usually this was two straws at a time.

After hanging the black pendant light fixture, I hung up the brass sculpture part around it using wire at the top.  I found that I was better able to see where more triangles were needed when it was hanging.  I was also able to see where I wanted to connect the triangles when it was hanging.  

Lastly, trim any string from the knots that you made, and then go back and paint over any exposed knots with gold paint and a paint brush.    

              3. A package from a friend that knows me well 

 4. Exploring new sites with my little one

 5. A pretty lunch view

 6. More local exploring with this cutie