Our Weekend + DIY Rustic Console Table

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you all had a great weekend! I'm sad to see this weekend go but I'm ready for a very exciting October, which starts with a trip to Florida this week.

This weekend was more productive than I expected, starting with our neighborhood-wide garage sale. We decided to participate in an attempt to clean out the spare bedroom to make room for baby and we were surprised at how well we did!

There were definitely a few garage sale crazies, like the one that came with a flashlight and was snooping around our stuff as we were setting up at 6:30 AM... Eek. Also, I'm pretty sure it made my husband's day when 3 people came up and asked if we were selling this console table! Considering this was his first project since we made cornhole boards, I think that's quite a compliment and he totally deserves it!

The supplies for this project cost us about $75. Not bad for a 6 foot long console table.


I thought I'd share a few of the steps via pictures since the original instructions are a bit lacking in that department. My husband followed the Ana White Rustic X Console Table plans, so make sure to check there for the shopping and cut list plus additional directions.

Tools we used:
Mini Kreg Jig Kit (takes a bit of practice to learn how to use, but for $20 it was the cheapest Kreg Jig option and worked just fine for this project)
Drill
Power Sander
2 boxes of 2 1/2 inch pocket hole screws
1 box of 1 1/4 inch pocket hole screws

We had Lowes cut all of the pieces for us, which took a little while but the nice man helping us didn't mind and it saved us a ton of work!

Once you get the hang of your Kreg jig, you basically want to make pocket holes on all of your wood pieces before attaching them with pocket hole screws. Make the frames first. 


Then drill pocket holes into the two 1x12 boards. My husband made a lot of them... I don't think this many were necessary but hey, they are really secure!


Attach the other side of the frame to the shelves. Then drill more pocket holes to the remaining 2x4 and 2x2 pieces (these were supposed to be cut at 11 1/4" but for some reason ours were tight and had to be sanded down to about 11").

Drill pocket holes onto each side of the long 2x6 pieces then have your pregnant wife/sidekick stand on them to hold them together while you attach them together with the 2.5" pocket hole screws.

Drill more pocket holes (getting tired of those yet?) on the top pieces of the frame, facing upwards, to secure the table top. 


My husband did one coat of Minxwax Stain in Dark Walnut and 2 coats of polycrylic on the whole piece.


Since we're beginners at this, we don't have all the tools required so we left out the "x" part on the ends of this table. We added some corner brackets, which we bought in a pack of 4 for only $4 at Lowes, and I spray painted them.



I'm so proud of my husband, the table looks amazing in our hallway! Though I think he is a bit worried I'll give him more projects like this now that I know he's got some talent in the construction department.


After finishing our projects this weekend, I treated myself to a few pumpkins and finally put more Fall decor up. Will share more of this gorgeous table all styled up for Fall later this week!

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Charleston Blogger Night Out at Moon and Lola

On Tuesday night the bump and I headed downtown to King Street for a blogger's night out at Moon and Lola. If you haven't been to one of their stores before, you are missing out! It has to be one of the prettiest stores on King and I can't get enough of their monogrammed jewelry and quatrefoil earrings!
 


Everything was perfectly put together in this pretty space by Gillian. And who knew there were so many Charleston bloggers?!

It's amazing how this little piece of the web has connected me to so many of these fab ladies in the past year. It sounded like many of the girls had just recently started their blogs in the past year or two. Personally if it weren't for this blog, I'd probably be a hermit, working from home, without any friends.

Also, you know you're pregnant when you head straight for the cookies while other gorgeous Charleston bloggers are sipping their champagne.

Jillian and Ally
So thankful to have these ladies to join me for girls nights and brunches at the best Charleston restaurants!

Shelby missed out on the navy memo but she looked gorgeous so we'll let it pass :)


Thank you to Moon and Lola and the Charleston Blog Society for hosting this fun event!

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20 Weeks

How far along: 20 weeks.. halfway!

Size of Baby: a Banana! We'll find out exact measurements this morning at our ultrasound.

Gender: Boy

Best moment this week: Making some nursery progress and feeling lots of kicks from our little man! Also loved our girl's night yesterday, trying to get as much time in as I can with these lovely ladies before the babe comes!

Someone remind me not to stand at that angle ever again for the next 4 months...


Weight gain: +10 so far... Whoa baby!

Maternity clothes: I'm all about the maternity jeans now. I wear a few Old Navy and H&M maternity tees but for the most part I'm still rocking my regular shirts. So excited for Fall plaids, leggings, and vests!

Stretch marks: None yet!

Belly button in or out: In and cavernous

Wedding Rings on or off: On

Sleep: Not so good lately. Leg cramps are no joke! The other day my sweet husband pushed my back to help me get out of bed. Little does he know that will become a normal occurrence in the coming weeks!

Miss anything: Most definitely Pumpkin and Oktoberfest bee. Oh, and wine. Do I see a theme here?

Movement: Lots of movement and loving it! The other day Rowan moved around for about 10 minutes before giving me a stiff arm and staying like that for a few hours. It felt so weird, he was definitely pushing directly on some other organ of mine.

Cravings: Halloween candy

Symptoms: Stuffy nose, back ache, and getting tired out really quickly

Nursery: Technically the room is a hot mess. We're participating in a neighborhood-wide garage sale this weekend (yay for getting rid of clutter!) so all of the sale items are stored in there right now.

I mentioned yesterday the dresser is almost done, so ready to get organizing! We also got our crib in the mail and tested two paint colors: Benjamin Moore Grey Owl and Wickham Grey. I think I'm leaning towards Grey Owl but both colors are really nice for a nursery.

Looking forward to: Our 20-week ultrasound today! So excited to see this little babe in 3D again! I saw some of our old baby pictures and it makes me so excited to see which one of us Rowan will look like, or if he'll be a good mix of both of us like I am with my parents. We know he'll definitely have this smile...


Most photogenic toddlers of 1990.

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Life Lately

I have to admit, lately the only thing I can focus on is finishing the damn nursery dresser, the beast took FOUR coats of paint. I'll spare you the unexciting DIY details for later. So since I'm kind of stuck on that until its done (hopefully today or tomorrow.. woo!), y'all get this random assortment of life updates.

If you continue reading until the end, you're a trooper.

- It's the first official week of Fall and I've barely decorated the house. DIY project supplies have been purchased but remain untouched. So unlike me. I told you the dresser redo is bringing me down.

Here it is with one coat of paint when I was so excited thinking I was almost done.
Note the dryer sheets inside... it smelled like grandma's house.
- Before I was pregnant I thought people just made up the "nesting instinct." It sounded like an excuse (that I absolutely planned on using) to buy a bunch of cute baby clothes and accessories, organize them, then call it nesting. But nesting is for real.

- I realized that the color scheme for the nursery is the same color scheme of our master bedroom. Weird? I mean I guess we really like blue, gray, and white.

- Ruby is 10 weeks off of her second ACL surgery. She is getting back to her normal, mischievous self. She still can't jump on furniture so she stands in front of the couch and/or bed waiting for us to pick her up. On the days she feels brave enough to jump, she hits the side of the couch and we run over to help her, both laughing and feeling bad at the same time that she can't do it.


- I have been loving Etsy for all things baby boy lately. I'll share some of my favorite shops soon and there's a giveaway in the works, so stay tuned mamas!

- Tonight I'm heading to a Charleston Blogger Night out event. I'm so excited! Now I just need to find a dress to fit this growing bump and figure out how to work it with my rain boots. The weather has been relentless here lately.

And on that rainy day note, I feel like coudling on the couch with some tea is entirely necessary right now. Hope y'all are still awake after this!

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Oh, hey Friday!

Y'all, this week wore.me.out. I didn't mean to take a mini-break from blogging but when work gets crazy and my to-do list gets of out of control, blogging sadly takes a backseat. I've also learned that at almost 20 weeks pregnant, its really tough to be as productive as you'd like.

Anyway, much more exciting Fall news around here, so lets get to it! Linking up as usual with Lauren and Amanda.

Good news is, pumpkins are out in South Carolina! I haven't purchased any yet because I like getting them at the Farmer's Market, but I was that nerd who snapped this picture out of pure excitement.


Favorite new Fall Outfit

Scarf. Jeans. Vest.
I've crossed into the maternity jeans threshold, so don't mind the elastic waist here. I'm loving this combo and can't wait to wear it this Fall! It's getting cooler here at night but sadly I don't think I'll be able to rock this until October at least. 

Favorite Splurge vs. Save deal

Is it just me or is everything you have on your "must have for Fall" list on sale right now?! (Side note, other people have those lists... right?) Anyway I'm excited about this throw, which looks exactly like the West Elm Tassel Throw ($69 full price) but I snagged it for $30 at TJ Maxx.



It's a light blue-ish silver color, which clearly didn't photograph well. I'm excited to put it on the rocker in Rowan's nursery! Anyone have any good "splurge versus save" finds lately?

Favorite Pumpkin Find


My friend snapped this picture for me and obviously I have to make a trip to Trader Joe's for these pumpkin macarons now! Has anyone had them? I love TJ's vanilla and chocolate macarons so hoping these live up to my expectations.

And finally, my favorite part of this post. This weekend my husband and I celebrate 7 years together! (Yes we still remember the day we started dating!)


We look like babies! This is one of my favorite photos of us and we just happen to be in a bar. So classy. We're celebrating by finally finishing our DIY projects (hope to share those next week, you may get a sneak peak this weekend at Rowan's dresser!)

I hope you all have a fabulous Fall-ish weekend!

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Nursery Inspiration

I hope you all had a great weekend! Ours was busy redoing the dresser for the nursery and learning how to use a kreg jig for the DIY I mentioned Friday. So obviously really exciting stuff...

Today I thought I'd share some nursery inspiration and see if y'all have any suggestions for me! I had such a hard time coming up with a plan for our baby boy's nursery. Maybe I'm still a little intimidated about being a boy mom? I'm not into the overly boy-ish themes or bright colors so I decided to stick to something somewhat neutral and calming for Rowan's room. 

After looking through what seemed like a billion shades of grey paint, I finally narrowed it down. Whew! Our top contenders are Benjamin Moore Grey Owl and Wickham Grey. It really helped that I was able to get some swatches of the bedding and rocker that I like before committing to anything.

Coloring is a little warm in this picture, thanks iPhone 4s!


I think I want the room to be a cute mixture of old and new details, hence the antique dresser mixed with the modern zinc letter. I love the Pottery Barn rocker so we are trying to go low budget on other items to make up for that!
Zinc Letter. Braided Basket. Elephant Rocker. Tiered Basket.
Elephant Print (with changes to coloring). Crib. Star Crib Sheet.
Quilted Bedding. Wingback Rocker.

I'm also loving some of Oh Hello Dear's adorable watercolor elephant prints for the nursery. Though I want to make sure the room doesn't get too theme-y with elephants everywhere you look.

And of course I can't go without a few DIY details for Rowan's nursery! My to-do list includes:
  • Wool Felted Star Mobile (Not sure if I can pull this off but I'm going to try, stay tuned!)
  • Curtains (White with pom pom trim? Blue? Patterned? AH!)
  • Crib skirt
  • Fabric bunting (If I can figure out where I'd want to put it)
  • Throw pillow for on rocker

There isn't a lot of pattern in this nursery plan so I'm hoping I can find something that will jump out at me for an accent pillow or rug. What do y'all think?!

Mamas- what are some of your must haves for the nursery?! The dresser will double as the changing table so I'll definitely be picking up some drawer organizers for that!

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Friday Favorites

So thankful we're heading into another weekend! We've got a big to-do list this weekend, most of which includes DIY projects and busting out some more Fall decor. It's been cooling down in the morning and evening which is such a welcome change around here!

Without further ado, I'm linking up again with Amanda and Lauren for my favorites from the week!

Favorite Fall Purchase (so far)

Zara Checked Soft Scarf
Just ordered this gorgeous, oversized scarf for Fall and I cannot wait to pair it with this pretty vest in white! Zara had a similar one last year (see here) that sold out really quickly so my guess is this one might too. I'm thinking this will be perfect for our maternity photos in November!

Favorite Sound

That little heartbeat at my OB appointment this week! We get to do a 2D + 3D ultrasound for our 20-week appointment, so excited to see how much he has grown! It must be a lot, or else mama is eating way too many red gummy bears.

Favorite Girls Night

This week I joined some of my favorites (Ally, Shelby, + Jillian) for dinner at Indaco and ice cream at Jeni's (SO good!). I love that we're all about trying every restaurant in Charleston! I have absolutely no problem stuffing my face with deliciousness alongside these ladies!

Favorite Weekend Project

Plans and Picture via Ana White
My husband agreed to make me this console table over the weekend! I've been wanting something larger for our entryway and this will be perfect to decorate for Fall. Hopefully all goes well and I can share the end result soon! Also hoping I can get a start on our dresser for the nursery... though I think that may be just a bit ambitious for one weekend...

Favorite Video

Loving this bit from Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show with Meghan Trainor. Because her song isn't catchy enough, Jimmy Fallon and the Roots added some classroom instruments to the mix. So great!

That's it for me this week, friends! I hope you all have a happy weekend!

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Presently Pinning

So I thought it was kind of fun to look at what I've been pinning lately, since I'm sure it has changed drastically from just a few months ago!

Linking up with East Coast Chic today!

Fall Maternity Style + Photo Session Inspiration

{via}

Grey Paint Colors for the Nursery
 
{via}
Would love to do the board and batten for the nursery too but that will have to wait until we buy!

White Kitchens for our future home

{Via}

Fall Colors + Decor
 
{Via Vintage Pretty Pearl}

 Pumpkin Recipes

{Via Your Cup of Cake}
Baby Boy Style

{Via Baby Elle Apparel}
Soup Recipes for cooler weather

{via Cooking Classy}
What have you been pinning lately?

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18 Weeks


How far along: 18 weeks

Size of Baby: Sweet Potato

Gender: all boy!

Best moment this week: Feeling Rowan move! I can't detect actual kicks yet but Monday night it felt like he was just bouncing around in there and Steve actually felt my stomach moving with it! Obviously he can't feel it as much as I can yet, but I was so glad he experienced Rowan's acrobatics already.

Also I really feel like I look pregnant now. I seem to be carrying low, not sure if that's because of my pre-preggo chub or what. ha!

Weight gain: +8 lbs. Eek! I know this is good but it feels really funny sitting on the couch and having the food you missed with your mouth fall on your belly.

Maternity clothes: Still in regular clothes but I stocked up on some Gap maternity shirts during the Labor Day sales. (Side eye to the rouching on maternity clothes...not a fan, even though I know wearing them is inevitable). Also in the process of searching for the perfect full panel jean so I don't feel like a total chubalub in my regular pants.

Stretch marks: None yet!

Belly button in or out: In, looking kind of cavernous already

Wedding Rings on or off: On

Sleep: Getting better! My bumpnest is so comfy but I do have to switch sides a lot.

Miss anything: Wine, hoagies (bonus points if you call them hoagies too!)

Movement: I think I felt flutters on the plane to Chicago but since then it mostly feels like little nudges. I have to really focus to notice it, and sometimes I forget to breathe because I'm trying to stay still to feel him!

Cravings: Sweet and/or sour gummy candy, Orange Juice in unusually large amounts 

Symptoms: The good news is my cold went away but I have a feeling a stuffy nose and sore throat might linger the rest of the pregnancy. Also I'm pretty much hungry all.of.the.time.

Nursery: I'm working on a nursery inspiration post but for now you can see some of my ideas here! I'm currently struggling to pick out the wall color, there are so many shades of grey. (Insert husband's joke: "would you say there are about 50?") I'd really like our rocker to be grey but I feel like none of these shades work together!



We also picked up a dresser for the nursery this week! It looks like like this but with three drawers. It needs some TLC but I'm happy with the size. We're planning to paint it and keep the original hardware so I'm excited to see how it comes out!

Looking forward to: More movements and our 20 week ultrasound! I also want to finally commit to some monogrammed clothes. If I can't buy headbands and bows, he might as well look adorable and Southern in his jon jons!

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Weekend Update

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! It was such a great weekend to be lazy and watch football, so that is exactly what my husband and I did. Very happy with our Gator and Steelers wins, plus my fantasy team is killing it!

I've had some sinus issues the past 4 or 5 days, hence my absence from the ole blog on Friday. I'm hoping its on its way out of my system so I can get my energy back, but let me say it sucks not being able to take any meds! I've been walking around with breathe right strips on my nose all weekend, so glamorous.

Since I've been trying to take it easy, there isn't much to report but here are some recent happenings:

- Mama got a new ride!


We are the proud new owners of a 2015 Ford Explorer! We went to the dealership Thursday intending just to look and ended up coming home with the biggest vehicle I've ever driven. ha! We knew we wanted something with a lot of space now that the baby is on the way and we'll presumably have to pack a lot more junk when we travel to see our family. It's definitely an adjustment learning how to drive something so big, but I'm absolutely loving it!

Also I'd like to credit myself for my stellar negotiation skills. Which actually translate as: I was starving and just wanted to get a good price so we could go home and eat dinner before 10 PM. 

- Trips to Target have changed


So this is what you come home with when you're pregnant in Target. As if I didn't enjoy shopping there enough before the babe!

- Maternity pants = love

I tried on some maternity jeans this weekend and they are so comfortable! I'm waiting to cash in on some Gap cash to purchase any but I'm glad I don't have to wait much longer, they need to get in my closet immediately. Someone please tell me its acceptable to wear them after baby?! No?! Damn.

That's it. I told you it wasn't very exciting so if you stuck around this long, you're great. Here's to hoping Rowan and I have a good checkup this week, kicking this nasty cold, finally working on some Fall DIYs, and catching up on emails for once in the past 2 weeks!

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