The Perfect Nursery

The baby could come any day now and I cannot wait to meet my little Niece or Nephew. Without a doubt, the holidays this year will be the warmest with the new baby to brighten things up.

I wanted to share the beautiful nursery that my sister and brother-in-law put together. My sister said, "There is so much love in the room with handmade art and furniture created special for Baby McFall." 

The color scheme is yellows, grey and white, and this isn't just because the sex of the baby is unknown, but also because my sister said that she has never been the girl-pink, boy-blue type. There is also a steady owl theme through out the room.

The Beautiful Nursery

Patrick's old baby mobile, and of course this crib can convert into a little bed set for when the baby outgrows it. Pat is always thinking ahead.

Hand painted and decorated furniture, and homemade curtains by Patrick's mom and a handmade owl picture by the little sister Kelsey.

My favorite part of the room is the yellow stripped ceiling!!!

Homemade baby keep sake box made by my mom, and an amazing owl nightlight.

Owl shelves made by my mom and Patrick's old toys :)

Keep sake shelves with old toys and an owl piece I made

I used colored felt and embroidery floss to stitch together a cute owl on a fabric background.  To twist things up a bit, I used a wood embroidery hoop and a coat of white paint to frame it!

Isn't everything gorgeous??! I am slightly jealous of the baby's room because it's so awesome.

Hurry up Baby McFall!! We're ready for you :)

Oh Snap: 2

My life in photos has been pretty tasty lately...

xoxox Jes

Halloween Invisible Pops

Inspired by Halloween, I took to www.marthastewart.com for some party treat ideas. I found this recipe for homemade suckers that can be tailored for any occasion with the right candy decorations. I chose pumpkin and skeleton candies. The options are endless!

All you need is:
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
Lollipop sticks
Assorted candies

• 
  

Martha must have a steadier hand than I because my suckers didn't turn out very round.

The candy hardens quickly so you have to move fast!

Tip** Don't use your best pot to melt the candy mixture because it is tough to get out. The best way we found was to heat up the mixture again and again and pour it out onto the cookie sheet until it was all gone.

My friend Becca enjoying the treats she helped me make :)

Next time, I may try to add some food coloring to the candy mix to see what happens!

Enjoy! 

Puppy Portrait

In a previous post ANGEL, I shared with you the story of my family dog Angel and her need for surgery. Angel is now out of her head cone, and recovering wonderfully. I just recently took her on a walk and she was acting like a 4 year old skipping around (she is about 11 years old!). I was worried she might get too excited and re-injure herself but the doc assured us that she is strong and doing well :)

Friends of the family, Mel and Jon donated reward money that Spartacus won in a cute dog contest, and as a gift for them, I painted a Puppy Portrait of their other dog Peanut (so he wouldn't feel left out) and because he is too awesome to NOT have a Puppy Portrait.

Spartacus (on the left) and Peanut (on the right)

Aren't they funny!

Here is Peanut modeling with his Puppy Portrait!

If you are interested in a Portrait of your Puppy or pet, contact me at Jbarmstrong87@gmail.com with a brief description, and a picture of pet!

I look forward to hearing from you! :)

Music According to Jes: Autumn

IT'S BACK!!!!!! Woo hoo woo hooo wooo hooo.

I thought the jet-setting days of Life According to Jes were over the day I left DC, but in a stroke of luck (maybe?) I am in Georgia this week for work and I am leaving Friday for Chicago to visit my handsome Jew boy. The Hampton Inn in Toccoa, GA may not be as luxurious as the Four Seasons Maui (ouch.. missing out on this still stings), and I may not even have a nice plush robe waiting for me in the closet, or even a real headboard to the bed, but it is travel nonetheless and I am grateful for it.

Every trip needs good music, so while the scarves warm my neck, this playlist warms my soul.

**Updates from this week of travel to come soon! (and my disastrous attempt at cake pops).

There's Beauty in the Breakdown

I was cruising home from work the other day, driving through Dayton and I spotted this lovely yellow shopping cart on top of this old run down building.

DIY: Spoon - Fork - Knife

Inspiration

Household Words on Etsy

Irell on Etsy

My Interpretation

How to:

As a kid, whenever we went to the hardware store, I would get lost in the paint section plucking up as many paint swatches as my little hands could hold. I used to cut them up, draw pictures and stare at the rainbow of colors for hours. And when we went to the fabric store, I would get my grubby mitts on the quilting squares. They are usually only 2 dollars a square and they are organized in the store by color, so I have always been drawn to them. Well, some things never change, and I had 3 brightly colored quilting squares that I had no clue what to do with. I also conveniently had 3 small canvas that I also had no clue what to do with.

I have been inspired by prints lately, and decided to make my own humorous, spin on cute Spoon - Fork - Knife paintings for the kitchen :)

Supplies and sketches

I think a staple gun would have made more sense but I didn't have one and I am too impatient to wait so I used a glue gun. It gets the job done!

Make sure to glue opposite ends of the canvas to make sure the fabric is tight, before moving on to the  next side.

The final result!

What do you think?!

If you have more questions for me about how to make your own Spoon - Fork - Knife paintings, or if you would rather me make them for you, email me at Jbarmstrong87@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you!

Oh Snap

It has been so nice to get settled into my new apartment, and catch up with friends and family. My life looks a lot like this lately, and I am perfectly content :)

Blog Update

My blog needs some refreshing.. some rejuvenation.. some TLC.

I would love to make a new template for my blog, but I am sad to say that I have lost my Photoshop/digital design skills.. I don't think I ever really had them... but I wasted many hours of class playing with Photoshop on the lab computers in my college days. Sadly those days are gone, and along with the cheap booze filled nights, went my digital creativity "skills." If you know a graphic designer/ template designer that needs to build their portfolio email me at Jbarmstrong87@gmail.com. In exchange for an amazing design, I can provide you with a shout out on my home page (because I'm cheap.)

But seriously, I will give you a spot right here

and here

What happened to Music According to Jes?!

Nothing happened, besides the fact that I got a new job that takes up 13912439840 hours a day and I do not have the time to listen to music all day anymore *sad face. My love for music is still growing, so my compromise will be, that I will add a "Post Song" to every post for your listening enjoyment. And if that's not good enough for you, I will make a playlist widget for every season... and autumn is just around the corner.

What do you think?

Dear readers, who are you?

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Updates to come soon, xoxox

Jes

Angel Update

Angel finally got her surgery this past Friday! I didn't want to write a post until we knew the true status, but I am happy to report that she is doing well! For all of you that know Angel, you know that she can be a little... handicap, socially awkward, spacey... and she was digging at her stitches, so now she has to wear this lovely gem for two weeks. HA&^%#@ cracks me up.

I think it suits her quite well :)

The day before her surgery, we prepared the house by laying scrap carpet pieces and rugs over the hardwood floors so she won't slip around and re-injure herself during recovery. Angel is not a big fan of hardwood floors anyways so she was so happy to lay her belly on some cozy carpet.

Poor thing had no idea what was coming the next day :(

The surgery was "routine" for the vet, but the recovery is long and she will need a lot of attention and TLC for the next 8 weeks. Hopefully, in three months or so, Angel will be able to climb the stairs to my apartment (she already hates stairs as it is) and hang out with her big sis.

My family and I want to thank all of you for generosity and help in this time of need. And Angel sure does appreciate it too :) I would also like to thank the Gauders (recently married! Congrats!) for helping make the helpforangel.org donation website and paving the road for Angel's surgery. They were also kind enough to donate the money that their dog won in a contest (for being adorable) to our Angel in need. They "gave Angel her wings" and we could not be more grateful. 

You are all the best!

See, she's posing for you.

For the back story of angel's surgery, visit helpforangel.org and my last Angel blog post.