Paint Swatch Art

I'm cheap.  And I wanted some art for our bedside tables - something in a tall frame.  I found some white frames at Michaels for ~$4 each the other day, and I had been wanting to do something with paint chips...so, on my shopping trip with April, I made her my accomplice, and stuffed her purse full of paint swatches for my attempt at some art, and for a mobile for their nursery.  I got busy during naptime, and here is what I came up with...I am digging it so much that I would love to do a really large scale one.  So, if you see some crazy lady in the paint aisle at Home Depot, squirreling lots of samples into a big bag, it is probably me.

I used a 1" circle cutter and punched the circles out of Behr paint swatches.  Then, I used Elmer's glue and glued all the chips down, starting at the bottom of the page, overlapping as I went.  As you can see, I wasn't exact, I just eyeballed it, so it is not perfectly straight...but I am okay with that ;)  The beauty of all things imperfect....








love the texture...

Now, for the keeping it real shot...I REALLY need to find a good looking alarm clock.

Aunt...

'Aunt'...has such a nice ring to it.  Our family is thrilled to welcome Ryan & Jamie's new baby girl, Madelyn Marie on January 3rd.  She is perfect.  Now, I haven't met her in person - that is next week - but I just adore her so much already.  We refer to her as the Princess and Paddy walks around with his picture of the princess.  We all can't wait to meet her.  Even though at the ages of a few weeks old and 3.5 months old, the age difference seems large, I am so excited that as they get older, that age gap will be nothing!  We couldn't be more excited.  Jamie made it through her c-section and is being a champ about recovery, and it just makes my heart melt to see my little bro with his own baby girl.

When my dad sent me a note saying that as he was holding Madelyn, he was remembering holding me when I was that little...let's just say the waterworks began.

Ryan and I used to say that we wouldn't just talk about poopy diapers once we were parents - let's just say that we have already discussed them a few times.  Yikes...how times change.

Sean and I are so excited to be an Aunt & Uncle and have a cousin that our boys are going to watch out for and protect...our princess, Madelyn.  Welcome to this crazy world.



**AND...so happy that there are now three generations of MMM's - my mom, Mary Margaret, me, Meghan Mary and now Madelyn Marie...

Another Break...

I seem to have a break in blogging when I am feeling a lack of creative inspiration or life just gets busy.  I wish I could have a constant UP when it comes to creativity...any tips on how to live in a constant state of inspiration??

As always when I return from a blogging break, I am hoping I can keep up with this a little more often and consistently.  The blog may morph to encompass different topics along the way...maybe a little more family (if this post is any indication, yikes!), daily happenings, who knows?

In the last three months, we have had some highlights.  The biggest by far being that we welcomed Cormac McDermott to the world on October 13th.  He is such a joy, and we are soaking up all his smiles and laughs.  And we are so thankful that Paddy has been a good big bro (so far) :).

I made it!  Five days past my due date :)
he is a snuggler...
those crossed legs were irresistible...

I decided to do a quick recap of the last few months to help serve as a bit of a journal for myself...
  • My mom came out before Cormac was born and stayed with us for a few weeks.  She was an enormous help and we were so thankful for all she did to help us.  My dad and brother were also able to come and spend a good amount of time here once Cormac arrived, followed by the Morrows visiting as well.  We are so blessed to have helpful families!

  • One week postpartum (not a great time to try to find clothes that fit!), we had some family pictures done by Haley at a bunch of our favorite places around West Point.  Thanks for helping us capture memories of our time here, Haley!







 another one of our very favorite things to do at West Point...watching the parachute team!


  • I seem to have a new full time job of changing batteries in toys...why did I have no idea we would have to spend entire paychecks on replacement batteries of all shapes and sizes??  Any other moms feel this way?
  • We attended the Army game on October 26th when Mother Nature decided to send a blizzard our way.  I had never seen anything like it in October.  Cormac even joined us!
 


  • Paddy turned 2!  What a fun two years it has been.  He definitely has his terrible two moments and is testing all his boundaries, but for the most part, he is a tender, loving, inquisitive, independent, sporty and active little boy.  We are loving watching how he absorbs so much everyday.  We celebrated his birthday at an Army Women's Volleyball game...Paddy has such a crush on Ariana!
  • Hallie and Nora visited! It was so fun just to observe Paddy and Nora together.  We are pretty sure it rocked his world that Nora showed up IN PERSON after he asks for Nora songs every night before bed :)
lead the way, nora!

  • Helped host a shower for April and the twins...it was so fun to shower her during this joyous time! 
  • Attended the Army Mule retirement ceremony...the mules are one of our favorite features of West Point - even after one of them bit Sean.  I am so pathetic that I was teary eyed as they retired the mules.  I also decided we must have enough land one day so that we can get one of the mules when they do retire!
  • We traveled to Army/Navy in a 31 foot long RV with the Uthlauts...and even after spending all weekend in the RV with three kids ages two and under, we can safely say we are still friends :)  It was an absolute blast, and I would absolutely do it again with little kids.  Sidenote:  Did you know that RVs get 'winterized'?  We had looked forward to our own bathroom, shower and sinks...but we couldn't use shower/sinks and could only use bathroom by 'flushing' with windshield wiper fluid!
  • Haley was so sweet and manned the boys all day for us and we headed down to Brooklyn for the day.  We checked out some places I had been hoping to check out.  It was so rejuvenating!
  • Paddy took a swim class and loved it.  He is also in a Parent and Me Music and Dance class...he doesn't seem to be as big of a fan of that class.  I think he would do better in sports, but I can't seem to find any programs that will take a 2 year old.
  • Did a NYC day to absorb the Christmas spirit, complete with stops at FAO Schwarz and Macy's to see Santa.  We weren't sure when we would ever be back in NYC around Christmas, so we were glad we waited in line at Macy's!   (Oh yes, and I squeezed in a quick spin through M&J Trimmings!  LOVE.)
  • Santa visited our house, and we celebrated X-Mas day with just our little family.  What a glorious day it was.  After Christmas, sickness hit our house, not to really leave until the second week of January.  What is it about this area?  We used to be people that would get sick once a year, now it seems to be a monthly occurrence.
 Swoosh!
  • Sean and I also somehow (obviously, COMPLETELY randomly) got slots in the NYC half marathon in March...so, let the training begin.  As you may know, I hate running.  Thankfully, Michelle has taken pity on me and runs at my turtle pace for the long runs.  Thanks, Michelle!  Haley somehow convinced me to start meeting her at the gym early in the morning a few days a week, which I needed...thanks for the accountability, HAEDU.
  •  On January 3rd, another new munchkin joined our family.  Sweet Madelyn Marie Maloney (MMM!!!) arrived.  She's a doll.  She gets her own post.
  • For Christmas, I got Sean tickets to see Lebron play against the Nets, so thanks to the Thompsons, we had a nice date night in lovely Newark, NJ.  Lebron put on quite a show with 22 points in the first quarter. 
  • I have been helping friends here and there with some design projects, which has made me endlessly happy.  I have had the BEST time helping April with the nursery for the girls.  I am so thankful she has allowed me to help as it has kick started me to feel more inspired on a lot of levels... 
Looking forward to all that 2012 holds!

Coffee Bags

While we were on our getaway over Labor Day weekend to Hudson, NY, we saw lots of old grain/coffee bags that ran about $130 each!  I was floored when I saw the price tag....I had picked one up, thinking, this would be fun to make some cool pillows out of, but it was quickly put down after seeing the price tag.

Enter our good friend from high school, Nick Bayer.  Nick is the CEO of Saxby's Coffee.  He hooked me up with some of their bags - it was like Christmas in September when they arrived!

Now....what to do with these fun treasures....????
 Isn't this bird too cute?

Apple time of year...

We went apple picking last week at Lawrence Farm Orchard, so I attempted to make some caramel apples for the football game last weekend when we had some friends in town.  They were really very easy to make now that Kraft makes unwrapped caramels!  Why did it take so many years to come out with these???

one happy guy with cider donuts!


Why did it take me so long to figure out that I should cut hosta flowers?  I like the wildflowerish look...and of course, that they are free :) 

You win some, you lose some...

Can I just share my disaster with you?



This was supposed to be a light for the nursery.  Yeah, not so much.  I went to Home Depot the other night in the midst of not feeling great and having contractions.  I couldn't find anyone to help me and all I wanted was a couple packages of wood veneer strips.  My patience was waning, and I thought I might really go into labor if someone didn't help me soon :)  I was finally pointed towards this white veneer, which was not ideal, but the only option.  I bought two packages, and attempted to make a light like this cute one...


Normally, I would attempt to fix this...not this time.  $10 down the drain.  Since I am short on time, I just hung a paper lantern from Ikea that we already had.  The other obsession I have had is to do a globe light, similar to the one featured in the PB Teen catalog, but I had a feeling as soon as I bought a cool vintage globe, I would feel bad about cutting it....and also, nervous about cutting it wrong (would probably need to enlist my dad to help with that one!).

To look at the positive...at least the paper lantern serves the functional purpose of providing a light on a dimmer switch for me!

Basement Update

I finished my last panel after receiving my additional few yards, and I would have to say, I am much happier to spend time in the basement now.  I think this space will be very helpful as the weather turns colder and the arrival of boy #2 is just weeks away.

Here is the basement - before...

And after...



So sad that I killed the orchid...

The finally cleaned up utility area...

In my now favorite corner, I rearranged a few things and created a little art space for Paddy and friends...

Who doesn't love supplies?  I am just waiting for the day when I realize I can't use glass jars with little boys around! 

beautiful picture by our talented, and very much missed, friend, Isabella...

The latest addition is a little greenery.  I have been wanting to buy some new plants/flowers for the basement, but as I realized that I will need to move some plants inside soon, I decided to do something very cheap or free if possible!  Thanks to West Point for having lots of cool moss that I could scavenge.  

Nursery #2

I figured I should post a few pics of the nursery before this baby decides to arrive...although after my appointment today, sounds like I could be waiting for a while!  For this nursery, I tried to use things that we already had for the most part, and then added a few fun new things that will be special for our second little man.

We left the rug that was already in here when the room was our guest room, and I brought the old buffet from Michigan into the new nursery to serve as a changing station.  The crib and bedding is the same from Paddy's nursery.

 Acorn marble or alabaster lamp from Paddy's nursery...

The other side of the room has the chair that I picked up at Stormville Flea, the dumpster-dived cubby, and the gallery wall.
 
 I made an envelope pillow cover with this fabric.  The sheepskin is from our trip to Ireland...

I'm a big fan of caning lately...can you tell?  Exhibit A right here, Exhibit B and Exhibit C

I'm still loving the cubby...hopefully it will prove useful for stashing away lots of stuff...

I searched high and low on craigslist to find a dresser that was narrow enough to fit into the closet, and we were finally able to find one for a steal.  The best part...I didn't have to do anything to it!

My favorite part of the nursery is the flag.  Hallie and I got it while shopping at Brooklyn Flea back in the fall.  I was crazy about it and had hoped to put it to use in a nursery.  I love how much of the wall it takes up, and I especially love how Paddy goes into the baby's room and says, Flag....WHOA.  So cute :)

Onto the gallery wall...

I adore the Hatch Studio print from Hallie.  When we went to DC, she gave me the print, and it was so funny because before she gave it to me, I had just told her how I had been looking at getting one of the cowboy prints the week before.  Nora has one of these in her room, and I was over the moon excited when Hallie brought this out for us!  Yee haw!

I really wanted some antlers, so I liked the size/color of these (from eBay), and that they were mounted on a red back drop (I don't know the technical name for that piece ;)).

I made the typography piece...here's the .jpeg...
I wanted to bring something having to do with sports into the room, so I was thrilled that I was able to get my hands on a print that my mom has of my dad playing basketball in 8th grade, and a picture of my grandpa with his late friend, Ron Santo, of the Cubs.  (And no, my grandpa didn't play for the Cubs....he worked for Wilson and became very good friends with Ron.)

Look at that talented #44
 Grandpa and Ron Santo...

Recently, I went shopping up in our attic for some of Sean and my old things to incorporate into the cubbies.  I found an adorable rattle of mine that I had forgotten about, and low and behold...then I turned up a version of the same rattle in Sean's box!  Maybe they were a common baby gift in 1978, but I couldn't help but smile about it...

I was going to put them in a shadow box, but decided I wanted to leave them accessible for the baby to play with!


We can't wait to meet the little guy who will call this place home...

Lucky Baby

This is a lucky baby that is about to arrive... April and Jen were so sweet to throw an intimate shower to welcome our next little boy.  It was such a beautiful afternoon - April's house looked gorgeous and all the party details were perfect.  I am so appreciative of all the thought, time and energy that they put into this.  Most sincere thanks to all my friends for the thoughtful and generous gifts for this little man.  I snapped a few pics before it was underway....

Cake pop favors made by talented Jen...
 look at how stunning these colors are!  Jen picked these up at the Washingtonville farmer's market...
 pretty table...
 April was recently the lucky recipient of lots of fun new entertaining gear from her mom...beautiful!
 April made this punch and it totally hit the spot...great mocktail.
 One more table shot...everything was delicious!

Sweet Shower

We are so excited that my brother and sister-in-law, Jamie, are expecting their first baby in early January!  We can't wait to be an Aunt, Uncle and cousin(s)!

I had the privilege of making some invitations for the shower that my mom is hosting for Jamie in a couple short weeks.  I so wish I was still able to travel as I really want to be there!  I know it will be a fun day all around, and I hope Jamie enjoys being showered :)



Utility Area - Before/After

We have a mint green utility sink - which I actually really like for some odd reason.  I had not done anything with this area until I had that left over piece of fabric from the basement curtains.

Before:

I took down the wire shelf that I wasn't a big fan of and organized hid all the stuff underneath the newly skirted sink.  Finally, I downloaded and made some art and stuck it into some frames that I had, in hopes of covering some spots on the wall where paint was peeling away.

And now....


Destination: Greenbrier

At the end of the summer, we were able to escape for a couple of weeks, and during that time, we made a quick stop in White Sulphur Springs, WV, for a birthday party for Sean's cousin, Tracy.  We had never been to the Greenbrier, but I have been dying to go to see Dorothy Draper's fantastic decor.  It was everything I had envisioned and so much more.  I wish I would have had more time to poke around and notice more details because all the areas she did were so spectacular.

I was only able to get night pictures, so these don't do any of her handiwork justice, but hopefully you get the idea.  Feast your eyes on some of her goodness...

Wallpaper, please.
















Staple Gun Curtains

Sean is a very lucky guy and has an office with this breathtaking view up the Hudson.  He said that he wanted to work on the office to make it a little cozier this year, so we finally made it in there this weekend.  Using only stuff that we had around the house - coffee table, pillows, blanket, books, tablecloths and plant, we were able to make it feel a tiny bit better.

My favorite project was taking some never used Ikea tablecloths I've had and didn't return in time , as well as my staple gun, and I attempted curtain panels.  I think that they accomplished exactly what we were going for...just a softer edge, and nothing that would block that view!

I didn't get the best before pic....
 Staple gun + tablecloth = curtain panel!

lighting was not in our favor here...wish you could see the view from here - straight up the Hudson!
a little greenery and coffee table books are always good :)



Supe's Boat

We recently were able to rent the Superintendent's Boat here at West Point to have a small gathering with friends.  We cruised for 2.5 hours north on the Hudson...it was gorgeous.  Mother Nature was smiling upon us that day and provided great weather.

We wanted to make it as low maintenance as possible, so I made desserts, and we bought a couple four foot deli sandwiches, chips and grapes.  Michelle, Haley and others generously helped fill in with other side items/drinks...thank you, all :)

I was thrilled that my mom was also able to join us as she was kind enough to spend her Labor Day weekend with us to allow Sean and I to get away for an anniversary/pre-baby #2 escape (more to come on that).

I wish I would have been better about snapping more pics throughout the evening...the cruise could not be more scenic!  I hope we will be able to do one more before we are out of here!

Cake pops in Army colors...
the pre-made s'mores...
 
Paddy couldn't stop dancing when we first got on the boat...he was so excited!
Wind on boats does such lovely things for hair, doesn't it?
Michelle, me, Haley, Chelsea

New Craigslist find

I have been wanting to change up the living room for a while, but I had been thinking of a new coffee/end tables or perhaps even a new rug.  Instead, I stumbled upon this set of chairs for $60, and I thought they could be fun.  My mismatched chairs ($10 yellow one and french one) were fine, but I was craving a little symmetry. They are in good shape - I would love to have them reupholstered at some point, but in the more near term, I am feeling like a nice coat of glossy white paint would be great.

When is this all going to get done????  Baby #2...I wish I knew when you plan to make your entrance :)
 love the caning...
 and the legs...
 Hmmmm...maybe a lighter colored rug, a lucite or driftwood coffee table and some funky side tables....a girl can dream :)

S'mores - make ahead?

Anytime I see those GIANT marshmallows, I just feel that I can't pass them up.  This recently happened, and being that we don't have a fire pit at the moment, I had no clue what I would do with them.  We were able to rent out the Superintendent's boat for a little cruise, and I decided I would attempt to pre-make some s'mores for dessert.

Has anyone done this before or have any good tips on best practices for pre-made s'mores?  I looked online, but didn't come up with anything great. 

First, I sliced the marshmallows in half horizontally, and then toasted one graham cracker with chocolate and the marshmallow on top.

I wasn't sure of a better way to do this.  It toasted the marshmallow really nicely, but in some cases the crackers got a little burned.

Then, I just put a dab of melted chocolate on top of the marshmallow in order to hold the top graham cracker in place.

Finally, after they were cool, I wrapped them in wax paper and tied them up with baker's twine.  My review....the crackers were too soft by the time I served them.  I feel like there must be a better way to do this...any advice?

New life for trash

I finished the cubby that Michelle and I got out of the dumpster.  I am convinced I have to spend more money and get nicer paint next time I buy some.  This took 2-3 coats of primer and 4 coats of glossy paint.  Just like the free buffet, it took much longer than I expected!  It is now residing in the nursery.  Paddy is thoroughly enjoying seeing lots of baby toys again - so none of these items ever really stay put :)

I bought a few fun New York books for this baby...

My mom made this needlepoint for me when I was little...

My talented friends, Sarah and Haven, gave me these gorgeous, handmade burp cloths...

My old books and brush...

 My sweet friend, Jen, made this adorable hat...can't wait to put the little man in it!

My old shoes...don't these look comfy?

Haven knitted this perfect little hat...love!

Hooray for dumpster furniture!!  Thanks again, Michelle!