Mar
23

DIY Wine Cork Cheese Knives

I can't drink wine for a few more months, but I still have a big old pile of wine corks lying around--so I decided it was finally time to put them to use! I'm sharing a few easy ideas to upcycle wine corks on the Kendall-Jackson blog today, including these adorable DIY cheese knives. Be sure to check out the full post over there...I know I'm not the only one hoarding wine corks!

DIY cheese knives made with leftover wine corks

To make these, you'll need a few wine corks (duh) and some inexpensive cheese knives. You can use knives you already own, or buy some at a thrift store. No need to find a matching set, since you'll be switching out the handles anyways!

DIY wine cork cheese knives

Pull the knife portion out from the handle. I was able to do this just by pulling hard and twisting the handles a little bit. If your handles don't separate easily, you may need to break them off with a mallet. You should now see some long stems at the base of your knives. Push these stems into the corks. If your corks have holes leftover from the corkscrew, you can use the same holes--or simply cut a slit in the top of the corks.

That's honestly it! The corks expand and hold onto the knife pieces really well, so I didn't even use glue to secure them together. Such an easy project, and I feel like these would make a great gift, along with a good bottle of wine and some fancy cheeses.

Hope you like it! Be sure to check out the Kendall-Jackson blog today for the rest of my cork ideas.

Thanks to Kendall-Jackson for partnering with me on this post!

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Mar
21

Introducing My Baby Bump + $75 Giveaway

Ok, this post is for those of you that wanted to see THE BUMP! I don't really like having my photo taken, but I'm going to try and overcome my camera shyness for the sake of documenting my pregnancy. After all, this is a special time of life, and I think I'd probably regret not taking photos to look back on. SO, here it is...the baby bump!

Baby bump + Pink Blush Maternity giveaway

I'm at 20 weeks now, and I feel like it's really starting to show. For the first few months of my pregnancy, I mostly wore baggy tops to hide my belly. But now that we've told everyone, I'm excited to start wearing fitted clothes again!

Maternity dress

This striped dress from PinkBlush is the first legit maternity dress that I've worn, and I love it. It's so comfy, and hugs my belly just enough to show it's shape. They have tons of super cute maternity clothes...don't miss the giveaway at the bottom of this post!

20 weeks baby bump

Side note: Have you ever noticed how pregnant women always put their hands on their bellies? I think it's just an instinct...I've noticed myself doing it all the time now, without consciously thinking about it. Partially because it's fun to feel my growing belly (so weird!) and also because it's a lot easier than yelling, "Hey everyone, this is a baby bump, ok?! I'm not just fat!"

Pink Blush maternity giveaway

Now, are you ready for the giveaway? One lucky lady will win a $75 PinkBlush gift card! They carry both maternity clothes and non-maternity, so you can get a new spring outfit whether you're preggo or not. Enter below, and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to PinkBlush Maternity for partnering with me on this post!

Mar
17

Nursery Design Inspiration

Ok, now that the cat's out of the bag, let's talk about nurseries!!! Once we found out I was pregnant, one of the first things I got excited about was decorating the nursery (besides actually meeting our baby, duh). No surprise there, right? I've always loved nurseries and have been filing away ideas on Pinterest for years. I've noticed that there are two types of nurseries I'm really drawn to--calm, neutral nurseries with soft and muted colors, and bright, cheerful ones full of color and pattern. Obviously, the two are at opposite ends of the spectrum, so I thought I'd put together some inspiration photos to help me visualize.

The Neutral Nursery

Let's start with neutral nurseries. These have gotten popular over the last few years, and seem to go hand-in-hand with the Scandinavian design trend that is very prevalent now. I like the way they look--very soothing and restful. But I've read that babies need color for stimulation and development. I think the solution there would be to add some color with accessories, but keep the big pieces neutral--which is probably what I'd do if I went this route, anyways. Here are some beautiful examples of what I'm talking about!

Neutral nursery

This room is lovely, although it's grey and white color palette is a little too restrained for me. I love the animal theme, though! I've noticed those Sharon Montrose animal prints in a lot of nurseries--they're darling.

Neutral nursery design

One reason for a neutral nursery might be if you're waiting to find out the gender, or don't want your room to be too gender-specific. This room could totally work for either a boy or a girl.

Neutral boy's room

Neutral nursery ideas

Another nice thing about neutrals is that they're usually more versatile, so they'll continue to feel age-appropriate as your baby gets older. You could also repurpose nursery decor in other rooms of the house without it feeling too babyish. I could easily see that rug, throw blanket, pillow, and drapes in a living room.

Soft, serene nursery

Last but not least, I love this room! It feels like you're floating on a cloud. The addition of pale blue and aqua makes it more interesting, without taking away from the soft, serene vibe.

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The Colorful Nursery

As much as I like how a neutral nursery looks, there's something to be said for a nursery that's fun and bold and full of happy colors. After all, if there's ever a place to try out some whimsical colors and designs, it's in a kid's room, right?? As with any room, too many bold colors and patterns would get overwhelming...so I'd make sure to mix in some neutrals to give the eye a break. Here are some of my favorite examples of cheerful, colorful nurseries.

Colorful nurseries

Mountain wall

Nurseries are the perfect place to do something creative on the wall, like these painted mountains or the whimsical animal wallpaper below. If we stay in our rental, I'll probably keep the walls white or do removable decals, but if we buy a house I'd love to try something fun like this! I've always wanted to do a bold accent wall, but it never felt right for a living room or dining room.

Whimsical nursery - love that wallpaper

Nursery colors

Colorful rooms can still be gender-neutral too! I love the examples above and below--I think they'd be great for a boy or a girl (or a shared space).

Cheerful, colorful nursery

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What do you prefer? Mostly neutral or mostly colorful?

Mar
16

I've Been Keeping a Little Secret...

A mango-sized secret, to be exact. Ben and I are having a baby!!! I'm 19 weeks along, so almost halfway (our due date is August 7th). We just had our anatomy ultrasound on Monday, and it was SO fun to see our baby in there, waving and kicking around. And we found out the gender too! It's a...

Baby announcement

BOY!!!

We totally guessed it, based on a few old wives' tales: I never got morning sickness, the baby was sitting low in my belly, his heart beat was under 140, and I've been craving sour things instead of sweet (grapefruit is my new favorite). We're thrilled to be having a boy! Well, we'd have been happy either way...but it's nice to know what it (he!) is.

So far, pregnancy has been good to me overall. The main thing I've noticed (besides my growing belly, of course) is that I'm more tired and I have to pee a lot. It's been weird and fun to feel my body change and know that it's because there's a little babe growing in there!

Baby announcement

I know our lives are about to change a lot, and I'm trying to soak in as much Ben-and-me time as possible, and take advantage of sleeping in whenever I can. We're also starting to plan a babymoon and of course we have a lot of other things to figure out before the baby comes--buy a house or keep renting, set up the nursery, buy all the gear we need, pick a name (!!!), etc. On the one hand, I feel like I need more time to get ready. But on the other hand, I'm really eager to meet our little one, and August can't come soon enough!

Those of you that have babies, any advice for us? Anything you wish you would have done while you were pregnant, before the baby came? Any suggestions for baby companies and brands to check out? Names? Must-have baby gear? I'll probably do some more specific posts in the future, but I'd love to start gathering suggestions.

P.S. In case you were worried, no I didn't drink any of the cocktails from my Chambord party...I just ate almost all the macarons and half the cake, that's all :)

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