Patch Board & 35 Week Bumpdate

This is one of those projects that had literally been sitting in the back of my mind for over a year. For those of you that are attached to a pilot you know that one thing that they have in excess are patches. Patches, patches, and more patches to be exact. There seems to be a never ending supply of them and each new squadron or training course hands them out. The hubs has only been a real pilot for a year now, but between patches from his USAFA days, UPT, IFF, and now his squadron here at Tyndall we have a pretty good chunk of them that had previously been collecting dust in the closet and moving from one place to another with us. I had seen some other crafty ladies make patch boards before and wanted to jump on the train as well. It's such a neat way to display their journey though the AF as each patch represents another stepping stone in their career.

The entire project took me about an hour (could have been less probably if I wasn't having to waddle around and maneuver around what seems to be a whale of a belly these days) and cost under $15. I purchased an old cork board from a garage sale here on base for about $.50, got one yard of felt chevron print fabric from Joann's with a 40% coupon at $4.99, and then the adhesive spray glue for $6.99 as Joann's as well (probably could have been bought cheaper at Wal-Mart). If you shop at Joann's often, like I do, be sure and download their smart phone app. They ALWAYS have a 40%-50% off coupon for a regular priced item and sometimes if you're lucky a 20% coupon for your entire purchase. It's awesome and very handy!

I totally forgot to take photos as I was making the board but here is a link to the exact instructions that I used from a fellow blogger over at Buggy and Buddy. I followed these to a "T" and thought they were pretty straight forward. I did use a box cutter, since I didn't have an X-Acto knife, and that worked perfect to cut the fabric around the edges to fit inside the frame.

Here is my finished project...

In other news we are moving right along here with Baby C's arrival swiftly approaching! Today marked exactly one month until her planned arrival, but goodness knows she could really make her debut anytime now! Hopefully she decides she wants to cook a little longer, but we will see! I've been blessed with a very easy third trimester so far. Don't get me wrong, I've still got all the aches and pains and at the moment a pulled muscle in my back that makes moving not so fun, but I think I can honestly say that it's been way better than the first half of the pregnancy (knock on wood). I'll get back to you though in a few weeks as April 4th draws nearer and see if I'm still as optimistic ;) 

I've been keeping VERY busy with finishing up projects I've had planned to get done before C was born for months now. I'm proud to say I've completed every single DIY project that I had planned from the beginning of my pregnancy, and others, such as this patch board, that I had simply been procrastinating on for months if not years. I will do a post soon with the DIY projects I've done for her nursery and planning for her arrival with links for those of you that may be interested in doing them yourselves! It's been a total blast preparing for our first little one's arrival and we simply can't wait to meet her!

35 weeks and counting!

Love,

The Etheridges

Santa's Workshop

 I apologize for taking so long to post again, but things have been rather hectic around here! As Mitchell starts UPT tomorrow, I thought now was as good a time as any to update everyone on what's been happening in the Etheridge household.

Over the past few weeks, Mitchell has been building a lovely buffet table for our home! He had been wanting to build something for a rather long time now and I just happened to stumble upon this amazing wood working website through Pintrest! This site has TONS of free plans for all kinds of different wood working projects ranging from beginner to advanced builders. I casually mentioned that I liked this particular table and within 24 hours we were on our way to Home Depot! Here are some photos of the building process...

Before!

The first cut! Nice BCGs huh ;)

Getting there.

Almost done!

After the stain and paint! 

All done!!!

For our first project, it turned out pretty well I think! We are still working on the drawers, as you can see they are a little lopsided. If you've ever built anything, you know that making your own drawers is a very tricky process (or at least it has been for us). And we also need to paint the feet ;)  I'm also planning on "antiquing" it after the paint has about a week to dry. I'll post a completed photo once the table is completely done! It's fits perfectly in our little home and I'm so proud of my sweet husband who built this as my Christmas present! It was certainly a learning process for us both, but it was a ton of fun making it.

Other than spending the past few weeks making this little beauty, we have been busy this holiday season! Mitchell has been working and getting ready to begin UPT tomorrow (Yipee) and I too have been working a good deal at the store. We are both so so very excited that we are going home in less than a week and look forward to spending the holidays with our friends and family back in Georgia! Any and all prayers and thoughts would be greatly appreciated as Mitchell and I both prepare for what is sure to be a crazy, fun, ands stressful year as he begins pilot training in less than 24 hours. Happy Holidays to all! 

Love,

The Etheridges

P.S. A HUGE Congratulations to the Emerys who just found out they are having a sweet little addition to their family! So happy for you both ;)

A Little Bit of Paint Sure Does Wonders

I decided yesterday was as good as any to get to painting the scuffed and rather oddly painted side vanity table we have in the hall! So, I went out to Home Depot and picked out a color, thanks to the lovely advice of my sweet friend Nichole, and also picked up some knobs for the drawers at the last minute while I was walking to the register. Mitchell had been complaining for ages about not being able to open the drawers properly so I figured it was a little splurge he would be happy about (luckily they were only $4.50 each). I am beyond happy with the way it turned out! You would not even believe that it's the same table and it looks SO much better than that nasty pink and white :) Here are some before and afters....

Before!
Eww...that's the only word I can now
think of to describe this table as it was.

After! I went with a light grey with a
blue tint to it! It's from the Martha
Stewart line of paint naturally ;)

Yay for new knobs! These are Martha as well!

Ta Da! 100X better than before!

I also bought the cute little silver lantern at Ross yesterday which was a purchase I was rather proud of! It's also very nice to be able to open and use the drawers now. Note, I'm getting a better candle to go into the lantern, but I didn't have time to get to Wal-Mart to get one. All in all it only took me about 2 hours total to paint and cost only $24 including the knobs, even though I only really used 1/3 of the paint can and have plenty left over for other projects. 

Other than accomplishing this DIY project, which I'm very proud of myself for doing, I met up with an extended family member from Mitchell's side of the family! Mitchell's aunt has a niece that is engaged to another UPT student here at Laughlin and she was in town visiting for the weekend. They were so sweet and invited me to go to church with them in town and then we went out for lunch afterwards! It was so nice to meet some "new" family members and also get to try out a new church! I will be taking Mitchell back as soon as he gets home from IFS. Both of them were some of the sweetest people I've met and I truly wish them the best of luck as they head off to Charleston for their first assignment after UPT!

For those of you interested in his progress at IFS, he's currently still in the academic portion until tomorrow. He heads up in the air a little after 1 tomorrow afternoon, so any and all prayers are greatly appreciated :) He's not to stressed out at this point and just ready to get up in the plane and out of the classroom, which he's been holed up in since last week. Winston and I miss him tons but are already so very proud of the progress he's making. I'll be sure and give everyone an update as soon as his first week of flying is over!

That's all for now! I'm not done with the halloween lanterns I'm painting as I forgot to get some of the supplies, but I will post some photos once I'm done...promise :)

Do It Myself

Well I know I promised everyone earlier in the week a post on my DIY's I have planned while Mitchell is away, so here they are! Firstly, I went today and got some paint to make these lovely little Halloween decorations...

Yay for Pintrest! 

For those of you that know me well enough, you know that I have a slight obsession with Halloween! It is by far my most favorite holiday and there is nothing that makes me happier than an new "spooky" decoration to add to my home over this holiday :) Therefore, I couldn't resist trying to make these cute little things. I have a ton of extra mason jars and the paint was only $0.97 at Wal-Mart! I'm trying them tonight so I will let everyone know how they go soon!

Another project that I want to undertake is painting the little vanity/hall table that I've had for a while now! When my room was white and pink it fit perfectly, but obviously that color scheme does not go over well with the hubs or the other pieces in the living room. So, I'm planning on painting it at some point in the next few weeks! I haven't decided what color yet (I went and picked up some paint chips to compare today) but I'm thinking a pretty yellow, my favorite, or a nice antique blue now that a sweet friend recommend I use that color! Here's the table now so you can see what I mean by the fact that it needs some work...

Notice also that the movers scratched the paint
anyways...so it was bound to need
 to be repainted at some point!

Other than that I am planning on making one of those lovely yarn wreaths, and yes I know that I'm merely one of hundreds of people that are making them, but I simply don't care! I think that they are cute and gosh-darnet I'm making one, so there! Naturally, the entire city of Del Rio does not seem to find it necessary to sell a wreath form of any sort so I will have to wait until I head to San Antonio next week before I come home to get one. Here's the general idea of what it will look like but with different colors...

I'm thinking teal and yellow and white flowers!

Well there you go, these are the few little things that I am planning on doing over the next two weeks or so! I also made some home-made dog biscuits for Winston today and I will share a post about that this weekend :) I hope everyone has a lovely Friday and rest of their weekend! Thanks for reading!