Do-It-Yourself Lampshade and Lamp

I just re-did Noah's room and have been looking for a lamp to go with the new color scheme, however have had a hard time finding something I like for a reasonable price. So, I decided to make my own and it was SO easy and turned out so cute that I thought I would share with you all, in case someone would like to try it for themselves.

First I bought a plain white lampshade for around $10 at Target. I used painters tape to trim around the area that I wanted to paint... the tape helped keep it neat and in a straight line. I painted red around the bottom of the lampshade. Like so...

Then I used blue ric-rac (found in the fabric dept with the ribbons) purchased at Walmart for around $2 and used a hot glue gun to attach the ric rac around the edge of where I painted. If your lampshade flares out, you will have to use 2 pieces of ric rac so that it lays flat when you are gluing it down.

Then I purchased a lamp base from Walmart for $10 and spray painted it red. To get a good finish, I sanded it, then spray painted until it was smooth and even. Make sure to get the right kind of spray paint for your lamp base (ex. get the paint for plastic if its a plastic lamp base). And wah-lah... the finished product!

My little man

I walked into the den at my parent's house and this is what I find...



Noah is sitting with my dad in his chair (with his feet propped up on the ottoman, just like my dad!), while watching American Idol so intently. Of course, I HAD to take a picture! Dad kept sitting him up in his lap and Noah kept squirming his way back down so his feet were on the ottoman. What a little man!

One Eventful Week...

Last week was THE busiest and most fun week and I'll start with the newest addition to the Brink family... on Tuesday, 3/3/09, my sister-in-law, Haley was induced at 12:01am. Around 1pm, she had dilated to 8 cm so the whole family got to ECM to be there. Madelyn Grace Brink was born at 4:37pm weighing in at a whopping 8lbs. 2 oz and (get this!) 22 1/2 in. long!!! She is a DOLL and has a head full of jet black hair. Such a cute baby! I took pictures of everyone as we waited for Madelyn to make her grand entrance....

And here's a picture of sweet baby Madelyn...

Then, on Wednesday, Stacey (my other sis-in-law) and I head to Atlanta for the Britney Spears/Pussycat Dolls concert. We stayed in B'ham on Wednesday night and did a little shopping. Then, Thursday morning, headed off to Atlanta! We wanted to go to Lenox Square Mall to kill some time (and do a little more shopping) before we had to check in to the hotel. However, I don't know Atlanta very well and ended up just taking some random exit b/c I was afraid I had gone to far down the interstate. We pulled over to look up Lenox Square in the GPS and turns out, we were only 5 miles away. At the mall, we realized that the time changed and we'd lost an hour and that it wasn't just 3pm, but it was 4pm and our dinner reservations were at 6! So we hurry out of the mall back to car... put our hotel in the GPS... and nothing. It doesn't have our hotel in the system so I call the hotel and the lady tells me to get on "Spring Street' and stay straight.... uh, HELLO LADY, I'm in BUCKHEAD needing to get to Downtown... it's not that simple! So I hung up and called back, got a WONDERFULLY helpful man named DC to give me great directions. And after a few wrong turns (like I said, I don't know Atlanta very well), we finally get going in the right direction... however, it's 5:00 rush hour traffic! AHHH!! We were literally going 10 mph down the interstate and then if things couldn't get worse, we realize we're out of gas, the light goes off again, and again, and again... we were seriously going on fumes in this horrible bumper to bumper traffic. I finally make it to our downtown exit and call my new friend, DC back (for I think, the 18th time) and ask him, "WHERE THE HECK IS A GAS STATION IN DOWNTOWN ATLANTA?!" Fortunately, we make it, get back to our hotel (had to cancel our dinner reservation), and very quickly changed clothes/freshened up for Britney and headed to Phillips Arena. The concert was AWESOME! Even the Pussycat Dolls were great. I sang the entire time (and lost my voice). Plus, we had great seats, centerstage, 12 rows back. I loved her whole circus theme, the special effects, everything. It was by far the best concert I've been too.

Me and Stacey at the concert

Pussycat Dolls

Ms. Britney Spears


I got home on Friday (after getting about 5 hours of sleep and driving the entire way home) and immediately begin moving into the new house. My parents, Jamie, and I spent the entire weekend packing, moving, and unpacking everything into our new house (while my sweet sister kept Noah entertained). So YAY, we are finally moved in. Noah and I have yet to spend the night there, b/c they are still working on rebuilding the steps so I'm not really a fan of staying there while construction workers are running all over my house (not to mention being woken up at 7am by hammering) however Jamie has stayed there a couple of nights. I still have ALOT of putting away to do... I have pretty much finished all the rooms that I can, but there's alot of boxes in the guest bedroom upstairs that I need to take downstairs, however, I can't begin unpacking things that belong downstairs until the construction people are finished completely. So here are the "after" pics... please keep in mind, things are still out of place, boxes are laying around, and everything needs to be mopped, vacuumed, dusted, etc... but at least you'll get the idea!

Before & After Entryway

Before & After Den -- the pictures are from different angles, but you get the idea.

Noah's room-- waiting on comforter to arrive (hopefully tomorrow) but it will match the sham that has the fish on it ... I don't have a "before" picture of Noah's room from this angle

Before & After of ofther side of Noah's room

Slowly But Surely Coming Along...

Well, I want to start off by mentioning that for Valentine's Day, Jamie surprised me with a laptop... something I've been wanting FOREVER b/c the ol' desktop was about 4 years old... which is ancient in computer years. So I lay in my bed as I type this! The house is definitely coming along and you'll probably laugh at me for saying this, but I think we'll be moving in two weeks (however, I feel as though I've been saying, "we'll move in 2 weeks" for the past 2 months!) Our walls are painted, our cabinets are finished, ceramic tile and hardwood has been layed... right now, we are waiting on the electricians to finish up with their part in the downstairs and for the tub guy to come paint the awful blue tub that is in the guest bath. After that, I THINK they will clean the place up and lay the carpet and be done. Jamie and I have been on a wild goose chase for furniture the past 2 weekends. This kind of thing is SO right up my alley, I LOVE decorating and the thought of new furniture totally excites me. To make a long story short, we originally decided to just buy a new cocktail table and end tables for the den. So 2 weekends ago, we spent the entire day and traveled to Story & Lee in TN and then to Town & Country in MS with no luck. Then that Tuesday, we were in B'ham for one of Noah's appointments and spent the morning looking as well... no luck. Then the following week, Jamie decides that he wants to get a new couch and a leather recliner for upstairs and just put our current stuff downstairs in the tv room.... so guess what, that meant we had to start ALL OVER b/c we hadn't been looking for couches/chairs during our first furniture run. So this past Saturday, Valentine's Day, we burned up the roads again, and visited the EXACT same places and the only success we had was that I found a cocktail table and end tables that I love. We are both so frustrated with furniture shopping... who thought it would be this hard to find something that you like?! I just hate having to drive all over the place to look for it. Today, while I was in Huntsville for Noah's therapy, I went to a couple of places and have found 2 different couches that I really like, as well as a leather recliner that I think Jamie will like. So I guess that is what we will be doing this Saturday and I am determined to come home with furniture! Here are some pics of the house as it is now...

Guest Bath

Noah's Room (for some reason, it looks brighter in this picture... bc it's not THAT bright)

Kitchen

30 Random Facts About Me

So I got this idea from Facebook and thought I would add it to my blog. Except on Facebook, it was only 25 facts, however, I wanted to add more.

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 30 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 5 people to be tagged.

1. I had a crush on Jamie for about 6 months or so before we actually met... in fact, I remember joking with a friend that I was going to randomly call him and invite him to go to a Phi Mu Formal with me. Turns out, he had a crush on me to. Little did we know... :)

2. I've learned SO MUCH since Noah's birth... I'm ALOT stronger than I've ever given myself credit for, I've learned patience, I've learned not to take simple things for granted, and most importantly, I've realized that's God's hand is truly in every situation

3. I over analyze everything and it drives Jamie crazy... he's always saying "why do you care, it's not a big deal!"

4. I love music, but my guilty pleasure is rap/hip-hop... the beats get me so pumped, plus they remind me of college and high school. a few fav's are Tu Pac, Eminem, Timbaland, 50 Cent, Snoop, Dr. Dre. I beep out the cuss words though, or cut the volume down

5. I love learning the lyrics to songs and (like Chenequa) as a kid used to rewind tapes over and over until I had them memorized. Now I just google the lyrics and learn them that way.

6. However, I've been known to mess the lyrics up... for example, I thought the song Regulators said, "And if yo A$$ is a buzz cut, 213 will regulate..." and it actually says, "And if yo A$$ is a BUSTA', 213 will regulate..." Thanks for pointing that out Chenequa

7. I have scoliosis and I'm lactose-intolerant

8. B/c of the scoliosis, I had to wear a back brace for 2 years - 23 hours each day when I was in middle school, which was pretty traumatic. My mom said it changed me b/c some people picked on me.

9. The scariest thing I've ever been through was the week leading up to Noah's surgery, however, the day of the surgery, I was strangely calm and I know it was God holding my hand

10. My grandfather died on my 24th birthday and I watched him take his last breath

11. Ghost stories make my eyes water but I love hearing them

12. I am OBSESSED with the Cranberry Turkey Temptation sandwich from Heavenly Ham and look forward to when its available each year... Oct. - Jan. (it's a seasonal sandwich). I emailed Heavenly Ham asking them to make it a year round sandwich, but to my disappointment, I was denied.

13. I played in the Fast Pitch Softball World Series when I was 16 years old.

14. My dad and I butt heads alot, but it's bc we are so much alike. But I still think the world of him and love him.

15. I love to dance with my girls, preferably in Nashville, at Decades, on a box... but it's been soo looong since I've gotten to.

16. I make an excel spreadsheet for everything... I LOVE EXCEL. And the more complicated the spreadsheet, the better.

17. Footloose has been my favorite movie since I was 3 and I can quote it word for word. "Jump Back!"

18. I love to sing in the car and don't like when people try to talk to me when I'm singing

19. I admire my husband, he makes me a better person

20. I received the "Most Improved Senior Chorus Member" award on Honor Day my Senior Year of High School... seriously, how embarrassing! I'm still not sure if that's something I should be proud of! :)

21. When I'm trying to go to sleep, I need the room to be pitch black and completely quiet. When Noah was a baby, I HATED the monitor b/c I couldn't sleep. I finally got rid of it. My thoughts are if he needs me, I'll hear him (his room is right by ours)

22. I think Keanu Reeves is the worst actor and his voice is so monotone and annoying

23. I don't love talking on the phone when I'm home with my family

24. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving b/c of my Nannie's dressing & gravy and all of the casseroles... I wanted it to be served at my wedding reception

25. I have a serious addiction to diet coke... I can drink a 2L per day

26. I'm a bad impulse buyer but then I always have buyers' remorse. I've even gone right back in the store and returned an item before.

27. It annoys me when someone is leading the music at church and they talk DURING the song, like telling you what the next line to the song is... I mean, we can read the next line of the song on the screens.

28. I tend to correct someone when they use bad grammar. I'm really trying to stop doing this b/c I know it can be insulting. I just do it without thinking.

29. I compare people to animals. I look like a pony, more specifically, a My Little Pony.

Okay, I now tag:
1. Martina
2. Nina
3. Sonia
4. Amanda
5. Leslie Burch