Pops of Green in My Home

I've been wanting to create a gallery/focal wall in our playroom for months. My desire was to create a space where I could artfully display Evelyn (and Will's) artwork or other child-themed prints (like the white one in the above picture that I created after being inspired by an identical one on Etsy).

After I finished making these curtains for the kitchen sink window, I decided I wanted to use the pea green flecks as the color for my gallery wall since the kitchen and playroom at open to each other - only "separated" by a peninsula).

But deciding I wanted to paint this wall a bold color was met with some resistance. In fact the night I bought paint and sent this picture to my good friend Megan she told me, "I honestly could not hate that color more." To her credit though... this is no where close to what the actual color is!

Luckily that's what makes each persons house unique -- it's styled for them and not others :) The color is Behr's "Retro Avocado". It's probably the most difficult color to truly capture so if you're skeptical come see it in person before buying it for yourself!

This is after the first coat. Very yellow-y and brown - yikes! (I also painted the window and baseboard white - you can see the window to the left hasn't been painted yet.) Also you can see to the right is where the kitchen peninsula is.

Here she is all done with some artwork up! It's much greener in person. We also replaced both outlets/cover to white ones to give it a fresh look since the existing plugs where a cream/black combo.

All of the frames were from my mom except for two that I bought for $1 from Salvation Army. My original plan was to paint them all the same color but part of me loves the eclectic look of them mismatched. I still haven't decided. I'll probably paint them all to match later when I want to mix it up!

Tommy is framing out an old white board I have which I then plan to paint yellow and hang on the lower part of the wall for the babes to color on. Because of the bar stools, we can't really put any furniture there.

I'll also be adding a roman shade in some type of neutral/patterned fabric. Eventually :)

This was the Valentine's Evelyn made this year framed and put on top of some scrapbook paper.

The second place I painted is the door that goes into the side hallway/entry. On my computer this is the most true representation of the color. Very pea green :) I love having this pop of color in our very white/light gray kitchen.

I still need to touch up the trim here and strip the hardware and spray paint it in a bronzed finish. All in good time :)

Now I just need to find somewhere else to use up the other half gallon of paint...

My 2013 Garden Plans: Part I

Last May we spontaneously decided to have a mini garden. We successfully grew jalapenos, cucumbers, kale, cilantro, and lettuce... we also planted bell peppers but they never showed up.

We didn't know anything about gardening. We spontaneously cleared a space in my parents yard in the beginning of May, threw the seeds in and watered it. A month later we put up a fence when rabbits started attacking. We got about 5 salads worth of lettuce, a few handfuls of cilantro, 10 smoothies worth of kale, tons of cucumbers, and about 30 surprise jalapenos in the middle of September.

By the way I say "we" but really Tommy did everything. I maybe went down there three or four times...

This year is different though. I finally have our dream garden space, I've been reading a lot about gardening (and preserving), I'm making a plan, and I'm hopeful and confident we'll have a successful harvest this year.

The first major part of my planning was ordering the seeds.

Deciding On What To Plant

As much as I want to max out all the space we have, I also know that I need to make my first real garden manageable. So I narrowed it down based on:

1. What We Eat Often

Although we eat peas, squash, and asparagus on occasion, we don't eat them often enough to want a large amount of them.

2. What Grows Well In Our Zone
Jalapenos, kale, zucchini, and cucumbers are a few of our favorite foods that are all fairly low maintenance and high yield crops in Michigan.

3. What We Have Space For
My main garden area is about 25 feet by 35 feet. I also have two 5x10 foot spaces on the side of the pole barn I can use. I don't think I'll fill all the available space this year - thankfully we are blessed with lots of room!

After looking through the catalog, I finally decided on just over a dozen different crops.

What we're planting:

• Carrots
• Jalapenos
• Onions
• Celery
• Cucumbers (two types)
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Bell Peppers
• Zucchini
• Spinach
• Tomatoes (three types)
• Cilantro
• and a few other herbs  and sunflowers

What we're not planting (but I plan to buy locally from stands & the Farmer's Market):

• Cauliflower
• Asparagus
• Cabbage
• Beets
• Watermelon
• Cantaloupe
• Corn
• Potatoes
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Apples
• other herbs

I'm excited, nervous, and really just anxious to get out of the cold house in be outside! Once my seeds are in, I'll post Part II - which will include my quantities of each crop, planting schedule, layout, and a few more things I'm still researching.

What else should I include in my first-time garden plans?

Thank you to the following Link Ups!

Homestead Barn Hop

Mostly Homemade Mondays

Backyard Farm Hop

Living Green Tuesday

Wildcraft Wednesday

Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways

Simple Living Wednesday

Simple Lives Thursday

Small Footprint Friday

Farm Girl Friday

Down Home Blog Hop

3 Surprising Tips About How to Really Prepare to Breastfeed

Admittedly, I didn’t prepare to breastfeed my first child.

I didn’t know I needed to!

It wasn’t until I joined a forum with my second pregnancy that I learned about all the women with fear that they won’t successfully breastfeed.
How to Prepare Tip #1: Learn less.

I breastfed my first baby for 13 months and I didn’t even know what mastitis, thrush, or inverted nipples were. Breastfeeding is natural, instinctive, and normal.

But I’ve never breastfed before, how do I know what to do?


Read all 3 Surprising Tips About How to Really Prepare to Breastfeed in my guest post today over at Intoxicated on Life's series Navigating the Booby Trap: Breastfeeding & Beyond.