according to boyle

So, way back in March (I promise we’re slightly more prepared for this child to come now then we were at the end of this post project), I decided it was high time to start the transformation of my office to baby B’s nursery. Seeing as it is a little room approximately 20 steps from our bed and it was already a girly light purple, it was an obvious choice for us.

My first project to tackle? One of the two closets this tiny room possesses. It was mostly empty already since it was holding things I was selling things on Etsy and I had since closed the shop and donated the goods. All that remained then was an old TV/printer cart and a nasty, old shelf above the hanging clothes bar.

Nothing a dog and a little fresh contact paper couldn’t handle! Ok…Penny was just trying to get on my lap but you can see that lovely faded blue contact paper with lilac print just needed a little updating. Removing it took 4 hands so we have no photos of it. Trust me, the wood underneath is not quality.

Before removing the sticky backing, I took the new contact paper (stuff we already had on hand otherwise I’m sure it’d be a bright, girlie color) and rolled it around the shelf to get it cut to size (long enough to wrap around and cover the edges so we didn’t end up with any exposed wood a la the blue contact paper).

Once we stuck it on to the shelf, I grabbed the nearest plastic card I could find to press out any bubbles. No one wants bubbles in their contact paper. It is maddening.

I found the best way to wrap the paper completely around the corners was to start with a squared off edge of overhang and cutting off the top layer of contact paper so it would lay smooth underneath the piece I was about to fold over.

Look at those plump pregnancy hands! Sexy!

Once again, I smoothed it out with $20 worth of Amamzon credit.

I tried several different methods of wrapping the corners and this one was the most effective and also the easiest. Once the length of the contact paper has been folded over, give a quick snip to the corners of the remaining contact paper that sticks out.

Press down the top piece and fold back the front piece and you’re done! Move on to the next corner and try not to let the dog get in the way of your project.

What? Everyone doesn’t work like this – in their pajamas and being stalked by a dog trying to figure out how to get onto your lap? Then you aren’t living, my friend. You aren’t living.

Now that you’re done, call in your handsome assistant and ask him politely to put the shelf back into the closet because 1) it may be a little snug and 2) you can’t actually reach it.

Go crazy and fill it with everything you own that could possibly be used by/for a baby!

I love how the shelf blends in now where before it was all, “Look at me! I’m an old, faded shelf that might collapse on anyone who dare touch me!”

No worries, the shelf is actually quite strong and stable up there and as I mentioned before, we’re slightly more prepared for baby than this photo implies. Slightly.

Let me begin by saying that I am very blessed with the people in my life and the possessions I am able to call mine. I fully understand I have many things that I may take for granted that other people can only dream of. Now let’s move on.

“Luck of the Irish” is a saying that gets thrown around so wildly and I want to tell you why I think you need to think about it before putting it out into the universe some more. I’m about to blow your mind.

Irish luck is not synonymous with good luck.

Whoa, right? In my experience as a first born Irish American with access to plenty of actual still-in-Ireland Irish folk, I’d go so far as to wager a guess that, most of the time, Irish luck is pretty rotten luck. Not buying it? Here’s my most recent, personal example:

Looks pretty lucky, no? After planning a whole day of St. Patrick’s Day fun for Jerry (mostly centered around eating because we do that best), I came down with a nasty, nasty GI bug that kept me running from the couch to the bathroom and back again. I couldn’t even keep down water. Plans = Foiled.

Clearly, from the pictures above you can see I ended up in the hospital and I am lucky that both baby B and I have come through the tunnel (after over 3 days of darkness) to see the light of a full meal.

I could go on about the unfortunate luck of the Irish or at least my Irish family but it’s not your pity I’m looking for – just another story to tell, I suppose.  I’ve actually been using “luck of the Irish” in a sh*t happens kind of way for a couple of years now and it just jives better that way. Read up on some Irish history and I’m sure you’ll start seeing things my way.

So…it’s been about a month since I’ve been around. I decided to stop sharing the every day of this, my first, pregnancy. A lot of people have gone through it and a lot of people just don’t care to know! :p

Anyway, every month for probably the past 13 months, I’ve been making one monthly update that even I can remember. With this monthly update, I get lots of compliments and I really can’t believe I haven’t shared this before.

Every month, the very talented Rebekka Seale  puts out a FREE desktop image with a calendar attached on her blog (you can find the March edition here). Did I mention she generously posts it for FREE?

If I were a richer woman, or an employed one at that, I’d snatch up one of her custom house prints in a heartbeat. Be sure to check out her shop. Her illustrations will have you wasting time daydreaming in seconds.