Shopping Day!

Today is a pretty monumental day here at Casa Marcum.   It is the day where we finally get to (and have to--because our deadline is Friday morning) buy all of the furniture, bedding, art and accessories to make our guest bedroom and office more than just an empty room.  The swell people at True Value gave us a hefty chunk of change to spend at their store getting the room to where it is now and then gave us an additional $500 to spend in the form of an American Express gift card.  $500 isn't a whole lot when trying to outfit an entire room, but I like a challenge.  I have been scouring the online classifieds and found an amazing bedframe from Pier 1 circa 2006 for $75 and we scored a free mattress as well.

Our good friends at Rugs USA also came through and provided us with an area rug to soften things up (stained concrete floors aren't exactly cozy).  100% wool.  Dark charcoal.  Modern and graphic.  It took me a full 48 hours (Chris was about to lose it with how much I changed my mind) to decide on this baby:

And now I am just holding my breath, hoping it arrives on time.  We still need a desk and chairs and I am dreaming of a leaning floor mirror with a colorful ottoman cozied up together.  Punchy, bold curtains and neutral bedding with fabulous pillows.  All for around $400?  Probably not.  Most likely this room will take time to evolve just like every other room in our home, but it is exciting to finally get some furniture in there.

Is it weird that I am nervous to go shopping?  I have butterflies.

Baseboards. BOOM!

Last night with the help of Chris's brother, Cam, and his wife Kasey (yes, the one that's 9 months pregnant--check out the baby shower we threw for them a couple weeks ago here) we got a LOT done in our guest room.  We are so grateful for their help!  Before our work party--"party" because there was pizza--I had trouble fathoming getting this room finished by our Friday morning deadline.  But now, our list is so short, the end is definitely in clear sight. 

In the before photo below, you can see the old carpet that went up the walls--meaning, there were no baseboards.  Note the hole in the pillar where the water valve for the house is, too.

The lack of baseboards became very obvious after we ripped out that carpet and stained the concrete floors.  There was a nice blue border of paint around the entire room:

Last night, we painted and installed all the baseboards, painted the trim and doors to the room and the closet a fresh white and made a door to cover the water valve in about 2 1/2 hours!!

Cam and Chris busted out the baseboards in no time thanks to our finish nailer and air compressor we got at True Value and the miter saw--it was borderline "fun" for them.  While they were busy measuring, cutting and installing, Kasey and I did all of the painting.

And we took turns documenting the whole thing via camera for you:

This morning, the room looks like this:

Baseboards and fresh paint make such a big difference!  I can't believe my eyes.  When choosing baseboards, we wanted something tall and clean-lined to add a contemporary element. We ordered them through True Value and they delivered 4-16 foot baseboards. We have leftovers.

When it came to creating a little door for the water valve, Chris scoured Home Depot and found a pre-cut piece of wood that fit our space for $2.  He also bought two hinges that would go inside so they wouldn't be seen.

Now, I just gotta prime and paint that sucker the same color as the wall for a seamless look--which will probably happen today during Greta's nap.  Our list is getting shorter and shorter and the room is transforming quite nicely.  Don't you think?:

Eight Candles

Yesterday, I blew out eight candles because I turned 26 and 2+6 is eight.  I have had the same Cinnamon-Pistachio Bundt Cake for my birthday since I can remember and I just scarfed down the last slice right after snapping a picture:

It tasted just as good as previous years and twenty-six feels just as good, too.  25 was a kind of a tough year.  I have had many blessings come my way in the last year--hi, first home!  And lots of trials, too--a whole year of trying to get pregnant with no success can really get you down.  Now I am 26.  I have learned in my 26th year, there will always be someone older and wiser.  Lots of people may never take me seriously. Someone will always be married longer than me with more children than I have.  Someone will always start a sentence with "Just you wait...."  But in my 27th year, it's going to slide right off of me.  This year I am content with who I am and what I have.  I am going to enjoy my little girl who is getting older each day just like I am.  I am going to keep being madly in love with Chris--and there are no "Just you wait's" that will change that.  I am going to keep doing what I love doing and re-trying the things I don't (read: laundry and anything that involves heights).  I am going to keep smiling and sharing and having people in our home. Twenty-six is going to be a great year.  Can't wait to continue sharing all of my trials and triumphs with you.
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Cinnamon Pistachio Bundt Cake

1 box yellow cake mix (I like Duncan Hines Butter Recipe)
1 box instant pistachio pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water

cinnamon mixture:
6 T sugar
2 T cinnamon

Grease bundt pan with butter and dust with a little bit of the cinnamon mixture.  Mix first six ingredients and pour half of the batter in dusted bundt pan.  Layer the cinnamon mixture on top of the batter and add remaining cake batter.  Dust with any remaining cinnamon mixture.  Bake at 325 for 50-55 minutes.

You are gonna wish your birthday was every day.

Injecting Art in your Home

We are enjoying all the food, family and late night board games that are associated with Thanksgiving.  But I wanted to stop in and let you know how grateful we are for the opportunity to virtually meet so many new people this year.  Chris, Greta and I have had a jam-packed year and it has been nothing short of a pleasure sharing our successes and failures with you just about every day.

I don't think I have ever done a guest post.  I honestly don't know how bloggers find the time.  But when Cat over at Budget Blonde asked me to talk about affordable art for your home--I couldn't type fast enough.  So if your home is suffering from big blank walls, or photo overload, or you are just intrigued about how I did some of the art in my home--head on over here.

"That's what we in the biz like to call 'crunch time.'"

It's crunch time over here.  Yesterday, I received a friendly reminder email from the people in charge of this True Value series we are in:

"Happy Monday – hope you had a nice weekend!

Realizing that it is (somehow) already Thanksgiving (where does the time go?!), we wanted to reach out to all of our talented DIY True Stories Contest winners as you’re working on your fifth and final video, due on 12/2.

Overall, we’d like this final video to serve as the big reveal of the final, updated basement. It should showcase the transformation your hard work and DIY smarts have created. Some ideas of potential items to include are:
· Overview of the completed room
· Quick mentions/features of each individual project completed to get the overall job done
· Before and after comparison to show what the basement previously looked like and how you’ve revamped it
· DIY tips/advice you’ve learned through the process"

Eeeeks.  We have made a lot of progress, but we are no where near a "big reveal."  Chris and I panicked for a good 2 hours (mostly me) and then put together a list of things we still need to do:

Install baseboard.
Patch the ceiling.
Paint the doors and trim.
Stain floor in closet.
Make cover for water valve.
Build a desk.
Possibly build a bed.
Scrape all of the stickers off of the window.
Furnish and decorate.

Wednesday through Sunday we are taking off from the grind to be with family for Thanksgiving and my birthday.  Lucky for us, we have some family in the area that are willing to lend a helping hand next week, but it will definitely be no picnic.  We are currently gathering supplies for all the dirty work and I am making a mood board so that we can furnish and decorate the entire room in 2 days.  Stay tuned for lots of excitement over here!

Office Eye Candy:

  

If you want in on the office/guest room extravaganza next week, we wouldn't say boo if you popped on over.  

Cones Own

Friday afternoon, Greta and I took a quick trip to Ikea just because.  I promised myself I would stick to the As-Is section and see how many deals I could score.  The answer is a lot.  But then I also splurged on this $30 bowl:

I have been wanting it for awhile and I could never bring myself to spend the $30.  And then Friday, I just went for it.  I plan on using it as our fruit bowl year round, but the bright red color makes it extra perfect for this time of year--even as a centerpiece!

Saturday, while we were getting our photos taken, we were surrounded by these big, glorious pine cones:

We didn't have an extra bag or box to take them home with us, but I just couldn't forget about them.  I really loved the idea of filling my new red bowl with mounds of pine cones.  Chris suggested just buying pine cones.  "Yeah, but these ones are big!  And free!"  Not to mention, I get a tremendous amount of satisfaction out of doing things myself.  Another 24 hours goes by.

It's Sunday and we have had a few things go wrong already.  Greta throwing up all over the living room--any tips on getting THAT smell out of shag carpet and an armchair?? Also we forgot to get ornament hooks on Saturday so we have to postpone decorating the tree.  Wah Wah.  To try to keep spirits up, bags in hand, we went for a little drive to pick pine cones.  I was so happy.  It took no time to gather enough cones to fill 2 grocery bags.  They were covered in sap, but we had read that you could bake them for 30 minutes at 200 degrees and it would de-sap them.  When we got home, I put the bags on the counter and I noticed tons of little black spiders crawling all over in the bags!

I panicked.  I couldn't move.  Chris was preparing dinner and instructing me to get the bags outside.  Ahhh!  I had to touch those bags!   I grabbed them, opened the front door and threw them on the porch and slammed the door in record time.

This morning, I really wasn't ready to face those spiders but I desperately wanted my pine cones.  I quickly dumped out the grocery bags on the front porch and sprayed them with spider killer.

An hour later, I wanted to go admire/day dream about my pine cones (am I pathetic or what?) and I noticed a few little dead spiders on the concrete and one pretty big dead spider:

The verdict is still out whether or not I can get enough courage to bake these to de-sap them and make them into a fabulous centerpiece.  I worry I will always think of spiders when I see them.  Buying pine cones is sounding pretty good right now.

Christmas Pics--Take Two.

Because our last try at Christmas pictures via the camera timer were such a bust, we decided to recruit somebody to work the camera this time around.  Our nephew was the lucky guy (Chris is the youngest of eight siblings so our nephew is a whopping 22--just 4 years younger than me).  He stayed at our house last night.  And although not a photographer, he had held a camera before--all reasons which made him the perfect candidate.   

He took 134 pictures.  We tried not to take ourselves too seriously.  We know that with a toddler--especially a toddler like Greta--we weren't going to get a photo with everyone looking at the camera and smiling perfectly.   We weren't even expecting a smile from her. Instead we got a lot of very real faces, expressions and poses that scream each of our names.  We'll let you see our Christmas card and photo closer to Christmas time, but we couldn't wait to share a few of our favorites from today that didn't make the cut:

Near the end of our little shoot, things were spiraling downward.  We even considered a few of these very real life-with-a-toddler photos for our card.

This one cracked us up.  We were so tempted to have a speech bubble coming out of Chris's mouth with a big ol' "Merry Christmas.":

This photo was actually in our top two for our card.  It sums up our last year almost too perfectly:

Another similar photo:

And this last picture is one of my favorite pictures of Greta ever.  She is just learning to form words (she has a problem with her hearing, so her speech is behind) and every word, she concentrates so hard on forming and saying.  This depicts that in action:

DIY True Stories Video #4

Woot hoot.  Our next video in our online mini series went live this morning.  And this time we are spilling all the details on how we installed recessed lighting in our guest room (we teased before and after pictures in this post). Watch the video here (Greta makes a cute little appearance in a onesie at the end).

With four videos done, we only have one left to shoot.  We are busy, overwhelmed, exhausted and excited.  We can't wait to see this room finally come together.

The Decking has Begun

Last night we took a family trip to get new shatterproof ornaments and some more Christmas decor to outfit our first home for the season.   When our shopping spree ended we came home with outdoor lights, around 75 new ornaments, a tree topper (we never had one!), some red ribbon and 5 wreaths to go up our banister.

We knew we didn't have time to get the tree up, but we couldn't wait to hang the wreaths.  Chris hammered 5 small finishing nails into the crease on the banister and we had them all hung within 20 minutes:

At just $2.48 a wreath, plus $2.44 for a spool of red sparkly ribbon at Walmart--these trimmings came nowhere near breaking the bank.  For less than $15, we have officially started decking the halls over here.

A Co-Ed Baby Shower. You should try it.

I am not a party planner, but I do like to party--so putting on a baby shower for Chris's brother Cam and his wife, Kasey was a no-brainer.  We had to do it.  Yes, we.  Cam was way too excited to have his first child that I couldn't fathom leaving him out of the baby shower.  So, Chris suggested we make it co-ed, or maybe I suggested it, either way--the decision was made--Chris and I were doing this thing together. 

Back to the first sentence, I am not a party planner.  There are a bijillion fantastic baby shower themes out there and beautiful tutorials.  I failed miserably at this part.  We ended up hanging a cluster of 15 white balloons over a blue-draped table filled with food.  I think if it wasn't co-ed, I wouldn't have been able to pass on the lack of decorations, but the guys definitely didn't notice and the food and game made up for it.

We had tortellini soup, butternut squash soup, three different breads, and two different autumn-y salads.  For drinks, we served Martinelli's and I kept dessert simple with homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Everyone ate and mingled first.  And I didn't take one picture.  In fact, all of the pictures I did take were after the shower was over and some people had already left.  I panicked and made the remaining guests group together.

Once it seemed like everyone was winding down with their lunch, we started getting the game going.  Chris and I brainstormed a lot about what game to play.  Because it was a co-ed shower, and the first baby shower for every man there, we knew that crafts or any game involving guessing what type of candy bar poop was in a diaper was out.  We wanted to get everyone involved, and make sure the guys and girls had a fun time.

So we came up with "The Newly-Parents Game" which follows the same rules as  "The Newlywed Game."  The tough part was thinking of questions that were appropriate, could spark some laughs, and didn't leave anyone crying or feeling like a bad parent. Asking trivia questions about how to raise a child were not a good idea.  We didn't want anyone feeling bad or getting upset.  So, to keep things light, we kept the questions light.  First, the ladies and gents went to opposite sides of the room and were each given 5 pieces of cardstock with 5 questions typed on top.  The men and women had different questions.  We passed out markers for everyone to answer the questions large enough to be read by everyone.

The questions we came up for the girls to answer were:

-What was your biggest craving while pregnant?
-How many pounds did you gain during pregnancy?
-What's the first thing your husband said when he found out you were pregnant?
-How many pounds did your husband gain during your pregnancy?
-What nursery rhyme does your husband know all the words to?

The questions we had the guys answer were:

-What scares you the most about a newborn?
-What's your first pick for a girl's name?
-What is the best brand of diaper?
-How long does a newborn sleep in your room?
-Besides diapers and wipes, what is a must-have in the diaper bag?

Once everyone had their questions answered, the fun began.  In "The Newlywed Game" fashion, we verbally asked the men the questions we had the women answer and visa versa.  There were lots of laughs and some "ah-hah" moments.  In the end, there was a tie--so we gave each couple a Tai Pan Trading gift card.  And then it was onto gifts.

Everyone seemed to have a great time.  I would definitely be down with more co-ed baby showers.  And from the looks of Chris and a couple of his brothers--I think they would be down, too:

 We can't wait to meet the newest Marcum addition.  He couldn't be coming to two sweeter people.  We love you Cam and Kasey!

Psst.  If you want to see a real party planner in action, my friend, Lexy, spilled all of the details on the cutest bird-themed baby shower over on her blog today.  It almost made me not publish this post. You won't want to miss it. 

I rearranged.

We have talked about having a few friends over for a holiday kick-off at the beginning of December, which would fit in nicely with our decorate-the-day-after-Thanksgiving tradition.  Except, we have a deadline for our basement project just a couple days after Thanksgiving.  So now, it's about finding any smidgen of time to squeeze in and enjoy decorating our home.  Whenever that may be.  We were so close to decorating for Christmas on Sunday.  Thhhiisssss close.  What stopped us?  Our lack of Greta-proof ornaments.  Tonight, we hope to be able to do some fun ornament shopping and a few basement painting projects and *crossing our fingers* put up our tree within the week.  

Which brings me to the title.  I rearranged.  Of course we wanted our main Christmas tree (we will probably have a small one on top of the piano in the family room) in the living room because that is the room you walk into when entering our home.  The problem was there was no room for the tree the room's current layout:  

Our initial plan was to put the tree in front of the picture window.  I tried putting the two armchairs next to each other underneath the 15-frame grid, but they looked so crammed.  Furthermore, because the picture window isn't centered on the wall, the tree would be a little snug by the white couch.  Next, I tried putting the two armchairs under the large rope bridge photo and the white couch under the 15-frame grid.  I thought this would give the tree a little more breathing room by the window.  And it would have.  Except now the couch looked squeezed in behind the chairs.  I started exploring other options as to where the tree could go, and that's when I came up with this solution:

The tree can go in front of the 15 frames!  Looking in the window, you can still see the tree and coming in the front door, it will be among the first things you see. I moved the ottomans (that are filled with Greta's toys) underneath the window to serve as additional seating for the season.  With the chairs facing the couch, although admittedly not as open as the previous layout, is much more conducive to chatting.

In an aerial view, you can see the space that is left for the tree on the right.  :) !!!  

 This layout may be a more permanent solution in the future, when we tear down the wall between the kitchen and the living room (!!!), but those details are for a different post.

Anyone else rearrange for the holidays??

DIY Dud

We have found another thing we probably shouldn't attempt to DIY: Our family Christmas photo.  We took over 70 pictures with the self-timer on our camera against a wall in our home and only one we were all clear and looking at the camera.  One. Unfortunately, that one also left a lot to be desired.  I quickly sent a copy via e-mail to my photographer sister, Andi (who is also a photoshop master), down in Mexico to see if she could rescue our one shot.  There was more wrong with the photo than I thought.:

"Andi!

We tried self timer for our christmas card picture. Disaster! Lol. Greta looks possessed. My hair is over my forehead. Is this picture rescue-able? Maybe there is a way you can replace greta's mouth/face with a smile from a different picture????

-Jules"

Merry Christmas???

"Jules,
Just take another picture, lol. I can't take an expression of another picture and put it on this one, especially if her head is in a different position here, more laid back. Also with a self timer, Greta is always going to look clueless, because I'm guessing a light is blinking? Is that what she's transfixed on. Instead of rushing it, I would ask someone else to take it for you, maybe Chris' brother, even with your camera, and have another entertaining Greta. And I don't mean to be beating a dead horse, but your clothes are clashing.... Ok, I'm done. Sorry. lol
Wish I could photograph it for you! --Andi"


We do, too, Andi! If you haven't checked out her stellar magazine-ready photography--you can here.
In the meantime, I need a fashion blogger to style our shoot, a photographer, and a Greta-entertainer, stat!

Lite Brite.

Yesterday was a pretty monumental day for our guest room and office space in the basement.  We replaced the two outdated lights (that left a lot of dark spots in the room) with five pot lights.  It has made such a difference:

Don't mind our dusty floor--lots of ceiling debris that still needs to get swept up.  As a refresher, here's what the room looked like less than two months ago:

The lighting was as harsh as the black splattered paint on the walls.  We'll be sharing all of the details of our new lighting next week on True Value's facebook page in our ongoing mini series, but we did want to let you know that we had some help with this project.  A LOT of help.

As DIYers, we are always up for a new challenge, but when it comes to electrical work (I would say plumbing, too) it's just not worth the risk for us.  We couldn't be happier with the work that Black Diamond Electric did.  They fished wire through our ceiling without making any unnecessary holes which we were told would have to happen.   They also noticed there was something in our breaker box that was loose, so they fixed that, too.  And replaced all the plug and light sockets in the room because they still had black paint splattered on them.  !!!  So thorough!  We went with their recommendation and had the lights put on a dimmer which is nice (and intimate as Chris would say).

When we do work with a product or person that is exceptional, we like to pass their information along, so if anyone in Utah is looking for an electrician--we highly recommend Black Diamond Electric.

Stay tuned for more details on the whole lighting process next week.  Happy Weekend, friends!

Cool Find: Pear Tree Greetings.

According to our poll yesterday, most of our readers wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate for Christmas (currently around 72% of you!)--but surely you think about Christmas cards before then.  Right?  I know I do.  In my jumble of junk emails this morning, I came across a deal for Pear Tree Greetings that I couldn't pass up.  $20 for $40 worth of holiday cards.  Adorable cards.  Unique and memorable.  Luckily, Chris agreed and neither of us could say "boo" about the 50% off price.   So now, it is just a matter of picking one that is right for our family.  Here are just a few I am eyeing:

Gah!  My mind is racing.  So many great options. We'll for sure let you know where we end up.    If you are drooling over Pear Tree's cards, here's the link where you can get 50% off too: $20 for $40 of the goods.

Psst.  Just to be transparent, we weren't paid or perk'd to write about Pear Tree Greetings, we just got a little misty-eyed at their cards and had to share the sa-weet deal to go along with it.