Picture of the Week- Tying a Tarp to our Bushes

Perhaps not our most scenic or eventful weekend, but it was productive!

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Today's Inspiration- Beverly Pepper

Beverly Pepper doesn't often garner my attention, but this week I am thinking about green practices and stewardship. We may not think of monumental earth art as stewardship, but I think this work recontextualizes the world around us in a way that encourages reflection of the effect we make.

So, we saw this piece, Ventaglio (1967), by Pepper at the Olympic Sculpture Park last week. It really is beautiful in person, and the reflective surface pulls us into the frame around the natural world. We can't deny our own responsibility and part in this world.  This week I want to think about the way we live our lives like it is part of this sculpture, and we can't avoid our role as part of the frame.

from inspiration.teodorik.com

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Our Steampunk Travel Nursery Inspiration

This weekend our car is in the shop, so we finally had lots of time to put things together and start making the room our futon and printer is in into a nursery. The Boy and I love a project, and I am lucky to have a partner that responds to my crazy ideas with "Ok, how are we going to do this?" We have been buying little things and taking small steps toward getting it done, but now it is time to step up our game and make this thing happen.

I decided early on that I wanted the nursery to have a travel-y theme, because I feel like having adventures is a good (and completely genderless) foot to start on. When I started showing the Boy the things I was thinking about, he really loved the idea of making it steampunk travel, with lots of flying machines and mechanical doo dads. He got so freaking excited about it, and whenever he jumps on an idea like that, I basically go with it, because he mostly just vetoes until we find what we like.

So we had our theme- Steampunker Adventure- and our colors- teal, gold, black, white, and metallic business- way back in May or June, before we knew the gender. We scared people with the theme (if you just google steampunk, you don't find much that is baby-appropriate), but I think they are mostly on board now. As we get closer and closer to meeting our spawn, we have collected a bunch of inspiration and ideas, all of which are on my pinterest.  Here are the ones we love the most:

There are a couple of really cool rooms on pinterest with a travel or a steampunk twist to them: 

from thedecorologist.com

This is a very subdued and chic version of the adventure idea, which is not our style (I will never pull off chic), but I still love some of the ideas.

 

 

from laybabylay.com

Gah, I love everything about this one:

from thehandmadehome.net

from babyology.com.au

This is my favorite room we have found, so it is the closest thing to what we are trying to replicate in our room (though I think ours is pretty different). This one is whiter and lighter than what we are doing, but it inspired me to use white and metallic frames together. I also love that it is for twin girls:

from melodymelikianphotography.blogspot.com

from melodymelikianphotography.blogspot.com

 I also love this shelving, which we haven't figured out yet:

from theminimalistmom.com

 This one is the closest to our colors:

from designdazzle.com

The theme comes with tons of cool art options, but sadly we don't have too much wall, so most of this is just inspiration:

from society6.com

from minted.com

from etsy.com

from relaxdeco.com

I also love this clock, but it is so expensive, and again, no walls here:

from amazon.com

 You can find tons of really cool steampunk stuff on Etsy, though it is a little more challenging to find things that are baby friendly. Plus, you never want to go too crazy, because the baby doesn't care, and the theme will change in a few years (so we have tried to mostly pick things that can transition into other parts of the house or other uses when he wants Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or something). But here are some of my favorites:

from etsy.com

from etsy.com

I love that this one is an iron on. Right now, our plan is really plain bedding, so I am thinking one iron on like this might make it pretty special. 

from etsy.com

 We did buy some hot air balloons to hang from the skylight too, but they are in boxes. Sadly, I never found it in this color. I also found black and white ones, which I loved, but they apparently only sell them in Australia. No one needs to spend 50+ bucks just on shipping for a nursery.

from casasugar.com

 The Boy is working on a flying machine mobile, and we couldn't find any too many examples out there, but this is the closest we got to what we are thinking:

from texassteampunks.ning.com

I am still obsessed with this rocking puppy, because I feel like it matches the room and reminds me of Bumbo. I may still go for it for a "Christmas gift" or something.

from rhbabyandchild.com

 What is Done so Far

So, we are 9 weeks out from baby, and we still have a lot to do to pull off all these cool ideas.

My mom came to visit at the beginning of August, and she helped me paint the room "Icy Teal." Then I mixed Icy teal with a couple of the more saturated testers (1 in the background) and painted the inside of the skylight. We are going to hand hot air balloons, our biggest splurge, from the skylight. 

 The Boy's big project has been turning this old steamer trunk into an eventual toy chest.We have to change the hinges so as to not cut off his fingers. Until he is is old enough to get in it, we will use it as a table and storage. The Boy has really transformed it, but I will show it off once he finishes.

 Yesterday, we stepped up our game and really got to work. The Boy painted my dresser a copper metallic color. We bought cool handles on ebay to fit the Steampunk theme, but they aren't here yet, so for now we just put the old ones back in. My plan is to put the changing pad on top of the dresser, so we can give it multiple uses.

 We also put together the crib, which has been sitting in a box in our living room for over a month. I thought putting this thing together was supposed to be a rite of passage, but in comparison to some of the things we put together this year it was easy peasy. None of the furniture is particularly where it is going yet, because I have no idea exactly what that will be anyway. We are also trying to figure out what to do about our router, which also lives in the baby room but probably needs to be out of tiny person reach (eventually).

The rest of the room (including the closet, which I didn't take a picture of), is just a collection of all the stuff that doesn't have a home yet. We have a map of Franklin from Debence, a world map, and some of the decor from our shower to frame and put up as art. We bought a neat surveyor's lamp that still needs a lampshade. I etsy-shopped a bunch of mappy, steampunky pillowcases since we don't have much wall to hang things on.

We still need to figure out storage, but we will either buy something vintage/used/cheap and repaint it, or we will buy some cubbies like I have my art supplies in. We are not planning a big investment here.

The Boy still has to get working on his flying machine mobile, and I am going to make an art piece out of maps and some sort of family pictures wall hanging. Plus we have to put it all together in a way that makes sense, and I still have no idea how we will do that. Luckily, our spawn will be bunking with us for the first 3 months or so, so there is really plenty of time. We are getting there, but once we finish, I will post more pictures.

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Bumpwatch Week 30

 

How Far Along: We just finished our 30th week! Now, this is when the Bump actually loses its mind, because apparently the baby is the size of a cucumber. A cucumber? Really? What hot house are we talking about here? Also, if all I am housing is a mutant cucumber, why do I keep expanding like a balloon?

Best Moment of the Week: Not having gestational diabetes! I had to take the long test this week, which included lots of blood taking and pregnancy quizzes (apparently I will be a laid back planner mom... so yeah). I found out the next day that I don't have the Betes, so we celebrated this weekend with ice cream. I was mentally prepared to step up my diet, but it's good news I don't have to.

Most Interesting Prego Quirk: Eventually you only have so much room inside of you, and at some point (for me, around when he became the size of Larry the megacucumber) there isn't enough room for everything to function. This is why pregos are so ready for it to be over by the end. I now get it. Basically, you just have to get used to your basic functions not being completely cooperative.

I Would Really Like Some: Nectarines. Also, scallops. Also, a ham sandwich. As has been the case for the first 30 weeks, I would like all the food, please.

 

Bizarro Thing No One Warned me About:  Some people's belly buttons pop into outies. Some people's belly buttons linger in a weird place and no longer take straightforward paths inward. Also, these mutants look weirdly like they are smiling. I would prefer to just be Pilate with no belly button. It may be the creepiest thing my body has ever done. Everyone talks about the cute outies, but no one really expands on the strange dilemas your belly button starts to face.

And The Boy?: He has started conspiring with BBG. For example, he says "Bumbo Baby, if you kick me in the next 24 hours, it means you NEED a raspberry and I should raspberry your mom's belly all the time." Since the parasite is quite the dancer, I assume this will only escalate, and I am not sure I like them working against me.

Looking Forward to: Jury duty this week! Yeah, time to do some civic dutying. Also, it would be a bummer if I actually felt caught up with my life, so this should keep it interesting. We have our first baby class on Saturday, which is about baby safety and should be truly horrifying. Other than that, things should mostly plateau because we have no more travel until our spawn travels with us, outside of my uterus. 

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Quote of the Week- Stewardship and Green Practices

“It is possible, I think, to say that... a Christian agriculture [is] formed upon the understanding that it is sinful for people to misuse or destroy what they did not make. The Creation is a unique, irreplaceable gift, therefore to be used with humility, respect, and skill.”

 “We depend upon other creatures and survive by their deaths. To live, we must daily break the body and shed the blood of Creation. When we do this knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently, it is a sacrament. When we do it ignorantly, greedily, clumsily, destructively, it is a desecration. In such desecration we condemn ourselves to spiritual and moral loneliness, and others to want.”

- Wendall Berry

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3 Things I am Grateful for Today- Kathleen Hanna, Jenny Bickel, and Power Sanders

from blog.kexp.org

1. The Punk Singer- Sini Anderson's documentary about Kathleen Hanna is a cool and cursory look into one of the biggest badasses of third wave feminism and the illness that has kept her from being as active and visible in the last few years. Hanna puts herself out in a shockingly vulnerable way, and some of the footage of her fighting lime disease is horrible and oddly romantic. I am not sure the documentary does its rich subject justice, but I definitely feel like I know more about her and have been feeling that lingering guilt in the face of feminist awesomeness all day, so the documentary is clearly doing something right.

2. Pictures by Jenny Bickel- When we were home for the shower, my wonderful ad super talented friend Jenny took some prego pictures for us. We got them back (so fast! we aren't used to that), and despite our deep commitment to awkwardness, they came out looking beautiful. If you are in the Franklin area and want portraits of any kind taken, I highly recommend Jenny, who is wonderful, hardworking, quick, and able to make us look somewhat serene. Check her pictures out here.

3. Power Sanders- This hit me like a lightning bolt. How could I have been so wrong all these years and projects sanded by hand? The speed has changed my life. I will refinish anyone's furniture now, just ask.

Bonus- This lady's birthday. She is just the best, and she teaches amazing lessons about the power of faith, positivity, and gratitude. No other birthday fills me with such happiness, and I can't wait to celebrate her next birthday cancer-free!

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Divine inspiration: the Italian nun making wedding dreams comes true.

Dear Reader,
I first saw this uplifting story in the New York Times a little while ago. Do read on, I think you'll be charmed...

High in the hills of Umbria sits a beautiful medieval monastery, St Rita's. It's named after the patron saint of weddings and for 600 years it has been a place of pilgrimage for Italian women, praying to the saint to protect their marriage. And often leaving their wedding dress as a gift of thanks...

And it is here that the wonderful Sister Maria Laura has a completely unique atelier - providing disadvantaged brides-to-be with the dress of their dreams, all completely free. 

Before taking her vows twenty years ago at the age of 28, Sister Maria was a seamstress and designer. Now she applies her skills to re-fitting and re-styling dresses for any bride who could not otherwise afford one!

In return, the brides often make a donation, or simply return their dress after the wedding so that someone else can enjoy it. Sister Maria never leaves the convent, and now has so many brides visiting that this has become a full-time occupation. In her own words...

"It gives me great joy to see a young woman who can fulfil her dream of love with a dress appropriate for the happiest day of her life."

 

What a darling! Sister Maria, we salute you.

Enjoy your weekends, Heavenly friends, and see you again next week.

Love
Helena 
Heavenly Vintage Brides

If you liked this story, try more Inspire Me features


If you'd like to read more about Sister Maria, 
there is also a feature in Stella Magazine.
Photos c. Nadia Shira Cohen

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