I am almost, almost done my daughter’s room. The headboard, after I don’t know how many months, is finished and in her room. She sleeps in her room! Almost all night! All I need now is a blanket or comforter, a bedskirt, four sets of curtains, one set of blinds, some wall décor, a ceiling light fixture, and either doors or curtains for the closet opening.

I’m pleased with how it’s coming together. The headboard is perfect. If I hadn’t promised my daughter she could have pink walls, maybe I could have gone in a different direction, but I did, and I don’t mind. It is sweet, and girly, but not over the top. I’ve noticed that once you start going down the road of “cottage,” it’s hard to reel it back in to “prairie.” If that makes any sense. It’s easy to get lost in rich fabrics and ornate patterns and forget that your whole original vision came from Laura Ingalls Wilder and Holly Hobbie. But I think I’m maintaining a balance.

You can see in these pictures two blankets that my aunt made: the quilt was for my daughter when she was born, and the blanket was actually for my oldest when he was born (I didn’t find out what I was having, with him). The stuffed giraffe was a gift from my other aunt.

I’m not sure what my total is for the room so far. The pink toile Euro shams were $28, marked way way down from the original price, at the Pine Cone Hill Outlet website. The blue rose shams are “vintage,” from Etsy, and were around $20. The throw pillow was $17, from Kohl’s. $30 for the sheets, but I think I used a gift card. The custom color spray paint for the headboard was nearly $100, because I ordered way too much 😦 . But I didn’t want to run out and have to pay shipping twice. I will probably hold off on the curtains for a while, since they could get pricey. Wish I could sew; maybe someday. Oh and the box spring and bed frame came from a thrift store; they were extremely cheap. I forget how much exactly, but way under what a regular store was charging. They were new, and wrapped in plastic, and they seem to be OK…

So finishing up the head board was my focus this past weekend. It was pretty quick. I’m so glad it’s out of the garage and upstairs. We also had two soccer games Saturday morning. I got my grocery order done and placed on Saturday because I was getting worried about Pope-a-palooza. I picked that up yesterday, so we are all stocked up in the event the predictions of utter gridlock come true. (Personally, I think it’s not going to be that bad, here in Jersey.) I also managed to plant some carrot and lettuce seeds (or was that last week? IDK). And I cleaned out the Lady Lair, which had accumulated a bunch of junk and spiders.

Yesterday, I used some of my pumpkin puree for the first time. I made pancakes for dinner and added pumpkin to them. It was exciting to use my real pumpkin instead of the canned stuff. Not that I really think it matters, healthwise or anything. It’s just cool. Hmmm, perhaps today would be a good day to roast some more pumpkins.

Right now it’s just me, the laptop, and a mug of home-brewed mocha latte. It’s awesome. It’s seriously everything I dreamed it would be. I exercised this morning after dropping the kids off. It’s only 9:40 am! Not like I never had help or breaks in the past. I had a lot of them. But there’s a big difference between hiring a babysitter and hiding in your room, ignoring the occasional scream or yell that you hear, and sitting in a quiet kitchen knowing that your kids are at school, a very safe place where they are learning and having fun and where they are legally required to be! And that difference is called zero guilt.