A Room Remodel: Wallpaper Makes all the Difference.

Four score and six years ago… we created a fun and creative space for our new little baby boy. Three years later, we added a baby girl, but because Ryan had just graduated with his Masters, we didn’t have the money to give her a whole new room. So… We took down the small shelves, changed the curtains, added a cute rug and called it good for the time being. There was no rhyme or reason to any of the decor choices, but I really loved those yellow curtains and knew that would be my starting point when I figured out a design for this room one day.

Using the curtains as my color inspiration, I found a wallpaper company I loved and after looking through pages and pages of designs, I narrowed it down to a couple favorites. But for obvious reasons, those triangles just called to me. (I have a triangle tattoo on my arm).

I posted an instagram story saying I wish I could do a collaboration with them, and someone actually messaged me back telling me to send them an email! I could NOT believe it! And from there we sent emails back and forth and locked in on a design.

I found other inspiration in the Crate & Kids catalog, but knew the only thing I could afford was the adorable clothes hamper. But then we got to work.

When we removed the shelves & the trim on the chalkboard, the dry wall was damaged so we knew we had a lot of work ahead of us before we could start installing the wallpaper.

We received the wallpaper the week before all the stay at home orders went into affect. Ryan was super sick that week (negative for covid-19) and then that sickness spread like wildfire through our house. So not only were we dealing with Ryan working from home, no school and not being able to really leave our house… we also had so many projects in our house hanging over us. We finally started our girls room project at the beginning of April.

We had to patch the holes, as well as skim coat the stripes on the old wall to make sure that you couldn’t see the texture from the paint. This was a tedious process, because my sweet husband is a perfectionist and we kept having weird issues with the plaster not adhering to the wall and fine bubbles. Not to mention, something we would normally get someone to watch the kids so we could focus on the project without interruptions, we didn’t want to risk exposure, so everything we did was either during nap time, in between work days and weekends.

Finally by June, we were ready to hang the wallpaper! And I could not be MORE excited about this. One word of advice: Make sure the entire wall is fully painted white before installation. Regardless of the color on the wallpaper, it isn’t 100% opaque, and that dark shadow from the previous paint color at the ceiling is faintly visible through the paper.

On the ColoRay Decor website, our pattern shows the triangles with the points going down (like bunting), but I really loved the idea of them going the opposite direction, so at the last second we decided to flip it.

This is ABSOLUTELY a two person job. Go slow. Don’t rush. We started by giving a little extra at the top. Peeled back the backing and slowly worked from the inside of the sheet to the edges, squishing out all the air bubbles and making sure we didn’t have any creases. Ryan was on the ladder, and I was behind the wallpaper on the floor, slowly pulling the backing down evenly.

Did I mention, GO SSSLLOOOWWWWW. Match up the seams. And if you need to pull it off and reposition it, you absolutely can!!

When we were all done, using a straight edge and a very sharp Xacto-knife, we trimmed off the excess on the top & bottom and the sides.

We had been planning the room remodel for a couple years, and knew we would need to transition Verona into a big girl bed (Which we had already purchased from Ikea December 2019). I managed to take a chance on a bed spread that I ordered as a Target Drive up, praying it would be the right color, and asked for a new white rug for the girls room for Christmas 2019 in preparation for this upcoming remodel.

All the pieces were falling into place, and I had also dreamed of creating two big canvases as art for the wall to complement the wallpaper. I scored these 24x36 canvases from Michaels for 50% off, and was able to create something custom using my Tombow Dual Brush pens! (After planning it out on a smaller canvas just to make sure I liked the way it looked first). I love these lyrics from JJ Heller, and knew they would be perfect for my little girls room.

Our house is small. Our resources are limited. And money was definitely something we DIDN’T have to throw at this. But I knew creating a fun space for my little girls to grow up in was what was important to me, and here we are!

It turned out better than I could have ever dreamed, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to work with ColoRay Decor on this bedroom. Every time I walk in this room it fills me with so much joy, and these two little ladies LOVE it!

List of links:

Wallpaper -ColoRay Designs

Bedframe -Ikea

Twin Quilt -Target

Shag Rug -Rugs.com

Clothes Hamper- Crate & Kids

Curtains -Target

Floral prints -Lulu Ink Designs

Other Print -Handwritten Hope

Almond Joy Coconut Ice Cream Recipe [Dairy Free]

I made a promise to myself that if I ever blogged recipes, I wouldn’t go into so much detail that it required discussing how my first born child was conceived… because if i’m being honest… I never read what they write on those food blogs anyway. Just show me the dang recipe.

Let me just say. I love ice cream. LOVE LOVE LOVE… but it does NOT love me. So when I was given an ice cream maker for my birthday from my sister, I was pretty pumped to try some dairy free options that weren’t full of all those additives that only bloat my stomach.

I don’t miss anything when I eat this ice cream. It’s completely perfect and I can’t wait to make this again soon. I will link my ice cream maker, just click on the photo <—. Enjoy!

Almond Joy Coconut Cream Ice Cream

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Author: Jordanne Marie

(Dairy Free)

Ingredients

• 2 Cans of Coconut Milk (chilled in the fridge a couple days)
• 1 can of Coconut Cream (chilled in the fridge a couple days)
• 1 cup of Sugar
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Paste

Mix in

• 1/2 cup sweetened coconut
• 1/3 cup almonds roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup finely chopped dark chocolate bar

Instructions

1. In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer on low speed. Combine the coconut milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved-about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the coconut cream, shredded coconut, chocolate bits, almonds and vanilla.
3. Turn the machine on. As its running, slowly pour coconut mixture into ice cream maker. Depending on the size of your machine, this might have to work in two batches. 
4. Let mix until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes.
5. transfer to a loaf pan or in a freezer friendly container, cover with foil and freeze for 2 hours before serving. (I saved chobani containers and they worked amazingly)

Notes:

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @Jordanne__marie on instagram and hashtag it #jordannemarielovessharing

Created using The Recipes Generator

My Holiday Tradition [Thirty-something Years in the Making]

It was 2014, I was trying to figure out my first Christmas as a new momma and felt this overwhelming pull to do something creative. (I swear, that’s the story of my life as an artist… always looking to do something creative). I had just bought two 6 packs of navy & white glass bulb ornaments and had some left over paint pens from a previous project. I can make an ornament for Jonathan, like my mom used to do for us.

A little background on the ornament making tradition in our family. It goes back to the late 80’s, when my mom had the same desire to make something creative for her kids, and so the yearly ornament was born. She would create a new design every year and make one for her kids and all of her nieces and nephews. (And my family is a big Irish Catholic family, so there is A LOT of us) <3 Somewhere around 2007-08 my mom decided to call it quits on the ornaments as her kids started to grow up and finish high school.

It only felt natural with my love of Christmas, to carry this tradition on, but the really fun element for me, was it was a way to spread this joy and love all over the country. If the only good thing about social media and the internet was that it helped to connect people who wouldn’t have normally met in other circumstances to somehow find people they enjoy or have things in common with, I’d say its been worth it.

It started off slow… maybe 15 orders my first year, 25 my second year… but then I started added designs and options. And the orders starting coming in… ways for people to remember their loved ones, milestones, thank clients, celebrate family parties & special moments. I am always so honored whenever an order comes through and I see what new special ornament I get to make for someone, or how I get to create something that can bring joy or peace to their heart when they hang it on their tree.

My second year, we had been feeling a hole in our hearts for the baby we had lost earlier that year, and making an ornament to remember him always fills my heart when I see it and know he is with us and watching out for his siblings from heaven. That year, I asked people to submit friends or family members who have experienced loss of a pregnancy or infant to send me their address so I could bless them with an ornament. Praying over those ornaments that they would give those families peace like I felt remembering my sweet baby.

This is my seventh Holiday season making ornaments for people, and the joy of doing this has only grown. I love getting to come up with new ideas and designs. I mean this from the bottom of my heart, so much love goes into every design, so much prayer goes into every launch hoping these new designs bring a smile to someones face. Christmas can be hard for so many, so I pray I can bring simple joy to those who need it most.

If you have ordered in the past, Thank you… If you plan to order this year… Thank you. You have helped me find an identity outside of being a mom, that allows me to help provide a modest Christmas for my family, especially these past few years as we struggle towards financial stability.

2020 has been hard for so many reasons, but let’s make a plan to make these last 60 days of the year so joyful and full of cheer!

I’d love to make something for your Christmas tree this year! I find so much joy in making every detail special! <3

a portion of orders from 2015

a small portion of orders from 2019

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Some of my Ornaments this year… more in the shop!

Sold out

White Porcelain Ornaments

$14.00

13.1 Miles of Fear & Doubt...

I don’t remember what day it was exactly, but a few days into 2020, I woke up and decided to google “1/2 Marathon’s near me”. This was the year I was going to reclaim my health, and push myself far out of my comfort zone. Like most people, the start of the new year brings out a strong need to make a huge change, and the start of a new decade? Even more pivotal. I know we all woke up in 2020 hoping that this was going to be an extraordinary year, but just not as EXTRA as it has turned out to be.

““Ryan, THIS is the year I run a 1/2 marathon!””

Let me give you a little insight into me. I hate running. Like hate HATE. With the burning passion of a thousand suns. So to wake up one morning and tell my husband that I’m going to sign up to run a 1/2 marathon, he was checking my temperature to make sure I wasn’t delirious. We had a good laugh, but then I found the Detroit Race -Women Run the D, and marked my calendar for Sept 13th. I talked about it with a couple people, but for the most part, I tried to keep it under my hat out of fear that I might not actually be able to do it.

MARCH 11, 2020-

I signed up, paid the money, and told myself when it gets warmer I will start running outside to train. Two days later, life as we all knew it had changed. Things we never imagined happening, happened. Panic over having toilet paper. Stress Baking became a thing. We were afraid to be around anyone, but I thought, this will all be back to normal by September! Right? I did a lot of endurance training on my stationary bike, and tried to really like running, but only did a total of 4 runs in June & July, in order to “train”. But I started hearing that other races were being cancelled and I was CONVINCED this race wasn’t going to happen, so I exhaled and figured I dodged a bullet.

AUGUST 16, 2020-

I received an email confirming that I didn’t want to cancel my spot, and that I would complete my 1/2 marathon virtually. Now, if my life was a tv show, I would have been drinking a beverage at the time, and then dramatically spewed that liquid all over my computer. Well shoot. The gauntlet was set. I had less than a month to train. And so in true-Jordanne fashion… I procrastinated & ignored it.

I debated going for a couple runs… “if I wake up early enough, I’ll go for a run before the kids get up.” But that never happened. I’m a pretty active person and I do actually work out every day, lots of cycling classes, weight training, etc… so it wasn’t like I was out of shape, but I knew that if I tried to do a practice run, I would absolutely psych myself out.

In all honesty, I wasn’t exactly sure that I would even attempt it. There was no one to hold me accountable, and if I didn’t do it, I was only out the money I paid to register. I even tried to laugh it off as if it was a joke, on Sunday, September 13th, when I told instagram that I had signed up for it, and had a week to accomplish it.

When I say that I’ve only ever run 2 miles max in my whole life… that is not exaggeration. Two miles. And for some reason I signed up to run 13.1. Skip the 5k, skip the 10k. 1/2 marathon or nothing.

I went for a drive on Sunday afternoon, after I finished a super hard workout. I must have still been coming down off the endorphin rush of completing a 45 Tabata ride, because I listened to “Till I Collapse” by Eminem about 5x, and a few other songs that pump me up. That was it. Enough excuses. Enough Fear. Enough Doubt. January 2020 version of Jordanne wanted to run a 1/2 marathon, so that’s what I’m going to do. It had to be either Monday or Tuesday, so we made the plans, and that was it. I woke up Tuesday morning, brought Jonathan to school. Listened to all the intense pump up music I could find, and I did it.

However you chose to look at this year, there is no judgement, because we all handle stress in different ways. For me, I knew that if I woke up on January 1, 2021 and I didn’t accomplish running a 1/2 marathon, I would be disappointed in myself.

I let fear hold me back for a lot of my life. I’m 33 years old, and have let fear of rejection, fear of the unknown, fear of how people are going to perceive me, fear of failure, I’ve let these dictate too many decisions in my life. One day I woke up and realized I needed to start living and listening to those nudges from God. If I didn’t… this life with these people (Ryan, Jonathan, Verona & Vivi) wouldn’t be. Be brave. Taking those first couple steps outside of your comfort zone are really scary, but gosh darnit, they are worth it.

The first couple miles felt easy, but as it went on, lots of prayer and some intense pump up music had to push me through. I even did a quick facetime with my sister who gave me so much love and encouragement. Sure, I was in a lot of physical pain, had a few call out to Jesus moments & I didn’t set any world record on my time, but I did it. 13.1 miles done… I had only even ran 2 miles in my whole life. I told myself I COULD NEVER run a 1/2 marathon.

What is something that you tell yourself you “COULD NEVER” do?

(Side Note: I’d probably recommend actually training, because my hips and low back were not really prepared for that level of torture…)

I mainly did this as a personal goal for myself, but also being able to show my kids that you can do anything you set your mind to. Circumstances will set you back or stand in your way, but with faith and determination… you can move mountains. This is kinda cheesy, but I have a quote that plays over in my head in times like this.

““Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!””

— Rocky Balboa