Filming Day 2 + Big Boy Room Updates

Well, I survived my second day of taping for HLN. Last Wednesday, the crew hung out with me while I worked a little more on the boys’ room. This time I worked on curtains, pillows, glazing the dresser and adding ribbon trim to a lamp shade. Also, an update: I’m now told that the segment will air during Evening Express on HLN. If things change again, of course I’ll let you know! I don’t have the dates yet but so far I’ve heard it will be in March.

Things have been completely crazy around here as I try to execute an entire room makeover in 2 weeks’ time. Things are on track though and hopefully I will finish in time to film the big reveal this Friday!

So far, here’s what I’ve done in the room:

• Painted and glazed a dresser and night stand (both found on Craigslist)
• Spray painted 2 lamps and added ribbon trim to the shades
• Made throw pillows
• Added “no-sew” stripes to some plain white curtain panels
• Re-covered a thrift store chair
• Spray painted a thrift store magazine holder to be used for books
• Spray painted some frames for the walls
• Purchased a new mattress, bedding and accessories
• Made the template for Aiden’s headboard (Jake will get a matching one when he’s ready for a bigger bed)

Next up:

• Make the headboard (Cut, stain and seal.)
• Assemble and decorate the room!

Here I am working on the curtains:

That’s Dave, the camera man. (Above.) He had the distinct “honor” of filming me doing completely fascinating things, like ironing fabric, for hours on end. He mentioned that the following day he would be filming Obama at an event. I told him surely it must be more exciting to film me ironing than to film the President of the United States. Poor guy. Seriously. I’m sorry Dave.

Oh, and since I have no idea which 3-5 minutes they will choose to show after they edit down the 10-15 hours of footage, let me just warn you about what you might see. You might see me knocking the iron off of the ironing board (twice). You might see my sewing machine beeping in my face and getting mad at me because it wasn’t threaded properly. You might see me fighting with a pillow and finally giving into hand-sewing the seam closed after stuffing it, rather than cramming it into the machine to sew it closed as I tried to do and failed. You might see a whole lot of me ironing, and talking about how much I hate ironing. All I know is that when a camera is in your face for that many hours in a row, it’s impossible to not show “real life.” So, you’ll see the “real” me! (Depending on how it’s edited, of course.) The good, the bad and the ugly! Ha. I will say one awkward thing about the whole experience is that sometimes if they needed to re-shoot something, or get another “take” of something, I had to re-enact it. And of course if you are re-enacting something that you’ve already done (and you’re not an actress), it’s definitely not going to be as natural the second time around. I’m hoping they will use the first “take” when editing so it will seem more genuine. This didn’t happen often, but a few times. And it was weird.

And then of course there were those moments where I would say “Ok scratch that! Edit that out! Please!!?” Or “Ok let me try to say that again, I messed that up.” Finally after several hours I gave up and just realized you all are going to see what you’re going to see, and I can’t stress about it. I’m awkward, and it’s awkward being on camera, so the whole thing might end up being an awkward train wreck. But I’m ok with that I suppose. It’s been a fun and interesting experience at least. And it motivated me to get my act in gear and give my boys a new room, and I can’t wait to finish it and show them. (And show you too!)

Thanks for all of your support, as always. And thanks again to my wonderful friend Erica for helping me out behind the scenes again! And to my mother in-law for traveling back to town again to help with the boys. And to my hubby for agreeing to be on camera, and for allowing a stranger to apply makeup to his face to avoid “shine,” and for being completely supportive and cool with our home being invaded by lights and cameras on multiple occasions.

If you missed it last week, click here to read about Day One of filming. Feel free to follow me on Instagram for more behind the scenes updates.

Do you hate ironing as much as I do? Would your hubby wear makeup and agree to be interviewed on camera, and then tell the producer how awesome you are at DIY projects? I’m such a lucky wife. I didn’t even have to bribe him.

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