There's no trick to it. It firms up on its own as it cools. I've had success by nuking frosting at 50% in 5 second increments until it's just barely just liquified. I test by stirring. It only needs to be warm enough to be dip-able. In my mind, (your mileage may vary) warming the frosting in a shallow, flat-bottomed container, barely bigger than your cubes, would be less messy than pouring... you could dip one side at a time, and if you worked quickly, your finger marks in the frozen cake would fall out as it cooled. I learned this trick from an awesome book I bought my niece and nephew for Christmas. They describe the technique on pages 18 & 19, which you can see by clicking on the "search inside this book" link, entering the work "microwave" in the search pane, selecting the second search result, and turning to page 19 with the right hand arrow. (For the record, the book is way fun!) I tried this dipping technique with cupcake frosting and the results were so flawless that the ladies I served them to assumed I'd done something very difficult and fancy. The punchline was that it took less time to dip (from scratch) cupcakes into warmed white Duncan Heinz frosting (with a bit of yellow food coloring and lemon extract added) than it would have taken to frost by the traditional method. The frosting firmed up a bit and they looked beautiful. This book also demonstrates a stupid-simple technique of drawing a design on a paper template, slipping the template on wax paper, melting some colored wafers, spooning them into a ziploc, cutting a tiny hole in the corner, and drawing on the wax paper. To see an example, enter the word "monarch" in the search pane and see pages 77-79. Or just buy the book. It's a fun jumping-off point for the imagination.

Well, I think you've answered some of your own questions! The embroidery of the letters is much too dense for the weight of the fabric. I have done lots of machine embroidery for my business. Fonts for fairly large letters are intended mostly to be embroidered on heavy fabrics - towels, heavy knit shirts, heavy decorator cottons, etc. There is no way a thin quilters cotton will stand up to that density of stitching without puckering. As for the outline quilted block embroideries - I'd use a HEAVY water soluble stabilizer for them, and I would NOT go through all three layers. You'll get a better result doing the embroidery on one layer, then joining the blocks, and quilting after.

Oh my goodness - you are all amazing at this! I can't wait to stop by the paint store to pick up chips for all of your suggestions! Jeana these options are all fantastic, and the Kilim Beige might fit exactly what I've been imagining to add that richness compared to the BM Summer Harvest...But I will consider them all. I'll try to post actual pics on the weekend, and pics of the finished product when it is freshly painted. Roarah, you place is lovely! The gray would be very dramatic with my dark trim, but with white trim it is beautiful :)

I definitely think grey is great long term- just change out the accessories. But I wouldn't do grey accessories with grey walls. it'll be too blah. Your taste reminded me a lot of the Emily & Merrit collection. Its geared a bit towards girls but there's a ton of great accessories that would work in your room. I adore their yellow and white pinstripe bedding, it would be great if you could find a crib option similar. curtains: https://www.pbteen.com/m/products/emily-and-merritt-circus-stripe-blackout-drape/?pkey=cemily-meritt-collection&isx=0.3.12536 or https://www.potterybarnkids.com/m/products/large-check-panel-boy/?pkey=cboy-window-panels-and-shades&isx=0.0 or https://www.potterybarnkids.com/m/products/stitched-border-panel/?pkey=cboy-window-panels-and-shades&isx=0.0 rugs: https://www.pbteen.com/m/products/emily-and-meritt-circus-stripe-rug/?pkey=cemily-meritt-collection&isx=0.3.10726 or https://www.pbteen.com/m/products/the-emily-and-meritt-tassel-rug/?pkey=cemily-meritt-collection&isx=0.3.11744 or https://www.potterybarnkids.com/m/products/mercer-rug-boy/?pkey=cboys-rugs&isx=0.0