Party Planning

If you follow me on Pinterest, you've probably figured out what the theme of Charlotte's birthday party will be. Yup, my baby turns 4 (eeeeek!) in just over a month and I've been collecting ideas for several weeks now. Miss Chuckles requested a flower party, and I figure that's an easy enough request to oblige. Here's what I've been pinning so far:


Anything and everything flowers... from petal-filled ice cubes to lollipop flower tutorials. Now I've just got to whittle down all the options and make my final decisions. So much fun!!

Celebrating

Sunday was a busy day for us. Not only did we catch the big game (didn't Kelly Clarkson do a great job on the anthem?), but we celebrated big time! A friend of mine, who currently lives in Texas, came home for a few days to celebrate the impending arrival of her first baby. Since my sister and I are baby/bridal shower pros, her mom asked us to help with the tables for the party we had in her honor. It was truly a group affair. My sister arranged some flowers for centerpieces and all my friends took part in an assembly line this past Thursday as we made the favors that marked each place. We dipped pretzels in chocolate and packaged them like so:


I got the idea for the packaging from Pinterest (of course) and dressed them up by using an Anna Griffin journaling tag that went with our colors. We also got pinspiration when it came to our gift for our friend - one onesie a month for the next 12 months, all prepped and ready for a monthly photo shoot to capture the baby's first year. I simply printed some designs onto t-shirt transfer paper and ironed them on. Love how they turned out!


Now my friend's just got to figure out how to get that table full of gifts home via airplane. Ha!


P.S. Happy Birthday to my brother Joe! Hope it's your best one yet!!

Valentine's Day Pins

If you follow me on Pinterest, you've no doubt noticed that I've been pinning Valentine's ideas like crazy. Maybe it was the roses I got for my anniversary yesterday, or finally packing up the last remnants of Christmas, or the holiday section of Target -- I'm not sure, but I'm definitely gearing up for Valentine's Day. I think my favorite pin thus far has to be the Golden Girls valentines I found. I mean, can you get much better than Rue McClanahan's smiling mug with the words "I Blanche at the thought of losing you"?! The answer is no. No, you can't. But if the Golden Girls don't get you going, there are tons of more traditional Valentine's pins to check out:


And I'm always looking for more ideas, so please share some of the Valentine's Day ideas you've been spying!

The Rough Plan

I mentioned yesterday that for now my house focus is on decorating Charlotte's room. She's lived with basic pink walls, which thankfully is now her favorite color, for a year now. That's really been it in terms of decor for her space. She has no curtains, no artwork, no nothing. Poor neglected baby! I've had a board for her room for a while now, and added a boatload of pins to it yesterday. I'm starting to see how it can all come together and think I may actually accomplish something in her space relatively soon. Yahoo for small miracles! Here's a glimpse of the plan:


And now for some explanation... I just got the floral sheets for Christmas. For my own queen-sized bed. We never use a flat sheet though, so rather than have it sit unused in the linen closet I plan to pair it with a more subtle pattern to make a duvet cover for C's bed. Speaking of which, I'm on the hunt for an old iron bed to paint. I'm kinda digging the brass look of these, but may opt for white instead. Only time (and Craigslist) will tell. No matter what finish I go with, I'll definitely be making some egg carton twinkle lights and bringing in a bit of Mr. Pan, since Charlottes loves him so much!

And then I'll begin spray painting. I plan to peruse the thrift stores in my area to find some hideously ugly knicks knacks that I can liven up with a little paint. I'll also snag some frames to paint, and add them to the gallery wall I'll create above her dresser, which will likely include this super cute cuckoo clock that Gramma got her a while back. And once all that painting is done we'll have to see how much energy I have left in me, cause I'm thinking about painting some bold, crazy stripes (inspired by these) on her ceiling. Yeah, I know. I'm nuts.

The plan is rounded out with some awesome scripture art, some homemade curtains topped with soft, vintage chenille, the dollhouse that I hoped to have done by Christmas, but now hope to DIY in time for her birthday, and a Craigslist vanity that I'll be painting turquoise after falling in love with this cheerful piece. As I write it all out here, it sure seems like a lot. But like I said, I'm excited to pull together a space for my little munchkin. I'll be sure to share my progress along the way!

This Week's Menu {Nov 28} + Color

Sticking to a meal plan hasn't been a priority these last few weeks and I've got the fast food bags to prove it. Needless to say, I'm committed to getting back into the swing of things. The plan this week is pretty simple, but here goes:

Monday - London Broil
Tuesday - Turkey Noodle Dinner (I'm not the only one still enjoying turkey, right?!)
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Brats
Friday - Easy Chicken Soup
Saturday - Orange Pork Chop Skillet

Even though I haven't been making dinners like I should, we have accomplished some things around the house - painting, organizing, buying(!!), etc. As I decorate more and more, my aim is to have some cohesiveness throughout the house. At least in terms of color. Here's a couple of images (found here and here on Pinterest) that sum up the palette I love:


Add in the occasional dark brown or black and that happy, colorful feeling is what I'm going for. Only time will tell how well I do.

P.S. My sister-in-law is having a giveaway - a $30 gift card for Barnes & Noble. Who can't use that?! Head on over to Hybrid Simplicity to check it out.

November To Do List

Some big name bloggers (Sherry, Katie, Ana and Erin) are doing another Pinterest Challenge this month. I had grand plans to get some fun stuff accomplished to share with the masses, but a little something I like to call "a self-diagnosed sinus infection" thwarted my plan. Instead here's a recap of some Pinterest-inspired projects I've completed in the past.


(Clockwise from top left: crate bookcase, Dad Rocks paperweight, apple print painting, marshmallow sculptures, cross stitch wall art)

And because I know I get a lot more accomplished when I have a plan, here's what I want to get done this month:

* Paint the dresser in the spare bedroom (pin inspiration)
* Hang artwork in Charlotte's bedroom (pin inspiration)
* Create a Thanksgiving tree (pin inspiration)
* Make a (possibly Christmas) dress for Charlotte (pin inspiration)
* Finish making cloth napkins (pin inspiration)
* Make a Christmas garland (pin inspiration)
* Plan out a Christmas countdown and related activities (pin inspiration)

What are you hoping to cross off your to do list this month?

Apple Print Painting

This past weekend I babysat for my brother and sister-in-law. Charlotte was thrilled to have a pair of playmates in Elijah and Caleb! I always try to plan an activity for when we have little ones over - partly because it'll take up time and keep them occupied and partly because I think Charlotte enjoys these activities more when she has someone to share the fun with. Last time we made marshmallow sculptures with Penelope. This time we did some apple print painting with Elijah.


I put a tablecloth on the dining table, gathered my supplies, and stripped the kids down to their underclothes.


As the guest, Elijah got to do the first couple prints. I just dipped the apple in paint each time, wiped a bit of paint off so it wasn't too drippy, and handed it over. The kids did the rest.


The apples were quickly set to the side in favor of fingers. No surprise there. Each of them began by just using their pointer fingers, but that quickly changed to whole hands. Charlotte was the first to really get messy. No surprise there either.


You can see my method, since I couldn't find paper plates, was to put the paint on paper towels, all situated on a baking sheet. This actually kept things pretty well corralled and made for easy cleanup. Note to self for future painting endeavors.


It was bedtime before we got around to taking after pictures, hence the change in lighting. We decided to make the orange pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns using construction paper based on this pin. Charlotte told me she's giving her masterpieces to Elijah (she's infatuated with him lately) and Gramma. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to keep some for myself though!

Have you taken on any fun fall projects lately?

Happy Almost Halloween!

I love some of the spooky Halloween decor I've seen around the web lately, but with a toddler at home and my affinity for bright, cheerful colors, it should come as no surprise that my Halloween decor leans to the whimsical side of things. Only the living room made the cut for decorations, mostly because it's the only room that is complete enough in its own decor to warrant any holiday-specific decorating.


If you remember waaaay back, the above is what the room looked like after we painted the walls a pale blue (Behr's Valley Mist) and added a new sofa, a new rug, our old armchair, a thrifted coffee table and just a handful of other accessories. But in the 10 or so months that we've been living here, I've taken on quite a few projects in the space. I've added new curtains, made by moi in a happy yellow suzani fabric, as well as a crate bookcase, a coat rack ledge and some fun wall words. And like most ladies, I've spent my fair share of moolah at Home Goods, Target and the like and have added a host of other accessories into the mix. And then I perused Pinterest for some great Halloween ideas and managed to turn the space into this:


The crayola box, bright colors everywhere might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I love them! Let's take a closer look:


Over the couch is a wall full of bats. I simply folded black cardstock in half, cut out a bat shape and used some painter's tape to hang a boatload of them on the wall. I love that they're opposite the bay window and trick-or-treaters will be able to see them as they come up to the house. And there's the Halloween-ready bookcase that I shared the other day, complete with a little sparkly black light-up pumpkin that was gifted to Charlotte recently (thanks Mom!).


Speaking of, my mom requested a closeup shot of that cute little owl that sits atop the bookcase. He was a Home Goods find and the glitter tree came from the Target dollar spot. I've got a few more owls in the space, including this little trio found on Etsy. I paired them with a sunny, yellow pitcher and a plate I found at Home Goods. Love the branch silhouette and that it's not overtly Halloween, but fits right in.


Also on the hutch is a jar of candy corn, a purple mercury glass owl I found at Marshall's recently, a jar full of lollipops (that always lives there), a bird tray from Ikea and a small glass bird that use to reside in Charlotte's nursery. Turning towards the door you'll see the trio of pumpkins (Momma, Daddy and baby according to Charlotte) that we snagged at the local produce stand and a black cat from Michaels.


Turning even further you can check out the decor on the coat rack ledge. I spruced up Charlotte's portrait by adding construction paper devil horns, mustache and tail. She calls herself a "funny monster". Throw in a few wobbly-eyed ancestors and a spider web made by Charlotte and Gramma and the room is complete. Here's a list of some of the pins I used for ideas around the space:

* Dress up family portraits
* Cheese cloth ghosts
* Google eye ancestors
* Free printable
* Poison/potion labels

And definitely check out my Halloween board for a slew of other fantastic ideas that I hope to put into place next year. Happy Almost Halloween!

P.S. Wanna see what other bloggers are doing based on ideas from Pinterest? Head on over to the Modern Marigold and her Pin-Did Challenge.

Crate Bookcase: Halloween-Ready

Amanda over at The Modern Marigold got me motivated last week when she put up a pin-did challenge. The goal is to get one task, inspired by Pinterest, accomplished and ready to be shared each week. The project can be big or small, but the goal is to stopping pinning and start doing!


I made this crate bookshelf a while back (it was inspired by Pinterest too) and decided after pinning tons and tons of Halloween decor ideas that it was high time I started decorating myself. Here's the start:


Sorry that the color is all kinds of off! With it getting darker earlier, I'm rarely home during daylight, so getting natural light photos is impossible. But you get the idea, right?


All I did was add a couple Halloween items to our regular mix. The glitter tree came from the Target dollar spot. The owl in a top hat (fabulous, right?!) was a Home Goods find and the spooky Mickey was from a previous Disney World trip. Oh, and the metal jack-o-lantern bucket was from Home Goods too. We'll be using it to pass out candy, but of course, couldn't fill it just yet. Not with a 3 year old around.


We've got some other Halloween decor going on too, from specifics pins I made. I'll be sure to snag some decent photos of those and share them in the weeks to come. Until then, what have you done to get geared up for Halloween?

Par-Tay

Amanda (my sister) and I were just taking about how we need to have more get-togethers and parties with our friends. We've brainstormed a bit and will definitely be having a Halloween bash, a Secret Santa party and some other fun events into next year. I was craving some more ideas though, so I did a little Pinterest searching for inspiration and found this:


Is it just me, or does it make you beyond happy just to look at that moodboard? It's got to be on the sweetest things I've ever seen. You can check out the sources here, the actual party here, and an Etsy treasury I happened to make using the same color scheme here.

Do you have any parties in the works? Or maybe some great inspiration images to share? Do tell.

Crate Bookcase

I've become a pinning fool and spend a ridiculous amount of time pulling together inspiration for future projects on Pinterest. I'm going to pat myself on the back for managing to complete four things based on pins so far. The first was a Father's Day gift for Mark, the next the cross stitch wall art that I shared two weeks ago, and the third being the laptop sleeve that I mentioned yesterday. But right now I'm ready to give you the rundown for how I made another.


Old wooden crates are popping up everywhere lately, and I was particularly smitten with the idea of using crates as a bookcase, like the one pictured above. I love that it's a little weathered and beat up looking (perfect for a house with a toddler) and that being on casters makes it super-mobile. So I hunted down three similarly sized crates (two from an antique store in my area, the other from ebay) and hit up Home Depot for some supplies.


I grabbed a long, thin strip of wood. I have no idea what it was called, or what it was meant for (I seem to recall it saying threshold on the tag), but I liked the color and imperfections it had. And the price (less than $2) was right up my alley. That piece, plus four casters, was all I needed for this little project. I took everything outside and began to formulate a plan. It was important to me that the bookshelf be able to be disassembled pretty easily. What can I say? I'm fickle and wanted to make sure I could use them as actual crates, or mount them on the wall, or chop them up for firewood (ok, not really) if I felt so inclined. I figured it'd be best to use two strips of wood along the backside of the crates as a way of "attaching" them to each other. In reality, they're only attached to the wood strips. So I eyeballed how long the strips should be, marked the wood and got to cutting.


I also cut three shorter pieces of wood (not pictured) to attach to the base of the bottom crate, with my plan being to attach the casters to those pieces rather than the crate itself. I used screws and washers to attach the casters and then nails to attach the wood pieces to the crate.


With the casters on and ready to go, it was time to attach the wood strips to the back of the crates. For this step I predrilled pilot holes through the wood strip and the crate and then drove extra long nails through the holes from the back. I was left with about an inch of the nail poking through to the front side of the bookcase, which I bent down with my hammer. I thought about using shorter nails, but everything I tried felt a bit unsecure, and I figured the bent nails only added to the beat-up, rustic charm. Right?!


And with that, it was done. I carted it inside and set it up in the living room. I haven't put it to use yet, but I'm loving the look of it in the space.



Have you pinned any other ideas using crates? Here's a few more I like: toy bins, on the wall, as planters, bathroom storage, more on the wall.

Cross Stitch Wall Art (Pinterest Challenge)

Remember back in June when I posted these photos, found on Pinterest?


I wasn't kidding when I said I was totally enamored. And as good fortune would have it, some big name bloggers (Katie, Sherry, Emily and Lana) are doing a Pinterest Challenge and I happened to have a day off work this past Friday. So I found a cross-stitch pattern online that I liked and got to work. I began by chalking a grid on my wall. This would have been simple if I had a chalk line, or even an overhead projector, but I didn't have time to wait (or rather, was too excited to get started) and so used a level and painter's tape to get my lines on the wall. They're incredibly hard to see in the first photo, but the second gives you an idea of how I spaced things out. The rows were each two inches apart and the columns were four. Mostly because I got tired of drawing vertical lines.

I'm notorious for taking things to the extreme, so it was fitting that the pattern I picked had over a thousand Xes. Oops! Nothing like being ambitious, right?! So I started in the very center with yellow and orange paint then switched to the wine-colored hue, making Xes that were about an inch square. Eight to each box on the grid. The first few colors were the most time-consuming since it required a lot of counting to make sure each each color was in the right spot.


But I kept trudging along and slowly but surely you could see the flower start to take shape. When I got to the last color (the lightest pink) things went really quickly because it was just fill work, no counting required. I just added a couple leaves and it was done.


I really love it!! It's perfect for this space, which pulls double-duty as a guest room and craft room. The vanity beneath it in the photo below is just there temporarily (it's going to be painted and moved into Charlotte's room). I have grand plans to build a desktop hinged to the far wall (the one to the right of the art) that will fold down while it use, but fold up when we have guests over since the pullout sofa is located opposite the art and would crowd any desk that couldn't be hidden away. We'll see when that happens!


So all told I spent less than $10 on paint, a brush and the paint tray, not to mention two hours of my time drawing the grid and seven hours actually painting, and got some artwork that I'm super proud of! What are your thoughts? Is it too crazy for you, or are you itching to make something similar for yourself, just like I was about a month ago?


P.S. Sorry for the less than stellar photos. I don't have a wide angle lens and this space is pretty tight and lacking in natural light.