Showing posts with label family and daily life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family and daily life. Show all posts

7.01.2013

a story of three little faces...

i've had a bit of unintentional silence for awhile here on the blog & also survived a lesson learned in staying updated on recording my projects here & backing up my photos...

the first reason for getting backed up was this little face, baby gunnar, who joined our wild crew on march 12th. 

he's now 4 months old & i'm just starting to truly feel like i'm coming up for air!

this little face was thrilled to welcome him in her handmade-by-mama stenciled shirt:

& this little face, my wild monkey who is just entering some terrible twos, decided to dunk mommy's cellphone in a glass of water like a cookie & all of the project photos on it are gone.
trickster that he is.

so instead of detailed tutorials & surprising before & afters, i have just a few scrapped together updates with the handful of photos i had saved in other places of all the crafty escapades i've been up to for the past several months. 

live & learn i guess. back up those photos & never underestimate the destructive power of an inquisitive toddler! being a family of 5 is happy chaos for sure!

2.15.2013

we've got a pinterest kind of love.

my husband laughs a little bit at how much i've... ahem... utilized the very special entity that is pinterest. while i do think it can be a bit of a trap you get stuck in, pinning idea after idea, beautiful visual inspiration ad nauseum, it can also be a great jumping off point for your own ideas. [or a great resource for something you really are at a loss at, like me & cooking!]

well. truthfully, i constantly think of him with many of the ideas i see, & when i found myself pinning about 4  or 5 little ideas for his valentine, i decided this was the year for small & homemade instead of trying to decide what was the best & most affordable gift from his amazon wish list. i think once packaged all together, they turned out sweet, thoughtful, & a little cheesy, just like a valentine should be!
first things first, i saw this card. it can be tough to find a manly valentine card & i really loved it because of the vellum envelope & simplicity. i tweaked it a little by using a kraft notecard i already had and ended up writing the little phrase since i couldn't find my tiny letter stamps at the last minute. also, we just moved so i thought it had a sweet extra meaning- we've had some really cool travels together & i would follow this man to the ends of the earth & he knows it.
original idea seen via swoon

i know the 'i dig you' shovel with candy is a little kiddo-ish, but it immediately made me think of him because it was one of the first things he said to me right before we started dating that indicated he was interested in being more than just friends. the shovel came with a little bucket from the dollar tree [yellow is his favorite color] & i made a simple little shipping tag for it.
the idea is apparently originally from tori spelling's craft blog... who knew, right?

next were some fun little valentine mad libs, idea via a blog appropriately enough called dinner & a love story. we had done some in the car recently & these ones were more like a middle-of-your-busy-life love note- pretty appropriate for us right now. i printed out 2 copies & had one ready that i had filled out & one for him to fill out about me. i packaged them in little glassine envelopes with little kraft labels to indicate who's who & we traded and read them during dinner.
there were a couple of other little things i wanted to add, like cheerwine in a glass bottle, but in the end i added some of his favorite candy & was happy with how it turned out.

 ironically enough, pinterest also played a role in the epic gift he got for me! first off- i'm a strictly target/payless/old navy kind of gal when it comes to shoes. i don't spend much, so i rarely get good quality. i'd been complaining about how i'm wearing out all of my favorite shoes & how few of them fit right now while i'm pregnant, so my sweet husband went straight to my pretty to wear board & saw these awesome yellow nine west stunners:
he even did a little sleuthing to make sure what size i'm currently wearing & look what was waiting for me right after breakfast:
real shoes. foot perfection in butter soft real leather, mustard yellow.

i do so love this guy. happy valentine's day!


10.30.2012

a pre-move home tour

during the month of october we've been moving to a new house. that doesn't just mean we have a new house waiting to be made a new home, but also a new town, a new church, a new job for my husband [at the new church] new doctors, new routines, & in the spring, a new baby in the family!

that's a ton of new.

as we're packing up the old house & making trips back & forth to the new one, i thought it would be fun to put together a home tour of what it looks like right now- not only to remember & show the kids later, but to see that i really do finish a project every once in a blue moon! it looks quite a bit different since the last one i did last christmas [the last time i did a home tour], since i'm a chronic re-arranger & can't leave well enough alone when it comes to crafty decorating.

entry foyer
before:
currently:

entry foyer projects:

living room
before:
 during:
 currently:

living room projects:
gallery wall
empty frame to mood board
little blue end tables
i made the leaf pillow, but apparently never wrote about it!
the chunky wood lamps were also thrifted, & the gorgeous round green family art was custom handmade through a local shop- it was my anniversary present last year!

den/playroom
before:

 during:


currently:



den/playroom projects:
little frames on the side tables
additional sources:
the toy storage is an ikea expedit [bought used on craigslist] with target dollar spot buckets, the black coffee table was a $25 flea market find, the baskets under the side tables are from kmart, & the ocean painting on top of the expedit was painted by my hub's grandmother!


dining room
during:

currently:


 
dining room projects:
giant coffee filter wreath
i'll fully admit the dining room never got to the point of what i would call an 'after.' i spent lots of time on the living room/den/playroom & the master bedroom since that's where we spend lots of our time. but i did do some little tweaks here & there!

guest bath
before:

after:
guest bath projects:
stenciled shower curtain & jute wrapped hooks

master bedroom
before:
currently:



master bedroom projects:
refinished bedside tables
additional sources:
all our bedding is from tj maxx/homegoods, i made the yellow pillow out of 2 napkins, & the yellow shades you probably recognize from target!


big girl room
before [our guest bedroom]:

during:

currently:




 
big girl room projects:
i made all of the Ks above her window except for the chunky hot pink one, which was from michael's. you can tell i do most of my crafting for my kiddos- my big girl especially is so fun & easy to please! the paper lanterns are from target/michael's/various dollar places, & the striped rug & most of her bedding was target clearance or hand-me-downs.

baby boy nursery
before:


during:
currently:




 
 boy nursery projects:
paint stick letters
big paper mache letter
repurposed twig baby mobile [tutorial coming!]
wood bible verse artwork [tutorial coming!]
distressed dresser

i also made the little twig wreath out of sticks from the park & a ring cut from cardboard, & a good friend reupholstered our rocking chair cushions as a baby gift!

i'm excited to share some new projects as we get into the new house & start decorating for thanksgiving & 2 birthdays in november [not to mention christmas rapidly approaching...]

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