A little Halloween Before and After...

Well it has been a little toasty here in the central valley of California, but I did it, I got out the box of fall decorations. Tomorrow is the first of October and there is only one way to start off the holiday season...with some sweet little pumpkins, a little fall garland and wreath. Take a peak at the mantle before and after...what do you think?


Before...my favorite black mirror, watercolor that my grandmother made in college and a orchid flower arrangement. Also, a great spot for the things around the house you don't want a 2-1/2 year old to touch!

After - a little bit of orange, cream and black to get the family into the fall season. Here's hoping for some fall temperatures!!!

Kitchen Redo?

I am in the middle of contemplating the redo my kitchen...

The cabinets are a dark wood that looked good when we purchased the house, but now look dreary and are in some need of freshening up! The avocado green tile is something we were willing to redo when we purchased the home almost 3 years ago, but with the economy and two new kids to the bunch...needless to say...it is still AVOCADO green.

I have been looking at so many different ideas...granite countertops, wood countertops, tile countertops...subway backsplash...glass tile backsplash...

Here are some of the ideas I have been pulling for ideas lately...

I love the idea of wood countertops...there is something so RICH about them. I think that if I painted the cabinets a creamy white color it would update them and then pop the wood countertops even more. I love the idea of beadboard as the backsplash, although I have see some beautiful tile lately too.

So here are my thoughts on the kitchen for today.I will share more very soon and hopefully make a decision on my design direction so I can start on my budget!!!

Finally....

It feels like forever...but I finally had a chance to get out my sewing machine and sew my pillows for the family room!!! Remember when I posted that I found a beautiful green velvet fabric awhile back? Well that fabric and a great print that I found at Home Fabrics is what I made my new pillows out of. I just love them because they compliment the color of the sofa, which has been a huge challenge in the past, especially when trying to bring in the blues and greens that I love!

More to come soon, hoping to move around some artwork in the house...including the area above the sofa in the family room...stay tuned!

So today is a special day...three months ago I had my precious little boy.

I can still remember getting up that morning with back pain; going to the doctor to get checked later in the afternoon, planning out my drive there so that I would not be in the middle of a contraction; going to the hospital in denial, thinking I would be in labor until the next day, to only deliver him three hours later without drugs...and finally seeing his little face on my chest after I delivered him...my handsome little man.

There have been many sleepless nights, occasional tears of frustration, but above all complete and total happiness. It is so wonderful to see his adorable little gummy smile, the way he lights up when he sees his big sis, and his sleepy little face on his daddy's chest.



Love you little man...you make me so happy!!!

Karis' room...take one

I was going through some photos and came across this super sweet photo of my daughters room about three months after she was born...

I will always love the room that I designed for her...it was so fun to find the adorable bedding by My Baby Sam...trying to make sure that the bedding was a neutral as possible, because after multiple ultrasounds, I was still not sure that she was going to come out at a girl.

I painted most of the rooms a pale blue and accented the crib wall with blue and green stripes, because I was not in the mood for pink (you should see her room now)...and opted for dark stained wood furniture that had a little curve to it.

I am so fortunate because my sister-in-law had a rocking chair and ottoman that I was able to have and paint a chocolate brown color and have my amazing grandmother sew new cushions for it.

The artwork for her room was inspired by her bedding and were actual shots of the paisley design placed in frames from Aaron Brothers.

We did not name her until we got to meet her and landed on the name Karis Grace. I was able to find some ADORABLE letters for her name in the Curlz font from a custom lettering company. I painted them a chocolate brown and hung them with chocolate brown and white stitched ribbon.

Looking back this was a super cute room and I am a little bummed that it is now my son's room... a little more masculine, with different bedding and accented crib wall...but I am glad that I took this photo to remember how cute it was!

I just LOVE spray paint!!!

Take a look at what I am up too...a little bit of spray paint can go a LONG way...check back soon and I will share with you what I am doing with all this white spray paint fun!!!

Custom Artwork for my little girls room...

I always have had a difficult time selecting artwork for our house, so when it came to selecting artwork for my daughter's room I looked...and looked...and looked...and could not find anything that grabbed me.

At the time, my daughter was almost two, and my husband and I had started singing her the ABC's and counting 123's. I had seen some really cute ABC designs from different sites, but could not find anything in the right size or colors

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So, trying to be crafty with a limited knowledge of Illustrator, I tried to make some artwork myself and this is what I came up with...



Inexpensive bedding from Target that I was trying to match colors too




ABC Artwork print that I created

123 artwork that I created

This was a great little project. I was able to use some existing Aaron Brothers frames that I had and I had them spray painted a white semi-gloss color. The mats were existing from previous artwork that I had in the frames and I popped the art printed with some really cute hot pink stripped scrapbook paper from Michaels.

I searched high and low for sweet fonts that were feminine and legible. I was able to find some free fonts over at kevinandamanda.com.

All in all, I think they turned out pretty cute. The best part about the whole project is that I am able to sing the ABC's and count the 123's with Karis whenever we are in her bedroom!