Ugh, she's back...

At least that's what I think they say-- "they" being the employees at Home Sense when I march into the store on a Monday night with two kids and a camera.  Yup, this is how we roll.

Normally I wouldn't be dragging the kids to Home Sense in the evening. And really, I'm not dragging them there-- they love it-- just LOOK at the excitement on their faces.  Nope, I'd be going by myself.  But Doug was out fishing last night... apparently the sockeye season was only open for three days this year-- yeah, I guess I WAS listening...  so he made a trip to the Fraser while I made a trip to Home Sense WITH kids.  With surgery just a few days away I've been feeling the need to get out while I still can!  

Now, let me share my favorite Home Sense find with you all-- hope you enjoy it-- these kinds of posts won't be happening again any time soon :)

I think if I had this office chair I would actually enjoy paying bills and organizing all of our paperwork.  Wouldn't you?

This little metal stool-- I can't think of any reason why I would need it or what kind of purpose it would serve-- but it is just so awesome.  If you have an extra $59.99 burning a hole in your pocket you should really pick it up.

Now, last night I kept finding things that would be awesome in a kids room.  I fell in love with these poufs.  They would look amazing in an all white modern nursery-- a hit of color and retro fun is always needed in a fantastically cool nursery :)

Maybe a nursery like this...

via pinterest

Or maybe this one...

via pinterest

I also fell in love with this area rug.  Oversized colorful flowers-- perfect for a girl's room.  So cute!

Now, I don't usually wander into the kids furnishings area-- the stuff in that section is usually pretty un-cool and very cheesy.  But I actually did find one thing in the clearance bin that I thought was worthy of a picture.  This multi-colored striped quilt was really great.  It would be perfect for a boy's room that's got a fun nautical vibe going on.

Maybe a room kinda like this.  Cute!

via pinterest

Wanna see something NOT cute?  Check out this fuzzy purple upholstered headboard.  Oh my.

See what I mean about cheesy?  Almost as bad as the soccer and football style headboards behind it!  Speaking of cheesy-- so is this post :)  Well, I won't be heading to Home Sense anytime soon over the next few weeks-- so hopefully the staff at the store will enjoy a nice break from me and the kids!  That is, unless I can convince Doug to take me and the kids-- I could probably fit into that cart too... right?

Two Faced

I gave you a sneak peak of this little sewing project a while back... a long while back.  Finally, I had an afternoon with nothing to do so I decided to finish it off.  And, I was also feeling guilty over the fact that I had stolen Eme's pillows for my own room.  Well, not really.

Anyways... the pillow is finished!  This pillow has a little something for everyone.  On one side it's got a little chevron.  Pink chevron... created by yours truly.  It only took me several hours to figure out how to turn stripes into a chevron pattern... and then several hours to figure out how to sew it together.  Emerson, you're worth it.

But wait!  The other side's a bit of a surprise... we've got stripes AND buttons.  This proved to be much much easier than I thought.  Pop a new foot onto my sewing machine, push a few buttons, (consult manual), and perform a little other sewing wizardry... and you've got yourself a perfect button hole times 3.

Now for a bit of a safety disclaimer... Eme doesn't get to sleep with her throw pillows.  This is a safety no no for small children.  They usually live on her chair and pretty up the crib on special occasions-- like photo taking occasions.

What's that Caleb?  You love Eme's new pillow too?

Before I knew what was happening Caleb had scaled the crib, stolen the pink felt flower pillow and had run off with it for his own room.  When I went to retrieve it I found it sitting pretty on his dresser.  True story.  And a shameless little excuse to fit a picture of these cute kiddos into this pillow related post :)

Retro Chair = Retro Nursery

I really hope someone snags this $25 MCC chair quickly... because if I had another boy's room to decorate I would have snapped it up in a heartbeat.  Blue with orange piping?  Yes please.

Can you see it?  I sure can!  And since I've had a lot of free time on my hands today-- I decided to have a little fun pulling together a retro nursery to match the chair. (I tweaked me knee yesterday and have been trying to stay off of it to keep the swelling down-- thank goodness it's gonna be fixed once and for all next week!!) Now it may not be for everyone... but I think a baby boy's room with that chair and the following items could be pretty sweet.  It's retro, it's fun, and it's for one really cool baby boy...

You know me and stripes.  Love.

This has got to be one of the simplest (and most affordable) cribs out there... but in a bold room I'd go for something clean, modern, and a bit more subtle.

This is one pretty rad change table.  But would you be willing to spend $1700 on something like this?

Because you could go for this super stylish 3 drawer dresser from Ikea for $199.  It's the same height and the same depth-- the drawers just aren't as wide.  Put a change table pad on top and you've got a pretty great change table-- for a pretty great price.

Now, on to some of the fun stuff.  I'd whip up a lumbar pillow out of this fabric for the blue and orange chair.  So awesome.

Or if you want something a bit more subtle, this fabric would work too.

Nurseries tend to be small, so there often isn't room for a table lamp.  Because of this, I'd go for a floor lamp like this beside the chair.  This particular lamp is from Ikea, but you could probably find one like it almost anywhere.

I'd throw up a Lack Ikea wall shelf above the dresser/change table.

And I'd probably put a few cute things on that shelf-- one of these owls would do.  I'd go for orange or green.

A few wooden toys or blocks would be cute on display.  You could order these ones from Indigo/Chapters... but I've seen some pretty great sets at the dollar store too.  How's that for cheap?!

Above the crib, I'd put up some fun prints-- one, two, three... or a whole gallery wall.  You choose!

I think this car is so cute.  Framed in this nursery?  perfect.

Also pretty great.

If you're craving even more color... this one's got it all!

Love this giraffe.

You could add a couple of your own photos... or frame a collection of pages taken from great old book-- how about a Richard Scarry book? The pages are full of color and great pictures.  A row of your favorite pages framed in some white Ikea lack frames would look awesome above the crib.

And bedding.. I'm a minimalist when it comes to bedding in crib.  How about just a really great crib sheet?  This green lattice print is fun and fits with the retro vibe. 

If you have any left over fabric from the chair's pillow-- a cute accent pillow or two would look great in the crib.  And that's what I'd do-- if that chair was mine!  Will someone please pick it up?

Prepare yourself for more posts like this people-- 6 weeks on crutches = one very very bored blogger.  Don't say I didn't warn you!!

Here are the links!!

1.  Wool Striped Rug

2.  Gulliver Crib

3.  Duc Duc 3 Drawer Changer

4.  Nyvoll 3 Drawer Dresser

5.  Zoom Zoom Chevron Fabric

6.  Wave Spice Fabric

7.  Barometer Floor Lamp

8.  Lack Wall Shelf

9.  Ceramic Owls

10.  Wooden ABC Blocks

11.  Punch Buggy Green
12.  Parisian Runways
13.  Modern Pop ABC's

14.  Giraffe Wall Art

15.  Dwell Studio Fitted Crib Sheet  

Clothing Challenged

So on Monday I woke up with the Monday blues.  I didn't feel like doing anything.  Until I opened up the door to my storage room-- wow.  Talk about a mess.  Talk about a lot of useless stuff that we don't need.  I got busy, I managed to awkwardly drag out a few boxes, started reorganizing the kids clothes and set aside some stuff to sell.  Then I thought about the guest room closet-- It's my second closet.  I don't have enough room for all of my clothes in our bedroom closet so I use the downstairs one for the overflow.  Both are full-- way too full.  I was inspired.  The goal of the day-- go from two closets to one.  I was ruthless as I began the purge... and 2 hours later I was finished.  Then I started posting things on craigslist and 24 hours later I had made $175 bucks (and still have a few more sales pending).  I did sell a few other household things and kids items-- but most of it was from my clothes.

As I was cleaning things out-- feeling a little disgusted with myself at the size of my wardrobe-- I realized that I've had quite a few clothing challenges to deal with over the past 5 years.  Let me share some of them with you:

• Having babies.  Need I say more?  Really, over the past 5 years I have been a size 10, a size 2, and every size in between.
• I've needed clothes for every season-- rainy weather, cold weather, hot weather... the list goes on.
• I've been a working mom-- with an office job that requires you to dress professionally.  And because I've been every size imaginable (and pregnant-- twice) this means I have a ridiculous amount of dress pants and skirts.  It's crazy.
• I've been a nursing mom.  TMI?  Too late now!
• I now cannot wear sleeveless tops and dresses, or even T-shirts with short sleeves, due to my shoulder injury.  I cannot even begin to tell you how difficult it is to shop for summer clothing with this to keep in mind... although I am getting more skillful in this area.
• Lastly-- this is a big one-- I have a very real fear of becoming prematurely geriatric.

As you can see... shopping is serious business for me.  Sure doesn't help that I'm pretty cheap too :)

But after my latest clothing purge I have new rules.  The clothes I buy need to be multi-functional, non-geriatric, comfortable, have long-ish sleeves, and be good value, not just cheap.  So, with that said, let me show you the best purchase of the summer.  This shirt has long-ish sleeves, it's uber comfortable, the lightweight fabric makes it nice and cool for summer (hard to find in a shirt with sleeves!), it's not geriatric, it sneakily hides the after-effects of pregnancy, it can be casual (like when I'm wearing my summer staple-- cutoffs) and dressed up with cute jeans-- and it was good value-- Target for $19.99. 

And that my friends, was my first (possibly my last) fashion related post.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Summer...

Changing things up in our room... again.  Moving things around, throwing up some cheap-o ikea curtains, and tossing in Eme's floral cushions I made-- instant summer update.

So the wooden medallion (a Home Sense purchase from many years ago) moved across the room and over the bed.  I like it.  It works with the curve of the headboard we made.

The above the bed picture is now across the room...

Added some new $19.99 ikea curtains.  They're not as heavy as the striped ones I made-- I just love leaving the window open at night and having them move in the breeze.

And I just love the way those floral pillows look with the green side table.  Love it.

So you don't have change everything in a room to make a big impact... just a few things.

And let me tell you... I'm so glad my room doesn't look like this anymore... :)

Tigger

Lego building?  check. 

Counting to 100?  check.

Spelling your name?  check.

Mastering various kids computer games?  check.

Riding a bike... needed work.  seriously.

This weekend was bike riding boot camp.  If you tried to find us at home... we weren't there.  We were at the park, both days, forcing Caleb to ride his bike.  And he did it.  He's now a full fledged bike rider (with training wheels).  Day one-- he totally knocked our socks off and made it all the way around the lake-- with quite a bit of encouragement, of course.  Day two was even better.  Doug commented in the car on the ride home: "wow, Caleb did so much better today-- and I mean riding his bike... not so much with the whining."  Still a work in progress :)

For some reason the sight of Caleb riding along on his Tigger bike caused quite a stir.  I kept hearing... "hey, look at that Tigger bike!"  "look at the tail!"  "Hey Tigger!!"

It must have been the view from the back.  It is pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself :)

Emerson was quite content to watch her brother from the stroller.

But after several hours of biking at the park, boredom eventually set in.

Caleb got to finish off his bike rides with a round of frisbee toss in the park.  He LOVES to play frisbee. I have never seen a kid whip a frisbee like he can.  And as of tonight he's figured out how to catch one too.  Here he was-- absolutely bubbling with excitement-- trying to tell me about his latest catch.  

And a few non-sporting accomplishments of the weekend-- eating a whole pear that wasn't sliced up.  This was quite entertaining.

And finally riding in the double car cart at Home Depot.  This was apparently not very entertaining. 

And that was the weekend!  If you want to find us this week-- look for us-- and the Tigger bike-- at the park.

Boy's room on a budget

** I've added another source for flashcards-- they're free!! **

I've always loved this little boy's room.  The red and blue combo is fabulous.

via Pinterest

Last weekend I was at our local MCC thrift store and found this awesome little side table...

It's not an identical match to the one in the photo, but it's similar-- and I think I even like it better.  It was $15.00-- and then 50%... $7.50... not bad.  I didn't buy it because I don't really have room for it in Caleb's room, but if I was going to buy it, this is how I'd transform it.

First up-- paint the whole dresser-- except for the drawer front-- in Benjamin Moore's Harbour Fog (2062-70)

Then I'd paint the drawer front white-- maybe Cloud White (OC-130)... why not.

I'd put a square knob on the single drawer front-- it's a square-ish looking dresser... stick with the square.

How about this one from Home Depot.

Done!  But now you want to do the rest of the room, right?  Here's what I'd do.

For the bed, find a wood bed frame on craiglist or at a thrift store-- I see them all the time.  Paint it a bright red.  How about Lyon's Red (CC-68)-- I think this is the actual color used in this room.  It's a good red.

I'd paint three walls of the room in Classic Gray (OC-23).

Now, for the 4th wall-- I'd do this.

via Pinterest

This is a picture of the play room connected to the bedroom (first picture I showed you).  Since most of our kids don't have a separate play room-- I'd bring the stripes into the bedroom.  Use all four paint colors- the Harbour Fog, Lyon's Red, Classic Gray, and Cloud White.

Now you're gonna need a dresser.  I'd put a white dresser up against the striped wall.  I'd choose the white malm dresser from Ikea.  They have a clean modern look-- and they're cheap.  Instead of buying a 6 drawer dresser I would buy two of these 3 drawer ones and put them together.  That's what I've opted to do in Caleb's room-- that way, I can split them up and use them in two different kids rooms at some point in the future if needed.  If you don't have an Ikea nearby, just find a long dresser on craigslist and paint it white.

Now for accessories and art work.  You could use a oversized canvas to paint yourself the first letter of the child's name-- like in the first picture.  Just use the same blue, red, and white paint colors.  I'd pick up a bunch of cheap pictures frames from a thrift store and paint them white.  I'd frame some of the kid's artwork and put them up on the striped wall over the dresser.  Above the bed, I'd string up a row or two of twine and hang these Charley Harper flash cards ($14.95) on it-- I saw it done at House and Home.  They used bull clips to hang the cards on the twine, or you could use wooden clothes pins from the dollar store.  Horizontal looks good, you could also hang two pieces of twine vertically and clip the cards on either side if you want to go for long up and down strips.

**update** I'd try these flash cards-- they're a free printable.  Visit the handmade home for the link!!

What else would you need...  lighting.  Find a lamp at a thrift store and paint the base red.  Add a new white shade and you've got yourself a cheap lamp for the bedside table.  How about something like this Ikea one for the main light fixture?  It's funky... it's $40.00.

Or, you could go for this one.  Also Ikea.  $50.00.

Now for bedding.  They've opted for white-- could be scary for a toddler boy's room.  I know.  But, you could always bleach it... right?   Find a solid blue throw blanket for the foot of the bed.  Try Walmart or Home Sense.  Or this one from Ikea... it's $2.99.

Then I'd pick a yard of each of these fabrics from Fabric.com.

$8.98 a yard

$5.98 a yard

$5.98 a yard

$8.98 a yard

Start sewing some accent pillows.  You could get really creative mixing the patterns and solids-- a pattern on one side of the pillow, solid on the other.  Or you could make some piping out of a solid and trim out a printed pillow with a contrasting color.  (Fabric Disclaimer-- I've only seen these fabrics online-- if you actually want them, I'd suggest ordering swatches first.  But then again, they are so cheap that you could just go for it!!)

Other accessories... use your kids toys.  Books stacked up, wooden blocks, wooden train sets... they look awesome when put on display.  Add a couple of baskets for storage.  Instead of paying $45.00 for something like this elephant-- pretty as it is-- you could find a cheap one and spray paint it white.  Or, search thrift stores for glass/ceramic animals and spray paint them.  Birds would look particularly cute :)

Oh, and if you have some firewood sitting around-- you could try to DIY those tree stumps from the first picture.  Strip off the bark, give them a sanding, prime, and paint them an apple green or sky blue.  Can't guarantee it would work-- I've never tried this myself-- but it's worth a try if you've got some dry wood (it would have to be bone dry) sitting around.

Well, I think I'm out of ideas.  Does anyone else have any great ideas to add?

Oh, and if you want to see the room's original transformation-- click here.