Sunday, April 27, 2014
OUR WEEKEND IN PHOTOS
This past weekend was so eventful for us. We fit a lot into just a few days and I am exhausted, but so thankful for beautiful weather.
We started our weekend on Wednesday night with a family coffee date. She has learned to spot Starbucks as soon as she sees it. I know she's going to turn into such a little coffeehouse girl {if she hasn't already}. She loves browsing the display cases and always picks out an organic milk and {when allowed} a snack. Tonight the snack of her choice to be shared with the fam....a simple Rice Krispie Treat. I can't get enough of her face in this photo! We call it her happy/crabby/I-just-want-to-eat-a-bite-and-not-smile-at-the-camera face. I seriously can't get enough of her!
We planned a trip to Wilmington Children's Museum Friday morning. I have to admit, after going to some pretty good children's museums in the past, this one has some work to do in order to even compete. Wilmington is a much smaller city than Omaha and Balitmore but that's not to say each city shouldn't strive to make it their best. The great thing about it, Kensi isn't even 2 yet and anything that's new is fun. It definitely kept her entertained and we'd go back just for that and to give us something different to do.
She could have spent over an hour in the Grocery Store and Restaurant. She's becoming quite the little chef.
Saturday morning was by far my favorite. After grabbing our Starbucks we headed down to Carolina Beach for Britts Donut, a hidden local trademark of the Port City.
They've been making these donuts down on the boardwalk since 1939 and put every donut I have ever had to absolute shame. They serve these bites of heaven toasty hot and they literally melt in your mouth. Don't go expecting an array of donuts though, they only make glazed and they are absolute perfection!
Like many of the other locals we took our bag and walked the beach. It was such a beautiful, warm & breeze-less morning.
Kensington is obsessed with jelly sandals, as am I.
We finished our Saturday by spending the evening with some of our closest friends we've made since moving here. Good food, hilarious conversation and a night around the fire completed our day.
Yesterday, we decided to make a spur of the moment beach trip. Kensi actually napped for a full 2 hours after church which is unheard of!!!! Of course we tried to get as much stuff done as we could. Once she woke up we packed up our lunch and headed down to Oak Island.
The water was definitely chilly but she didn't care one bit. After squealing with each wave and getting sand everywhere, she crashed out again. Let me just say beach cuddles are almost better than couch cuddles. You don't have to worry about getting anything done while the babe sleeps because you're there to relax. It was a great weekend to kick off spring summer, yes I said summer....it's starting a little early here, because we said so :)
Saturday, April 19, 2014
EASTER EVE
It has been such a dreary day, all day. It was hard to stay motivated, but the excitement of tomorrow's holiday makes it better.
We spent the afternoon picking up last minute items for tomorrow's brunch and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Kensi was definitely testing us today and turned into a complete crab cake while we were walking through Lowes as she could no longer play with the washers & dryers. Oh that's the best part of toddlers, the sporadic tantrums in the middle of the store.
In all the rush around to get things done, we completely spaced coloring our eggs tonight, Opps! Who says you can't color them on Easter and have an egg hunt at night? I don't know and I don't care, that's what we're doing :)
I am one happy mama now that we planted our jellybeans {we also forgot our lollipop, Mike had to run to the store AGAIN} and finished her filling her Easter basket with goodies.
I need sleep for multiple reasons!
Zzzzzzz Zzzzzz Zzzzzz
Happy Easter Eve!
Friday, April 18, 2014
EASTER TREATS
Today we started getting all our goods for our Easter brunch on Sunday. With a trip to Trader Joe's ...this girl can never leave the store without snatching a fruit peel & picking beautiful flowers.
This morning I whipped up some oldies, but goodies: Strawberry and Bacon Butter {find the recipes under the chow tab}. I always double my Bacon Butter recipe because there is never enough.
And of course we're hard boiling our eggs just in time to decorate them.
This year we're also starting the Magic Jelly Bean tradition with Kensi. Plant jelly beans on Easter Eve and overnight they sprout into lollipops. I am so excited about it because she’ll understand the concept. Although I know she will definitely not be happy about planting jelly beans when she will want to eat them, but she will flip out when she sees the sprouted lollipops Easter morning! I found the Magic Jelly Bean free printable on Pinterest and can hardly wait for her to plant them in the ground tomorrow!
Happy Friday!
XOXO
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
BIG GIRL ROOM: PART 1
I can’t believe we’ve started changing Kensi’s nursery into a big girl room....it’s really bittersweet. It all started a couple months ago when she mastered climbing out of the crib. Every time we thought she was asleep we would hear a big THUMP! Talk about giving first time parents a heart attack!
The week of multiple climb outs we blew up the air mattress for her. She loves the idea of a big bed and enjoys being able to get out and come in our room in the mornings.
We were hoping to keep her in the crib until she was two, but we are pretty close to that mark. That being said, and the decision made to convert her room, I am very excited to redecorate with some new elements, but it is hard realizing how quickly she’s growing up.
For our idea board, we decided to add a little more color to her room. We’re still keeping it simple and neat, but adding different patterns, textures and color in her bedding is a must.
I’ve been shopping around for some fun new fabric for spring & summer, both for the Etsy shop and the babe’s room. I am always excited to see what prints I can find from Jay-Cyn, Michael Miller, Alexander Henry, Sarah Jane & Amy Butler {and so many others} because they never disappoint. Here are some of my favorites so far:
My Brain Hurts...
We debated whether to do a twin or full size bed....definitely no toddler bed for us....they grow out of them way too quick and I don’t want to do another change over. And picking the frame is hard stuff! There's the style; modern or vintage. And the material; wrought iron or wood and then the color....Ah the decisions!
But the past few weeks were pivotal for us, we decided on the bed style!
Woot woot! The Hubster always gives me such a hard time because I'm constantly changing my mind. I tell him it just means I'm creative.
We really love her Jenny Lind crib and wanted to keep the chic vintage style, so we decided to go for the Jenny Lind bed. We knew we had to budget for this especially since the bed we love was going to cost $600 just for the twin, not including the mattress {GULP, with a flip of my stomach}. Then we were really smart....we decided before we bit the bullet on the bed, we would hit local consignment and antique shops in our area just in case we could come across something with a spindle style. Oh was it worth it! After spending a rainy Friday afternoon in a local shabby chic shop, we stumbled, literally Kensi bumped into several twin and full size bed frames at a fantastic price. We told the owner of the store what we were looking for and after three weeks of waiting we finally got the phone call. Not only did they have a Jenny Lind style twin size bed, but it was only $160! BOOM! I can't even explain the high I get from savings, there are no words.
We also found her a matching letter press drawer we use as a knick-knack shelf. It’s rustic and so cute, it will be the perfect place for her to store all her tiny collections as she grows just as my sisters and I did growing up.
I'm going back to my roots and making a quilt for the end of her bed. We're also hanging a fun tassel garland along with other fun whimsical accents like twinkle lights to finish her room.
There are so many thoughts on her room and a lot of decision making ahead, but I have no doubt it’s going to be adorable and a place she will love to call her own!
XOXO
There are so many thoughts on her room and a lot of decision making ahead, but I have no doubt it’s going to be adorable and a place she will love to call her own!
XOXO
Friday, April 11, 2014
PLAY TABLE MAKEOVER
Let me just start by saying this project took way too long.
In the hustle of moving back in July 2013 my parents had this pastel colored play table by Kid Craft. I believe it was the store's floor model and it's been sitting in their garage for the last few years collecting dust. We knew it would be great to hold on to so we could use it for Kensi. It is a cute little table and looks like something from Pottery Barn Kids. I’m not a fan of the colors or the chair design, but it was free and with a little TLC I can make it our own.
I really love the Two Toned Teak Play Chair from The Land of Nod. When I mean love, I love the combination of the stain and paint, along with the design of the chair. So, the Two Toned Teak Play Chair is my inspiration for our play table makeover.
Mike was so sweet and surprised me with an electric sander a couple months after we moved into the house since we had no tools of our own and we had to slowly build our stash. While Mike had a few days off awhile back I went at the table with the sander and completely dustied {is that a word??} up our garage. There was so much paint on those chairs and table, it was insane. After spending several hours taking off the paint {I should have stripped it} we went and bought a Dremel. Oh. My. Word. This is such a blessing! If you don’t have one and plan on refinishing different furniture pieces, invest in one. You have to have a very gentle touch because it will take off more than intended if you’re not careful. But this made this project so much easier!
After finally sanding down each chair and the table, this is was I had.
So much better already! The wood used on the seat and the decorative back is just cheap plywood so these will be the pieces that get painted. But the legs and the rest of the back are actually white pine, which makes it perfect for staining. It amazes me every time the possibilities of a piece of furniture once you bring it back to its bare bones.
The first coat of stain showed me every spot I didn't sand well enough. If there's any paint left on the wood, the stain will not take. It's more work, but this is when you need to sand everything down again. Because there was so much paint especially in the corners and it was nearly impossible to remove it, I used a nail file and it did the trick. At this point I knew I was on the verge of insanity. A nail file? Really?
On to our colors...I love dark dark, almost black stains, but with Mike’s help we went with Dark Walnut instead of Kona {my go to dark color}. As for paint, we chose white to keep it neutral, especially since this table will float around the house. It also allows us to decorate with pops of color throughout the room. My sister Trish recommended using trim paint because it has a harder coating. After talking to the paint dude at the store, trim paint is a semi-gloss finish. We used Glidden's Antique White color {same color as her dresser}, but had them make it with Behr because it is a much better quality of paint.
Photo updated in 2015
I’m very pleased with how it turned out minus the craft paper on the top, a little art project was taking place. We plan on using this set in the play room and most likely will float it around to the kitchen when needed. What a transformation!
XOXO
Friday, April 4, 2014
DIY SEED BOMBS
I came across the seed bomb while searching for Easter basket ideas on Etsy. There are several different types you can purchase if you don’t want to take the time to make your own. However, I am a big DIY girl and decided why not try it.
It's a very easy project and Kensi loved helping, but it is a little time consuming.
We started by shredding up tissue paper and colored construction paper. About one sheet of each will be enough to make six different colored seed bombs. Kensi kept herself busy shredding the paper into small pieces. Come on what kidlit wouldn't love an excuse to year up paper??!!?
Next, pour enough water to cover each bowl of paper. Yes I let Kensi pour and yes we did this on the carpet. Brave I know, but it's just water and she was only given a few tablespoons at a time.
Allow the paper to soak for about 10 minutes in water until they become soggy.
Next, one at a time pour the colored paper and water into a food processor or blender, blend until there are no more pieces of paper. Remove your blended mixture and place back into it's original bowl. Continue with each bowl of colored paper until you have blended each individually.
Pour each bowl into a mug lined with cheesecloth. We wrapped a rubber band around the rim in order to keep it from slipping. This will allow the excess water to drain out.
Then, we sprinkled in our favorite seeds. You can mix different seeds together, but you do need to make sure they have the same growing seasons and they are compatible. If you’re not sure you can use a wild flower mix.
We chose to use pastel colored poppies.
Now this next step can be a little tricky. Pick up the cheese cloth and over a large bowl pour the excess water fr the mug into the bowl. Still holding the cheesecloth filled with your paper and seeds, gently remove the paper/seeds from the cheesecloth and into your hand.
Squeeze the excess water out using your hand and roll the paper & seed mixture into a ball like cookie dough or press into a shaped mold of your choice. You can use an ice cube tray or a cookie cutter for a unique shape.
Place your seed bombs on a tray or plate and let them dry out.
Once they’re dry they are ready to be gifted or planted. If you’re giving these away as a gift {perfect for May Day baskets!} wrap them in tissue paper individually or in pods of three.
If you’re ready to plant, make a hole in your soil about 1 - 2 inches deep, place your seed bomb inside and cover with dirt. Make sure you remember to water your flowers each day.
Happy Planting!
XOXO
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