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Friday, April 24, 2009

a sweet vintage inspired little girl's room

Mid-March we transitioned Grace from her nursery to her "big girl" room. I let her pick out the paint color (she picked PINK, of course ;) and from there the labor of love began.

I wanted to use a lot of what we already owned, but give it a new twist, as well as incorporate a few new special treasures. I didn't really have a theme per se, but I wanted to work around the PBK Brooke bedding and play up sweet girly colors of pink, aqua, red, chocolate brown, and vintage florals.

I must say once everything was in its place, I could really tell there were lots of birdies in there! Unintentional theme, but so sweet in the end. At least the little pumpkin thinks so and that's what matters to me. I think we succeeded in creating a special little place for Grace to call her own.

So without further delay, here's a little tour...beware, there are LOTS of pictures :O

The view as you come in

The bedskirt is my final project. The one on there now is an old one I had and just plopped on there. It's not the right colors. I plan on using the same fabric as in the curtains to make a bedskirt, trimming it with ric rac or pom pons.

Friendly little birdie #1 that greets you as you walk in and a sweet cross from when she was a baby that reads "for this child I have prayed" The petite chandelier that I fell in love with when pregnant with Grace. It has little white and aqua milkglass crystals and birdies. My mom bought it for me as a Christmas gift the Christmas before Grace was born and it just has a lot of sentimental value to me. The fun chocolate brown vinyl monogram that I found on etsy to go over her bed. It originally had a script "G", but the shop's owner Jessyka of Expressing You, was kind enough to customize it for me in a "G" that Grace could recognize :) Incidentally, that's how Grace first learned to spell her name. We had her name spelled out over her crib and when she was itty bitty I overheard Lance in there with her pointing to the letters and spelling them one by one. He would always end with "and what does that spell? Grace!" So sweet. One day Grace was in there playing while I folded clothes and I heard her go "G-R-A-C-E spells Grace" and clap for herself...quite the little sponge :) ...never too young to learn, I tell ya!

This sweet shelf was such a happy find for me during our annual Mother-Daughter-Granddaughter weekend earlier this month. I was sooooooooooo excited when I spotted it in the very back of a sweet store for a steal! I didn't do a single thing to it. It was already chippy and painted the softest, sweetest shade of aqua with those adorable eggshell painted bird pegs/hooks. It even had the hanging gear installed and everything. LOVE IT! This was Grace's first girly, frilly tutu! I initially wanted for her to wear it for her newborn portraits but since she was a preemie it swallowed her! She wore it for the first time when she was 3 months old and she's worn it many, many times since! The sweet curtains (and most recently completed project :) One day as I was looking through a flickr photostream, I stumbled upon some photos that lead me to Kerri's etsy shop, Maya Elise Boutique. Believe it or not she is the sweet mama of 6 adorable little kiddos and STILL finds time to make beautiful quilts, baby booties, softie dolls, and many,many other sweet creations. Her blog, Lovely Little Handmades (see sidebar) is full of inspiration. She made the sweet patchwork quilt valance that I just adore! All the japanese import fabrics look so sweet and coordinate so well with the bedding. Originally, I ordered some white swiss dot panels with little ruffles from the Shabby Chic line at Target, but once they came in they were too short so I ended up going back to my original plan of finding coordinating fabric and having my mom sew the panels as she had the ones in Grace's nursery. I love them so much more - THANKS, Mom! And then there's the chocolate brown ribbons...I actually miscalculated the width of the valance when I gave Kerri the measurement, so I had to add a little something to visually expand the valance and cover the ends of the curtain panels. I like the result, though!

Sweet little bookcase filled with new and vintage books and other treasures A little reading and playing corner for Grace - we're short on space so I had to let go of my dream of a sweet, chenille covered reading chair for her :( but she doesn't seem to mind. She loves playing with her "mouses" and looking through all her books. The little "if you can dream it, you can do it" sign is from the $1 section at Target and it's a perfect match to the Brooke bedding. I just switched out the ugly white ribbon for a brown and pink one :)

View from one corner of the room I think I've talked about the armoire enough before :) but I just love, love, love it! It's my favorite piece of furniture in the whole house!

Cute little tooth pillow and a sweet sentiment when combined: "sweet dreams, sweetie pie" A favorite little tote bag from The Baby Gardner (see sidebar) Her girly dresser and "vanity hung" mirror (I plan on adding some shabby chic wall sconces to both sides of the mirror, but haven't found any affordable ones yet...must keep looking :) The mirror is one of my best finds of all time! I bought it at an estate sale for $1.50!! In its former life it was a plastic picture frame without glass or backing, just the plain 'ole frame. I painted it robin's egg blue then had a mirror added at a local shop and my stepdad added the hanging wire so for less than $15, a one-of-a-kind shabby chic mirror was created!

A little vintage card that I just found today at a local antiques store and tucked in the corner of the mirror as a sweet sentiment for Grace And some of the favorites that adorn the dresser...

Birdies from Hobby Lobby from a couple of seasons ago and a picture of the little pumpkin at her first birthday Peonies and hobnail glass courtesy of Tarje' about 5 years ago My favorite vintage planter of all time Very sentimental photo of my grandma when she met Grace for the first time at 2 months old Grace has my grandma's eyes...I hope she can also grow up to emulate her life, one dedicated to trusting in our sweet Lord, growing and living her faith, loving her family, maintaining a cheerful, positive disposition, and never turning her back on a stranger in need.

View from the other corner The Closet I've been nesting, can you tell? Last weekend I cleaned out her closet, separated by season, added a second rod and some prefab stackables to better organize our existing baskets. Now when I open the doors I really like what I see :) The master closet got the same treatment about a month ago - he, he, he.

Vintage plates adorned with little "charm" and "gratitude" decals take up residence right along her closet doors And that just about completes the (looooooonnnng) tour :) I hope you enjoyed this peak inside the little pumpkin's new room and I'll leave you with this Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to turn off the light on your way out ;)

Disney on Ice

We took Grace to see Disney on Ice: Disneyland Adventure, although it should have been called THE INCREDIBLES: Disneyland Adventure :( And although the main characters didn't have as much stage time, she had fun every time they came out on the ice, and she especially enjoyed Cinderella and Snow White.

In awe over everything Disney and sparkly

So this is the show we're going to see! Hurry, hurry, I think I see something It's MICKEY!!!!!!!!!!! Opening scenes Oh, my - it's really them! I'm not so sure about that scary guy But look there's an alligator and a bunch of monkeys with curly tails!!! Getting tired and growing restless during the second half...where's my Mickey?? where's Minnie? where's "Cinberella"? Checking out the princesses with Noonie one last time before going home All in all a fun time! Although I wish they would have had a lot more mickey/minnie and a lot less Incredibles (we've never watched the Incredibles) since most of the kids there were the preschool/kindergarten/first grade set. Every time mickey/minnie came on stage the roars from the audience were SO LOUD - you could REALLY tell what the kids liked :)

And when we got in the car...did you see that beautiful castle? I didn't see Daisy?? I didn't see (Princess) Aurora? I like Mickey Mouse Show!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

can vintage and modern coexist?

we shall see!

With a very modern color palette (chocolate brown, aqua blue, and orange) and some vintage inspired finds, we are working, working, working on Hudson's nursery! Here are two of my favorite pieces for our soon-to-be-here little guy:

The Baby Gardner (L-O-V-E this site!!)

Bits and Bobs by Amy Smart

I can't wait to see him wearing that cute jon jon and wrapped up all cozy in that fun quilt!

Monday, April 20, 2009

love hate relationship...

...with my camera that is!

This past Christmas Santa brought me a new camera, a Canon Rebel XSi. Prior to I'd been using my trusty Canon PowerShot, which is still my diaper bag camera. Now I love my PowerShot, but it was a bit beat up from years of "use & toss" and the battery didn't last very long either.

I don't know what it is with the new Canon, but I can't always get it to focus on what I want. Sometimes it'll focus on some small detail and blur the little pumpkin out or the whole picture will be less than crisp. I'm not sure if it's the lens (18-55mm) - I've been thinking of getting the 50mm I originally planned to get - the settings, the mode, or the fact that my most frequent subject is a wiggly 2 year old. Any suggestions??

So since I've been trying to practice, Grace and I went to the grounds of an old house turned events hall yesterday. The weather was beautiful and it was fun to run around the property's gardens chasing after the little pumpkin and thinking about what the place was like years ago.

This is my favorite shot from the day - CLASSIC Grace these days! Little bit of attitude, LOTS of sweetness! And some other fun ones...

Her hair looks so long in these pictures! Looking for a PINK butterfly (since there was an orange/brown one around :) Love those pouty lips and that inquisitive look Silly Goose! My little pumpkin is growing up **sniff, sniff**

Friday, April 17, 2009

Sign of the Cross

We've been working to teach Grace the sign of the Cross. She's doing so well! She's so excited to do it during Mass, especially at the end with the Holy Water :)

Every night right before our prayer time she likes to practice doing the sign for Daddy, Mama, and even Jaxon (dog) from afar!

We're so proud of you! God bless you always, little pumpkin!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

eye candy

Browsing through different sites tonight, I stumbled upon two keepers! The first is pure eye candy: Peekaboo Photography. The creative genius behind Peekaboo is Kate Moss and my, oh my, she makes me wish I lived in Utah, just so I could have her take pics of the little pumpkin and brother on the way. Here are just three of her masterpieces:

Oh, my goodness - is he not the cutest??!! And check out that adorable birthday hat - LoVE iT! Princess and the Pea - oh, so sweet! Springtime CutieThat last photo led me to my other discovery: naartjie Kids clothing line, founded in South Africa in 1989. The sweetie in the picture is wearing one of their spring confections. And their clothes are really, really, really reasonably priced - check them out!

Every once in a while it pays off to stay up late :)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

newest find

I love this sweet little apron - I was so excited when I found it!! For someone who's not much of a cook (but hey, I love to bake!), I sure do have a lot of aprons! Close up of the sweet embroidered birdies And what a great idea! Now I'm off to see which of my vintage pillowcases and tea linens I can bear to cut and turn into sweet little aprons...Mother's Day gifts???