Frozen Inspired Christmas Wreath

My family and I recently saw the movie Frozen. I thought it was a lot of fun, and the music -- WOW! {I'm a huge Idina Menzel fan though!} I also loved all the icy color tones and cool blues. It inspired me to make this Christmas wreath:

 I love the brightness of the wreath and how it can be a Christmas wreath and hang out on my door all winter long!

Making this wreath was actually very simple. I always try to reuse resources when I craft and found this old Spring wreath in my craft cupboard:

 

The pastels in this wreath seemed outdated for my decor so I gave it a new life with some white spray paint! As a final "Frozen" touch I added some small glittery ornament balls and the blue bow:

 

I'm working on my whole entryway now - I added a glittery nose to my reindeer and am looking for an Olaf snowman to sit next to him. For now, this little snowman can sit in:

I'm inspired to make the rest of my house as frosty as this wreath! What do you think?

 Have you seen the movie Frozen yet? What colors do you like to decorate with for the holidays? 

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Teenage Birthday Party

It's official: I have a teenager at my house!
This makes me both happy and sad, as I miss my little pint sized boy but am excited for the young man he is growing up to be. My blog has been quiet as we've been living life and celebrating these moments together. Turning 13 was a milestone for him and a reminder to me: I realize more and more how present I want to be in their lives, how fast it goes by and I feel full. My cup runneth over and it seems once I hit these moments I finally feel ready to write again and share some of what we've been up to and crafts I've fit in between.

So, here is a little window into how we celebrated his special day. In addition to family parties, I asked him, if he could only do one thing for his birthday, what would it be? He said he wanted to go Go Kart Racing at a nearby track. A grown up track. That went fast. I hope this isn't indicative of his future driving desires - but for this day, he got his wish. Some pictures of his day are below!

Birthdays at our house always start the night before. I decorate the table special for the birthday boy, there is a small present to unwrap and I write him a letter, just to him, about how special I think he is and the ways I have seen him grow this year. They never ask if they are getting a present in the morning, but they always ask if they are going to get their letter. It's a tradition I'm so glad they enjoy. Do you have a birthday tradition like this with your family?

 

Then it was off to Go Kart Racing!!

One of my favorite parts of the party was the cake HE picked out! It was an XBox cake with chocolate cake and caramel frosting inside. My friends at Twinfully Sweet made it for us and they exceeded our expectations!! If you're in Southern California, I HIGHLY recommend these girls for any party!! As you can see, the Xbox cake ROCKED!

I thought these cookies looked like they had tire tracks across them. The boys did too. Everything was a hit!

It's still surreal that I have a 13 year old...

{Me surprising him at school -- I take my parental job of embarrassing him VERY seriously.} ;o)

As tough as it is to please a teenager {wink}, he had a great time, great food, great friends and everyone left feeling like a winner!

Thanks for reading! Do you have a teenager at home? What activities do they enjoy? What birthday traditions do you do in your family?

Check back tomorrow as I share my first official Christmas craft of the season! {Inspired by the movie Frozen - you don't want to miss it!}

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Model Home Tour #1

One of my favorite past times is grabbing a Starbucks and walking through model homes! With the slow economy the past few years (or so) there haven't been too many new communities being built, but that is starting to change. A couple new developments are being built in my area, so I took advantage last weekend and went on a model home walk through!

What I love about model home tours are all the styling and design ideas I find! I love how they give you the map of each home and let you wander through by yourself, taking your time, without a real estate agent in your ear. You can just ENJOY.

Here are some photos I took of a four bedroom model. To make this tour even more meaningful for you (other than the design eye candy, of course) I "shopped the room" for you and found some similar pieces, or in some cases the exact item, they used in their design!

This particular model was three stories. The first story was an office and this entryway with a large desk.

 Mesh Wire Cubbies with Hooks

I loved these linen wrapped canvases with the Victorian frames! After an exhaustive search left me empty handed, the closest I found were these iron-on frames that I could use to make them myself. Let me know if you find canvases like these!


SECOND FLOOR
The second floor was the living room and kitchen! I loved their color choices and how bright the rooms felt!!

 SHOP THIS ROOM: Curtains|Damask Pillows|Geometric Pillows(fabric)|Subway Brick Wall

The kitchen was amazing! I wish I had taken pictures of every nook and cranny!! See how I missed that coffee subway art in the far left corner? I linked to it anyway! And things I couldn't find - like that blue tray, the stoneware milk jugs or the blue metal bread box... I know I've seen those kinds of items in my local Home Goods store! I bet you could find them with your sharp eye too!

SHOP THIS ROOM: Coffee Subway Art|Breadbox Idea|Terrarium {Birdhouse on the kitchen Island}

THIRD FLOOR

The bedrooms! They had four beautiful and creative rooms. Starting with my favorite... I love the colors and the four poster bed in this room!! I could dream easily in this room...

SHOP THIS ROOM: Four Poster Bed frame|Bedding

Kids rooms are also really fun...

 I think this room would be perfect for a teenager! {Which I will have SOON! Yikes!}

SHOP THIS ROOM: Metallic Letters|Trophy Cup small or large

I also loved the stripes on the wall - and did you notice the laundry bag pillow!? LOVE! It's always so hard to decorate for boys and I loved some of the subtleties in this room!

And finally - what a fun bedroom! Wouldn't this be a fun wall for a play room too?

 You can find those awesome paintbrushes here!

What I love is how a model home gives the house a cohesive look in style and color -- even down to our last stop - the bathroom! Every room was such a happy space - it makes me want to redecorate my entire home!

SHOP THIS ROOM: Subway Art|Yellow Lantern

There are probably lots of places to buy that subway art sign of "You are my Sunshine," but of course I linked to my favorite shop - Barn Owl Primitives! AND I have to say, I am pretty excited about the fact that I actually found that EXACT adorable yellow lantern! 

I hope you enjoyed this virtual home tour! Do you enjoy walking through model homes as much as I do? Were you inspired by any of the designs you saw today? Let me know! I have a few more homes to share!

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{What I Wore} A New baby

Last week I stayed with my sister and helped with my 2 year old nephew and 2 WEEK old niece. They were so much fun and both so sweet I didn’t want to leave! I mean – aren’t they cute?

 {Ruffled Romper and Bow: Target}

But, let me tell you – I have a 9 and 12 year old at home and I forgot how different life is when you have LITTLE little ones!! Here is a brief list of things I learned (or relearned!) while I was there. Maybe you can think of even more things!

THINGS I LEARNED WHILE WATCHING A NEWBORN AND A 2 YEAR OLD

1. Apparently, you CAN sing “Ring Around the Rosies” all day for hours and hours and not get bored. (If you’re two.) Along with Frere Jacques, Ring Around the Rosies was was my nephew's favorite song. I learned that when we “all fall down” it is much easier to fall down on the couch with pillows than on the floor. And I also forgot how catchy those songs are. I was humming them in my head all week. In fact… I’m humming Frere Jacques as we speak….
2.  You talk about pee and poop – A LOT. When you have a new baby and a 2 year old that’s potty training all you do is discuss bodily functions, examine poop and ask “do you have to go potty?” Good times.
3.  At any given point in time in the day, someone in the house is naked – or about to get naked. Yep. This one is self-explanatory. Plus it was hot, so little ones run around in their diapers, or are eating, potty-ing, bathing or changing. It doesn’t matter if company is over, or not. Or if you’re in public.
4.   You plan your trips and activities in 1 to 1 1/2 hour increments. (Because someone is either going to need to eat, or nap, before that time is up!) So we became experts at getting the kids ready and out the door in the morning so my little nephew could play outside before his sister needed to eat again! (So I guess this one could also be titled “You learn to multi-task!!”)
5.    9:30pm bed time? Sounds good to me! The first couple days I was still my old night owl self. After 2 days of playing with a 2 year old and holding a newborn between feedings, I found 9:30pm a good time to crash. Or rather, it found me. I TRIED to stay up, but my body and eyelids usually had other ideas!
6.  However ‘ready’ I was by 7am is how I looked the rest of the day. True story. I did not realize this on the first day. Sorry to anyone who saw me in public those first couple days. My nephew woke up at 7am. If I wasn’t ready by that time, forget getting my hair done, adding jewelry or accessories to my outfit. And if my sister wasn’t there, I very well probably would have ended up in my pajamas all day. PS – yoga pants make great PJ’s. 
7.  When you hold a newborn baby – people often don’t see or hear you – they just see the baby. I held my newborn niece during most of our outings. She liked to cuddle in the baby sling and I would get lots of “aaaws,” smiles and comments. Example:

{Polka Dot Sunglasses: Target}

KIND LADY: Aaaw, what a sweet little baby! How old is she?

ME: Thank you! She’s my sister’s baby. She’s 2 weeks old.

KIND LADY: How precious! Congratulations! You don’t look like you just had a baby at all!

… … …

ME: …Thank you! 

(Sometimes it’s not worth the argument.)

But everything was worth it, because this sweet smile is what I woke up to every single day:

How about you? Do you have little ones? Can you relate to this list?

Mini-Man Cave

Do you have a mini-man? That's what I call my two boys. Except that one of them is not so mini anymore. He will be in 8th grade and still shares a room with his little brother; so, I anticipate that he is going to start wanting his own space soon. Being a single parent and owning a small townhouse means I have to get creative with finding more space. The only place I could really go was out. So I spent [more hours than I would have liked] cleaning out my garage, organizing, and creating a little corner for him I like to call our "Mini-Man Cave."

There is a loft storage, about 6 ft high, in my garage, and I created this man cave underneath it:

Here is how the space began:

What's missing in this view is the loft storage, but you can see that the garage is all slab cement and icky storage. [And the only before picture I have because my computer crashed as I started this project, erasing a lot of my photos.]

So, starting with such bare bones was a little intimidating, but exciting, as we started designing and things started to take shape.

THE PAINT: I started by painting the orange stripe on the wall [The color is Behr "dragon fire" paint picked out by my son. Isn't that a cool name for paint?]

THE FLOOR: I then started laying down the black and white vinyl tiles. [Self stick, 12" square tiles purchased at Lowes and super easy to install!]  They were perfect for a low traffic area and easy to keep clean in our garage!

THE EXTRAS: I wanted the space  to be a place my boys could hang out, play [the tv has no cable, it is hooked up to an old PlayStation 2,] read, play board games [stored in the storage cabinet pictured] and just relax. I had been collecting art and little things for this space for a while, so was happy when it finally came together! Here are some of the extras!


I picked up the two sports signs at Home Goods several months ago. I love their wooden background and texture...

The folding table and chairs are for camping. I had the table already but bought the chairs at Big 5. I thought they were easy to move around, the right size for a small space and we could actually take them when we DO go camping! Both the table and chairs fold easily if the boys want to clear the area to play a game.

The lamp is also a camping lamp. It can sit on a table or it has a hook for easy hanging.

Of course, our favorite part of the man cave [and the piece that took the most time] was the rock wall!

Every boy needs something to climb, right? This started out as a bare white wall. I hand painted the rock pattern then chalk marked the studs. Most of the rock holds are bolted into studs, and a fair few are anchored carefully into the dry wall. The rope was also anchored into the ceiling. [But before you hang a rope for your children to swing from, please make sure it is bolted and anchored securely into a stud, and always test it yourself or with a professional before a child swings from it!]

My boys helped make this wall. I think any time kids have a part in the creation of something, they feel more ownership over it and they take better care of it. They also felt really proud that they had a part in the rock wall. Through the process they learned how to tighten each bolt in case, over time, they come loose.

Of coure, the best part is getting to test your handiwork!!!

The boys are very happy with their new Man Cave. My son said now all he needs is a hammock and a refrigerator in there and he would never have to leave! We'll see kiddo, we'll see. lol

They have already tried to say "No Girls Allowed" and actually, I'm okay with that rule. In fact, I may hold them to that in a few years. [wink]

What do you think? Do you like our Mini-Man Cave? How do you create extra space for your kids?

I'd love to see you -- follow me on Facebook|Instagram!


Sharing at Somewhat Simple, Tatertots and Jello, 52 Mantels and some of my favorite places.

{WIW} Value

When you look in  the mirror, what do you see?

Do you see someone big? Small? Ugly? Pretty? Significant? Or insignificant?


There is a battle raging.

It's keeping you from achieving your dreams...

It's keeping you from reaching your potential...

It's keeping you from accomplishing your goals.

There are no soldiers.

There is no supernatural course of nature.

There is no uncontrollable force.

There is only one  thing.

You.

The voice in your head.

The voice that tells you you can't.

You're not good enough.

You're not worthy.

You are not enough.

But I am here to tell you that YOU ARE.

That the steady mantra inside your head needs to be replaced with the marching shouts of confidence.

And that when you look in the mirror you see

Value,

{Old Navy "Diva" skinny jeans and Old Navy ballet flats. The shirt was a gift. Smile}

Strength,

Worth,



and Beauty.

 Because you are beautiful

in His eyes.

That  your dreams are there for the taking.

That you have what you need to acheive your goals.

That your potential is withing reach.

And you are enough.


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I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you. {Eph. 1:18}

Find more information here: http://www.saddleback.com/series/loveandwar/

4th of July Treat Pops. Sort of.

I love the 4th of July. It's my birthday month (woohoo), I love red, white and blue and there are so many fun crafts and food to make!

This year I'm having some friends over to watch the fireworks at our local lake. I thought to myself, "self, you should make some really awesome treats - one of those everyone will think is UH-MAZING, how-did-you-do-that sort of treat." And they should look festive.

So, when my grocery store was selling these at buy one get one free -- suddenly I had 24 cake treat pops.

Doesn't the picture make those pops look so pretty? So I immediately looked on Pinterest for inspiration (since you know there is no original idea anymore - even when I think I'm being creative and original, Pinterest Popper burst my bubble.) But I digress. :)

And I found these...

{source}

 I liked the red, white and blue - but instead of colored cake, I wanted colored frosting and white cake.

Yesterday I was at a party where I thought I'd practice these treats before the 'big show' on Thursday.

Lessons learned:

1. Mini cupcakes are not EXACTLY the same size as a push up pop.
2. If your cake is not the same size as your push pop, the frosting will "bleed."
3. Buying store bought tubes of colored frosting only kind of works. There isn't enough frosting for 12 push pops. Each tube frosts 3-4 at best.
4. Store bought frosting tubes are REALLY hard to squeeze out after a while. Especially toward the end. Your arms may hurt.
5. You will need to do more push ups and maybe lift some 5 lb. weights for a bit to prepare for your next push up treat pop adventure.
6. Smushy and messy treat pops taste just as good as perfect looking ones. True story.

So, I ask you, I am actually going to attempt this again for the 4th - any tips for success?

 

What's on your menu for the 4th of July?