Toddler Room Refresh - Whimsical Bohemian Toddler Girls Bedroom

I refreshed Ellena's baby girl whimsical nursery into a toddler big girl room including transitioning Ellena's crib to a toddler bed.  The end result was what I'm calling a Whimsical Bohemian Toddler Girls Bedroom.

My husband and I were hoping the fun new whimsical bed-scape would entice her to want to actually sleep in her bed.

We were wrong.

This room is basically a museum, to like, frilly, girly things.

I'm tempted to take it over as my personal office space.

This infant to toddler room refresh didn't have the effect I was hoping it might as she's still not sleeping much in her own bed. She's been co-sleeping with my husband and I and that's where she sleeps best... as for my husband and me, we can't say the same, with the little feet in our face or her warm body cocooned against ours. Eventually she'll be on her own at night, but for now, we're enjoying all her littleness.The biggest thing I switched up was her bed. We have the Jenny Lind crib.  I bought the toddler rail to transition her crib to a toddler bed.Then I added the canopy. I vaciliated between a sheer canopy and a solid fabric one and eventually opted for the solid. I also went with white instead of pink just in case I eventually decide to change out the pink for a different color like grey or lavendar.As far as the added decorations, I took some of the dream catchers and flower crowns I had made for her bohemian themed baptism luncheon and incorporated them into her room's decor.  I hung the dreamcatchers on the walls. Initially I was going to hang twinkle lights on her canopy - I still might add them in, but for now, I took one of the flower crowns I had made and added it to the front of her canopy and then hung a dream catcher from the openining.We don't have a playroom in this house - it's military housing so space is at a miniumum for us, so all of her toys and books are downstairs in the living room. I did bring up a few of her toys and books to try to entice her to actually want to spend time in this room.Not much has changed with respct to her dresser. I was using her dresser as a changing table, but now she mostly gets changed on my bed or on the floor. The mobile I made for her nursery, now hangs above the dresser. I did adorn her wall unicorm with a flower crown.All in all it was a pretty simple refresh and I'm so happy with this Whimsical Bohemian Toddler Girls Bedroom. 

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Easy Valentine's Day Fabric Rag Wreath

I LOVE to make wreaths. Since moving from Italy or... perhaps even before then I've not had a wreath for Valentine's Day.So I made one. It was so easy. I even had my toddler help me. She enjoyed playing with the rags while I tied them and constructed the wreath.That's a win-win if you ask me!

Supplies You'll Need

• Wire wreath form  - I used a 14-inch wreath.

• Scissors

• Fabric - I used "fat quarters"of fabric which are one-fourth yard cut that usually measures 18" x 22". Honestly, you could use any fabric you have laying around at home from old clothing to sheets. I think cotton works best.

I purchased my fabric at Wal-Mart because I was there and they had this super cute -pre-cut fabric quarters which meant I didn't have to hunt down a sales associate to help me, and they were only .97 cents each.

How to make your fabric rag wreath

Lay out your fabricCut one-inch cuts along the length of your fabric and then tear them into one-inch strips. If you want to be really technical and perfect you can measure, but I eyeballed them.Take those strips and cut them in half. You want about a two-three inch tail.Begin tying your rags onto the metal wire.Continue doing this until your wreath is full to your liking. What I like to do is space the fabric in each section on the wreath and mix up the fabric, filling in where I think a certain type of fabric is needed.Add a ribbon or leave plain. You can use multiple coordinating fabrics as I did here, or a single color. Your choice!

How to Take Your Own Family Portrait​s

If you're like us, you love a good family photo. Sure, your iPhone (or smartphone) can capture an outstanding photo, but sometimes, you want to use your actual camera. Over the years we've gotten taking our own family photographs down to a science, and in this post, I'll share with you how to take your own family portraits.

Before you have your camera in hand...

Figure out where you want to shoot. It can be as simple as your living room, or in a more scenic area. If you're going for an outdoor shot, remember to consider light. The best light isn't going to be at Noon, you'll want to shoot in the morning or late in the afternoon when the sun isn't super high in the sky. This is referred to as the "golden hour", it doesn't last an hour it can be a lot longer, but it's basically the first few hours after sunrise and before sunset.  If you have to take photos when the sun is super high in the sky, try to position yourselves in such a way so as to lessen potential squinting. You can also take your family outside on overcast days but the light will be much more muted. You'll have to check your settings to ensure enough light is coming through. On the plus side, squinting will be a non-issue, as will sunlight creating weird shadows on your subjects. You also won't have to worry about changes in light through clouds or trees. You may find this post helpful when photographing on overcast days.If you've got children, don't expect them to stand perfectly still, to smile all the time or to even look at the camera. Instead, plan to take a ton of photos. Factoring in breaks and some fun treats to entice your kids is super helpful, because this is probably going to take a lot longer than you anticipated.Relax. If you're relaxed, your kids are going to be too. TRUST ME. There have been instances where I or my husband would get super annoyed and stressed because our boys just wouldn't stand still. This never really resulted in great photos, so over the years we learned to just "go with it".  That's not to say we never get annoyed when we're trying to get a good shot, but we've learned to anticipate this and work around it. My boys are 14 and ten, and they still have a hard time standing in place and not fooling around. In the next shot, they were all wiggly and my younger son Evan, was "joke kicking" as he said, his older brother. As the camera started to shoot I began to play along, I swung the baby in their direction and said 'Here comes photobomb Ellena!" The boys knew I was joking, but they got the idea and quickly stood still for the shot. The result was this fun photo of Ellena pretending to be a cannonball.

A few handy tools really help you take great family photos:

A tripod. My husband loves these things and owns several. His all-time favorite is a Manfrotto. Your tripod should hold your camera securely and be sturdy enough that a strong wind won't knock it over. I also require them to not weigh a ton, especially when we're traveling.A remote control. This isn't absolutely necessary, on this day we set the timer on our camera and had it set to take as many subsequent photos as it could and we hit the red button and ran. This works, but I much prefer to use a remote control. If your camera has wifi you can probably find an app to connect your smartphone too. I don't like these. I find them to be too slow. The remote controls we use are by Nikon and a generic brand for Nikon. They both work exactly the same in my opinion.An extra battery to three. Taking family photos can take much longer than you anticipate and I recommend taking a ton of pictures. No one is going to be behind the camera to see when the perfect time to push the shutter button is, so taking a lot of pictures is the best way to guarantee you'll have some good shots mixed in with a bunch of crappy ones.An extra memory card. Unless you're using a big memory card, have an extra one on hand... Just in case.

A few more helpful tips...

Don't be afraid, to "just be" while the camera is clicking. Be yourselves. Talk, joke, tickle each other, throw a ball into the air, whatever.We use a DSLR camera, but you can take great photos with a regular point and shoot. Either way, be sure to take some practice shots ahead of time to figure out what the focus will look like and to get the best possible framing of your picture.Once you feel like you've gotten enough shots with the camera on your tripod. Take it off. Don't be afraid to hand the camera off to another family member. My kids have taken some really great shots. Set it up, teach them how to look in the viewfinder and frame the photo and let them get creative. You will be amazed at the wonderful magic that can happen. Like these great shots of my husband Dennis and me.We thought my son had finished taking pictures so we gave ourselves a congratulatory kiss because this episode of family portraits was a success and we could then go get some ice cream! My son caught it on camera, how fun!I hope this helps you take some great family photos on your own. Also, if you've got some other tips to share, please share them in the comments.  

Boho Themed Baptism

Ellena was baptized into the Catholic Church on a lovely Sunday morning, on the feast day of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, at our little military chapel.  The day blossomed into a perfect warm summer day, full of sunshine and blue skies. After we came home for a boho themed baptism luncheon.

Scroll down to the bottom of this post, for links and things...

After her baptism, we came home for a lovely and simple bohemian themed lunch. You know I love a theme, so I decorated our dining area with dream catchers I made using doilies and ribbon.All the ladies wore flower crowns I made and after lunch, we dined on a delicious homemade (from scratch) vanilla bean cake "naked" cake I made. I'm so not a baker, but I do try.The cake recipe I used can be found here: Vanilla Naked Cake. Do add the fresh raspberries... it's sooo good. I decorated the cake with fresh roses and peonies.Directions on how to make a flower crown can be found here, or you can always buy a flower crown. This is a cake stand similar to my rustic live edge serving platter I really like these dream catchers. Had I seen these prior to making my own, I totally would've bought these instead. This one has gold dipped feathers just like the ones I made. These come in a four pack! Seriously! I could've saved some cash! I purchased this rustic cake topper from the Etsy shop, Seaside Sass. These glitter ones are cool too and they come in a bunch of different colors!

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How to Make a First Birthday Party Hat

For Ellena's first birthday I made her a cute party hat. Technically I made her two, one for her simple first birthday celebration and another one with a bit more pizazz for her first birthday photos. I plan on taking her pictures just as soon as Spring decides to show its face for more than a day here in Virginia.I considered purchasing a party hat for Ellena's first birthday from Etsy. I certainly saw some pretty ones, but since we weren't throwing her a party I wanted to make her something and the hat was the perfect thing.

How to make a first birthday party hat:

Gather your supplies:

• You'll need some heavy card stock 1-2 sheets.
• Glue (I prefer a glue gun for this project )
• Whatever you wish to embellish your hat with. I used ribbon and washi-tape.
• An elastic to go around baby's head. I used an old bow of the baby's.
• scissors
• ruler
• pencil
• cake plate
• perhaps a stapler or other fasteners

Trace a half circle using the plate.Mark the center bottom of the half circle (the flat side).From the center point, draw a 45 degree angle. Then going back to the center point, draw what looks like an upper lip. You can also omit this step by downloading a template - you can find them via a Google search. I developed this DIY with inspiration from this very helpful Youtube video, "How to Make Petite Party Hats", by Fancy Free. It's a great video and if you'd like some more visuals I highly recommend it.Next assemble your hat topper. For the first hat I made Ellena I used a premade gift ribbon I bought at Target. For the second hat I made one by wrapping ribbon on to itself that was roughly about 1 1/2 to inches long. then I gathered the ends and stapled them together.I covered the staples with gold glitter washi tape.Next cut out the outline of the hat.Glue your hat topper to the part with the "lip shaped" cutout.Next fold your hat into the cone shape and glue the edges.Once your hat is assembled, embellish your hat to your heart's content! I wrapped the hat in washi-tape! It was not sticking to well to the glitter paper so I had to glue some of it down. Then I wrapped the bottom of the hat in gold ribbon to match the top. I used the gold-glitter washi tape to form the number one.Finally, attach your elastic. If you don't have a baby bow, you can order some here, or even use a piece of an old panty-hose.On the first hat I made I created the number one by cutting out one I hand drew onto card stock.

DIY Mason Jar Pendant Lamp & What's On My Desk

Last November, I made the decision to move my desk upstairs to my bedroom because I needed more room in my main living area pending a Thanksgiving visit from my brother and his dogs. When we first moved in last year we'd sectioned off  a full wall with all my bookcases (miraculously they all fit) which would serve as the backdrop for my workspace. Once my desk was upstairs, I scavenged in the garage for frames and a cork board I'd used in my office in Italy to make my new workspace both prettier and more functional.  I'd given the lamp I used in Italy to my son Michael so for the last few months I've been working with light from lamps by our bedside. Fast forward four months and this cute DIY mason Jar hanging pendant light lamp was my solution.  I could have squeezed a lamp onto my desk, but I really didn't want to crowd my workspace with a lamp and since I have no space surrounding the front or sides of my desk for a floor lamp, the only usable space left was the ceiling and the wall. I didn't want to hang something from the ceiling and I knew a lamp hanging from a hook on the wall would be both purposeful and also serve to give me some visual dimension from a design point.  I wanted to go the DIY route, but I wanted this "DIY" to be simple to do and quick. This easy DIY mason jar pendant lamp is both of those things. It's also pretty to look at and it didn't break the budget. All my supplies came from Michaels. Thanks to a great sale, and a few coupons, the entire project came in under $20.

How to assemble your DIY Mason Jar Pendant Lamp:

1. Gather your supplies:

For this project you'll need: a pre-cut mason jar, a string "pendant" light and a light bulb. Because this jar is clear glass I opted for a decorative light bulb too, but you can use a regular one.

The pendant light string comes with a small hook and instructions on how you could hang it from your ceiling, so you don't necessarily need a hook like I used here. Since I was hanging this from my wall I wanted something more decorative. I have a few antique hooks like this one already in use in my home, so this new - vintage looking one (also from Michaels) fits right in. You could also use decorative planter hooks, a coat rack, pegs etc.2. Place the light-bulb side into the lid section. The great part about these "mason jars" is that the hole has already been drilled and the bottom of the jar cut, so this project is as easy and as it gets.3. If you're choosing a different method to hang your pendant properly secure your hook. Otherwise follow the instructions on the box.4. Hang your pendant lamp.

What's on my desk?

I went back and checked my old posts for "what's on my desk" and I only found one. I could swear there had been more, but there wasn't. So this is my second.I'll start from the left and make my way to the right. Pointing out the obvious too I guess. Haha...

• On the upper left hand corner you'll find a tiered tray I use to keep my office supplies like paper clips and staples as well as smallish things I use regularly or want to keep within easy reach such as stamps and stamp pads, and extra pair of ear buds (they're pink) and a measuring tape.
• Below that on the right is my large journal. I keep that handy for any brilliant ideas. I bought it in Florence in this little stationery shop that was so cute just outside of the Duomo. When I see it I think of Florence and I long for Italy.  I wish I'd captured a picture of it, but sadly I didn't.
• Going to the center - against the wall is my inspiration board. Here I pin story ideas or pictures, bits of string, anything that inspires me or may be relevant to a story I'm writing or thinking of writing. You'll also see a ceramic skull, some rosary beads, a jar of washi tape, a favorite photo of my husband and I, a swan pencil sharpener I bought in Germany and a, Funko POP Movies: Pride, Prejudice & Zombies Elizabeth Bennet Action Figure doll. Finally in the center is my laptop still going strong in my decoupaged lap top cover.
• Moving to the right are some craft books, markers, and pens and pencils in cute little scalloped cups.

I did a little bit of research and the supplies I found at Michaels can also be found online.Here is a complete kitAnd another kitHere is a jar...A white cordA black cord like the one I used in this post...And we can't forget the bulb. Here is an amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "thepincha-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_design = "enhanced_links"; amzn_assoc_asins = "B018PZ0WUO"; amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "2e912e6d515e582a2b6f293a9c421cff"; ">Edison bulb.You may also like these...

Birthday Balloon Wreath

Aren't birthdays fun? I love celebrating the birthdays of the people I love most. In my home my kids wake on the morning of their birthdays with a room full of balloons. When their special birthday month comes along, a festive balloon wreath gets hung on our front door. My kids love to see this wreath come out because they know it's for them. These wreaths are surprisingly easy to create and relatively inexpensive too. Here's how to make a birthday balloon wreath.I recently re-did our balloon wreath as it was about six years old and the latex from the balloons had deteriorated. Please note that placing this wreath in the sun and weather will speed up this process and fade the color of your balloons. However, if this happens like it had with me, you'll only need to replace the balloons as you can reuse the wreath and pins. How great is that?I'm planning on making a few more of these, one for each of my kids in their favorite colors to hang on their bedroom doors when their birthday month comes along. My 40th birthday is coming up perhaps I'll make birthday balloon wreath for myself too! I think it will be a fun project and add even more festivity to a fun month!

Supplies:

1. straw wreath form (keep it in the plastic)

2. Florist pins

3. Balloons (For my 12 inch wreath I used 180 12" balloons.)

Please keep in mind I'm reusing my wreath and pins when you buy yours they won't be rusty.

How to Make A Birthday Balloon Wreath:

To begin, gather your supplies.Place a single balloon in the center of the U-shaped pin.Pin the balloon on the side of the wreath at the half way point. You do not need to cover the entire side of the wreath as the balloons will be full enough to cover the other half. Continue to pin the balloons to the wreath side and face. When pinning the balloons be sure to keep an eye for cohesion. You can make a rainbow wreath by grouping balloons by color or you can simply pin them at random as I have done. If you do randomly pin pay attention to the colors you don't want too may of one color in one area.Fill in the empty spaces as you go or to your liking.Attach a ribbon - I made a simple bow and ran one of the pins through it's back and pinned it that way. You can hang the ribbon however you like. These wreathes also make great party decorations. You can coordinate them by color and hang them in rows on a wall, from the ceiling, as a photo booth back drop etc. You could even make groups of them using wreaths of different sizes too!This is such an easy project you could even make a birthday balloon wreath to celebrate holidays, or other special events. My husband will be coming home soon from a year-long remote tour overseas and I'm thinking I may make one in Air Force blue colors to celebrate his homecoming.I hope you make a balloon wreath for your home or to celebrate yourself or someone you care about. It will make you smile and everyone who sees it smile too!As a side note, I thought I'd show you what my old balloons looked like, this was from a wreath that spent a lot of time outside on my door in full sun and elements. You can clearly see how they become cracked and faded.