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.
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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Making Military Housing a Home: Holiday Edition Part 2
I'm back to share a bit more of my home - Ok.. actually I'm here to share a re-do. I moved my tree. Yes. I moved a fully decorated tree. It's much easier than it sounds. I simply slid it over a few feet no biggie. Especially since I've been known to do this before. The first year we were in Italy I moved my tree three times, I couldn't figure out where I wanted it, and seeing it in the spot was the best option for me. I also do this with furniture. I can visualize until I'm cross-eyed, but seeing the furniture in the room in the space is what I prefer. When you move as much as we do, sometimes furniture doesn't work exactly the way you thought it would, it's all part and parcel with making military housing a home.
Anyway, in my last post I know I mentioned I wasn't exactly in lov with it being in the corner. So I moved it today. I like it much better centered in our living room, like an anchor or something. Plus, it gives my daughter even more tree to explore. So far she's broken 5 bulbs and I've had to redo the garland on the lower half at least as many times. It's cool. She likes Christmas and I am fully encouraging her to LOVE Christmas. As I type this she is currently napping on the floor by the tree.
Seriously is there anything more magical than sleeping beneath a Christmas tree? I can't really think of anything.
Here is my dining room table. I'd like to add some evergreen branches in the jug along side the cotton stems. These lanterns are pretty much on my table all year except for during the fall when they get changed out, but I like that they can be used for various seasons and holidays.
This little tree is a fun tree. The colors I use in the dining area are shades of green, red and turqoise or blue. It all blends in nicely and looks cohesive.
This is our advent wreath. It's super simple. It's not the traditional advent wreath you'll see in many Catholic homes who do a wreath. I don't have colored candles and there is no evergreen in it, but I like it and it works. It also stays out all winter long to help remind my family of Christ's light.
As you enter my home this is directly in front of the front door. I really wish we had a bit more room as we don't have a mud room so things like coats and boots get stored beneath the table and behind the door on a hook.
When we go out for walks, my husband and boys will give me pine cones. These ones have were collected in Florida and Italy.
This blue dresser is an antique I bought when we lived in Italy. I spruced it up and really have become attached to it. We recently moved it to the landing on our stairs, so I could place the tree in the corner. I may have moved the tree, but this dresser is staying where it is. I like it in this little nook.
I have been on the hunt for several weeks for stockings that were simple and white. I had envisioned having each of our names embroidered on them. I couldn't really find anything I liked that didn't cost about $25 a piece. I happened upon these in Target and was immediately drawn to them because of their simplicity, and a sort of vintage feel to them. At $3 a piece, they were also a steal. I'm going to make some dough tags with either initials or everyone's name to hang by each stocking. I'll be sure to post a tutorial on what I end up making.
That's it for now. Be on the look out in a few days where I'll share the holiday trees in our bedrooms.
Making Military Housing a Home: Holiday Edition Part 1
I love Christmas! I LOVE decorating for Christmas. When you're in the military and move every so many years, making each new home yours can be a challenge. One I happily accept. I love to put our personal touches on each of the homes we live in; even if those touches need to be temporary. When it comes to holiday decorating I usually keep it minimal. I REALLY don't like moving this sort of stuff around - because honestly, we never know where we'll end up. Will the house be smaller, larger, have a garage? We can't say. Next we need to factor in damage. A lot of our belongings inevitably disappear between the packing up of our stuff and the unpacking, or are damaged with each move. It's frustrating, but we deal.
Over the years, I've learned I need to limit how much holiday decor I allow myself to have. What this means is decor for holidays other than Christmas get relegated to no more than two bins and Christmas gets four. That's it. The bulk of the ornaments on the trees were collected over the years at our various duty stations or can easily be replaced if I need to purge excess items in preparation for a big move.
The Friday after Thanksgiving I began decorating our home. My boys have never showed much interest in the tree. Even as babies or toddlers they left it alone. I can not say the same for Ellena. She has been all over this tree and took a keen interest in watching me decorate it. I can't tell you how many times I've caught her touching or pulling bulbs off. I love her curiosity, and the challenge she's given me to keep the lower half of our tree to the shatterproof decorations and bulbs. I think I may have FINALLY gotten my Christmas decorating partner. I'm looking forward to future Christmases where she and I will really decorate our home together.
I still want to tweak a few things but here are a few photos of what I've done in my living room so far. I love the small wreathes between each of the windows (we've four in our living room). This prooves decorating for the holidays needn't be over the top. Sometimes the simplest of touches, have the greatest impact.
I picked up this countdown garland from Target this past weekend. My advent calendar got ruined in our last move, so last year I used store bought ones for my kids. When I spied this one I sort of fell in love. Apart from the candy, which my boys love to look for each day, my husband and I are writing little notes to our boys. These sort of traditions are so wonderful and I hope when they are older they'll want to continue them with their own families.
I love these reindeer pillows. I bought them in Italy, but you can find similiar ones in many stores. I also love this one from Joss & Main. The black and white pillows I also added this week. I've wanted a black and white check or plaid pillows for these sofas since we moved into this home a year and a half ago, but I didn't want to spend a small fortune on them. I found these four pillows at Kirkland's and they were very affordable. Here is a comparable pillow from Walmart!
Check back tomorrow, I'll share a bit more of my holiday decorating and how I make military housing a home.
Ellena's Nursery - Baby Girl Whimsical Nursery: Unicorn & Swans
Whew! It's been a whirlwind couple of months. We moved from Italy and I had my baby girl. We named her Ellena Grace and she is a lovely little creature I am completely in love with. I'll share more of all the craziness that my life has been in the coming weeks, however today I REALLY want to share her nursery.I moved back Stateside just before I hit the 35 week mark. Her nursery was put together in about two weeks. The only thing I had for was her custom name sign. Everything else was purchased or made here.I had a vision in my mind I cultivated over the several months of my pregnancy. I knew I wanted it to be simple, feminine, and have a whimsical feel. The pallet would consist of white as the predominant shade, coloring the walls, and furniture. Shades of pink (mostly blush and "baby" pink) would be the next most frequently used color followed by varying shades of gold as accents. All in all I'm quite pleased with how it all turned out.Please note, this post contains affiliate links. If you purchase an item through these links, I earn a small commission, which I use to help support this blog. 
The wall decor was found at various locations. The swan art was purchased from the Etsy shop called Cassie Loizeaux. The custom metal name sign is by Rusted Orange Craftwork Co. I purchased via jane.com, at a discounted price; they're often featured there, but if you can't wait, you can purchase directly from their website. I found the other pieces at Toys R Us, TJ Maxx and Marshalls. You can find similar pieces here, here, here, here, and here.
The garland isn't a permanent fixture as it's a major safety hazard. I only hung it for the photographs, because it looks so pretty, and I've not figured out where or if I'm going to hang it in her nursery.
Ellena was due around Easter so I included a few bunnies in the decor. The larger bunny is a Tiffany bank and the smaller bunny I found in a Goodwill. The clock is a vintage find I purchased at an antique market in Italy. The lampshade I covered in ribbon and decoupaged over it. The base was a Goodwill find too. You can find a similar piggy bank here. A "vintage" clock similar to the one I used here.
I found this dresser at at a Habitat For Humanity -ReStore, and painted it white using Valspar Chalky Finish paint purchased at Lowes. The entire dresser took about half a can. I initially intended to spray paint the hardware gold, but realized the brass if polished would look pretty cool, and so that's what I did.The unicorn night light was purchased at Target. You can find a similar baroque wall mirror here. I didn't intend to use a wipe warmer, and didn't buy one, but after the baby came, my husband went to Babies R Us on an errand, and he purchased it for her. I got a good laugh over it, because wipes warmers are generally one of those unnecessary baby items first time parents get, and we certainly did with Michael. It was so sweet, his not wanting her tush to get cold, and as baby wipes warmers go, it's a decent one. I have wire baskets I use to hold frequently used items like toiletries on her dresser and swaddle blankets by her crib. You can find similar ones here and here.
The unicorn was purchased at Target too. I love that sucker. The coat rack was something I had on hand. The lovely dress was a gift at my baby shower. I really like this similar version.
The curtains were purchased at World Market. They're so airy and light. You can find similar ones here. These ruffle curtains are a different style, but ohmygosh are they adorable! 
The chair is a from Ikea. The hamper was a gift, you can find similar ones, here and here and here. The garland was found in the clearance bin at Michaels. You could easily make one yourself, find one at Michaels or other places like Etsy.
Here she is! My baby girl! Ellena isn't sleeping in her crib, yet, so I keep pillows and dolls in her crib until she's ready to sleep in it. You can find similar pillows here, here, here, here, and here. The sleeping doll was another jane.com find. They can be found at the Little Love Boutique website. Swans are my favorite bird, and like the unicorn, they've got that whimsical magicalness about them. You can find the swan rattle here. I purchased the small version, they do come in other sizes. The stuffed rabbit was a gift at my baby shower. You can find a similar one here.
Finally the mobile. I made myself and it was the easiest thing... EVER. I'll tell you how I made this DIY mobile in my next post. I am in the process of painting an old shelf to replace the chair to hold books and other things. Once I get it completed, I'll update this post.
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