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Playroom Reveal

March 27, 2017 By Taylor 3 Comments

It’s finally here! Well… I finished this room back in December but the BLOG POST for the Playroom Reveal is finally here haha, Hooray!

We’ve played some musical chairs in our house recently. Last fall the boys finally wore us down about bunk beds and Bryan started on those. Then just a few weeks ago Bee climbed out of her crib and got a “big girl room”. You know how parenting is… right when you get comfortable in the stage you are in – it changes. The “playroom” in our house is just an extra bedroom (because I use the formal living as my craft room) and they boys share a bedroom. So, it was the home to all of the boy’s toys. But the boys are in a new phase where they are either in the backyard, with friends, at sports or playing on the iPad. I looked around and realized they are kind of over the matchbox and train days. They still love legos but those are in a trunk in their bedroom.

But… guess who is entering the toy phase?! Little sister :) Her room was bursting the seams with dolls and books and pretend food. It was time for a switch (which always makes me happy haha). In other words, I got to girl the room up a little!

Bee has a ton of dolls already, so they live in this little bassinet that was actually my dad’s when he was a baby. I don’t know about putting a real baby in here but I love it for her dolls haha! My grandfather made it and we found it in my dads garage… amazing right?! She got the dollhouse from Santa this year and its a big hit around here! The curtains are World Market (that I stole from my living room) and the floating book shelves are IKEA of course.

The pink baskets are there for odds and ends I find around the house at the end of the day… I try to have an area where I can throw the toys that have made their way into the living room haha!

The little “kitchen area” is my favorite… its so fun! The play kitchen (tutorial found HERE) is something that Bryan and I made soon long ago! Ancient Taylor Made right there haha! I updated the colors to make it a little more farmhouse and less 2010 ha! I also found that market shelf but it was black so I painted it gold for a pop.

How adorable is that little wooden baby bed. I got that in Pennsylvania when we visited the Amish Country last year, it’s handmade and gorgeous!

We painted the wall with chalkboard paint around the holidays, it has been super fun… in hindsight I would have made sure to sand the texture off the wall first but live and learn. I made the TeePee a few years ago( TUTORIAL HERE). I just love the brother wall art in the corner over there :) The dolls are Anthro and Candy Kirby!

The shelf is from Ikea and I used my Silhouette to label them. I also used some hot glue to embellish the boxes with scrap fabric. My kids love the VHS Disney Movies that my sister and I had as kids so I keep the TV/VCR in there which is hilarious and not really pretty but hey it works and they love it so why change it haha.

My kids actually keep this room pretty organized! They closet is really neat too. They know that they can only take one box out at a time- for the most part this works but I do have to do a heavy clean about 2x a year which isn’t bad!

The cute yellow nightstand was in here when this room had a bed and I am not sure where it should live yet. And here is the other wall with the closet and the Book Bunting TUTORIAL HERE that I made from my moms vintage books from the 50s and 60s!

The kids love this room and love that there is a big open space in the middle to spread all the toys out haha! Usually Bee is forcing her brothers to play house, they are good sports! Let me know if you have any questions about sources or how I made something!

Classroom Valentine Ideas

February 2, 2017 By Taylor 3 Comments

Valentine’s Day is such a fun day for my kids. I told them this year they will be WINNING Valentine’s Day thanks to Minted! I posted a few weeks ago about how I was so excited to learn that Minted now carries Classroom Valentines so I thought I would share what we picked out!

I seriously had a hard time picking just three designs, everything was so cute… thankfully there is next year because it was hard to narrow it down. Of course in 2017 we moms couldn’t just pass out a Valentine’s Day Card, could we… hehe :) I think adding a little something extra is fun, mainly because I love a good theme, so I’m going with it!

For the Boys, I gave them each three choices. That way it wasn’t overwhelming but they felt like they had a say. My oldest chose these hilarious Whoopie Classroom Cards. He’s in 1st grade and I know his class with LOVE these! He is a little older so I went with the tic-tac-toe option on the back. There are several backer options, patterns (like I chose for the littles, photos, messages… so cute) The stickers are so cute too! I found the Whoopie Cushions in a pack of 12 for $6 at Oriental Trading.

My middle son is my animal lover! Amphibians, fish and reptiles specifically haha. He chose the “Iguana Be Yours” Valentines then I found these reptile finger puppets, also at Oriental Trading Co. He is OBSESSED with them and cheered when everything came in so I will take that as a great sign haha. I love the back pattern on this one and of course the custom name stickers too!

For Bee’s class I chose these adorable little Llama Fun Classroom Cards with the wavy edge. I can’t handle them… also the Llama Lollipops? I mean come on. They are almost too cute to eat… almost. They are also from, you guessed it, Oriental Trading Co.

Minted as usual did an amazing job, the quality and selection is A+! Check out all of Minted’s Classroom Valentines HERE. Happy Valentines Day everyone! XOXO

Morton Salt Girl Costume

January 29, 2017 By Taylor 3 Comments

Costumes are just about my favorite thing to sew, so this past Halloween I dressed Bee up as the Morton Salt Girl (so perfect right?!) Her short blonde “bob” was my inspiration :) Yes I know it is almost February… but better late than never on the blog post right?

The costume itself was super simple, it’s basically just a yellow dress. I don’t like to plan a costume with a lot of moving parts for a two year old because it’s just inevitable that she will take it all off and end up looking like nothing. For her yellow dress I used the Lillian Dress Pattern by Mouse House Creations. When I saw the 1960’s-esque dress with the pin-tucks and black buttons I knew it would be the perfect dress for the job! I used Kona Cotton for the fabric.

Her shoes were her favorite part, she actually still wears them! I found white tennies at Walmart for $4 (yay) and I dyed them with yellow RIT dye. I always make sure to add salt, a little white vinegar and warm water when I do a dye bath. I usually only leave things in for 20-30 mins but I left these in for about 3 hours so it made them extra vibrant. I was so proud of the match job haha!

The big debate was if the umbrella is light purple or if the umbrella is really white and they just used purple in the artwork for shading. It’s a serious online debate you guys, look it up ha! I always choose color when given the opportunity so I decided our Morton Salt Girl would have a purple umbrella. (Also, our friends just so happened to have one we could borrow haha!)

Lastly… my favorite part… the Morton Salt candy basket. I wanted to have her carry a big cardboard version of the salt container then my mom actually threw out the idea of having the salt container as her candy basket. Genius! I used felt for the base, sides and handle which I sewed together. Then I printed out a picture of the salt logo and using hot glue and felt I kind of puzzle pieced it together. I love it so much that it was a little hard watching Bee actually use it on Halloween. Just kidding. Kind of.

Some people loved the costume then others were like “I don’t get it” haha. But I think it is one of my favorite costumes to date!

Grinch Munch Popcorn

December 12, 2016 By Taylor Leave a Comment

I can’t believe we are 13 days away from Christmas! For some reason this year, the Holidays really crept up on me! I felt like this last year but it really had nothing on my current status haha! We are super busy, I think that comes with having kids that are getting older. Each one of them have more and more functions…. super fun and kind of exhausting. Ha! We are currently in the last week of school over here and you know what the means… field trips, parties, book exchanges, jammie day, and teacher/class gifts.

I have the teachers covered. All of the kids have amazing teachers this year who go above and beyond so we are getting them gift cards to their favorite restaurants. But… that leaves me with class party treats. I came across this Grinch Munch Popcorn from Imperial Sugar and I actually gasped at how perfect it was! Imperial is an amazing resource if you are looking for last minutes gifts (like me haha) that your kids can help with or just for fun crafts to do together over Christmas break. This treat is super cute and yes, it is sweet, but I think popcorn is a pretty decent snack that kids actually love. This one is super simple but pretty, so people will think you went to more trouble than you actually did haha!

You Need:

-Popcorn Kernels

-Imperial Sugar Extra Fine Granulated Sugar

-Vegetable or Coconut Oil

– Sea Salt

-Green Food Coloring

– Christmas Sprinkles/Non-Pariels

Start by heating up 1/4 c of oil in a skillet or dutch oven with a lid. I like to use coconut oil with popcorn, but vegetable will work fine too. Put 2-3 kernels in the oil and when they all pop you know the oil is ready.

When the oil is ready, add in 1/2 cup popcorn kernels, 1/2 cup of Imperial Granulated Sugar, and green food coloring. Remove from heat, add lid and wait about 30 seconds.

Put back on heat and watch carefully (so you don’t burn the sugar) cook for 4-5 more minutes or until the popcorn pops slow down :) Add your Christmas sprinkles or non-non-pariels and sea salt.

This batch I made was huge so I bagged some up for the class party and my kids all had a really festive after school snack! This would also make a super cute girlfriend or teacher gift in a cute bag with a custom tag, So may options! Be sure to check out Imperial Sugar for more Christmas Recipes, and Holiday Crafts with kids. Imperial is also hosting a Holiday Baking Bonanza Contest with tons of amazing foodie loving prizes. Check that out HERE. Happy Holidays everyone!