Sneak peek...

Here is a little teaser for a fun project I am almost done with!
Here is my inspiration:

Click HERE for more info.

Here is what I started with:

Before

This close up is most true to color. 

Please excuse the poor photo, still figuring out my new camera, thanks MOM AND DAD!!!

Orange, of course!

Check back in a couple of days! I am close to being finished but need to run to the store to get one last finishing touch. What have you been working on lately?

Advent 2

Kieran's hand ornament! 

This was so much fun to make and super easy. Here is a quick tutorial with a bunch of pictures. 

1. Trace your little ones hand on a piece of cardstock.

2. Tidy up your hand. Kids are squirmy, take a look at your little hand to see if it needs a bit of tidying up.

3. Cut out the hand following your revised lines.

Awe...so little

4. Choose fabric for both sides of your ornament and grab some double sided iron on interfacing.

5. Iron the interfacing to the wrong side of one piece of fabric. Be sure to iron both sides of the fabric to insure a strong bond. (Following product directions.)

6. Peel off paper backing.

7. Iron on the second piece of fabric. 

8. Trace hand onto one side of bonded fabric.

9. Cut out just inside your lines. (Unless you used disappearing ink...)

10. Punch a hole in the palm of the hand. This will be what you thread your ribbon through.

11. Use a large punch to create a color coordinating paper disc.

12. Label disc with year and child's name.

13. LAST STEP! Thread a piece of ribbon through the hand and disc. I though it would be cute to add a jingle bell too.

I think this is a nice way to track an important little person's growth from year to year. It will definitely bring a smile to our faces in the future years when we dress our trees with this little whimsy hand. I hope it makes Auntie smile this year.

**Kieran received a handmade (of course!) cloth nativity scene in his Advent calendar (from Auntie Louisa) today.**

We got a tree!

We couldn't pass up a tree this year after all! We decided to go with a little tree perched high enough to be out of Kieran's reach. The tree procurement was actually quite funny. We bundled up, strapped Kieran into the the stroller, soon to be tree sled, and walked to the closest tree stand.

Doesn't this little trailer make you smile? It cracked me up, the guys selling the trees were equally entertaining. So after giggling about the "Charlie Brown" trees we chose a little one that was the least "Charlie Brown-esque" as possible. We popped that tree under the stroller and we were on our way. Kieran didn't find the ordeal as humorous as his Mom and Dad did. He sat in his stroller with a serious face on the entire time. Little does he know, that tree is the very tree that his presents will sit under one day soon.

 

So off we went, with our tree in tow through the city, getting lots of smiles along the way.

I love decorating the tree as a family each year. We listen to Christmas carols and make a big deal of it. Growing up we always had very personal trees. Almost every ornament had a story. Some were generations old. Year after year my sister and I each received an ornament which would be ours to take when we grew up and moved away. I'm so grateful for that tradition. Now, my hubby and I pick up an ornament whenever we travel. It's such a nice way to remember time we have spent together as a family. I look forward to carrying on this tradition for our little boy.

So cute, right?

We brought this star home from Italy!

Daddy, can I help?

Felted ball ornament made by Auntie Louisa. Copper heart found on our honeymoon in Italy.

This is all of the decorating we have done so far, not a bad start. What decorating have you done? I would love to hear about it, maybe even borrow your ideas : )

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well, at least at the mall! I know, I know, it's not even Thanksgiving yet! In our house, we do very little Thanksgiving decorating. It seems like a lot of work to be done just to take down the day after the turkey-fest and let's and let's face it...Christmas decorating is so much more fun! This year we have a little one running (and climbing) around and are opting not to do a traditional "big" tree that we have done in the past. So I got to thinking...what the heck is going to give us the same Christmasy vibe? So off to The Mall, well, the VIRTUAL mall I went to find some inspiration...

Restoration Hardware

I think posting a "wish" above our front door could be lovely. I would likely use cardboard letters, because they are inexpensive, and paint them or cover them with festive fabric.
 

Restoration Hardware

Last year while touring the mansions in Newport Rhode Island, I fell in love with "kissing balls". The modern clean line of a sphere with the traditional greens makes me swoon. Is it just me? 

Anthropologie

These felt balls make me smile! My sister, Auntie Louisa, makes felt balls and strings them vertically to make ornaments. I like this variation, sweet.

Pottery Barn

Good reminder to hang a grosgrain ribbon and paper clip holiday cards right on!

Pottery Barn

There's this Advent calendar (above)...

Auntie Louisa

Then there's THIS ADVENT CALENDAR! (Above) I can not wait to hang this festive Advent calendar that my sister made for our family. It is going to bring a smile to my face every time I see it. Who knows what it will be filled with?! 

Crate and Barrel

Christmas pillows are a really easy (and safe) way to add a little holiday pizzaz to a home!

Bleubird

This is so sweet! (I'll probably skip the fawn.) This is on my MUST MAKE list. I love that it could be used from year to year. The only problem, I think most of my yarn in is storage...I'll get to the bottom of that and show you my version. Stay tuned.

Restoration Hardware

Candles. They're beautiful, Christmas or not. 


So...what are you doing in your house to decorate this year? Do you have the same babyproofing issues that we have?

Cleaned up home...picture perfect?

Here are the final photos we ended up using in our marketing materials for our FSBO.  I've learned a few things about photography since we made up these flyers. So they aren't perfect, but it's what we ended up with...

Living room, dining room, view from bedroom.

Bedroom, ceiling tiles, kitchen and nursery.

Nursery and bathroom.

It should be noted that the photos posted on MLS can be enlarged so they are not so cropped.

We cleaned off most surfaces and took away the necessary, but unsightly objects we all have.  After all, no one really wants to look at a diaper pale or all of your toothbrushes and toothpaste. All those things came back out right after we took the photos but we do put them away during open houses and showings. 

So far we have had some interested buyers but no offers. Only one buyer's agent has decided not to boycott us and bring a prospect by. Any advice??

Love this rug!

Isn't this the coolest rug?!  I saw it on Design*Sponge and fell in love instantly.  It would look so great Kieran's room.  The question is:  White rug with orange numbers or white rug with chocolate brown numbers?  It looks like the trick is to take the time to prime the rug before painting so the paint sticks properly to the rug.  Hopefully I will get to Ikea soon to pick up a rug to try this with.  

Have you tried to paint a rug or something else out of the ordinary? 

Bedroom staged...

Finally the clouds parted in Boston and we could go outside and play!! It has been raining since Sunday and we were all getting a little bit stir crazy.  Before I could take the little dude out to the park for a good game of catch, I had a photo shoot to do.  


Here are a few before and after photos of our bedroom.  I am using a Cannon PowerShot (a point and shoot) so it was pretty difficult to get a wide frame.  Try your best, right?


BEFORE

AFTER

Ta da! There's a huge improvement, right?  All for $0 to boot!  It feels freeing to have all of the unnecessary things tucked away in storage.  Open space feels good!  


Here's a sneak peak of tomorrow's "how to"...