banners and chips.

 I've begun making a banner for Avery's party. I was back and forth between using fabric and paper but ultimately decided on paper mainly because I had a hard time finding fabric in my red, pink, white & grey color scheme that I liked. 

 I made a pennant template and traced it onto my scrapbook paper. I just need to punch some holes in the corners and string it up! I haven't decided if I'll add lettering to it or not yet...we'll see. 

The patterned red & pink paper looks almost identical to my tablecloths that I scored at Homegoods on clearance after Valentine's day!

Avery & I also ventured to the paint store to pick up a few red paint chip samples for the office closet...or is it closet office. (office mood board)

She insisted on holding the samples on the car ride home. There was a slight meltdown when I tried taking them away so I decided to let it be. I was just hoping I wouldn't arrive home to find a half chewed piece of paper hanging out of her mouth but she was a good little assistant and tucked them in her seat.

I explained to the woman at the paint store my plan and she told me to take the chips home, tape them up in the closet (near each other NOT next to each other) and bring a lamp in (since I'll be putting a lamp on the desk as the light source.

So that's what I did.

I sat on the floor looking into the closet for awhile...

I have to say the red I originally liked in the natural light looks totally different in there and one of the hues I wasn't that into is now growing on me. It is very important to check out your chips at all different times of the day so I'll be checking on them first thing tomorrow to see what they look like in daylight.

tulle garland.

Party planning is starting to kick in to high gear around here. Although Avery's party isn't until the beginning of May (in hopes of nice weather for an outdoor bash) I've started crafting a plan and planning my crafts (wow I'm cool).

So lets rewind just a tad here. The scheme for her 1st birthday (yes scheme not theme) is a color palette of red, pink and white with touches of galvanized metal.

I wanted some sort of decorative garland and I though tulle (the tutu stuff just in case you were wondering) would be a cool idea. So with wine bottle glass in hand here is a step by step of the making of tulle garland.

First decide your colors. I started with white & pink and felt it needed something more so I picked up gray and red as well. I bought a yard of each color and it went a long way.

It is easier to cut all you pieces first. My strips were roughly 3 inches wide by 8 inches long. Tulle is a pain in the butt to cut when it's laid out flat because it is pretty much as invisible as Harry Potter with his invisibility cloak on (yeah I just went there) so I suggest folding it up in order to cut it which saves time and sanity.

You'll need a string or ribbon to make your garland. I used twine because that's what I had. Attaching it to the twine was easy I just folded the tulle in half around my finger and placed it on the twine and pulled the cut ends through the loop.

A few nights on the couch catching up on some DVR and I had my garland. I'd say it is about 8 feet long.

 

A close up of my knots.

The final product.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Do you ever have an idea in your head and the result isn't what you pictured? This actually came out exactly how I imagined and I'm very excited to use it for Avery's party! You can't beat the cost either. At $1.49/yard of tulle and 4 yards (one of each color) this DIY project came to a whopping (hold on while I get out my calculator...yes I'm serious I was a level 2 math kid)... $5.96!

Lots of other DIY party decor coming over the next month. Anyone else have any party decor they've made?

what do you want?

I am very ashamed of myself that it has been 12 days since I last posted. I've promised Avery's shelf project and I've promised a few pieces of furniture. So what is the hold up you might ask? I wish I had an answer. Avery's shelves have been up and decorated I started taking some pictures to post but I'm not 100% satisfied with the final product yet. 

The furniture on the other hand is giving me a run for my money. I have a cute little night stand waiting to get some poly but the weather has not been on my side. I also have a great hope chest/server piece that I painted black but the my paint gun wasn't happy and spit out the poly and made a mess of the piece so I've been re-sanding and re-painting.

So I guess what I'm getting to is I have things to talk about but not sure if anyone out there wants to hear. I'd love to know what you are interested in (if anything at all) because I would love to give you more (or less depending on the subject) but don't want to bore anyone.

So I'd love to get some feedback, thoughts, opinions. You know the good, the bad, the ugly.

Do you love talking design?

Or DIY?

Or Furniture?

Or Photography?

Or life?

(eeek I hate wires!)

I'm all ears.....

p.s.- remember my blog friend Sarah @ Pewter & Sage who made my baby shower invites. She is  in the process of designing Avery's 1st Birthday Party invites for me and the are obviously fab so I'll be showcasing all the party dets (as in details) and lots of DIY decorations!

a very cold day, but a very cute girl.

I just realized I haven't posted photo shoot pictures in forever. The winter months are obviously slower in photography world when you shoot outdoors. It has been colD (yes that's cold with a capital "D" or is it supposed to be with a capital "C") and we've been up to our eyeballs in snow but that didn't stop this little one! She was a trooper!

This day was especially cold and windy and I mean windy. I just shivered thinking about it! She stayed bundled up in her coat with teeth chattering and lips blue while I adjust my camera setting and took some practice shots to test the lighting. Then I'd say ready and the coat flew off and boy did she turn it on!

Look at the spunk! She rocked that cold weather like a champ! I snapped feverishly until she started to shiver again and her mom would throw her coat back at her and we skipped down the street to keep warm. Skipping. Yes, my idea not the 7 year olds.

After a wardrobe change and a warm up in her moms car with the heat blasting we were back at it again. She was too cute in her sweater dress and thermal leggings. Not to mention those gorgeous blue eyes.

 

Of course she had to rock the Sock Monkey Hat for a few shots!

All in all it was a fun morning but I'm ready for the spring!

With warmer weather just around the corner I'd like to offer 20% off a photo session if you schedule something for anytime this year by the end of March. Just shoot me an email and we'll chat!!

office mood board.

 The shelves in Avery's room are up. I'm working on a post about them and some pointers on how to decorate shelves. In the meantime I've been brainstorming about the office/playroom design. I put together a mood board for inspiration and to get the ball rolling.

I have to say that I'm drawn to blues and greens. I love other colors but something about those colors always pull me in. I started my mood board with black and white and green and then decided to be brave and go bold, so everything green got deleted and I started to source RED! I have to say I'm loving the vibe.

Disclaimer: I started the mood board not thinking I was going to post it so I didn't source anything so if you have any questions about where I found something or one of the images is your please let me know!

First order of business is the fabric store to find something bold for the "closet door curtains" and for the window treatments. Once I find that I'll get some red paint that coordinates and paint the inside of the closet only.

I do have to talk for a hot second about the lamp in my design. Although super cool...its made out of toys! It's also super, super, super pricey as in $7,780. Yep.

 

source 

I've got two pieces of furniture at the finishing stages that I'll show you this week too.

And just because I can:

writer's block.

Well, it's more like office block. As I've mentioned before I'm in the process of redoing our office. I got as far as painting the walls a creamy white (actually Linen White by Ben Moore) and painted a chalkboard wall....and the brakes came to a screeching halt. I hit a design wall. I've spent may hours thinking about what I want this space to look like, whats my color scheme is going to be and all I'm hearing are dog gone crickets.

We have a black project table that sits in the middle of the room with our computer on it. I like the idea of the "desk" in the middle of the room however there are cords EVERYWHERE!!! I'm also discovering the toy collection is growing and since our house isn't big enough to have a dedicated "playroom" I decided to make the "office" into an office/playroom...genius I know...haha

I spend a lot of time in here editing photos, blogging, reading blogs, Googling (I love image googling!!) and I want it to be a safe place for Avery to hang out as well. I've decided to make the closet into the office (as a built-in) and the rest of the room can be for play & crafts.

So on that note here are some inspiration photos I've come across to get the wheels turning again!

 Oh I love eye candy...well any candy really.

 

Country Living

 

blisstree.com

casasugar

Apartment Therapy

On a side note the floating shelves are almost done for Avery's room, just one more coat of paint!

We were sidetracked this week with a very sick baby and a hand injury involving a plow falling on a husbands hand. But we're all on the mend so thanks for the patience!!