oh, here we go

Remember when I fell inlove a few days ago with this fella? Yeah, it gets worse. Orla Kiely has an entire line of kitchenware now!! I really am dying. Why oh why does all the awesome stuff have to start with the Brits? Come on! Seriously, I don’t even know how to make lasagna, but I would LEARN if I had this dish! All you English people just better be happy I don’t come over there with an empty duffel bag right now and clean out that store. I mean, the mugs, the salad bowl, the pitcher, the utensil holder! I know my anniversary is maybe awhile away, say 6 months, but I can wait. I. can. wait. No, seriously, how about that little radio on my china cabinet in the dining room, and these kitchen items in my kitchen! Unity. Harmony. You get the point.

They even have a composter. I seriously, I mean, I can’t even type right. In awe at the moment.

 

 

Shower Details- Dessert

Anyone that knows me well knows that I hate cake. Sawyer was blessed with the same tastebuds as me in that category. We both despise cake. In fact, I didn’t even have a wedding cake. So, no surprise there won’t be a typical cake at my nephews shower. I wanted something fun and more dessert bar-ish so I came up with the idea of a gelato bar. Who doesn’t love gelato? And it sounds so much more classy than ice cream, no? The flavor is still undecided since I have to go taste test before I make up my mind. But these are the supplies I ordered to go with the whole blue/white striped theme.

I found the most adorable gelato cups at the best online baking supply store, Bake It Pretty. I have ordered from them since two more times since I can’t get over their selection.

And I cannot find them any longer at the same site, but I also ordered the cutest rainbow gelato spoons that look like this, however the ones I bought are not as bright, a little more subdued.

And you can’t have any kind of dessert bar without toppings. So I ordered the most delicious looking sprinkles, and will have other fun yummy toppings to choose from as well.

I cannot tell you how great Bake It Pretty really is, go on there and check out the funnest stuff. I ordered baker’s twine and little bakery bags, and we’ve already put them to use whenever we make a batch of muffins and tie up a cute little bag as a present for someone. We also got the most adorable selection of little cupcake wrappers and little tags. My head is a turning for Greta’s next party, let me tell you. . .

wii & documentaries

First, I thought I would share the Wii games the kids are enjoying in this house at the moment. Right now in the arsenal of rotation are: Madden(NFL-I heard 2011 is out but Gunnar is still happy with 2010, so we’re good), NBA2K10, Lego Batman, Lego Star Wars, Toy Story 3. Those seem to be getting the most play and all our games are rated E for everyone. We went for weeks without touching the Wii, and that seems to be our MO, an up and down cycle of interest in the Wii. Our rule is no Wii playing until all our homework and reading is done for the day. Including any reports that need to be worked on. Right now Gunnar is working on a book report and Sawyer on an animal report/presentation. They have to do their normal homework and then work a little bit on their project. Once that’s complete they get no more than 30 min max on the Wii. Some days, there’s just not enough time in the day. But I do think the kids need a little bit of down time and I would kind of rather them do that on their feet and moving instead of sitting on the couch. And our screen time rule is usually maximum of 1 hour, but usually they only have time for the 30 minutes they play Wii. On weekends we will let them watch a movie usually once, or we go to a movie. Greta is not so much into the Wii yet. We have one game for her, but she would rather actually go play with her princesses than watch one on the game. And I won’t complain with that.

The reason I LOVE the Wii is for the Netflix Instant Queue. Love that thing. And even if a movie I want is no longer available on the Wii, I can go to the website and add to my Instant Queue, and then next time I turn on the Wii, it’s there. Voila! We recently watched two amazing documentaries. Just have tissues ready. The first is The Cove. It won an Oscar for best documentary, and I totally agree. Disturbing but so well done. It’s about a cove in Japan where thousands upon thousands of dolphins are murdered there every year, and the risks these divers and filmmakers took to make this film.

The next one we saw, whoa. Have a whole box of tissues at hand. It’s called My Flesh and Blood. It follows a mother in Northern California for a year. She has 11(?) adopted children, all with special needs. Aaron convinced me to watch it and we were pretty much silent the entire film. It was powerful. I cannot imagine what she goes through in her life, and in her heart every day. Losing her children to death sometimes. And loving all of them no matter what mental, emotional, and physical problems it brings on the family. She even let’s some of the children have contact with their birth families, who really have no reason NOT to care for their own children, but it just seems more convenient to have this other woman, Susan, be their mom. Wonderful film, heartbreaking, but really worth watching.

wordless wednesday

yeah, not going to happen today. i feel like trash. being awoken 5 different times in the night will do that to you. ex.haust.ed. just going to try and not fall asleep driving today.

i think i’m inlove

source

Inspiration

I found these photos, and this post at 6th Street Design School so inspiring for playrooms. I really miss having a playroom. If we had one I would definitely pull elements from these.

Simple Ikea shelves done so well. Love the globe collection on top! And see through wire baskets, brilliant. Not to mention that Eames style rocker (total envy) and that little banner pillow which I believe is from Etsy.

The yellow/white stripes! And the black accents. And that little kitchen nook! Not to mention the numbered drawers, perfect way to teach numbers to kids in a play atmosphere.

LOVE these Pom Poms. If only we had a room where we didn’t open and close the curtains daily.

Design Sponge is also inspiration times two hundred! I try and only browse it every once in awhile or else I have a million things pop into my head. Especially when I see what people have done with the Before & Afters. If only I knew how to upholster. . .

Some beautiful photos from their site. Love the pops of color in this kitchen. Wouldn’t baking here just make you smile?

The most perfect jewelry display if I do say so myself.

source

 

clarification

Sometimes I feel the urge to clarify my blog. I think it may have to do with the fact that it’s a little unnerving to sometimes see the number of people who read the blog but not actually know who you all are as individuals, or even what city and state you live in! However having a public blog, that’s just part of the territory. And I guess that’s why I refrain from posting negative things on here. Do you really want to read about the fact that our car was broken into last weekend? Or the number of times we clean up dog vomit in a month? Or the days I have no patience and apologize to my kids for losing my cool? I just think most people have their own bad days and bad events happening, do you really want to come here and read about mine? Unlikely.

I would rather just show you the snippets of good times and fun, with a little bit of the comedy/reality that comes with raising three children. Yet, at the same time I would hate for you to think that that’s all that goes on in this house. Far from it. It may seem that all we do is travel, paint, read, cook, take photos, dance, and laugh, but we are a normal family that has normal problems. And I am not perfect. Aaron believes I have an unusual amount of energy and drive to get things done, but really, I have my moments of vegetation on the couch. I have my evenings of sitting on the couch with hot tea and not moving for two straight hours. Oh the lazy evenings of television, I love you, why are you so few and far between?

And Aaron and I argue like any normal married couple. But I would hate to use my blog as a complaining outlet where I moan and whine. Sure, I can moan about sick kids, and unloading the dishwasher twice a day, endless loads of laundry, and kids’ book reports, but you don’t need to hear about who hurt whose feelings. But, I can assure you, we fight. As we have gotten older, the fights become less frequent. But I think that’s normal too, you are more in sync with one another, and honestly, you are just too dang tired to argue, so you just let it go.

I also have my many imperfections and flaws. But again, do you come here wanting me to be brutally honest where it may appear all I am looking for is reassurance? Bleh. Cannot stand that. Not going to happen on here. If you know me you know my weaknesses and flaws. If you don’t, trust me, they are there. Although, I have discussed on here qualities I have tried/am trying to work on in frank honesty in the past. And I feel good about those posts, but continuing those regularly just isn’t what I want this blog to be about. I could focus on all the plants I have murdered, cilantro, carrots and snap peas thus far. But that’s just sad. Rather, I want this blog to be a memory for me and my family of all the wonderful things I want to hold onto as we age and go through this wild and crazy adventure together. I really don’t want to remember a fight I had with my mom, or the fears I have on a daily basis. I want this to be a little bit of a celebration. A celebration of the good stuff, with bits and pieces of our everyday. Everyday dinners and everyday conversations, everyday books and everyday art.

My house projects are purely motivated by selfish desires. Honestly, when I tell myself “this project is going to be a blog post” I get it done. I actually complete the task and that’s because I feel like there’s accountability. If I just say it in my head and then don’t follow through, heck, why would I complete anything? There’s no accountability. But knowing I plan to share it on the blog gives me that boost of motivation. And it makes me so happy when I hear from some of you that I inspired you somehow. I cannot tell you how many blogs inspire me. I love seeing how people have designed their home, or what festive decorations they have in their house, or what art projects they are doing with their kids. So I would feel as if I contribute nothing to the blogging world if I didn’t do my own share.

There’s a few things I would like to do more of on this blog. And if there is anything you would like to see more of in particular, please please please let me know. If you aren’t comfortable commenting, just send me an email. I am sometimes amazed at what posts get huge spikes in readers compared to others. And I think if I did a new house project every single day, a lot of you would be happy. But that’s just not realistic, so here’s what I would like to do more of:

1. more giveaways! i really think they are great, if only i knew what to give away! but i have a few ideas, so i’m going to work on it. even if i do one every few months, that’s a huge improvement over what i’ve done in the past.

2. blogs that inspire me. i am going to try and post more links and photos of blogs that i love and i read.

3. i really like my wordless wednesday, and so i’m debating having another regular weekly post, but i don’t know if i can commit to something that routine at the moment. any ideas? maybe a weekly style watch of stuff i am oogling over?

That’s all I got for now. Just wanted to clarify (as if there was really any doubt) that I am not perfect, our lives are not all lollipops and rainbows. But if I can just hold onto those rainbows and put them in print, I will. Which is why we have My Life at Playtime. Not My Life at Miserabletime, nor My Life at Crappytime. Nope, playtime. Mine. My kids. And hopefully yours.

book time

We are in the midst of the kid’s school Readathon at the moment. They pledge to read a certain amount of minutes/hours per day for 2 weeks. Sawyer pledged 48 minutes a day, random I know. Gunnar pledged 25 minutes, lazy for sure.

I’ve had to keep a steady supply of good reading material around, and it seems I can’t put books on the shelves fast enough. I go to the library once each week and pick up 8 books usually at a time for them. 4-6 for Sawyer, 1 for Gunnar, and 1-3 for Greta. Gunnar reads longer books now so he usually doesn’t go through them one a day like Sawyer. Sawyer has been enjoying these books for now:

Cam Jansen series- I like that there’s a whole bunch to choose from and our local library keeps a good amount in stock. It says for ages 4-8, but I can’t imagine an 8 year old enjoying it. I would say more of a 4-6, maybe 7 year olds.

Bones series- we picked up one of these for the first time this week. These books he sits down with and reads in one sitting, but it means he is reading, and he’s interested, and that’s his reading for the night.

I recently rearranged Greta’s bookcase when I put up the photo wall in her room. And I discovered some great books that I have been neglecting.

This one, The Dot, such a beautiful message. Whenever one of my kids say they can’t do something well, this is the book I need to pull out.

Library Lion- I love this book so much. And the illustrations are beautiful.

Greta has also been having me reread to her almost daily the Clarice Bean books. I don’t mind because I laugh out loud every time with those books. Especially whenever her grandpa is talking, he cracks me up. He calls a neighbor kid “shouting boy” and he puts soup in his cereal by accident and complains how lumpy it is.

Gunnar still is breezing through the Who Was/Is series, so far he read about Queen Elizabeth and is on to Benjamin Franklin now.

I just finished The Maze Runner. Really good for all of you Hunger Games fans. Aaron has been making fun of my choices in books, he wants to know if I have been growing chest hair. Apparently my recent picks are popular in the teenage boy category. The Maze Runner is a trilogy so I’m waiting for the second one at my library. What can I say, I’ve been in a futuristic/sci fi mood lately, kinda Lost Boys-ish. Amazon says this one is for grades 6-10, oh well. I liked it! Aaron about had a heart attack when he saw my recent library book, 1984. He looked at me and said, “you know that’s really old right?” I do, and I bet it’s still good, even 60 years later.

Hope you all are enjoying some good books. I always feel come fall and winter there’s a whole lot more reading in our house. I think it’s because it gets dark so fast and we’re inside more due to rain, not that we get much, but for us it’s been a wet fall already. I also think we are always in high gear with books after starting school again. Book reports, book clubs, reading charts. And I’m not complaining, there is truly nothing like a really good book that you just. have. to. finish. And I so hope that my kids still love reading as they get older.

Happy Reading time everyone!

House Project- How to Create a Photo Wall

I get asked a lot about my photo walls. I have one upstairs on the landing seen here and one downstairs in the living room seen here. People ask about them when they come into my home, or email me from the blog posts, so I thought I’d try and help with a how-to. Most people find it hard to make something on the wall look to not look intended or contrived. And it’s true, it’s much harder to put together artwork or photos and have them look uneven without looking a mess. Know what I mean? Anyways, I took a wall in Greta’s room since she has no photos up in her space. It’s a small wall where her bookcase is and I wanted to add photos to the upper half of the wall. Since it’s a small space I decided to divide it into two groups of photos and sort of align them. You’ll see what I mean. This wall is not haphazard looking like the wall on the landing, but it’s not the usual all in a row photos either.

First thing is first. I do not have a photo I want to frame and then find a spot for it on the wall. Nope. I first create the space and then will fill in with pictures later on. This is opposite from what most of you may do. But it works, trust me. You will always find photos later on to add to a space, but it’s much harder to hang one frame and then add frame by frame to a wall over time and have it look great. Get your wall put together first, then fill it in with photos or artwork. You will often find empty frames around my house waiting for the right photo to just appear.

Once you decide on your wall space you then need to decide on the frames you will use. You can mismatch frames or you can use a uniform frame for all your photos. Decide on a frame selection and jot down all their different sizes. I like to do this online. For instance, I choose to use CLIPS by Ikea for my specific photo walls, I write down all the frame sizes that are made in that style. Then I get out my roll of brown craft paper (you can use any paper and tape together sheets to make larger sizes). Once I have several cut outs of each size I just start taping them to the wall. This takes a while because I will tape up and then pull down and I just do this until something looks right. It may take an hour at least to get it just right. And I will leave the paper up for a few days and make minor adjustments here and there. I like to photograph each layout and then study the photos since I can’t rely on my memory anymore.

Here’s what my wall looks like with taped up craft paper.

A mistake a lot of people make is the selection of sizes. Having a wall full of 4×6, 5×7, and maybe an 8×10 looks cluttered to me. They’re too small and they make the space look smaller in my opinion. Now, if you have a floor to ceiling wall FULL of little frames, that can look very cool. But a wall with random 4×6 and 5x7s just doesn’t appeal to me. People are scared to go big. But don’t be. They make awesome statements and I cannot tell you how many compliments I get on my wall that has 9 20×20 photos on it. NINE frames. 20×20 each! That’s big. So throw in a 16×20 or a few 11x14s. You won’t regret it. Just to give you an idea these frames on this wall are 20×20, 9x9s, and 12×16. Not small sizes at all.

Once you are happy with the way the wall looks with your paper on it, then you can start marking their corners with pencil. Next is where you need to find a handy husband or friend good with a level and hanging supplies.

Aaron likes to hang the backs of the frames all at the same time and then I can fill them in with photos and we put on the glass once the prints arrive. Here’s my wall ready, just waiting for the prints.

Now, ordering prints is a whole other subject. I tell all my clients that using a cheap online print place is okay for small prints, but when you blow up photos, you need to make the investment and spend a little more. It makes a HUGE difference. Poor quality photo prints are going to look that much worse the larger they get. So, I urge you to find a local custom lab or choose a pro lab online to print your larger images. It makes a difference! And price around. The photo wall in my living room took awhile. I was quoted at first $80 per print for the 20×20. $80 x 9 was a lot of money. So I shopped around and ended up finding an awesome lab who charged me around $30 per print. Much better. And although I haven’t changed out the photos in my living room, I have changed out the ones on my landing several times. I love every few months putting current photos of our kids on the wall. It keeps it interesting and that way I always have something fun and new to look at. Also, don’t be afraid of square frames. You can easily crop a vertical or horizontal photo into a square. You’ll notice in the 3 squares below that the original photos were not square.

So here’s the wall after the prints came. I left the largest space for Greta’s artwork so I can change it out every so often to showcase her 4 yo work. And I figure the tap recital photos can be changed yearly and updated with her recent recitals. I also left some space between the top of her bookcase and the bottom of the frames that way we can add knick knacks and a few pieces over the years that mean something to her.

And while loading these photos I do realize the bookcase is not centered and will be solving that momentarily.

And that’s how I do a photo wall. This wall took about a month from start to finish because of ordering prints and deciding on the layout. So don’t rush it, it’s not a fast process but in the end I think it’s worth it. Happy framing everyone!

wordless wednesday- i would like to title this photo “we were children and i had fake nails”