Friday, January 31, 2014

12 Days of Love

My kids are so excited to pull out our Valentine's Day mailboxes. I thought I'd make things a bit more exciting this year by starting a Twelve Days of Love tradition. For twelve days leading up to Valentine's Day, I have a simple (and inexpensive!) surprise planned for them. I want to do a better job of showing them how much I love them, and this is a great way to start.

I'm so excited to start our new tradition! I always intend to do a Twelve Days of Christmas, but the holidays get so hectic and over-scheduled that it falls through the cracks every year. Valentine's Day is the perfect time to bust out some extra love. And this is a fun activity to do anytime during the month of February. You can download the checklist here and play along. Or just use my list as a starting point to plan some surprises your family will love.

I created a free printable Tic Tac Toe card, as well. So get it here.
Also, here's a link to the Secret Message Valentines (Day 4) if you need instructions.

Happy (almost) February!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Alt Business Cards

The celebrated business card exchange at Alt Summit is one of the things I was most excited about. I showed you my business card last week. Here's a fun fact: I actually printed four different versions of the cards until I got exactly what I wanted. Pretty sure I have enough business cards to wrap around the earth. Twice. Being surrounded by creative people with incredible business cards is a dream come true for me. Here are a few of my favorites:
Aren't they great? And the people behind the business cards were equally as lovely. I love the variety of textures, colors, typefaces, corner treatments, die cuts. Nerd, I tell you. But I love this. I just wish I would have met more people and collected more cards.

I think Natalie from creme de la craft deserves a round of applause. See her card up there on the top left? She made mini notebook business cards out of cereal boxes. Labor intensive, for sure. But they were a smashing success.


And here are some of my favorite people I encountered throughout the week.

Jill and I have known each other for years through our blogs, and we finally met in person! Jill and Abby were traveling together, and its was so much fun getting to know them in real life. It really felt like we've been friends forever. Meghan and Camille helped me overcome my fear of photo booths and Courtney was so much fun at our sponsor dinner with Bing. Katie and I connected on Instagram, and she's absolutely adorable in real life. All these ladies are up to such fun and exciting things. Stop by and pay them a visit.

Tomorrow I'm diving into the world of Alt parties. So get your party shoes ready. 

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Alt Summit Business Cards



Today's the day. I'm off to Alt Summit. I've got butterflies in my stomach and shimmery polish on my nails. Here's the final version of my new business cards. I love the spot UV hearts on the back. I had the cards printed on a silk laminated card, so they've got a great silky texture in addition to the subtle detail on the back.



I made some little goody packets to pass out along with my business cards. Inside there's a little assortment of items from my shop. Those valentine tags are hot off the press, and not even available in my shop yet.

I'll be sharing all the fun via instagram. So follow along and see how it goes.

Monday, January 13, 2014

The Big Reveal - Charlotte's Room

You guys. I'm SO thrilled to finally share Charlotte's bedroom with you!

If you recall, I posted my inspiration board several months ago. I made a couple deviations from my original plan when I ditched the wallpaper in favor of the play tent. This room is literally the stuff dreams are made of.



Here's a before picture I saved from the original real estate listing. We decided to tear out the old wooden shutters and have new, crisp white ones installed. The process took a bit longer than I expected, but I couldn't be happier with the result. I got up close and personal with the insides of our house; and I learned a lot about using sheetrock mud in the process. (Thanks, Dad!)


I really had a great time teaming up with my friends at The Land of Nod for this project. I got all of the artwork through Etsy, and the bed is my most treasured family heirloom. My mom had two cute, knobby twin beds in her room growing up. My sister and I used to jump back and forth between the beds when the grownups thought we were asleep. I'm now the lucky owner of these darling beds, and one of them recently got a snazzy makeover. You can see the before shot here.

I'm not one to shy away from a little DIY furniture painting. But these beds are irreplaceable, and I was really scared to bugger them up. So I turned to the pros. Worth every penny. I guarantee if I had to strip down the bed and sand it, I would have left a string of curse words a mile long. Now I can save my swearing for more important matters. Like stepping on Legos. 

You can see more pictures of the completed room over at Honest to Nod today.

And here's a lengthy source list for you:
  • Shutters: Old World Mill (Salt Lake City) They're incredible. Definitely give them a call if you're local.
  • Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Beach Plum
  • Bed Painting: The Stripper. If you're going to look him up, use "furniture" in your search terms. For obvious reasons.
  • Owl Skater Print: Ashley Percival. This is my VERY favorite piece in the entire house right now. It's incredible. And even cuter in person.  
  • Bamboo Doily Clock: Uncommon
  • Oscar Wilde Quote: The Big Lake It's printable and an instant download. Yay!
  • Princess Play Castle: Disney Store
  • White wall hearts. I made 'em. Yay for DIY!
And here are all the fantastic Land of Nod goodies featured in Charlotte's room. Some are pictured here, and others are shown over at Honest to Nod.
*In the spirit of disclosure, I should mention that the nice people at Nod gave me the items marked with an asterisk. Just because they're nice. I've been a long-time fan and customer of The Land of Nod, so I truly would have purchased each and every one of these items had they not given them to me. But I'm glad they're so generous. All the other items were things I either bought specifically for this project, or things we all ready had. I'm not even obligated to say anything nice about The Land of Nod. I just genuinely love their stuff. So much, in fact, that I've incorporated some into most of the rooms in the house. More on that later.


I've got a couple more DIY projects in store for this room…so I'll be back when they're done. But for now, I leave you with a photo of Little Brother enjoying the play tent. Have a great day!

Friday, January 3, 2014

Princess Bingo Printable



I've had some requests for my princess bingo game we played at Charlotte's birthday party…so here it is! Just download the file here, print as many as you need!

A couple notes: I made this game for the younger crowd. There are four different bingo cards, but they all have the same pictures, so everyone can win. When you're ready to print, just make sure you check the box that says "fit to printable area" and you're all set. Now go grab a tiara and a fizzy drink and you're all set for a good time.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

New Year, New You

Happy New Year, Friends! I love a new year the same way I love the first sheet in a shiny, new notebook. Clean slate. Fresh start. And I know some other folks who are just as excited about the new year as I am. These lovely ladies. And we're having a little Pinterest party to celebrate.

For the next several weeks, we'll be pinning our favorite things to help us start the new year off with a bang. Consider it one-stop shopping for ideas on freshening up your home, getting organized, eating healthier, expressing your style…you get the idea. It's a great place to search for your new year inspiration. Follow along on the boards below. And Happy New Year!

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Participants:
Christina of Just Call Me Chris  
Jill of Good Life  
Jess of Here & Now
Jackie of Sweetie Pie Style 

Pinterest Boards: