[celebrate] red, white and blue

Our family had an amazing July 4th holiday at Daniel Boone Campground.  Festivities included games, contests and the ever popular, golf cart parade.

Thanks to the rain, golf cart decorations didn't start until the morning of  but with some help of polka dot fabric and white duck tape, we rallied.  Of course super cute children escorted by two handsome drivers didn't hurt!

We feasted on all sorts smoked, grilled and baked dishes thanks to our resident chef aka dad.  Simple table decorations made the food the focal point with BBQ pork, smoked chicken and sausage, baked potato salad, grilled corn on the cob, grilled squash and zucchini, baked beans and creamy cole slaw.  Watermelon, peach cobbler and doughnut sundaes complete with vanilla ice cream, strawberries and blueberries  made the perfect desserts.  Fireworks and glow sticks wrapped up Saturday night with our little spot having one of the best views in the campground.

Now back to the real world and the realization that summer is halfway over!  Happy Independence Day!

[live] independence

It's been so long since I've taken care of this little blog.  Too long.  My apologies to those of you out there still keeping up with PlayPending.  I've sadly been missing since Halloween but life has a way of taking over.  Now it's July and our 4th celebration will hit this weekend.  Hopefully these inspirations will translate into realities that I can share in more detail.

In the meantime, Happy Independence Day!

[live] mud corner

We live in a 1960's brick ranch with split floor plan which can be challenging.  Imagine a long rectangle split down the middle, living spaces on one side of stairs leading down to an unfinished basement, bedrooms on the other.  The entrance we use is our "side door" that leads directly into a narrow galley style kitchen from the carport.  Naturally everything, purses, book bags, keys, coats, laptops, end up on the kitchen counter.  We are constantly looking for keys, cell phones, homework assignments.

My previous solutions of hooks on the backs of doors, folders in cabinets, the idea of actually walking it into a bedroom, have been ignored by my family.  My dreams of a mud room are just that, dreams.  We just don't have the space.

Then I moved my husbands great grandmother's glass pie cabinet into the living room and presto, a corner.  A mud corner.

Before, a corner of sorts between the bathroom and our bedroom on one end of the hallway. Now, a handy dandy area that we need to be a tad bit more organized.

I started with an Expedit Shelving Unit in black ($39.99).  I love the cubbie style and that it's super sturdy.  Then I added two Nasum Baskets ($14.99 each) for our "shoe boxes".  I installed two hook racks ($1.99 each) that I picked up a few years back. Then for a little fun added a framed Malma Mirror ($2.99).  All from Ikea for a grand total of $76.94 not including tax.

The kids have always kicked off their shoes as soon as they come in the door (if they don't do it in the car).  Now they have shoe boxes.  The twins have one and Jack has the other.  This kids are GREAT at putting their shoes in there and now in the mornings, we know exactly where we can find their school shoes. I have a place to hang my purse, my keys and a shelf for my laptop and tote bag. Stephen uses his side for his brief case and laptop.  Of course during Christmas, it got hijacked with poinsettias, pine cones, and soft fuzzy throws.

All in all, it is working perfectly and although I still dream of a mud room, a mud corner is a great start.

[live] holiday house

This is the holiday house, no party, post.  A few of my decorations inspired by Pinterest and a woodland theme. Pine cone trees and tiny deer hiding in the moss:

A little fox:

And a woodland themed Christmas tree:

The little paper mouse is courtesy of my Jack, he knows how I like everything to match so he picked a brown mouse with red ears.  I didn't get to so many of the projects I had on my list, but there is always next year (and maybe a few more days until Christmas)!

[live] butterflies and rainbows

We found out our second child would be our second AND third child.  We were told to have the nursery done by 20 weeks because odds were I would be in bed for the second half of the pregnancy.  Planning a nursery for two with three possible combos? So we opted for red and blue, Ikea style, and hoped for the best.  The nursery was done well in anticipation of Week 20 and the ultrasound to see whether there would be khakis or dresses or both in our future.  Two girls, two little girls living in bright red and royal blue.

I was blessed, I worked the Thursday before my water broke Friday morning, albeit three and half weeks early. I brought two beautiful little girls home in pink from head to toe days later.  They didn't care whether their nursery was red and blue but the pink and lavender gradually worked its way in to the decor.  Not many princesses wear the same colors as the Duke Basketball team.

So now almost four years later (and months after the original idea board) it's back to red and blue, but I didn't forget pink this time, or rainbows or butterflies or flowers or anything absolutely girltastic!  I started with a blank slate and some bedding courtesy of JuJu:

Enter 100+ butterflies hand cut from Martha's templates and stapled to the wall with a standard stapler (which I found to be the quickest and most efficient method).  UPDATE:  The butterfly template I used was Martha Stewart's Butterfly Patch Template found here:  http://www.marthastewart.com/267070/butterfly-patch-shirt. This gave me three size options and was a much simpler template than some of Martha's others.

Maddie's side on the right just like I carried her:

Kate's on the left not forgetting their piggy banks and rugs from their original nursery:

And some tissue paper flowers to inspire the butterflies:

I'm still working on the closet and some additional artwork to finish the room out.  Then onto Jack's.

Thanks to Rachel at One Pretty Thing for featuring this post!

[live] summer time in my space

Our bedroom in always last.  Always.  I redo the girls room, Jack's room gets a new bed, the living room gets a new color scheme.  But our bedroom, it's the landing spot for all things without a home, the door that gets shut when company comes over.  Now to fix it.  The kids' toys on the floor can wait another day.  Last night was a closet redo for the hubby - tonight my wardrobes will be all squared away and then tomorrow evening, time for artwork and new linens.  I need a little summer time in my space.  Wish me luck!

photo: Small Place Style via Pinterest

[live] camp olioboards

Sadie found Olioboards which is pretty durn cool.  Since I'm rocking the blog posts today, I figured I might as well post my boards too.  These are for CAMP Pawpawtowus - our lake "house" this summer.  Okay, so the house is a camper and an old one at that, but hopefully it will be ours soon and I can start disguising the 1996 with some 2011.

Some color inspiration above and ideas for the out of doors ...

 And to the inside for the living area ...

























I love the fish prints and camp sign from Etsy.  I'll have to deal with a built in sofa but a slip cover should help. Then in the kitchen area ...

And finally the bedroom, which is actually a separate room ...

All images were pulled from Olioboard and comprised within that platform.

bookshelves from spiceracks

I love of IKEA.  I tell my kids all the time that you "love" people and you "like" places.  But I love that big blue and yellow building.  So when I saw this here, needless to say my heart did in fact skip a beat.  It's perfect for the girls redo.

twin time

For Christmas, JuJu got the girls a new comforter set after we were graciously given two beautiful twin "big girl" beds.  Since it was Christmas, I just switched out their toddler daybeds and added the new beds and comforter sets. I guess it's time to address the rest of the room since I can't use the holidays as my latest excuse.  So here are a few ideas.

Clockwise: eye candy; madison bedding; chalk board; felt butterfly mobile; bulletin boards

[live] paint brush love

it changes lives ...thanks for the recommendation younghouselove