Great Advice!

A dear friend gave me some of the greatest advice, when it comes to style and design, that I have ever heard.
We were shopping in Old Navy, one of my faves!, and I was attempting to form an outfit including a wrap sweater. As we were discussing this she told me to look around the store for maniquans and see how they were dressed.
(Old Navy even has outfit ideas on their website...check it out here)
From that day on, whenever I walk into a clothing store, I scan the maniquans to see how they are pairing shirts, jackets and accessories.
For this style-challenged gal, it was such golden advice!
She also applies this idea to her home design. Using great mags from Pottery Barn and West Elm she helped me come up with some ideas to warm up my pretty blah living room and dinning room.
(I just love Pottery Barn! )
I will keep those mags handy while shopping at HomeGoods!!!

I have been blessed with some great friends who have styles, varying greatly from one to the other! I really love each of them and admire their unique style. I try to pick their brains, often, on how they decide or create certain things, whether it be an outfit or room decor!
For so much more than this I am truely thankful for my friends and their great advice!

Decor, Decor, Decor

When we had our living room and dinning room redone I thought we would  live in it for a while before I decide what to put on the walls and how to decorate it. Well that was a year and a half ago and I have barely done anything!
The living room and dinning rooms are the main living areas in our home. They act as our playroom and TV room. Our entry way and homework areas. I display my kids art work and have all of our family pictures. It is also the area for all of my clutter! Ugh!!
So keeping that in mind I have a few ideas that I have been mulling over and hoping to finally get somethings up on the walls!
Here are my inspirations.

Because we need somewhere for our stuff...since we don't have a closet

Because we need somewhere to display my kids masterpieces!!! Click here to find out how to make it!

Because I love seeing my family!

It's a start!

DIY...Yes please!

I love love love to DIY!!! I am a "do-it-yourself" kind of gal.
I love to give gifts that I have made by my own two hands...I love to make things for my kids...I love to decorate my house in things that I have made. But I have to say that I am not great at coming up with ideas myself. I also don't have a ton of money to spend on books and magazines where I can get ideas and instructions.
So what is a girl to do???
Google, blog search, and ask friends who are crafty savvy.
This is how my son's fifth birthday was created! I am now preparing for Princess party for a very special little girl...my own Lizzy Jane who is turning three very soon. So I have been googling away and looking at the many websites and blogs that come up and have been having a ball thinking of all the possible invitations and decorations to have. I am excited and ready to get to work.

Handy Friends

So I know I haven't posted in almost two months...and boy do I have a bunch of things that I need to get out there when I get the time to think them out.
But I just had to share what a great friend just made for my son.
First I have to say that one thing I love are homemade things...whether it be costumes for Halloween or furniture that will last a good long time.
So my friend Jim, who is very handy, offered to build me a much needed toy chest for my son! I can't tell you how excited I was to have him do this.
So here it is...

Now I just need to reorganize Jake's room. Let the fun begin!

A Hero Birthday

So Jake really wanted to a Transfomers birthday...and me not wanting to go "commerical" with his party I decided to find a way to mix the Transfomers and the Fire truck ride we had already planned to have. I thought a good mesh of the two would be the Hero factor.

With that idea I went to the internet to look for decorations and activities. My fab friend, Tracey, is a great party planner and internet savvy so I started running ideas by her and searching through her blog, HiddenCupcakes.com, to find some good ideas. In a previous post I listed where I was able to find some of my ideas. But here are the results.

Decorations

 Home made bunting                                 Streamers

    (DIY to follow)                                                                          

The table

After getting some advice from a friend, we used a large industrial table that we normal use in the basement. I kept the legs of the table folded and used paint cans to prop it up. This way there was enough room for all the kids to sit since we don't have enough chairs for all of them.

I tucked the plastic table cloth under the paint cans...I think the kids enjoyed our picnic style dinning!

Fire Station

 The Birthday Boy

 They got a little wet

Even the adults got in on the fun

Photo Booth

I made superhero capes for all the kids and had the great idea that a photo booth would be fun for them to showcase their best super hero posses....but it wasn't as big a hit as I hoped it would be. I was able to get some really cute pictures of those who were ready to take on this challenge!

 Great Cupcake! I ordered some really cute cupcake papers from Cupcake Social on etsy.com

 Great friends made this day such great fun



Happy Last Day of Summer :-)

I have to say that I am ready for Fall to begin...it has always been my favorite time if year. What with all the pumpkin picking and hay rides, what's not to love.

But, with one last summer holiday to celebrate here is a cute idea from Martha. I love any new ideas to help make any celebration fun!

I love love love this one!

Happy Labor Day Y'all!!!

Summer Lovin'

Now that summer is coming to an end, and our crazy month of August is over, I can sit down and look back at what a wonderful time we had. My greatest pleasure, and blessing, was to host/celebrate the birth of my first born, Jake. He turned five this August and we spent a good part of the month focusing on him.
My fab friend, Tracey, over at Hiddencupcakes.com took some amazing pictures of Jake's kids party. We had such a great day starting with a tour and fire truck ride. Please take a look at her site for those fab pics until I can get all my pics, and thoughts, together. There was so much going on I want to be able to share all  my idease and the sources of a lot of the crafts.
Oh and be sure to take a tour of Hidden Cupcakes...Tracey has some great ideas and dyi and even a shop so you can have your own hidden cupcakes!!!!