Blush and Bashful

10 points if you can name that movie!!!! :)

Warning: This post will probably turn into a series. But first it needs a backstory. 

You see, I waited a long time for my baby girl. I was surrounded by boys and their "boy stuff". My husband, my wonderful son, and my dog - a very aggressive male at that. I felt like I was surrounded by testosterone. Sports, cars, trains, trucks, rough and tough.

Never having been a girly-girl myself I didn't mind. I appreciated my family. But after almost 6 years, I started to wish for a sweet baby girl to have tea parties together and embrace my feminine side. Then finally, as fate would have it, my baby girl came into our lives. 

And, yes, I may have gone overboard, but all I could see was pink. Pink car seat, pink stroller, pink bouncies... And, of course, a pink bedroom.

I knew I wanted white furniture for her nursery. It is all from Young America by Stanley Furniture. The paint color is French White. Aptly named, no? Not pure white, but not cream, either. A lovely soft white. The bed converts to a full size bed when she's ready. The bedding was from Pottery Barn Kids on clearance. I LOVED it and still want to come up with some way to repurpose/upcycle her crib bumper. It is so beautiful! 

These photos are from her bedroom in our last house. {We moved 2 years ago, but these photos show how her room was originally designed.} We knew we planned to move, so I didn't want to paint the closet doors or trim. I opted to remove the doors completely and paint the back wall a soft green. My son helped me {he was 6 at the time}, and I left his little imperfections as a memento.

The lamp is Simply Shabby Chic from Target and the gorgeous carousel clock was from a local baby boutique called Cradles and All, where I also got the furniture. 

This curio (or doll cabinet as the catalog called it) was a MUST! I fell in love with it. However, since my daughter turned 3 and became very rambunctious, we decided to remove this piece from the room. Too much glass on spindle legs. I guess I planned on having a very calm little girl. My mistake! :) It now resides in my sunroom as craft/fabric storage. Not a bad consolation.

I filled the curio with felt bakery goodies and a felt tea set from various etsy shops. Each little treat has so much attention to detail. Too bad our puppy ate the strawberries off one of them. :(

From left to right, top to bottom: Felt Play Food Cheesecake and Tea Cakes from feltfakerybakery, Lady Sassafrass Felt Tea Set from kiddycoutoure, Beautiful Felt Food Cakes from daisydaydreams, You Pick 4 - Felt Assorted Cupcakes also from feltfakerybakery, and Felt Cake Dessert Set - 3 Pink and Lemon Cakes from onenonly88.

Quick Note: I apologize for the photos, this was with an old camera and blackout blinds in the window! Ahhh, what a few years and time spent with a camera will teach you. 

My son picked out a white beluga whale stuffed animal for his baby sister from The Shedd Aquarium which is hanging out on the corner of her crib - if you were wondering what that white blob was. :)

I got a handmade mobile from etsy to hang over her crib, as well. I hung it from the ceiling with a small planter hook. There are at least 100 butterflies floating from it. All in different patterns of pink, green, white and yellow. It is from littledreamersinc.

Here's the view from inside the crib. She loved it when I would gently blow on the butterflies and they would dance around above her. Her new bedroom has a vaulted ceiling and I wasn't able to incorporate it into the room. Plus, she would try to climb her crib rails to touch the butterflies. 

It was very hard to get a decent photo of the vinyl lettering I added above her crib. It was a soft white color that said, "Such a big miracle in such a little girl." So sweet and I loved the mix of fonts.

Can you see my little baby girl in her bouncy in the reflection of the mirror on her armoire? She was snoozing while I took these photos. The pretty dresses that hang in the closet above her were some of the only girly clothes I ever got her to wear before she started making up her own sense of style.

There have been many changes to her room since we have moved. Due to her growing up and being a little rascal. And especially due to her above mentioned self-declared style: part biker chic, part sports star, part rapper, part rockstar. She is truly one of a kind.

Stay tuned for more in this series on how my baby girl's room evolves.


Linking up to the following wonderful parties: Make it Pretty Monday

Camera Crazy

I may have mentioned before that one of my ever growing list of items I collect is vintage cameras. I like to find cameras that have great old typography and design. Giant flash bulbs are a sure bet with me, too. :)

And every once and a while an item comes along that just stuns you. That happened to me on Saturday. I know that cameras are just things. And I shouldn't be coveting things. I should be treasuring moments. But I think one of my reasons for loving and collecting cameras is the treasured memories that they capture.

In these digital days, we take photos and delete the unpleasant ones. Back in the day, there was no delete. And it was always a surprise what would come back from the film. The few photos that our grandparents had of their parents, family and their childhoods were rare and treasured keepsakes.

Blah, blah, blah... On to my point! I found an antique Kodak camera that floored me. Honestly, I think my jaw hit the floor when I opened up this gem packed away in a tattered black box.

It even included the instruction booklet! Squeal! 

And thank goodness it did. I was able to open the back (the film opening) and see the accordion-style camera lens, but couldn't open the front. No matter, I decided. I would figure it out. The instruction book showed me exactly how to open it and slide out the lens.

I love it! It is open and being displayed with my family photos, like all my other vintage cameras.

Did I mention how much I loved the typography and lines? :)

I like to imagine what photos this camera captured. Oh, and look at that - yes, I could clean it, but that is just my favorite color!

How about you? Have you found any special additions to your collections lately? I'd love to know!

Happy Monday!

Sometimes I link up with the following fabulous linky parties: The 36th Avenue, A Ruffled Nest, At the Picket Fence, Atkinson Drive, Be Different Act Normal,Between Naps on the Porch, Beyond the Picket Fence, Blissful & Domestic, Bowdabra Blog, Cheerios and Lattes, The Chicken Chick, Coastal Charm, Common Ground, The Cottage Market, Country Momma Cooks, Crystal & Co (The Mommy Club), The Dedicated House, DIY Show Off, Do Small Things With Love, Elizabeth & Co., Embracing Change, Faded Charm, Family Every After, The Farmhouse Porch, Finding Fabulous, Fine Craft Guild, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Free Pretty Things!, French Country Cottage, Fresh Eggs Daily, Ginger Snap Crafts, Happy Hour Projects, High Heels and Grills, Home stories AtoZ, House of Hepworths, Hubby Made Me, I Heart Naptime, Lil' Luna, Ladybird Ln, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Little Becky Homecky, Mandatory Mooch, Milk & Cuddles, Mod Vintage Life, My Repurposed Life, My Romantic Home, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nap Time Crafters, Nifty Thrifty Things, Not Just a Housewife, One More Time, Project Inspire, Primp Your Stuff, Redoux, Rooted in Thyme, Savvy Southern Style, Shabby Art Boutique, Simple Home Life, Six Sisters' Stuff, Skip to My Lou, Someday Crafts, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Stuff and Nonsense, Tatertots and Jello, Thirty Handmade Days, Timewashed, Tip Junkie, Twigg Studios, Uncommon Designs, Under the Table & Dreaming, The Vintage Farmhouse, Western Warmth, ...

Our Christmas Card

This Christmas was as hectic as ever. Possibly more so, since my daughter "gets it" for the first time. Last year, she knew what presents were, but this year - there was a wish list. Her list was simple. A bike. A big girl bike. Santa always delivers, doesn't he? Santa brought my son a new laptop, too.

Yes, Santa is very good to my kids. I think Santa knew I was also feeling very grateful - even more than usual - that my kids are healthy.

The Sandy Hook travesty took a toll on more than just my husband and myself. You assume that parents are horrified. But my son was very distraught, too. Enough that his teacher called to let me know how upset he was. More than the rest of his classmates - at how senseless and unexplainable it all was.

He has little empathy for his little sister, but when it comes to the world - he wants to fix it. He cried and told me that he wanted to invent a time machine to go back to Thursday and warn everyone - to stop it from happening. Not that he wanted "someone" to do that - he wanted to do it himself. That's a lot of weight on a little man's shoulders.

I received the Christmas cards I ordered 2 days after - and all I could think about was how one of those mothers may have gotten their Christmas cards that day, too. With photos of their child smiling.

I planned on starting to address my cards that morning, but found myself reading news articles and crying instead. For several hours I thought that sending Christmas cards seemed so trivial and insignificant. But then I realized that I love receiving them and seeing all the beautiful faces of my family, friends - and more than anything the children. So I got my act together and mailed them in case someone else was having a rough day and my children's faces can brighten it just a little.

From my family to yours... a belated, but heartfelt... Merry Christmas!!! 

And Warmest Wishes for a wonderful New Year!

Please note: These images are from Tiny Prints, Inc.

Getting in the spirit

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my home! Not outside, however. Cold and very, very grey! Not excellent photo opportunities so some of these images will be a bit grainy since I had to brighten them up.

This is a small vignette in my entry. I moved my little desk to another wall to make way for the "fancy" Christmas tree. This is my White Christmas area. Our family tree, in all its color-filled glory, is in the family room. Guess that's a bit redundant.

Somehow we ended up with two trees 10 years ago, and I decided the tree in the foyer would be all decked out in white and silver. I'm still loving it a decade later. My husband and kids love very colorful Christmas decor. And I agree - a family tree should be as fun as possible. So it was a great compromise.

This little fella is from Kirklands. I liked his neutral colors, the book pages peaking through and his dusting of snow. Oh, and 50% off doesn't hurt at all. :)

One of my favorite garage sales finds of the summer was 2 boxes of vintage silver glass ball ornaments. Still in their boxes, no less. I think I paid a dollar for them. Gasp! The patina is gorgeous. I wish it were more obvious in the photos, but as I mentioned, grey, grey, grey skies around here.

I added a few bottle brush trees under a bell jar. Then sprinkled them with coarse kosher salt. Isn't it the cutest? Glass bell jars and teeny tiny trees - honestly this little piece makes me smile inside and out.

I have an old silver sleigh - don't even remember where I got this one. I filled it with a bag of pinecones I got at Goodwill for 50 cents. I was really happy to find them, because the scented pinecones at stores are so potent they give me a headache. And make my husband sneeze. These were completely odorless and crazy cheap to boot!

Pinecones are such an easy way to add texture to any setting. I got 3 large sugar cones from Home Goods that I so badly wanted to add to my Christmas decor. Unfortunately, when I got home, realized they were scented - and not cinnamon - something like heavy floral soap. They would be perfect in a basket in a bathroom, or tied with ribbon hanging in front of a window. But just opening the bag made me itch like crazy. Super sensitive to perfumes around here. Boo hoo...

So that's my peak at my entry table. Hopefully I will have time (and natural light) to post more soon. I have photos to upload of my fancy tree and want to do a post about handmade ornaments. And of course, my treasured childhood ornaments.

Are you getting in the Christmas spirit, too? Or has the bug not bit you yet?

Sometimes I link up with the following fabulous linky parties: The 36th Avenue, A Ruffled Nest, At the Picket Fence, Atkinson Drive, Be Different Act Normal,Between Naps on the Porch, Beyond the Picket Fence, Blissful & Domestic, Bowdabra Blog, Cheerios and Lattes, The Chicken Chick, Coastal Charm, Common Ground, Country Momma Cooks, Crystal & Co (The Mommy Club), The Dedicated House, DIY Show Off, Elizabeth & Co., Embracing Change, Faded Charm, Family Every After, The Farmhouse Porch, Finding Fabulous, Fine Craft Guild, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Free Pretty Things!, French Country Cottage, Fresh Eggs Daily, Ginger Snap Crafts, Happy Hour Projects, High Heels and Grills, Home stories AtoZ, House of Hepworths, Hubby Made Me, I Heart Naptime, Lil' Luna, Ladybird Ln, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Little Becky Homecky, Mandatory Mooch, Milk & Cuddles, Mod Vintage Life, My Repurposed Life, My Romantic Home, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nap Time Crafters, Nifty Thrifty Things, Not Just a Housewife, One More Time, Project Inspire, Primp Your Stuff, Redoux, Rooted in Thyme, Savvy Southern Style, Shabby Art Boutique, Simple Home Life, Six Sisters' Stuff, Skip to My Lou, Someday Crafts, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Stuff and Nonsense, Tatertots and Jello, Thirty Handmade Days, Timewashed, Tip Junkie, Twigg Studios, Uncommon Designs, Under the Table & Dreaming, The Vintage Farmhouse, Western Warmth, ...

Our Thankful Tree

In my never-ending battle to raise my children to be upstanding citizens of the world, I was inspired by other blogs I had seen to start a new tradition in the month of November.

Our Thankful Tree...

I had cut down a few birch branches that were breaking from an especially windy storm we had in October. Up until very recently, the leaves stayed fairy intact.

This week, however, they were falling like crazy. I got a little annoyed with picking them up constantly before the dog would eat them. When they would fall, I would just put them in the bottle for later.

I printed up tags and cut them out {and used a decorative punch on the corners}. They say "I'm thankful for..." I started in a print font since my daughter is just learning her letters, and then realized my son is learning {and surprisingly loving} to write in cursive. So I added another version with cursive - and got extra creative with the next version - I added a bokeh overlay. It looks so pretty and soft.

The thoughts we each write on the tags can be very meaningful. For example:

I'm thankful for...
"... the saleswoman today who reminded me of something my grandma would say to me." {She has passed away, and it was such a bright moment in my day to hear her words.}

"... everyone helping to feed Molly." - that's from my husband regarding the dog duties.

"... us having enough money so I can play hockey." ~from my son {he plays semi-travel - apparently, our comments about not taking it for granted are sinking in}

Or somewhat simple and even silly at times, such as:

I'm thankful for...
"... my sweet baby girl" ~ I also did "... my wonderful son"
"... goggles" ~ 3 year old - she tends to wear them around the house, to the store, and every now and then in the pool :)
"... ice cream" ~ BOTH kids - and who am I kidding? - me, too

I don't want my kids {or husband} to think it has to be profound each time. We should be thankful for everyday things, as well.

I have put all the extra tags in a vintage silver sugar cup. I punch holes and hang them with twine when we are done. 

I think I mentioned once before that I wanted to make my own velvety pumpkins this year. Well, I did it! ONE! One lonely pumpkin! :) But he's awfully cute, don't you think? Real stem again and a real dried leaf. 

As I said, I was inspired by many different blogs, but the most recent post that spurred me to action was Jones Design Company. 

So to all of those wonderful blogs and to all of my wonderful readers, I would like to say...

I have added an image below with the tags I used for our Thankful Tree. If you click on the image it should appear larger and can be printed or downloaded. 

To you and yours from me and mine...

Sometimes I link up with the following fabulous linky parties: The 36th Avenue, A Ruffled Nest, At the Picket Fence, Atkinson Drive, Be Different Act Normal, Between Naps of the Porch, Beyond the Picket Fence, Blissful & Domestic, Bowdabra Blog, Cheerios and Lattes, Coastal Charm, Common Ground, Country Momma Cooks, Crystal & Co (The Mommy Club), The Dedicated House, DIY Show Off, Elizabeth & Co., Embracing Change, Faded Charm, Family Every After, The Farmhouse Porch, Finding Fabulous, Fine Craft Guild, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Free Pretty Things!, French Country Cottage, Ginger Snap Crafts, High Heels and Grills, Home stories AtoZ, House of Hepworths, I Heart Naptime, Lil' Luna, Ladybird Ln, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Little Becky Homecky, Mandatory Mooch, Milk & Cuddles, Mod Vintage Life, My Repurposed Life, My Romantic Home, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nap Time Crafters, The Nature of Grace, Nifty Thrifty Things, Not Just a Housewife, One More Time, Primp Your Stuff, Redoux, Savvy Southern Style, Shabby Art Boutique, Simple Home Life, Six Sisters' Stuff, Skip to My Lou, Someday Crafts, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Stone Gable, Tatertots and Jello, Thirty Handmade Days, Timewashed, Tip Junkie, Twigg Studios, Uncommon Designs, Under the Table & Dreaming, The Vintage Farmhouse, ...

What I'm Pinning Wednesday

So, for lack of energy {yes, wah wah - I'm still not feeling 100%, which means my level of creativity is fairly nonexistent}, I am starting a new post today called What I'm Pinning Wednesday. Because lack of energy, does not translate to lack of interest on my part. Just can't seem to get motivated. So...

Here's a little eye candy for you...

I have been pinning a lot of Christmas ideas and pretties lately.

Especially the vintage variety. :)

So precious... and I have something going on right now with wanting to live on a farm.

I have been thinking a lot lately about wanting a piano. 

Mostly for the kids, but I would like it, too. 

{Because we definitely need more noise around here, hee hee!}

An old painted piano would make my heart happy.

I really need these to grow in my garden!

Gotta have a little "Hey Girl" in my life. :)

Loving this idea to fold a strand of pearls in half and add ribbon, preferably vintage.

I would use a similar soft-hued velvet ribbon for the holidays.

Must find a vintage pair of ice skates for holiday decor.

Even though it's missing a cozy blanket, this room looks so elegant and dreamy.

One of the best funny photos...EVER! 

The tagline on this photo said, "Lemonade is for Losers"

Don't get me started on how much this would fit my daughter's personality.

She wants her own Harley for Christmas. And not a pretend motorcyle. The real deal. She's 3.

Could be not feeling well, or the fact that I live in yoga pants, but I think this ensemble would fit me to a T, or technically a North Face hoodie. Sans the makeup and earrings. I won't kid you, that would take a lot of effort on my part. So, it would be a waste of money. But Starbucks, never a waste of money. :)

I find these dresses stunning. And so is the styling and photography.

Makes me wish I was a runway model so I could wear such lavish clothes.

But then, the outfit above is a far closer reality - but boy, these are glamorous.

I am definitely loving the aqua and red of this simple, stylish tablescape.

Lastly, here's a quick snapshot of some of pins today...

If you decide to follow along on Pinterest with me, leave me a comment and I will follow back :)

All photos shown can be found on my Pinterest boards.

Happy Wednesday!