Maggie's 'Big Girl' Room

I am so excited about Maggie's toddler room.  I was a little worried about the lilac and buttercup colors at first but it turned out better than I pictured it in my head, and she loves it!

More details including paint colors and resources are listed on Project Nursery.

Maggie's Lilac and Yellow Semi-Vintage Toddler Room

She's very proud of her big bed.

The best I could do to get a full view photo.   The curtains are actually shower curtains from Anthropologie. They are double layered with beautiful lace on the scalloped bottom.

I love this bed! Jared had to cut the rails shorter to fit a modern day full size mattress but it was worth it.  Thanks to my friend Lindsey for finding it.  

Just in case the yellow and lilac didn't work together on their own, I had a pillow made with a purple bird and yellow bird to help bring them together.  And because I'm slightly obsessed with birds (the lamp also has 3 little birds on it)

This antique mirror is the perfect 'full size' mirror for a toddler. Hung low on the wall it reminds me of a fairy tale.

Inexpensive art!  Paintings by Oopsy Daisy Too at Target.

I updated the old brass knobs to these adorable floral knobs from Anthropologie.

This was Maggie's great-grandmother's toddler chair.

A few things stayed from her nursery. This bird feeder lamp from Land of Nod and this watering can a friend's mom made with her name on it.

From John Deere Room to Play Room

Finally the reveal of our John Deere Room turned Playroom!
Unfortunately for my husband this means no green tractor in his immediate future, but I think this room is better used for corralling toys and art supplies. When we moved into our new house the John Deere Room had been turned into a home gym by the previous owners.  Lucky for us they had already added an epoxy coating to the concrete floor and finished the majority of the walls; all we had to do was add a little paint and some storage solutions.

The colors of the room were inspired by Dr. Suess's "Oh The Places You'll Go."

The Before Photos

The After Photos

Cozy nook for playing games, reading books, and tickle wars.

Arts and Crafts Corner, Complete with Chalkboard Wall

Dress Up and Dance...Or Go Shopping

Great Storage Solutions from Target and Land of Nod

When Your Kids Aren't Old Enough to Read, Use Photo Labels

Little Bins Hold Markers, Crayons, and Stickers

Inspirational Dr. Seuss Quotes are Scattered Along the Walls

Book Corner.  Big Books Go In the Book Rack.

Small Board Books Go In Bins

Huge Mirrors...Great for Dancing and Making Silly Faces
(I see a ballet barre in our future)

The Best Thing...The Room's Double Doors Open to the Backyard

We Tack Our Paintings to the Wall in an Art Corner

Making Art. 

Coming Soon...

There's one update to this room I'm desperate to do but it didn't fit into the playroom make-over budget just yet.  Eventually I'd like to replace the storm doors with these great dutch doors. Dreaming...

My Little Girl's Room

I'm obsessed with googling "Jenny Lind Twin Bed."  I've fallen head over heels for this bed from Land of Nod but with the bed, mattress, trundle, and trundle mattress I'll be spending a small fortune.  I'll probably just suck it up and spend the money because it's as cute as can be and I know Land of Nod has the best quality, but in my googling furry I keep hoping another equally great and cheaper option shows up.

At least I have come to a decision on the walls and the bedding.  We (I say we so I can hold the Mr. to helping) will be paining the walls yellow and white stripped, similar to this but with yellow obviously.

And I've settled on this bedding.  I've admired this comforter for over a year but abandoned it when my daughter's first color became "purple purple purple."  However while searching for yellow and purple textiles I kept coming back to look at his.  Hopefully her next favorite color will be "pink pink pink."

My Christmas Decor This Year

My homemade wreath.  I'm not great at tying bows so I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.

Happy December and Happy Holidays!  I just finished decorating for Christmas and wanted to share some photos from my home with you.  I hope your home is feeling warm and cozy and ready for the holidays as well.  XO

My favorite new addition to our Christmas decor.
These letters are  made out of small leaves.

Normally my tree is decorated with Christopher Radko glass ornaments and a few woodsy wooden ornaments.  But with a toddler running around this year I didn't want to risk breaking any of the Radkos so I opted for a red and white tree, decked with new shatter proof ornaments bought in mass from Costco and Hobby Lobby.

Our red and white tree.

I used overscaled and average sized ornaments.
We added ribbon leftover from last year's gift wrapping and a few red birds.
The shatterproof candy canes were easy for my daughter to hang on the tree.
They were put on the bottom branches so she had something that was okay to touch.

I couldn't resist putting a couple critters hiding in the tree.
Can you see them?

I didn't completely abandon the traditional red and green.
This dough bowl is filled with reindeer moss and small red apples for the kitchen island.
An iron and wood lantern is filled with red and green glass balls for a side table.

I always try to mask our TV above the fireplace.
Using small pine trees and glittery silver reindeer no one notices the TV.

This is the Candyland themed tree we did for my daughter's room.
She's still too small to hang the delicate ornaments on the tree but she loved putting the hot pink glass balls on the tree skirt.  They are also shatterproof so she can play with them.

A gingerbread lady tops the tree, and her little gingerbread gal pal hangs around below.
We used oversized gum drops, cupcakes, lollipops, and candycanes to deck the tree.

The Elf on the Shelf book and doll is a great game to get kids excited for Christmas.
Every day you hide the Elf in a different spot and the little ones search for him.

A Christmas Tree for the Birds

My sister had this great idea of doing a Christmas tree for the birds (and fun for the kids).  This would be a great Thanksgiving weekend activity to do with the family.  Give the kids a set of binoculars as an early Christmas gift and let them bird watch from your windows.  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas the kiddos can check the tree to see how many treats are left and restock it.  This provides a great opportunity to talk to kids about giving and doing for others, even the little bitty birds.

Treats for the Birds.

Make your own from the list below or order some pretty bird-friends ornaments like those above from Nature Favors.

• Bird seed, that's a given.  You can put it in bird feeders of varying sizes you hang on the tree
• String stale unsalted popcorn with cranberries and raisins for garland
• Kids can string cheerios and fruit loops for easy garland
• Tie a string around a pine cone and smear the cone with peanut butter. Drop it in a paper bag full of bird seed and shake the bag around to cover the cone with seed.
• Tie a string around an apple stem and cut slices out of the apple. Fill the spaces with peanut butter and toss the apple in a paper bag full of bird see
• Hang stale bagels from your local bagel store and hang from the tree with red yarn
• String peanuts in the shell and hang them from the tree, in the way icicles would hang.  

Fun for Kids Christmas Trees

My post on The Foundary this week will be about finding inspiration for your home's Christmas Tree.  While the centerpiece of your home at the holidays may be a beautifully trimmed tree, another tree in your house could be something more for the little kids.



A Candyland Christmas Tree
Inspired by the classic children's board game, a brightly decorated tree is so sweet for the really young ones.

Choose a smaller tree to decorate in the children's room or playroom.  Ditch the pine and go for something fun, like hot pink or bright white.

The tree can be trimmed with faux candy ornaments like these from Department 56.

Make a few of your own candy inspired ornaments like these with gum drops.

Instructions here.

Top the tree with a giant lollipop or a glitzy cone and streamers like this one.

Include real candy on your tree using ice cream cones or paper cones from bright glitter paper.

And you'll end up with a fun Candyland tree for your little sweets.

Like the idea of a candy-themed tree but don't want to decorate an second tree?  Consider doing a small gum drop tree like this one from Solutions.com.