Renovations

So I love all the design shows and DIY channels and have always wanted to knock walls down, create built ins, reading nooks, closets any girl would be ecstatic to have and a great entertaining area for friends and family to gather. Little did I know. It is so much more than paint chips and fabric swatches.

Yesterday the walls came down, both literally and figuratively. And while any progress toward our end goal is welcome it's hard to keep my creative eye on the vision with dry wall in mounds on the painted hardwood I have to resurface.

If you haven't heard of the website homestyler.com register you can layout rooms, yards and even your whole house and thank goodness. I can keep a visual of my intentions through all the flotsam and jetsam. ( love it, had to say it)

I want to take our small 1940s home and keep its charm and character but bring it to this era with cool and mellow tones, clean lines and natural finishes. I will keep you all updated on projects and progress as things happen so here are some shots I got as all the walls came down yesterday. Sorry for the mess lol

Easy finger puppets

Jo loves stories and little "dolls" so I thought using some pom poms I'd attempt to make some finger puppets for her to play with.

You can use Popsicle sticks if you don't have pipe cleaners to make the loops for fingers. I used large sparkle pom poms, felt, cardboard for eyes because I couldn't find the google eyes I hid from Jo (figures) and a hot glue gun.

Make a "U" shape with pipe cleaners flaring out the ends to glue the main pom to and then add you extras. I put the animals letter on the back so I can use them as a learning tool too to find other items around the house that have the same letter as Albert the alligator..

She loves them.
We have Albert the alligator which is large and medium sparkle poms and 2 small poms for eyes.

Buzzy the bumble bee which is 1 large sparkle Pom and a small Pom with felt wings and stripes

Chloe the cat
Daisy the dragonfly
And Freddy the frog
We will be making an elephant, goldfish and horse next.
We make up stories and do scavenger hunts for their letters.

Have fun!! Freddy is her favorite! (mine too- he finally caught that pesky fly he's been after in our story)

Super busy

I've been really busy since closing on our house but will be posting projects and the renovations as they happen! So much fun! Here's a few shots!

Walls are coming down- bye bye yellow wood paneling!

Summer Essentials

Summer Essentials by lauren-matera featuring flat sandals

V neck t shirt
$8 - target.com

Shorts
$50 - target.com

Flat sandals
$15 - target.com

Gold bangle
$25 - target.com

Sunglasses
target.com

BURTS BEES .15OZ LIPBALM BEESWAX : Target
target.com

Mossimo Supply Co. Crossbody Cord : Target
$20 - target.com

L'Oreal Sublime Bronze ProPerfect Salon Airbrush... : Target
$8.31 - target.com

Maybelline Volum' Express Waterproof - Very Black : Target
$5.84 - target.com

Gold Over Silver 5mm Cubic Zirconia Stud Earings... : Target
$13 - target.com

Minty

Minty by lauren-matera featuring cocktail rings

Phase Eight lace blouse
£59 - houseoffraser.co.uk

Short mini skirt
$45 - topshop.com

ALDO high heels
$90 - aldoshoes.com

Chloé zippered tote bag
$2,695 - barneys.com

LORD TAYLOR gold jewelry
$350 - lordandtaylor.com

Pieces cocktail ring
$16 - asos.com

Bib necklace
stelladot.com

Roberto Cavalli Cavalli Eau De Parfume 2.5 Oz
$85 - lordandtaylor.com

butter LONDON '3 Free - Spring/Summer 2012 Collection’ Nail Lacquer
$14 - nordstrom.com

Indoors Activity: Sand Box

My 2 yr old loves playing in her sand box and lately it either raining, snowing, too windy or too cold to have her sit outside.
So this morning I improvised and made her an indoor sand box. Using craft sand which you can get at stores like Michaels or Walmart, I put one bottle of sand (8oz) into a 13" pyrex casserole dish. I gave her some fun kitchen utensils like a spoon, measuring cup, baby food jar and other items. I set it up on a bath towel to catch major spills and vacuumed up the rest.
She loves it. It's nice and warm inside. So it was perfect. I will store the sand in a Tupperware with some utensils I'm not attached to and save it for easy retrieval for another day.

BIG beach waves without the BIG Price: tutorial

So the other night when I couldn't sleep I decided to browse the infomercials and see what new crazy quackery people were buying into.(Credit card near by of course) There was a commercial for a hair styler called the Topstyler (Click HERE) the "c shells" as they are called work like hot rollers but the twisted hair inside is a more natural wave than spiral. For 3 easy payments of $40, it can be ALL YOURS! While I LOVE this idea, it's not in the budget to spend $120 to smush my locks between two hot plates. HEY WAIT A MINUTE!!! Here is my "cheat" to beachy waves without the BIG prices. If you don't have a flat iron, you can score a good one online for about $40. (Click HERE to see a Chi)


You will need a good Hair Spray(flexible hold is best), hair clip (too hold parted hair segments) and your straightener.


Take a small segment of hair, starting at the base of your neck. (Clip up the rest)

Space your middle and pointer fingers slightly apart (makes it easier to remove hair)

Tightly wrap hair around your fingers

Pinch the segment of hair so you can remove your fingers. Hold close to the root.

Clamp the loop of hair. (I have thick hair and my iron is on high and I did 25 sec.)

Release hair and spray.

This would be SUPER cute with some fabric rosettes on a headband or clip. JUST SAYIN'

;)