At Long Last

They say that the third time is a charm, right? Yup, most of you probably caught the two times that this post accidentally went up a while back (you'll catch three comments down there from the first two accidental posts)! Well, here's the REAL, FINAL reveal of the wall I hand painted in Halle's room!

You may remember that when we purchased our house in the spring, Halle's room was bright pink...

We wasted no time in painting it. B actually had it all painted before we officially moved in. The walls we painted cream, and I gave the closet doors a dose of bright coral. Things were feeling fun and I was so excited to give her a fun toddler room!

Unfortunately I got a little stuck and after some shifting around of furniture to move her bed into the basement guest room, we were left with this...

Yup, still no curtains and the whole space was feeling very cold and empty. I had been so focused on the wedding and other endeavours previously, that Halle's room (and most of the house for that matter) got put onto the back burner. 

So, as our visitors were getting ready to leave back in October, I began searching for inspiration on ways to pretty up Halle's room on a budget. I already knew I wanted to switch the position of her dresser and shelves with her crib and canvas, and I planned on buying her some curtains using an IKEA gift card I had received for a wedding shower gift. But how could I add some fun to the space without spending anything? Finally, I found my inspiration on the Anthropologie website!

The Coppered Plume Wallpaper was gorgeous, but way out of our price range at $198 a roll. I decided to try my hand at drawing them, so to warm up I drew a few sketches one night after Halle went to bed (my most productive hours)...

The sketches had me feeling pretty confident that I could figure something out on her wall myself. So, the Wednesday after everyone left, I decided to try it out. I grabbed some metallic gold acrylic paint I had on hand, a couple of paint brushes and an old egg carton and got to work.

For my very first go, I started using pencil. I then realized that whole process would take forever, and you would probably be able to see the pencil lines through the gold paint, so I decided to freehand everything. Still time consuming, but totally worth it.

The first plume, was by no means perfect... but really none of them are. The great part is there are so many scattered across the wall and each plume allows for a little imperfection. I found as I went my technique improved quite a bit, which was good - the one's right over Halle's crib are some of my favourite's!

The whole process was still totally time consuming. In a week and half I was barely halfway done the room! I also had to get B's help to move the dresser off of the wall and move her shelves to their new home on the other side of the room so that I could make my way into the opposite corner. I finally finished everything off in here on 7th of this month, which means it took me almost a month and a half to get it all done. But here is Halle's room now...

I need to style her shelves with some special items, but B needs to add a few more anchors to the top shelf before I can do it. I also have some plans for her room that I want to tackle in the New Year (there is a list coming in January!). For now, I'm feeling happy with the progress, and I'm glad I finished painting before Christmas!

Her room is far from finished, but I love the softness that the curtains and feather's bring to the room. A new light fixture and big girl bed/bedding are definitely in the cards for the new year! For now it's come a long way from that pink place we started with back in May...

Have you ever attempted paint anything by hand on your walls at home? Or maybe at somebody else's home? I'd love to hear about your experience! Leave any links in the comment section to any projects you've tackled!

Autumn Leaves

Last week, after B headed back to BC, Halle and I stayed behind in Massachusetts for a couple of extra days with his parents. We always love our time there and with all of the wedding planning behind me we had some time to get crafty with B's Mom.

I did some looking around on Pinterest for inspiration and found a great Pin (can't find it now) where you made a tree out of your child's hand print and leaves for them to glue on using on fabric. It was just our luck that B's Mom had a great big box full of old fabric samples in wonderful fall colours. So, last Monday night I sat down and cut out a ton of little leaves from different fabrics so that Halle could pick and choose which leaves she wanted on her tree.

On Tuesday before lunch, we all sat around the kitchen table to create a little fall craft. B's Mom traced Halle's hand onto some brown paper to make our tree. (We actually cut out four tree's in total for some extra's).

Next, Halle helped put glue on the back of the tree and we stuck it onto a piece of white paper...

Lastly, we started dabbing glue all over that handprint tree and let Halle go nuts sticking whichever leaves she wanted to it.

She only lasted for one tree that first day, but it turned out so lovely and she was pretty proud of it. I have plans to frame that tree and put it out this fall season. 

It was such a fun and easy craft for all of us, and a great way to use up some scraps of fabric that my Mother-in-law had! Plus it was a nice way to get into an Autumn state of mind (even if the few days following that felt more like summer).

Have you been thinking about fall yet? Have you started any decorating, or maybe some DIY projects for around the house? 

2 Came Fast

My Dearest Halle,

It's hard to imagine that just over two years ago, we had not met. Today, I cannot imagine a single day passing without you in my life. In a matter of 730 days you have transformed from a tiny newborn into a smart, funny, curious, nurturing and sweet little girl. You absolutely light up my days with your smiles and giggles.

Before you arrived, I was never sure if I wanted to become a mother. Would I be good at it? Would I know what to do? I thought I would need to know everything. Little did I know that these past two years would teach me so much. That YOU would teach me so much.

{Photos of  Halle at one week, 7 months & 1 year care of Nicole Kathlyn Photography}

You constantly challenge me to be a better person and mother. You have taught me to see the world through youthful eyes again. Things that were once overlooked or mundane are once again fun and exciting. 

My dear girl - you are such a treasure to your Father and I, and you are loved by so many. Being your Mom has been so wonderful and I can't wait to see what this coming year holds for you!

I love you with all of my Heart!

Mama
xoxo

Halle's Bubble & Balloon Party

Yesterday was a gorgeous Sunday here, made even better by the little backyard party we threw in honour of Halle's 2nd Birthday (which is tomorrow). The theme was bubble's and balloons and I'd say it was a big success... here are the details...

I made these Lemon Honey Cupcakes, and some chocolate cupcakes with Chocolate Nutella icing. They were both a hit. 

There was even a birthday cake (also baked by me... I'm feeling pretty proud). I went with a plain vanilla cake and a whipped cream icing. A nice change from the super sweet cupcakes!

I added some other treats to the table for everyone as well...

These grape and watermelon skewers were a HUGE hit, especially with the kids! They were all gone well before the party was over.

What's a bubble and balloon party without Popcorn? I bought the little popcorn containers at HomeSense - 12 for $3.99, and glued the purple "bubbles" over top and then painted them. Popcorn - also a huge hit with the kids!

Jelly Beans and some fun purple polka dot paper straws. Straws - also great with a large group of small children! Even the boys were okay with pink cups when they came with straws!

This drawing station had the kids going nuts. They all ran for it as soon as I brought out the markers, pencil crayons and crayons. Of course, Halle ended up with more marker on herself than on the actual paper. At least a great time was had by all!

Halle enjoyed the "Happy Birthday" singing. Afterwards she even asked for more!

There were LOTS of bubbles to be had, including a fish bubble gun that B bought for her, and a bubble mower that our friends gifted her. Her and all of her little guests were loving them!

To round out this post, I just HAVE to share the fantastic birthday gift that B built for Halle. 

There will be another post coming soon with more about the plans that B used to built this fantastic swing. 

So that was our weekend. It was busy, I forgot to make punch, didn't put out the sweet tea I made and was late putting out the quinoa and potato salad I made, but it looked like everyone had a really awesome time yesterday. We are so lucky to have made so many awesome friends out here, and yesterday was also a fantastic opportunity to meet so many of our new neighbours! Really - AWESOME!

I hope you all had a great weekend too! What did you get up to?

Halle's Birthday Invites & Pretty Bunting

The other week I shared a little peek at the process of creating Halle's 2nd Birthday invites over on Minted. With less than 20 days until our little girl is officially 2 (cue teary eyed Mama over here), I wanted to pop back in and share our final product that I am over the moon in love with!

They turned out just as cute as I had hoped. I love the colours, quality and the thickness of the paper is fantastic. I'm so glad I opted to put the matching backer on them as well! H may be just over 14 months in the photo I used, but I love it and thought it would be perfect for the card - don't you agree?

I also ordered one of the beautiful buntings that Minted offers in their Party Decor section. Since there wasn't a bunting that matched her invites perfectly, I opted for one that would match the colours I am using for her party. What I loved most about the buntings is that you can personalize them to say whatever you want, and you can choose how you want to use the design - alternate the different fonts, or use just one. I opted for the latter option, and went for purple since most of the other decor that I have purchased so far is pink. 

As far as my wording choice, I simply went with "HALLE IS TWO!". The bunting came with some string for putting the whole thing together. I can't wait to get it all set up for her big party later this month! Now it's time to start planning the party menu!

*I was given 15 printed invites, as well as the bunting, in exchange for this post (and my previous post). All opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.