Annabeth's Room Makeover

 We've just wrapped up a multi-week project of redoing Annabeth's room in anticipation of her 12th birthday. 

Before each of the kids were born, we chose nursery colors/decor for them and then redid their rooms again around age 5-6. We decided 12 would be the next good age to update everything. Annabeth wanted to switch her room from a light purple with butterfly/flower accents to a Harry Potter room. 

In all of the clean-outs we did to get ready for painting day, I failed to get before pictures. But here's the after...

First hour with nearly everything in the room.

She chose the minty green wall color after staying at 

Port Orleans - Riverside last year and loving the colors there

Wizards' Spell Wallplate

We moved her princess castle growth chart - made by Grandpa Kuhn and Aunt Abby 

and her purse rack - also by Grandpa Kuhn to behind the door. 

She added her Princess Tiana print there as well. It's a great watercolor print from Jane

She and I switched desks and added these white frames above.

She painted the tea set herself and the little Harry Potter figures are from her friend Sophia.

The Luna Lovegood print is AMAZING - Luna is rollerblading on a rainbow - by Casey Robin Art

She selected the top two Hermione prints from Etsy.

The seller of the Yule Ball print also included the beautiful invitation so we printed all three.

Last spring, Annabeth and my mom chose this comforter from Pottery Barn Teen.

We all loved that it was subtly Harry Potter and that it should last many years.

The pillow was custom made by Mark - Marked by Riley

We saw this idea for Dobby House Elf curtain holders on Pinterest.

I knew our friend Susie could make them and she did!

Susie is the owner and creator at A Gali on a Mission -

please check out her page for any of your custom, handcrafted item needs -

all of the money from her sales go towards missions! 

Annabeth had a lot of fun putting everything todather. Thanks to Mama and Dad for the comforter and curtains and kid wrangling. Thank you to Mark for his painting and craft skills. I left links above as most of what we purchased was from small shops and we encourage you to shop small as well! 

Laundry Room Makeover and Why I LOVE Doing Laundry

We began renovating our house in March 2013 and moved in July 2013. During that time we painted and redid every room except the laundry room. 

We bought the house from our friend Renee who built/decorated in 1998.

This laundry room felt like 1998.

Dark, dark red and baskets, birds, and birdhouse galore!

It was good enough though since no one saw it but me

Over the years, I thought about wanting to redo it but just never felt the right idea. 

Then about two years ago, while reading a decorating magazine at Momaw's, I saw the most beautiful pink and gold bathroom. I KNEW that was what I wanted! I have never been able to decorate my own space. Growing up I had the wallpaper my parents chose, then a dorm, than an apartment that Leah designed, and then spaces shared with Mark who clearly doesn't want pink or gold. I decided it would be my laundry room decor. 

One day, while at Lowe's we found the PERFECT pink paint in the mistint section and paid just $9 for enough paint to paint the whole room! I found some decor items from around the house, paid $7 for a gold switch plate (probably the most ridiculous splurge of the whole thing), and had my friend Katelyn at No Strings Attached Signs created the perfect sign for my shelf. 

Laundry room perfection!

Mark had the idea for the laundry cart to hold all the cleaners and things.

He also added that giant rod so I can dry all things in the laundry room

instead of in the showers.

What it really looks like not styled for a picture.

The perfect gold switch plate.

When I was going through Pinterest looking for laundry ideas over the years, one thing I pinned over and over were signs with a certain saying: "I still remember the days when I prayed for what I have now"

In the years of waiting for children, in my darkest infertility moments, I would BEG God for children. These tearful prayers often came while doing laundry. I promised Him that I would love to clean little hands and faces, that I would read all the books, that I would devote myself to them, and that I would LOVE the laundry load of a big family. 

Even now, even after being a Mama for 9+ years, I LOVE the laundry. I pray for my family as I do our laundry. I thank the Lord that we can buy clothes that fit for all the seasons, I am thankful to wash muddy baseball pants and piles of tutus because my children are doing the things they love, and I am thankful to wash food stained clothes because it means we had enough to eat that day. In my laundry room I choose to thank and praise the Lord for all of my many blessings and for the gift of serving my family. 

Reviews and Reccomendations: Carseat Poncho

Over the summer, our dear friend Kelley at Heaven Bound HCA asked if I would be interested in a carseat poncho for Owen. She offered to make him one for us to use and then review. My answer was: "Yes Please!"

If you see us out and about in the winter, 9/10 times you will see my kids in just fleece jackets meaning *gasp* no heavy winter coats! Both of our kids are still in 5-point harness carseats which means they should not wear coats under them for safety reasons. That means that we get to where we are going, get out of the carseat, freeze our tooshies off while we put our coats on, then we walk the 100 yards into the store where my kids promptly rip their coats off because they are hot, then those coats get put in the dirty shopping cart, after wrestling the kids at check-out I then have to wrestle them back into their coats to walk back to the car where we have to take the coats off again. So when someone offered a coat I don't have to take on and off I was SOOOO excited! I love that these ponchos can be worn from house to car to store to car to home - no on and off!!

Kelley sent me all of her color options and I chose a great dark green for O. He was happy with it too. Then when the actual canopy came...he refused to wear it. It was summer and still pretty hot so I wasn't too worried. But even as it has gotten colder he has refused to wear it. Owen is very into picking out his own clothes and will only wear fleece jackets with a hood. So...much to Annabeth's delight she is using the carseat poncho and loving it!

 Enjoying being warm and snuggly in the car while being safe in her carseat!

I love that if she gets too warm she can just pull it over her head.

Annabeth loved wearing the poncho this morning while we worked in the yard.  

Kelley at Heavenbound HCA is offering these items as a custom order available on her Etsy Page and at Heavenbound HCA. I encourage you to visit her sites for these, and many other, beautiful items that can be enjoyed for years to come!

**I received this item free from the seller but was not financially compensated for this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own**

Family Print: Etsy Finds

A few years ago, I found a mom-blog that I fell in love with! Olivia has the a writing style that I love, kids that are adorable, and an Instagram feed that I love to check each week. Eventually we became Facebook friends and on and off she has always posted paintings that she is working on. A few months ago, she began posting family pictures that she was making.

Around the same time, my Mama and I found a cute sign online that said "This kitchen is for dancing." My parents have a radio in their kitchen and both of my kids love to turn it on and to dance with my Mama. While Mama liked the senitment of the sign we saw, it wasn't a design that she loved. We discussed making our own. That was my original Mother's Day plan - make a sign that Mama would want to hang in her kitchen.

Then...Olivia posted another family picture and I decided to ask her. The original design in my head had "this kitchen is for dancing" over some shadowy, silhouttes dancing. Olivia tired but said it wasn't coming out in a way that she liked so she asked me to send her some pictures of my mom and kids. I sent her a picture of my Mama and Owen dancing in the kitchen and one from Easter Sunday. Just two days later I had a rough copy of Olivia's new design in my messages. I got teary eyed. It was absolutely perfect. It was better than what I had imagined. Olivia perfectly captured my Mama, Annabeth, and Owen. She noticed little details of my Mama's kitchen, from the one photograph that I sent, that I never would have though to include.

Original artwork and design by Olivia Gunnell

@ Little French Girl Shop on Etsy 

I was SO excited when the print came in the mail and even more excited to give it to my Mama when she was here this weekend.

I am still dreaming up what kind of print I want of our little family of four but I know when I get the idea Olivia is who I will ask to make it!

Please visit her at Little French Girl Shop to request your own custom design!

HeavenBound HCA: Etsy Finds

Last year, while shopping at our local toy store, I noticed some very cute handmade baby items. Owen was past the age of needing most of them but I loved the cute patterns. Fast forward to this year...I met a great homeschool family and found out the Mama runs her own small business hand-making baby items. Those baby items? The cute ones I saw a Toodleydoos!

Kelley runs HeavenBound HCA. She chose HeavenBound as the name because of her family's foundation in Jesus Christ and the promise of a place in Heaven to all those who believe in Jesus Christ. It is her hope that the items she makes can bless and encourage others.

Kelley is a stay-at-home-homeschooling Mama to four girls and uses her business as a great way to encourage them to all be creative. I love that because Kelley is in the process of raising her own family, she is committed to keeping the prices of her products reasonable so that every family, every child can have something special and homemade just for them! 

Check out this beautiful chevron car seat canopy.

Avaliable on her Etsy page for $25 

I wish I had known about hers when we bought ours. I paid $30+ for one made in China :( 

How cute are these?! The cloth wipes wrap up around the little booties and become a cupcake set! You can find this one and more on her Etsy page for $26.

 

 Hat ($12) and Cacoon ($25) both on her website 

I have purchased her cloth wipes and love their cute designs as well as their durability and softness! 

Please shop from Kelley by visiting her website HeavenBound HCA and/or her Etsy Shop HeavenBound HCA on Etsy.

**I do have a personal relationship with this seller. I have purchased her products and asked to feature her on the blog. I was not given product or financially compensated for this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own**

Annabeth's 5th Birthday Shirt: Etsy Finds

Last spring I found Owen the cutest birthday shirt! I fell in love with Kinsey Collection on Etsy and decided to order from her again this summer for a friend's son Henry. When it came time for Annabeth's birthday, I knew I wanted a special 5 shirt and I wanted it to have some gold as well since it is her golden birthday.

I contacted Kinsey to see if she could do a gold lettered shirt. She worked with me to find the perfect pink shirt, the right gold lettering, and even changed my mind from all lowercase to all uppercase letters. I LOVE the final product and I know Annabeh is enjoying having a special birthday shirt again this year.

Working with Kinsey is always a great process. She responds to messages very quickly, completes orders efficiently, and has the cutest ideas!

 Cute Shirt on our Cute Girl

Celebrating 8:55 am the time she arrived! 

Our family was so happy to shop with this Christian, pro-life shop owner! Check out her about page for more information on the good work she is doing with a Women's Shelter to encourage expecting mothers.

*Unless otherwise noted I have purchased "Etsy Finds" items with my own money and do not have a personal relationship with the shop or seller. I also have not been compensated for my review or recommendation*

Owen's 1st Birthday Shirt: Etsy Finds

We decided last fall that Owen would have a Bear 1st Birthday party because while I was expecting I became obsessed with bears. It also became evident very early on that O is bear like - he loves to snuggle and sleep and he also really loves to growl.

I had picked party invites, decorations, food, etc and then...Owen fell in love with Mickey.

I mean REALLY in love with Mickey!
When he is crying and we cannot calm him down with games or singing, we can turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and he will start cheering and dancing.
It's adorable!

Naturally, I panicked! I love a theme party and always search for the perfect theme for each of our events. Would Owen even like a bear party? Would it be better to throw a Mickey party in honor of his great love?!

Then I realized that I didn't have a birthday shirt for his actual birthday - just a shirt for his party day.

So, I hopped on my Pinterest page and found a cute Mickey shirt I had pinned months before.

I ordered the shirt off Etsy from KinseyCollection in March and was worried about sizing since Owen has grown so quickly. Shop owner Kinsey was so accommodating and made him a 1st birthday shirt in size 2T. She mailed it out very quickly and also offered to make another in case he outgrew it by his birthday.

Not only did his Mickey One shirt come quickly, it was even more adorable than I had imagined!!

I enjoyed working with Kinsey as we messaged back and forth quite a bit.

Our family was so happy to shop with this Christian, pro-life shop owner! Check out her about page for more information on the good work she is doing with a Women's Shelter to encourage expecting mothers.

Deer Party Favors and Invitations

In the middle of Annabeth's 3rd Birthday Party, she announced "Next year I will have a deer party!"
Everyone laughed, how cute is she?
While Annabeth is cute, she is also determined and focused, and so 364 days later we had her deer party.

Not long after her 3rd birthday party, I made a "Deer Party" board on Pinterest and began hunting for ideas. One of the ideas was to use the book Bambi as a party favor. The idea stuck in the back of my mind and in the spring Annabeth and I were in Dollar Tree and they had Bambi in the book section. I dug through the books and found enough copies to use as favors. I used a gift card to buy them so they were totally free!

Mark and I were out on a date one night, wandering Target, and Mark found this deer dress on the clearance rack! She looked adorable in it!

Later in the spring, Mark and I were at Walmart and we found cute little wooden deer. I knew I had magnets at home leftover from a project and so we bought the wooden deer and make them into personalized magnets for each child party guest. Just $.29/deer.

About a month before her party Annabeth announced that she wanted to have a coloring station with deer pictures for her and her friends. I printed deer pictures off the internet and we melted down old broken crayons to made tie-dye circle crayons to use at the party and for kids to take home as favors.

I looked up invitations and was shocked at the prices! Since we needed fewer than 10 invitations and most everyone throws them away,I hated to spend a great deal of money on invites. In searching Etsy one day, I found adorable little deer cutouts. I decided that I would hand-write the invitations (remember we needed less than 10) and just add a little deer in the corner. Annabeth chose the pink deer and we ordered them from PurpleSakana. We ordered the pink confetti deer in 2 inches. We ordered them on a Friday afternoon and Monday afternoon they were in our mailbox. The little deer were adorable and printed on high quality pink cardstock. The seller, Joice, even included 8 free pink deer stickers to match!

Annabeth wanted yellow plates, napkins, and forks which we purchased for $5 at Dollar Tree. Since we had not spent much on party favors or paper goods I decided to try and find some more deer items on Etsy. I found these adorable pink deer cups on SweetKaity's Etsy shop. They are so cute and also high quality.

We usually decorate the mantle for her birthday parties since she opens her gifts underneath it. I used our chalk board tablet and a little pink deer to make her 4 sign. I used the "A" from her room decor and our Sage box alongside her stuffed animal Fawn. I was glad to use things from around the house as it was free and, I think, more special than store bought decorations.

As strange of a theme as a deer party was, I did have fun looking for unique deer items!

Etsy Find: Local Hairbows

If you know us, you know that Annabeth has worn a hairbow nearly every day of life. Literally every single day. I cannot even imagine picking out her clothes for the day without picking out a bow or flower for her hair. In fact, as we pack to travel, she knows to get down the bow box and begin matching bows to outfits I have laid out.

Most of our bows come from Emma's Bows for a Cure. Emma is an incredible young lady that dances at our dance school. She hand-makes her own bows and accessories and sells them to raise money for Relay for Life. We love her servant's heart and all of her original designs. I pray that in these early years Annabeth will enjoy wearing Emma's bows and that in years to come she will be inspired by Emma's generous heart.

Joy to the World Bottle Cap Bow by Emma

Christmas Eve 2014

Shamrock Bow by Emma

St. Patrick's Day 2015

This past weekend Annabeth attended a friend's birthday party. In her party favor bag from Adalaide was her first Big Sister bow! This was an item that had been on my spring "to buy" list so I was very excited to see it! The bow was made by Lizzy Bugs Bowtique. I was really impressed with their Etsy shop variety and their low prices! They have so many creative bows, including adorable Disney bows, and their prices are much lower than many other bow places. 

Big Sister Bow by Lizzy Bugs Bowtique

I look forward to now having two Franklin bow places to shop with!

*Unless otherwise noted I have purchased "Etsy Finds" items with my own money and do not have a personal relationship with the shop or seller. I also have not been compensated for my review or recommendation*

Etsy Find: Owen's Baby Blanket

I have been following, via Facebook, the Gardner Quad Squad and in January the family posted pictures of their four girls in the sweetest baby blankets, stamped with each girl's name. I fell in love! I was so excited when Ashley posted that a Utah based Etsy shop had sent the blankets as a gift for the girls but also had them for sale in their Etsy store.

February 9 we found out that Owen was coming and the first thing I ordered online (that night!) was a personalized, hand-stamped blanket from Kat and Stiina on Etsy. Here is a link to the blanket that I ordered. They have so many beautiful products so here is a link to their Etsy Shop Home.

I knew that Mark's mom would crochet a blanket for Owen, my friend Sarah had already started knitting a blanket, and that my mama had already started on a baby quilt but I really wanted a nice, lightweight summer blanket for our June Bug. As soon as I saw these on the Gardner's page I knew I wanted one for Owen!

Working with Kat and Stiina was a quick and easy process. I ordered the blanket on February 9 and it arrived at our house on March 2. I love that all of their items are handmade in the U.S.A.

I feel bad sharing a picture of his blanket before Owen gets to see it but I love it and want to share!!

We are just 13 weeks out from our due date and we are so excited to wrap Owen in his new blanket in June!!

*Unless otherwise noted I have purchased "Etsy Finds" items with my own money and do not have a personal relationship with the shop or seller. I also have not been compensated for my review or recommendation*

Etsy Find: Annabeth's Big Sister Shirt

About a year ago, I found a link on Pinterest to an amazing Big Sister Shirt. The print read: "Every Sheriff Needs a Deputy. Mine Reports for Duty _____" I fell in love and I pinned it. I felt like it was perfect for our sweet girl who is the great-great granddaughter of a former county sheriff and the daughter of a sheriff deputy. Every few months, I would click on the link to make sure the Etsy shop was still open and that the shirt was still being made. I was already pretty sure that someone else would be joining our family, I just needed Mark to be ready as well.

We found out that we were expecting #2 on October 24. That night I ordered Annabeth's first big sister shirt from Zoey's Attic. It was the first thing we bought after learning that we were expecting. We received her shirt in the mail within a week and were able to make Halloween pictures with her new shirt! We also used this shirt in December to announce (via social media) that Annabeth is a Big Sister!

Working with Erin from Zoey's Attic was wonderful! On the personalization page, I accidentally entered 2014 instead of 2015; she checked with me to make sure of what I meant and fixed it before printing. The original shirt also said "Cowgirl _____" with the older sibling's name. Erin kindly changed it to Sheriff for us! The shirt came so quickly, within 1 week, and was printed beautifully on a high quality shirt.

Here is a direct link to the shirt that we purchased.

Annabeth in her Sheriff Big Sister Shirt from Zoey's Attic! 

*Unless otherwise noted I have purchased "Etsy Finds" items with my own money and do not have a personal relationship with the shop or seller. I also have not been compensated for my review or recommendation*

Introducing Etsy Finds!

I love shopping a certain way - artisan crafts, locally, and/or Made in the U.S.A.

This past Christmas I did quite a bit of shopping on Etsy and found some really beautiful, unique hand-made items that I love giving and I think people loved receiving. I usually try to shop locally but with "morning" sickness in full swing about 75% of my shopping was done online this year. I feel like it really offered a great, new way for me to support small businesses.

I also have found so many great links on Pinterest and have enjoyed checking out new Etsy shops as a result. I thought it would be fun, as I shop throughout the year, to highlight some products and shops we've loved!

Stay tuned and feel free to share some love for your own favorite Etsy shops in the comments! :)