Luau Party

Well, my oldest child just turned five (GULP!, how does this go so fast?!!). Since moving to our new house we've been doing a TON of work and her party kind of slipped to the back burner. However, thankfully we literally have built in entertainment in our back yard with a swimming pool. So, we decided to do a pool party with a Luau theme.


As always, I have huge aspirations and gain tons of inspirations around the web, but time got the best of me and a lot of what I did was very last minute. Maybe I should start planning for our twins 4th birthday now (it's in February!! :)). But, humor me as I show you how it turned out.


I made these cupcake toppers to go on the homemade cupcakes. I had a slight problem with my measurements - but like I said - time got the best of me so I just went with it instead of fixing them.


I saw an idea on Pinterest of a birthday mantle and knew it was perfect for this party since I had so many framed pictures of Brooke (remember she was our first! ha).

These greeted guests at the front door.

Homemade cupcakes...every bit of this was her choosing. The 5 candle, the type of cupcakes and the colors of the icing.

I want to kick myself for not taking a photo of the party favors all lined up for the guests. URGH...literally I could kick myself! But, I got these totes from the Dollar Spot at Target and filled them with ice pops, goldfish, bubble wands, popcorn, pixie sticks and flip flop shaped suckers I got at Dollar Tree. Each tag had the last name of the family who would receive the bag.

I made this wreath out of drink umbrellas and thought it was a cute addition to the fireplace area where all the gifts were left.

We had tiki torches all along the pool area (however the party was late afternoon and were never lit). I guess now we can have the island feel for a little while longer so we can use up the oil inside.

Our backyard has this great cabana area that we figured was cliche enough for the luau themed party so we just dressed it up with hanging lights and luau skirt decoration. What party is complete without a pinata? We found this cute flip flop online and the kids had a blast beating it up.

So, it won't win any awards, and I wish I'd had a more relaxed week to think things through, but the kids had a blast and that's all that matters!

Can you say indecisive??

So my newest little guy still doesn't have a nursery! Terrible, I know.

I was determined this week to find bedding, hang some pictures, etc. I ordered a few pieces of this set from Pottery Barn, 1...because I like it & 2...because it was on sale.Problem is, I have a black crib.

With my new found love for blue, I thought this was the answer.

Boy, was I wrong! Can you see my assembly line of ROYAL blue??

Not really what I was going for.

So before the paint could even dry, I was repainting it brown.

Which I'm MUCH more comfortable with. We'll see, once the bedding gets here, how it all comes together.

A year in the making

Do you remember this time last year (almost to the day!), I asked you for your help with my living room?? Holy moly, it needed help!!

Well with your help (and my husband's approval), I've made some serious changes. Instead of curtains, we now have plantation shutters. Yea! I LOVE their clean lines and southern charm. They're timeless, easy to clean, and to my husband's delight, have helped cut down on the electricity bill.

For more on the plate wall, click HERE.

I got this rug from Pottery Barn. I've had my eye on it since last year and snagged it up when they went on sale. Bringing color and pattern to the floor helps break up the neutral-ness of the walls and tile.

I found this blue ladder at Round Top for $5. I've noticed that people are using ladders for all sorts of things these days. So for now, I'm hanging my throws on it.

And after looking at these pictures, I notice that the bottom blanket may need to be updated, or at least refolded :)

So thanks again for enduring with me, my living room challenges. Surely one of these days, I'll get it like I like it.

Cowboy Birthday Party!

Here are some highlights from my daughter's birthday party!

Invitations: I made them out of old jean pockets. My mom is making a bluejean quilt, so they were readily available. I used cardstock and added a "hankie", just a cut piece of fabric, for color. I hand delivered as many as possible to cut back on postage.
Main Street: I used cardboard boxes from Lowes (they'll give them to you for free, just ask) and made a Main Street. My husband thought I was crazy, but the kids loved it. All it took was paint, an exacto knife & a little imagination. The kids ran in & out of the General Store & pretended like they were in jail.

Stick Horses: I was set on having stick horses (which doubled as party favors), but I could not find any ANYWHERE that we're under $20 a pop. So I made my own. To see how I made them, click HERE. I set up an obstacle course (really just 2 hay-bails) and the kids had horse races.
Firepit: With a few more hay-bails, I set up a firepit, which we used to grill Smores after the sun went down.

Pinata: As a finishing touch, I hung a cowboy hat pinata in the barn doorway.

I know I'm biased, but it was a fun party. And with so much of the work done beforehand, getting everything ready the day of the party was a cinch. We relaxed, ate hotdogs & let the kids run wild.

Drumroll please....

For our very first giveaway we have a winner!




So, Kelly... contact me by using the email link on the top right corner of this page and we will get your prize to you. Thanks to EVERYONE for entering. Stay tuned... we have a few more giveaways up our sleeve.

Au Naturale

Well, I have finally made a decision about my secretary. I bought this off Craigslist months ago and intended always to paint it some fun color. I could never decide what color to choose while we were at the old house and figured I'd wait until we moved to choose a color that worked in the new space. Again, I was stuck!! I could not decide.


I was that girl who when friends came over I'd ask them what I should do. Everyone told me I should leave it as it was. {Maybe they were tired of hearing me ask!} Though I had never intended to leave it in it's original state... I'm going to do it! Maybe one day the right color will hit me and I'll make a change. But for now, I'm pretty excited about not having to get in to the nooks and crannies with a paint brush. :)

What do you think? Did I make the right decision? Or do you have a suggestion for me? Should I spray paint the hardware at least? Something about it is still not "right".

Yep, that's a kids cup in the background. Lazy me thought I could strategically crop the photo without cleaning the table off. Oops :)

Almost there

Well, I'm getting REEALLL close to being totally unpacked. I'm left with this...

I think I see the light at the end of the decorating tunnel. If only I could make decisions about where this stuff should go it would already be unpacked.

{Part} of my new master bedroom

I've finally finished area of my master bedroom. The rest of the room is still a work in progress, but I thought I'd show you what I've got so far.

I picked up both of these tables to use as nightstands at last Fall's Round Top/Warrenton antique market. They were bought at two different booths and had almost the same color, height & width. Since they are on opposite sides of the bed I think they work pretty well.



I use this basket on top to keep my Bible, journal, pens and my phone when it's charging. I've never had a nightstand with out drawers so this keeps it somewhat clean while still allowing me to have my usual items nearby.

The bedding! I'm most proud of this because it's 100% pieced together. I have always been a 'set' kinda girl. I planned on doing the same in the new room, but an accidental win on Ebay sent me in a new direction. I bid on these great Pottery Barn Euro shams on Ebay. I never thought I would win. The quilt and regular shams were out there too, but they were always "buy it now" items that I didn't want to spend that much money on. So, once I won and had them in my hands I set out to find coordinating pieces. Enter TJ Maxx & Home Goods. I scored the quilt from our local TJ Maxx for $24.99 and the long Ralph Lauren ticking pillow at a Home Goods in Houston for $40.

I'm pretty happy with how it all came together. I already had the sheets and eventually will get a new fresh set that doesn't wrinkle on the ends and make the width 6" shorter than it's supposed to be!

The cedar chest at the end of the bed came into the room out of necessity. There's no other room in the rest of the house for it and we didn't want to put it up in the attic. My great-grandfather built it and we use it to store our board games and some random greenery that has no other place to be.

So, there it is... I'll be working on the other side of the room soon. It's my goal to have one completed room in the whole house very soon! We'll see how that works out.