This is my story

My photo
New mommy to my son, Elijah Ryan. Wife to my husband and best friend, Nick. New homeowner and HGTV obsessed. Wedding Planner for Two Be Wed. Avid Pinner. Lover of writing, books, movies, vampires (not the Twilight kind) and Harry Potter. Enjoys lazy days, coffee and spending time with my little family. Here to share my tales of mommyhood, marraige, love and life.
Showing posts with label diy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diy. Show all posts

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Elijah's Big Top Circus First Birthday

I know I'm long overdue on this post. Elijah is now 14 months as of last week and any thought of my life  slowing down some time soon is absurd. First off, having a toddler is way more time consuming then I had imagined. Of course having a child at all is time consuming, but a toddler (and a boy for a toddler) is e-x-h-a-u-s-t-ing. Shorter naps, bigger lunches, more messses, and less free time. But I love it. At the age he is now, he is a sponge - soaking in everything around him. He's fearless, active, observant, smart, funny and down right adorable.

But onto the point of this post: the CIRCUS! For Elijah's first birthday, the circus came to town at the Joseph's. Being the party planner that I am, I made sure every last detail was perfect down to the last minute. I spent weeks DIYing decor and completely transformed our house into a big circus tent. It was a lot of fun and worth all the hard work. I know Eli won't remember a thing about it but that's why I had my friend Margaret from Love Lee Photography take these awesome photos! Enjoy :)

Invitiations made by ME on Paint. Word.

Elijah's Big Top Circus 1st Birthday
Favors! Animal Crackers for the kiddos, Chocolate Mustaches for the Adults
Photo area to "clown" around!
One of my many DIY projects!
Mom, I mustache you a question.
My Dad hates me for hanging these streamers til 2 AM
Turning one bites!
adorbs.
Thanks for coming!
My sad attempt at a rainbow smash cake. It smashed very early.
Another Pininspired DIY
The inside was prettier than the outside.
He likes it!
I can't believe my baby is ONE!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

"Mod-itional" Kitchen Inspiration

You know you've grown up when all you want to do is watch HGTV and shop for home goods. My mind has been swarming with ideas for the new house and I've driven Nick mad with all my decor talk. So I decided to unleash it here instead for the sake of my sanity and my marriage.

I've also become a big fan of garage sales (another sign of me getting old) and was thrilled to come across my new kitchen table at one this weekend! I've been searching for a farmhouse table for the kitchen but they are hard to come by and can be very expensive if bought new. Our current table is so nice that we rarely use it so a resale find is perfect for us because it's already worn in and will withstand children (or so I hope).

Tada! Our new table:
{Same colors but oval instead of a rectangle.}

As soon as I saw it, it was fate. I haven't quite sold Nick on it but I'm hoping it will grow on him. My plan is to sand it down and reseal the natural wood table top. I really want a natural finish so I'm going to skip staining it. Then I'm going to change the hunter green to black. I thought about white but I don't want it to be too country and I don't think Nick will go for anything too colorful so black it is.

These are some of my inspirations:
farm table and chairs

chandelier + farmhouse table

I love the mixture of new & old, modern & traditional (or as HGTV would say "Mod-itional") and bringing in the farmhouse table does just that. Our new kitchen has dark espresso cabinets making it feel modern but the tan granite counterops and the addition of the farmhouse table will put the traditional in "mod-itional". (I really like that word, can you tell?) The table came with four chairs that I plan on painting black as well. If I had the choice (and the money), I would love these metal cafe chairs but they are ridiculously priced, $1,000 for ONE chair!! I know I have expensive taste but that's just wasting money. What I really love about them is the industrial style and how they contrast with the farmhouse table.


But since I plan on using the chairs that came with the table, I decided I would bring in the industrial feel with these alumnium bar stools from Target that are a similar style but at a much more affordable price.

Aluminum Dining Stool
 I also wanted to add a bench for additional seating and to add to the casual dining feel. Target wins again with this farmhouse dining bench that goes perfect with the table. I'd like to add a fun fabric + cushion to the bench and paint the legs black to match the rest.
Farmhouse Dining Bench
That about sums it up, for the kitchen at least. I really like the direction I'm going in but we'll see how it all turns out once these ideas are turned into a reality. Or remain a fantasy...that all depends on what Nick thinks of my "mod-itional" ideas.