Painting hurts!

I am still on bed rest and let me say that this has been no fun! I have been spending my time reading, surfing the Internet and thinking of all the things I should be doing.

Sometimes the thought of truly doing nothing all day boils up and I must do something about it!

Eduardo had a scout camp sleepover to attend to on Friday night and I decided it would be a perfect time to complete some projects for the baby's room. I set up my ugly painting table cloth and the purple paint I had. I spent a few hours sitting at the table painting a few things for the baby. Nothing strenuous. No standing, simply sitting and painting. What could be hard about that?!

Let's say that night I felt as if I had run a marathon! I hurt! At the beginning of my pregnancy I used to walk 3 miles every morning. I have always been active and for me to hurt after painting, now that's saying something. Back to bed rest for me!

From the photo above you can see a few things that I completed for the baby's room. Now it's a matter of waiting for Eduardo to hang them this week and I can say that the room is near completion! I LOVE how this room is turning out and I can't wait to show it off!

Flowers for a little girl

I have been working on a project for the new baby's room for over a month. I work on it a little here and a little there knowing that I had plenty of time to finish it. I finished half of the original project before being put on bed rest and decided on Monday that I will not do the other two flowers on an opposing wall.

I have several other projects that I would love to complete before my little girl's arrival, but if the curtains are not hung or the art work made, oh well. There will be time later to complete her room.

I love the contrast of the white against the bright blue walls. I look forward to showing off this room once it's finished!

Stereotypical Girl!

Livy is 100% (and then some) girl! She meets the stereotype of a girl perfectly. She may only be 2 years old but she loves dresses, princesses, horses, and her latest love getting married.

While Ed was away on business for 3 weeks last month Livy found one of my wedding pictures. I saw her looking at it and she happily exclaimed, "Daddy! Mommy! Temple!" I took the picture out and told her that yes that was Mommy and Daddy and we are standing in front of the temple. I told her that we got married there and pointed out my white dress and flowers.

Since then, she asks for me to buy her a white dress so she can get married. And not to forget the flowers that she needs to hold!


A few Sundays ago we used the lovely bribing technique to get Livy to stay in Nursery at church. She used to go without any problems, in fact she would head in and wave for us to leave. For several months now, she screams and hold onto us like the world was ending. We have tried everything to help her to stay with her friends so we could attend Sunday School but have felt frustrated at leaving a screaming child.

During Sacrament Meeting, Ed told her that if she went to Nursery and didn't cry that we would go to the Temple. A little skeptical that this would work I took her to Nursery where she made no complaint. She sat down with her friends and looked at books. Her teachers informed me that she didn't cry and played very happily.

After nap, we told Livy that we needed to get ready to head to the temple. She very excitedly shouted, "Temple! Yeah! White dress and hold flowers! Get married!" Multiple times I had to tell her that no you were not going to get married today. She still insisted on wearing a white dress and holding flowers! (And not forget the "princess hat!")

After failed attempts of taking her picture, we told her she could go see the temple. She was super excited and ran off to temple grounds.

We enjoyed a nice walk through the gardens. I thought it was cute that she kept asking her Daddy for a key to the temple so she could go inside.

Christmas Mini Envelope Advent

With it being September, you may think it's a little early to start thinking about Christmas. I personally like to spend at least the whole month of December enjoying the holidays rather than worry about projects, let alone the dreaded shopping. So it's the perfect time to think about holiday projects.

Last fall I was searching for the perfect advent for my family and loved the idea of little envelopes, each filled with something you could do together to count down to Christmas. I was determined to make my own and I am happy to share it with you!

At a local scrapbook store I purchased several different kinds of holiday paper and used the store's die-cut machine to make mini tags.

And to make mini envelopes.

Once folded, they look something like this. I loved finding double sided paper to use for this project.

Then I got to use some creativity to decorate the envelopes. I used various ribbons, stickers and the mini tags.

For the mounting board, I used the extra heavy weight cardboard and put scrapbook paper around it. I won't give measurements because depending on the size of envelope will determine how big of surface you need.

You can't see it in the picture, but I have attached a ribbon to the top to hang the advent up. You could even put it on an easel and display it that way.

Some close-ups of the decorated envelopes, each hand numbered.

And a big star for the grand finale! The reason for the season!

I have been thinking for sometime as what I want to put inside the envelopes. You could make a tag with the countdown event on it, or even a simple piece of paper. This will take a bit of time and planning on your part. I plan on putting in things that we would normally do, like our annual family Christmas party, and things that would be fun to experience together. Most things will be fairly simple, just something little to count down to the big day.

Here are a few ideas:

* Decorate family gingerbread house

* Go see the drive-through lights

* See the lights on Temple Square

* Make paper snowflakes decorate windows

* Paint toe nails (Livy loves this!)

* Pick out a tree together

* Decorate tree and eat danish cookies & hot chocolate,

* Bake Christmas cookies and decorate

* Watch a Christmas movie

* Family Christmas party

* Read a special Christmas story together

* Draw a picture of the nativity

* Mail Christmas cards

* Go to German store and get goodies & advents

* Go to the church Christmas party

* Dance to Christmas music

* Play in the snow

* Take Christmas gifts around to neighbors and friends

* Do a Christmas craft together

* Write letter to Santa

* Make a picture for Grandma & Abuelos

* Have a fondue night

* Build snowmen out of marshmallows

* Family game night

* Breakfast for dinner

* Night time walk with homemade lanterns

* Make thumb print art

* Buy Christmas coloring books and color

* Make chocolate covered snowmen hats

* Go ice skating

* Build a snowman together

* Christmas Eve celebration (Whatever special you do this night!)

For more Christmas Advent ideas, here is the Matchbox Advent that I made last year.

It's time--living room projects

Working on another project! This one will be worth the "time!" Sorry for the stupid pun, I simply couldn't help myself.

Before I show you the finished project, there is something else that I changed in my living room.

I love how sometimes the smallest projects make the biggest difference! That is how I feel with my living room curtains! I loved the designer green striped fabric that I picked out months ago and I especially liked how the fabric pooled on the floor giving it a look of elegance. I personally did not like the size of the rod or the top of the curtain. So time for a change! (The before:)

The change may be a small one, but each time I walk into the room, I think about how much I like it. That is truly where it all matters! I purchased a longer rod so less of the window is covered. Naturally this makes the window look larger and more open. I also added the drapery rings to the top and LOVE it! I'm a little sad that the fabric no longer pools on the floor, but I still love the way it looks.

A fun view of the curtain top through the mirror on my mantle.


Over by my front door I had a bare little wall. It once houses coat hooks that really did not get me loving the space. So down they went and a bare Harvest Gold wall remained. I thought for sometime what I would put in this space and decided I needed a huge clock!

I love how this clock is directly on the wall. I would like to say that it was fairly easy to install, but since my darling husband did the work I'm sure it was easy for him. The trickiest part is making sure everything is level. This was an inexpensive kit over at Hobby Lobby, normally retailing for $30. I took it home on sale for only $15!


The next project is to find a table and lamp to go under my new clock!

Linking up to Kimba's DIY Day over at A Soft Place to Land.

Autumn Mantle Decorations

My most favorite time of year is autumn. I love the crisp feeling in the air, the smells, the colors of the leaves and the sense of being closer as a family. Summer is too busy (not to mention hot) for me. I love how autumn slows things down and I get to think about upcoming holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday!) and Christmas.

Bringing out the fall decorations is a huge treat for me. Being in a new house this fall has been both excited and a bit overwhelming on how to decorate. I love the decor from my old house and found a nice home for them here.

My living room mantle

A close up of the flower arrangement that I created last year.

You can see my favorite wreath here (hung on my old door) and some decor from last year.

I am linking up to the Fall Nesting Week over at the Inspired Room!

Think Aheads

In my on-going quest to become a more organized person, I have realized that I fall short much of the time. I have slacked on holidays around here, as mentioned in my Search for the Perfect Dress post. Several times this summer I have caught myself thinking, "Today is Independence Day and I planned nothing!" I want my children to have fun memories filled with traditions and time together as a family. I am failing!

To overcome this re occurrence in my life I have made myself "Think Aheads." Basically I have set up a reoccurring reminder (nice thing is that it will remind me again next year and the year after) that it's time to think of a particular holiday. This is on my computer with the Outlook program. I thought ahead for all the holidays and birthdays that we celebrate and figured approximately how much time it would time for me to plan, purchase or craft for that event. Some holidays I have given several months to prepare for, others a few weeks.

Then when I am reminded of that "Think Ahead" on my laptop or blackberry I can take out my trusty Holiday Idea binder and start making a list of what I need. So far I am feeling less stressed and find that I am keeping everything simple!

My only problem now is that we are hitting that time of year when so much is happening! I haven't finished Halloween when today I got a reminder for Christmas. Yes, it's September but I am an early shopper!