Mantle In The Master Bedroom

Last week I posted on Instagram a sneak peak of a project we recently finished.  I asked if anyone could guess in which room it was, so if you guessed the Master Bedroom, you guessed right! We have had this project in mind for awhile, but there were a lot of pieces to the puzzle of actually getting it done. We had this little hutch/ entertainment center piece that housed a lot of my book collection and on top was a heavy, outdated TV. I actually loved that TV because you could play DVDs and old VHSs and you could watch cable. It was like a 3 in 1! But it always worried me to have a TV that was so heavy there. I was always freaked out one of the girls were going to knock it over on top of them. So we knew that we wanted to get a flat screen TV that was mounted to the wall and we thought it would be cool to do a faux fireplace underneath.

When we started to look for antique fireplace mantles, we found that they were both hard to find (especially in the dimensions we needed) and ridiculously expensive! So our search lasted a while to find the perfect one. We finally found just the top mantle piece from a second hand home store in Seattle. It was covered in SO many layers of paint and it was probably 100 years old. We thought that if we took that piece and then just created the side parts with wood boards, we could still get the look we wanted. I spent many days in our garage putting layer after layer of stripper on the mantle to get off all the layers of paint. But it was so worth it, because eventually all the gorgeous wood that was underneath started to come through. After that I just lightly painted it again with some chalk paint and then distressed it a little so that the pretty wood underneath would show through. Then we (my husband) just screwed them into the wall. We also added an additional board to the top so that I had a wider space to put things. The mantle isn't even attached to the side boards; each piece is just individually screwed in. I am not going to be putting anything super heavy up there (just décor) so it was really just looks we were going for.

And here is how it turned out!





Isn't it so cute and cozy? We will eventually have a TV above the mantle, so I will have to move the cow print, but it is so cute for now. I love cows. I know they are supposed to be dumb animals, but they are so endearing and I love their eyes! I'm so excited that now I have two mantles in the house to decorate!



I just threw this basket here for the photos, but I am not going to keep it here. I don't want to be tripping over it. It belonged to the girls and there are a few holes in it now, but I am going to try and see if I can get creative and find a fun way to fix it. I was thinking about lacing it up with yarn....





I love that my French egg chair is not just shoved in the corner anymore and you can really see it. It is my favorite piece of furniture that we own.





I got this cutie cow print from Hobby Lobby on my first trip there. I didn't know at the time where I was gonna put her, but I knew we'd find a place. I think she looks pretty at home here.





It's hard to tell in a photo, but I also recently got this stand up mirror and I love it! We have two sliding door mirrors in our master bathroom, but it is really nice to have an additional full length mirror. The girl's have always come into our bathroom to look at their outfits or dress up dresses and it's nice now that we are not crowding in front of one mirror. You can't have too many mirrors in a house full of girls!



Hope you enjoyed seeing our latest project! I think now that this room is finally "finished" (I feel like even when rooms are finished, they are still always evolving) I can do some before and after photos. Can you believe this room used to be poo brown? Well, it wasn't quite that bad. But it's so much better and it feels so good to have a peaceful room to retreat to after a long day. Have a good one friends!

Easter Table Setting

Good Morning Friends!
I am working on packing our family today for Spring Break. Packing for a family of 5 is so hard! It's like you need a month of advance prep time just to make sure all the clothes, shoes and swimsuits are fitting and in good shape. We are headed to Palm Springs to visit my in-laws with a few days in Disneyland! If you watch my Instastories, we told the girl's over the weekend that we were going and their reaction was a little disappointing. I kept saying, "Wait....did you hear what I said? We're going to DISNEYLAND!" Most kids would be jumping up and down, screaming. But our kids, just blinked, like ok Mom and Dad, whatever. My only conclusion is that they are SPOILED! In my mind I AM jumping up and down, screaming. I love Disneyland!

Even though we will be gone for Easter I still like to play around with décor and especially with the Easter table setting in the dining room. So I wanted to make sure to show you how I set and decorated our table in case you were looking for ideas for your own Easter table! This would be perfect for an Easter brunch or Easter dinner with family.









I have always been obsessed with the Pottery Barn bunny plates that they have every year around Easter. So I was so excited to find these adorable bunny plates at Michael's for way cheaper this year. I'm truly a sucker for bunnies. They kill me. My daughters were also thrilled that the bunnies had "headbands" on.





I showed on stories some of my fun (and unexpected) Value Village finds last week. I picked up one of those cute faux chocolate bunny molds there. I feel like I need to pop in there every once in awhile now and see if I can score some cute stuff.





The centerpiece looks really complicated, but really it couldn't be easier. I got just a plain green garland at Hobby lobby and layed it across the table, then I added the bunny molds, some beeswax candles and a faux flower arrangement. Then I sprinkled in some little bird nests here and there. I love all the animals of Spring!











I mean, can you even with this bunny? She's SO cute!







The little egg cups with the chicks are old (from Sur La Table) but there are so many different cute styles of egg cups out there. If we were having our Easter brunch here, I would put some of the girl's dyed eggs in them, but since we won't be here I just put these faux ones in.









Here are some other cute egg cups I found this year from the Hearth and Hand line. I can totally see myself collecting egg cups. They are so fun.









I tried my hand at a little artistic Easter sign on our butcher paper. I just copied a picture off google. My oldest daughter came home from school one day and was all mad at me, and I said, "What's wrong?" and she exclaimed, "I THOUGHT you said you WEREN'T an artist!" Haha. Then I explained that I copied someone else, so I really am not. I think its funny that she thought I had been lying to her all this time.







This little cutie just slept here while I photographed. She is such a good cat.

That's all for today. Hopefully this inspired you with some ideas for your own Easter table setting this year! Full source list can be found below.

What are your plans for Easter? Do you stay home or go to family? Do you do brunch or dinner? I would love to hear your family traditions!


SOURCES:
Tablecloth- Homegoods
Napkins- Homegoods
Napkin Rings- Terrain
Seagrass Chargers- IKEA
White Lace Chargers- Michaels
Bunny Plates- Michaels
Silverware- Bed, Bath and Beyond
Antique Glasses- Were my grandmothers
Chick Egg Cups- Sur La Table
Bunny Egg Cups- Target (Hearth and Hand)
Greenery Garland- Hobby Lobby (I used 2)
Candles- Big Dipper Waxworks
Faux Chocolate Bunny molds- 2 are from Homegoods and one is from Value Village
Chairs- World Market
Hanging Butcher Paper Roll and Hardware- Amazon
Chandelier- Circa Lighting

Girl's Easter Baskets

Good Morning Friends and Happy Monday! Can you believe Easter is this weekend? We are going to be in Palm Springs with my in-laws for Easter so I had to be super prepared this year and have the girl's Easter baskets done super early so that I could mail them in time to be there when we get there. I wasn't going to try and carry on three Easter baskets on the airplane, so I figured that would be the easiest thing to do. But anyway, it's good for you because I can show you what I put in their baskets to give you some ideas and I also listed a TON of ideas below (for girls and boys too!).

WHAT'S IN MY GIRL'S EASTER BASKETS!









I always forget how small my daughter's Easter baskets are; they really don't need that much to fill them up. And I feel like no matter what, families always accumulate so much stuff that I don't like to buy too much "junk", because ultimately it will end up in the Goodwill bag. So I think that simple, well thought out choices are the best. Honestly the Target dollar spot is the best thing ever for Easter baskets. That is where I got most of the items I put in my daughter's baskets.

For the 2 older girls (who are ages 5 and 7) I grabbed these cute pillows that you can color on that come with the markers attached, a fluffy (non-injury) bunny slingshot, small LOL's, a ballerina keychain to put on their backpacks, a girly, fun purse, Skittles egg and Peeps on a stick. 

For my youngest daughter (who is 2) I put in the same pillow to color (just a different style), fluffy slingshot, Peeps on a stick, Skittles egg, small LOL, an Easter board book and a little "beauty set". I also got her a purse, but it wasn't here in time for the photos. She wants anything her big sisters have, so I try to get her mostly the same things. 

SOURCES:

Color on pillows- Target dollar spot

Fluffy slingshot- Target dollar spot

Beauty set- Target dollar spot

Skittles egg- Target

Peeps on a stick- Target

LOL- Target (toy section)

Easter board book- Target (book section)

Glitter purses- Charming Charlie (I got Everly's on Amazon)

Ballerina keychains- Charming Charlie

EVEN MORE IDEAS! (For boys and girls)

Little cars

Bubbles

Sidewalk chalk

Chapstick

Hair clips, bows, headbands

Fun socks

Bunny stuffed animal

Balls (baseball, tennis or bouncy)

Coloring books

Crayons or Markers

Crayola Window Markers (My girl's love these and they wash off easy!)

Mini squirt gun

Bath toys

Play tool set or tool belt

My little ponies

Shopkins

Hatchimals

Trading cards

Notebook

Play dough

Paint set

Books

DVDs

Stickers

Stamps

Legos (they have those great small bags of them which are perfect sized for Easter baskets)

Puzzles

Yo-yo

Flashlight

Jacks

Small board games or card games

Flip flops (for Spring break)

Slime

Wallet

Doll clothes or accessories

Thomas the Train characters (even my 2 year old girl loves these)

Paper Airplane making set

Color on skateboard

Paper Dolls

Jewelery

Hot Lunch Coupons (My daughter's have hot lunch at their school and they are always asking to have it instead of a packed lunch. If your child's school has something like this give them "coupons" to use for hot lunch whenever they want or maybe a special lunch date with you at their fav restaurant)

Movie Tickets

Silly Putty (I hate this because it gets everywhere in my house, but hey, it's egg shaped!)

Bunny ears

Wands (Princess or Harry Potter wands for HP fans)

Lightsaber

Jump rope

Sunglasses

New water bottle

Small Nerf gun

Grow your own flowers or seed packets

Easter Cookie Cutters

Tote bags (could get monogrammed)

Small umbrella

Nail polish

Bath bombs (my daughter's love these)

Scotch Tape (It sounds weird, but it is a hot commodity in our house)

Sand toys

Green army men

Then of course there's candy....

Hope this was helpful in giving you some ideas for your child's Easter baskets this year!

Spring In The Living Room

It's finally Friday! YAY! Okay, who wants to come babysit my kids so that I can go back to sleep because they are out of school today.... Anyone? Just kidding I actually love it when I get extra days with them. I feel like I never get to spend enough time with them and they are growing WAY too fast! I mean, I will still be sucking down "mommy's sippy cup" by the end of the day while listening to our 2 year old scream in the corner about something she can't do and watching one of the older ones sprinkle paper shreds all over the kitchen and the other one take a million toys sets out at once. But, you know, it's all good and I do adore them.
I have been continuing to put little bits of Spring decorations up around the house and today I wanted to show you our living room.









Notice anything different in here? I recently painted the tile that surrounded the fireplace and I am loving the change. It may be a temporary solution, but it is so nice not to have that ugly blue tile that was there. The same ugly blue tile that was in the kitchen and still resides above my desk....I'm working on thinking of an idea of how to get rid of it there. Stay tuned for that.



My oldest, Sienna said it looks like a forest in here and I was like, you know what? I like that. After all we practically had a Christmas tree forest in here for Christmas so I love having some fresh new green life in here for Spring.







I kept with a green, white and neutral palette and how cute are these white bunnies I picked up in the Target dollar spot? You can never have too many bunnies in my opinion. So sweet for Easter.







We recently picked up this antique typewriter from this amazing second hand home store in Seattle and it was such a cool find. It is special to me because I have always loved writing. I know it will be with us for a long time. I really wish I could figure out how to actually use it. Typewriter font is so unique and there is something so fun about the "click", "click", "click" of really pressing down on those keys. I have a hard time keeping little hands away from it though!



That fern print was another one of my Hobby Lobby finds! I told you, I am loving the ferns! If you have been following my blog for awhile, you know that I painted this little cabinet beside the fireplace so that it matches the mantle and now it looks so much better in this room. This little nook was such an awkward space, but it's amazing how much just painting the cabinet changed it. I am loving the greenhouse vibe that is has right now.



I took down the little gallery wall I had here above the green chair and replaced it with these two galvanized hanging containers on either side of our entertainment center. I just kind of had the itch to switch it up for something new and I like the symmetry that these add to the room.





Hope you all have a wonderful start to your weekend! I will be taking a blog break for the weekend, but I hope to be back by Monday, so make sure to check back next week for some more Spring décor and some other fun projects.