Project Log - Hanging it up

Slowly, but surely we're getting the house decorated. I'm taking my time, choosing what I like and really thinking things through before just hanging things willy-nilly. I've been happy with the results so far. Here are a few projects.

I knew I wanted photos of the kids in water-themed shots for the bathroom.



These are three of my favorite photos of the kids and I love seeing them in frames everyday. The turquoise and white frames were on sale at Target for less than $4 each. I got the wooden flower frame there too but that one was a $9 splurge. I couldn't resist it, I love the worn, rustic edge and unique design.



The photo of The Boy makes me laugh every time I see it! It was taken about three years ago. My (future) husband was tossing the kids into the air and I adore this shot of him, gulping in a big breath of air before he hits the water.

The photo of The Girl was taken last summer on a beach excursion.

This one of the baby was taken last August at the Disneyland Hotel on a weekend trip.



I like the colors, a great mix of blue in each photo to coordinate with the frames. And I kept them in a theme, water, for the bathroom.

My other decoration project was our front door entrance, a tiny hallway. I'm standing in the kitchen when I took this shot. You can see a little bit of the front door that is open (an orangey-red on the outside). We have repurposed our dining room buffet to use in this space because 1). We don't have room in the dining room and 2). We need a place to set things by the front door. Inside the cabinets we have our oversized kitchen appliances, like the rice cooker and also cloth napkins, placemats and table cloths. That lamp is just there because I don't have any other place to put it...I don't even have an electrical outlet on that wall!



Left to right on the table top: A wedding photo, gray mail slot (from HomeGoods), glass dish for keys, real butterflies in frame (that I've had for 20+ years), basket to hold my purse, frame of the kids from our wedding day and a repurposed cupcake stand that holds little things that my husband uses every morning, like foot powder and cough drops (I'm thinking we could find a better landing place for those items besides this spot...perhaps the bathroom, honey?).



Left to right on the wall: A newborn photo of Baby D, a wooden plaque that says, "The Best Things in Life Aren't Things" (a motto I try to live by in a 1007 square foot home as a reminder to minimize and pare down to the necessities). Lastly, photos of the kids in my parent's tree that I took 4 years ago. I'm thinking we need to get a shot of Baby D sitting in the tree soon!

Next project, something over the living room sofa. I'm thinking about one of these wooden letters along with some photos, what do you think?

Happy Independence Day!

Hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day!

We had a simple day, but not quite "celebratory" enough for me, frankly. We weren't invited to any parties, our backyard isn't worthy enough for hosting any parties yet and we just didn't really have it together...maybe because the holiday was on a Thursday (that just seemed like an odd break in the week). Thank goodness the grocery store was open so Danny was able to pick up the fixings for our dinner!



I knew I at least wanted to get a few shots of the kids, so that was a success. I pulled out the kid's red/white/blue clothes and set them up in the patio. The Girl is the only one with a true patriotic outfit (a stars and stripes dress from Walmart last year that now is a top worn over jean shorts). The Boy's blue shirt has a dinosaur and Baby D's shirt has Mickey Mouse...oh well! Maybe next year I'll have it in me to make them something for the Fourth.

Very happy to note that the patio is an awesome place for photos. This is really the first time I was able to take advantage of the covered shade and the nice natural light. I just need to work on a backdrop or something more attractive behind them than the neighbor's house!

My mother-in-law picked up the big kids in the morning and they spent the day at the county fair eating turkey legs and foot-long curly fries, jumping in sack races and digging dump trucks in vats of dry beans (really!).



Danny & I just had the baby so we hit Ikea early to find a few necessaries for the house. What a madhouse! Lines a mile long for 99 cent towels (we got two nice dark gray ones!) and another mile long line for the check out. And then we got our purchases home and one of the items didn't fit quite right in the space we'd bought it for, so that was a disappointment.

While Baby D napped, Danny went to Home Depot and bought our first barbeque. Dinner was delicious...carne asada, blue corn tortilla chips, avocado and a pasta salad I whipped up last minute.



We sat around waiting for fireworks, prepared to watch them from our back yard. Of course we've only lived here a few months, so we've yet to watch fireworks from this new location. We only live a few blocks away from where the city was setting them off and we thought we'd see them fine. Unfortunately the neighbor's tree blocked them and we had to troop down to the lower dirt lot of our yard and stand along the fence line to see them properly...booo!!!



Oh well, I have my sights set on July 4th, 2014. Hopefully by then we'll be in full party-hosting mode! And we'll know we walk down the block to see the firecrackers!