How To Make Giant Artwork for $2!

Good morning, friends!

This is going to a simple, yet fun post for the day! Two nights ago my new sideboard was built.... hallelujah! It's a perfect fit for the tiny dining area. But it still needed a little oomph if ya know what I mean. Insert creativity here! I got the idea to top the stand with a large black and white print.. but even just printing out my own photo was in the $20 range! Ummm.. I'm trying to frugally update, so I'll pass on that. And then the new idea happened... first I started by creating my lovely quote. I've been wanting my house to feel more like "home", and what makes you feel more welcome than cuddles?! So I made an easy and simplistic design in Word, using the basic fonts provided. It took me maybe 5 minutes... I was excited. Then I sent it to my local Copy and Print center to be printed as an engineering print on 24"x36" paper. Ta-Da!! Easy peasy lemon squeezy! Take a look below. It's perfect for my quick and inexpensive fix. The best $2 I ever spent! Anyone who would like to use the print, here is the attachment. Enjoy!

The New Condo: Moving In

As you may have been able to guess from previous posts, I have recently moved! The beloved house is sold, a lease has been signed, and a new beginning has started! I feel so unbelievably comfortable and happy in the new place. I moved with next to nothing as far as belongings and possessions, and my entire life fit into a 5x5 storage unit with the exception of my poor, old sectional couch.... and you know what? I was thrilled by the simplicity in it!

But now that I have officially moved in, and like most women will say, every home can use a little "updating"... no matter how long you've been there. I cannot wait to jump head first into this small rental update that's beginning this week! I stayed in an interim apartment until the condo was ready for my arrival. Once I got the word, I hired a loading/unloading company to pack up my furniture and boxes for me, and away we went! I've officially had the keys to the new place for 10 days, and I am very excited to share these "before" photos of my somewhat empty nest. I cannot wait for the "after"... but I'm still waiting for a few items to come in the mail before I dive straight in  ♥ Hold tight everyone, it's going to get even better! For now... enjoy what we're working with so far!

My poor, sad excuse for a TV stand. So looking forward to making this first update! Also, hanging the picture frames without any pictures in it = not a genius idea, but it does make me feel like I'm moving forward in the right direction!

 I admittedly hung these curtains once I moved in, so I guess I have ot retract my statement of having not done anything to the new place yet. Thankfully the curtain rod was already installed and ready for some lovin'!

 

This small condo has the downstairs style of a "great room" where there is no separation between the dining and living areas. The poor Hemnes coffee table is slightly beat up as you can tell... but nothing I can't fix!

There you have it! I have everything moved in... and now we begin the updates! Check back soon to see where we're at with everything. Enjoy!

How To Style a Honda CBR... Like a Lady

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When I first started thinking about getting my motorcycle license, I figured it would end up being one of those things in my life that I always wanted, but never actually followed through with (unfortunately, I have a lot of things I want to do in my lifetime that I am afraid will fall into this category... I suppose it's better than not wanting to do anything in my life)

In October of 2013, after putting it off for almost a year, I decided to take the first step towards that goal and take my little booty on down to the mile long lines at the DMV and get my motorcycle permit. It was easy peasy. Take the written test, get a passing score, and boom, you're done! Next on the list was taking a qualified course for getting my license, and of course, I procrastinated. It wasn't until July 2014 that I finally signed up for the appropriate classes. I took the course for military members, families, DOD, etc. You can find all of the class information here. I took the class and successfully passed! .... and then I did next to nothing after that. I mean, really Kaitlynn?! You have your permit, you have your completion certificate from the state, and all you have to do is going into the DMV and pay your license fee and you're done. What is wrong with you woman?! Okay... moving on.

Needless to say, I ended up waiting and put my finally little duckies in a row. The Craigslist search began in March of 2015, and on the very first day, I found her. I scrolled past this pretty little photo of a 2006 Honda CBR600RR, that would soon be all mine....

I knew I liked the way Hondas handled after riding on others for so long. I had been riding on the back of one for about two years, and once I got my permit I used one for riding around the neighborhood while I worked on my clutch control and comfort level. With the help of our wonderful riding friends, I was able to "test ride" many different bikes in exchange for housing them in our garage. Suzuki, Ninja, Triumph... and I still liked Honda the best. It was the perfect fit for me. It just goes down to personal preference.


 

Complete with a steering stabilizer!

After about a month, I decided to give Rory (yes, she did get a name) a little bit of a makeover and "girl" her up a bit. I originally would have loved replacing the fairings, but at $500 a pop, noooo thanks!! WELCOME, EBAY! I quickly and easily found replacement decal stickers for her in hot pink for only $20, and matching 9mm wheel tape for a whopping $8 that was about to give my bike the perfect facelift that I was looking for (here's a similar tape to what I used with more colors available.) While I'm not the most patient person in the world, I did my best to quickly put the tape on when it came in (with some "perfect imperfections", as I like to call them). The most time consuming part was removing the old decals, but I quickly learned the trick is to heat them up with a hairdryer while you're trying to remove them, and then take some of this lovely goo gone to any remaining adhesive with a microfiber rag. The result was perfect! I am so happy with the outcome, and you can't really beat the price! A change for the better, or do you prefer the original look?

Featured Guest Post: Kelli Murray's Nursery Reveal

I am, and always have been, one of those people who get an idea of how they want something to look... and then search, search, and search some more to find the perfect pictures of exactly what I have in mind. I admit it... I am horrible about imagining how a revamp will turn out. Pinterest to the rescue!

I looked for weeks trying to find the perfect colors for the second bedroom in my new townhome, and most of the time I ended my hours of searching without any luck. Everything just seemed... I don't know... blah. Not what I was envisioning or hoping for... until....

KELLI MURRAY TO THE RESCUE! She had the perfect blog post, with a gorgeous nursery reveal. The colors were stunning, the décor was perfect, and the atmosphere was so inviting! What's even more, she included the tags and links to every. single. item. she posted about. What could be more perfect! It's no wonder as to why she is today's featured post... you can find her full blog post here.
Now. Without further ado.

RYLEE’S NURSERY ROOM

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Alas! The long awaited nursery photos!  Sorry these took me so long to post, but I FINALLY got around to editing them….3 months later!  Rylee’s nursery was certainly a labor of love for Sam and I.  This room used to be our “guest room”  which consisted of only a full size bed and bare white walls.  We never did get around to decorating it because we always knew it would one day be turned into this….our first nursery.  We live in a humble, 3 bedroom town home just minutes from the ocean in Encinitas.  We did not have a lot of square footage to work with when dreaming up Rylee’s room.  Working with a small space posed it’s challenges, but it also made it easier for me to piece together and coordinate.  We began by ripping out the carpet and installing wood floor, thanks to the handiwork of my husband!  He pretty much let me do whatever I wanted, without breaking the bank that is.  We painted the walls a very soft grey (Glidden’s “Smooth Stone”), removed the closet for more space, and installed white baseboard to match the ceiling.  Those changes alone opened up and transformed the room and really allowed me to get a vision for what I wanted to create.

I have always had this obsession with peach (not really a TRUE peach, more of a muted peachy pink color).  I used it in my wedding and when I found out I was having a baby girl, I was selfishly excited (for many reasons) but also because I knew I could use this color in her nursery.  My idea for the room was to create a calming dreamy space….infused with vintage finds, sweet little animals, and handmade details. I stuck with a very soft color palate of ivory, grey, taupe, and peach.  The reason we decided grey for the walls was in case our next baby is a boy and we are still living in this home (which I imagine we will be)  In that case, I will have to split the tiny room half in ships (this wallpaper please), half in bunny rabbits….because I certainly don’t plan on giving up my office!  Haha…I am only kidding, but these are the things I think about!!  Anyway, I digress.  If you know me at all, you know I am an ETSY fiend.  And  the details in this room are almost entirely products of Etsy.  While I was pregnant, I was on there nearly every day searching high and low for the perfect little accessories to add to this room.  Can you say obsessed? Yes, I admit I undoubtedly was.  There are links below to where you can find almost everything you see.

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THE CRIB

 When I first started thinking about the nursery, I thought the big portion of my budget would be spent on the crib and changer.  I loved the look of the vintage inspired iron cribs but also liked the clean lines and simplicity of the more modern cribs like the Oeuf Sparrow.  Problem was that I couldn’t afford the asking price on most of the styles I liked. I was pretty torn on what to buy, until I spotted THIS crib on craigslist for $25.00!! Yes, I wrote that correctly.  It was love at first site!  I called the guy immediately and picked it up that same day.  Apparently it was one of those “storage wars” stories where the guy bought out a repossessed storage unit and re-sold all the things inside.   This crib was last to go and he did not see the value in it (lucky for me!!)  It was perfect!!! Sam reinforced the bolts, repainted it, and sanded the edges to still give it that vintage distressed look.  It’s dimensions are a little smaller than your standard crib size, so I had to order a custom sized mattress to fit.  A little price to pay in the grand scheme of things.  With the money I saved on the crib, I was able to order my dream crib bedding, the Matteo Tat Crib Set in greige.

For Rylee’s Shower,  my mom bought a few of these POM’S to add as decoration for the party.  I loved them so much I wanted to re-use some of them somehow in her nursery.  I decided to create a sort of paper cloud above her crib.  I didn’t have all the colors I wanted, so I looked up a tutorial on how to create them (I watched THIS ONE) and made a few of my own using my colors of choice.  It was easier than I thought…just a little time consuming.  I tacked them to the ceiling using clear thread and pushpins.  And although flag buntings are widely over used in baby rooms these days, I can’t help but still love them.  I would put buntings all over my house if I could.  I found the perfect quilt bunting at etsy shop Pieces of Olde.  Above it I hung a custom made crocheted garland with Rylee’s name on it….which I got from Re Rae’s Shop.  The large wooden letter “R”  hanging above the small dresser is from Grace Graffiti.  And that small dresser you see was on clearance at Home Goods!  It was an awful pea green color that we just sanded down and refinished using the same paint that we used on the crib.  It’s perfect to store Rylee’s hats and headbands, socks, tights and pajamas.

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THE CHANGER

After the crib purchase I totally re-thought my plan for the room.  Since my crib was vintage, I also wanted some sort of antique changing table (or dresser turned changing table that is).  After scouring again on craigslist and finding nothing, we headed down to the Ocean Beach Antique District.  It was a fun day of sifting through old garb, but it wasn’t until our last stop at Vignette’s Antiques that I found the piece I was looking for.  It’s french styling, rounded legs, and scalloped bottom matched perfectly to other mini dresser I bought at Home Goods.  I measured the height and to my surprise it was 40″, pretty standard to most changing tables on the market.  And bonus, the price was right. Done deal.  Again, we repainted  the original soft pink color to the same ivory that we used on the crib and accent dresser, and swapped out the hardware.  All my major furniture pieces were bought at under $250!!  That never happens!

The peach cloud  mobile I found at The Butter Flying.  It’s one of my favorite pieces in the nursery.

The Sleep Sheep is from Pottery Barn.  (what a life saver that thing is!)

The white floor lamp was another repainted steal from Home Goods.

And the “Mama Bear. Baby Bear ” painting is one of my own.  Soon to be available as a print in my shop!

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THE DECOR

I’ve been collecting these embroidery hoops over the last two years.  I never was quite sure what I wanted to do with them….until Rylee’s room came to be.  There is something child like and playful with all of them displayed in a cluster.   After I delivered Rylee, I ordered a special mini one from  a.e wilder with her birth date of August 19th stamped on. I added the little fawn clock from DECOYLAB to the mix too.  I always knew I wanted to use one of their many animal clocks for her room….and when I saw they came out with the fawn…I was sold!  Underneath the  embroidery hoops I hung Rylee’s favorite jumper (sorry, MY favorite jumper from Janie & Jack!) on a padded baby hanger I got from Out of the Closet Hangers.

Other hoops were purchased from :  pilli pilli / love, maude / you are with me / Lee Lee’s Closet

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THE ROCKER

Ok….the splurge.  This was it.  I spotted this beauty on pinterest one day and tracked down the model:  Nurseryworks Empire Rocker.  It is aaaamazing, and probably my best investment.  Many nights have been spent rocking baby (and mom) to sleep on this thing.  The peach butterflies coming out from the window on the wall were from etsy shop Bug’s Loft.  And the burlap foot stool was a local vintage find.  I was convinced by a few people to buy blackout curtains versus regular (for obvious reasons). The grey blackout curtains I decided on were from Overstock.  They matched pretty well with the doily rug I got from Anthro.  Thank you Bam for so kindly displaying it for us below.  Haha.  I love that guy.

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THE WARDROBE

Last but not least!  A girl needs a space for clothes!  Since we ripped out the closet (which now houses the crib) we needed to figure out how we were going to store and hang her clothes.  I didn’t need a lot of space since her clothes are so tiny….but I did need SOMETHING.  There was an awkward notch in the wall that served purpose when there once was a closet there….but now that that was gone, it just looked like a room divider that was not meant to be there. In comes smart husband with a brilliant idea.  He took that nook and built a mini closet.  Installing two bars for hanging, and three shelves for storage.  It’s pretty hidden from the rest of the room, so I didn’t think it was necessary to have some sort of drape to hide it.  In fact, I kind of liked the idea of leaving it open and hanging her cutest dresses and blouses there.  (I had already started quite the collection!)  The rest of the clothes I wanted “hidden”, I just put in her dresser.  I bought some cute wicker baskets for the bottom shelves that I use to store miscellaneous baby stuff that accumulates.  I realize now that there is a lot of that!

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 Ok…there you have it!  Hopefully I haven’t missed any “where to buy” links.  If I did, feel free to email me!  I like to think that Rylee loves her room.  But let’s be honest, it really was just more for me to love….right now at least.  Maybe one day she will see it and appreciate it as I do.  Sigh…one day!  Right now, she really just loves her bunny, and that’s ok by me.

Nursery photos by Sarah Shreves

Gearing Up For Winter: Chunky Cable Knit Beanies

Have you ever shopped for a bargain only to end up thinking this has to be too good to be true?! That's exactly how I felt when I found this $9.99 and free shipping beanie off Amazon!

Now, I'm not going to lie... I'm not much of a beanie or hat connoisseur. I tend to have this issue when I wear it toward the front of my head, I look like my head is the shape of a toe. So I try and do the "trendy" thing where you push the little sucker toward the back of your dome, only to feel like I need to keep adjusting it every 3.8 seconds because the dang thing is going to fall off my head. IT'S SO OBNOXIOUS! (Anyone else have that problem?? Anyone?? Ohhh... no one? And I bet you all are "those ladies" that have perfect hair even when there is a thunderstorm outside, right? Ugh... I wish!)

Viktoria and me in Big Bear wearing the Charcoal color

With the cheap price and so many colors available, I figured hey, what the heck, just give it one last shot. Well, I was pleasantly surprised... I love this beanie! I literally wore it almost every day last winter during our weekly ice skating trips, spending the weekend at Big Bear Mountain, and basically whenever I felt it was chilly enough even in San Diego to whip this bad boy out! It has held up wonderfully and was the perfect thickness for our late, cold nights around the holidays. The fit was great, so after wearing my charcoal color beanie for weeks on end, I also ended up buying it in purple, black, burgundy, light rose, and taupe (That doesn't sound addicted, right?)

I let my old roomie wear it one day after she had been admiring it, and the next week she had ordered 2 for herself! Just as a heads up.... it's not SUPER slouchy like the title suggests, but more of just a comfortable fit that's a little loose and not like most compression-feeling beanies. Is anyone else out there ready for winter to come back?? I think I might need to get myself a few more colors... that's acceptable, right? I think I might need the copper color...oh and the ivory one! And maybe the mint one? Oh man, this is going to be trouble! Check them out for yourself! And as a word of advice, go by the color description rather than the pictures. We all now computers distort colors. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Love Your Skin: Botanics Conditioning Clay Mask

I am excited to be writing this first fashionista post. I have so many reviews and favorites that I want to begin writing about, so I am going to start with the most basic one. Introducing to you all... Botanics Conditioning Clay Mask! 

Let me start by saying I have extremely sensitive skin.... and when I say extremely sensitive, I mean that if I even so much as look at my face in the mirror for too long it will probably turn lobster red and break out into so much acne that I'll look like the moon. I have been on a hunt to find a mask that would help my poor skin, or at the very least, not irritate it. I happened to be browsing in Target one day (if any of you other ladies have been "browsing" in Target, I am sure you will agree that it turns into a two hour mini shopping spree), and I came across this lovely little tube of a forest green goodness. Of course, as any young woman would do, I had to put it on as soon as I got home. Word to the wise, read the instructions. I assumed that like most facial masks, I needed to wet down my face first. Wrong! There is water added to the clay which keeps it moist while inside the tube, so unless you wanna mop up the wasted luxurious clay-awesomeness, I suggest you steer clear from the extra water works.

After adding it to my poor, broken out skin, it began to dry within minutes. After twenty minutes or so, I took some water and wiped off the now light green dried clay. My skin was so silky soft, I couldn't believe it! It didn't dry it out at all, but seemed to rather smooth out the top layer. I've been using this mask now about once or twice a week for a few months now, and definitely recommend it. While it hasn't transformed my skin into smooth glass (if only, right?) it hasn't made me break out either. So if for nothing else, this beauty is good for a girls night of self-pampering! I've also heard that it works twice as well if you pair it with a glass of red wine and some nail polish... but that's still to be tested :) Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

The Old House: A Small Update to Remember

It's flashback Friday, and I am sad to say that the old house is no more... but I found this old post from my past blog and had to share it. With the sadness of selling this house comes a new and fresh beginning in my new home, which I can't wait to start posting about! But... seeing as how it's only been about 5 days here, it may take me a while. But for now, enjoy this blast from the past!

I love to change things around in our home. Maybe move some furniture here, change some paintings there. Nothing too crazy, but just enough to change the feel of a space and give me a warm little ball of happiness to hold onto. I would love to go nuts and get all new furniture, new artwork, change our awful tiling that I hate to beautiful mahogany hardwood floors, and so on. But lets be honest... we live in San Diego, where she sucks your paychecks dry in gasoline and mortgages. Large remodels are not in the cards at the moment. That being said, I went on a hunt for little things I could do around the house to make it more of a home, instead of just a house we're dwelling in for the time being. The pictures don't even begin to do it justice, but I am so happy with the little changes I've made so far.

The first thing, and I mean literally the first thing, we did when we got the keys to the house was painting the walls. Painting was a nightmare, especially with our slanted ceilings, but thankfully I put the guys to work and it was done fairly quickly with a few mishaps here and there. The color is a beautiful rich grey from the Behr paint line called Grey Squirrel.

I apologize for all of the weird lightening in the pictures. It was taken before we had installed the recessed lights and ceiling fans in the living room, so all we were working with was our entryway light. Yes, I know... we basically were living in a dungeon. So, onto the small details. The first purchase I made was the Hemnes coffee table from Ikea in black-brown and the beige rug which it sits on. When we first moved in, we had the matching ottoman to our couch in the living room, but it was extremely large and bulky for our long, narrow living room. I knew I wanted a coffee table, as well as a rug to keep some warmth on our toes from our freezing, completely tiled house (don't get me started on that...) Since our sectional is brown and our floors are 2 different shades of a dark grey, I knew I wanted some extra large couch pillows to take away from the eye-sore. I bought these pillow covers off of Amazon.com (and for only $12!! The other ones I wanted on Etsy were almost $60 EACH!) and filled them with the 26" pillow inserts sold at Ikea. That alone made a huge difference!Am I the only one who loves to snuggle up and make my own little fort of comfort in giant pillows?! If you haven't tried it... DO IT!

Okay, before you comment on my oddly misplaced deer head on the mantle, you should know that they are no longer hung there. There sole purpose was to pick at my sister since she kept telling me how awful it looked, and me, being the stubborn sister that I am, had to leave it there for all of the photos I sent her. For a quick recap of what we were working with, here is a picture of the living room in the past before we moved in,

I'll miss you always, old house... just remember, you were my first home, but now it's time for greener pastures and new updates. My handle on decorating back then... not so great. I can't wait to show you how things are so much different now!