A Vintage and Rustic Fall Mantel

I know it's a little early but these 90-some degree days that we've been having lately have me craving that cool, crisp fall air. Fall is my favorite hands down!! Now that the kiddos are back in school and the Labor Day summer festivities are behind us I think summer is pretty much done... even if fall doesn't officially arrive for a little while longer. In celebration of the 70 degree weather to come I wanted to go ahead and start my fall decorating. I was going for vintage and a bit rustic and I'm super excited with how the mantel has "fall"-en together! I hope it gives you some inspiration for your own fall decorating!! Let me know what you think or share your own fall mantel thru the link-up below!!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Our Tree: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Just wanted to share our tree this year! I actually only used about a third of our ornaments this time...selecting only the individual ornaments I've picked up over the years. Our boxes of ball ornaments have slowly been removed over the last few years and I think this year only one boxed set made it onto the tree. Also, in an effort to make it more personalized I printed b&w images of our family onto cardstock and hung them with twine. Super easy and one of my favorite parts of the tree. I also made a no-sew ruffle tree skirt courtesy of Miss Mustard Seed. My garland is simply twine adorned with strips of fabric I tied on...leftovers from my tree skirt :) Then I randomly placed little bird's nests and feathers throughout the tree..and you can see my little handmade felt pinecone ornament too. I'm loving it! I still have plans for more handmade ornaments and a wreath to place on the shutters over my mantel. Pinterest has really gotten me into a mood to create this season!! Hope you like my tree! Would love to see yours too!

Switcheroo: Kids Rooms Before & After (part 2-the GIRLS room)

Yes...it is finally finished. The girls room, that is. It was actually pretty much complete the same time Hayden's room was finished but I had to work on a few projects and wait on the delivery of one of the items in their room. Thank you for being patient. I hope it was worth it. I definitely think so. Enjoy the tour!

This is what the room used to look like when it was Hayden's...

This is what you see as you enter the room! Isn't it sweet?! I decided to paint the walls gray and went with Sherwin Williams Repose Gray. I just love how the colors pop against it! The beds were a steal! They look like Pottery Barn don't they? But no...we bought them at Costco for $399 for the set! They are solid too! I hope I never have to move them. They can be bunk-beds as well but I prefer to have both girls low to the ground! It's safer that way, lol!

Since the girls love to read I knew it was important that they had a space where they could easily access their books. I actually found this little bookshelf in a junk pile on the curb while I was out running in my neighborhood last summer! I immediately ran home to get the car and load it up! Who would throw this cute thing away?! SCORE! The letters spelling "read" are from hobby lobby. They were gold so I spray painted them to match the room. I put the letter "r" in a little white frame with a piece of fabric inside. Super easy, super cute! The owl canvas is from Target..the big owl is Halle, the little one is Ella...they tell me that regularly. The beautiful aqua beanbag is handmade in Marrakesh, Morocco. These things are super duper expensive but I got mine online for a 1/4 of the price from a boutique in the UK called Bohemia. (it was still a splurge though)

One of my favorite parts of the girls' room is their pink retro kitchen from KidKraft. It looks a lot like the popular Pottery Barn Kids version but the price tag is MUCH less! I bought theirs 3 years ago (pre-Ella) at my local Costco and only paid $149 for both the stove/oven and the refrigerator. They play with it every single day. It's one of the best investments in a toy we've ever made. I plan to keep it for their children...if it lasts. The wall art above the kitchen is simply fabric that I cut and framed. In one of the frames I put a photo of the girls and matted it with coordinating fabric. Super cheap project. I had these frames laying around and spray painted the ones that weren't already white. The "towel" hanging under the sink is just a burpcloth I made when Ella was a baby...yes, I saved them!
 

 

 

                                                                                 Ella's bed

                           Halle's bed

The bedding is from Pottery Barn Kids but I bought both sets together on ebay for $150. I can guarantee you it cost more than that in the store! The rosette pillows are from Target, $10 each. The lamb you see on Ella's bed is actually a Sleep Sheep. She has to have it set next to her pillow every night and turned on to rain or ocean sounds! I got mine free for reviewing it but they are available in most retailers.

 

Here is another shot of the frame project I shared with you in a previous post. It was so simple to make. The dresser was mine as a child and I gave it a makeover. You can read more about that here.

My own newborn sweater. My kids can't believe that I used to be that tiny!

These little vintage planters are part of a collection I put together about 5 or 6 years ago after seeing an article in Martha Stewart baby magazine. They came from ebay and local antique stores. They look great in kids rooms or nurseries. They can also hold things like Q-tips and cotton balls. I decided on a few silk flowers that I pulled out of Halle's wonderland tea party arrangement. The yellow clock is a Hobby Lobby find that I spray painted (it was black) and distressed  

  These darling little sock dollies are handmade out of vintage findings and are available for sale here  

  So glad my mom saved these little shoes of mine. They are the perfect addition to this little place on the girls' dresser.  

  I made this cute little garland after bumping into the Nester at the cutting table in my local fabric shop a few years ago. At the time I didn't know who she was but we talked about our projects and exchanged information. Back then she was still making and selling garlands like this and I was so inspired I had to make one for the girls' room. It's perfect for hanging little mementos and cherished photographs! Maybe I'll make more one day.  

 

 
These little vintage spice jars were etsy finds that I spruced up to include in the decor at Halle's wonderland tea party. I thought they deserved a spot in the room.  

  They have a spot to park their strollers and a place to hang their aprons when not in use. I made these aprons along with several other designs back when I was sewing regularly a few years ago. One of these days I hope to get back into it. If your interested I still have a couple aprons available here.  

 

 
We read these books daily! Ella loves the Very Hungry Caterpillar so much that she carries it around with her and I HAVE to read it to her before every nap-time and bed-time! It's just understood. I know to grab it before going to tuck her in. We're even having a Very Hungry Caterpillar themed birthday party when she turns 3 next month!  

  The girls absolutely LOVE their new space! I'm pretty crazy about it too. I hope you enjoyed the tour. I'd love to hear what you think! Happy wednesday!  

 

Pottery Barn Look 4 Less

I LOVE Pottery Barn. I don't love their prices. I do love when I can find a similar look for less. I've been wanting to buy a storage unit to house things like dvds, video games, toys, etc that looks great but is also functional. The Pottery Barn units are stylish but the price is out of my budget so I was excited to stumble on this great find today in my local Christmas Tree Shop. Don't let the name fool you...this is not your typical holiday market. The first time I walked in I was expecting to find, well, Christmas Trees (our store opened during the holiday season). I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a whole lot more than that. It's more of a discounted housewares store. You can find everything in there...linens, wall decor, furniture, kitchen gadgets & dishes, tchotchkes, anything and everything for your home...and at great prices. The unit I bought caught my eye immediately b/c of it's uncanny Pottery Barn feel. The price shocked me even more (considering it's very sturdy and not rickety at all). Originally priced at $130 it was marked half off to $65. I'll take it! And to sweeten the deal we asked if they'd take $50 for it (never hurts to ask right?!). Manager replied "How about $51.98?"....ummm ok! (totally random number but we were thrilled!). To compare I pulled up a Pottery Barn bench unit with just 3 baskets that sells for $401. Larger units sell for much more! Check out the Christmas Tree Shop website to see if there is a location near you. And I have to add that the stuff in the store is so much cooler that what you see online.

Switcheroo: Kids Rooms Before & After (part 1)

I've been putting of this project for a couple years now. When we moved into our current home we had one son and one daughter. Naturally, Hayden was given the larger bedroom since he was the oldest. Well, three months after we moved in we found out we were expecting our 3rd child, Ella. I knew the time would come that we'd have to make the dreaded room switch in order to give the two girls the larger space...it just makes sense for it to be that way. Hayden is now 8 and Halle has been sleeping in his spare bed ever since we moved Ella from our room into the "girls" room. She slept better alone and Halle loves being with her big brother. Hayden has never complained about sharing but with Ella approaching the age of 3 I knew it was time for the girls to be sharing a space full time. Soooo, we made the decision last week to "just do it". We found a great deal on some new beds for the girls and a steal on some luxury mattresses ($100 each for $2K and $3K mattresses at a high end going out of business sale!). When I get my mind set on a project I want it done yesterday so we dove in and I spent 2 afternoons painting and Todd added shelving to Hayden's old closet to accommodate 2 well-dressed little girls! Our home was a complete wreck for several days as we emptied the contents of their rooms and closets into our living spaces! I think I had a panic attack at one point. I am so thankful that it is done (mostly) and our home is back to normal. The kids LOVE their new spaces.

Today I'm sharing Hayden's new room. It's pretty similar to what he had before except for a few added accessories and a new paint color, Hinting Blue, from Sherwin Williams. This B&A shows the girls old room transformed into a cool boys room. I forgot to take a real "before" shot since it actually had Ella's toddler bed and some bookshelves instead of the mattresses and box springs you see. When we bought the new mattresses we went ahead and moved stuff out of their room so they could sleep on them a couple nights prior to beginning the project. You get the idea anyway.

View from the door. All of the wall accessories over the beds were found at Hobby Lobby! They have some cool stuff at great prices! I'm still not finished accessorizing but it may be a while before I get everything finished and I wanted to go ahead and share. I still need to hang his cute little fire truck shelf and add some more "fireman" themed items from the hubby's stash.  

Hayden's bed.

A spot for one of his friends to sleep (now that he no longer has to share with Halle). The little pillow in front was his naptime pillow I stitched up for him to use during rest time in Kindergarten.

I love these shadow boxes. With Todd being a firefighter he gets lots of these as gifts. That larger one was a gift from his last fire captain before Todd himself was promoted to captain.  

Not too much happening here. Still looking for the right accessories. These were just some things that he's always had on his dresser.
 

The fire dept badge on his teddy was a souvenir find from the Magic Kingdom fire dept gift shop in Disney World. Fits Teddy nicely!

Check back for the girls room reveal soon. It's still a work in progress. Happy weekend!