Tomorrow is the first day of school for Addie and Ian. Addie is starting Kindergarten, and to be honest, I can’t tell if I am completely freaked out, desperately sad or in complete denial that I have a child old enough for public school. But underneath all that, I am actually excited to see my baby moving up in the world.  But mostly  because she is really excited about moving up in the world. She’s been talking about it all summer, and has been losing sleep over what her teacher will look like, where her class will be and what friends she’ll meet. There has been the typical nervousness too, and so to make things extra special we decided to put on a fancy schmancy “Before School Dinner.” I got the idea from Nie Nie’s  blog post 2 years ago, and I thought it was such a great way to get everyone involved in the celebration of starting a new school year. And with Ian starting pre-school as well, it seemed the perfect timing.

So Saturday night I sat them down to help me plan.

Me: For your back to school dinner, Dad and I are going to make you your favorite dinner. You can pick whatever you want! What’ll it be?

I’m thinking they’ll pick like homemade pizza, chocolate cake or mac and cheese. Something they actually eat 100% of the time.

Ian: (without hesitation) Green eggs and ham!

Me: (wondering if I even could figure out how to make it) Are you sure? What about homemade meatballs, or hamburgers? Maybe fancy cut french fries?

Addie and Ian: Green eggs and Ham!!!!!

But then I got to thinking: That’s actually kind of a brilliant idea for a back to school dinner! You know, school really is about just learning to try new things, reading good books and have fun in the process. Perfect! A (very loosely) themed Dr. Suess dinner.

So, considering we put it together in about an hour, there wasn’t anything too elaborate here. But it was a lot of fun.

The kids came up with the menu for the most part. I added in this theme, which we’ll keep trying to memorize through the school year.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

Our kitchen is all very white at the moment…and nice clean slate for when I can start decorating…but this garland from Bonne Nouvelle gave just the perfect color splash.

But the real triumph, was the green eggs and ham. I know, I know. They look very…um….not pretty. But since when were green eggs and ham supposed to look appetizing? Ken made Mont Saint Michelle style eggs (think puffy omelette’s with German pancake flavor) and added green food coloring. And the ham was topped with a green brown-sugar glaze. They were delicious and to be perfectly honest, they were a hit.

And of course, there was real food for the adults. Fresh garden veggies….delicious.

We spent a bit of time letting them each tell the table what they were most excited about and what they thought they were going to learn this year. We even had an after dinner ball complete with capes and wooden stick horses for escorts. Letting the kids pick the party events was such a blast.

But all in all, it was the first of what will be a very fun tradition for the kids. It put me in the right mood too, considering that I’m most likely going to cry my way home from taking Addie to her first day. There is something about those “firsts” that is that interesting mix of wonderful and meloncholy. I guess that is where the word “sentimental” fits best.

We moved into our new house in April, but something about it being a major fixer-upper (like we’re talkin’ floor to ceiling fixer uppper) mixed with spending the year learning how to illustrate a picture book and getting used to life with 3 kids, has translated into a whole lot of non-decorating. Ugh. How I can’t wait to get my hands onto some vintage furniture to paint and some curtains to sew. We’re getting there. But in the mean time, I’ve been collecting things to help me get ready for when I have a few free hours (or dare I say it…an entire Saturday?) to get our place some personality of it’s own.

As much as I love dreaming up the Master bedroom and living room, the kid’s room always gets me most excited. Here’s some great finds I can’t wait to get my hands on:

New favorite maps from These are Things. Letterpress and Gorgeous!

My favorite designer, Rie Elise Larsen.  I love these hanging lamps. Too bad I don’t speak Danish.

Loving the pop of these pillows. Image here.

A nice way to enter a room.

Inspired by yellow.

It’s gonna be a while till I can buckle down and create some fun spaces. But I can’t help boiling ideas in my head!

Hope you all have plans for a fun weekend!

I am having my first ever ‘sleep-over’ with Addie. Complete with movie and ice cream in bed, but only after we paint our nails and have a dance party. This is the life I live for.

Here are some places to go that will make you smile, if you aren’t already happy on this happy friday.

• These images from Rolf Sachs called Alone in a Crowd. It makes me wonder what miniature stories are around if you just look up close.
• June Craft is making me happy (image shown above, from Bloesom Kids)
• This video really taps me back to my 5 year old self. Brilliant.
• Shintzi Katoh has new bags. Drooling.

• This set makes me wan to drop everything and play tea party.
• Great idea to turn the old milk carton into a stylish bird feeder
• Brilliant make-it-yourself merry-go-round book caddy.
• Our boy messenger bag has given us 2 years of fun.
• This cherry blossom craft project.

Enjoy your weekend!

We moved into our first home about 3 months ago. We have done hardly any decorating…mostly fixing up the place to make it livable (it was quite the fixer upper!) But the first things we did do were to establish the reading corners throughout the home. We read a lot.  And I realized just now as I am writing this that we have 6 designated reading spots in the house. I love that several times a day, I’ll find the kids reading in one of our book nooks. My office has large book case full of mostly children’s books, we have a library room (it’s really the living room with a wall to wall bookcases), the kids have bedside books, Ken and I have bedside books with books for the whole family, and we have a basement bookcase full of children’s books. That’s a lot of books! So that makes 5.

But the 6th place was added a few weeks ago when we purchased these picture frame shelves from IKEA and made a display book case. It was an interesting thing: For as many books we had through out the house, so many of the picture books that were crammed into bookcases just weren’t getting read unless I displayed them in baskets, or pulled them out for their reading piles.Think of it like browsing in the bookstore and not having any books on display, and only getting the spine to entice you to pull it down.

This bookcase has solved that problem! We rotate the books every other day or so, and the kids pull them down so much more often than before.

And besides that, it’s just pretty. It’s really like displaying art! Really good art at that!

There are so many ways to make display bookcases.

Here are some other ideas if IKEA isn’t available (although, I hear Target has the same kinda thing)

A MacGyvered bookcase from old wire and such.

These bookcases are actually a rain gutters, painted white and cut to size. Seen on Small Notebook Blog and Tiny Decor Blog and Satori Smiles.

Clever IKEA hack that keeps the books from falling off but still give the visual punch.

We have plans to do more….like make the closet next to the shelving into a reading cave complete with curtains and flashlights to make for a dark cozy reading spot …but more on that later.

So question: How have you made reading time fun at your house?

Yahoo! I have been so excited about this.

NEW IN THE SHOP!

Embroidery Patterns are coming….and we’re starting with the “Her Month By Month” set.

You can purchase a PDF Download or the Paper Copy here.

Have any favorite images from Sarah Jane you’d like to see as embroidery patterns? Comment below and let me know!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend….and just for fun….

I’ll be extending the SALE to Tuesday. Purchase $50 and get a free Sketchbook.

Enjoy!

Don’t you love how this print turned out over at 6th Street Design Studio? I love seeing how you all frame and display prints from the shop! She has great design ideas, and I can’t wait to see more of her little boys room! I’ve got to finish the book before I do any fun re-do’s in our new house….but I love these colors for a boys room.

The last time we met in the studio, we were repainting the walls and floor. You can see here what the studio looked like before. It wasn’t very lovely, and doesn’t show the grotesque carpet we removed. But since then, it’s a new place. We’ll start with the floor. Isn’t it so pretty?

So, for the art studio, we didn’t want carpet. And since we were needing to remove it anyways, we looked at other hard floor options (so much easier to clean than carpet with all the art making going on!). I love white floors, so we looked at this option and I dreamily considered this option. But they each came with a steep price tag ($350 for installed laminate and at least triple for hardwood) and with the cement floor underneath (this room is in the basement) we thought, “Why not just paint the cement floors white?” So we did. And I am in love…..with my floors AND my husband since he did all the work. And it cost so much less (money, not time that is!).

How to Paint a cement floor

MATERIALS:

1. To rip up existing floor, if there is one: crowbar, hammer, pliers, razor, etc.

2. To get the surface ready: Mop, rags, etching solution, concrete patch, trowel, sand paper, vacuum (shop vac, or good home vacuum with attachment pieces), oil remover (if necessary), concrete sealant and primer.

3. To paint: 1 part Epoxy paint, good synthetic paint brush, roller with a good long handle.

STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS:

1. Rip up the existing flooring. Make sure to be meticulous about removing all nails, staples, and remnants from the cement. There will most likely be damage when you remove anything nailed or stuck to the floor, but that can be fixed later. Better not to hurt the floor, but carpet glue and floor boards can be nasty to get up, and can do a bit of damage.

2. Clean up any stains from oil or glue. Oil stains will show through the paint, and will eventually cause damage. So get rid of any oil stains first, being careful to allow plenty of time to dry and treat. Here is a great link with options for cleaning up oil stains.

3. Scrape off any unwanted surface material. We had large amounts of carpet glue that we had to scrape and scrub. Give yourself plenty of time to take care of this! It’s super important if you want crisp and beautiful floors!

4. Fill any holes with concrete patch. Using a trowel, patch up any gouges or holes and allow time to dry. Sand down and refill if necessary to get your floor smooth and even.

5. Clean the floor with a vacuum and mop to remove all dust and dirt, and wipe up with a wet rag or mop. Allow plenty of time to dry (at least 24 hours). The floor has to be completely dry to paint. To check for any moisture, place a piece of plastic wrap on the floor, and weigh it down with something heavy. Let it sit overnight, and if there is any condensation on the plastic, you know you need more time. Give your room ventilation and a fan to speed up the process.

6.Tape off the floor by placing painters tape along the edges of the baseboards just where it meets the floor.

7.Treat the floor with an etching solution. This is possibly optional, but we read so many tutorials and never got a consistent answer about this step. The etching process treats the cement so that it can take the paint properly. We decided not to skip this step since we really didn’t want to be doing this floor over again. It’s not that hard. Just wipe the floor with the solution, and then make sure to wipe it up/vacuum it up according to the directions on the bottle. Allow time to dry.

8. Prime the surface of the concrete. We used this concrete primer and it worked great. Again, allow time to dry anywhere from 4-24 hours.

9. Paint the floor. This is the fun part! We used this paint with a white finish, but I suggest going to your local hardware store and finding what you need and talking with someone you can trust as you gather your materials. You can paint this just like you paint a wall: cutting the edges in first with a brush, and then rolling the paint on the main surfaces. Make sure to get a long handle to your roller, or you’ll break your back! We used a 1 part epoxy because we were told that a 2 part epoxy has really toxic fumes, and needed proper ventilation, which with one window and because it was in the basement, we went with the 1 part epoxy paint. The difference is in the sheen, and how hard the surface is. Allow 24 hours for it to dry between coats.

10. Repaint as many times as needed. We painted 3 coats, and it looks perfect!

11. We didn’t put a finish on the floor but I am told you can. We kept this a more matte finish with less sheen, but it cleans up really well! I love it!

Total Cost:$80

Concrete Patch: $10

Etch: $20

Primer: $25

Epoxy Sealer Paint $25

You can’t beat 80 bucks on brand-new mess free floors! But be warned: It look a lot of TIME. Each process needs plenty of time to dry. I think the whole process took about a week of evenings. My husband is the greatest…Let me tell you!

Stay tuned to see the walls and more….I am cranking through my illustrations so there is nothing on the walls yet. Decorating will have to wait a few more days.  But I am very much enjoying the space. White floors…..yummy.

The fact that we are moving to a house, a perminent dwelling, a place we won’t move from in less than a year, gives me the design bug. Bad. Like really bad. I lay awake at night designing the house, the studio, the kid’s rooms…I even have the halls figured out.

It’s a curse really….but I love it.

And I don’t even have the keys yet. Tomorrow, folks. Tomorrow I will be a home owner!

The big “decision” we are figuring out in our house right now, is who gets to sleep with whom and where. Addie and Ian have been together since infancy, and surprisingly want their own rooms in this new house. But, that leaves Ella having to sleep with a big kid, and I just don’t know if I am ready to have her disturbed by the nightly ritual of getting out of bed 32 times for urgent demands like “another story”, “bedtime snack” or “I’m scared of the dark” incidences. Truthfully, I don’t think they could sleep apart…they have grown up as twins really, and miss each other after 5 minutes of being separated. So….since we haven’t decided yet, I have been designing up a few alternatives.

This is what I have so far for a possible Boy/Girl or Gender Neutral Room. Addie is for sure a girly girl, and Ian is my 1960′s school boy. The colors match up just right, and I am loving the color going on.

Here’s the round up:

(Left to right)

1. Vintage Map

2. Favorite room from blog land here.

3. Anthropologie quilt I found on Craigslist ($40 thank you very much)

4. Room Seven Inspiration

5. Image here.

6. Le Balloon print available in the shop

7. Via kikiandpolly.com from Bloesom home tours here.

8. Le Petit Prince: a fav. book and design inspiration

9. Designs from Shinzi Katoh

10. Summer Tea Party Print available in the shop

11. Red chair found here.

I’m having a ball scouting out Craigslist, my local classifieds, and second hand stores. I’ll let you know if this is what we go for…or if we end up going with the girls room/boys room idea. Personally, they only have so much longer until they really won’t want to be together…I want to keep them together for as long as I can.

And so far, I’ve convinced them to stay together with this design:) I’m a tricky one, I am.

Off to the paint store….!

Christmas on a shoe-string: we’re on a budget this Christmas, as I am sure many people are. We are desperately trying to get into a house and I can’t think of a better reason to be “tight.” But we are still decorating and making Christmas things. Last week, we made this banner for oh, about .25 cents. But besides how easy it was to make, it is super functional and fun to double as an advent calendar. I cut out 25 triangles , strung them together with yarn, and stuck a sticky label on the back with a christmas task. Tonight, the task is “make wassail.” Tomorrow, it’s “Dance like snowflakes.” This is a wonderful month. And the ceiling is looking festive: and the simplicity is inspiring me to be even more frugal and grateful for what we do have this year. What are you doing for DIY decor?

…to announce it is time to go play in some leaves. Get up. Turn off the computer. Take off your shoes. Throw on your super hero cape (sure, why not) and run.

Play.

Jump.

Frolic.

Right now.

Somethings don’t last forever.

But I promise….you’ll love it.