A Little Update

Hello!  I'm still here... but with much less free time to sit at my computer.  Life is good and full.  We're definitely in a season of transition, figuring out new schedules, new routines and new rules.  Life is never boring.  Everytime I feel like I have things figured out a little, God shakes things up. 

One thing that I love doing with each of our kiddos is to document their first year with professional photos.  It's my feeble attempt to soak up and capture this precious first year.  If I could only bottle it all up!

Starr from Starr Photography took our photos this year.  She was so great to work with and really wanted to capture the shots that were important to us.  She captured wonderful baby shots as well as great shots of the other kiddos.  Not easy... they're fast!  Check out Starr if you're looking for a great photographer in the Seattle area.

Not sure when I'll be back into a regular groove with this blogging thing.  In the meantime, hope you're enjoying your summer!

He's here!

Hello!  Just a quick post to introduce quattro... Brennan Joshua arrived in a quick hurry on Sunday.  Things are crazy, but oh so good. 

Will be back soon.  :)

Cookbook Giveaway Winner Is...

          Cooking Mama said...

I have tried her best chocolate chip cookie recipe, and it is scrumptious! I would love a copy of this cookbook! :)

June 6, 2012 9:00 PM

 Please contact me Cooking Mama for details.  

Congrats & Enjoy!

...........................................................................................

This has been quite a week!  It's been a while since I've posted every single day!  Needlesstosday, nesting provides great blogging material!  I'm at 38 weeks now and so far, quattro is still sitting pretty high and is feeling pretty cozy.  We'll see what happens next week.  :)

So this may be my last post for awhile...

Enjoy the beginning of your summer everyone and I'll be sure to write again soon.  :)

Container Gardening... Keep it Simple

Last week, my mom helped me spruce up our 2 pots by our front door.  I've let go of most of our gardening and weeding this season, but I just had to get these fixed up.  I couldn't let people come to our house and be greeted by 2 pots of dead rosemary bushes!  :P

So here they are... new and improved.  I kept things simple this year and love how they turned out.  For the first time, I just stuck to one accent color, purple.  One of the things I've been learning about gardening the last few years is to resist the temptation to buy one or 2 of everything and start plomping down everything single flower that I like.  (But there's so much that I like!)  It makes for a scattered, uncohesive look.  I've tried to limit my plants to whites and purples.  It makes it slightly easier to shop and it really does make a garden feel put together when there's a common color or 2 to tie everything together.

Here's one of my purple beauties in the garden, my clematis.  For some reason, she just loves this spot next to the fence!  I also have lots of lavender and my alliums just finished blooming.

I'm always looking for one large plant that will anchor my pots.  I can save money by just changing out seasonal annuals.  This year, I'm trying out 2 jasmines.  They have an incredible fragrance and I'm hoping they'll stay with me through the winter and will work for many seasons.  I've also kept things simple with traditional pansies, petunias, snap dragons and no container is complete (in my humble opinion) without some gorgeous, bright green sweet potato vine cascading down the side.

Hope this helps you go to the nursery with a little more focus and confidence in building your own beautiful, summer containers!

Lastly, today's the last day to enter the Savory Sweet Life Cookbook Giveaway!  I'm so proud of Alice and excited to be part of her book launch this week!

TO ENTER TO WIN:

1. Be a US resident

2. Just go to Facebook and like Savory Sweet Life's Facebook page.

3. Post a comment to my original post here, about a recipe you've tried or would love to try.

I've heard from some people that they've had trouble leaving comments.  So if you're having trouble,go ahead and send me a comment to picketfencedesign@gmail.com and I'll happily include you in the giveaway!

One lucky winner will be drawn on Friday!

 

The Nursery - Behind the Scenes

Here are some behind the scenes pictures of our nursery.  Hopefully you can see how easily things can be transformed with just paint, glue, tape and paper.  No special skills or tools required!  Just some confidence and courage to go for it!

First... the side table:

Now the dresser...

Lastly...  free art!

Just framed 2 pieces of left over paper. 

download this free printable here

Sources:

Crib/Dresser:  Given to us by friends

Crib bedding:  Pottery Barn Kids



Chair/Side Table/Tray:  IKEA
Rug:  Urban Outfitters
Pillows:  Pottery Barn
Paper used for poms, pennants, table:  Paper Source, Impress Rubber Stamps, Packaging Specialties
Lamp:  Target

Paints:
Benjamin Moore Robins Nest
Rustoleum Gloss Sun Yellow

Our Little, Happy Nursery

I've been in major nesting mode this past week and I'm so happy to share with you the fruits of our hardwork and hubby's willingness to hang pics and move furniture.  :)

Our nursery for "quattro" is simply the otherside of our master bedroom.  Ironically, we've never had an official nursery or baby room for any of our kids.  We were either moving shortly after a baby or just moved so we never got around to it.  AND... we love having our babies close to us, so it was never a necessity.  So, this is the closest I've ever gotten to full on decorating a nursery.  So fun!

One of the things I'm most proud of is that I hardly spent any money putting this side of the room together.  All in all... the most I spent was maybe $5 getting paper to make our little pennants!  Really! I'll explain more in the pics below.

Isn't this before photo scary?  The side of the room really fell apart.  It really became a catch-all for all sorts of stuff. 

These pom poms were the first pieces of "decor" I had for the space.  These were up at my baby shower and my friend graciously let me use them for our nursery.  This was the jumping off point for the color palette.

Next, I moved these two pinboards from my office area.  I originally bought the frames for a few dollars at Goodwill.  I already painted them yellow and I knew it they would work perfectly.  I bought just a few pieces of scrapbook paper and twine for the pennants. 

This lamp and tray were also moved from my office.  Here's the back story on the lamp.

My "runner" is just left over fabric from the drapery panels in our loft. 

* sometimes it pays to hold to everything!  :)

The last piece I have on this dresser is a vase containing sweet notes written by friends at the baby shower.  So meaningful and simple.

This dresser is was the biggest diy project and even this was super easy.  I put out a call for a dresser that someone might be wanting to get rid of.  A friend came through and after just one night of painting, this little one has found a perfect home in our nursery.  Nothing was bought.  I used leftover paint from my daughters room and used the same yellow spray paint from the frames for the knobs!

On the other side of the crib, I have a rocking chair and a lil' side table.  Both the chair and the table have been shoved into other rooms, just hoping to find a home one day.  They've been cleaned up and look great together. 

The green and yellow pillow are from our family room.  I simply wrapped a piece of leftover fabric around the yellow pillow and the cross-stiched pillow is mine, made for me by my grandmother when I was a baby.

There you have it!  I love this new space and especially the colors.  It feels calming and happy and is a joy to look at from our bed.  I finally feel like we're ready for quattro!

 

I'll be posting some behind the scenes photos tomorrow and list out the sources for furniture, artwork and accessories. 

Savor the Sweet Life - A GIVEAWAY

I'm so proud and excited to be offering a giveaway of Alice Currah's first book, Savory Sweet Life:  100 Simply Delicious Recipes for Every Family Occassion!  It hits stores on Tuesday, June 5th!  Alice has been writing her food blog, savorysweetlife.com, for a few years now and it's been incredible to see the adventure her blog has taken her on.  I can only imagine the joy that comes with being able to use your talents and actually publish a real book! Amazing!

What I find most inspiring about Alice's story is that she is simply being herself and using the unique gifts and talents that God has given her, to touch, inspire and bring so many people together. I know Alice through mutual friends and its her story that actually opened my own eyes to the possibility of tuning in to my own gifts and figuring out how I can use it to bless others. 

Speaking of gifts... God did not give me cooking as one of them.  So I've often referred back to savorysweetlife.com for tried and true and oh so doable recipes.  No joke... each of them have been a hit!  I can't wait to get my hands on my own copy of Alice's book, as she's taken incredibly, beautiful pictures of each recipe ( a woman of many talents) and has arranged them by occassion.  This is more than a cookbook, Alice uses food to celebrate all the little moments in life... and I'm all for that... elevating the everyday!

TO ENTER TO WIN:

1.  Be a US resident

2.  Go to Facebook and like Savory Sweet Life's Facebook page.

3.  Post a comment here about a recipe you've tried or would love to try.

I'll randomly pick a winner on Friday, June 8th.  This should be fun!  GOOD LUCK!

PS... tune in tomorrow... we got our nursery done this weekend and I'll be posting pics! 

 

A Sweet Shower

A few weeks ago, some dear friends and family graciously hosted a small and sweet baby shower for "quattro", as we're calling him.  It was a sweet, sweet time of fellowship and lots of laughter.  The theme was simple:  "nesting" in gray, yellow and white.  As you can see, you can never go wrong with pennants, pom poms, yellow chevrons and striped straws! 

We're heading into the final stretch now that I'm 36 weeks.  I've been trying to put together a little nursery area in our master bedroom and also revamped my work area.  Trying to photograph it is a whole other project!  Here's a small peek. 

I hope to post some more pictures next week, before I sign off for a short while. 
Tune in for a fun giveaway next week too!

Have a great weekend!

A Little Moment in Our Entry

Hello there!  Well, things are definitely slowing down around here.  I'm about 8 weeks out from meeting Baby #4 and needlesstosday, I'm not embarking on any decorating projects these days.  I can hardly get through the day without a nap lately!  Most of my nesting comes in the form of cleaning or organizing as I know if I don't get to it now... who knows when I'll have the time!

For today, I thought I'd share some pictures of our entry way console table.  In my opinion, entry ways are one of the most important areas in a home.  I can't tell you how many times I pass by this table each day and it's such a great place to create a special little moment of items you truly treasure and make you smile.  Remember... elevate the everyday!

This first photo is kind of a "before" photo.  Not a bad arrangement, lots of things that make me smile.  My lovely gourd lamp, my favorite houseplant - maidenhair ferns, a painting by my grandmother that we used for our wedding, and a pair of Foo dogs given to us as a wedding present. 

Here's how it looks right now.

Just removed the fern and added a few family photos.

I love the runner I added.  It gives the table a little more depth.  I love Dwellstudio, but can't afford most of their items.  This "runner" is just 2 napkins (on sale) that I folded in half and place side by side. 

I also love my little ikat bowl from Anthropologie. 

Kind of bummed I didn't buy more as they are now discontinued.  :(

So, not a huge deal.  Just thought I'd share a little moment from our entry.  When the rest of the house is a complete mess, this is a nice place for me to find some peace... if just for a moment.  :) 

How are you capturing the little nooks in your home?  Does it make you smile or make you cringe?  Here's a little article from Lonny with some great tips for styling an entry way table!

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Oh and by the way... if anyone is curious.  I had a great time being in a flash mob 2 weeks ago!  It was so much fun.  What I loved about is that it brought so many people together!  About 800!  It was not about any one individual, but a group of people doing something that brings them joy and hopefully the "audience" too.  I loved doing it and disappearing into the sunset.  They called us... dancing ninjas... now you see us, now you don't.  :) 

Click here to watch the youtube video.  I'm at 5:03 and 5:40, for a split second!