Headboard Inspiration

I mentioned awhile ago that I'm hoping to upholster a headboard and change up our bedroom a bit.  Spotted these two headboards on Alice Lane and loved them.  I have been going back and forth between wanting a faux leather headboard or a velvety/soft material.  I think I'll have to head to Home Fabrics and see what jumps out at me.  Once we finish up the kitchen, I'm definitely moving on to the bedroom!

Here's a great tufted leather option.

And a great mohair fabric with nailhead trim.  I'm loving this coral color right now!

This house is really beautifully done.  To see more of the house, click here.

Magic Milk Straws

I'm kind of in love with these milk straws and I have never even tried them.  As you sip through the magic straw, it turns your milk into one of 4 flavors: chocolate, strawberry, cookies and cream or vanilla.  Adam and I happen to LOVE milk.  I'm thinking these might make a fun little gift for his upcoming birthday.  And I'm even thinking about using these for Rilo's first birthday party!

{found/image via Oh Joy}

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Last night while putting Rilo to bed, I came with my final ideas for Rilo's first birthday party theme.  As the date gets closer, I'm sure I'll share more.  In addition to the milk straws, I was also thinking about getting some of these biodegradable straws.   I haven't quite figured out the color scheme just yet, but I think the red might be a good fit. 

Well, wish us luck this weekend.  By Monday I should have a whole new kitchen!!  We didn't have a chance to paint yet, but that will be a quick night project maybe for Monday or Tuesday.  Can't wait to share some progress pictures and hopefully a full reveal next week!

Pocket Calendar

Oh Blogger, I won't be sad to say goodbye to you in a few weeks, when my new blog launches.  Last night, Blogger was having some issue and would not even let me post, and I wasn't the only one!  Boo.

Anyway, I saw this adorable pocket calendar on Oh Hello Friend.  She is even offering to send you one, if you either send her a self-addressed stamped envelope or just pay $1.00 through PayPal.  I would love to have this to stick in my purse! 

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 I'm still on the hunt for a larger calendar for the new year, but I'm overwhelmed by all of the great options on Etsy.  There are so many beautiful ones to choose from. 

Felt Animal Headbands

Wouldn't these make the sweestest gift for those little animal lovers you know?  Stacy from Hart + Sew made these felt animal headbands for her little girl. 

I like to make a few handmade gifts each year.  Adam and I have a fun gift idea up our sleeves, if we can hurry and finish them for our nieces and nephews.  Are you making anything handmade this year?  We also have 2 Christmas related projects we should have finished to share next week!  Have a great weekend!

Sheena's Advent Calendar

Sheena whipped up a tutorial for an adorable envelope Advent calendar.  Who needs to buy one when there are so many easy DIY ones around?!  I already made my calendar, but I kind of want to make some envelopes just because they're so darn cute!

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Full tutorial here.

Inspired Co's Christmas Issue

I'm a firm believer in waiting until the day after Thanksgiving to start decorating and listening to Christmas music.  BUT, I have no qualms gathering lots of ideas and starting on some projects!  My sister-in-law Jamie sent me a link to Inspire Co.'s Christmas Issue.  It's an online flip-through magazine of the best Christmas ideas.  It's well over 100 pages of awesome holiday-ness!  You can check out the issue here (make sure to click on the image to view the full version).

I am in LOVE with these silhouette gift tags.

I now have about 5 more projects added to my growing list!  I can't believe the holiday season is just around the corner!

Bedroom Arrangement

I've been struggling to figure out how to rearrange our bedroom.  We only have one long wall (the other walls have a closet, windows, and sliding doors).  I had been toying with the idea of centering our bed and using our long dresser as a nightstand.  I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it until I saw a few pictures on Little Green Notebook.  I think it might work!

And here's the image that really helped convince me it could work...

{images via LGN}

I have to do some measuring because I have a few other furniture arrangement ideas in mind, but I really thinking I'm leaning towards something like the above pictures.

I'm also looking for a duvet cover to use during the winter months.  I love our Pottery Barn duvet but I like the idea of bringing it out in the spring since it's so bright and cheery.  I found this West Elm duvet on clearance and I think I'm going to order it.  At $49.99, it's a steal!  It's just plain white but I think some textured pillows and a nice throw could really winterize the bedding.

Busy weekend ahead but lots of fun mixed in!  Happy Friday!

Ikea Styling

Melanie (whose website just launched) reminded me of a Decor8 post featuring designer Lo Bjurulf's take on Ikea products.  The styling is just beautiful and I love how it displays Ikea products in a whole new way.

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Fifth & Hazel Design Tips

My dear friend Melanie is an amazing graphic designer.  She is getting ready to launch her website, full of the best cards, stationary and invitations that I promise you will love.  She brought over some of her stuff to check out and I couldn't put them down I loved them so much!  Melanie will also be sharing her wealth of graphic design knowledge on her blog.  She is starting out with some of the basics and will go into further detail on lots of different aspects of design.  I think one of the reasons Melanie and I get along well because we both happen to be design nerds.  You know I will be checking out her blog daily to catch up on her design tips!  I just love people who are so willing to share what they know!

Melanie has recently been working on the Altitude Design Summit site.  I mean, how much more design cred does she need?!

Helvetica T-shirts

I do love a good font and I love it even better when it's on a cute kids t-shirt.   American Apparel is carrying these alphabet shirts in the beloved font Helvetica.

 {image found via Design Mom}

 How fierce is this little girl in her gold spandex?

I promise you, there are good and bad fonts.  And some realllly bad fonts.  Poor font choice honestly makes me cringe.  This is a great post on Good Look Cookbook (and here is another one) if you are needing some help discerning between a good and bad font!  And you should probably spend the rest of your time on the blog because there are lots of great graphic design tips and tricks, plus tutorials and freebies.  Such a great resource!

Edit:  I just checked Design Sponge today and it looks like they are having a font day today!  Check it out here.

Good Design: Kids in Mind

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Have you been following the series "Good Design: Kids in Mind" over on 6th Street Design School? I've really loved reading the opinions of many talented design bloggers on tips and tricks for decorating with kids around.  This has especially been on my mind as Rilo is starting to crawl and pull herself up on things.  We have a lot of babyproofing to do around here!

Be sure to check all of the posts here.

Studio/Office

Caroline Armelle has been working on her studio/office and it is turning out absolutely gorgeous.  The aqua floors and the butterfly wallpaper are just perfect.  I'm not normally a fan of butterfly things, but this wallpaper is lovely.  Can't wait to see the finished product!

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Kenziepoo: Turn this room into an outfit

I love this regular feature over on Kenziepoo.  Each week she selects a gorgeous image of a room and then selects children's clothing that mimic the style, colors and feel of the room.  It doesn't help that she finds the most darling kids clothes.  Sometimes I wish I could get the outfits in my size.

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See more posts, with links to the clothing sources here.

Little Green Notebook

Am I the only one who thinks everything Jenny from Little Green Notebook does is perfection?  I love how she makes a room look designer but still lived in.  Her rooms are never overstyled.  And I love how she puts so many colors together that I would never think, but it just works.  Here are some pictures from her recent work at Joanna Goddard's house. 

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Check out more on Jenny's blog and even more on Joanna's blog (you must look at the nursery they collaborated on).

We're headed to downtown Chicago for a few hours this morning.  Today is my last day here!  Can't wait to be back in my house!  Happy Monday!

Celebrate Yellow

I reallly wish Google could get it together and fix the glitch that turns my scheduled blog posts back to drafts. Sorry for the late post!

Dana over at MADE is dedicating the next few weeks to all thing yellow.  Is it getting redundant to say I love yellow?  I pretty much wanted to re-post everything she's already posted because I love it all. 

I really love the way her chevron pillow looks, though I'd probably save myself the headache and buy the fabric already in the chevron pattern. Then again, I think the quilted look adds something extra.  And really, I still love this whole chevron thing and don't care that so does everyone else.  It just looks so fun!

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If you are also a lover of yellow, be sure to check her site daily for new yellow posts.

Hip Hip Hooray

I've been checking the kid's party blog Hip Hip Hooray for ideas for a future birthday, I may or may not already be planning!  Hey, only half a year left to think about what to do! 

How adorable are these inspiration boards for an "If You Give a Moose a Muffin" Party?

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Check out cute ideas for little kid parties here.

Design Star

Adam and I watched HGTV's Design Star during this whole season.  I've seen bits and pieces of other seasons, but this was the first time we watched it start to finish.  We were happy when Emily won...she was our pick from the beginning.  She is quirky and funny and has great style.  Plus her show was an interesting concept and one I know I will watch.  She has an eclectic style, which I really relate to.  I found her design blog and found these pictures of her living room.  I really like this space...The navy is perfect.

And here was one of her room's she designed for the show.  I loved this room.  I wish the picture was better quality because it really is a great space.

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Groupon

Do you get your Groupon on?  I just recently found out about the site, via some friends on Facebook.  Here's how it works: There is a deal a day in most of the larger cities in the US.  If you're interested, you enter your information to buy it.  Each deal has a minimum amount of buyers needed in order for you to get the Groupon.  From what I've observed, it's pretty rare that the minimum number is not met.  Once the number is hit, you get your Groupon!  I just scored a $50 gift certificate to Gap for $25!

The Gap Groupon was the first national deal that was offered in every city.  Generally they support local places...I like the concept of supporting businesses in the area by guaranteeing them a certain amount of sales, while also giving consumers  (read: me) an awesome deal. 

And with that, I'm off for the weekend.  We are busy getting ready for the big party.  I have some banners to create and about 100 cupcakes to make!  I can't wait to share next week!

Color Me Katie

Can't think of a better way to start out the week than going through old posts from Color Me Katie.  I love to look at her work.  Every time I visit her blog, I end up going through almost all of her posts all over again.  I think she is so insanely creative and every little project she does puts a smile on my face.  Plus, you can't go wrong watching any of her videos from Improv Everywhere.  Hilarious!

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To put a smile on your face, click here.

A Big Thank You...

...to Heather from The Cotorie and to Priscila from Little Miss Heirlooms for featuring my nursery on their blogs! I've used both of these sites for finding inspiration so I am extremely flattered!

Make sure to check out Little Miss Heirlooms. Pricila's blog is a great resource for anything baby/child. She features adorable rooms and products. I actually happened to be on her site at the very moment she contacted me about the feature!

And in case you're looking for some more inspiration, my other two favorite nursery/baby/child sites are OhDeeDoh and Spearmint Baby.

Oh, and I'm really thinking this weekend could be the weekend! I think we're getting somewhere today!