Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Festival

This past weekend we attended the 18th annual Pumpkin Festival at the Kidspace Children's Museum in Pasadena.  A place near and dear to our hearts.  The kiddos had a blast!  They decorated mini pumpkins...

We made some friends feeding the animals at the petting zoo..

Enjoyed a couple lollies... (I paid for that later... nap time was a bit of a joke that afternoon due to a very intense sugar high!)

The little guy sat very still for his very own face painted pumpkin...

And they even got to take a close look at Pasadena's finest "Waaa-ooo Waaa-ooo" firetruck!

But the best part was that Grammy and Papa were able to beat "Sandy" and fly in a day early from Boston to give them some belated and much beloved birthday presents!  

Hope all my peeps on the East coast are staying safe and keeping busy with their kiddos.  Our thoughts and prayers are with you!

Renovation Update: Week 9

We're in the home stretch!  Week 9 of construction is underway.  The bathroom tile has been floated, set, grouted and sealed and looks fantastic - I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

I went with a bright white grout on the shower walls.  It looks so crisp and clean.

I originally saw this flooring in my friend Heather's master bathroom.  It looks like little polka-dots - so cute.  And since it's a traditional hexagon and dot tile the style fits with the period of the house.  The floor tile is carried through into the shower as well and helps give a small bathroom a more spacious feel.

We used a platinum color grout on the floor.  It's super light gray but dark enough to hide dirt.  Plus, it makes the little dots POP!  The previous owners of this house used white grout for the kitchen and downstairs bathroom floor tile.  Over time it gets so grimy and dirty - I mean it IS a floor.  Never the less, I will never use white grout on any floor.

We also met with the cabinet maker last week.  He's currently working on the closet cabinets, bathroom vanity, hamper unit and linen closet shelving.  Can't wait to see how those turn out!

On tap this week, the hardwood floor gets sanded, stained and finished!  And, most importantly, looking forward to a fun week filled with Halloween activities, costumes and CANDY!

Best Friends Forever

My BFF will be celebrating her birthday tomorrow!  No one on this universe can make me laugh like this girl can.  We grew up in the same neighborhood and have been side by side through just about every major life event - from learning how to ride bikes, boyfriend break-ups, high school graduation, our first apartment after college, engagements, weddings and twin pregnancies!  Can you believe we both have twins? Happy Birthday to the most amaze-balls, supportive and hilarious best friend a girl could ask for :)

Calling All Wine Corks

This great wine cork idea was floating around the Pinterest world last Spring.  We always save our wine corks and have used them in various ways - at our wedding for the seating card display, in candle hurricanes, cork boards and coasters to name a few.  I knew this project would take a while but would be so fun along the way (wink, wink)!

Kicking off this project was really quite simple.  Step one: Drink a bottle of wine (that's my kind of project!).  Step 2: Save your corks! After a several months we had quite an assorted collection of reds and whites... no judgement, please.

Step 3: Pick up some MDF board at your local Home Depot.  Using a pencil, trace out the letter of your desire.  Our last name begins with "S"... hence the "S".

Step 4: Conduct a small practice round to make sure your corks will look good within the size of your letter

Step 5: Using a jigsaw, carefully cut out your letter stencil.

Step 6: Begin glueing your corks onto the letter using a glue gun.  Tip: put the glue on the top side of the cork so the end stained with wine faces out.  The different shades of reds and pinks are so pretty.

Repeat Step 6 again and again and again...

OH MAN!!!  I ran out of corks!!!  Looks like we need to drink a few more bottles to finish the "S" - work... work... work......

I'm looking forward to hanging our "S" cork next to the bar in the living room.  If my calculations are correct, we need about 30 to 40 more corks.  Urrrmmm, that could take weeks months!  Stay tuned...  

Do any of you save your wine corks?  What creative things are you doing with them?

Update 10/31/12...

Choosing a Color Palette

It's almost that time to make a trip to the local True Value shop to pick out Benjamin Moore paints for the Master Bedroom, Master Bathroom and Hallway.   Designs Seeds is just about the coolest site ever for providing inspiration in choosing a color palette for a room or an entire house!  Here are some color schemes that caught my eye.

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This "Crashing Blues" palette is a strong contender.   I love the idea of using a crisp light gray in the hallway.  Should I (gulp!) consider doing a horizontal stripe?  The turquoise color is a beauty but might be too much for the walls in a bedroom.  A more "Spa"-esque (yes, I just made up a word) is more soothing and ideal for a place of rest.  I also love the idea of using some dramatic royal and navy blues in accent pieces or pillows as a pop of color in the bedroom.  The twins's room (which is on the second floor across from the master suite) is Benjamin Moore's "Sunrise".  Almost a perfect match with the gray/blue color on the far right.

Benjamin Moore Sunrise

There are varying opinions on this subject but I think the wall color in rooms that are adjacent should coordinate.  Nothing matchy, matchy but compliment each other.  

Here's another great palette called "Crashing Tones".  The light green shade could work on the bedroom walls.  It resembles Restoration Hardware's "Silver Sage" which was the previous color of our bedroom. Love it.

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"Surf Tones" have some killer shades of Spa green for the bathroom.  

Any favorites among these or other colors you've used in the past?  I'd love to hear what you think!

I {HEART} My Cake Stand & Pumpkin Bread

There's nothing wrong with appreciating the simple things.  My most favorite pumpkin bread recipe is just a few simple ingredients.  No bells and whistles or secret ingredients here, just a classic Fall treat to accompany your morning or afternoon coffee.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 teaspoon of baking soda

3/4 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 cup solid pack pumpkin puree

1/3 cup of water

1/2 vegetable oil

2 eggs

How to...

1. Grease and flour a 9x5" pan (or use parchment paper, it's easier to remove the bread from the pan).  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Measure flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices into a large bowl.  Stir to blend.  In separate bowl, combine pumpkin, water, vegetable oil and eggs.  

3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.  Beat until well combined.  Pour batter into pan.

4. Bake for approximately 1 hour.  (tip: test center of bread with toothpick, if toothpick comes out clean the bread is done).

Click here to print recipe.

Speaking of appreciating the simple things.  I heart my cake platter - another classic in my opinion.  It was a Homegoods find a few years back.  But they still have it on the shelves.

I love that I can switch out the little ribbon and dress it up for any holiday or party.  It's Halloween time so get the black ribbon out!

Such a class look.

 It's my turn to bring the mom's a snack at playgroup today.  I hope they like Pumpkin Bread!

Renovation Update: Week 8

Just another Manic Monday over here.  The tile saw started around 7:30 AM and the boys are ready to hit the park.  But first an update on the renovation.  Here we are in Week 8.  Can you believe we're actually running ahead of schedule?  Last week was exciting - the hardwood floor and shower tile were installed.  Take a look!

This is a view from the master bedroom of the master bathroom door.  I chose to go with a frosted glass pocket door to allow light to flow from the bathroom window and skylights into the bedroom.  The pocket door is also a nice space saver in a smaller bathroom.  We won't have to worry about swinging a door open into the toilet or glass shower door!

A view of the bedroom door and "dressing area".

A California King bed will go against this wall with light sconces on either side.   I'm hoping two decent sized end tables will fit on each side of the bed.  It might be a tight squeeze.

A nice view of the hardwood floors and window.  I'm thinking panel window treatments in a fun fabric will work well.

And the new shower.  LOVE IT!  The bright white subway tile for the walls and ceiling really open up the space (not to mention the new skylight!).  The marble hexagon and pencil detail feature help draw the eye in and add some dimension to the space.

A closer look at the hexagon and pencil detail and the His and Hers shampoo niche.  I love how the detail of the tile, niche shelves and bench all coordinate.  

The hardwood floor was installed to run lengthwise in the hallway and bedroom to make the  two spaces run seamlessly into each other.  The hallway would have looked super short if the wood was installed horizontally.

The balusters and stair railing are looking great, too.  Can't wait for painting and staining to begin!

On tap this week, the tile guy will wrap things up in the bathroom which includes grouting the shower with bright white grout and installing the bathroom floor.  I decided to go with light gray grout on the floor - I'll tell you why next week.  Also, the HVAC guy got held up on another job so the furnace/linen closet still looks like this (hiiiisssss!).  Hoping some progress will be made on this!

Children's Photo Shoot

In a few weeks, we are on the calendar for a photo shoot of all the grand kids to give as a Christmas gift to their Grandparents (this was requested, I'm not spoiling any surprises here!)  There's a seven year old little man, a four year old little lady, our two year old twins and a newborn baby boy.

Aside from trying to figure out a way to get my two year olds to sit still, I've been tasked with styling the photograph.  YES - I love shopping for children's clothes!  Here are a few pics I pulled for inspiration...

Prints and Bright Colors 

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Dark Neutrals with Patterns and Fun Accessories

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Light Neutrals with Lots of Style

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Even though I'm totally into colors right now, I'm leaning towards the classic neutral look so in 15 years the kids aren't cursing us for dressing them like "clowns" in the picture hanging in Gram and Geapa's living room.  I can still play with fun patterns and layers to add some texture... especially if we go with a black and white photograph.  Maybe some pops of red would be cute if we decide to go with a color photograph.

Here are a few items I'm loving at my fav children's clothing spots.  This outfit would look cute with those polka dot knee socks and bright red flats.

Crew Cuts

Maybe a little more sophistication for the seven year old.  The kid's got so much style that he could totally pull this hat off too...

Children's Place

Maybe these for the twins paired with gray cords.

 and for the adorable newborn... classic cable knit with some cute little Uggs - nice and comfy

Old Navy

What do you think - too matchy, matchy OR just right?

A Retrofitted Mudroom

I've always been so jealous of the amazing Entryways and Mudrooms I see on Pinterest and blogs like Megan's at Honey We're Home and Shelley's at The House of Smiths and Heather's at Vivid Hue Home.  Amazing right?! Unfortunately, we just don't have that kind of space in our house.  BUT I THINK I've found a solution.  A little something from Ikea, some MDF board and a few hooks might just do the trick!

This was our situation before.  The twins' shoes would pile up on that window sill along with countless other random crap items.  And more shoes and bags and briefcases would pile up on the floor under the window.  *Those hanging doily things are little butterflies the boys made in art class out of huge coffee filters... cute.

The addition of this shoe cabinet from Ikea was great.  All our shoes are easily stored away when we walk in the door.  Although this area was still missing something.  I didn't like how my bag ("pocketbook" for you East Coasters) and the backpacks and sweatshirts were hanging around.

Why not use all that space under the adjacent window?!  "We" (you know I wasn't using the power tools) cut some MDF board and used a few screws and finishing nails to install the board into place.  Sorry I don't have more pictures of that process (rookie blogger).

A little wood putty on the finishing nails.   Oh look!  A tiny helper decided to join in.

 A little paint to match the original woodwork...

Screw in a few brushed silver hooks...

and "Lo and Behold" I have a "mudroom"!  I switched out the original Ikea knobs on the shoe rack with some cute brushed silver ones.

The boys can open the bottom cabinet themselves and love to put their own shoes and hats away.  Although not as neat as in this picture which is clearly "staged".

I don't know about you, but I am always searching high and "Lo" for my keys - in the bedroom, the freezer, the bathroom, the couch cushions...  You name it, they've been there.  Until now!  They finally have a home along with our sunglasses and phone charging station.

Hopefully this solution will work! I'll keep you posted.  Do you have any hidden nooks in your house that you've converted into usable space?

I'll be sharing this post on these fab blogs...
{Th} A Glimpse Inside * DIY by Design * House of Hepworths * Hubby Made Me * momnivore's dilemma * Somewhat Simple * The 36th AVENUE * The Shabby Creek Cottage