{Outfit Line-Up} This is Just a Test

Hey everyone, hope you are have a great week so far!
So I never anticipate this being a full on fashion blog but I do love fashion, shopping and looking for outfit inspiration. Oh and of course a good deal!
So I thought I'd give posting my outfits for the week a try.
I have kept my shopping to such a minimum but 'shopping' my closet has been great for me lately. I'm finding and wearing things that are just sitting in my closet and getting rid of things that I truly don't feel comfortable in. So lots of repeats may happen but that's normal life right?!

 Kohls Shirt $10 // Nordstrom Necklace -gift
Old Navy Rockstar Jeggings $20 // Guess Sandals via Marshalls $25

Forever 21 Blazer- gift // Lauren Conrad for Kohls shirt- gift

Old Navy Rockstar Jeggings $25 // Target Flats $20

Target Striped Tank Top $6 // Open Cardigan- hand me down from my boss (yup!)
Bullhead Wide Leg Jeans via Pacsun- gift // Target Belt $8
Adrienne Vittadini Heels via TJ Maxx $30 // Charming Charlie Necklace- gift

Target Striped Top $6 // Nordstrom Necklace- gift
Denizen Jeans via Target $15 // Guess Sandals $18

Oh yes, I know that if I do this again I've got to work a little on the picture quality. This was my first shot at it and I was using the timer setting on my iPhone. In the brightest room in our house.
Might just need to suck it up and ask my husband to take photos outside!

Tell me, should I do these again? 

{D.I.Y} Baby Clothes Size Dividers from Gift Boxes

Happy Wednesday ya'll! 

Since I'm on the baby train this week, I thought I'd share with you these baby clothes size dividers that I made for my little one's closet. We start getting clothes even before the baby shower and by the time the baby showered passed we had SO. MANY. CLOTHES.

It was hard to figure out what we had in each size even when we organized them in order by size. I decided to make these dividers and they really helped to keep things separated as well as gave me a better visual of what I had in each size.

I made these out of gift boxes from Gymboree. As you can see the design can be different on their boxes. You can also use some nice decorative card stock if you don't have any cute gift boxes on hand.

You will need:
Gift box or card stock
Item to trace the size of the divider that you want (I used a small dish here)
Circle punch or item to trace smaller inside circle (I used a small flashlight here although its a little big)
Scissors
Permanent Marker or stickers

Trace your circle onto the gift box. Make sure to make enough of them to cover the sizes of clothing that you have (Newborn, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, etc).
I would cut out one circle first and make sure it is going to fit on your clothes rack. You may have to adjust the size so it fits.

Now trace and cut out or hole punch the circle in the center.
Next cut a line from the outside of the divider to the inner circle so that you can open up the divider to get around your clothing rack. (NOT cutting it completely in half.)
And now you can label your size dividers using either a permanent marker or stickers.

And here they are in action, keeping the clothes all nice and organized!

Do you think you'll be making these size dividers? I actually think making these and including them in a baby shower gift would be so nice!

5 Tips for Shopping for a Baby Shower

Good Morning! I hope you had a great weekend.
We hosted dinner for family that was in town on Friday, painted our kitchen on Saturday and did some grocery shopping on Sunday.
I took off last week from posting to give myself a wee little bit of extra breathing room.
I'm back today to share some of my tips for shopping for a baby shower.
We just attended a shower last weekend for friends of ours who are having twins. I thought this would be a good example to use to give some tips on how to save or get the most for your money when shopping, if you aren't just purchasing one large gift.

First I'm showing you what I purchased to create this basket. I really wanted to tie a bow with ribbon around the basket but needless to say I ran out of time. I did pad it with a little tissue paper and I think it came out pretty cute!

Ross Dress for Less
Basket $5.99 // Infant Nike Socks $4.99 // Trucks Book $2.99
Pacifiers $2.99 // Pacifier Clips $2.99 / Burp Clothes $6.99
Infant Beanies $2.99 // Baby Toys $ 3.99 & $4.99 // Bottle Brush $2.49

Dollar Tree

Snack Cups w/ Lids // Outlet Plugs

Sleepy Monster & Giggle Monster Board Books

Target
Wipe Warmer $26.99 // Faucet Cover $7.99
Saline Nose Drops $3.69 + 10% off w/ Cartwheel App
Infants Acetaminophen $4.02 (clearance price) // Pampers $8.99 - $1.50 coupon

5 TIPS FOR SHOPPING FOR A BABY SHOWER

1. Book as a Card: Don't buy a baby shower card. Instead, purchase a book and write a little something on the inside cover. You can buy a book for as low as a $1 from the dollar store or Target's Dollar Spot or spend a few bucks more at places like Ross or T.J. Maxx. Instead of something to throw away, they now have a keepsake book with a special note to their little baby. I actually requested this for my baby shower and I love opening up the books to find those special notes.

2. Container as a Gift Bag: Instead of putting your gifts all in a gift bag, pick out a container that can be utilized by the parents. I purchased a nice basket with handles. This can be used for toys, extra clothes, etc. You can also use a large clear tote with a lid. These are great to also store extra clothes or even clothes the babies start to grow out of. A hamper would also be a fun way to package your gifts. Not only do these things act as your gift bags, they can be utilized afterwards and are an extra little gift.

3. Use Coupons and Apps: This might be a given but sometimes we don't plan as much when purchasing gifts. Figure out where you might shop and what you want to buy and look for coupons. Your traditional registry places like Buy Buy Baby and Babies R' Us put out store coupons. Places like Target have coupons for baby items on their website and discounts via the Cartwheel App.

4. Shop Outside of the Registry Store: Sure, it's easy to shop right off the registry. But sometimes you can get better deals and stretch your money by shopping outside of the store the parents are registered at. I looked up the two registries online and made notes of what was listed and hadn't been purchased yet. This way I could use that as a guide when shopping during my trips shown above.

5. Don't Just Buy from Off the Registry: OK, so if you are clueless about what new parents might need for a new little baby, stick to the list! But if you are a parent yourself, think of some of the things YOU really utilized. They might not be on their registry. The things we purchased that we knew we really utilized with our children that wasn't listed on their registry was the wipe warmer, faucet cover, saline drops, pacifier clips and the infants acetaminophen.

I hope these few tips help you out next time a baby shower is on your calendar! (Or even if you just know someone who is expecting.)

4.10.15 // High Five for {the little things} Friday!

Good Morning and Happy Friday!
It's been a week full of catching up and kicking the last bits of the stomach bug we all got.
We have a baby shower lined up for the weekend and that's about it. Hoping to be productive and get some things done! In regards to this past week...here are some of the highlights for me!

1. The kids were SO excited for Easter! They enjoyed their baskets but had even more fun searching for eggs. They even called Nana and asked if eggs were hidden at their house. Needless to say Nana and Papa had to put together an impromptu egg hunt.

2. Finally got to hang up these new pictures and these canvases on our walls. Every little small house decor update or purchase makes me happy!

3. I took the kids out for a treat this week to a new place buy our house. It's a locally owned place that swerves Belgium waffles, homemade ice cream, hand crafted chocolates and coffee. The kids and I shared a Belgium waffle topped with vanilla w/ chocolate chips ice cream, sliced strawberries and homemade chocolate syrup. We devoured it and I think we could have shared another! I said "That was really good!" and my four year old responded with "That was DARN good!"

4. I'd added to my little "wish list" a pair of black dressy flats that could also be dressed down a bit. I spotted these Target flyers in their flyer last week, stopped by Target over the weekend and snapped these up on-sale for $19.99. They are perfect!

5. We rented The Imitation Game with Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley over the weekend. I really enjoyed the movie, something a little bit different and based on a true story. Really interesting (and sad) to see some of the things that come to light at the end.


How was your week? Hopefully you were able to avoid any sickness!

Guest Bedroom: Navy + Gold Canvas Wall Art

Good Morning everyone!
It's been quite the past few days around here. The whole family (my in-laws included) all got a nasty stomach bug starting on Thursday and it is still lingering with some of us. My husband and I literally laid on the couch all day on Friday. My poor son claimed it 'the worst day ever.' But he was a trooper and hung in there so that we could get some rest. I'll be happy to see everyone back at a 100% again!
Over the weekend as I started to feel better we hung a few new pictures on the wall that I posted about here. And then I decided to finally paint/update these two large canvases that I had sitting in our guest room closet.

This is a simple and inexpensive project if you are looking to add some art to your walls.
The canvases are often buy one, get one free at Michaels and the paints will run less than $7 for the both of them.
I originally painted the canvas on the right a few months ago and hung it in our bedroom. But I just wasn't happy with how it looked on the wall. So I spray painted over both canvases (18'x24') in a navy blue color. (I believe this was Valspar Indigo.)

Then I wanted to add gold from the bottom up on the canvas, in visible strokes. I used DecoArt paint in Glorious Gold and an angled paint brush we had from painting our walls. I brushed from the bottom up using light and harder strokes until I got the look I wanted. I put a light amount of paint on the brush and just added more in the areas I wanted darker.

I moved a bright green mirror that looked randomly hung on one of the walls over to create a bit of 'headboard art' with the two canvases over our guest bed.

Super simple update. I like the placement of the mirror and canvases much better but I'm still unsure if I want to add more gold to the canvases.

What do you think? More gold? Do you ever paint on canvas? 
Sometimes I find canvas hard to hang without feeling out of place.

Recent Shopping: House Decor + More

Hey everyone! Hope your week has been great so far.
We've had family in town since last Wednesday and they leave today. A week seems like a long time but it really went by so fast. I'm sad to see them going back home.

While they were in town we did a little bit of shopping at some re-sale shops in the downtown area of our city.  We were able to garb some great art and I can't wait to get it hung up. A few other things from recent shopping below as well.

Purchased at local re-sale shops // Prices listed above.

Purchased at local re-sale shop // $7
Old World globe for our entertainment center.

Buddha Statue @ TJ Maxx // $12
Another addition to our entertainment center.

Essie 'Double Breasted Jacket' @ TJ Maxx // $3.99
Saw this same polish over the weekend in the store for $8.99!

Bandeau Top @ Target // $19.99
High-Waist Bikini Bottom @ Target // $14.99
Currently buy one, get one half off!

Have you found any great deals recently?