Friday, January 30, 2009

flower hats & scrapbook stuff




Man, this week is flying by (as usual). Today is the first day that I've been able to stay home without anywhere to be, so I thought I'd share some stuff. But before that, thanks for all the comments on the girls new room! They love it, and it has stayed quite organized thus far! We'll see how long that lasts...maybe another week if I'm lucky? Haha! Anyways, here are some pictures I took of the girls earlier this week. I was needing some "springy-ness" the other day, so I got out these hats and made my girls pose, once again. Haha!! (Oh, how nice it will be when we can go outside for pictures and playtime!)










And a scrapbook page I did the other night...it was so late and I was exhausted but I totally had the urge to scrapbook. (Having lots of new pictures gets the creative energy going, too.)

(supplies: patterned paper: Basic Grey; mask, stickers, letter stamps, journaling spot, chipboard hearts: Heidi Swapp; ribbon: Paper Source)



And I also forgot to share this little Heidi Swapp mirror album I made last weekend. I had a scrapbook night at my house and this is what I did...just simple and fun!




I love all the layering with clear elements that you can do with the clear inner pages that Heidi's created. So cute! (see the entire album here.)



There, that feels good to get some scrap stuff on the ole' blog again. Besides a couple little projects that I've been working on here and there I am just in full-on nesting mode. I cleaned out the pantry last week and have just been cleaning and organizing things everyday. Yesterday I totally gutted my closet and got rid of two huge garbage bags of clothes...that was awesome. (And the plan is to go shopping once I lose the pregnancy weight, right hubby? hehe.) Anyways, it just feels good to purge and only have what you need...not so much excess. I'm excited to dig in to the "baby stuff"...but I think I'll give myself a little more time till I tackle that job. This weekend is going to be pretty low-key, we have nothing planned and I'm liking that. Maybe I'll even catch a nap one day? I hope so.




Have a happy weekend and come back on Monday to see my "hanging valentine's" that I made this morning. Can't wait to share!




Tal:)

Monday, January 26, 2009

the new room!




So this weekend was busy as usual...we managed to get the girls all moved into their new room and I am sooo happy with how it turned out. Why don't I let you take a quick look around and then I'll share some details...







We bought these bunk beds from Ikea and Graham just painted them white. It was so much cheaper to paint them compared to some of the other bunk beds we looked at. Thank goodness my husband's a painter! For the duvet covers and sheets, I ordered these sheet sets from Pottery Barn Teen. I knew I wanted to do their room in pink and orange and couldn't find anything that I liked in fabric stores, and then I came across these on the PB Teen website...it was meant to be! (just a note...Pottery Barn doesn't ship to Canada. My sweet big sister ordered and shipped them here for me...thanks, Nik!) The large frames above the bed are from Ikea as well.



My mom used the flat sheets from the sheet sets for the tops of the duvet covers...it worked out so perfectly! She also sewed the cute accent pillows and the curtains (which you'll be seeing soon). Again, soooo lucky to have a mama who is an amazing seamstress. Thanks, mom!





Next up is the dresser and bulletin board. Remember this bulletin board that I did last year? I did the exact same thing this time, but I also spray painted it hot pink. So stinkin' cute! I figure this will be a good place for the girls to display artwork and any pictures they want up in their room. The fridge is running out of space! (both the dresser and bulletin board are from Ikea...are we seeing a pattern here?)






And here's a peek at the curtains and the big wooden "P". Again, the curtains were sewn from one of the flat sheets, and a good friend cut the girls initials for me. Also, the hot pink paint color is "Wazzup" by General Paint. It is the perfect color, exactly what I wanted. But I'm warning you, only use this on one wall...it's very intense and would be overwhelming on too many walls! (I think the light pink balances it out quite nicely.)






My mom also made these little bags with the girls initials on them from leftover fabric. So cute...my kids love to collect things and carry them from place to place, so these will get lots of use around here!





On the wall opposite the beds is the girls Barbie house from Santa and this storage shelf from (surprise) Ikea.






Above the toy storage I have these shadowboxes displayed with the girls blessing dresses in them. These dresses are very sentimental to me as they were blessed in them by their daddy when they were both around 6 weeks old. (and sewn by Nana) I did Payton's a looong time ago and I've been meaning to put Gabby's in a shadowbox as well and just finally got around to it. This is such a sweet reminder of their individual blessing days and you can do something like this with any kind of baby outfit that has sentimental value to you. I hope that when the girls get older they'll appreciate that I kept these safe for them!

(frames from Ikea)



It took me a while to decide what toys I wanted kept in their room and which ones were being banished to the basement. After watching the girls play, I saw that they love their dolls. So this shelf is jam-packed with barbies, polly pockets, groovy girls and little plastic people. I purposely left the top empty 'cause they love to have a surface for their dolls to play on. Already, it's been working like a charm...they are in barbie and polly pocket heaven. (and I am loving that everything is organized!!!)







And a quick look inside the closet:

Gabby's clothes on the top rack, Payton's on the bottom, dress-up clothes and laundry on the floor. Dress-up clothes are an absolute MUST for my kids...they both change about 5 times a day, so this stuff HAD to have a space in their room. (And since this picture was taken I've added 2 clear plastic bins on the top shelf for clothes that they out-grow.)



And last but not least, toy storage under the bed. The perfect spot for larger dolls and toys that need a place in the room, but that I want hidden when not being played with!





So there ya have it! I told you, it was a big job and definately a team effort. Graham painted the walls and put the beds together on Friday night, my mom did all the sewing (I helped a little!), Graham painted the furniture and I did all the "projects". It seems like that wouldn't be too hard on my part, but it took a long time to decide exactly what I wanted to do, where it was going to go, how it was going to work, etc. Then on Saturday Gray and I moved everything in and spent the day organizing all the clothes and toys and cleaning cleaning cleaning. Payton and Gabby were sooooo excited when they saw it for the first time. It was very worth it to see how happy they were!



Now it's time to start thinking about the baby's room. Oy.



Tal :)

Saturday, January 24, 2009

stay tuned...





...for a tour of Payton and Gabby's bedroom on Monday. As for now, just trust me when I say I did a WHOLE LOT of organizing little toys like this today. Whew. So glad that it's done.



I'm excited to share pictures, but for now I must get to bed. This pregnant mama is exhausted!


T:)

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

somebody stop me





I know, I know...more pictures. I can't help myself! Now that I've got this camera out I can't stop playing! I'm just in the experimenting mode right now and since my kids live with me, they are my testing subjects. Haha. Honestly though, I have a lot of projects on the go (or maybe I should say "on my mind") right now, and getting a picture of Gabbs was one of them. We are hopefully moving the girls into their "new room" together this weekend, and so I'm trying to get all of the fun, decor stuff done before hand so that we can just get the painting done and everything moved in and on the walls right after. It's going to be a big job but I'm excited. Since we found out we were having the baby both of the girls rooms have been put on hold since I knew they'd have to share anyways. Soooo...now that Christmas is over it's finally time to get going. I'll share pictures when we're all done!



And also, I've been tagged by sis, so here goes:



6 (un)interesting facts about me:

1. I love peanut butter toast
2. I love taking afternoon naps
3. I'm horrible at any sport that involves balls
4. I USED TO love Britney Spears
5. I'm currently watching "The Bachelor" on TV
6. I loooove the Twilight books


There ya go!


Now I tag:

Bobbi
Sarah
Lindsay
Erin
and
Jordana



Have a great day!
Talia:)


And P.S....I'm sure all of you scrapbookers have heard about this. I am so so sad!


Oh, and another P.S...I've added a little "followers" link to the very bottom of my sidebar. Add yourself as a follower to my blog, and I'll follow yours, too! Honestly, I don't really know what the point is other than it's an easy way for me to see who reads my blog so that I can read yours, too.

:)

Monday, January 19, 2009

goodbye






Today my brother-in-law and his cute family came over for a little photoshoot...they are moving to Australia for dental school in just one week and we are going to miss them so much! We've been talking for a while about taking some pictures and I'm so glad we did...look how cute they are! Now remember, as a photographer I am as amateur as they get...this was just for fun for them to get some family pics before moving to the other side of the world. (*sniff,sniff*)




Here are some more of my favorites...




I love love love this one...




and this one, too...




more cute ones...





and you gotta love little Osh in this one...it must be a 2 year old thing, 'cause Gabby's fingers are always in her nose!





Jody and Aviana...




and this adorable one of Ryan and Jody...they were NOT impressed that I made them sit for some pictures of just the two of them, but they'll thank me someday! Look how sweet this picture is!





and last but not least, little Aviana in the pink tutu. (of course I had to take some tutu pictures!)





We are going to miss you so much, you guys! Good luck with the flight and everything else that comes your way...we love you!



xoxox
Tal, Gray, Payton & Gabby

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

a "stay-at-home" day.





Today was a stay-at-home day. After waking up to tons of snow (that was still falling) and freezing cold weather, I decided to skip Payton's dance class and just have a lazy day at home. Good for me, bad for the girls. 'Cause I did the same thing yesterday and skipped taking Payton to playschool. Oops. I didn't realize how just one little outing in the day really breaks it up for the kids. I, of course, am always happy to stay home, but I guess my kids have gotten used to their schedule. So tomorrow, snow, cold and all, we'll be getting in the car to get Payton to playschool. Can I do it? We'll see! (haha)




Honestly, I am just feeling so PREGNANT lately. At 30 weeks I'm getting bigger, tired, and the smallest task seems like a huge one. AAaahhh! Only a couple months to go, but I feel like I could have this baby tomorrow. What the heck am I going to be feeling like in March??? Scary-ness, I tell ya.




ANYWAYS, amidst the hair-pulling, time-outs, mess-making and fighting today (I told you the girls were having some cabin fever!), I DID manage to get out my new camera and play around a bit. "Play" is the keyword here. I was basically turning knobs and pushing buttons and I had no clue what I was doing! But I did get some cute shots...very unplanned, but what the heck. I'm excited to learn how to use this camera...I figure in about a year I'll know what I'm doing. Haha!!



Here are the ones I got of Payton...(and yes, she's wearing a swimsuit. She dresses herself, okay?)









And Gabby-Gabbs...(I love the crumbies on her lips and in her hair from snack time!)








Like I said, LOTS to learn, but at least I finally got that darn camera out of the box. I haven't taken any pictures since Christmas so this was fun! Okay, off to watch American Idol. Soooooo excited that it's on again!




Tal xo