Getting Cozy: Creative Spaces for Kiddos

When I think about cozy spaces in a home, I don't forget about my boys. They need a place that is cozy and where they can play, read, and be creative in play and in art. Their toys and books usually spread everywhere in our home and don't just stay in the playroom, but I love that we have a space that is colourful, fun and just theirs (besides a cabinet of my craft supplies). 

I have thinking about their space again and wanting to change up a few things. My plan is to *hopefully* turn the closet that is full of random things that don't have a specific place, into a reading/hideout for the boys. To take off the doors and put up a curtain so it is easy to access and hide away. Here's hoping I can find places for all the random junk!
Since I am a planner and love to be inspired by different spaces, I've put together a few pictures of my favourite cozy places for kids to hang out and be themselves.

I think this is my absolute favourite. The teepee, bunting, and colourful rug together make a great room for kids.

via Growing Home

Here is a great example of a book nook in a closet. I love the light fixture and the shelves on the side of the wall.

via Thrifty Decor Chick

Here is another example of a great playroom with a teepee in the corner. 

via 6th Street Design School

What could be cozier than floor pillows that they can cuddle up with a book on? Or in my son's case, jump on? 

via Lauren Leonard Interiors

I can't forget about their bedrooms. Our boys don't play in their room; we keep the toys downstairs, but we have books in a bin ready to be read before bed. I want their room to be a place where they can go and feel at rest. Since that is my goal - for them to sleep!! 

via Divaani Blogit

via A Cup of Jo

via Back to Basics

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Getting Cozy: Creative & Cozy Toys for Kids

Whenever it starts to get cooler, I start thinking about my kid's toys. They have a lot of them. I'm not even sure where they all came from. They have waaaay too many of those little toys that are interesting for one minute and then after that, they just become a hazard for stepping on.

Thankfully my husband is a lot more ruthless than I am and organized all the toys and weeded three large bags of toys to give away.

I want my kid's toys to inspire creativity and be useful so I've put together some of my favourites to help with being cooped up this fall:

via

My kids love stuffed animals. My oldest daughter currently has tea parties and makes "zoos" with them. Homemade stuffed animals are much better and this one is adorable (and a free pattern!).

via

I love the idea of making a small dollhouse for them. When we were little, we used to tape cardboard boxes together to make our doll houses. This is the same kind of idea, only a little more durable.

via

I love these sewing cards that you can make yourself. Not only are they good for teaching fine motor skills, but they also teach a basic skill, sewing!

via

My friend was telling me about this company last week and it is amazing! Magnetic blocks for kids. They are a tad bit expensive but are amazing quality and made from solid wood. They are going to be on the Christmas toy list this year!

via

Sometimes all you need is a box and some crayons. I love this idea and I figure it would buy me about 30 minutes of quiet time. Just the amount of time it takes to make supper!

I hope that gives you a few good ideas. 

If you have any more to add to the list, let us know!

(Click on the button above to see the rest of the series!)

Getting Cozy: 10 Things for You to Do on a Fall Day

I truly love fall, but those days where it's cold and it's not raining, but not really sunny either tend to get to me. I find myself just groaning and wanting to go back to bed.

I'm assuming there are other people like me out there so I put together a list of some different things that you can do to beat the fall blahs.

1) Go outside. Yes, it might be cold but that's what rain boots and jackets (and don't forget your cute cowl!) are for. Bundle up the kids and go exploring your neighbourhood.

2) Take pictures of your cuties playing outside. I love to be outside with my kids but since they're too young to play outside by themselves, I can get a little antsy. Taking pictures of them playing allows me to capture those memories while feeling like I'm being creative.

3) Make yourself a warm drink (hot apple cider anyone?) and cuddle under a blanket. It's ok to take a day to read some books.

4) Make cookies with your kids. I usually hate making a mess but sometimes it can just pull you out of your slump. Have you tried this amazing recipe??

via It's Our Pinteresting Life

5) Get dressed and do your hair properly. I find a lot of times that helps how I feel right away. Track pants are great for being comfy, but sometimes you need that little push to accomplish things.

6) Scrapbook. Heidi is much better for doing this than I am (I haven't scrapbooked in two years!) but this little mini album that she made is so adorable, I might be tempted to pull out my supplies and get started.

7) Invite some friends over. Get-together don't always have to be carefully thought out and planned for weeks in advance. Sometimes the best times are spontaneous. Our friend Kelly is talking all about hospitality on her blog this month. Check it out!

8) Start planning your Christmas presents. I love to make my own presents but unfortunately, I usually start at the beginning of December and then I run out of time. This year I'm determined to plan it out so that doesn't happen. Maybe I should start today?

9) Let your kids help you carve pumpkins. My husband and I did this the other morning with our kids and they loved it. You don't need a perfectly sunny day for this activity, and you can even do it inside if it's raining. We now have a few carved pumpkins sitting by my front door and although they aren't perfect and don't really fit the "decor", my kids love it.

10) Plan your next decorating project. It's ok to look at all those beautiful spaces on Pinterest, but what about your house? Pick an easy project that you love and make it in your house! After all, that's what this blog is about :)

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The Middle of Summer

I'm sorry our posts have been a little sporadic around here. Heidi was off on a family vacation (hopefully we'll get to see a few pictures from that!), and I'm still adjusting to having three little ones which means that when I have fifteen minutes to spare, it's usually to clean or fold laundry or all of those other things that I'm really not a fan of.

Life is certainly not boring around our house. This year we opted to finish the deck on the back of the house instead of going on vacation and my hubby has been working on that all summer. Now I understand why people hire contractors for this. It's a long process to get it done and get it inspected. I can't even help him since one of us has to be inside watching the kids and well.. Seth is a lot handier than I am so that's an obvious choice.

My two older munchkins are slowly adjusting to having a baby around the house although it was a little bit iffy about whether or not they liked him, but the verdict is in. We can keep him.

Which is a very good thing, cause how can you resist those little baby rolls and that sweet little smile?

I haven't gotten much done as for DIY, but I did manage to finish this blanket before Troy was born. I got both the inspiration for the colours and the tutorial from Three Beans in a Pod. This lady is crazy talented and extremely generous to offer this tutorial for free!

Since these are the colours that the nursery are going to be, it fits right in. I used mostly scrap yarn that I had in my stash so the brands are all over the place from Lion Brand to Caron Simply Soft. If you'd like the exact colours, I'm sure I have them written down somewhere.

This final picture is all three of my blankets that I've made for my kids. I love how the blankets suit my kids. Bella's is crazy and uses a whole bunch of colours, Sienna's is more lacy but still uses bright colours, and Troy's is definitely a boy's blanket.

Have you had any good projects lately? We'd love to hear what you've been up to lately!

Gavin & Cameron's Room Reveal

I'm excited to show you the boys' room today. I put the finishing touches on it this weekend. Well...until I find something else to add to it. :)

You might remember all my ideas for the room that I shared a couple of months ago. Their room isn't "themey" (aka does not have a theme), but it is a nice mix of this and that.

 

 I really did not spend a lot of money to make this room to what it is right now. Maybe $20 total? The best thing about Pinterest and blogs these days, are all the beautiful free prints that bloggers make available to their readers. Just print and frame. 

I love this little gallery wall over Gavin's bed. I still have a few ideas of what to add to this wall, but it makes me happy even how it is right now. The little banners over this wall, the foot of Gavin's bed and over Cameron's crib are all made out of scrapbook paper that I had in my stockpile. 

This is the view of the change table area from Cameron's crib. I added a frame with chicken wire for future pictures of the brothers or whatever else I find to pin up there. :) 

 One more look of the whole room: 

I have been putting the boys down for a nap at the same time every morning and I am happy to report that they both fall asleep peacefully and there are no shenanigans. Can I say the same thing in a few years from now? Probably not. 

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Toddler Busy Board

I actually have a tutorial for you today. The other day I was noticing that my youngest daughter has a thing for buckles, zippers, velcro, really anything that she can pull apart and put back together. She seemed content to play with her buckles on her highchair but I decided to make something a little more fun and portable for her. The idea is similar to a busy book, but less time consuming to make!

I grabbed some supplies from the dollar store and around the house and spent a grand total of $5. Awesome right??

To make your own for your little one you'll need:

- a canvas
- some paint and paintbrush
- a glue gun
- velcro (I got the kind that was already adhesive, not the kind you have to sew on)

The rest you can be creative with. I used, magnets, ribbon, string, a few beads, and pictures that are laminated.

I painted the canvas with three coats of acrylic paint just to make it a nicer colour. Than I decided where I wanted my items to be placed on the canvas. For some of the items (the pictures and the coin purse) I simply velcroed them to canvas. I wanted them to be removable. The string with the beads and the ribbon, I actually glued to the canvas with my glue gun. She's been playing with it for quite a while and it seems to be holding up quite well. If you have another more permanent idea, let me know!

My 3 year old loves the board too!

You can be as creative with this project as you want. I left some room on the canvas so I could add things as she gets a bit older and more hands on. You can also make it more appropriate for an older child. If you are using small items such as beads, please supervise them so they don't accidentally swallow one!

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Sleeping Woes

In the last few months, a horrible thing has happened around our house. Bella refuses to sleep past 6 in the morning and a lot of times, gets up even earlier. To me, this is terrible. I am a minimum 8 hours of sleep a night kind of person, plus throw in a teething toddler and being 5 months pregnant. This lady needs her sleep.

Good thing she's so cute!

One night I was browsing Pinterest and I found this handy little thing:

                                                  Source: area128.osx128.com via William Murphy on Pinterest

I liked the idea of it. When you're sleeping, it shows a yellow light, when it's time to get up, it shows a green light. It also teaches time and has an alarm clock built in. I talked to Seth but he was skeptical of it. However, one morning when Bella was up at 3:30am and having a temper tantrum because it was time to be playing, he changed his tune and started trying to find out where we could get it.

I finally bought it the other day and we've been using it for a few nights. The first day it didn't work at all. She didn't quite understand what was going to happen. The next night she actually stayed in her room till 7am! I felt like a new woman.

I understand that it might take a little while longer to get the concept but I'm hoping that this will work for us.

But in the meantime, do any of you seasoned mama's have any good tips for me? I would love to hear anything you have!

Cold Winter Blahs and Some News

We are officially smack dab in the middle of our Canadian winter. Last week we had -25 weather and this week it's a little "warmer".. Only -5! Ridiculous right?!

I'm definitely ready for some spring around here! For some spring flowers to start blooming. To just be able to run out the door without having to take 30 minutes to bundle up the kids in coats, boots and mittens. I miss my cute ballet flats!

Spring 2012. My little cuties showing some sisterly love.

There is one other tiny reason that I'm wanting it to come soon, a reason that is growing every day even though I can't see it...

Yep! There is going to be a new little one joining us at the beginning of July!

I'm looking forward to meeting this new little one who is going to change our family for the better. In the meantime, I'm taking lots of naps (or trying to!) and eating as healthy as possible which as not as easy as it could be since this baby makes me crave extremely random and unhealthy foods.

In a just a few, very short weeks, I'll be able to snuggle Heidi's little baby! I may have already started a pile of homemade things.. Maybe. :)