A Lovely Lark: June 2014

Handmade Love: Marinski Handmades

6.30.2014

I stumbled across this pretty little shop today and am so in love with these pretty little plates - aren't they just the loveliest thing you've ever seen?! You can find these and more at Marinski Handmades.

How to Make Your Own DIY Water Table

6.23.2014

I've been wanting to make a water table for the girls for a while now - they both love the water, but whenever I get out the kiddie pool I have to watch Lucy like a hawk. She's definitely full-on toddler right now, and toddle she does. She loves to stand up in the pool and climb in and out and I'm paranoid that she's going to fall and crack open her head or slip under the water. A water table seemed like the perfect solution for those hot days when splashing around is definitely needed, but I need to get a few things done, like watering the flowers or getting a project done outside. When I looked around online at the options for water tables, I couldn't find anything I really liked for the price - we're on a budget this summer, and, to be honest I'm not a huge fan of the plastic monstrosities. So when Glidden® paint asked me to partner with them on a project, I knew just what I wanted to do.

To keep the project as budget-friendly as possible, I headed over to the thrift store to see what I could find. After a bit of searching, I came across this end table that needed a little bit of love for $4.99, and the best part is, it was half-price day so I snagged it for a mere $2.50.

After I got it home I looked around the house to see if we had anything that I could use as a pan for the water. I found a couple of plastic options, but when I saw this white metal tray I thought it would look really nice and crossed my fingers that it was water-tight. Luckily it was and was a perfect fit for the end table. Now I'm not super-experienced when it comes to power tools, and Kev was busy with work for his grad class, so I called up my dad to help me out with inserting the tray into the table. Here's how we did it:

1. To center the tray, we measured in from the edges of the table.
2. After it was centered we traced around the tray's perimeter with a pencil.
3. Next we measured the width of the lip of the tray and measured in from the initial tracing we made.
4. To start our cut we drilled holes in the corners with a spade bit.
5. Next, we used a saber saw to cut along the lines that we measured.
6. After we had the entire rectangle cut out we inserted the tray into the opening. Luckily it was a perfect fit - thanks Dad! :)

Next I started in on an area where I'm much more comfortable - painting. First up: choosing a color for the project. One thing I really love about Glidden paint is that they don't have a billion different colors to sort through. Instead they have a simplified palette which makes it a lot less overwhelming to choose a color. I knew that I wanted a bright yellow, so I grabbed three of their most vibrant yellows - Glidden paint Dazzling Daffodil, Glidden paint Spicy Banana Pepper, and Glidden paint Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I loved that the Spicy Banana Pepper and Extra Virgin Olive Oil swatches weren't quite a true yellow - they were a little more muddied and had more personality than the Dazzling Daffodil. I ended up choosing Extra Virgin Olive Oil because it was just a bit richer than the Spicy Banana Pepper. (And is it just me or is anyone else hungry now?)

I had an image saved of a dresser that had been painted with a chevron pattern on the front, and wanted to use that as inspiration. I thought it would help to freshen up the look of the very traditional end table and I liked the idea of bringing in a second color. I ended up using Glidden paint's White on White - nice and crisp and simple. I purchased both in exterior semi-gloss so that it would hold up to water and life outside on the patio.

After I selected my colors, here's how I went about applying the paint:

1. First Kevin sanded the entire piece for me with an orbital sander and got the details by hand.
2. I painted the face of the end table in White on White - two coats did the trick.
3. The rest of the piece was painted with the Extra Virgin Olive Oil - I absolutely love how the color turned out - it's exactly what I was picturing.
4. After the paint had time to dry, I used painter's tape to tape out my pattern. First I measured to find the halfway point of the white section and stretched a piece of tape horizontally across the white section of the table.
5. Next I measured 1.5 inch sections and placed the tape at an angle across the top section of the white part of the table.
6. Before applying the Extra Virgin Olive Oil paint I went over the edges of the tape in the White on White. That way if any paint bled under the tape it would be in the white rather than the yellow.
7. After the white had dried and sealed any places that could have bled, I applied the Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
8. I like to remove the tape while the paint is still a little tacky - I've had better results than if I wait until it's completely dry and cured. After everything in the top section was dry I repeated the same steps in the bottom section, but had the stripes slant in the opposite direction. This time the stripes that I painted yellow would be below the white stripes above.

After everything had a long time to dry and cure, I popped in the tray, filled it up with water, and threw in a bunch of our bath and pool toys. I absolutely love how it turned out and the girls are having a blast with it. Surprisingly Violet seems to like it even more than Lucy and keeps asking if she can keep it forever, because she, "Loves it soooo much!"

When the weather gets cooler we could fill the tray with sand, corn, or even dirt for the girls to dig around in, and after they've outgrown the table we could even fill it with dirt and use it as a planter for succulents. I'm hoping we'll be able to enjoy it in one form or another for a long time to come!

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Glidden paint through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about Glidden paint, all opinions are my own.

The Mural is Up!

6.09.2014

My sister sent over some photos of the finished map mural - doesn't it look amazing in the space?! Now I can't wait for more. It's so fun to see an idea come to life :) (Here is the original design board in case you missed it!)

And kudos to my brother-in-law for putting it up so beautifully! xo, Lauren

9 of the Cutest Moon Prints + Posters

6.05.2014

I don't know what it is about the moon, but Violet has been in love with it since she was a wee babe. Maybe it's that it is the brightest thing in the sky at night, and the girl loves her light :) At the moment we have two night lights going strong in her room in addition to leaving the hall light on for her. Whatever the reason, I think the moon makes a perfect addition to most any little one's space. Here are nine of my favorite prints featuring that big glowing ball in the night sky:

1. Goodnight Moon
2. I Love You to the Moon & Back
3. I Love You to the Moon & Back
4. La Lune
5. Moon Man
6. The Moon
7. Moon Phases
8. Moon Banner
9. Full Moon

A Happy & Bright Big Boy Room + Some Big News!

6.04.2014

I'm sooo excited to be able to say that I'm going to be an Auntie again! My sister is pregnant with baby number two (due in December right around Christmas!) and I am over the moon!!! She lives in Australia with my brother-in-law and nephew, Xavier, and even though she's on the other side of the world we're still very close and Skype a few times a week. It can be difficult sometimes because of the extreme time difference, but we make it work.

I remember being worried when I had kids that they might not form the same bond with her as they would with family members who lived close by, but amazingly that didn't seem to be the case. The proof came the first time that they came to visit after Violet was old enough to know what was going on (the first time they visited her she was just a newborn). She is usually very reserved around new people, and even pretty stingy with hugs or affection with close family, but she went absolutely crazy with excitement when they showed up at our house and gave out hugs galore. That makes me even happier now because although we made the twenty-plus hour trip when my sister had her first baby, we won't be able to this time around. It's going to absolutely kill me not to be able to hold my new squishy niece or nephew, but there's really no way around it, so I'm relying completely on video chat until they are able to visit with the new baby.

Another exciting aspect about adding another little bambino to the family is that my sister asked me to help with the design of Xavier's big boy room. They're coming to visit in July (she's so brave - making that long trip with a two-year-old and being pregnant!) and she's hoping to transition him to the new space on their return home. She's crossing her fingers that since he'll be used to sleeping in different spaces at that point from traveling that it will make the transition easier. I have my fingers crossed for her because we had a devil of a time switching Violet to a big girl bed in a new room!

Here's the initial design plan that I came up with for her:

She's really into clean, modern design and bright pops of color. She really wanted a large map in the room because of her ties to both the U.S. and Australia and all of the traveling that they do, so I found this gorgeous mural which was the starting point for the space. It was difficult for me to create this design, as I had to find Australian sources and didn't have my usual go-to sites to visit. Plus everything seems to be ridiculously more expensive there! So if you're in the U.S., a lot of these sources probably won't be that useful for you, although if there's a product that I know you can find in the U.S. I'll try to list that source as well:

Map mural (USA)
Rainbow felt ball garland (USA)
Red industrial pendant lamp (USA)
Nanoblock Statue of Liberty toy (USA)
Elephant chair (USA)
Cubebot toy natural (USA)
Kid-O warm stacking cups toy (USA)
Globe (my sister already owns this)
Bookshelf (my sister already owns this)
Yellow wire basket (USA - similar)
Table lamp
Tin robot toy
Nightstand/shelf
Donna Wilson fox pillow (USA)
Green robot toy
Red Eames style hang-it-all (USA)
Yellow striped bedding (USA)
Toddler bed (USA)
Red alarm clock (USA)
Wooden camera (USA)

I'm still going to make some tweaks to it to suit her budget and things, but it was a pretty good jumping-off point! Excited to see one of my design boards come to life!!! xo, Lauren

P.S. Isn't the above photo of my nephew such a great idea?! My sister snapped a shot of my brother-in-law throwing him up in the air and then edited him out to make it look like Xavier is flying! Sooo cute.

Plus, Violet in Australia and more nursery design inspiration

Giveaway: Win $250 to Minted!

6.03.2014

I'm so excited to be able to offer you all a chance to win $250 to Minted! They have the most beautiful birth announcements, birthday party invitations, nursery artwork, and much, much more. In fact, we used Minted for Lucy's birth announcements and our Christmas cards.

They also have an adorable line of children's stationary now as well. I think Violet would absolutely adore having her own stationary - she's obsessed with her name and loves sending and receiving real mail.