Christmas Gift Guide for Tween Girls 2020

As the girls are getting older, I'm finding there are far fewer requests for "toys", which can make Christmas shopping a bit tricky! Here is what I'm planning on getting for my Harry Potter addicted, Star Wars obsessed, board game playing girly girls...

Board Games 

The Princess Bride Board Game

Ticket to Ride

Think Fun Escape Room: Stargazer's Manor

Hocus Pocus Board Game

Toys

Harry Potter Magical Capsules
Star Wars Disney Store Toybox Figures

Girly Stuff

Charm Bracelets

Puppy Heating Pad

Trinket Dish

Kid Made Modern Shrink Art Jewelry Kit

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Nail Polish

Crafty Stuff

Fortune Tellers Origami Kit

Elmer's Magical Slime Activator Liquid

Nickelodeon Slime Unboxing Kit

Harry Potter Pencil Toppers

How to Draw Cute Stuff

Books

From Here to There: Maze Book

Tidy

The Double-Daring Book for Girls

A Girl's Guide to the Wild

Clothing

Over-the-Knee Cozy Llama Socks

Star Wars T-Shirt

Hermione Granger Shirt

Among Us T-Shirt

Random Fun Stuff

Harry Potter Wand Stylus

Cactus Pencil Holder

Money Maze Puzzle Gift Box

Among Us Sticker Set

A Mini-Update on the Girls' Rooms

Hi all! Just popping in to share a couple of pics of the girls' rooms currently. If you follow me on Instagram you've already seen these, but I've gotten a lot of questions about sources, so I thought it would be easiest just to share them on here!

Here's where we're at with Violet's room. If you've been following on my sporadic updates, we were working on helping to relieve some of her sadness about moving and missing her old room by creating a "nook" similar to her previous bedroom. We came up with this cool "canopy" where she can close the curtains to create a little tent or fort for herself :) She looooves it, and it was super easy and inexpensive, so I think mission accomplished!

Lucy's room is getting close to feeling "finished" as well. After a lot of searching, I finally found an affordable bed for her. She really fell in love with the floral pillow cases we had from Pottery Barn and wanted a blanket that matched, so I found a queen-sized duvet on eBay and somehow managed to cut it up and sew it with my very lacking seventh-grade home ec skills into a twin sized duvet - yay me! I have to say I was super proud of myself. The night stand we found at a cute little thrift shop downtown. I'm debating on whether I want to paint it or keep this color - any thoughts?

We also kept her pretty polka dots and letter "L" from her nursery at the old house, and added a fun bunny lamp into the mix. I think it really well represents her happy, bubbly, silly fun-loving personality.

We have a little bit more work to do in each of their rooms before I'll check them off as "finished" and do a full on post about them, but, for now, here are the sources if you're interested:

Violet's Room:
Curtains - Pottery Barn Teen
Curtain Track System - IKEA
Letter "V" - Anthropologie
Bed - West Elm
Headboard - Craigslist find
Comforter/Pillow - Target
Sheets - Anthropologie
Grey throw pillow - RH Baby & Child
Bird Wall Decals - Love Mae
Squirrel Lamp - Anthropologie
Rug - West Elm
Houses - Lille Huset

Lucy's Room:
Duvet/Pillow - Pottery Barn
Polka Dot Sheets - Land of Nod
Letter "L" - Anthropologie
Polka Dot Decals - Wall Dressed Up
Grey Throw Pillow - RH Baby & Child
Bunny Lamp - West Elm
Rainbow Stacking Toy - Outside Everywhere
Nightstand - Thrift
Drawers - Wild + Daisy
Bed - Amazon

One Lovely Artist

Hi all! I know it's been a while. Just popping in because I've discovered a new fave artist, and felt compelled to share with you all! I somehow came across Helen Dean's art on Instagram, and just love, love her work. I've purchased three of her paintings, and they are just gorgeous. You can pop into her website or Instagram and check out more of her work here and here. xo, Lauren

Trolls Birthday Party!

Violet and Lucy had their shared birthday party this past weekend! I can't believe they are four and seven! Where has the time gone? They both thankfully wanted the same theme this year - Trolls! So much easier for this busy mama. Here are some of the photos from their party, taken by my dad <3

x

Sources:
Number Balloons: Party City
Marbled Balloons: Shop Sweet Lulu
Rainbow Decoration: DIY
Rock Candy: Party City
Cupcakes: 874 Cake Studio
Troll Headbands: DIY

Life Lately

We've been slowly but steadily working to turn this house into something that feels like our home. I haven't had a lot of time to update you on the progress, but here are a few little peeks in the meantime! Above is a picture I snapped before a little dinner party we hosted with a few friends. I had some fun making a Fall tablescape with a few bunches of grocery store flowers, mason jars, and pretty ceramic pumpkins that were sent over by Grandin Road (I absolutely love their seasonal decorations! They always have the coolest stuff!) And I'm just looooving these gorgeous curtains that I got from Minted. I have been looking for curtains for the dining room forever, but I haven't found any that have made me want to pull the trigger. Then I saw these, and I just knew.

Lucy's room has been slowly getting a major transformation too! We  switched her over to the toddler bed and Violet to a twin when we switched houses. We painted the room (it was formerly like an army green), found a dresser on Craigslist, put her restickable dots from her nursery at the old house, on the wall, and purchased a rug. Next on the to do list is hanging her pom pom curtains from RH Baby & Child - they are blackout curtains and I'm sooo excited for that!!! (I'm hoping blackout drapes = sleeping in???)


Our living room has been coming along. We painted, installed hardwood floors, hung a gallery wall, and just bought a new couch! Hopefully I can snap a few better photos of that for you soon too. Lucy approves:

Sorry that's all I have for you so far, but between working full time, fixing up a house, and taking care of two beautiful babes, time to take photos is few and far between. And then there are times when I could be taking photos but I'd really rather be just staring at this gorgeous face:

(Can you blame me?!) Hope you're all have a lovely Fall! xo, Lauren

P.S. Grandin Road has a super cool pop up shop at Macy's in NYC. If you can't make it there they have a 360 tour that you can check out here. 

Playhouse Update

The exterior of the playhouse is moving right along! The cedar shingles and windows have been installed, and Kev's dad created some really amazing detail pieces for the peaks:

Next up: trim, window hinges, doors, and more paint. I feel like I need to get a paint sprayer for the inside though - it's going to be intense. All. That. Wood.

The funniest part of this is that girls are so over the whole finishing phase of the playhouse - they're already playing in it! I can't wait to fancy up the inside for them a bit though. We're loving the privacy it is already giving us, and we can't wait to plant our little vegetable garden behind it next year. Yay for fun new backyard getaways! xo, Lauren

A Playhouse Update

The playhouse is moving right along, thanks to the hard work of Kev and his dad. I can't even express my admiration for how they have worked from morning til evening day after day in the hot grueling sun. The middle of July is probably not the best time of year to be roofing. But they pushed on, and it is really starting to take shape. I'll tell you what, these are two very lucky little girls. When I asked Kevin to build a playhouse for them I imagined something much smaller and simpler. But he was smart and thought long-term. Not only will this have longevity for the girls as they grow, but when they officially grow "out" of using this space, we'll be using it as our garden shed (unless of course I take it over as my she-shed? Just kidding honey!) We'll be planting our vegetable garden at the back of the shed next summer, and I can't wait to be able to walk out the door and pick the produce that I need from our back yard. I really miss having a constant steady supply of juicy tomatoes at my fingertips.

At some points during the day Kev could barely even touch the roofing materials, it was so hot. They eventually got smart and worked on it in the evenings, but then after a while his dad would end up having to point a flashlight at the roof so Kevin could see!

We also got *almost* a coat of paint on the outside, and WHAT a difference. We're putting cedar shingles on sides of the peaks (they just came in today - hurray!), and I think we're going to leave those natural. The windows are going on, which I painstakingly painted. Normally I say you can never have too many windows, but not when you have to paint them all!

Still to come, the front will be getting a pergola, which I think we're going to leave natural, and there will be a Dutch door on the front, barn door on the back, and window boxes will all add pops of color. And then! And then. I get to decorate. I am SO excited. I've been collecting odds and ends from Craigslist and consignment shops with the girls and we have found some really fun stuff. Stay tuned, I think we're in the home stretch! xo, Lauren

Half Bath Update

We finally got around to adding a fresh coat of paint to the half bath, and what a difference already! When we moved in it looked like this:

Faux gold ceiling and sponge painted beige walls. It was really busy and dark. I added some art to try to spruce things up a bit, but who was I kidding?! Here are a couple of close-ups to give you a better idea of what we're dealing with:

A couple of coats of wall and ceiling paint later and...

Hurray! Light, airy perfection. Eventually this little space will get a new vanity/sink, and probably a new mirror and light fixture. For now, it's like a million times better, don't you think? xo, Lauren

P.S. The paint color is Behr Silver Drop, the same color we used in the kitchen at our first house.

Violet & Lucy's Playhouse: Week 1

This is a project we've been wanting to start for the girls for a long time, but we knew that we weren't going to be at our first house forever, so we waited. We were super excited when we finally found our forever home that we could make this a reality for the girls. Since we're thinking long-term, we decided to make a playhouse that had a future function when the girls have outgrown it. Kevin really misses his little vegetable garden from the old house (and I miss walking out the door when I need some fresh tomatoes!), so we decided to make the playhouse adult sized so that someday it can become a garden shed. We'll be planting a vegetable garden on the back side of the play house - it's a spot that gets a lot of sunshine and we thought it would be a great natural way to create some division to the yard for our little patch of veggies. Kevin and his dad have been working on it from morning til dinner for a week now and it's really starting to take shape!

The plan is to paint it white, with a wooden pergola off of the front, and some fun accent colors. The front door will *hopefully* be a Dutch door, and the back door will be a sliding barn door. We're also going to plant lots of pretty bushy flower and things around it. The girls are so excited to walk out the door every day and see it transform.

I'm crazy excited to decorate the inside. I'm kind of a freak like that. In this section we're going to paint, and probably add their play kitchen and some fun accessories:

On the opposite side, we're planning to build a lofted area with a ladder or some ship stairs and some sort of lounge area. The girls have requested beds. We've thrown around a bunch of ideas from suspended rope beds, a hammock, bunk beds, or even moving the toddler bed out here:

I seriously can't believe how hard Kev and his dad have been working on this thing, and I am so impressed with what they've done so far. Hopefully someday the girls will really be able to appreciate the hours and hours of hard work were put into creating this for them. We're three really lucky girls.

I'm planning on sharing some inspiration photos for the space tomorrow! xx, Lauren

Our Summer Bucket List: On the Farm

We're really lucky that my parents spend a lot of time with our girls. They get them almost every week for an overnight stay, and they do all kinds of fun things with them. Parks, playgrounds, pool time, tractor rides - you name it. They've also been helping the girls check things off of their summer bucket list. One thing the girls really wanted to do was "feed the ducks," so my parents took them to a farm down the road from their house where there are always a ton of ducks and geese. The farmer is fine with them feeding the animals and poking around, so they actually visit there pretty frequently.

Normally I'm not along to see their farm visits, but I hear about them a lot. Kevin and I usually use Nonny and Poppy time to have date nights and get things done around the house. This time though, I was excited to get some pictures! My dad is really into photography (I'm forever stealing his camera!), and I was really excited when he sent me a bunch of photos from their day. Thanks, Daddy!

That guy's expression totally cracks me up. And can you tell that long stars and stripes number is Violet's favorite dress?! She always wants to wear it to the most impractical places :) Total girly girl, through and through.

Speaking of the summer bucket list, I'm super excited to say that the play house build is in full swing! I can't wait to share some progress photos with you all soon. Hope you're all enjoying some simple summer fun! xo, Lauren

Ideas for Lucy's Room

Before we moved, I had started to update Lucy's nursery to a big girl room. Her new room is massively bigger than her old little slanted space, so I want to take what I started at the old house and basically add to it. The bed, rainbow stacking toy, fawn night light, cloud mobile, wall dot decals, and baby animal artwork, and pillows were all in her former bedroom. It looked like this:

For the new room, we need new curtains (the ceilings are a lot taller on our second floor than at our former house), a new rug (bigger floor space!), a bigger dresser, and a few more accessories. We can thankfully fit the beautiful glider that we got from RH Baby & Child up our new stairs (the old ones were such a problem!), so that will be in the space as well. She's still (and will always be!) my baby, and she still loves to rock with her mama for a while before going to sleep :)

Here are a few things I would love to have for her space:

Pom Pom Curtains
Striped Rug
Cloud Pillow
"Love" wooden sign
Happy Place wall art
Vintage Dresser
Bunny Knobs
Farmhouse Light

Right now I'm trying to find the perfect warm white for her walls and scouring Craigslist for a pretty (and hopefully inexpensive!) vintage dresser. Wish me luck! xo, Lauren