Rainbow Sprinkles (A Fresh Bedroom For Our Sweet Pea)

Sprinkles make everything extra special...especially when they are rainbow-colored.

So, what to do in the bedroom of our little love who thoroughly loves.all.the.colors and can't ever pick a single favorite?

Sprinkle it with rainbow colors, of course!

In moderation.

Her nursery was a sea of chocolatey brown, pale pink, and white.  When we updated her room with her "big girl bed" a few years back, the color scheme remained the same (read:  "we weren't ready to paint it again, just yet").

We had been planning and scheming her room redo for almost two years (doesn't life just go that way, sometimes?), which gave me plenty of time to pull it all together in my head.  I had already begun to collect items for her room, including a pom pom pillow (with leftover pompoms from her 5th birthday "art" party) and my very first embroidery project (which I had started working on while we were in the hospital last summer).  I wanted it to be fresh, bright, whimsical, airy, and sprinkled with bits of every color.

{  A 14" labor of love  }

{  book page mobiles and triangle bunting  }

A vanilla cupcake with rainbow sprinkles soon became the way I described it (does anyone else associate all their decorating and color-scheming with edibles every.single.time?  Or am I the only one?).

{  mix of vintage, new, handmade, and store-bought  }

Finally, the weekend came when we could let the kids have some grandma and grandpa time overnight while we painted her room and pulled it all together.  HOORAY!

{  reused window panels from Max's room topped with a vintage sheet and white pompoms  }

We began with a beautiful shade of white with a hint of warm gray in it:  Valspar's "Gilded Linen."  And once we added some heaping tablespoons of some (very fine) gold and silver glitter for the main wall, it truly was gilded!

{  the bottom 1/3 of a gallon and several {heaping} tablespoons of each color glitter  }

The glitter was just enough to be noticeable (especially when her lights are on), but subtle enough at the same time.  What girl doesn't love herself some glitter?!  (Here's a short video so you can see the glitter in action).

I had a few fun surprises up my sleeve besides the glitter, to include 2-inch metallic gold polka dots for the ceiling, some sweet, whimsical pinwheels, twinkle lights (which I love because you don't see them when they aren't lit!), a tassel garland, book page mobiles (that I had made for my SIL's baby shower), and art prints (sources for everything will be at the end of this post).  We had already added some fun rainbow elements to her room in anticipation of the redo (so they weren't surprises), including a Paisley Sprouts garland and pillow cover, sweetly gifted to her for her birthday last year from her "Aunt Alli" (and family) herself.

{  these prints are perfect in her room.  I spy a leftover baby shower pinwheel  }

{  tassels made from a dress & scarf that I never wore, strung on white sequins - artwork and photo area will be beneath  }

Add a HomeGoods score of a duvet cover ($30!!), our old queen-sized down comforter, and some repurposed items from around the house, and we are super excited with how it all turned out.

{  my favorite vignette in her room  }

{  every girl needs space for her books  }

She loved it.  Even Max loved it.  And then she asked if she could actually sleep there (adorable).

{  its safe to say they both loved it  }

We still have a few loose ends to tie up (a platform storage bed, an area for hanging personal art and pictures, an adorable "royal" pillow case, and reorganized closet), but it's safe to say that it's about 90% complete - and boy, does it feel so good.

I'd be lying if I told you that I never go into her room (when she's at school) and just enjoy it myself.  Must be the little girl in me.  

This room is SO VERY Camdyn.  Fun, bright colors, little details, some new, some vintage, glitter, and polka dots.  Oh, the glitter and polka dots.

{  can I move in?  }

Her room looks like a birthday party celebration every day...which I think is pretty perfect, given that the life of our little miracle girl should be celebrated every day, too.

Praise God for that!

{  happy pompoms and pinwheels  }

Room Sources:

Wall color:  Valspar's Gilded Linen in Satin

Trim color:  Valspar's Swiss Coffee in Semi-Gloss (used throughout our home)

Triangle garland & pillow cover:  Paisley Sprouts on Etsy

Gold polka dot decals:  All Four Walls on Etsy

Set of 2 pinwheels:  Celebrate Life on Etsy

3 Art prints (2 on hangers, 1 framed):  Pen and Paint on Etsy

Book page mobiles:  tutorial from Anthromollogies.com (found on Pinterest)

Twinkle lights:  found on Amazon

Seeking Beauty

Are you a glass half-empty or half-full kind of person?  Do you find life mundane or take note of the little things? Do you linger over your coffee...stop to smell the roses...feel a sense of awe when you see the sunset?

Having a heart baby has taught me to notice the little things.  To diligently seek out those things that we can so easily take for granted, but should be counting as treasures.  Some amount of it comes naturally to me because of the artist in me.  But day to day, it can be so easy to lose the sense of wonder we should have in all things designed by our Creator, big AND small, tangible and intangible, beautiful things and beautiful moments.  We should look for those things around us that are beautiful.  That make us pause.  That make our hearts sing.

The beginnings of a recent custom order

...All things I think about while working on a new custom order hoop.

"May you see beauty every day."  Six simple words.  Lessons in embracing the day's beauty for what it is...a treasure.  Sometimes it's really hard to find on a difficult day...but it's there.  It's a choice to count blessings, to give thanks for the small things.  

Other times, it couldn't be ignored, even if we wanted to.  These simple pleasures remind us that God is in the details.

And the more we look for them, the more evident they become...the easier they are to find.  They start finding us.

Phase 2

Birds chirping in the spring.  The first cup of morning coffee.  Quiet mornings.  The smell of rain.  The way my little loves' heads smell and the way they curl their toes...how they mispronounce words like "bicycle" and "breakfast."  Endless loads of laundry (we have two tiny bodies to clothe!), housework (we really use our home), faces covered in chocolate from demolishing their bunnies after Easter.

Once we're well-practiced in this kind of thinking, it becomes second nature...and it should be...because they are all gifts from our Creator, opportunities to express our gratitude to Him.

May You See Beauty Every Day

Won't you try focusing on seeing the beauty of today with me?

Laugh.

Linger.

Love with all your being.

Set your mind on things above (Colossians 3:2).  

Heartfelt Homemade

I love things that are handmade.  In a world where so much of what surrounds us can be made with a machine, handmade items scream "special" to me.  Someone's very hands took the time to create something unique.  Individual.  One-of-a-kind.  These are the things that are "future family heirlooms."  It would be so easy to get something mass-produced, perfect, whipped up in minutes.  But then it loses it's heirloom quality.  Handmade items ooze with history, thought, care...and love.  And just the same way I aim to pass down the family heirloom of faith in Christ to my children, I want to pass down handmade items that will prompt memories of our faith, our life, and our home.

While it always seems as though I have more ideas than time or energy (as any mom to little loves understands), I do love to exercise my creativity when I can.  It's an outlet for me and brings so much fulfillment.  As a child, I watched my mom craft things with her hands, my grandmother was constantly crocheting, and there was never a shortage of craft supplies in our house.  In college, I minored in art for my own personal enjoyment.  And now, being a stay-at-home mom, my creativity needs to pack up easily, away from curious fingers (and because I simply can't stand to have a mess out for long).  But I've always desired to utilize my God-given talents...and I want to honor Him through them.

So I'm opening a little Etsy shop.  A little shop with a big heart.  It is {appropriately} named The Big Red Heart...inspired by my very own {biggest} little love.  It all began with a project for her bedroom that I worked on this summer...but what I love is that I automatically have the flexibility to create...to create whatever flows through my veins.

My first real embroidery project for my sweet pea's bedroom!

And it will provide the chance for me to help fill in any "gaps" in the family budget, to pay off debt, and essentially, to be able to bless others beyond what we are able to do now.

And Thursday is the day.  As in...tomorrow.  And if you're reading this before 10pm CST, you still have the chance to enter a giveaway on Instagram for some lovely handmade items, including a hoop art by "yours truly" and a gorgeous pillow cover by my talented, dear friend, and "fellow etsy shop owner" of Paisley Sprouts!  So hop on over to TheBigRedHeart on Instagram to enter!  

And happy handmade shopping!