how I create a gallery wall

Chris helped me hang up a new gallery wall in our bedroom last night and it's gotten me all kinds of excited about a ton of other house projects I have bookmarked in my mind. Does anyone else get excited about the summer months coming because, hello it's perfect house re-do weather - ha! Maybe that's just me but all I know is sometimes moving around a few key pieces or adding some color to a corner is a sure fire way to get the juices flowing.

I often get asked by friends how I go about hanging a gallery wall and although I don't have any secret tips I do enjoy shopping around my house for things that remind me of each other, similar colors or shapes, and then I start laying them out on the floor to find something that really pops out. I had forgotten about these three vintage flower prints I'd stashed away from our move several years ago and uncovered them as well as the black matting that I had bought but never used for a different project all just laying around in the garage. I wasn't sure how I wanted to frame and display my new favorite woodland print by my friend Cole (her fun etsy shop) and as soon as I found the black mat this whole area just came together for me in my mind! The adorable rabbit hooks were a Christmas surprise that Chris found on a trip to NYC and the Garden print by my friend Lesley (her cute shop) tied the soft peaches, greens and blacks together perfectly!

All that to say sometimes you're sitting on a goldmine with the perfect set waiting to be discovered in your very own home. I love re-imagining things and changing things up often...when I opened my eyes this morning I looked up to see this newly decorated spot and smiled so big. I just love it and can't wait to tackle a few more things around here soon! What are some projects you're dying to tackle or a space you've just refreshed?? I'd love to hear about it! xoxo

our halloween house

I feel like I am barely keeping my head above water these days, the past month kind of snuck up and smacked me upside the head a little bit. It's just been a whirlwind around here and when I get kind of overwhelmed I oddly must decorate something..ha ha! Can you relate at all? So all the tiny spare moment I have had lately have been spent adding some Halloween fun to the corners of our home. I love the fall it is one of my most favorite times of year I just wish it wasn't so darn busy!

This week I am gearing up for Chris to be away - he heads out of town tomorrow so I am pacing myself for how full the week will be with my four kids, alone :). I also stepped out in faith on a big dream of mine (I promise to share more on that soon) and have a ton of work to do to give this little baby new life. I am in a season of wanting to say yes to pursuing those things I feel tugging at my heart and saying no to the things that are not in line with what God is really asking of me and although this probably sounds super vague and weird I am making note of it here because it is a new exciting adventure and I want to mark it somehow!

So here's to biting off another week - lots of hope and beauty around. Ten on Ten is Thursday which always makes me smile...thinking about doing a prompt this month just for fun! So what about you hows the fall treating you so far? Any new adventures you're hoping to jump into? Go do it friends we only live once right!! xoxo

*Adorable glow in the dark trick or treat bags were a gift from Personal Creations we can't wait to use them in a few weeks!! The Halloween banner is from Land of Nod and more about that cute Home Sweet Home laser cut from Furrow and Feather coming soon!!

Books and Bow-Ties for Baby Ben

My best friend Claire is due to have her first baby pretty much any day now. I am so so excited to meet her little boy, we have been dreaming about being Mom's together since high-school! I am sure I will be a puddle of emotions when I get to lay eyes on little Benjamin and his beautiful Mama glowing as she always does with such light and joy. I had the honor of hosting an intimate shower for her last weekend along with some help from friends Laura and Jenny and my MIL Paula and Step Mom Julia too who both jumped in and saved the day with kiddos and food prep and decorating while Chris was out of town for work!

We did a soft bow-tie and book theme and the weather was truly gorgeous. Laura brought yummy food and Jenny put together two adorable book themed cocktail/mocktails for the day. I made miniature ice cream cakes in jars and there were such sweet women who brought such thoughtful gifts and conversation it was really wonderful My little Josie Joan-Claire (named for her Auntie) was in attendance too helping serve coffee and open gifts, she was in heaven with all the ladies!

Thank you to all who helped pull off such a fun and special afternoon. I love you Claire more than life, we have walked many many seasons together and this next one I can tell is going to be so much fun!!

a bit of sunshine in parenting magazine

The March issue of Parenting Magazine hit newsstands this past week and I am super honored to have a little shout out on around page 73...can you see our closet crib space?! Not exactly a big break per se but these little moments are so super special and exciting and especially fun when I am feeling a little under-inspired these days. Seeing the photo of my kids nursery made us all a bit sad because we miss our old space so very much - but it's getting the juices flowing and Josie and Zeb's new room is almost ready for a tour of it's own so stayed tuned!

See the entire nursery tour HERE.

Thanks for letting me gush a bit about it I did get some major butterflies when I held it in my hands for the first time!!

make something monday :: beetle magnets

Once in awhile you just need a little brainless DIY to make you giggle. Today I am sharing these silly beetle magnets that did just that for me.

A little bag of plastic bugs + spray paint + small magnets + glue = bright colored beetles to make you smile!

Josie and Zeb have a fun vintage metal lamp in their room that was my Grandmothers. I thought it would be a cute detail to add the little critters to the lamp to match the beetle print I shared HERE...but trust me these guys have been known to wander off and find themselves stuck all over the house.

I really wanted to do some in florescent pink and orange but stuck to the paint colors we had in our garage...wouldn't those be fun? maybe I will do some more because you really can't have enough bright colored beetles around right? Well the plastic kind anyway. :)

Hope you guys have a fun week! What have you made lately that was silly simple? Happy Monday friends!

the time we decided to paint our room

Ha, that sounds so innocent doesn't it...and it really was.

On Friday afternoon Chris and I decided that it would be a great weekend to get to work on finally painting our room. After all nesting is kickin into high gear over here and my back is only gonna hold out for so long.

We cleared out our room, took down the bed and put out the drop cloth before Chris got to work on cutting in the edges. I went out for a lovely little dinner date with my bestie and after getting home late we ended up deciding to camp out (Chris on the couch and me in Simon's bed) since our bed wasn't set up and we wanted to continue working on Saturday.

Hahahaha...oh my gosh. So of course we both end up with little sleep Simon kept waking me up all night he didn't really understand why he was in bed with Levi when he could snuggle Mom in his bed. Apparently Chris was up sick all night too but I didn't know. By the morning we were both feeling pretty ill. And I told Chris I needed to lay down for a little longer. When I woke up Chris was about three shades of green, he had finished the first coat of paint but I could tell that was about all he could handle.

He started puking...

I kicked it into high pregnant hormone driven Mommy gear. My kids were stuck in front of the TV and I was frantically painting because I knew I had to get our bed back in place - poor Chris was so ill he was curled up downstairs sick as a dog. I ran to the drug store for Gatorade and saltines and such and then flew home and frantically painted. Josie was screaming from her crib and the boys were zoning out while Chris was so sick...

Thinking about it now it was actually fairly comical - and thankfully a little voice inside told me to call for help. I hate calling for help but I did it and praise Jesus my Mom and Dad in law came to our aid Saturday evening. (Thank you Steve and Paula so much!) Phew. By Sunday morning the bathrooms had been deep cleaned, sheets all sanitized, the room painted and the kids were with grandma and grandpa and when I opened my eyes I saw the prettiest shade of aqua welcoming me to a brand new day!

It's always something isn't it...but hey at least I can tick painting our room off the list. Now onto painting the bathroom and a few dozen other things before this fourth baby makes his/her debut in only THREE months!! I will give you a tour when I finish decorating our newly painted room I promise!

Happy Monday - so how was your weekend? :)

a little bit of sparkly snow

I honestly can not believe it is December second. I know you probably feel the same way. I love the Christmas season more than anything and want to savor every single thing I can about the blessing that it is. I want it to go slowly and sweetly and be covered in sparkly snow and twinkle lights. I hate the moments when the holidays become overwhelming. Decorating my home always helps me find the deepest anticipation and I admit that we have already been in heavy decorating mode over here the past week.

This morning I took some time to make a little snow village in my candy jar display in our entryway. I love how it turned out and so do the boys. They were really mesmerized by it to be honest oohing and ahhing over the sparkly snow.

The easiest of projects just some epsom salt poured into my vintage jars and then I added some bottle brush trees, deer and a putz Christmas house too.

Easy and magical are the best kind of projects to do this time of year so it was a perfect pause for me today to thank God for the love He has for us sending us the sweetest gift in his son Jesus.

I have lots of other Christmas projects planned for our weekend and so many more things I am just dying to share with you all too.  But now I must take my little ones to yet another doctor appointment. Praying that Josie will miraculously be able to get her cumbersome cast off early - oh that would be the best!

Happy Friday friends may your weekend be filled with something magical...honestly some real snow around here would be perfect in my opinion!

birthday bookcases

Yesterday besides the surprise blog party my day was pretty low key. The kids and Chris surprised me with breakfast in bed in the morning which was adorable and a pretty big scene. Watching Chris navigate the staircase with the food and Josie in his arms and the boys wildly trying to help was hilarious and I loved listening to them sing and give me hand drawn cards and birthday kisses with my coffee!

When I came downstairs I was super excited to find that Chris had purchased two billy bookcases from IKEA as a surprise and set them up on either side of the fireplace just as I had pictured it in my head. I have done zero decorating in our new place and was not planning to buy any new pieces just yet...we sort of need to figure of a vehicle so it was on the back burner. But I loved the special gift. It really was the perfect inspiration that I needed as we are living out of boxes, it gave me a huge burst of hope and gratitude for this next phase God has moved us into and it got the creative juices flowing!

I spent sometime on Pinterest looking at bookcases for inspiration on how to style mine. I am debating about adding a pop of color or pattern on the back or leaving them all white. Here are a few fun inspiration photos I found.

So what do you guys think - add color or pattern or leave it all white? I can't wait to get started decorating as soon as we can get things put away!

You can check out my home pinterest board HERE for more info on all these images.