Bits + pieces: colourful playroom + bedroom

Posted on March 30, 2013 by colourherhope

Welcome to the full room tour of the boys’ super colourful-artsy-vintage bedroom/playroom !This room is a collection of thrifted + gifted items from over the years (the most expensive thing I paid for was the $20 orange rug from IKEA – that’s really not a bragging point, but just to say, I’m a cheap-o and also, to hopefully encourage thrifting, because I know it works! ) I started collecting vintage toys since before we were pregnant with Chase. It has always been a small dream of mine to do a vintage inspired bedroom/playroom - if we are ever blessed with another girl I think this dream will come into fruition even more so!As you enter your eyes might be a tad overwhelmed ;) It is a bit of a colour explosion.

Chase spotted this rug at IKEA. $20 for a decent sized rug, not bad! We previously had a CARS blanket laid down for the wear and tear my boys put carpet through. Since we always rent – this rug was a nice find! It will help be a catch all for the little messes little hands can quickly make :)You might remember the room tour from our previous home. I had a very specific colour pallete – which is mainly the colours you see on the 5 canvases above. Well, that all flew out the window with this room. But I have to say, I LOVE where it went; Colour galore.
I hung an outfit both boys wore when they were infants. I also framed one of Chaseyboy’s first toys – it was well loved as you can see ;) The cars prints are from IKEA as well as the white frames. The ‘love’ Chase painted a while back.
On top of the changing table: a cute pillow friend my mom made Chase two Christmases ago. I also put their basket of musical toys up high for special times when my ears can handle the banging symbols ;)We’ve barely used the changing table for what it is really for – to change kiddos. We mostly have used it for storage. I thrifted the baskets that hold Shailo’s jammies and paints/comfy clothes. The bottom drawer holds the awkward sized toys that can’t fit into bins very well.
Some art I made for the boys room with a few quotes I love.The pendant banner is made of felt + string. It was decor I made for Shailo’s 1st birthday party.
Clouds + Shailo’s 1st year painting! Didn’t his turn out super cute?! I absolutely LOVED these curtains from the moment I saw them in an IKEA catalog. They were a whopping $15. Notice, I didn’t actually hang them with a rod. I just simply hung them with pins! They have yet to be torn down and they’ve been up for months now.

We like to call this tent the little “pirate ship cove” because… as you can see… my little pirate-lovin’ Chaseyboy houses his ships here. He and I found the first pirate ship at a thrift store for $3 and at Christmas time this year, he was gifted 2 more pirate ships. WHOA. Thankfully both of my boys are super into pirates currently (Chase’s 4th birthday party is actually pirate themed – per his request!)

The boys cozy spot of the room. Side note: The boys room has the most beautiful natural light all. day. long. We all enjoy being in this room and I think that is a part of it. LOVE natural light.It is a blessing to have both a mother and a mother-in-law who are seriously gifted in sewing. My mom has made these cute little stuffed animals for each of our kiddos!

My MIL, Anisa, makes the most amazing quilts and blankets for the boys. This one beneath my feet was one she made right before Chase was born. The basket that holds their stuffed animals (seriously, don’t know how this happened, so many!) This is where Chaseyboy sleeps (you might remember, Shailo sleeps in our room, sometimes in his crib, mostly in our bed ;)) Chase has never had a beloved stuffed animal that he just can’t sleep without but this pillow case is his ‘must have’. Thankfully I have 2! The sock monkey blanket I thrifted and it fits for when he moves to a twin bed. The name banners I made with scrap fabric and twine. And the picture was a gift from my MIL! I spotted a smaller version at an antique mall and she surprised me and mailed this beauty to me. Brought me to tears. LOVE it.

Chaseyboy also “can’t sleep” without the “rain” of the white noise maker and his turtle that puts blue stars on his wall at nighttime.

Under Chasey’s bed is a mesh organizer (IKEA) that holds extra blankets and the bright bin (thrifted) holds his Dinosaur Train + characters)

Art wall. Love this so very much. From left to right: chalk pastel art by Chase framed in a thrifted, vintage frame, a ‘you are my sunshine’ canvas I painted on Eisley’s due date – for her, next is Chase’s 1st year canvas and some photos you’ll see up close below, next is another You are my sunshine canvas – this one for the boys. This AMAZING piece of art is one my sister, Abie, did. She took a photo of Chase and I and re-created it with, get this, ONLY the words ‘You are my sunshine’ over and over. Isn’t that AMAZING?!

Up close of each of the boys’ 1st year canvases.

Frames are from IKEA and the far right one is from Target. Photos: Chase and his friend Anthem at our Ugly Sweater Christmas Party, and then one of my FAVES of the boys from this summer – by a tractor, and another of the boys, dressed the same with a similar expression – at the Denver Aquarium.We’ve all seen the crayon art on Pinterest – when it was becoming popular, a mom’s group I was a part of in Fort Collins did it! It was actually a lot of fun, mine of course, was a sun for my “sunshines” :) Below that is Chase’s 3rd year canvas and 2nd year, above that is a small painted frame with an ultrasound photo of Shailo and above that is the quote “every cloud has a silver lining” that I printed offline a few years ago..

Some of the collected vintage toys are able to be displayed (and played with) on their bookcase. The little red, foam car up top was Chase’s very first car! It has now been chewed and torn up but it’s one I just can’t seem to throw away!

My MIL often brings us things Ted owned or made as a child. I LOVE THAT. She brought down these heavy wooden cars Ted made when he was little. This blue truck is one of them.
This dresser was really nothing special. So I decided to add green and star knobs from Hobby Lobby! The mesh blue hanging organizer I thrifted but found out it is actually from IKEA! It holds dress up things and sometimes toys and stuffed animals – depending on what Chase puts in it.From left to right: The little picture frame which holds the first photo of Chase and Shailo (when he first met his baby brother) was actually made by Ted when he was a kiddo! The other painted frame – Chase and his friend Anthem each painted one before his friend moved away to Georgia recently. It holds a photo of the boys in a tent at their first sleepover! The skateboard I thrifted when Chase was a baby (hope to made skateboard shelving when they are older) and the blocks spell out our boys’ middle names. To the right: close up of the alphabet lamp I thrifted.These little white shoes were Ted’s when he was a baby! Next to it is the Willow Tree ‘brothers’ figure I bought for Christmas and a gum ball machine I added thrifted glass marbles to.The closet is my LEAST favourite spot in this room and you can imagine why :) But I am thankful for this toy organizer.I thrifted both the toy organizer and this vintage shelving! I love the little vintage print with the train and fox.

I made this pinterest inspired organizers “for the boys” this Christmas. It has been a HUGE help. I bought the little wooden creatures from Hobby Lobby for around .50-.67 a piece. I painted the wooden door hangers, and used scrap fabric to hang them. The letters are foam stickers. And the ‘months’ was written with a silver sharpie marker.

Laundry basket from, you guessed it, IKEA. :)

As you exit, you’ll always see this little sign on the door. Yes, indeed :)

Annnnd… just to keep it real… YES, I did clean their room for the photos and this is actually what it looks like 90% of the time…

Have a happy Saturday and a wonderful Easter Sunday!

DIY kid’s art display

Posted on March 27, 2013 by colourherhope

I am excited to share a simple DIY to display your kiddos art, or really, whatever you’d like :) Last week, I had the boys’ art strung on a piece of yarn tied between thumb tacks. It worked, yes, but for some time I’ve wanted to create a better display and when I received gift cards to Hobby Lobby for my birthday, I found the perfect frames and began! It seriously takes no time at all! Stay, especially if you have a little artist on your hands :) (and please excuse the horrible lighting and quality of these photos… I may just be speaking to my photographer hubby who I know will see this ;))

Supplies used:

Frames (you could use a regular and painted one if you’d like) – I bought mine at Hobby Lobby for 40% off of $8 each

Paint – colour of your choice

Paint brushes

Glue gun

Mini clothes pins

Stickers (or a Cricut to cut out your own)

Step 1: paint and let it try

Step 2: Pick a word, quote or saying and place stickers

Step 3: Glue clothes pins (measure and mark ahead of time – so they are even. Mine aren’t because I didn’t think that through)

Step 4: Print photos and add to frames

Step 5: Hang and hang up kiddos artwork

The aprons - one was a gift for Chase and we recently painted it. Shailo’s was $1.19 on sale at Hobby Lobby!

It is fun to display their art in a place for them to admire or show daddy and friends who come by. When we take down the art – I am so that mom who saves everything but recently started using an app called ArtKive which is amazing!

Hope you are inspired

26.

Posted on March 23, 2013 by colourherhope

On my 16th birthday my family and friends threw me a surprise birthday. 10 years later, it happened again! I arrived at what I thought was a meeting to work on DIY projects for my dear friend, Chey’s, wedding and instead was shocked to find a small group of my friends (and momma and sister) there! Even a friend was “there” from afar via skype!

And oh my word, was I beyond blessed by them. They {each} took time at the part to create me 6×6 canvases for my craft room wall. Each canvas has truth, or a word or who they feel I am. I could cry even now as I think of them. birthday13 Best. gift. ever (especially for the craft-lovin’-girl I am ;)) photo-1

We also had wine with sorbet and played a little Hearthrob which was a blast. Many laughs. Early the next morning, we dropped the boys off with their Mimi (my mom) for the night and next day. We came home and Ted made me healthy breakfast burritos while I got ready.

When I saw I got ready, it didn’t end up looking any different than any other day (besides no little hands grabbing at my legs :)) I had {HOPED} with my whole heart – okay, a little dramatic, but really.. I had hoped curlers would work to help curl my hair, as my hair is as straight as a pin since I’ve had kiddos. It didn’t, but at least I tried to be a little fancier for Ted ;)

We ate and then headed out. Where? To downtown Denver, where Ted surprised me with a “getaway”!!

First, we ventured through the Denver Art Museum. This is one of my favourite photos from the weekend. It felt so good to laugh together like this again.This man… amazing. The Lord has brought us out of a super dark season the past few years, together. I couldn’t be more thankful for him and our Father for helping guide us (still a work in progress, but really, when isn’t a marriage?)A shot of Ted shooting the shot you see directly below him :)After the museum we tried Mad Greens for the first time. DELICIOUS! It is basically set up like a Chipotle or Qdoba but with salad choices instead! Definitely recommend if you have one near you.oh my heart ;)After we ate, we strolled around and grabbed an afternoon coffee before heading to our hotel for check in. I was STUNNED when I saw the hotel. It is the nicest hotel, besides our honeymoon in Cancun, that I’ve ever stayed in. I almost felt like I didn’t belong, honestly, but had to remind myself, this was a blessing and to accept it!
Right: view from our room, taken by Ted.A KING sized bed. Which further encourage my desire for a king so co-sleepin’ parents like us can have a little space ;)
We dropped our things off at the hotel and headed to 16th Street Denver to explore. We wandered around for a bit, just chattin’ and people watchin’. We decided we wanted to see a movie and visited a theatre that was “high in the sky”.

We ate a mediterranean style pizza at The Mellow Mushroom. The place was PACKED because it was St. Patty’s eve and holy. moly. Thankfully the waitress placed us in a (mostly) quiet corner, perhaps because we weren’t wearing green she thought maybe we didn’t want to be in the crowd ;) Ted and I sat and had a phenomenal conversation along with an amazing dinner. I appreciated this weekend especially because it gave us some time for deep, quality conversation which is hard to come by sometimes. We talked of our dreams, goals, where we hope to be, and what the Lord is speaking to each of our hearts currently – which meshed – and I can honestly say that was the first time in a few years that it has happened like this. I felt a part of me be sparked back to life, which might sound dramatic – but true.

SO.VERY.THANKFUL.

Our goober faces. Ted asked them for the highest room available – without extra charge, and we got a room on the 27th floor! We died laughing as we tried to point to the exact place we were staying. The photo of Ted is right. Mine, not so, “because I’m SO short he couldn’t get the angle right”, hehe.
After the movie and dinner and before the real St. Patty’s day craziness started, we headed back to our hotel. We watched the movie The Words, went down to the fancy shmancy bar and had a drink to relax. Went back to our room and I even took a bath and went to bed early. What?! ;)Night view from our room.The next morning out of habit, I woke early, well actually I did “sleep in” but that was 7:15am. I woke to find Ted reading as the sun was rising over the Denver skyscrapers.

(sugar in the raw was a little inside-flirt we had going on when we were dating. He would give me honey packets randomly, and I would give him sugar in the raw. It’s silly but a sweet memory and it was especially sweet to find packets at our table that morning!)

Ted and I ate breakfast at the hotel and I had a SUPER embarrassing moment. First, in my defense, I slept 8/9 hours straight, which I haven’t done in I have NO IDEA how long. I was a “zombie”, for lack of a better word. Also, the booths we sat in were super tall – so you really couldn’t see over them at the people next to you. And, it was a super fancy breakfast buffet, but of course, so even more embarrassing ;) Our waitress came and filled our waters and told us we could head up to the buffet. I was first in line and headed back to the table before Ted. I sat down and I waited, and waited, and waited. 15 minutes had passed and I couldn’t believe how long it was taking him. I was about to get up when our waitress came by, looked at me a little oddly and asked to fill my water. I handed my glass to her and thought it was odd that it was empty! I quickly realized I was at the WRONG table. And not only that, but when I stood to find our booth I saw Ted with his food at the table directly beside me. OH MY WORD. The worst part is our waitress didn’t find it one bit funny. Ted thought it was hilarious and I just wanted to crawl under the table.

Some people get too little sleep and can’t function, um, apparently I’m the opposite!

We left the buffet, walked around downtown Denver for a few hours, had lunch, checked out and then headed to IKEA, a camera store, and my first time ever, World Market where Ted bought me all of these globes ;) I kid.

For a couple who is horrible at scheduling consistent date nights, last weekend was definitely refreshing. It was also our first “getaway” since we’ve had kiddos. We’ve always talked about it, but to actually do it was so incredible!

With that being said, I recommend a getaway night or a few hours to any couple.

Thank you for the sweet birthday wishes everyone! You made 26 seem awfully special! :)

Moments – on living intentionally.

Posted on March 20, 2013 by colourherhope

My darling, always-on-the-go Shai has calmed and now sleeps peacefully beside me. His little chest rising and falling softly. His chubby belly peeking out from his shirt. Sleeping in his diaper with no pants, but of course. ;)

He is now 16-months-old… I truly feel as though I blinked and here we are. Once again, I’m left stunned at how fast time seems to be flying by!

Which is kind of fitting with what I’ve decided tonight to share tonight. Something that has been on my heart for some time now: time. Even before I became a mother, I have found prioritizing my time difficult. Now…definitely so. I’ve also struggled feeling guilty for doing things that I love and that recharge me, especially with the seemingly endless ‘to do” lists. In reading Organized Simplicity, I’ve found that a lot of these struggles, even my insecurities when it came to do things I that recharge me; like creating, were written out and the author, Tsh, was speaking to my heart;

“Well, here’s the thing – everyone has been allotted the same amount of time. We’re all given twenty-four hours per day. The only difference in time between one person and another is how each person chooses to spend those same hours. Everybody is given the same chance, time-wise, to pursue different things. We each choose to spend those hours in a variety of different ways. And because this means we’ve got finite time to do finite activities, it should be a given that we use that time wisely and intentionally.” – Tsh Oxenreider, Organized Simplicity

Wisely and intentionally.

Each moment of each and every day is valuable. Over the years and on nights like tonight, where I sit stunned that my baby is 16-months-old, I’ve come to realize this more and more.

Every moment is a gift and what we do with this gift is so important.

I have wasted many moments, hours and days even. To even think of what those wasted moments amount to makes my heart sad.

We all have the gift of these moments. We have the choice to use the moments we’ve been given to either give us life and reenergize us or to allow our moments to slip away from us, doing things that may seem like the “right” or appealing thing but in reality they wear us thin, they drain us and over time we realize they are robbing our lives.

How often do we choose to seek after things that aren’t life-giving? How often we let even the mundane steal from us?

They’re robbing us of the precious moments we’ve been given.

Obviously there are things to be done: dishes to wash, clothes to clean, floors to be swept… On top of minds to me nurtured, little knees or hearts to be mended, bodies to be nourished, arguments to be worked through, appointments to go to, jobs to work and bills to be paid…

These moments are our every day. They need to be taken care of, yes.

But what I’m speaking of the moments we’ve been given outside of what needs to be taken care of. You might be thinking, What moments? Who has those? Pause with me for a moment. I know that there are seasons/weeks/days that are overwhelmingly busy and out of our control in some ways. But I think it’s safe to say that each of us has some sort of “down time” or maybe we’ve unknowingly allowed our lives to be so busy when we don’t need them to be.

I have begun to see how powerful it is to say “no” to the things that aren’t truly bringing life to my family and “yes” to the things that are. (Please hear my heart. It is to challenge our way of thinking and to ultimately ENCOURAGE us, you. Please read on, friends.)

“There should be some sort of criteria through which every potential event should pass, and it should only be added to the family calendar when it passes with flying colours.” Tsh Oxenreider, Organized Simplicity

Of course this makes sense. It is just a matter of doing so!

And what about time to be recharged/refreshed/reenergized?

I’ll be the first to admit that it’s hard to find time to do the things the reenergize us. I have to be intentional. And when I am, I rarely regret it (and I only say ‘rarely’ because I get caught up in feeling guilty sometimes.)

For me personally, when I have a “free” moment, I usually chose to create something. It’s just the way I am wired. Just as my momma is wired to organize. She does it effortlessly and often. She maintains a clean home and an organized life. I look at her and wish I had that gene! But also, wonder how she does it because that isn’t my strength, it isn’t my gifting.

We’re each created uniquely – even down to what bring us life and reenergizes us. Organizing does {not} refresh me, usually. Creating, yes!

I often get comments to me, people wondering and asking how do I have time for this sort of thing, you know: creating, decorating, blogging, party planning, DIYs on the blog, ETSY, etc. I think for me personally, this is just a part of who I am. I have to be creating. It’s therapeutic for me, really. It helps bring me life and refreshes me.

Often when I hit publish on a crafty blog or photo post, I always hope that people will be inspired, or understand my heart in sharing. That I won’t be misunderstood. I know that isn’t reality, because the truth is, we all view the things we see and hear through our own filters. Even sometimes through our own insecurities. I’ve come to realize that maybe the comments I’ve heard in regards to ‘how I have time to create or to do the things the refresh me’, maybe it is because we’ve come to a place where we feel that it’s a luxury. A luxury to do the things we love, creating or reading or exercising or whatever refreshes YOU. And that too makes my heart so sad because I know that you can do it. I believe you, too, could do the things you love and that bring you life.

Make it a priority. Set time aside. Plan ahead.

“There’s a big difference between intentional downtime and spacing out, and in a contest, intentional downtime wins hands down. We should recharge our batteries, relax, and get refreshed doing those things we love best.”

I get to make a lot of choices in a day. Choices with what to do with each moment. It’s like what Tsh talks about: intentional downtime or spacing out. The choice is ours to make time and the choice is ours how we spend that time.

I could choose to create, or to write, or to read, or exercise or I could veg out and kill time watching a show or surfing social media sites (I do both, unfortunately more of the social media than I’d like to admit!)

I hope you have “heard my heart” tonight. I hope you know I am by NO MEANS saying, How dare you sit on your bum on the couch and watch a show? Or surf facebook. Or pin on pinterest (um, hello, it’s me talking here). No, no, no.

I just know for myself personally, Setting aside time to do the things you love and that refresh you.

It is LIFE GIVING.

What if we paused and reevaluated our lives and what kinds of things are using up our moments? What are we allowing to fill our days? Are they things that need to be done or perhaps we have things that are robbing precious moments for us? Even the “christiany” things we might do out of habit, take a moment and ask God! Perhaps a quiet time painting or art journaling (okay, that’s totally right up MY alley, but maybe for you that looks different!)

What if we reevaluated in a way that we have allowed time to do the things that bring us life and refresh us? That bring healing to our hearts and minds? I wonder what kinds of things we could accomplish feeling reenergize and refreshed. Feeling healed instead of broken and weary and like we’ve blinked and time is flying by but we can’t exactly say where it’s gone.

i’m on a kick…

Posted on March 13, 2013 by colourherhope

An ogranizing kick, that is.

Now, before you shake your head or grow envious… listen on (and hopefully be inspired!)…

I STINK at it naturally, so I’ve needed a little bit of help on that front. I’ve had two {wonderful} helpers lately… My BEAUTIFUL and seriously amazing mother who last year started Ragamuffin Cleaning and Organizing. Well, she decided to come by my house to do some ‘before and afters’.

That kinda tells you how bad I am at organizing, right? :)

My other help has been this amazing book. I want to go through every nook and cranny in our house and get rid of things. ME. The queen of hoarding every little nostalgic thing, the crafter who has a hard time throwing away anything – I mean, most everything has the potential to be created or used in some creation! ;) Yes, this girl… makes wants to get rid of things. The book is that amazing. It helped me get a head start before my madre came down for the weekend. Ted and I started in February and began purging – but when I say purging I really mean piling EVERYthing we wanted to get rid of into a HUGE pile in our office … and our closet. But hey, it was a start.

That quickly came to a halt.

My miracle working momma came down and helped me figure out exactly where to go from there.

Behold…

She helped bring Ted’s side of the office from chaos to calm.

(note: vintage cameras hung, the final shelf to the right actually fell and busted one of them, Bah!)
She helped bring our closet from cluttered to clean.

She turned my side of the office from a huge burden to a place of freedom.

And then I took off on my own from there and organized my space into what I wanted it to be. I LOVE it and it’s now my favourite place in the house.

We spent all Saturday working on our ~~junk room~~ office and even had time to work on our kitchen! I had to share this photo because I know a lot of momma’s who might be able to use some ideas to turn the toddler-dish-madness into something that brings back some sort of sanity. I found these beautiful organizers at Target.

One thing that is SO disheartening it throwing away food. UGH, right?! This morning as I unloaded our groceries I had enough. My first thought to help organize our fridge was ducktape. Yes, seriously. HA! I opened our junk drawer to get the tape and a marker and saw a dry erase marker. PERFECTION! I labeled the drawers full, which is our main problem area. And also noticed it works on tupperware! WOOT.

side note: you can buy a 17pc pack of tupperware at IKEA for a whopping $5!

Ted has been juicing for a month now and while I love it, let’s be honest, the fruits and veggies rolling all over the counter, not so much. My mom and I stumbled upon this beaut at IKEA last week. How perfect is this!? We about this frame, plus the white top and the mix and matched drawers for $50 total. AMAZING. Defintely recommend! And yes, my boys do get into this, especially on the days they notice us stocking it with fresh fruits and veggies. Chase today wanted to “play Veggie Tales” and grabbed a tomato and cucumber. Shailo, he just puts toys in the baskets. Oh yeah, and eats a bite out of some of them. ;) But for the most part they stay out of the bins.

side note: the bird placemat came in a pack of 4 for $3 – IKEA

I truly hope you are inspired (especially as ‘spring cleaning’ weeks are about to begin)!

That is always my hope whenever you take the time to stop by Colour Her {Hope}!

Simple home decor

Posted on March 10, 2013 by colourherhope

Today’s DIY decor is a piece of art for those who need simple and quick …and a plus, reasonably priced!

Supplies used:

8×10 frame – Wal-Mart Mainstays frame under $2.

scrap book paper

flashcard (could use a photo or a quote as art)

paper cutter

1 piece of tapeDIY:

1. trace mat from the inside of the frame to size the paper correctly

2. cut

3. place inside frame

4. tape art on5. hang frame and you’re done! So many possibilities.

Hope you’re inspired!

Happy Sunday!

Bits + pieces: whale themed bathroom (plus a few DIYs)

Posted on March 5, 2013 by colourherhope

When I learned our new home would have not one, but two bathrooms, I was pretty excited. This meant the boys would share a bathroom of their own … and so would any guest visiting… and you know me, decorating opportunities :) At the time of our move Chaseyboy was really into whales. Now it is whales and sharks and octopus and squids and sea turtles… pretty much any aquatic life, he loves. He also loves ships, pirate ships, sail boats, etc. So this theme really fit well with the little heart and personality of my biggest boy. I am so glad I went with a whale theme and am excited to show you. It has taken me a year to get it all in place but it’s been a lot of fun!

Ted snapped a few shots of Chase playing pirates on evening. I found them super fitting and snagged a few of them and some of his shots of the boys hanging out in the tub too.

UPDATE: The narwhal print is a simple DIY I share here.

The whale print is a free printable created by I Rock So What and the Be Unafraid print from Lansdowne Life and it’s horrible but I can’t find where I got the You Are My Sunshine print! (I’ll keep looking and keep ya posted.)

Vintage books I found on a few trips to a local used book store!

Simple decor – whale chip board piece + mason jar.

A whale spout and bath toy bag, but of course :) Also, not pictured is their whale bath tub mat.

Finding this ombre whale shower curtain (via Urban Outfitters) was a huge hit. It became the inspiration for our colour pallete.

Whale soap dispenser (that’s missing the little spout and is now decoration :)) found at Target.

Cutest $1 Target find :) I only regret not buying 2!
If you follow me on IG, you know I have taken quite a few pictures of my kiddos in the bath tub. Well, now ya know why! Instant decor, thanks to Printstagram!
Chase loves and anchors and I love this verse. Perfect fit!

Canvas + paint + sharpie only!Mini clothespins – Wal-Mart under $2

It is fun seeing such silly and sweet memories of the boys every day – dating all the way back to Shailo’s baby bath times in the sink tub.

Some easy DIYs:
Hobby lobby has quite the cute selection of these little guys! Robots, pirate ships, mermaids, animals, cars, etc. And for $.70 and under! I just hot glued them to a painted canvas.

I actually realized {after} I had readied my paint, that my paint brushes were MIA. All those besides sponge brushed which I knew wouldn’t work. So, silly as it seems, I painted with my fingers! Hehe :)

I just want to end with this… it doesn’t have to take a few hours, or a week to decorate a space in your home. Take time here and there and after a while you will come to find you’ve created a beautiful place. Piece by piece.

I’ve come to realize that I post things people sometimes think it was either a quick or a time consuming thing. It doesn’t have to be. Like this bathroom and like many things in our home and in our lives, they are ever evolving. Hope you are INSPIRED and never ever discouraged when you read/see things I’ve created or have done. I do not have my life figured out. I am not super mom. I have a disaster of a house as I sit here at 11:30 pm at night. Dishes piled high, living room a wreck, piles of laundry waiting to be cleaned. ETC. It’s really endless, it is. I guess where I am going with this is that just because I often share DIYs or photos of a trip here or there, etc. It doesn’t mean I have my life figured out. No way. I hope that you can always see my heart in sharing and that I ALWAYS hope to inspire creativity, authenticity and to encourage the hearts of others – even in sharing DIYs or sharing my heart vulnerably.

Uh – oh, I feel another blog post coming on in regards to this! Yep. Soon!

365 grateful {weeks 5 & 6}

Posted on March 3, 2013 by colourherhope

Just playin’ some catchup on my grateful project. What are some things that you are grateful for?

Here are some things I have been thankful for the past few weeks.
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For snuggles with my 3.5-year-old. I love his heart and that he’s always been a softie and a cuddle-bug.

61735_10151297013676989_1160481773_n For a day time “hang out” with our friends in Georgia (via Skype) and an evening with my dear friend, Chey. 426510_10151298400466989_295352741_n

For this. I’ve prayed for this for a long time. I now just pray that this is really more than a “kick” and we can stick with eating more clean. Slowly gaining knowledge which has helped a ton. And the best part is my love and I …we’re doing this as a team!

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For him and how he makes our life so much more fun and imaginative… my little pirate found a treasure chest at the aquarium and it made his day! This boy. Oh my heart.

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For words that help my heart. I am thankful for little reminders like this. And I’m also thankful for my friends who reminded me of truth when I was/am struggling to believe.

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He woke us before the sun to tell us of the pirate show he saw with Mimi (and then asked me to take a picture of him and his spyglass :))

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Thankful that even if I totally screw it up, they’re love and affection is unconditional. I could learn a lot from them.

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For moments like this. Even on an extra fun-filled day (Valentine’s Day) these are my favourite moments.

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Thankful for grace, grace, grace and that my trip to the DMV and the post office with boy my boys was so much easier than I had anticipated. 72920_10151314739231989_1881986798_n

Do I even need to say anything? ;) He has the CUTEST Chaseyboy smile. Adore. 537079_10151321424966989_980067611_n

For quality time out with my love.
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For this. Washing these 2-3 times a day doesn’t upset me but makes my heart so happy and so proud of Ted!

554233_10151325076351989_444067945_n Watching my siblings love on my kiddos and my kiddos love on my siblings. This always makes my heart so full. Can’t wait to someday have nephews and nieces to adore!
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Dinner with friends we hadn’t seen in some time. Does our hearts good! Enemy likes to fool us (I’m sure we aren’t the only ones) into believing we’re truly alone. Wrong-o. We’ve got an incredible group of friends here – and all around the world, really!

A great way to end my weekend, looking back on the things I have to be grateful for in the weeks past and looking forward to what’s ahead.

What was your weekend like?

bits + pieces: our bedroom

Posted on February 17, 2013 by colourherhope

Confession: in any of the homes we’ve lived in during our 5.5 years of marriage, this is the first home in which I fully decorated our bedroom! I realized that it is kind of our oasis and it tends to be overlooks and usually is our messiest room of the house. The “catch all”.

Well, when we moved into this house (almost a year ago) I said I would make it just that: an oasis. In the fall we swapped our master bedroom (our largest bedroom in the house) with our office/craft room (smallest bedroom) so we could be near Chase’s room which at the time we were across the house from him.

Over the past few years I’ve slowly collected this or that “vintage” or “eclectic” specifically for our room. This weekend I finally “finished” the basic decorating in our bedroom. Here are bits + pieces of what our little room looks like…

This dresser is from my mother’s childhood. I absolutely love it and even though there are all kinds of tutorials for how to update old dressers, I just can’t bring myself to do it. Love it the way it is. I found the old springs on the side of the road and for now it holds Ted’s ties. I have a another plan for this, but it’ll take me a little more time. (the closet space is actually used to store things, so it is nice because we rarely have to get into it)

Brass lion heads…Love ‘em.
The inside of this beautiful vintage frame was actually fabric that had water damage. The fabric texture felt like canvas so I tried painting it a spa blue and was thrilled to see it worked! Also, don’t you just LOVE the details of this frame?

Right before Ted and I began dating, I made him this shadow box for his birthday. When we started dating I noticed he has dried and kept a small flower I had given him months before. BAH, love that he’s sappy-sweet like that :) He’s kept this shadow box over the years, it has even survived a fall onto tile!
I found chevron print curtains on Urban Outfitters that I loved, however, the price… not so much. So I decided to make my own! I was so excited to find a chevron print to go with our bedroom!
This beauty (that currently holds our towels and guest blankets, etc) cost me $20 at a garage sale! In our previous home it was used as a pantry since we didn’t have an actual pantry. The umbrella is from Thailand. The frame was thrifted and painted. The pallet behind, of Jesus’ hands, was a gift. The ‘D’ still needs to be spray painted to look metal, but for now… :)

The old books are mine: a book of poems and an old Streams in the Desert and My Utmost for His Highest. The amazing old jar was filled with glass marbles (which are used as decor in the boys room in an old gum ball machine) only cost me $4!

This old door I picked out of someone’s trash. The neighbors near them stared awkwardly as I lifted this BEAST of a door into my mini van. I have no regrets, I love her, broken glass and all. I have a plan for this as well… just for now, she simply holds a broken but pretty wreath! (The ONLY red in our bedroom is on this wreath. For those of you who’ve followed my blog or know me at all, you know this is huge. You could say, I’m typically a red-aholic. Teal – or more specifically here – spa blue, you cannot keep me away from apparently ;))

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(above: older photo of our bed and headboard hence the different lighting :)

Headboard made from a room divider I bought at a garage sale for $5. I just added chalkboard paint and our ‘You + me’ banner.

I would still love to add some more photos but I am so very thrilled to have wedding photos hung! WHAT? It has only taken me 5.5 years haha

It is a work in progress but I must say this feels pretty good to have it oasis-like instead of our grungy-catch-all room!

Thanks for popping by, hope you are inspired by our room tour!

bits + pieces: Valentines Day

Posted on February 16, 2013 by colourherhope

I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for Valentine’s Day :) Here are bits + pieces from ours…

Chase and I made heart pancakes. I had seen an idea on Pinterest to use some sort of pancake pen but I used a ziplock baggie and snipped on small corner to “draw” the pancakes onto the skillet. SUPER FUN!

Chase + 2 babies + red washable paint (yikes!) + toilet paper rolls = a HUGE mess and a whole ‘lotta fun :) And of course, Shailo had to taste test it. pirate, monkey (or ewok) and fishy. bath time after a messy craft time.

“Oh my gosh, did I just say I love you out loud?” ValentinesDayCollage5

(Ted is going to CRINGE majorly when he sees these photos hehe) I also took our traditional ‘paper hearts’ photoshoot. This year was SO difficult. I couldn’t get my camera on the right settings in time for the boys to sit still so I went with what I could. The photoshoot lasted maybe 3 minutes, haha! Last year we had Ted home and this year was … interesting hehe… it was fun though. I just let them do whatever (when I realized having “control” was making it worse) and snapped what I could :) ValentinesDayCollage1 ValentinesDayCollage2 ValentinesDayCollage6

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my babies last year and yesterday
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(sorry for the quality and colouring bahaha) I CANNOT believe how fast this little dude has grown over the years. OH MY HEART.

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a little gift for mi madre

Dinner with my little loves and my momma who came for a “fancy” fish Valentine’s Day dinner. (Ted was asked to photograph Devotchka!)

sweet, simple, pretty from my love.

Hope that you feel loved always.

xx, Jami

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