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our playroom mural
This post is sponsored by Ace Hardware
I received compensation and product, but all opinions and
content are my ownwhen we fixed up the playroom / the studio last year i was sooo happy with it, but the giant wall you see straight on when you enter the room always felt sort of challenging to me. i tried a few different pieces of art and eventually decided to just paint a cute simple canvas to hang– but overall it still felt … underwhelming to me. so finally i decided to add an easy mural to the wall to make it feel really special in here. my mom had a window with a teeny far away castle painted in my bedroom as a kid and i will never forget it. i used to stare at it every night before i went to bed. it’s those special things that mean so much to kids, so i really hope arlo always remembers this sun fondly (and while we’re at it maybe all of the projects i’ve done for him over the years lol)
i teamed up again with Ace Hardware, and i’ve always been so happy working with them– but this time they sent me a sample color from their 2020 color trends, vanilla chai by clark+kensington (N-W9), and it was actually so perfect for me so i just used that without hesitation! it’s the perfect peachy neutral that is basically my dream paint color (ps i used it in the parents bedroom of arlos dollhouse i’m working on too!)
painting a fun accent wall or mural can feel daunting, especially if you aren’t the most artistic, so it helps to come up with an easy design like this. i was brainstorming lots of challenging ideas and intricate murals, but am so glad i went with something simple. this only took me roughly two naps to complete and i barely needed help from gid whatsoever!
while we’re all stuck at home, a project like this is the perfect creative project. idk about you but if i have a creative outlet i’m working on, it always helps me get through things. i can’t remember the last day of quarantine i wasn’t working on something haha.
so before i get into how i painted the giant sun, here is a reminder of what the wall looked like before!
ok not to toot my own horn but WOW I REALLY LOVE IT!!!! lol. it just feels so happy in here now. it’s clearly hand painted but i sort of love that.Read More
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fathers day gift guide
this post is in partnership with manscaped
fathers day is right around the corner and i’m keeping up with the content this year!! even if things where you are happen to open up by fathers day– i’m still focusing mostly on staying at home for this gift guide! and since shipping is taking so long these days i thought i’d share as early as i could. here are some things that i verified with gid he would love lol. Read More
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super easy strawberry galette
arlo has been a liiittle less into baking lately, so i’ve been trying to come up with really quick recipes to keep him interested. i’ve never made a fruit pie before, so i’m v intimidated, but a galette seemed way easier — and if you make with store bought pie dough, then it literally takes 10 minutes!!
AND the best part of this recipe was that arlo was able to do almost every step on his own. i barely helped!! i’m so proud.
i always err on the side of easy so store bought dough is A-OK with me, but since this is sooo easy, i’m thinking next time i want to try making the dough and maybe trying a fruit pairing too.
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how to do neutral tie dye
seems to be a quarantine rite of passage to tie-dye and you know i’m all about trying to stay cool lol. we’ve actually been tie dying for years (we even almost started a side biz selling tie dye swaddles when we first had arlo but never followed through lol). but we haven’t done in so long so i was really excited to see the results were still cool! it’s always so risky because unless you’re an expert, you’re basically just winging it and hoping it turns out not ugly. i love tie dye of all varieties but am loving how subtle and neutral these ones turned out. so i hope my instructions and video help if you want to try it out yourself!
and of course we had to take a family portrait in our matching tie dye…
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sesame street collage puppet craft
arlo definitely gets more excited about a craft when it’s themed around something he loves, so when i suggested we make elmo and grover he was immediately into it. this project was super easy and took up an entire pre-nap block of the day and he never got bored and left during it either!
definitely finding that the projects that require less setup prior to him getting involved are better for both of us. Read More
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pretty everything : stylish dinnerware for kids
this roundup took me a while because i wanted to include plates for lil babies and bigger toddlers, and i wanted to do cups and flatware because WHY NOT!!?!
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quarantine essentials from public goods
this post is in partnership with public goods
i get a lot of questions about public goods and what my favorite items are, so i’m happy to have it live on my blog permanently! their products are not only super useful, they’re also sustainable and extremely inexpensive. so now more than ever i’m really loving their store and all the very crucial items they sell.
obviously the initial attraction to public goods was their packaging design because i’d never seen such utilitarian simple shampoo and toothpaste bottles, but now they have expanded to cleaning, food, sanitary products, etc. and since the prices are so reasonable you can try a bunch of them without spending a lot. i’ve almost never browsed through the site without wanting to try at least 5 things.
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stylish outdoor folding lounge chairs
my brother-in-law recently asked me if i knew of some modern looking lawn chairs, so i started looking and as always, got too invested. since it’s warming up and we’re stuck at home, here are all my favorites in case you need some for your backyard!
image source
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diy shoebox puppet theatre (with free printable puppets)
so excited about how this little project turned out! we started making some popsicle stick puppets recently for arlo so i thought a whole little stage would be really fun. i left the inside of the box white but it could be fun to make different backgrounds to swap out.
i had gid draw these guys, they are some of arlos favorite animals, the most fun part is you can print them and have your kids color them in so its like they made the puppets. kids are so obsessed with taking credit aren’t they? arlo sometimes claims he made our dinner when he wasn’t even there lolll.
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diy cardboard collage picture frames
a perfect easy craft to make for all the grandmas, i designed these for instax pictures and cut them so that you can swap out the photo (i often like to include a photo when we send my mom cards so she can theoretically rotate them in this frame) Read More
