Home is Where You Hang Your Tutu

I have been on a decorating kick lately... the need to clean, rearrange, paint is pulling at me. We are very lucky in that even though we rent our house, we have a pretty free rein to paint and decorate. Every year when our lease is up we talk about living somewhere else and we stay because it is a great house on a really nice street in a city we love.

sitting on the steps, watching the kids play

 Still, there are always things about the house that we wish we could change- the teeny backyard that is too small for a swingset, one bathroom (that is going to be a HUGE issue in a few short years with 3 girls & myself in the house), a garage that is too small to fit the van, and a sidewalk that is butt up against the street.

Well, a good friend of mine and I were talking the other day and she mentioned that she would love to move and just rent out her house. She then jokingly said that we should rent her house! Um... yes please!!!!  It just so happens that she has an awesomely big house complete with a ginormous backyard, a laundry room that is not in a scary basement, 2 full baths, and a room that serves as an office/family room.... love, love, and more love.

She is looking to move in the spring, which is when our lease is up- again perfect! Let's just say that we met a couple years ago and everything just flows between us, from Usborne to having our kids play together. It was meant to be!

So, I am not going to make any more changes to our current house in the expectation that there is a gooood chance that we will not be here past April. But, I am seeing inspiration for the rooms everywhere! (I just saved a vanity table from the trash and am trying to find the perfect color to paint it!) Here are some decorating things that I am loving:

                                Source: twinkiechan.com via Connie on Pinterest

How easy is this? 

Just take a wooden base, a cheap garden decoration, glue them together then spray paint!

                                                                        Source: remodelingcenter.com via Connie on Pinterest

Maybe I can get the hubby to go along with these colors...

and oh the backyard that I would have!!!!

Source: 4.bp.blogspot.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

Source: punkrockbarbiedoll.tumblr.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I love this idea of movies hanging out in the backyard!!

So yeah, that is what is on my mind... I am so excited and hope that everything works out and we can get into a space that is more suitable for us. Happiness!

Tons of Creative Bubbles Today!

So today is one of those days where my mind is going a mile a minute. I am thinking about all the career stuff in my life- dance, dance photography, homeschooling, caring for other children, etc. Along with that I am really thinking about the June craft show... need to get in gear for that and decide which products I want to sell. Then my mind drifts to my blog and how I really want to up the amp on this space that I call mine. I want it to look professional but still be "me"- colorful, quirky, and slide into my Etsy store.

The problem is though that I have no clue where to begin. I want to get rid of the ".blogspot.com" and have my own web address, have a design that is fitting and all my own, and be able to edit it as needed. So..... if you see some funky things going on here, don't panic... I am just trying to find a groove that is all me!!

(Oh. and take a peek at this AWESOME idea for a mobile.... I love how versatile it is to change the look with the seasons and the possibilities! More photos and details over at Crooked House!)

New Baby Bed

Well, this was a good weekend all in all. Poor Klint got the big "snip, snip" and was on the couch playing video games most weekend, the girls and I went to the zoo with some awesome friends, and Miss Moira got a bedroom makeover.

It seems that Moira does not care to sleep in a crib... at all. Yet the little toot will sleep through the night on our bed next to me and even naps like a champ on our platform bed by herself. So the logical thing for us to do is take down her crib and set up a floor bed, Montessorri-esque style. And lucky for us she loves it!!!

Her room is pretty warm and to combat the hardwood floor in her room, we set a rug and her sheepskin rug next to the mattress just in case Moira decided to roll off. Seriously, she is about an inch and a half off the ground so I am not too concerned. The only thing left to do is to lower her birdie mobile so that it isn't so far up. Instead of putting a mirror along the wall for her to look at, for now I took some decals from AJ and Gabby's room and made a little woodland nook for Moira to look at. The tree is tall enough that she looks up and then she can see her mobile. When we set her down she laughed and looked very happy... then proceeded to go to sleep!! Love it!

Easy Bird's Nest Wreath

Even though it is still wintery here in Cleveland, I am pushing for Spring-ish type weather sooner than later! Here is a how-to for a super easy and really cute bird's nest wreath for your door.

Materials:
2 large grapevine wreaths, one slightly smaller than the other
some decorative moss
fake flowers , smaller ones work better or ones that drape
large wooden eggs
paint
hot glue
floral wire

How To:
1. Paint the eggs, make sure you varnish and dry completely. I made mine sort of realistic, but you can either use pastels or even chalkboard paint so you can write on them!! 
2. Lay the wreaths with the smaller one inside the larger one.
3. Using floral wire, secure the wreaths together, forming a nest.
4. Hot glue the flowers where you want them, I placed mine to go on either side of where my eggs were going to go.
5. Hot glue as much moss as you want around your wreath, put a large piece were the eggs are going to be set.
6. Using a generous amount of hot glue, glue the eggs into position once they are dry.
7. Hang and enjoy!

Voila! You now have yourself a super cute Springtime wreath!!!

Some Tuesday Luvin'

Happy Tuesday Folks! While getting ready for our first family vacation EVER I am busy packing clothes for the Littles, making some adorable felt finger puppets, and gathering fun ideas for the Homeschooler and the others for Thursday's St. Patrick's Day celebration. Here are some pretty neat things I have found around the web:



I have conquered Rainbow Pancakes, Rainbow Cupcakes, and lots of other rainbow goodies... but these Rainbow Waffles just make me smile!


And after you are done with all the rainbow and green goodies, hop over here to find out how to make these very "bunny" Marshmallow Bunny Plushies... super cute!


Speaking of plushies, if bunnies aren't quite your cup of tea, how about these easy peasy Plush Whales? (Can you tell that my kids have a ton of plushies thanks to tutorials like these?!)

If playing with plushies aren't your kids style, what about these awesomely terrific Dragon Tails for playing pretend with? My kids are dying for me to make some ever since they saw the tutorial up on the computer!!


Ok, enough of the kiddy stuff!! I am itching to put something new on our door for Spring and I think that a Moss Covered Wooden Letter, maybe adorned with a birdie nest and eggs, would be perfect. Get the how-to here... =)


Well, that's about it.... gotta love procrastination ala web-surfing! What are you making this week?

Miss M's Nursery is DONE!

 Well the finishing touches on Miss M's nursery are finally up and I could finally take some photos of her pretty room. We decided not to have a set theme, just a lot of colors, fabrics, and of course things made with love by Mommy! I would say that over 75% of this room is handmade and that nothing in it was brand new, but refurbished. I love how all the colors work together from the bright pinks and reds to the softer blue on the walls.

Sunny nursery!

Rocker and the lingerie chest with all her clothes... found on Craigslist. 

The nursing and reading nook!
We got the tutorial for the book sling from here. 

Poster designed by moi!

I made this last night, I had to use this awesome bunting paper I found at Pat Catans! 

Playing area with sheepskin rug from Ikea!

I added some pretty rhinestones to this plain wood hanger ,
a perfect way to display her coming home outfit. 

Here is Miss M's finished birth box.
It is felt lined and has a pocket for special papers.
Inspired by this one! 

Bunting Quilt that started the whole "theme" of the room!
Great tutorial found here!! =)

 Well that is it! All it needs now is a baby in it and the room will be complete! There are lots of other touches that I didn't photograph like the polar bear themed board books, the night lights from Target, and such, but you get the general idea!! If you want to know anything else about the room let me know.... all I know is that I LOVE how it turned out!!

A Girly Halloween Tutu Wreath!

Didn't it turn out cute?! 

All it took was an 18inch straw wreath, some cute ribbon, and lots of tulle... easy peasy!

There are some variations out there where the tutu goes all the way around,

but I wanted it to be more "ballet-like". 

(You need 3 yards of tulle in each color for the amount that you see on my wreath!)

The List 9.12.10

Hello friends!
 Is everyone as glad as I am that the heat finally broke and there are signs of fall everywhere? This is going to be a busy week for us here at Casa de Krebs, we have the girls birthday party this Saturday, I have dance classes to teach, and so much more. Here are some fun links to get your week started on the right foot:

Packing Gabby's lunch everyday and making it fun enough to get her to eat everything is quite the challenge. I love putting her stuff in fun boxes like this one so nothing mixes up and stays neat!

There are some days though that she would like to buy, but my biggest worry is that she will lose her lunch money and be hungry all day. I am definitely going to make her one of these nifty money cuffs to keep her money close!

Even though Poptarts aren't exactly the healthiest snack, I still love them. I might like them even better when they are homemade and on a stick. You can snag the recipe here and boy, does it look easy!

I love decorating my front door with wreaths and such for the different seasons. Here are some fun ones I have spotted lately:
Halloween Ribbon Wreath
Book Page Fall Wreath
Halloween Head Wreath
Corn Husk Wreath
Trick or Treat Wreath

Even though this tutorial is for a super cute dry erase board, it is the candy corn bunting that has caught my eye... you can expect a tutorial for that coming up in the next week!!! (I am a sucker for bunting, you all know that!)

Speaking of candy corn, how about some candy corn soap from this Etsy seller? Yummo!

Soon enough the school parties will be starting and of course Gabby will take in something cute for her friends... how about some fun candy apple cupcakes and homemade Playdough?

There is so much I want to accomplish, big and small. How to keep track of all those aspirations and make it look pretty too is the question. These graceful butterflies that have my goals on them are just the think for my craft/dining room!

Finally, yes I know it is early, but I am already thinking ahead to Christmas since my usual shopping schedule will be interrupted this year by an early Christmas present! I love shopping on Etsy for stocking stuffers and such for the girls.... I think this year they will find a little mouse in their stocking from this store!

Well, there ya go! Have a great rest of the weekend and a pleasant Monday!!

Scrappy ABC Art

Today is definitely a day for new discoveries. First I found a new craft blog (like I need more inspiration and craft ideas?!) called The Crafting Chicks. OMG do they have AWESOME ideas for everything from back to school to home crafts.... and all the tutorials are beautifully written and easy to follow.

Well, in searching the past posts I stumbled across a very cool idea for some ABC art using these girly scrappy alphabet cards from Sweet Shoppe Designs. (There is a boy version as well here!) So all I did was buy the images (all of $3.99), open a blank 16x20 document on Photoshop, and arranged the cards until everything looked nice. Viola! A one of a kind poster for Miss M's room that goes beautifully with the decor and adds some visual interest to the space....

An Anthropological Discovery

I usually am not an Anthropologie shopper, especially for home decor. (Pottery Barn type of stuff is my usual cup of tea) But I was checking out their site after seeing a cool tutorial for a tank knockoff here and fell in LOVE with a few things....

This quilt is calling my name... the colors and the Gypsy feel of it... 

Our old house had these awesome maple leaf knobs on all the cabinets...

I think this house needs some crabs in the kitchen!

I think meditating on this rug would be sooo much fun!

Strawberries.... in French... need I say more?

Yes, it is a shower curtain! And would make me want to dance every time I got clean! 

So there ya have it... I may be spending all my fortune at Anthroplogie if I ever win the lottery...

Where would you spend all your fortune to decorate your nest? 

Sneak Peek at Miss M's Nursery

♥♥♥ This!

I ♥ this!

Lol, perfect for Miss M's room...

If you want one and don't feel like making it yourself, click here...

p.s.- the whole shop is as adorable.... budget beware!

Dear Polyvore, I ♥ You!

So remember the blog banner that I created for fellow December mommy Amy last week or so? The cool one with real furniture and such? Well I am not kicking myself because l have discovered a website that would have made that whole process sooooo much easier. Hello Polyvore!

Polyvore is a genius site for fashionistas and interior designers alike. Forget searching for hours for the perfect photo of a desk on a white background, look no further to put that perfect outfit together, and if you think your BFF needs a makeover you can send her some awesome outfit suggestions that will make her swoon with delight!

This website it totally FREE, soooo easy to use, and if you type what you are looking for like "pink desk" you get results a lot faster. Better yet, there are contests that feature some of the most creative users where the winner receives actual prizes! The current contest is a feature of Tacori Diamonds, a very fine jeweler, and the winner gets a pair of Barbados Blue earrings!!!

Whether you are really into fashion (you can search by designer too!), enjoy redecorating your home, or just like to put together "looks", this site it totally for you.

(If you want to see some of my creations, here is my current list of "projects"!)

Baby Bunting Quilt

I finally started getting together some decorating ideas together for Miss M's room this weekend including fabric embroidery hoops, a pretty embroidered muslin growth chart, and a modge-podged inital. But today I found a project that takes my love of fabric, bunting, and quilts to a whole new level!

Check this BEAUTIFUL quilt tutorial out thanks to A Pretty Cool Life!

I love that I can use all my scrap fabric for this and that it will match the decor of the room perfectly.

Even better is that it uses flannel in the middle instead of batting to cut down on the thickness.
Sigh... I can't wait to get going on this! The tutorial is SUPER easy, even a beginner could handle this without a problem. She even shows you how to make your own bias tape if you wanted to! Genius I am telling you!
I think that I may even make mine a bit bigger so that I can cuddle with Miss M under it... Well, now you know what I will be doing this weekend!

P.S.- And if you don't feel like sewing one of these quilts yourself, hop over to Cheryl's shop on Etsy and buy one! (But don't blame me if you end up also buying a pretty apron, some sweet smelling sachets, and a few bean bags!)