Gallery Wall

I am fairly close to being done with a project I started oh, well, a year or more ago.  ;-)

I decided that since we live in a split level house, and a fair amount of my time is spent going up and down the many levels of stairs we have, I wanted something nice to look at while doing all of this up and down.  Making a gallery wall is something I've been wanting to do for a while now, and I did my research.

I found there are many ways of doing a gallery wall - yet there are no rights and wrongs.  All personal preference.  Many people choose perfect symmetry and all of the same frames, some people choose all the same frames but an asymmetrical layout, and some people choose neither!  That's me.  The walls I found I loved in magazines and online (in other peoples blogs and on pinterest) were the ones that used many different frames, and didn't have a specific layout in mind.

Here's what I've come up with so far - there are a few empty spots that I haven't found either the right frame for, or the right picture.  Enjoy!  I have had a lot of fun doing this.......the bummer is that when we move out of here someday I'm going to have to recreate this elsewhere.  Wait - that's not really a bummer.  Who am I kidding, I love to organize and create!

In other news.....while I was working on this project, here are the projects my kids were working on.  Gotta love it when you leave them to their own devices.

Griffin stole Gemma's new teaset and was having a teaparty in the hall with his 'friends.'  AAAAdorable.

Gemma got busy with a full box of kleenex.  Good times.

Storage Solutions

Happy 2012 everyone!

I normally do not make New Years Resolutions (such as 'work out every day') because they are not easily kept.  However this year I decided to make an easy resolution that can be worked on a little here, a little there, and by the end of 2012, I SHOULD have kept this one.

Therefore I resolve in 2012 to be more organized and less cluttered in all areas of my home.  Easy!  And fun - I love a good organization project.  who doesn't?  Ok, a lot of people don't.  But not me.  I. LOVE. TO. ORGANIZE.

My project started over this weekend already - the 'great toy cleanup' began in our house - which as many of you Mom's know entails getting all of the toys and their respective parts back together again.  We have toys, toy parts, and toy paraphernalia gracing almost every single room in our house.  It kills me!  But I try to remind myself, this is just a season of life and one day I'll miss the mess.  Anyway, in the toy cleanup, I discovered I needed a few bins for Griffin's room.  One for the MegaBloks, one for stuffed animals, and two to be tucked into a rolling book bin we got at the Land of Nod outlet (for just toy junk in general).

Here are some of the bins/containers I'm considering - but if anyone has any GREAT toy bin/storage solutions, will you please share?  I don't want to be buying more toy bins next year because these didn't make the grade.

Tubtrug® (found at cspost.com)

From gardening, entertaining, laundry, organization and storage to even animal feeding, the colorful Tubtrug® can help in almost every aspect of your everyday life. Constructed in Spain from 100% Phalate-free, food-grade plastic, the Tubtrug® is safe for kids and pets. The durable buckets feature reinforced ribbing for extra strength and two comfort grip handles. The flexible yet sturdy Tubtrug® is also frost-proof and UV resistant, which means its bright color won't fade. 

Love these for Mega Bloks 

Vintage Canvas Storage (Restoration Hardware Baby & Child)

Heavyweight canvas containers meet the organizational challenges of a child's room with ease and classic good looks

• Natural colored canvas with a washed blue stripe
• Features an inner lining and reinforced handles
• In small for shelf storage or large for laundry or toys
• Folds flat when not in use
• 100% cotton
• Spot clean
• Imported
• Can be personalized on the side of the bin without handles

Good for the book bin cubby 

Canvas Storage Collection (Pottery Barn Kids)

Designed to hold everything from laundry and diapers to toys and keepsakes, our Canvas Storage Collection brings order and style to kids’ spaces.

• Fabric is woven of pure cotton canvas.
• Detailed with easy-to-grab handles.
• Can be collapsed for easy storage when not filled.
• Each box includes 9 label cards.
• Personalization is available on both the floor tote and the pop-up tote for an additional $7.00.
• Catalog / Internet only.
• Click on swatches below to view all colors and sizes.

Had to add the pink one too - stuffed animals in there?

Vintage Wood Farmhouse Crates (Restoration Hardware Baby & Child)

Plaited sides, canvas handles and metal corner brackets give our sturdy storage containers a vintage look.

• Slat-sided construction is interwoven with jute rope
• Metal corner brackets protect edges while reinforcing the crate's structural integrity
• Easy to identify what's inside
• Brown finish
• Catalog and Web only

I just love the look of these - the large one is my favorite.  They'd look great at the foot of Griffin's bed.

I am so excited for: New Bedding!

For real.  Never did I know in my life that I would be this excited to get some new bedding!  

I have always loved Serena and Lily, but rarely find it 'ok' to spend full price on their items.  It's more of a 'dream' catalog full of wishes for me.  However, I got a sale notice in the mail from them the other day, that gives a coupon code for an extra 20% off of sale.  Now THAT'S what I'm talking about.  

In case you're interested in this deal - the code is JUSTFORYOU.  It's good on all sale and clearance items, through August 22nd.  

Here is what I bought, and am waiting by the mailbox for - 

This is all of it together, but gives you the best view of the duvet cover.

the Pimento sheeting, yummy.

Pillow Shams

The collection is Catalina - good swatch view.  

What do you think?  I can't wait to accessorize around this new navy and pimento theme.....ideas??

Etsy Debut!

After a lot of feet-dragging, I finally put my custom made frames on Etsy!  I would love for you all to check out my art project (that's what Griffin calls it).  Let me know your thoughts and please remember me if you need a great baby or girlfriend gift.

The shop name is Chamberlaine Custom Frames if you want to search for it or tell your friends.  Wink wink.

You can either buy what you see, or I am happy to do a custom frame for you to match a baby or child's room, or your room!  Just give me a couple of weeks on custom orders.

Here's the Etsy link:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/mcmilano77

Gemma's Nursery....Finally!

It's a little embarrassing that it took me THIS long to get Gemma's nursery pictures up here on my blog, but....it did. I am a bit of a perfectionist and wanted to have it all 'done' before putting anything on here for longevity.

I do have to say that you'll probably not notice any shelving on the walls or anything - that was hard for me. I have some GREAT Pottery Barn crown molding shelves that I wanted to put up, but I lost some of the hardware in the move and PB won't give me new hardware unless I buy a whole new shelf. SO irritating. And the hardware mount is VERY specific to the shelf, so specific that I can't find it anywhere. And let me tell you, I've looked. Anyway, so there are no shelves, and there will not be until I decide to throw some money down the toilet and buy new ones for the hardware.

One other note - I am in no way, shape or form a photographer! I can barely use my Canon Powershot. So excuse weird angles and lighting....

Some specifics.....how cute is the 'Gemma' lettering (try to ignore the mobile - Gemma loves that thing, can't take it down)? I found it on Etsy of course. The shop is called DwellingOnline and it's adorable! I was able to send her pictures of the bedding, the rug, and give her a general idea of the room and she did the letters from that!


Some of you might remember this fabulous drum table I found at Serena & Lily - I love the uniqueness of it!

I searched for quite a while to find a bookcase for the room that was small enough for the space (it's a pretty small room). I loved this Land of Nod 'Bin There Done that Book Bin' because it isn't too deep - only about a foot - which provides more 'play' space in the room while housing Gemma's books neatly.

This is the cutest canvas art my Mom and I came across at Home Goods! What a find - it was $39.99 and incorporated all things girly and had that little bit of lavender that I had been trouble finding (everything is PINK!).

This is a small space that's between the door and the sliding closet doors of the room. I wasn't sure what to do with this space, but ended up getting some cute $12 flower wall hangups from Land of Nod, and put this cute (again) Land of Nod tutu on one hook, and MY old baptism dress on the other. The more I look at it, the more I like it. A little old, a little new, it's sweet.

This is obviously the changing table, but I wanted to show that if you have kids of the opposite sex, you CAN re-use things in the new nursery - all of the furniture in Gemma's nursery is Griffin's old stuff - even this artwork above the changing table. It's all Oopsy Daisy artwork that went great in his room too, even though his nursery was taupe, chocolate brown, and turquoise.

I must mention where I got the chandelier as it was quite the search. I didn't want to spend a lot of $$ on it, just on principle! Therefore after posting on Facebook about it and asking my friends, I found a GREAT deal at Home Depot. No kidding. My friend Erin Lopez of the blog Raw for a Reason (check it out!) told me to try there and she was right! The chandelier I got is the Hampton Bay Mini 3 light chandelier, and it was only $99. And no kidding, with a smile and maybe a little lip gloss, the guy gave it to me for $80. Can you believe it? Somehow I bargained at Home Depot and WON. ha!

Somewhat unrelated to the nursery, I HAD to show off Gemma's new shoes. Are they darling or what? I picked them up at BabyGap the other day - they are a total nod to my very own Marc Jacobs Mouse flats (of which I have two pair, but would own them all if I could!) so they were a MUST. If you MUST, here's the link.

Finally, here's Miss Gemma Grace herself, babylegs, Mel-Belles bow, excessive drool and all. :-) And for those of you worried about how she's sitting up and the crib hasn't been dropped yet - don't. We dropped it down last night - big girl already!

Hope you enjoyed my little tour of Gemma's nursery....I certainly had fun decorating it. And as we all know - it will never be 'done.' Let me know if you have any ideas to make it even more fabulous!