Wednesday, August 31, 2011

No Cold Feet For Matt!

I know what you all must be thinking... I've now managed to post something on this blog two days in a row... AMAZING!

In truth however I wanted to go back to a post that I promised a while back. You've seen the wedding photos of me getting ready before the ceremony... Here are some of my super cute Hubby getting ready. I promise I will post all the photos BEFORE we hit a year!

As I'm looking back through these photos all I can think of is damn I'm a lucky girl... he is such a cutie. I think that I will keep him around!

The guys all got ready at The Courtyard Marriott a few blocks away from The Jefferson, were I was busy getting ready. In this photo we have Matt, the Best Man Ryan, and Matt's Uncle.

Have to make sure that the Best Man is looking sharp!


On the Blackberry

He is looking good! All of the tuxedos were custom made from Indochino in Midnight Blue. Matt swears by that site and orders all of his suits from there.


The key ingredients to ensure success in getting ready.

The guys walked to the church just a few blocks away... Matt's last walk as a single man!

After the final adjustments at the church the guys were ready for some photos together...

Brothers!
Al, Mitch, Matt, & Brian

Groomsmen!
Al, Brian, Matt, Ryan, Mitch, & Karson

I am happy to say that I am a member of this wonderful family!



Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Pottery Barn Kids... I can do that!

This weekend we received the Pottery Barn Kids catalog and as I was flipping through the pages I found myself sating the same four words over and over again... "I CAN DO THAT!"
Here are a few of the photos that I found inspiration from:

I LOVE the painted airplanes in the photo above but I do NOT love the price. These Hanging Clipper Airplanes are $39.00 - $89.00 a piece! That means that for one of each size you would need to shell out $187.00! A little too rich for my blood... I can easily make them for $10.00 a piece and how cute would they look in a little boys room one day.

I also an finding so much inspiration from the above picture! The chalkboard wall behind the bed is meant to look like an old fashioned score board and I love the old sports pendants handing from pegs over the bookcase. What an easy way to make a space personalized. Both of these items are also easily changeable should a child's taste change... Which as I mom I know that this is bound to happen!

I also like the idea of painting the wall with a gray chalkboard paint so when tastes change you could create the below look!
The above is actually a Galaxy Mural that Pottery Barn Kids sells for $199.00! I think that my artistic Dad could easily recreate the above with chalk that we already own!

The basket lamp above is a SUPER easy way to create a unique lighting fixture. This would be SUCH an easy thing to knock off! For under $10.00 you can find a lighting kit from Home Depot or IKEA and I bet that I could find a basket like the one above for around $15.00 at a certain favorite store...
HOMEGOODS!

The Jumbo Paper Butterfly Mobile is $59.00. Give me a wire wreath kit, fishing wire, and white card stock and I can create the same for under $10.00. Can we also talk about that amazing Benjamin Moore Milano Red paint color! Such a great color and by framing around larger pictures they really created a focal point above the crib. Another design idea that can be easily replicated.

This playroom is a dream space for me! With the walls lined with storage solutions and the table for art projects and homework this is truly a functional space. Can you see the two items that caught my eye???

If you guessed the Large Acrylic Jars in the book case you are correct! These plain jars cost $39.00 a piece from Pottery Barn. That means that the look above with three jars cost $117.00! That is just CRAZY! For under the price of ONE jar I can buy FOUR 40oz containers of UTZ Country Store Pretzel Rods at Amazon! I can easily use these heavy plastic containers and cover them with a map! That is what pottery barn did in the above photo! So easy to recreate and we get a snack out of the deal!

Did you also guess a second item??? If you guessed the AMAZING colored pencil artwork on the wall you would be correct!!! I love this idea so much that Matt and I are already coming up with a way to make this artwork functional... I have purchased two white shadow boxes from TJ MAXX for $14.99 a piece and we are engineering a way to make the colored pencils inside accessible. It looks like above they glued them at various heights but we would NOT like to just waste the pencils so my super smart hubby is going to help out on this project. More to come on this one! My plan is to put this above a desk for Emma.
The athletic pendants are back in the above photo but in a modified design.. again would be SUPER easy to replicate! That is not what caught my eye though... I think that the chalkboard painted globes are a GREAT decorative idea. Yesterday while in TJ MAXX I found a globe that had been damaged. The paper was peeling off and I thought that there was no way that anyone would ever waste their money on it. However, at $3.00 I now think that it would be a steal and I plan to rush over there as soon as possible. I can peel off the map portion and cover it with chalkboard spray paint that I already own!

The above bedroom is calling my name! I am a HUGE fan of using reclaimed wood to cover a wall and plan to use this idea if we ever have a boy. I think that it is a great way to make a room look rugged instantly. I originally fell in love with this idea when looking at one of my favorite blogs Bower Power. The Bower's used this wall method in their son Will's first room. Isn't it adorable...
I am just about in love with every item that they utilized in this room!
I figured I would end this post with a Halloween Decor knock off from Pottery Barn Kids. This Witch's Broom is $99.00! HECK NO would I pay that price! This can be easily replicated... what will I need??? A long tree branch which I have currently have thanks to Irene, smaller branches, twine to tie them together and black spray paint. These are all things that I have. Looks like I can replicate this for FREE!

What are you finding motivation from these days???