My Home Office Reveal...Finally

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I've been promising a big office reveal for MONTHS now, but I promise this is the real deal! It's finally done!

I probably spend more time in my home office than any other room in the house. It's the space where I create for my business, take care of home business, blog and keep track of my daily schedule. I figured that a room that acted as the command center for our home and family needed to reflect our personalities and foster a sense of calmness and order. Until this redo started, the office had NONE of those traits.

Before I welcome you to my new home office, let's take a look at the chaotic mess it used to be...

Yep, there she is in all her glory. We painted those stripes on the wall when we moved in 5 years ago in an effort to cover up the hideous Carolina Blue that covered the walls. Sure it was fun and neat, but ENOUGH ALREADY. Like I said, I'm in this room all the time. The stripes were about to cause me to go crazy.

And now, without further ado, welcome to my new home office!!
When I walk in this room now, I can seriously breathe a sigh of relief. Everything has a home. There is a reasonable amount of furniture occupying the space. Each wall and surface is filled with things that are inspiring and encouraging and things I love. This room is no longer a dumping ground for junk or extra crap. And I LOVE IT!!

Here are some other before and after shots to help you get the full picture of my office awesomeness.

Before...

After...

Before...

After...

Sometimes I still can't believe the transformation! Our budget was pretty small, so nearly everything used had to be something we already had. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be posting a breakdown of projects, organizational tips and how we spent our measly little budget. So check back often for tips on how to transform a space with little to no money!

-Sarai

This post is linked at the following:

Summer Memories

It's been a great summer.

Sure, it's had its challenges but it's also been full of sweetness and times we don't want to forget. Sometimes I am struck by the notion that my three, three and under likely won't remember all the little things we did in these days. But somehow I just know that one experience builds upon another and another. In the end, they all add up to what I hope they will remember as a rich and loving and warm and even imperfectly beautiful childhood.

To help in their reflection, the last two summers we have memorialized some times in small ways. Last summer we took an unused small scrapbook and glued in pictures, ticket stubs, brochures, and the like. Then we wrote simple captions at the bottom of each page so we could "read" the summer's adventures together.



This summer we bought us some dollar frames from Michaels and the girls sponge painted them. I wrote the words "favorite memory" on the frames and then let my kids peruse a bunch of pics on our computer. They picked one of their favorites, we printed the photos out, and then we glued them on some remnant scrapbook paper to put inside the frames.


The girls love looking at the frames in their rooms. Next summer or even next season we can replace the pictures with what each girl is currently loving.

Another way, I hope, for them to remember how much I love making their childhood special.

Happy memory making!
~Katrina

Better After

Remember these chairs?

They were just featured in a "Chair Superpost" over at Better After!! Head on over here for all kinds of chair redo inspiration!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Playing with Our Food

Want to make for a fun lunchtime surprise or mid morning/after school snack time? Search your fridge and your pantry to see what you can come up with!

We recently made "sandwiches" the night before we went on vacation. Open faced PB on whole wheat bread... strawberry raisin eyes, banana noses, string cheese mouths. We were a little bit giddy... ya think? :)

Often I will pull out random ingredients and play around. This day I helped them make cute, little mice to get started.

Then I armed them with extra supplies for more mouse making... graham crackers and PB, mandarin oranges, bananas, raisins, and pretzel sticks.
This evolved into a pretty creative Mama and Baby Elephant from my three year-old and a ladybug from my two year-old.

I still can't figure out where the two year-old got her inspiration??
Best of all is hearing them giggle while shouting, "I ate his nose! His eyes are gone! There went his mouth!"

Yes, there is a new rule in town... DO play with your food, after all!
~Katrina

A Buggy Table

One of the reasons I choose themes for the girls' parties as far ahead as possible is that I can collect little treasures along the way... affordable, little treasures at that. M's "Buggy Bash" was no exception (especially nice this time because I did a lot of the finding before her newest sister came along!)

I found bumblebee wings for she and her older sister at the Dollar Store... scored sweet knit butterfly clippies for a next to nothing sale off Etsy... found ADORABLE butterfly visors as favors for 15 CENTS a piece at The Children's Place (for the girls) along with grow bug capsules out of the Target Dollar Spot (for the boys)... made bug catchers from throw away tupperware on the cheap (just stuck some moss in the bottoms) and sent the littles on their way to look for scads of bugs collected from Michaels and Target dollar aisles.

It's all just part of the fun, which is exactly what I had when decorating the main table for the birthday girl and 17 small guests!
We were at your standard picnic shelter, so I simply pulled two long tables to the middle. My "tablecloth" was nothing more than a roll of wrapping paper ($2.99 at Target), which just so happened to match the invites (dressed up blank note cards from Target as well). I secured the paper with black duct tape, which we definitely needed on what turned out to be an atypical breezy July morning.
The centerpieces were glass jars straight out of my recycling bin! The party's main colors were black and white accented by lots of primary colors, so I found the perfect buggy paper at the Hobby Lobby.
I wrapped the paper around each glass jar and hot glued it in place. There was a gap between the paper and the jar's opening, so I filled it with more black and white tissue paper ($1.99 from, you guessed it, Target). I stuffed these great bug pinwheels ($1.50 at the Family Dollar) in the two taller ones and some fake gerbera daisies (from home) in the others.

They still needed a little something extra so I stamped "M's" on paper and used tiny clothespins to keep them in place. I have one of these letter stamps for each of the girls, which I found at a scrapbook discount store, and I can't tell you how many times I use them for a cheap way to personalize stationary and the like.
Lately I've been in the mood to "invest" in some essentials that can be used party after party like the red hamburger baskets found here ($1.00 for four from the Target Dollar Spot).
A little more of the tissue paper allowed me to fill them with snacks of the buggiest variety! :) Some coconut dyed green for grass, an oreo and pretzel spider, butterfly and flower crackers, fruit salad, ants on a log, and fruit leather. Some lemonade "nectar" with twirly straws ($1.00 for twelve at the Target Dollar Spot) finished off the set-up along with some primary colored napkins (right now 50% off at Target making them like 75 cents).

Once the guests arrived they went to play at the park next to our shelter. It was fun to call them over and have each little place all set up and ready to go as they climbed up to the tables. I did the same thing once they finished the bug hunt with their "dirt cup" desserts. The cups with lids were another "investment" at $1.50 for four from Big Lots... I'll for sure use these for parties, playdates, and all kinds of other gatherings.
Simply layer chocolate pudding, then crushed Oreos, then a gummy worm on top... easy and fun to eat!

Best of all, this bug-loving birthday girl had a blast.


And I admit that I did too, even if it means she really is (sigh) TWO years old already!
~Katrina

A Buggy Bash

We're BUGGIN' out... cause M is turning TWO!

These were the words on our recently turned two year old's party invites that asked her friends to join in for a BUGGY bash at the park. They were told they would munch on and hunt for some cutie, creepy crawlies.

And so...







...that's just what we did! :)

Details to come,
~Katrina

Watermelon Days

It just isn't summer to me without enjoying many upon many big, red, juicy slices.
And one of my favorite summer experiments so far has been a combination of watermelon and lime. An unbeatable duo.

Watermelon Limeade:
8 cups cubed watermelon (seeds removed) or 1 qt. watermelon juice
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup sugar

Put half of the watermelon cubes in a blender and pulse until smooth. Strain through a mesh sieve over a large bowl and get rid of the solid stuff. Keep going until you have finished all the cubes. Add lime juice and sugar and stir until all the sugar is dissolved. You may need to add more sugar to taste. Best when nice and chilled.

Which means that it's good for drinking...


And good for homemade popsicles, especially after a long evening walk...

I'm going to miss these watermelon days when they're gone!
~Katrina