Craft Room Round Up

July 26, 2019July 25, 2019Leave a comment

Good morning! I hope everyone had a wonderful week and I am sure everyone is ready for the weekend. We were visiting Disneyland earlier this week and even though we are all still tired and recovering from the trip, we are home and we had a fantastic time!

And before we go any further, we need to announce a winner for our giveaway! Thank you to everyone who entered! So our winner of a canvas from Canvas Factory is Ruth S! Congratulation! Please email us so we can give you the code for your free canvas!

This week I am featuring some of my favorite craft rooms. I wish I had a second room in my apartment so I could have a craft room, but for now I will just admire all of the beautiful rooms that I wish I had. I hope you enjoy!

Simple Yet Chic Craft Room from Rosehips and Petticoats

Farmhouse Craft Room from Honeybear Lane

Pink and White Office from In My Own Style

Turquoise and White Office from The DIY Mommy

Industrial Craft Room from Lia Griffith

White and Pastel Craft Room from Sweet Red Poppy

DIY Craft Table for a Craft Room from Jennifer Maker

My Living Room Update

July 22, 2019July 18, 20195 Comments

Good morning! Oh my goodness! This summer has been busy! I continued working midway through July, we had Haley’s graduation party, went camping at the beach, held a yard sale, celebrated both girls’ birthdays, and now we are headed to Disneyland! I know I haven’t been here much this summer, but I did want to update you on my living room progress. Just a reminder: we have a Canvas Factory giveaway going on until Wednesday, July 24. Here’s the link.

*This is not a sponsored post. These are just the products I used.*

Here was my Idea Board I posted a couple of months ago. Some things have changed from this plan. I ended up getting to matching Ikea loveseats rather than one loveseat and 2 chairs and I have a temporary coffee table. I haven’t found a floor lamp yet, but I will keep on looking!

These are the pictures before we moved in. I can’t believe how different it looks! Those vertical blinds were torn down and thrown away before we moved in and the popcorn ceiling was scraped off by my husband. We had it re-textured and also had all the walls painted. You can barely see the half wall in the bottom right corner of the picture on the right. That is gone now too.

The biggest change we made now was to the floor! We finally put on our laminate wood look floor! I love it! It is just the right look for my room!

My husband put the coffee table together for me using the posts from the half wall. It’s fine for now, but I am looking for something else. He also made the shutter lantern and the buoys on the table.

I love how this room turned out! We have a few more things to finish up, such as crown molding at the ceiling and over the window. My seashell mobile adds more coastal feel to the room.

This area had been a header. My husband cut through the drywall and some of the boards and we made it into a beam. My husband framed it out and I varnished it with MInwax, I would have left it completely open, but we had to mount the barn door on the other side.

We also added wide baseboards around the room and framed out the door. I painted everything Benjamin Moore Simply White.

We also added the same flooring in the entryway to tie the two rooms together.

I set my dining table for a casual summer dinner, being sure to use my California glasses.

I love when the breeze blows the white sheer curtains! If only I could smell the ocean air too!

And of course, my helpers are always close by. They love this room too!

Is your summer crazy too? Or are you able to just sit, relax and enjoy the summer days? I’m glad you took time to stop by today!

Ikea Ektorp Loveseats

Ektorp Cover

Home Depot Home Decorators Denali Pine Floor

Benjamin Moore Simply White Paint

Disney Tips and Tricks

July 19, 2019July 18, 20193 Comments

Good morning! It’s Friday today! It’s a wonderful day before a wonderful weekend! Is everyone ready??

Well for this post, we are talking even more Disney. We are definitely Disney fans and we are currently planning a trip to Disneyland yet again. So as part of this planning, I’ve decided to share our top 10 tips and tricks for Disneyland. We hope that they are super helpful for you and can help you to have a better trip when you decided to go.

But! Before we get started! Don’t forget that we are doing a giveaway for a canvas from Canvas Factory! The giveaway is on our last post so click here to enter for a chance to win. The giveaway will be open until July 24th so don’t forget to enter!

1. MaxPass

OMG this thing is amazing! If you have not heard of this, you are missing out. For $15 you can get Fastpasses on your phone through the Disney App and you can download the photos from the rides and photographers. How cool is that? You know what else? You can get Fastpasses every hour and a half instead of every two hours! It is so useful when you are trying to plan out your day and figure out which rides would be best for you and your crew to get on next. Here is one of the many photos that we downloaded from the photographers.

2. Have the Disneyland App on your phone

The Disneyland App will be your epicenter for your entire trip. This app will not only house your MaxPass, but it will show you wait times for rides, where characters will be, show times, parade times, and you can make reservations for restaurants. You can also directly download your photos from the MaxPass right onto your phone from the app. It is so convenient for your Disneyland trip and you will always be in the know!

3. Start planning early

When you have young kids, this is possibly the best thing to do for your trip. Plan plan plan! Know when your parades are going to be and when and what shows are happening. This way you can plan your trip through the park better and you aren’t criss crossing the park to try to make all of shows. You can plan your day out weeks in advance. It is also helpful to see when there are going to be events happening. Wouldn’t it be terrible if you got to Disneyland and found out they were closing early because of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party? The schedule for when Disneyland opens and closes usually pops up about 2 months in advance. So make sure you check their calendar before booking your tickets!

4. Get there as early as possible and take photos earlier in the day

When my family goes to Disneyland, we normally leave our house at about 5 am and reach Disneyland around 8 or 8:30. We like to be there when it opens! Now…we are all adults who can usually function perfectly through the day when we leave that early. But if you have kids it doesn’t work as well. So I would recommend getting a hotel the night before but plan on getting to Disneyland or California Adventures as soon as it opens. That way you can maximize your time in the parks. Also, get your pictures early. If you take your photos early in the day you will look fresher and nicer than if you took a photo at midnight!

5. Bring your own snacks, water, ponchos, emergency kit, and phone charger

Disneyland still allows you to bring in your own water and snacks, so feel free to stuff your backpack full of your favorite snack to enjoy in the park! But, if you do forget your favorite water bottle at home, all of the restaurants will give you free water if you ask. And if you ask for a large water, they still give it to you at no charge! Don’t forget your ponchos as well, just in case you have that one person in your party who hates walking around soaking wet (cough cough me cough cough). You can always bring your own rain ponchos to wear on Splash Mountain and Grizzly River Run, that way you don’t have to buy the really expensive ones. Another thing we do is bring our own emergency kit of medicine, Band aids, Mentos, cough drops, and a few other things. You can obviously have your own stuff but it is super helpful in the parks to not have to go running around with a giant blister and no Band aid to go with it. And finally, don’t forget your phone charger. Or do and rent one in the park. You can rent a phone charger that comes with both an iPhone and Android charger. And the best part? When it runs out of battery, you can return it and get a new one at no charge! That’s right. Pay once and use it for your whole trip.

6. Use the lockers

I cannot express this enough. USE THE LOCKERS! We always use them to put our extra shoes, jackets, souvenirs, etc. in it. It’s around $10 to rent a locker that you can use the entire day in the park. We get one almost every time we go into Disneyland and it has saved our lives multiple times. Thank goodness!

7. Make reservations for the restaurants

Did you know that you can make a reservation at the restaurants? Any of the sit down restaurants you can make a reservation for a table. But, be warned. For our next trip to Disneyland we had to book our restaurants 2 weeks in advance. And we had only a few choices of when we could book ourselves in. If you want to make sure you get that 12 pm lunch reservation at Carnation Cafe, make sure you book it as soon as possible. Do not delay!

8. Families with younger kids, take time to rest

When my sister and I were younger, my parents would take us back to the hotel for a couple hours to take a nap and rest. This is so important for younger kids to make sure they aren’t over exhausted. Try to take time out of your day to go back to the hotel, or find a really quiet place to sit down and just rest. A couple places we recommend are the infant rooms (there are some in both Disneyland and California Adventures, just ask a Cast Member or check your map), the bottom story of Hungry Bear Cafe, the Tiki Room and Pacific Wharf. Now, Pacific Wharf can be busy when it’s around meal times, but there is a small corner you can sit in that is much quieter. Another option is riding the train or the monorail for a while. They are nice and relaxing and they may even put some young kids to sleep!

9. Get a close Hotel with Breakfast and a Shuttle

This tip is a very good tip I promise. If you can find a hotel at a decent price that has both a shuttle and breakfast, you are set. That’s one less meal that you have to buy and you don’t have to drive to the park and deal with the parking garage. Some of the hotels will even let you arrive early, park you car, take the shuttle to Disneyland, and then check in after you finish in Disneyland. It is so much more convenient and so much more helpful when it comes to enjoying your day at the park.

10. Bring your own Autograph Book and get Smashed Pennies

If you are trying to go to Disneyland on a budget, I highly highly recommend doing this step. Souvenirs can be so expensive in the parks and then if you buy clothes, they may not fit your kids when they get older. When my sister and I were younger we would bring our own autograph books for the characters to sign. Mom would usually buy a notebook at the Dollar Tree and turn it into a signature book for the characters. We also got (and still get) smashed pennies. They cost 51 cents! All you need is 2 quarters and a shiny penny and BOOM! You have a souvenir. Plus, there are a few different stations around the parks that you can make your smashed pennies and there many different designs for you to choose from. It’s much cheaper and easier souvenirs that will last longer than some clothes!

11. Follow Disney Instagramers

This is a bonus tip! Mom and I follow a couple Disney Instagram accounts and they are so helpful! Some of them give the best tips and tricks and help to make your trip run super smoothly. Our favorite is @disneylandtourguide. She gives us so much information every day that has helped us make our trips more memorable. Plus, she is posting information that even us seasoned Disneylanders didn’t know! I would definitely go give her a follow to get all of the information you could want and need! @disneylandinsiders is another account that we enjoy. Even though they don’t necessarily give tips and tricks, they are a great family who is ALWAYS in Disneyland and can give you some helpful information. @thebudgetmouse is an account that mostly gives info for Disneyworld, but some of the tips and tricks she gives are good for either park. And @disneyeatz will help you find out what food you want to eat in the park. You won’t go hungry in Disneyland if you follow this account!

And that’s it! I hope you have found these helpful and are able to use some of them for your next trip to Disneyland!

Some New Decor for Me and You! (Giveaway)

July 17, 2019July 15, 201910 Comments

Good morning! It’s Wednesday and we don’t normally post anything on Wednesday’s but today is a special day. Not only is it the middle of the week (meaning there’s only 2 more days until Friday), but we have an awesome sponsored post from Canvas Factory!!!

*This blog post is sponsored from Canvas Factory. All opinions expressed in this blog post are our opinions.*

We have worked with Canvas Factory in the past and they have been super awesome to work with! If you want to see the other beautiful canvases that we got from Canvas Factory, click on the photos below and they will take you to those past blog posts.

Canvas Factory is an awesome website with millions upon millions of photos that you can choose from for your home. Not only can you pick from 13 different categories to search through the pictures, but you can add your own if you have a photo that you absolutely love and want to hang in your home. And you don’t have to pick a canvas! You could pick an acrylic or metal print as well. There are so many different options for you to pick from!

Which is why this was so so difficult for me!

Now, I have a beautiful canvas that is hanging on my gallery wall in my living room. It is a very simple picture of a compass (see link above), but it fits with all of my travel themed items. But this time, I didn’t want to add to my living room again. I wanted something different, for a different room in my apartment.

I thought about getting a Disney themed canvas for my future Disney gallery wall. But I don’t know when that’s going to happen so I didn’t want to order something that I couldn’t put up right away. And then I thought about getting a picture of succulents because I have been super into succulents and would love to hang a canvas in my kitchen with my hanging planter. But then I found something better to go above my hanging planter.

And then it hit me. It hit me almost as hard as a rock if someone had thrown it at me. Why couldn’t I put a new canvas in my bedroom?

WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THIS BEFORE????

My bedroom is all Paris themed (which, if you’ve seen my past apartment tours you may remember). I have a lot of Paris themed pictures to hang on my wall but recently I found a new space on my wall for a picture. It wasn’t a big space but it was perfect size for a new canvas.

So I hopped over to Canvas Factory and searched ‘Eiffel Tower’ and I got I don’t know how many results. But it was a lot. And I searched through them all until I found the one. The one single photo that I wanted on my wall. So with a few more clicks, I picked out my size and ordered it right to my door.

And this is the result.

How pretty is this canvas? Not only does it feature the Eiffel Tower but it shows the river and the beautiful sunset in the background. I also love that it fits perfectly under my little blingy Paris sign. It’s almost like it was meant to be.

Here’s a couple more photos of the mini gallery wall that I have in my bedroom.

I have this mini gallery wall above some of my small display. It’s not all Paris themed, like the rest of the room, but it all works together. A cute purse, some flowers, a Paris tote, and an old fashion shoe bag that I drew a Banksy picture on. It’s all so cute! Everything works so perfectly together and I couldn’t be happier with the result!

Now! You’ve made it to the end and guess what! There is a chance to win a free canvas from Canvas Factory! The people at Canvas Factory have been nice enough to let one lucky person get a canvas as well! So if you click down below you will be taken to the place to enter the raffle. This will be open for one full week (July 17-July 24) and the winner will be announced in the Top 10ish Round Up on July 26th. Make sure you enter you do each of the options to get the most amount of entries!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Yard Sale Round-Up

July 5, 2019July 4, 2019Leave a comment

Hello! How is everyone doing today? Did everyone have a good 4th of July? I know I spent some good time with family and ate too much food.

But besides the 4th, my family is having a yard sale this weekend. We normally have a large yard sale every summer which normally consists of stuff from multiple families. Like, 3 or 4 families. But we have been having yard sales ever since I can remember. So, I wanted to share some helpful tips and tricks I found that may help you out with a yard sale if you ever want to have one. Trust me, it’s a nice way to get rid of stuff and still make some money. Enjoy!

P.S. There are only 6 posts because most of the stuff I found just repeats itself over again. So these are the main things I found that I thought were the most helpful.