Hey Little Birdie!

Hi dearest readers! Head on over to one of my favorite home/design/children’s blogs Ohdeedoh today to see Claire’s lemonade birthday party featured.

If you’ve never browsed through Ohdeedoh before, their site is overflowing with inspiration for nurseries, kids products, tips, tricks, you name it! I am a daily reader and constantly discover new things through them and their amazing contributors. A regular feature is called My Party, and it never ceases to amaze me how many creative parents are out there! Hope you enjoy the pictures and info on Claire’s special day. Thanks Ohdeedoh!

(photo courtesy of The SCOOP)

This is going to have to start with quite a bit of background, so stick with me. First of all, a couple of weeks ago, I was at book club. We had just finished discussing The Help by Kathryn Stockett, which is amazing. If you haven’t read it yet, you should. Then find a group of friends to talk to about it. You’ll thank me. Anyway, totally unrelated to the book, was the impromptu styling session I had with the amazing AVE Styles. Once you read this book, you will see the incongruousness in this whole progression, but whatever, we’re girls… we can change from favorite subjects like cake pops to SYTYCD to literary inspirations in the mix of a night and not think twice. Anyway, back to my fashion fix-up, well I discovered I love stripes… like I love stripes to the point of a SYTYCD-dancer eating a cake pop while professing their love of Jane Austen.

Then last week, I was reading the incredible blog, The SCOOP. And I saw Laura’s completed nursery for her soon-to-be little boy, James Christopher. Can you guess what about it caught my eye? Yeah… seriously. Look at that crib skirt. And it’s from Target, which means it’s affordable. I almost started dancing in my kitchen and baking cake pops on the spot before I remembered I don’t really bake and my dancing is better kept in the bedroom, which might come in handy if I intend to create a child to go with this crib skirt. Because if I am completely honest with you, I want to have another baby just to have a reason to buy and use this crib skirt. Should I add that to my prayers at night when I talk to God about why I feel He should grant us the privilege of another child? Maybe it’s just the kind of reference that would sway Him.

Needless to say, here is your recap. I love stripes, whether it be in fashion or home interiors. Lesson learned. Thanks Book Club, another successful gathering.

It’s time for another fabulous giveaway here at HLB. This month we have a $25 gift certificate towards a purchase from the super sweet, super creative Slice of Lime Designs etsy shop. They make fun customized bibs and tees for kids. However, I am completely smitten with their personalized superhero sets:

How over the top adorable is that?! They have lots of designs and colors to choose from and can even do custom orders for you. Also, check out their website and facebook page for even more cuteness! Thanks Slice of Lime Designs!

How to Enter:

1.  Click on Comments and leave one on this post.

Then, earn 2 extra entries by:

2.  Sharing this Giveaway on Facebook!

3.  Tweeting about it on Twitter.

If you do anything on FB or Twitter, let us know in the comments, so we can give you extra chances.

You will have until Midnight on Wednesday to enter. Next Thursday we will reveal the winner!

If you were a fly on the wall of my house, you’d see that for 8 years the days at my house consisted of trucks, trains, and bugs and the moved to Legos, Star Wars and many pretend battles.  In other words, you’d witness a boy’s life.  You’d also be an amazingly old fly. Gross.

When my husband and I found that our third child was a girl, well, I didn’t believe it.  We were such a boy family, I just couldn’t even imagine what life would look like with a girl in the mix.  Then my stomach jumped a little and I realized that in addition to having awesome lightsaber battles, I could sit down and have a tea party.  No way.  The best of both worlds.  Score!

And once my mind got racing, I got thinking of other possibilities that I thought would never be in my house:  American Girl, Dress up, Strawberry Shortcake, Princesses, Pretty Nails. It’s like a whole other world out there for this boy mom!

Violet is now 9 months old and I realized I have yet to paint her nails.  I thought I’d look for something that would be natural since she will definitely be putting her hands (and feet, if you can believe it) into her mouth.  That’s when I found Piggie Paint!  Ta da!

I feel much better putting this on my little girl’s toes!  Piggie Paint is a natural, water-based non-toxic nail polish.  Awesome colors, cute gift sets or buy them individually.  Read the About Us page to read how they got started – fascinating stuff!

Love party planning and DIY? Then why aren’t we best friends? Those rank extremely high on my Nicky’s favorites list (slightly behind espresso and cupcakes but you know how it is with priorities!) Anyway, now that we have that established, get ready to jump up and shout for a new website, Hip Hip Hooray!

I got the scoop from a blogger I admire, Jordan Ferney (she is a contributor to the new site) and I have already bookmarked it as a must read. I like that they are focusing on creativity and style when it comes to childrens’ parties because lets be honest… there is a lot of cheeseballness (new word) out there. Plus, they keep affordability in mind which is always welcome! There are only a few posts since they are just starting out, but trust me- you will already like what you see. I cannot wait for more party planning inspiration to drop in the coming months!

So, you probably don’t know this, but out of nowhere I’ve found myself on an embroidery kick.  I’ve been looking for non-cheesy modern designs.  I thought for sure there would be hundreds of sellers out there who would be stitching to their heart’s content, creating vintage-inspired, modern pieces.  Not so much.  Surprisingly, I found them a little hard to find!

Thank goodness for a.e. wilder’s little shop of embroidery goodness. (I added that last part to the name. )

I was about to lose all hope!

Absolutely love the breath of fresh air she brings that I was hoping to find!  Check out her shop for more sweet designs.

I may have an almost two year old, but I’ve never had to think much about baby proofing or toy storage. Until now. My little Claire Bear has learned to do multiple rolls across the floor (yippee!) and is amassing quite a collection of therapy toys. It makes me smile. And feel somewhat like a normal mom.

These welcome changes are creating a need for kid friendly, easily accessible bins that I can hide crap in (to be blunt). I hate clutter and I hate ugly plastic kid stuff almost as much. When it’s not in use, I want it out of sight and there is no way in h. e. double hockey sticks that I am storing it all in those primary color, plastic monstrosities you find in most stores. I know that Pottery Barn Kids has a few canvas options but they are all mostly in pastel shades and a little more than I would like to spend. My favorite solution so far is these stylish fabric bins from SewingMomma on etsy. With 58 fabric choices, I am bound to find a perfect fit for my living room. I think I just may have to get one for Lily’s dog toys too. And if you really think about it, you could use them everywhere around the house- to store TP, magazines, craft supplies, closet organization, you name it!

Complicated name for a simply wonderous cream.

Back story: Claire has experienced eczema patches her entire little life. No matter what lotion I try, it never seems to completely heal them. And because of her epilepsy, I am wary of anything chemical laden or prescription. I spotted this tiny jar in the natural section of baby aisle at Target and decided to give it a go. I wasn’t expecting much but I was very pleased with the fresh lavender scent and very descriptive label. California Baby is a tried and true organic brand and I felt very safe using it on Claire. You can’t begin to know how excited I was when after only four days, her normally rough, scratchy areas were soft and smooth! I am completely amazed. This product may be a bit pricier ($12) then I would normally want to buy, but if I purchased this first instead of working my way through a handful of other lotions, I would have saved money. If you or your children deal with overly dry, eczema prone skin then try this!

I think you know that I am infatuated with pendant lights. If you didn’t know, let me introduce myself. My name is Jina, and I have an unhealthy affection for pendant light fixtures. (Cue: “Hi Jina” in unison.) Okay… so unknowingly I have passed this addiction on to unsuspecting family members (pawns in my hands). Yes, when decorating my soon-to-come niece’s room, my sister declared that she was set on a stylish pendant light. Needless to say, at that proclamation, the heavens opened up and angels started singing. Now I can’t tell you what they were singing, but I think it was evident by the rays of light shining from their halos that it was in honor of the pendant lamp.

So I have been scouring the internet for the perfect pendant. No sooner than I found this, did my amazing resourceful sister find this… from Land of Nod no less. Why oh why had I not looked there yet! To maintain my internet cred, I will imply that Land of Nod was the next site on my list. But really it’s neither here nor there, right? (The correct answer is, “Right, Jina”… You could be a little more convincing, but I’ll take it.) The point is as soon as my sister clicked “Add to Cart”, my unborn niece instantly became more fashionable in response.

Moving on (quiet on the snarky, under-your-breath comments), I love love love that Land of Nod has a feature where you can shop by room. I mean, look at this one.

How cute is that for a little girl! Bright colors and fun prints, all while giving this fictional girl a place to mature. No cartoon characters that she might outgrow in a year or two. Yay! I can already see these curtains in Lyla’s room. Plus they look beautiful next to a neutral wall, which may become our reality when we soon move to a rental. We’ll see.

But let’s recap for those of you who found this post a bit longer than your attention span (and I don’t mean that disparaging; I am your equal, and your twin): infatuation, pendant lights, heavens, angels, Land of Nod, unborn niece, shop by room, cartoon characters, Lyla. There you go.

One of my favorite books as a wee little Jina was the Velveteen Rabbit. It’s a magical story that percolates purity and an abundance of heart. There was no way around it; I was a believer from the first read through. And now, this handmade, eco-friendly bunny from Buttercup Bloom takes me back to that wonderful childhood memory where the idea of loving a treasured toy to pieces was an outward sign of ownership and affection.

Maybe, just maybe, this little one could be your little one’s Velveteen Rabbit.