Dear Lillie

Memorial Day SALE

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Jason's Kitchen DURING...

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Okay, so let me just first give a disclaimer: Jason's kitchen in NOT done and these are all cell phone photos. Also we are trying to keep costs as low as possible so some of my design plans got scratched (like the hood above the stove and open shelving). Seeing how I won't be back up there until July to finish it up I thought I would at least show you what we've done so far. And then after we finish everything up this summer I will do a full post with real photos and a detailed product list as well as a cost breakdown for you all.

Here is what it looked like that first week. (There wasn't a fridge so that was purchased immediately before we began working on anything else so Jason could eat.)

Next came the new stove and dishwasher and off came the counters. We originally left the microwave there because we had planned on taking it down once we were going to add the hood. However, to keep our costs down we ended up nixing the hood =(.

Then the counters and new faucet were installed.

Once we changed the hood plan and decided to just switch out the microwave I tried to take it down myself which was not such a great idea and I ended up having to yell for some help! =)

Once that was down it was time to start priming and then painting. (I'll include all of the paint details when I do my full post, but as far as colors go we used BM's Simply White on the trim and cabinets and Revere Pewter on the walls.)

And here was how it was when I had to stop to return back home. We got the cabinets painted along with some of the walls and trim work but then ran out of time. So, here's what we have left to do: replace all the hardware with oil rubbed bronze (as you can see we tried out a few to see how it looked but didn't finish) replace the off-centered light fixture, add some roman shades, add beadboard to the island and finish it off, replace the flooring with wood, finish painting the back wall and trim (which you can't see in any of these photos), and then have fun accessorizing!

Well, that's it for now! I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday. I can't believe Memorial Day Weekend is almost upon us!

The Carousel

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Today we are introducing the first of our colored (non-chalkboard) prints! This lovely carousel horse was drawn for us by Jon's cousin, Hannah, who is a talented graphic designer and photographer. I am so pleased with how it turned out! Lillie and Lola absolutely love horses and so were thrilled to add this new print to their room. We have these 8 by 10 prints now available in our shop in three colors. First this light pink:

We also have it available in this deeper pink:

And this teal color:

I hope you all have a blessed week! I'll be back next to show you some during shots of Jason's kitchen makeover.

Praying

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

We chose not to post last night or today as we send our heartfelt prayers to everyone in Oklahoma.

Our hearts are broken for all those that lost loved ones.

Happy Sunday!

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Sun, 19 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

We just got back from a wonderful family vacation so I am about to start catching up on e-mails! I'll be back later this week with some "during" shots of Jason's kitchen, a new print, an update on our move and a few other things. I hope you have a beautiful Sunday!

It Is Well With My Soul Chalkboard

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:55:00 +0000

I showed a little sneak peek of this chalkboard on Facebook a couple of weeks ago and we finally have it available in our shop! Above you can see the 24 by 36 download (you can find it in our shop here) that I've printed off and framed. This has always been one of my favorite hymns but in the last year or so has come to have so much meaning for me so I really enjoyed working on this one. I was happy with how the top part of it turned out never got the "It is well" part to look the way I had it in my head. Oh well...

We also have this available as an 11 by 14 print:

and an 8 by 10 print:

I hope you all have a blessed Thursday!

Mary Had a Little Lamb

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:20:00 +0000

Today we have our Mary Had a Little Lamb Chalkboard Prints available. We have both the 11 by 14 size (shown above) and the 8 by 10 size (shown below).

And we also have the 24 by 36 download available! Here is the original chalkboard design from Jamie's baby shower.

You can see more photos of Jamie's shower here and here.

You can also see the chalkboard here in Everly's nursery.

And if you missed the tour of little Everly's nursery with all the details last week you can click here.

I hope you have a blessed Wednesday! I've got two more new pieces of art to show you as well as some updates on our moving process as soon as I have a chance.

Jamie and Josh's New Hutch

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

I showed you Jamie and Josh's new nursery along with some photos of their dining room last week and now I will show you the last set of photos I took of their home during my last trip up to NH. Today I am showing you the other wall of their dining room and the new hutch Jamie has placed between the windows. She found the piece at a consignment shop and even though it wasn't what she had in mind, it was well-made and a steal! By just painting it and then adding some chicken wire and changing out the hardware she was able to freshen it up and make it the perfect addition to their dining room!

As you can see from the before picture which was taken at the consignment shop, the piece was in great shape - it just didn't go with the room.

I am not sure of the paint color she used but I think it was Brandon Beige by Benjamin Moore. I am writing this post pretty late at night so I can't text her but I will try to confirm that with Jamie later today and update this post.

I hope you all have a blessed Monday!

Happy Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Sun, 12 May 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Wishing you all a beautiful Mother's Day!

Jamie and Josh's Dining Room

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Wed, 08 May 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Today I thought I would show you a few pictures of Jamie and Josh's dining room with a few spring touches. And next week I will show you the other wall of this dining room where Jamie made over a hutch that turned out fabulous!

Three Tiered Tray and Buckets - Collections at Laurel and Grove in Peterborough, NH

"Take My Life and Let It Be Sign..." - Between You and Me

Chairs - consignment shop (painted and recovered)

Dishes - Emma Collection by Pottery Barn

Table Runner - made by Jamie

Table - made by Josh

Trophy Vase - Target

I hope you all are having a wonderful week so far!

A Thoughtful Mother's Day Project for less than $10

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Tue, 07 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

When Karianne from Thistlewood Farms asked if I wanted to join her and Melaine from My Sweet Savannah and do a project for Mother's Day I jumped at the chance. I wanted to do a project that would be thoughtful but that would also be inexpensive and something a child could manage. I can't take credit for this concept though. A couple of years ago my dad asked us for Father's Day if instead of giving him a gift could we all write memories on index cards for him - one for each day of the year. So, my siblings and I split the cards up and on Father's Day gave him 365 index cards each with a memory written on it and each morning he and my mom read a new one. Most were funny, some were sentimental and a few were random (ahem - Jason...) It was such a hit that the next year my mom asked for the same idea for Mother's Day (and technically I still owe her a few...) When we are all home we get quite the kick out of reading them. You can generally guess from across the room whose it is - Jamie's are novels and Jason are often one line while Dana's and mine tend to be in the middle.

Anyway, for this Mother's Day project I decided to take that concept and make it a little bit prettier! Instead of index cards I decided to use cardstock and photos and put them in a little box from Michael's that I mod podged a photo onto.

So here is what you need:

1 box (I used a 7 1/2" by 7 1/2" one that I got for $3.49

1 pack of cardstock (I used precut 6" by 6" squares that were $2.99)

1 large photo (I had mine printed on regular 11" by 17" paper at Staples for $.98)

photos (as many as you would like to do)

double stick tape

mod podge

scissors

brush

First, take your photos and using double stick tape just tape them to the square piece of cardstock. Then simply write a memory or note or whatever you feel like writing in the blank space.

Now make as many of those as you would like.

Now it's time to make your little photo box to put them in. Simply cover the top with mod podge:

Then place your printed photo (mine is just printed on regular weight paper) on top:

Now flip it over and cut the corner areas to look like this. That skinny little flap should be cut to be the same side as the lid (I cut mine about a 1/4 too short):

Now use your double stick tape and fold it up like this (although it doesn't really matter how long it is seeing how you just need it to cover the corner I should have made mine about a quarter inch thicker). Then fold up the other sides and fold them into the lid and make sure to tape it securely and then trim off the excess.

Now mod podge the whole thing:

Then place your cards inside and there you have it!

Be sure to check out Karianne's beautiful stamped necklace that she made from a vintage silverplate SPOON! I can't wait to try this!

and Melaine's mini photo book that she made from paint chips from the hardware store and a few scrapbooking supplies. It's a fun project to get the kids involved with too.

I hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Everly's Nursery

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Sun, 05 May 2013 23:30:00 +0000

I finally got to take some photos of little baby Everly's beautiful nursery during our last visit to New Hampshire. I can't take any credit for any of the decorating in here. Jamie and Josh did everything themselves. I think they did a fabulous job and it is such a fun but still soothing space for baby Everly to grow up in! By using many items they already had or borrowed they were able to keep their cost quite low on this beautiful nursery. The dresser (functioning as a changing table), chair, side table, floor lamp and bookshelf were all items they already owned and they are borrowing the crib from us.

Jamie painted a lamp base from Target in Ballet White to help go with the room better and then added a purple stripe to a basic white shade. She recovered the little storage cube herself.

This Little Bo Peep Pillow Cover is now available in our shop!

Jamie made the cover for her changing pad as well as painting the storage piece hanging on the wall and adding liners to the little baskets so she could fill them with things like diapers, wipes, lotion, etc.

She also made the Roman Shades herself:

Jamie made the crib skirt as well and the blanket was hand-knit by her mother-in-law.

Don't worry about the baby sleeping under the clock! She isn't actually sleeping in her crib yet but when she does she will be sleeping under this lightweight canvas Jamie had made from one of her maternity photos so she won't have to worry about the clock coming down!

Over in this corner they painted a little chalkboard with purple chalkboard paint and until Everly is old enough to use it they have one of our nursery rhyme banners hanging over it. They also painted a floor lamp in the same purple color and added a little table and chairs they found at a consignment shop!

The "Mary Had a Little Lamb..." chalkboard is from Jamie's baby shower and we are now selling the 24 by 36 download in our shop. (The prints are not ready yet but will be soon).

And here are some detailed shots:

Jamie printed out some extra pages from the banner and framed them for added interest on the bookshelf.

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter

Rug - Pottery Barn Kids

Fabric - Fabric.com

Purple Ruffle Pillow - Target

Little Bo Peep Pillow Cover - Dear Lillie

Mary Had A Little Lamb Chalkboard Download - Dear Lillie

Nursery Rhyme Banner Download - Dear Lillie

Table Lamp - Target (painted Ballet White)

Floor Lamp - White Home Collection - Wilton, NH (painted)

Chair - Ballard Design
Clock - Pier One

Bookshelves - Ikea

Hanging Bookshelf - Pottery Barn Kids

Moses Basket - Consignment Shop

Little Table and Chairs - Consignment Shop

Elephant - Buttons and Twine on Etsy

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend!

Thank You Cards and Tags

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:00:00 +0000

We have another card available today for you! This time we are introducing our first set of thank you cards. It includes eight folding chalkboard print greeting cards. Each has been professionally printed on a heavy-weight matte cardstock and is sized at 5" by 7" (includes eight envelopes).

And we also have this design in little tags that can be tied onto thank you gifts. These are flat cards and the back side is white for you to write a little note (or leave blank). These come in sets of fifteen and each little tag is sized at 2.5" by 3".

I hope you all are having a blessed Friday! I'll be back next with some photos from Jamie's and Josh's house!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Wed, 01 May 2013 23:30:00 +0000

Ahhh - I still haven't had time to go through all the different photos I've taken the past week or so but I did want to let you know that we have listed a new greeting card in our shop!

And we've restocked our "And I Think to Myself..." postcard sets:

and our happy birthday gift tags as well!

I'll be back again soon!

Back Porch and Moving

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I was thinking about repainting the hutch this spring a more neutral color but then we decided to put our house on the market. Because I had a ton of cleaning to do indoors in a very short amount of time (our poor garage and closets were disasters), I ended up just cleaning off the porch and adding some plants and a few of the items from last spring one afternoon right before we left for NH. I figured if we weren't able to sell our house I would still have plenty of time once we got back to paint the hutch and change things up a little. However, we got an offer while we were gone last week so our house is officially under contract! (For those of you who have asked: yes, we are staying in Williamsburg, and no, we don't know where exactly we are moving yet. I suppose we 'd better get moving on that...) Obviously there are still quite a few steps before our closing but we are excited so far! Because of that I will be slowly starting to pack up everything and therefore won't be making any changes out here on this porch. Here it is how it looks right now though:

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

A Few More Pictures of Everly Penniman

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:00:00 +0000

The last week or so I have spent very little time on my computer so I am quite behind on getting my photos all loaded onto my computer and sized for the blog. I have a few things to show you from Jamie and Josh's house, a couple of things from our house, two new chalkboards, a new pillow, some new greeting cards and tags and some "during" shots from "Jason's house". I'm hoping tonight to start getting caught up on my computer but we shall see. =) In the meantime I thought I would share the last few photos I took of baby Everly from way back in the early March when she was just a week old. As I mentioned in the other post with her photos we never got to take the photos we had planned on that first week because Lillie, Lola and I were all so sick, but I am happy that we were able to at least get some, even if they weren't what we had planned. Especially seeing how this trip up to NH I haven't taken any!

Winner!

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Thank you all for entering our Crafted by Kerstin Giveaway! Congratulations to Hilary! We just sent you an e-mail!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

$100 Crafted by Kerstin Custom Silhouette Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:00:00 +0000

Guess what? It's time for another giveaway by Crafted by Kerstin! I think you all know how much I love her work and I know the winners from past giveaways we've held have fallen in love too! Kerstin is so talented and is such a pleasure to work with.

Today she is giving away a $100 credit towards her shop!!!

Just in time for Mother's Day!

I love the newest piece she has added to her shop:

Here is a sampling of some of the other items from her shop:

Here is the original piece she made for me that I love:

And here is a picture of Kerstin and her lovely family:

Just enter on Rafflecopter! The giveaway runs through Sunday evening at 8PM EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Birthday Cards and Birthday Hang Tags

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:35:00 +0000

We are excited to finally have our first set of 5 by 7 folded cards available! (And we have quite a few more designs that will be ready soon.) Each set comes with 8 cards and 8 white envelopes:

We also have our birthday gift tag sets available! They come in sets of 15 and make a great accent to write a little note on the back of and slip under the ribbon on a birthday gift or punch a little hole in and tie onto something! Please note though: These do not come with rounded corners. We had planned on selling them that way but had to switch to the square corners (as shown in the last photo on the product website). As soon as I have a chance I will rephotograph them to show the square edges but I wanted to go ahead and list this at the same time as the birthday cards. They are in stock and ready to ship, though and will be rephotographed as soon as I have a chance.

We also have our Happy Birthday To You print now available in the larger 11 by 14 size (along with the 8 by 10's we introduced earlier this month).

And there is also our large download:

I hope you all are having a wonderful Thursday!

The Pool Family Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

We've been busy up here in NH! Yesterday I photographed Jamie's nursery and also some new things in her dining room and a couple of new products. We've also been working on yardwork at "Jason's house" and today I am planning on painting the front door and then priming the kitchen cabinets - or at least getting started on them. The granite has been installed and the new appliances are in (except for the hood) and we found some wood for the island countertop, so things are starting to take shape. Even if we don't have everything done (which we probably won't) I'm hoping we will have made enough progress on the kitchen to at least take some "during" type shots before we head back home.

In the meantime, though, I wanted to share with you some photos of the beautiful kitchen of one of our readers who I have gotten to know well. She is so talented. I know you all will love what she has done with her kitchen!

A few weeks ago we shared some of the photos that readers had sent in of their framed chalkboard prints. We shared quite a few photos of Kris Pool's dining room where she had one of our Easter downloads framed. We got all sorts of e-mails asking to see more of her home and she was kind enough to take some photos of her kitchen for me so I could share it all with you!

Paint Colors:

Walls are a custom color similar to Behr Gentle Rain

Cabinets are a custom color similar to Behr Seaside Sand

Island is a custom color similar to Behr Wanderer

Doors are Behr Dusty Mountain

Granite:

The dark counters are Absolute Black

The island is Delicatus White

Other Details:

Pillows: Target, Joss and Main, Dear Lillie, and my own.

Chairs: Target (painted twice, recovered 3 times by now).

Wicker bench: Target.

Large clock: Target, I think.

Baskets in cubbies: Target

Cloche and stand and milk bottles: Hobby Lobby

Kennebunkport sign: LL Bean (customizable to any city)

Large ceramic pears: Ballard Designs

Rug: Kohls

Scale clock: Antique Farmhouse.com

Wonderful World print: Dear Lillie

Large iron spice rack: custom made on Ebay years ago

“Easter” sign: My own

Ivory marble and iron riser: Napastyle catalog

Ivory pitcher: Target

Slate riser: JK Adams online

And here are a few pictures of her dining room:

Oh how I love that clock! =) In fact, I am in the middle of editing photos of Jamie's nursery right now that have that same clock (which we used at her shower) in it!

Thank you so much, sweet Kris for sharing your home with all of us today!

WINNERS!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 01:54:00 +0000

Thank you all so much for entering our giveaway! Here are the two winners: Ashley R. won the stained growth chart and Terri U. won the ivory growth chart. We've already sent both winners an e-mail.

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your evening!

Happy Birthday, My Little Lola Wren

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Today our little Lorelei Wren turns two. It's so hard to believe that it's been two whole years since she arrived. It's even harder to imagine life before her, though! We are so blessed to have her in our lives - she's such a sweet and happy little girl. She is so incredibly loving and is so full of life (and mischief too). =)

Here are a few of my favorite photos of her from the last two years:

She started doing this little smirk early on and still does it.

In case you can't tell, she's a big fan of chocolate doughnuts...

...and lollipops...

well, actually pretty much she's a fan of any food I can bribe her with to try to get a photo! =)

That same little smirk!

We brought her home from the hospital on Easter Sunday two years ago.

Here she was all grown up looking this Easter!

I hope you all have a blessed Monday! I'll be back tonight to announce the two winners of our growth charts! There is still time to enter if you head over now!

Spring Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Now that the weather is starting to get nicer here I've been itching to start taking some photos of the girls outdoors. I haven't taken any "real" pictures of them since October. I've only brought my camera down to Colonial Williamsburg once in the last several months. My cousin, Lauren was here visiting and we took a little walk down there to see the horses. It was morning time so the sun was way too harsh to really take any good pictures but the girls were wearing these adorable dresses my mom made for them and it was such a beautiful morning, so I wanted to take at least a picture or two. She purchased the Audrey Sewing Pattern from one of our sponsors, Violette Field Threads. I LOVE how they turned out.

Lillie is finally at the age where she will smile sweetly for me when I take her picture. Sometimes Lola will too, but most of the time she just takes off running when she sees me pull out my camera. =) I'm hoping I will have some time soon too take some photos of them in the evening!

I also wanted to introduce our newest sponsor, Liquid Art by Cara Berkeley. She makes original contemporary and abstract art that she sells in her Etsy shop.

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday!

It's a Wonderful World Postcards, Cookie Bowls, Customer's HUGE Chalkboard Print

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:30:00 +0000

I hope you are all having a wonderful Friday. Today we are introducing our first set of postcards! These "And I Think to Myself..." postcards come in sets of ten and are available now in our shop!

I also thought I would show you some fun little chocolate chip cookie bowls the girls and I made a few weeks ago. We got the mold at JoAnn's and although the pictures aren't that great, the girls thought it was so cool that they were able to eat the bowl. =)

And lastly I wanted to thank Kellie Mathis for sharing these photos with us. She printed our "And I Think to Myself" download HUGE and used it as a backdrop for a photoshoot she did with the special event venue Encore at Club XLIV at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

Have a wonderful weekend and don't forget to enter our giveaway to win one of TWO growth charts!

Big Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Dear Lillie) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Thank you all so much for helping us get to 10,000 Facebook fans and over 20,000 Pinterest followers! As a thank you we are going to give away TWO of our growth charts! One winner will be getting one of our original stained ones and a second winner will be receiving an ivory one. Just enter below on Rafflecopter! There are many different ways to enter and you can pick just one option or as many as you would like! The giveaway runs from now until Monday night at 6 PM EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway