One in the SAHM

I'm Thankful For...

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:30:00 +0000

Health
My (growing) family
God's grace
You :)

Under Construction

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:33:00 +0000

Husband, Brecken and I braved the first dusting of snow this last weekend and dropped by the new house.

Note: this pic was taken prob 1.5 weeks ago. There's been more progress since.

Can I just tell you how much fun it is to walk through YOUR house, under construction?

To see life being born to YOUR ideas.

To envision the memories and joy we'll experience in our home.

I'm a visual learner, so I thought I'd introduce some spaces to you that you'll be getting to know REALLY well over the coming months. That way you can share in the excitement of seeing this house go from lumber to a home too.

Siding is up and we have a door! No steps to get up to the door, or a walkway to get there, but we have a door!

Immediately inside, you can head on up the stairs, or you can continue in to the house!

Before heading into the Great Room, you can stop off at the downstairs bathroom and/or THE BOYS' (eek!) future playroom.

Many of you might remember my first attempt at converting the downstairs office to a playroom at the OLD house (woh woh). And although the decor never came to full completion, I can say that the function of having a playroom downstairs where Brecken could play while I could still see/hear him, and do my own thing, was AMAZING. So although the builders' intended purpose for this room is a full guest suite, this family shall use it as a playroom.

Anyway.

Onto the Great Room. And my, how this room will be great.

Just to orient yourself, we've walked into the house, past the stairs, playroom and bathroom, to the far window and done an about-face.

In planning for this house, the builder allowed us TONS of freedom in the "re-design" of his existing floor plan. Our first order of business: eliminate all formal space! It's a thing of the past. Well, at least for this family. :)

Now we've taken a few steps forward, and turned our bodies 25% to the left. I'm standing at the kitchen island, staring at the fireplace in the family room.

Do you see it? Do you love it??

And might I just direct your attention to all of that natural light!! Our lot is southern facing, so we'll get max sun exposure in our backyard/living space all day. And when you live in this dreary city, you soak up as much sun as you can get!

It also helps that I utilized some of the tricks capturing the best natural light from House of Smith's DSLR tutorial the other day.

I digress again.

The only other room to show off is our master.

Yes, you read that right: a bench in our shower! Brilliant! Shaving your legs never was so easy. It was a luxury we had in our first house, that this spoiled ~~brat~~ girl could not give up.

So anyway, that's the abbreviated tour and the current state of the house. We're told that next up is drywall, then cabinets, then finishings start going up/in.

Already completed:

~~Foundation poured~~

~~Framing up~~

~~Windows/doors installed~~

~~Plumbing & Electricity wired~~

~~Insulation~~

*To stay up to date on how this house becomes a home, make sure to subscribe and stick around!

Pines Cones & Glitter

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:05:00 +0000

A very talented friend of mine asked for some decorating advice yesterday.

1. Ha! Totally humbled that she would think that I'M a good source for that.

2. Without my own house, super excited to contribute any of my amateur ideas.

She has beautiful handmade jewelry, and is asking for some holiday accents to display at her upcoming holiday jewelry party.

The following criteria were provided:

1. Utilize pine cones

2. Use sparkly sky blue glitter

3. Can't be too messy because we don't want to take away from the actual jewelry.

Here are some ideas I found on Pinterest:

Source: shanty-2-chic.com via Diana on Pinterest

Source: factorydirectcraft.com via Heather on Pinterest

Source: michelle-s.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Carolyn on Pinterest

Source: the-wilson-world.blogspot.com via Chels on Pinterest

Source: craftysisters-nc.blogspot.com via Clare on Pinterest

Source: johner.com via Alix on Pinterest

Source: weddingaces.com via Debbie on Pinterest

I'm also thinking that this is the perfect opportunity to bust out that new Krylon Glitter Spray Paint.
The only catch is that there isn't really a true sky blue color.

Source: krylonglitterblast.com via Ashley on Pinterest

How have you used pine cones in your decorating? Pictures/links welcome!

I'll keep you posted on how the party turns out!

It's a....

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:05:00 +0000

So excited to have a baby brother for Brecken. I had 3, count 'em three, dreams before the ultrasound that a little girl would be joining our brood. Imagine the shock when we opened the Nordstrom box, expecting to find these if it was a girl, but rather found classic navy canvas Tiny Toms. In case you missed our gender reveal plan, you can catch up quickly here.

We clearly are meant for boys.

BUNK BEDS. Dirt. GOLF CLUBS. Wrestling. SPIKED HAIR. Trucks. SPORTS. Popped collars. STITCHES. Deep voices.

So blessed.

Lock up your daughters, the Carbonatto boys are coming to town!

Boy or Girl?

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:53:00 +0000

Today is the day that we find out if our lives will continue to be filled with all things boy, or if some serious pink is going to be thrown in the mix.

REVEAL PLAN:

1. Ultrasound at 2pm

2. Have nurses seal up the results in a nice little envelope.

3. Drop first little munchkin off with his great grandparents for some quality mommy-daddy time.

4. Head to La Mall to pick out a desired outfit for both a boy AND a girl. *Must be of similar weight and price because I'm a pretty good detective and will solve my own mystery before the case has even been opened.

5. The nice retail people will receive that super secretly sealed envelope with the ultrasound results in it, read, and then gift wrap the matching gender outfit.

6. A delicious dinner of (the baby's choice) will ensue. Knowing me, the waiter will hardly be able to offer us water before I want to tear that present open to learn the results of our future.

7. A picture collage with said results will appear on this very little blog tomorrow to let you all in on the secret too!

In all seriousness, we're praying for health. So I ask you join me in praying for that too.

Here comes the future!! Don't forget to check back tomorrow for the news!

**Update: To hear what we're having, click here for the reveal...

Barnyard Bash

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:35:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, one of Brecken's best friends, Brooklyn, celebrated her 2nd birthday.

It was such a great party and I took the time to document some of the fun party elements that Brooklyn's mama put together.

The tone was really set when we received the invite to Brooklyn's Barnyard Bash in the mail.

She used mommiesink (same as I did for Brecken's preppy 1st Birthday) as the preferred vendor to do the custom design, and then printed the invites thru Overnight Prints.

An offsite location (a local pumpkin patch/farm) was chosen which was BRILLIANT in my opinion - someone else to clean up and someone else's "house" to trash with 40 billion toddlers running around!

Welcome poster.

Party favors.

Bandanas for all of the little cowboys and cowgirls in attendance.

There were of course several DIY elements to the party as well.

Using Krylon's new GlitterBlast spray paint, this craft store paper mache "B" was transformed to be the centerpiece for the food table. The only feedback on using this super fun new spray paint is that:

It's sort of pricey, so make sure you use a coupon and
You'll use a whole can on the amount of surface area for this "B". So another reason to use those coupons. :)

These are DIY Cake Balls too if you can believe it. Brooklyn's got a talented grandma!

Snacks at a 2 year old's party can, and should, be kept simple. They are toddlers. And all the parents care about are making sure that chaos is controlled enough for the duration of the party. Finger foods are JUST FINE.

What a fun Barnyard Bash! I know that this little man sure had fun...

Kitchen Backsplash

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:46:00 +0000

Who knew that building your own house would come with SO many choices?! Thank the Lord for Pinterest because although it is a good problem to have, choosing EVERY element of our soon-to-be house is intense. Mainly because there is no one else to blame if it turns out weird.

The builder didn't choose it - we did! EEK!!!

My latest struggle comes in the form of the kitchen backsplash.

Quick picture of some of our current chosen kitchen elements:

White cabinets

Source: reasonstobreathe.tumblr.com via Laura on Pinterest

Granite - still technically need to narrow that down too but it will be in the lighter family.

Or maybe I go with a darker granite?

Source: houzz.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Satin nickel hardware throughout cabinetry.

Source: None via Ashley on Pinterest

So for the backsplash, do I go typical tile...

Source: giostone.com via Fern on Pinterest

Or do I lurch forward into the world of subway tile...

Source: None via Jen on Pinterest

Source: isabellaandmaxrooms.blogspot.com via Kelly on Pinterest

Do I get bold and choose a color, or stick with all white?

Source: bhg.com via Carolyn on Pinterest

Source: blog.alicelanehome.com via Maya on Pinterest

So I need your help: if you were creating a white cabinet dream kitchen, what would your granite/backsplash look like?? Feel free to leave a Pinterest link of a picture - I really am a visual learner!

PS - here's a (phone) picture I snapped yesterday of the progress!

Pumpkin Stencils

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:32:00 +0000

This is a fun website called Pumpkin Pile that has tons of free pumpkin carving stencils. Check them out!

*Thanks Six Sisters' Stuff for the introduction.

Brecken: 17 Month Maniac

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:00:00 +0000

We took our first Pumpkin Patch trip of the year this weekend for one of Brecken's best friend's 2nd birthday parties, and were able to get some good shots of B at 17 months.

Still learning what "coloring" means. The crayons mostly still go in the mouth.

My two main men. LOVE.

He was SO interested in touching all of the pumpkins. Probably because they had dirt on them.

Some days I just can't believe he's mine.

(The bandana was a party accessory PS).

Who loves being tan in October? THIS KID! Thank you Mexico.

Stunna shades.

Positioning himself to drive the tractor instead of his friend Kingston.

What a different trip this year from last year.

This kid keeps us on our toes from the minute he's awake until the minute he goes to bed (hence why bedtime is 6:30!). It's so fun to see his little personality shine through, and see how teachable he has become.

Baby Cohen's Nursery

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:17:00 +0000

Being that I'm not in my own house, these next several months will be a lot of vicarious living.

We start today by featuring a good friend of mine's most amazing new nursery to welcome her little boy Cohen. I am slightly obsessed with this room that's definitely not in my house.

I snuck in an opportunity to photograph his room because it's too amazing to not share with the world.

View from the entrance.

Chalkboard ready to welcome him home!

Personal pictures amidst vintage letter cards. LOVE.

The overall color scheme of the room is the perfect shade of grey as a backdrop to an eclectic mix of orange, navy blue, white and several other vintage elements.

There were several items that I would ask, "Where did you get this?" and her answer varied EVERY SINGLE TIME (which I love).


A vintage wood frame constructed by her grandfather filled with a print from an art boutique nearby.

Everything had personal touches. Including a mason jar full of pictures of family and friends.

Baseball is a huge part of this family. And will be for little Cohen as well.

A family picture to orient Cohen every time he gets changed.

Love these curtains.

The perfect shade of orange.

The changing pad sat atop Cohen's navy blue dresser from Land of Nod. She personalized the standard look of the dresser by replacing the knobs with these Anthropology gems.

A vintage sweatshirt that was originally worn by C's dad. So cute.

I adore his crib.

Periodic table of elements as a centerpiece above the crib.

There was tons of storage for this little man's room.

Custom-made wood train. A little greenery. Perf.

And then of course, I couldn't leave without sneaking in a few pictures of mom herself (who happens to literally be the cutest pregnant person you've ever seen). For real.

Some adorable little Converse.

These originally belonged to C's Dad: his very first pair of Nikes. And now Cohen's.

I seriously love this nursery.

A condensed list of where everything came from is below:

Dresser: Land of Nod

Crib: Kids N Cribs

Paint Color: TBD

Curtains: IKEA

Dresser Knobs: Anthropology

Orange/Silver Totes: Land of Nod

Major Hiatus = OVER

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 03:47:00 +0000

Holy bajeepers - I have been off in la la land (or I'm sure you all thought) for the last...FOREVER.

Let's get the nitty gritty over with and update you on the MAJOR changes that have occurred in the One in the SAHM household:

1. House is sold, and we've moved. What a process that was! Whose brilliant idea was it to move anyway? :) If you weren't able to see the house we said goodbye to, you can check out a little mini tour here.

So does that mean we're homeless? NOPE! My gracious parents (who are Arizona snowbirds) have offered up their vacant home for us to hang out in for the next 5-6 months while our new house is being built.

Yep, you read that right: I am one lucky girl...

2. We are building our (for now) dream house...or as close to it as we can afford. :)

We actually had our first official meeting with the builder today to go over our entire contract and begin picking paint colors, hardwood floor colors, cabinet hardware, etc and I couldn't have been more giddy.

Here's a picture of the lot. Construction has begun. Foundation is poured and framing started today!

It may not look like a whole lot right now, but just you wait...it's going to be AWESOME!

This means that I've got some serious dreaming to do in the next several months. Thank the Lord for Pinterest when you're building a house. To follow me just click here.

The only other thing that we're praying for is just for construction to stay on track. Estimated finish time is end of February/beginning of March. That doesn't leave a whole lot of margin for us to get in there before...

3. The next baby Carbonatto joins us! That's right...this girl is prego again! I officially started my second trimester yesterday and it feels oh so good to be 1/3 of the way done already. Plus, earlier this summer, we experienced the other end of this wonderful joy and that was in the form of a miscarriage. Our hearts hurt for the loss of that baby, but I know the baby is in good hands now and I anxiously await our meeting someday in heaven. It now makes the joy of getting to hold THIS baby sometime in late March that much more amazing. Heartache to joy in a matter of months.

(insert cute prego picture here...and cute announcement pic...oh wait, I don't have any. :) )

So yeah, some major changes have resulted in a blog world hiatus. But the good news is...I still got it, and I'm back!

I leave you with this: another major milestone we experienced - Brecken getting his first stitches a few weeks back.


Pre-stitches. Lots 'o blood. Don't worry - it came out of his Husky shirt. :)

My little Frankenstein.

Home Tour - Carbonatto Casa

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 21:12:00 +0000

I haven't talked about our house being for sale much on here because it's mostly been a pipe-dream, and annoyance (keeping it clean all the time), for the past 269 days. Yep, our house has been on the market for a cumulative of 269 days. (Can I get a sympathy jaw-dropper there)

I have a Tazmanian ~~devil~~ toddler who does his darndest to ensure that the house is at it's messiest when an agent calls for a showing.

But we might have had our last showing.

I hate to break the news early, or jinx it, but we hopefully will have a sale pending shortly. Someone wants our house!!

So I thought today in celebration of this monumental event, that I would show you the house that so many people have been turning down for the past 269 days....until now (fingers crossed)!

*Note: I took none of these pictures - they are straight from our MLS listing**

When we saw her in 2008...we just couldn't resist!

Entry way. Huge vaulted ceilings. Love(d).

Builder grade kitchen. Totes functional. Just so....brown.

Looking into the Family Room.


I've never been fully satisfied with the feel of this room. But it worked!


Formal dining room. Many-a-meal has been shared with loved ones here.

Looking at the entryway from upstairs.

Master bedroom. Never quite finished decorating this room either.

Our bathroom. Which I've always loved. Massive space. And do you see that bench in the shower? My absolute FAV!

Playroom. Never quite finished decorating this one either. It's this clean all the time. I promise.

Hotel de Carbonatto. Finished this room the first month we moved in...and never looked back. What a great strategy!

Bonus room converted to office. So happy for it to have a function. It's been completely empty up until about 3 months ago.

Brecken's bathroom. Never finished this room either.

And one of the main reasons this house has been on the market for 269 days....

Our "backyard" - enough room for a bar, BBQ, and table. Seriously people, we live in Seattle - what more do you need?

And you can see my glorious Mother's Day gift behind the bar over there - our hot tub.

They neglected to photograph the craft room, mainly because it's usually always in a complete state of disaster...but I never fully finished that room either.

As you can see, there is nothing wrong with this house. It's beautiful. And we are grateful to have been in a position to host birthday parties, football viewings, baby showers, Christmases, and Thanksgivings and be the home that everyone knew they were always welcomed.

It's just not "us" anymore (we didn't even know what that really meant when we bought it...or moved in).

Here's to praying that this buyer really comes through on all the remaining hoops they need to jump through and that we can close in September!

Cell Phone Recap & Fun Font Download

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 00:22:00 +0000

The sunshine has been out, and thus my creative inspiration is still on vacation.

Play, play, play has been the theme of this home though so I thought we'd do a little week recap via cell phone pictures.

Brecken mopped the driveway. He pulls his weight.

Antique shopping with my sister. Old Coke crates - LOVE.

Date Night!

Yummy dinner at Benihana followed by the Broadway version of Aladdin!


Picnic lunch at the local water spray park!

We've got a pretty quiet weekend, other than celebrating a friend's baby shower tomorrow, for which I put together some quick name prints as part of the party decor!

Or possibly this one...

Or maybe this one...

Thanks armommy for the heads up on the fun font: Rage 2 <-------------------(free download).

Linking to:
Tatertots & Jello

Living Backwards

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 18:17:00 +0000

Living backwards. Not literally. But living with the end in sight. It's something that I struggle with on a daily basis.

It's something that society completely neglects. We want now. Immediate gratification. That's how we're taught.

This week, a young girl from our church painted a picture to me, and to the community, of how to live your life backwards.

Rachel tragically died at just 9 years old on Saturday but her legacy, ALREADY, is insane.

Her dream was to impact lives. Giving up her birthday so that 15 strangers could have clean water.

You might remember last year for our birthdays, Blake and I asked friends and family to help us build a well in Africa so that others could have clean drinking water. Well Rachel wanted this too. She figured $300 would impact 15 people and it'd be awesome.

Rachel fell short of her birthday wish when she launched her campaign this last June, only raising $220. But she vowed that next year for her 10th birthday, she'd go big or go home.

Well that's what happened. She has gone home. And her campaign has gone big. Like huge. Really, really big.

I literally click refresh on her campaign every hour and just sit there in shock at the rising total.

What an impact she is having.

I also think about why this story has gone viral. Celebrities, professional athletes, national news anchors have all jumped on board to bring hope and life amongst tragedy in honor of Rachel's wish.

At our core, we all want to have an impact. We all desperately need hope in the midst of hurt. It's how God made us.

But how?

By doing as Rachel has done. Living backwards.

Just this week, a village who had NEVER had clean water received it for the first time.

We promised we'd be back. from charity: water on Vimeo.

Rachel is now responsible for bringing clean water to almost 25 villages just like this.

Imagine if 25 of your nearby towns didn't have clean water. It would change everything for them to have clean water.

Rachel's big dream was to help 15 people. That has now turned into almost 6,000 people. Over $115,000 from $220. And rising.

This girl's impact and ripple is beyond comprehension. She lived backwards. Offered up what she had, and now watches from heaven as the amount of life change she has caused is only something of God-sized measure.

Again, I am reminded that water changes everything.

She inspires me. To live more selflessly. To be generous beyond comfort. To focus on how my life can have a ripple effect on others. To have faith like a child. To think of how I want to be remembered.

Rachel gave me perspective. And for that, I am grateful.

If you want to give to Rachel's campaign, visit here.

Photo Editing: Presets

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:30:00 +0000

One of our best investments in the last two years has been a good DSLR camera. And although we're still learning how to use this bad boy to it's fullest potential, I just LOVE the picture results that we've been able to capture.

I'll let you in on a little secret though: presets, presets, presets. I've mentioned before that Adobe Lightroom is my go-to editing software (a friend downloaded it on my computer for free - find one of those friends!).

I recently came across some BEAUTIFUL presets from Pretty Presets.

She offers some awesome filters to edit your photos, that you can purchase in large groups for only $25.

I purchased the Fall In Love Collection...

How cute is this picture?

...and took my pictures from this:

Silly Saxyn

To this:

Cropped w/ Blueberries preset

Or from this:

To this:

If you have a photo editing software, I highly recommend checking out Pretty Presets because it truly takes your photos to the next level.

I always need cute pictures for all of my fun thrift store frames I find. (Does anyone else have a bagillion empty frames around their house? Just me?)

A DSLR, Lightroom, and presets are all a slight investment I realize, {but truly capturing these fleeting moments of our family is priceless. At least in this house it is}.

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook - let's be friends!

Backyard Recreation: Hot Tub

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:30:00 +0000

Awhile back, on Mother's Day, I was called frantically outside to "see what Dempsey (our dog) did".

Naturally, I immediately ran outside only to find a super exciting sign "written" by Brecken:

Yep, my son is super advanced. Writing w/ pen at 12 months. :)

Our small, but functional yard, was about to really get the FUN put into functional!

I've always wanted a hot tub!!

After some serious slave labor by my husband and friends, a concrete slab was laid and the hot tub is now officially in business.

I even decided to spice things up a bit and picked up these fun hooks from Pier 1, gave them a quick coat of spray paint, and had Blake nail them to the fence.

A cute and simple way to keep our towels close and off the ground!

Thanks Brecken - what a great Mother's Day gift!

Annual Vacation - Car Camping

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:30:00 +0000

I love to camp. Do you believe me?

What about if I told you that camping meals regularly looked like this?

Yep. Every year, an ever-growing group of amazing friends pack up our cars, unplug from the world and spend a week in Eastern Washington, camping on the river.

BBQ. Campfires. S'mores. Sunshine. And catching up with old friends. We look forward to this week every year....all year long.

Last year, Brecken was just a wee-little-one. And we brought him anyway. Yep, camping with a 3 month old. Brilliant.

This year, camping with a toddler. Even better idea. (insert sarcasm).

After actually sending Brecken home, both of us getting sick, dodging a couple days of rain, and then ultimately bringing Brecken back - we had a great week.

Blake wearing a hood to ward off his fever chills. Awesome.

My little boater. Seriously. Love him.

Family photo on the river.

They win the award for farthest distance traveled - the infamous Arizona Russums.

Safety first.

They say it takes a village. Here is part of our village.

River=freezing.

Homeboy gets ants in his pants on the boat.

Sweet Baby Jersie.

Love my boys. Blake. Brecken. Dempsey.

We look forward to creating these memories with our family, and this group of friends, every year. We feel blessed to have such a fun annual tradition for our families to grow up with.

Do you have an annual vacation? Is it with family or friends? Or are your friends your family?

Wedding Gift: Date Commemorate

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:30:00 +0000

We are in the heart of wedding season.

In addition to fun wedding shower gifts (like I showed you last month), I've also wanted to find creative ways to gift and bless the new married couple....without breaking the bank.

When I think back to some of my most favorite wedding gifts, anything that is nostalgic, or personal stands out. I did need those forks and cups though - so thank you to those that provided those for my cupboards. :)

Then, I was introduced to my creative budget-friendly solution:

Amongst a million other super cute posters, I came across this beauty:

Which was fittingly titled "Oh, Happy Day!"

At $14 each (but 25% if you order three or more - which I did), this was the perfect solution!

Fast forward a mere five days, and the cutest little package showed up at my front door, ready to be matted and framed.

I ordered three, each individually in the wedding colors of the respective bride and groom.

After scoring some great sale frames from Michaels (with an additional coupon of course), I used some scrap burlap as the background matte, tied it up with some lace ribbon for decorative presentation detail, and VOILA - my new Wedding Date Commemorate!

Don't you just love the barnwood frame?! Love these right now.

So there you have it, a personalized cute wedding gift for that next wedding you've got on the calendar (and I know you have at least one on there).

Go check out A Vintage Poster, and don't forget to use her coupon code MORE4ME for 25% off.

Linking to:
Delightful Order
Hookin Up with HoH

4th of July

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:59:00 +0000

This was one of the best 4th of July's on record for the One in the SAHM household.

Backyard BBQ, friends, SUNSHINE, and some sparklers! What more could a girl ask for?!

We seriously had such a great day. I even prepped by switching out my Spring Wreath for a much more Americana wreath!

Scraps of fabric from my Playroom Pennant


Leftover ribbon from Brecken's 1st Birthday

Clearly, as you can tell from the materials, I did this during a naptime (because I needed to use all supplies that I already had on-hand).

Back to enjoy the sun - I'll be back with some more fun wedding gift ideas tomorrow (or Thursday depending on how much sun I want to soak up!).

Tip Junkie Feature!

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 04:01:00 +0000

It was a fabulous Father's Day weekend in the One in the SAHM household. My little man felt it necessary to match his Daddy for the day...and it melted my heart.

I logged into Blogland this morning though only to see that little old me had been featured as the latest Bridal Shower Gift Idea that I showed you last week on Laurie's famous Tip Junkie!

So excited!!

Then I proceeded to get super lost in Tip Junkie's blog. Have you ever explored her website? It's like a girl's guide to EVERYTHING:

4th of July decor

Love this printable - Source

Fun 1st Birthday Party & Cake Ideas (too bad we couldn't sneak Brecken's Preppy birthday in there) :)

A Lemonade Stand - Source

Find the perfect Housewarming Gift

Source

So anyway, basically there's everything that you'd ever need an idea for at the click of a mouse.

What a great resource - thank you Laurie for the feature!

Shameless Plug....Facebook!

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 21:41:00 +0000

I'm super excited to announce that One in the SAHM is now on Facebook.

Do you see that little "f" up there? ....yep, that's it. Right-hand side, just over yonder --->

Will you join me on there?

I'm on FB way more than I am here, and then we can really start sharing fun ideas and finds.

Click here so that we can be friends.

Also, we're almost to 100 followers! Ahhh!

When we get there, a giveaway is in store. And it'll be worthwhile, I promise.

(Sexy) Bridal Shower Gift - Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 00:20:00 +0000

It's June. And that means wedding season!

Along with weddings, comes the fun pre-celebration of bridal showers. And what does every bride-to-be (well, and woman) always need: some new undies!

Here's how I packaged this simple, yet sexy, shower gift for a much more sophisticated presentation:

If you're anything like me, I have a plethora of vases on hand, most of which hardly EVER get used. So I grabbed one I already had on-hand and decided to pay it forward for the new bride-to-be.
*If you aren't willing to part with one, thrift stores are a great place to pick up fun vases for cheap

I also wrapped two pieces of burlap linen straps that I happened to also have on hand for a little extra embellishment. *(secret: they were cut from old Urban Outfitters shopping bags...I knew they would come in handy at some point)

I digress.

I put together a fun collection of underwear that I picked up for the bride-to-be at Victoria Secret. Their ongoing 5 for $25 deal is the best in town.

I thought these were especially fitting for a soon-to-be newlywed.

Using some clearance lace I had on-hand, I tied each pair of underwear together, attaching them together at the ends.

To spice up the appearance of the vase, I decided to pull out some scrap fabric that was originally purchased to recover the chair for my craft room desk. Needless to say, I went another direction, and put this cute fabric to use now.

This is a really technical way to measure.

Once you've got the proper dimensions measured, it's time to cut and "fill" the vase with the pattern facing out.

Next, you must insert said underwear.

Again, I used a really technical method: shove in the goods with scissors. My vase was too skinny for my hand to fit all the way down there.
*Trick: crumple up some tissue paper or newsprint to maintain the shape of the fabric against the vase and allow the underwear to sit higher toward the top of the vase.

Lastly, all you have to do is embellish.

I attached a free download tag from Jones Design Company circa Christmas time - get yours here - along with a fun fabric flower, and wa-la - the gift is ready.

I realized after-the-fact, that I should have ironed the fabric down at the top for a cleaner seam, but you can learn from my mistakes. :)

So there you have it: a fun, practical, and sexy shower gift for that bride-to-be in your life.

Linking to:
Tatertots and Jello
Whipperberry

Charicature Time Lapse

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 14:30:00 +0000

Have you ever had your caricature drawn?

While in Florida, this was one of the activities they had available one night, so we thought why not?

When I got home, I decided to pull out of the archives one we had drawn back in 2004 in Las Vegas, while we were there celebrating our 21st birthdays.

Look at how YOUNG we both look in 2004.

Blake now sports the much more sophisticated I'm-a-business-man look with his glasses and clean-cut hair style.

And don't worry, my big lips have stayed the same.

PS - don't you just love this frame?

Recent garage sale find for $2!

I sort of want to make a tradition out of it, to commemorate fun trips we've had and to see the time lapse of our story...and love.

And just for fun, thought I'd throw in the very first picture of Blake and I ever taken.

Ahh....how cute. :)

Desk Upgrade

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 14:30:00 +0000

As you all know, I've been in the marathon process of creating my very own craft room.

Who knew that undertaking an entire room decor would take this long with a toddler in the house?

All the experienced moms are probably laughing at me right now....duh, I know).

Anyway, let me introduce you to....

The newest addition to the craft room is a thrift store desk.

You may recall, that I went on a thrift store shopping spree and picked up my first furniture re-do's, including the desk and chair for a combined $32.

Crappy cell phone camera.

There are a ton of tutorials out there on how to distress and re-do furniture, and I'm not even going to pretend to be an expert. I'd advise checking out some different techniques from Cassie at Primitive and Proper as she is the queen-bee (as far as I can tell) in this arena.

For the desk though, after a good sanding, I applied 2 coats of a semi-gloss project paint (that's what the can is called) in white.

{Forgot to take pictures of this. #Blogger fail}

I then traded out the boring old wood knobs, for some super cute crystal green knobs from Anthropology. Sale rack for $2.95 each.

I then needed to do something about that chair.

Thankfully it was SUPER easy to re-upholster. I picked up a yard of fabric (that I am now obsessed with) and did my best using the staple gun.

Good news: it doesn't have to be pretty on the underneath side to look good on the flip side.

I then needed a little pizazz, and function, for my desk.

A plain distressed white desk is so last month. :)

Using some black chalkboard paint I had on-hand, I gave a solid two coats to the side panel of the desk.

I then used the "negative" from a pennant flag I originally cut out as decoration for Brecken's birthday using the Silhouette (yep, I have one - JEALOUS?).

It was super easy to just tape it on the sides, and using some fun acrylic paint I already had on hand, I stenciled those flags right on.

This is my really sophisticated paint pallet - a tupperware lid. :)

I let it dry, and repeated the same process on the other side, to end up with this:

So it's not super complicated, but it is functional and cute - I just LOVE it!

It's the perfect addition to the room!

All in all, this project cost me a total of $52 with a breakdown that looks like this:

Desk - $20

Chair - $12

Cushion Fabric - $8 for one yard

New knobs - $12 for 4

Disregard the mess to the side. It's always a work in progress. :)

Needless to say, I am VERY pleased with my new workspace.

Desk & Chair

Hutch Re-do

Free card rack

Almost all of the major elements are complete. Stay tuned for a full reveal of how it all looks together!

Linking to:
Eisy Morgan
Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up
Whipperberry

Airplanes, Friends, & a Tan

noreply@blogger.com (One in the SAHM) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 03:59:00 +0000

That's been the theme of our last 7 days.

Airplanes, Friends & a Tan

To celebrate Memorial Day Weekend, we headed out to a friend's beach cabin.

This just might have to go in a frame.

The good-looking one on the far right - he's taken. :)

We then traded in our North Face fleece beach attire, for true beach attire.

5 days in Boca Raton, Florida.

On the company's dime, we stayed at one of the premier resorts in Florida. It. Was. Breathtaking.

The Boca Raton Resort & Beach Club

Our suite looked out onto the ocean everyday.

We slept with the slider open just to hear the waves crash.

It felt really nice, yet overwhelming, all at the same to be so spoiled for so many days.

I am so proud of my husband and the job that he does, that it was well-deserved on his part and I was just lucky to be along for the ride. :)

Although Florida is beautiful, and the 80 degree water makes me semi-re-think hating salt water, I'm not sure we'll be back anytime soon. A full day of flying, with multiple airplanes just drains you.

Thank you Florida though for your hospitality. It was much appreciated.

And just to ease your suspense, I chose to read Emily Giffin's Something Blue.

Perfect sunshine book.