It’s that time of year. You know what I’m talking about.

SWEET SUMMERTIME!

And you know we LOVE the LAKE around here! So when Aqua Lily Pad reached out about sending me one of their floating foam lily pads, I was like, YES, PLEASE! We’d been looking into getting something similar but just hadn’t yet, so this came at the perfect time.

It comes with a tether at one end, so we just attach it to a boat cleat on our dock and throw it the lake. The girls have seriously had hours of entertainment just jumping off the dock onto the lily pad, sliding into the lake, climbing up the ladder and doing it all over again!

It’s great for relaxing on too, but our girls aren’t quite at the age where they’re very into “relaxing” yet. Don’t let this photo fool you – they were back up and jumping in 30 seconds flat!

When we’re done with it, we just roll it up and secure it with the cinch straps, then store it just off our dock, ready for next time! It’s so easy to get in and out of the lake that even when we don’t have time to get the boat out and go for a ride, we can throw this in and let the girls have some fun!

We’ve been very impressed with the quality and the fact that it’s Made in the USA is just icing on the cake. Get your own Aqua Lily Pad here.

What’s your favorite lake toy? We also got an inflatable slide this year that we haven’t had a chance to try out yet, so that’s next on the agenda! Last year, we invested in some paddle boards and those are super fun too.

The post lake fun with aqua lily pad appeared first on Love Lake Living.

I just realized last night that Valentine’s Day is in 5 days – whoops. Amazon to the rescue! I found a pack of 96 scratch art bookmarks (we have something like 55 valentines to make) and these cute holographic zip top bags. I made a printable card that I’ll just slip into the bag with the bookmark, and then throw in some candy – likely Tootsie Rolls because we have a giant bag that is still hanging around from the girls’ birthday party last year.

Shop the scratch art bookmarks and holographic bags here.

Click here to download the free printable!

The printable is formatted on letter sized paper, with 3 cards sized at 3″ x 6″, but you can scale them down by printing at a smaller percentage.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

The post easy classroom valentine’s idea appeared first on Love Lake Living.

So, I created a printable Christmas Bucket List with 15 activities to do with your family this holiday season!

(Click on the image to print it, or save it for later!)

Christmas Bucket List:

• Bake a sweet treat
• Attend a holiday market
• Make homemade hot chocolate
• See a huge light display
• Visit Santa
• Make a gingerbread house
• Host a dessert party
• Take a picture in front of the tree
• Make handprint ornaments
• Watch a parade
• Have a movie marathon
• Listen to Pentatonix
• Read a Christmas book
• Wrap a gift with a fancy bow
• Buy batteries (I added this one so you don’t forget )

What did I forget? What are your favorite holiday activities to do with the family?

The post christmas bucket list. appeared first on Love Lake Living.

I share daily content on Instagram, centered around fashion finds, home decor tips and tricks and just general lifestyle stuff. However, I’m terrible about sharing it here on my blog, where it’s actually searchable and pin-able. Whoops! Ha! I’m going to try to do better, but if there’s ever anything you’re looking for, my categories up at the top of the page are a good place to start! For similar content to this, just click the Shop My Feed link at the top of the page.

Shirtdresses for Spring

(Click the items in the image below to shop, or click here.)

Summer Swim

(Click the items in the image below to shop, or click here.)

Cute and Flattering Target Shorts

(Click the items in the image below to shop, or click here.)

Spring Finds from LOFT

(Click the items in the image below to shop, or click here.)

The post lake living loves: spring fashion finds appeared first on Love Lake Living.

Both of my girls have February birthdays, which is fun except for when it comes time to plan the birthday parties! We have a lot of joint parties, which they don’t seem to mind, thankfully. But it means I can also go a little bit “bigger” with the party since it’ll be more kids and only ONE party instead of two.

This year I decided to live my lifelong dream of throwing our very own CARNIVAL. Carnival parties can take a lot of planning but it was so fun and came together so well and the kids seemed to have a blast!

I rented out our school gym for the occasion and purchased most of the supplies from Party City, Amazon and Oriental Trading (with a heavy dose of Dollar Tree thrown in the mix).

Here is everything I bought to make this Carnival Birthday Party a success!

(1) carnival prizes (2) prize wheel (3) squishy prizes (4) carnival tickets (5) ring toss game is no longer available, but you can probably find something similar! (6) striped table skirt (7) red table cloths (8) rubber duck matching game (9) balloon pump (10) popcorn balloons (11) striped treat bags (12) red napkins (13) red plates (14) balloon arch kit (15) primary colored balloons (16) balloon tape (17) circus tent balloons

A Carnival isn’t complete without booths!

The most important part of planning a Carnival is putting together all the games and hiring help! Here’s what we did:

Face Painting:

Ask friends for a recommendation of a face painter if you don’t know one, or do a quick search on Facebook or the web. I was able to book a lady after posting for recommendations on Facebook.

Balloon Artist:

We have a well-known balloon artist in our area that I was able to book for 2 hours, which was a big hit, as I knew it would be! Search and see if there is someone similar near you.

Ring Toss:

If you can’t find a ring toss game, you can DIY one easily. Just set up 6 cones (you can usually find them at Dollar Tree), and find large rings to throw on them. Cheap kids’ bangle bracelets would work. You can also check a party supply store (like Party City) to see what they have you could use.

Bowling:

We have a kids’ bowling set that we brought and set up for the kids to play! Easy enough!

Ball Toss:

• Get 5 round baskets (check the dollar store!) and label them with point values (10, 20, 30, 40, 50).
• Set the baskets up in a straight line, with the highest point value furthest away.
• Using hacky sacks, foam balls or wiffle balls, have the player throw 3 balls, trying to get them into the baskets.
• Add together the total score. Highest number of points wins.

Topple the Cups:

Set up 6 solo cups in a pyramid, and have kids throw ping pong balls to try to knock them down! It’s better if they’re on a table but we set them up on the floor and that worked okay too!

Cozy Coupe Racing:

• Get 2 Cozy Coupe cars (borrow from friends, check Facebook marketplace, or resale shops)
• Tape “lanes” on the floor using painter’s tape (or use cones!)
• Players will race down the lane – first player to the finish line wins!

Match the Duck:

I bought this from Oriental Trading and borrowed a plastic pool from a friend, where I set them up and had kids take turns making matches.

Twister:

This one’s easy! Just set up the game and designate someone to be the wheel-spinner!

Dance Party:

Set up a bluetooth speaker with a kid-friendly playlist and let the kids have fun dancing! Bonus: you could add hula hoops and jump ropes for extra fun.

Fresh Popcorn and Cotton Candy:

Check your local party rental shop. I was able to rent commercial popcorn and cotton candy machines, with everything I needed to make the treats.

Prize Wheel:

I bought this from Oriental Trading but there are lots of DIY ideas on Pinterest if you do a search. I had buckets corresponding to each number with a different prize inside, mostly candy/suckers and little toys from Amazon and Party City. TIP: Kit Kats were the most-coveted prize, surprisingly!

To earn a spin of the Prize Wheel, each child at the party had to trade in 3 tickets. To earn a ticket, they had to play a game and they got a ticket whether or not they “won” the game. I didn’t want to make the prizes contingent on the kids “winning” so this was a way to make it fair and a little bit fun for everyone.

Bounce House:

Self-explanatory but ALWAYS a hit!

Balloon Arch:

I bought all the supplies to make the most beautiful balloon arch backdrop but sadly did not have enough time to execute it!

Free Carnival Party Downloads

I typed up instructions for each of the games, if you want to download them for yourself! Here’s an example but the instructions for each of the games I laid out above are included in the link below.

Click this link to download Carnival Game Instructions

And because I’m extra, I also made the girls matching Dumbo skirts from fabric I found at Hobby Lobby and a simple half circle skirt pattern.

I might be biased, but I think they’re the cutest ever.

For the cake, I just wanted something cute and graphic with primary colors, so I found an idea on Pinterest and my friend the cake maker executed it for me!

We used battery operated tea lights as our “candles” so no one had to blow on the cake.

All in all, it was a successful party and everyone had a BLAST.

Comment below with any questions about our Carnival or if you’d like to throw your own someday!

The post planning a carnival themed birthday party {with links to supplies!} appeared first on Love Lake Living.

[Oh, before I go, don’t forget to PIN any of these images by hovering over them and clicking the Pinterest icon. ]

Living Room

Kitchen

Playroom and Foyer

R’s Room

Not pictured: S2’s room, our room and the Family Room! I have a total of 6 trees this year but I love it so much that it’s worth all the effort. My favorite new addition are the Shiny Brite ornaments on R’s little tree, above. They are just the most perfect ornaments I’ve ever seen.

Do you do a BIG Christmas, or do you keep it simple with one (or two) trees? I seem to add a tree every year because I have more ideas than will fit on a single tree – creator probs.

Here are a couple of home tours from years past:

(I guess I didn’t do a 2020 one, because we were all a little preoccupied last year )

2019 Christmas Home Tour

2018 Christmas Home Tour

The post christmas home tour 2021 appeared first on Love Lake Living.

Don’t you just love how most people are on board with starting Christmas right after Halloween now?! The Christmas season seems much less rushed and more enjoyable when you spread it out over 2 months instead of 1. I mentioned on Instagram earlier this week how I probably wouldn’t be decorating for a couple weeks just because I have a lot of fall stuff I need to put away and organizing I need to get done before I can pull all the Christmas stuff out. WELL. Famous last words because after I put these graphics together, I decided to run with the blue theme (from the Tinsel + Blue idea below) in S2’s room aaaaaand I’ll be decorating it this afternoon.

I am always looking for another Christmas tree theme I can do, because decorating for Christmas gives me extreme joy, so in case you are too, here are 4 decorating ideas for accent Christmas trees (in other words: probably not your main tree, but a fun one for a bedroom or kids’ room). Shop these ideas by clicking on the items in the widget below each graphic.

Christmas Tree Theme: Tinsel + Blue

I used to hate blue in Christmas decor (I felt like it was reserved for Hanukkah!), but I’ve embraced it and actually have grown to quite like it in the right spaces. The idea of a silver tinsel tree with icy blue ornaments is just

Christmas Tree Theme: Flocked + Fancy

I am OBSESSED with that crown topper and bought it for my girls’ playroom tree, which is a 4′ flocked beauty, like these. We also have a 6′ flocked tree in our bedroom with soft green ornaments like these and it is absolutely gorgeous – probably my favorite tree in our house.

Christmas Tree Theme: Neutral Traditional

The thing about pencil trees is that it’s easy to fit one just about anywhere! Especially if it’s decked out in neutral ornaments like these. (#need that A-frame ornament)

Christmas Tree Theme: Pretty in Pink

A PINK TREE?! Oh my gosh, I have thought so seriously about adding this one to our house. Isn’t it FANTASTIC?! Talk about non-traditional fabulousness! Especially paired with the vintage inspired ornaments and the black tree skirt – YES!

Which idea is your favorite?! I would love to hear in the comments below.

Please pin these images to save for later!

Accent Christmas Tree Decor: 4 Ideas for Christmas Tree Themes

The post 4 ideas for Christmas tree themes. appeared first on Love Lake Living.

Our little sweet Baby P is now THREE AND A HALF, can you even believe it?! I don’t post much family content here on the blog (I really should get better about that), so follow me on Instagram if you want to see how big she’s gotten. GEEZ, time needs to slow down.

All of that to say, it was time to transition her out of her crib and into a big girl bed, which obviously meant a whole room makeover. I mean, if you know me AT ALL, you know we had to paint and get all new furnishings and the whole 9 yards. Actually, I don’t think I bought her one piece of NEW furniture – it was all either repurposed or second hand (FB Marketplace for the win!), but it was new to her and that’s all that counts.

Before I show you guys the mood board, let’s take a look and see how her room looked pretty much since we built this house in 2015 and it was S2’s room.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the pink and navy, but I was ready for a more neutral backdrop with a more grown up color palette.

So here’s the plan that I came up with.

Big Girl Room Mood Board

Curtains: Rosamelle Curtain

Pink Cabinet: Found on Facebook Marketplace and painted Scandinavian Pink

Bedding: This one is sold out now, but it’s by Beddy’s and this is another good option!

Pillow: Pottery Barn Kids

Side Table: I used one I already had, but this one from Amazon is very similar

Art: Cat Print // Houses Print // I Love You in the Morning Print

Lamp: Actual Lamp I Used // Inspiration Lamp

Play Table: I ended up finding the perfect one at an antiques store, but I like this one too!

Rainbow Wall Decal (not in the mood board because I ended up finding this later to tie in the subtle weather theme!)

Round Name Plaque (also not in the mood board because rooms just evolve once you get started and she needed something above her headboard, so I found this and it is the perfect thing!)

Without further ado, here’s her finished BIG GIRL ROOM!

A Toddler Girl’s Sweet & Feminine Room

We painted the walls a more neutral color (Alabaster by Sherwin Williams) and since her room is right off the kitchen, the color in here now just jives so much better with the main part of the house. The bookshelf and ledges were just relocated from the other wall to here beside her bed and I love this view. Her bed is actually my old bed from when I was a kid, just given a fresh coat of paint (Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Country Grey).

Her new (old) play table fits perfectly in this corner between her two windows, and those floral curtains?!?! All the heart eyes for those.

We left the growth chart on this wall, but added the new art prints from Minted, in these floating frames from Amazon (which are honestly the BEST frames at the BEST price – I love them so much!).

Her little art corner is probably my favorite “moment” in our house at the moment.

Turning to the right is her new Facebook Marketplace cabinet and “new” dresser – I just swapped out her white IKEA dresser for this one we had in our bedroom (before I got a new one during the One Room Challenge). I wanted to move away from the all white furnishings she had before and add some depth with wood tones.

Okay, here’s one more view of this corner because I just can’t quit it.

So that’s it! I just love the way everything turned out. The most expensive items were the curtains and the bedding, but everything else was very affordable (or free because we already had it!). I think, all in, this room makeover cost me less than $500 over about 6 months time.

Any questions about this makeover? Leave them below! Or pin any of these images for later by hovering over them and tapping the Pinterest icon.

The post a toddler’s sweet & feminine big girl room. appeared first on Love Lake Living.

I think I mention this every year, but I am not a fan of the cheap polyester costumes that come in a bag, sold at your nearest mass market retailer. The velcro up the back and the wrinkles that are just a permanent feature… I just can’t.

So, I always assemble my girls’ Halloween costumes from real items of clothing that they either already have, or that I can buy and then know they’ll wear long after Halloween is over, maybe with a few purchased accessories or makeup to complete the look. See their witch costumes from last year here.

I thought it would be fun to give you guys a few ideas of easy to assemble, last minute Halloween costumes for kids (or really anyone! but this post includes the links to items in kid sizes) with some items you probably already have, along with a few purchased accessories from Amazon (PRIME SHIPPING, HALLELUJAH!)

French Artist DIY Costume

• Black beret
• Black and white striped shirt
• White apron
• Paintbrushes

Add a pair of black leggings or jeans and some smears of colorful acrylic paint to your child’s face and the apron and BAM they’re the cutest little artist you ever did see.

Morton’s Salt Girl DIY Costume

• Blue umbrella
• Yellow dress (option 2 here)
• Morton’s salt

Optional: add white tights and yellow flats! Ugh, I think this costume is SO adorable, especially for tiny gals.

Colorful Sprinkles DIY Costume

• White dress
• Colored popsicle sticks

Use hot glue (or whatever kind of glue you have and think will stick!) to attach the popsicle sticks all over the white dress in a willy nilly way!

Holly Golightly (Breakfast at Tiffany’s) DIY Costume

• Tiara
• Sunglasses
• Pearls

Just add a black dress from your closet to complete this costume! The makeup and the hair really sell this one, so look up a photo of Audrey Hepburn in this cult classic to get it just right.

Little Red Riding Hood DIY Costume

• Red cape
• Basket

Any kind of dress would work under this cape. Add pigtails for the full effect. And you probably already have a basket that will work!

These are just a few easy ideas, but the sky is really the limit when it comes to what you can find on Amazon to create a costume that doesn’t break the bank, and isn’t a piece of junk.

Leave a comment down below if you try any of these!

The post easy to assemble last minute halloween costumes from amazon appeared first on Love Lake Living.

Have you guys heard of Poster Store? They have a large poster selection of different themes and categories for every design aesthetic, and even release a new poster collection every Tuesday! Their Scandinavian designs are both beautiful and affordable, and BONUS they have a huge gallery wall inspiration page, which takes the guesswork out of wall art. I spent a good amount of time just perusing all the beautiful gallery walls before choosing the pieces I wanted for my own home!

Before I show you my new wall art, let’s take a look at what this nook outside our bedroom looked like before:

I hung these white tobacco baskets last spring and apparently, the hubs has hated them this whole time?! He never said anything but when I mentioned replacing them with art that didn’t stick out from the wall as far, he let his feelings be known, so I knew I had to find something new to go here!

I think I found the perfect thing…

19.7″ x 27.6″ White Rose Illustration Poster // Vintage Magnolia Poster // Oak Frame

They are the perfect neutral, yet impactful, pieces to complement this tiny hallway. The sage green in the leaves ties back to our bedding perfectly.

In addition to updating this space, I also found some new art for the girls’ playroom! Here’s what that space looked like before:

This wall had pretty much looked like this for years, so it needed a refresh.

8.3″ x 11.8″ I Said a Hip Hop // Frida // Above the Clouds // Oak Poster Hangers

This wall feels more simple and sophisticated than before and complements their pink ballerina playroom perfectly.

Which space do you think got the better upgrade?! I love them both so much I can’t choose!

I also wanted to mention that their posters are printed on sustainably sourced, high quality paper!

Now, something for YOU!

Take 35% off your order with code

LAKE35

*gives 35% off on all posters (excluding Selection posters and frames). Cannot be combined with other discounts. Offer valid through 10/20/21.

The post wall art upgrade with poster store appeared first on Love Lake Living.