When we planned out our wood plank stamped concrete patio, we knew that we wanted to add a caddy cornered type of built-in grill. My brother and sister-in-law built their own grill and bar area when they moved into their house about 5 years ago and used BBQ Coach. They sell grill frames, complete with plans, instructions and videos. You basically choose the shape you want, along with how many appliance cut outs, and they send you the parts. When we were ready to pour our patio 2 years ago, we went on the site and chose the New Yorker BBQ Island. With the measurements in hand, we decided how large to make the one curve of our patio.

(via BBQ Coach)

We assembled the frame this weekend, so we finally got to see how it was all going to work out!

I don’t have many pictures or much info to share at this point, but I figured I’d try to keep the progress up to date…And avoid a giant, overwhelming (mostly for me) “after” post. I admittedly did zero work on this, since I was with Easton all weekend while Mike and our friend Steve worked away. Steve’s sister is married to Mike’s brother so he’s kind of related and was more than willing and excited to help us out.

They spent the whole weekend just getting the frame up due to confusing directions and a whole lot of parts.

The frame was 3 rectangular pieces, connected by two 45 degree angles.

The good thing was that a) whenever Mike had a question he could ask my brother, who had built one of these in a different shape a few years ago and b) BBQ Coach responded so quickly to Mike’s emails that it was practically real-time support.

This is where we stand at the moment.

We finally brought out our patio furniture and though the island looks huge, it really works well with the size of the patio. I’ll have to take an aerial shot from Easton’s room one of these days, but we even have room to keep space behind the grill to add some bar stools. We could have done without that element, but we wanted it to feel nice and cozy out there.

Up next we have to decide how thick of a counter top we’re adding to finish out the frame. We want to do a concrete one and bought the thicker steel to support it. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out how to make one, or my concern, how to actually get it up on the frame since it’s going to be so heavy.

Then it’s adding concrete board, stone to the bottom, a backsplash and appliances. Who tackles a giant project two weeks before hosting a large first birthday party and having out of town guests? We do. I accepted a while ago that we are not logical thinkers. I just roll with it now.

We finally pulled the trigger and ordered a build your own outdoor kitchen kit. That picture is one I Photoshopped for our “planning it out” post 2 years ago. It shipped today and we may be certifiably insane.

But it should be fun, right? RIGHT??

::deep breaths::

We’re currently knee deep in planning some landscaping out back and a first birthday party. The landscaping could probably take over a 6 part series here, so I’ll have to save that story for another day. For Easton’s party, I spent the last two nights designing invitations all by myself. Yes, my Photoshop skills are growing leaps and bounds at a snail’s pace. Maybe I’ll share what I came up with once they arrive and I know that I didn’t totally mess up.

I also need to realize that sometimes short posts, posts with only words or posts with only pictures are okay. Instagram takes over a lot of those types of posts these days, but it doesn’t mean that if I feel like I only have a short thought, I can’t drop in here and share it. Today is one of those days!

I dropped in on the West Elm website to check if the Tali window panels had gone on sale yet (nope) and I somehow ended up browsing furniture. Here are my 3 random finds…

1. Graham Glider

I felt like I had to shout it from the rooftops for anyone who has asked me about our Lacey glider, which was discontinued. Guys, West Elm sells a glider!! It’s $799 so it’s pricey, but given the amount of time each day that I sit in ours, I think I would buy this in a heartbeat. Since it’s pricier, I would probably forgo the ottoman because I don’t use it all the time, but it’s nice to have if you can swing it.

2. Rustic Dining Chairs

In another post for another day, our kitchen table set is falling apart. You get what you pay for and well, it was cheap from a big box furniture store. I have been drooling over these Rustic Dining Chairs for a few weeks and even scoured Craigslist for used ones. No luck yet.

3. Wood Tiled Nightstand

This is another piece I am madly in love with and our current nightstands leave so much to be desired. Dark bedroom walls, DIY upholstered headboard and these babies? I’m going to dream about it tonight.

One of the contestants in East Coast Creative’s Creating with the Stars competition made one of these. It was amazing, but I’m not sure I’m that much of a dedicated DIYer.

That wraps up my random finds this week. Anyone else think that West Elm is killing it in the furniture department lately?

ps- West Elm didn’t pay me for this, I’m just browsing around

I didn’t plan to formally say this, but I also didn’t plan to take a break for as long as I did. So, yeah I needed a blogging break.

I hate to bog you all down with the “I’m busy”, woe-is-blogger type of posts, but I also know that many of you can relate. I’ll start out by saying that being a working parent is hard, scratch that, being any parent is hard. Mommy guilt is a killer. I’ve said it before when my maternity leave ended and it’s gotten better in a lot of ways. But in many others ways, it’s still hard. This blog is one of those ways.

I still struggle with how to fit this blog into my “new” life. Don’t get me wrong, me, myself and I love everything about what I write here. I will always be watching HGTV, browsing Pinterest and coming up with things to change around our house. That is what I love to do in my spare time. The problem is that it’s not about me anymore.

I went down to part-time in about October, but I still work 30+ hours a week. Two weeks ago, I worked full-time for several days and it sucked. I don’t know how many of you do it. I don’t know how I did it for months. My longer working hours contributed to my break from here, as did some family commitments, technical issues, Easton not sleeping well for a few weeks and just being dang tired and it goes on and on. And repeat. You’ve heard it all before.

Truth is, about 3 Mondays ago I started my week as usual, checked my blog stats and started to plan out my projects and posts for the week.

Monday: Photograph weekend project before Easton goes to bed but not after his dinner or when he’s in clingy meltdown mode

Tuesday: After bedtime edit and upload photos, hoping computer cooperates and doesn’t continually freeze, write post

Wednesday: Work on new project after bedtime

Thursday: Photograph, upload and post? Eh I’m short a day here

Friday: Collapse.

Saturday/Sunday: Scope out new project and work on it during naps/bedtime

As I planned out my week, I got mad at myself for not accomplishing enough over the weekend. “I should have painted x!” “Why haven’t we finished the office?” “We need to get those shelves up!”. I stopped myself for a minute. What the hell am I doing?

I wish this blog was my job, but it’s not. I would love to work hard enough that it is my job, but I know that idea is far fetched. I don’t want this blog (or reading other blogs) to make me feel like I’m not good enough– not working hard enough, not crafty enough, not organized enough. I started to feel like that, so I needed to step back.

This blog is fun for me and if it ever gets to feel like work, I need to step back and take a deep breath. My time with Easton when I get home from work is for Easton. I didn’t go down to part-time to blog or for projects. My weekends are for Easton, not for this blog or projects. If some weekends I have loads of energy and I’m inspired to get things done, then great! If some weekends I just want to take a nap with Easton, then I can’t get mad at myself. Easier said than done, but I am trying.

I’d rather give you posts that I am proud of than posts I threw together because I was tired…or because I had a great weekend with Mike and Easton…or because I was busy rolling around on the playroom floor when I should have been photographing in natural light.

When I had this discussion with Mike a few weeks ago, I asked him why I should keep blogging. His response was a) because you like it and and b) because some day, when we look back, we’ve created an amazing journal. Maybe I don’t post 6 days a week like I did when I first started (say whaaa?), but just like real life, this blog has peaks and valleys. Lately, more valleys than peaks, that’s okay with me. And that’s all it has to be.

Congrats to entry #1 (whoa!), Ainhoa who said she’d order some business cards or art prints! 

It’s no secret that I love any type of paper product, so when Minted contacted me to try out some of their goods, I nearly died. I have been a huge fan of Minted since discovering them several months ago. They sell invitations, stationery, prints and more designed by a community of designers from all over the world. Their designs are always incredibly creative and modern, which is what sucked me in.

In a bizzare “is this a prank?” series of events, I was asked to review their business cards. I had actually already chosen business cards from Minted a month or so ago when I bought my ticket to the Haven Conference. The last time I went to a blogger event, I told you that I felt like I was the only person without a trendy business card and repeating “the lil house, that’s L-I-L, that could dot com” got old after about 10 times. In an attempt to avoid that awkwardness again, I knew I needed cards and I played around in Minted. Now I get to share the fun I had officially

I browsed every single business card they sell to make sure that my favorite was still my favorite. They sell so many great options that it was hard to choose.

Clockwise from top right: Real Simple, Pique Chic, Collegiate, Mustard Stripe, Steelfish and Bar Graph

In the end, I stuck with my first instinct, the Real Simple business card. It’s the gray striped one up at the top and the one I’ve had saved to my phone for the past couple of months.

Even though I loved the original design, whenever I order stationery products I like to customize them. I decided to go with the silver color scheme (out of 3 to choose from) and the pearlescent paper. I liked the idea of a little bit of shimmer in my business cards. A hedge fund CEO may disagree…I worked for one once, no shimmer in his business cards, but a private bathroom in his office…

I think a lot of people don’t realize that it is possible not just to choose colors, paper and edit text, but to change fonts and sizes as well. Minted makes it super easy to click around and personalize your product…

FYI, not my real last name.

I changed my name to the green color and chose a fun, scripted font. I also made it larger and changed the font for the title of my blog. I added an additional line so I could squeeze in my phone number. Mike told me I should do this, I was all like “What? Can’t people just tweet me?”

After a few minutes of tweaking, I then chose what I wanted on the back. My options were white, solid gray, a thinner stripe, a photo or a logo. None were extra to add, so I went with the thinner stripe and voila, all done and just ordered!

Now here’s the fun part for you guys, Minted is giving one lucky reader $50 towards ANY purchase on their site!!

Incase you’re not looking for business cards, I went through the rest of the site and pulled out some of my favorite designs. I tried to pick at least one item from each thing they sell, so it appeals to everyone. I told you paper was a guilty pleasure of mine, it was like browsing Pinterest…

Clockwise from top right: Urban Baby Circle Garland, Devon Birth Announcement, Train of Blocks Print, Vintage Keys Print, Stripey One Year Old’s Children’s Birthday Party with Skinnywrap Address Label, Paris Lights Wedding Invitation, Birthday Gig Invitations, Passing Notes Wedding Invitations

Here’s how you can get some of this stuff…

• One reader will win $50 to Minted.com
• To enter, simply comment on this post with what you’d order with your $50 if you won

And the rules…

• Only one entry per email address is allowed
• Open to international readers
• A winner will be chosen using Random.org
• This giveaway closes on Monday, March 18th at midnight. Any entries made after that time will not be counted.
• A winner will be announced on Tuesday, March 19th so check back in exactly a week!

Good luck and happy paper browsing

Disclaimer: I received a credit to purchase business cards in an exchange for posting a review of Minted.com‘s business card customization process. All opinions expressed are mine.

I started searching for some ideas a few weeks back. My goal was to make something as simple as possible. No sewing, minimal cuts if any, and I really didn’t want to paint or stain (spoiler alert: I ate every one of these words). My original inspiration was this tent from Cakies…

(from Cakies via Pinterest)

But as we actually planned to make our own, I decided to look around for some other inspiration. I found this one from The Feminist Housewife…

(from The Feminist Housewife via Pinterest)

And this one from Under the Table and Dreaming…

(from Under the Table and Dreaming via Pinterest)

I liked that the first two could be taken apart to be stored, but I liked that the last one used a $3 Walmart sheet. We decided to do a combination of the last two.

First we planned out the size of our tent. We wanted it to be small, since Easton is well, small, and so is the room. After looking at all of the other tents, we settled on some 1x3x8s cut in half (for the 2 “A” frames”. Once we measured out the sides, we realized that 48″ was too long for us, so we made the side bars 36″. Then we decided to make the top piece 6″ longer to have 3″ of overhang on each side. Confused? I doodled it for you.

We also cut the legs that will be sitting on the floor at a 22.5 degree angle, as per the inspiration plans.

Once we made our cuts, I gave everything a good sanding. Oh and we bought pine rather than cheaper wood so that it would be a little smoother and would cut cleanly. I sanded down the harsh edges to make sure everything was safe for Easton. Then Mike clamped the wood to our island. No work table? Just use the kitchen (though we made cuts and sanded in the freezing garage).

He measured down about 7 inches to drill.

Then used these bolts and wing nuts to attach two of the pieces together.

We spread them out and tada! The ends of our tent.

We then took everything apart because we decided to paint the frame.

I went with Olympic One Paint + Primer in one semi-gloss in Orange Poppy and rolled it out to eliminate brush strokes.

Somewhere in the midst of this process, we realized that since we shortened the sides of the tent from the plans that I pinned, we could no longer use a twin bed sheet. I painted the frame orange because I figured I’d have to get a solid color sheet and I wanted some interest, and now the sheet won’t even fit?? I debated whether to still get a sheet and hem tape it up, but I figured if I was doing that, I might as well just pick out some fabric.

So we headed to Joann fabric and picked out fabric. We were both immediately drawn to this fun New York themed print that matched the grays in the striped walls, and somehow also matched the orange frame we had already painted the night before. We bought 3 yards at $5.99/yard. More than that $3 Walmart sheet, but totally worth it.

Long story short, we picked a fabric that ran in one direction and would have driven me crazy if I kept it in one long piece. I figured I needed two panels to change the direction of the fabric to be right side up on both sides of the tent. Then I had to face a reality…

I should probably sew all of this.

Yes, you read that right. I have had a brand new sewing machine sitting in the garage for 3 years because it was intimidating. The last time I sewed was 7th grade and I had no clue how to thread a machine these days. I set aside Sunday night (before the Walking Dead, of course), to set up the machine and thread it. And you know what? It was easy. I got it threaded and running in no time.

I hemmed all of the edges of the two panels and then sewed them together for the peak of the tent. It honestly took more time to pin everything. Why didn’t I open that sewing machine sooner?

We didn’t take pictures of this part, but we screwed the bottom pieces of wood into the frame and also secured it with wood glue. To attach the fabric to the frame, but make it removable to change up and wash, I decided to use 3 velcro strips on each side that were about 6 inches long.

I attached them the same way I did for our no sew crib skirt. I used iron on fabric velcro on the fabric and then sticky back velcro to attach to the tent. I kept the two pieces of velcro together on the fabric, peeled the sticky paper, and then stuck it to the frame.

It made it much easier to make sure everything lined up nice, rather than sticking the velcro to the frame and hoping it lined up with the fabric well!

Once the fabric was all attached to the frame, we were done!

I love how it turned out, granted I could have made the fabric slightly wider so that there was less of a gap between it and the wood, but I guess I measured that wrong. Measure twice, cut once… I definitely did not. But it’s only an inch or so, no biggie.

One thing we definitely will be adding are some additional supports. The way it is is NOT sturdy enough for a 9 month old. The other plans didn’t emphasize this much and one mentioned anchoring it to the wall. We will be adding additional support along the back and possibly anchoring it to the wall as well.

The velcro worked out well and attaches/reattaches really easily without getting the fabric bunchy or anything.

The extra 6 inches we added to the center support measurement worked out perfectly. It just rests along the top.

The fabric ties into the stripes well and brings in the fun element we’ve been missing in this room. It seemed as though everything we’ve wanted to add has come across as mature. The colors in the fabric are so perfect that they seem to match all of Easton’s toys. I literally picked the blocks, books and balls up off the floor and moved them over a foot into the tent, and they just coordinated. It’s a really easy fabric to work with!

So the verdict? The little guy was overtired when we finally showed him his tent, but he still checked it out on his own.

Of course, Macky loved it even more.

But Easton loves Macky so he wanted in on the tent too.

In the end, we all love our tent. I can see Easton laying in here with his books like he currently does under his jumperoo.

It makes the corner of the room feel so cozy and it’s the perfect miniature size.

Yes, we still need to touch up the paint from where we removed the previous shelves last week, but guys, I sewed and I survived. I’m going to take a day or two to enjoy that sweet victory.

ps- Here are the supplies we used in list form as a quick reference…

2- 1x2x8 boards, cut in half

2- 1x2x6 boards, one was cut in half, one was cut to 42 inches

2- bolts with wing nuts

4- long wood screws

Wood glue

3 yards of fabric

Velcro (both iron on for fabric and adhesive for wood)

Paint (if you want to paint the frame)

Two nights of a few hours of work… cutting and painting of the frame one night and the fabric the next

And please, if this is for a very young child, consider adding some additional support and/or anchoring it to the wall, we will update you when we do.

1. We made a trip to Ikea on Monday (thank god for 3 day weekends!). It was only the second time we’ve gone since Easton was born, so it was nice be back in the land of Expedits.

While there we restocked our frame collection for another gallery wall and bought some ledges for book storage in the playroom. We grabbed quite a few of these new (at least to me, it’s been a few months) glossy gray Ribba frames.

(via Ikea)

I’ve made it my own resolution to hang these things ASAP so they don’t sit around driving me nuts. But…

2. It’s Pinterest Challenge time again, so I have an excuse to be unfocused! Probably for the first time since these things started, I know exactly what I want to make… a play tent for Easton. Wish me luck as I buy dowels and sheets this weekend…

(from Twirl via Pinterest)

3. We’ve been behind on posting Easton’s monthly laundry basket pictures, but we have them hanging around on a memory card. I’ll get them all caught up on one post soon.

Yeah he doesn’t even fit laying in that basket anymore and he’s, um, almost 9 months now. Whoops.

4. We recently lowered Easton’s crib to the middle setting. Just as I was going to tweak the no sew crib skirt I made to fall flat with his crib, I woke up to this at 2am yesterday.

The face says it all, he’s not a morning person either. Luckily, I didn’t take a picture of my face at that moment. My hair was sticking up way more than his

We lowered the crib fully yesterday and now I have to decide how to work the crib skirt for the small amount of space left. Seriously, the nursery feels like it will never be “complete”. Every time I plan to take room reveal pictures, something happens, like I ram a vacuum into a piece of molding…

I’m such a jerk.

5. Speaking of my baby growing up, his first birthday isn’t too far away (3 months! only 3 months!! ) so all of that planning is stashed in the back of my head. I don’t want to do a set theme, but I’ve been playing with his Zany Zoo beads and I think I’ve settled on a color scheme…

Aqua, orange, lime green and royal blue/navy (whichever I can find more easily). My only expectation is that it be fun and fit for a one year old. I’m not trying to win any Pinterest party planning awards here. A happy baby and some full bellies works for me!

Considering all of these are on my to-do list, I’m obviously not doing a very good job at my New Year’s resolution to streamline my life. Good thing my current resolution is to get more sleep, though my miniature boss is in charge of that one.

1. West Elm Tali Window Panel: I’ve been eyeing these up for our dining room for months. The only thing I don’t love is the price. I’m playing that gambling game where I hope they go on sale, but I’m risking them disappearing.

2. Land of Nod Stripes Around the Cube Bin: I wanted to bring some more navy into Easton’s bookcase and closet in his room (which are both painted green along the back). At first these were a “would be nice to have” item but now that he’s mobile, he clunks his head or pulls at his current wicker basket constantly. A softer option is now a necessity.

3. Allen + Roth Edison Pendant Light: Mike and I have been eyeing these for months, if not a year to change out our current kitchen pendants.

4. Play Tent (this one from Such Great Heights): Easton loves hanging out in the cubby holes of the Expedit or underneath his jumperoo, so I’d love a cute little tent for him. Though I’m totally thinking of DIYing one for his first birthday…

5. Target Threshold Frames: The gallery wall in our entryway is creeping closer to the front of my mind and I want to bring in some wood tones.

6. Farmer’s Market Basket from Anthropologie: Because it’s adorable. I’ve seen a knock off version at Michaels…

Did I mention this was fun? Mike told me ages ago that if I put some time into it, I would probably love Photoshop. I think he may have been right…

Here’s to learning something new, on a Friday night!

This weekend, we finally got around to taking down the floating shelves.  While we loved them for an office, we didn’t think they were too practical for a playroom.  So down they went; they’ll probably reappear somewhere else in the house.  We also took down the ceiling fan which will end up in the new office upstairs.

The bracket holes were spackled and sanded once and need to be sanded again. We originally painted around the shelves, so we now have a slightly raised edging.  We’ll have to spackle and sand, and then spackle and sand a couple times to get everything flush again.

I apologize in advance for all of these pictures I took at night (like an hour ago).  Our camera settings were all wacky from the last time we used it and I couldn’t get the lighting to look right at night. Oops.

So what did we replace the ceiling fan with?  Well, a long time ago we picked up a light at Ikea. We had always knew we wanted to use it in the playroom, but never got around to installing it…until now!

(via Ikea)

We wanted something fun in the playroom, but nothing that screamed childish.  We found Ikea’s Fillsta, a playful hanging light for $29.99.  It was simple, had some shape and was cheap.  Perfect.

But much like any Ikea product, the install resulted in some head scratching.  And Mike dropping the f-bomb just a handful of times.  For anyone landing on our lil blog scratching their own heads trying to get the Ikea Fillsta installed, here’s the trick: cut the extra slack from the hanging cord to the length you need.

The dome base is actually held in place by tension in the cord.  So the tighter the cord inside the base, the tighter it will fit against the ceiling.  With most other light fixtures, these components typically slide or screw into place.  Nope, not with the Fillsta.  Mike originally rolled up the extra cord and stuffed it into the base.  Then he tried a bunch of zip-ties.  Finally after a couple milkshakes and a solid nap, Mike decided to just cut the cord down to the size we required.  Sure enough, it worked.  Now we just have to touch up the paint around it (though I love the white light against the dark ceiling!)

Here is the Fillsta with the light off.

And here is with the light on. Glowing! I love the little bit of whimsy it adds to the room, which the direction I’m sort of going in here. Clean and modern, yet fun! We’ll have to get a better room shot once we finish some other items in the room. What other items you ask?

These roman shades. We were originally going to dye them when the room was an office. We were even going to dye them when we switched it over to the playroom. But after doing some Googling, we’re not quite sure how to get the color we really want (so, um, anyone have any experience dying blinds? Using fabric spray paint?).  We’re thinking we just might replace them with the white version.  Any suggestions?

Over the weekend I was hanging out in the playroom with Easton (where I now live), and I realized that the Expedit we have in there isn’t great for his books.

He has to reach in too deep…

In order to chuck all of his books on the floor…

So I got to thinking that maybe we should have a dedicated book area. I knew I had seen so many children’s books displayed adorably on Pinterest, so why not investigate a little, huh?

Here are some options I came across:

(via Domestic Simplicity)

Inexpensive Ikea spice racks. Could be painted fun colors, plus they’re only $4 each!

(via Apartment Therapy)

Fabric book slings, so many fun possibilities.

(via Sunshine on the Inside)

Rain gutters for bookshelves? So creative.

(via Brooklyn Limestone)

Ikea Ribba picture ledges.

And perhaps my favorite, the DIYed numbered ones.

(via The Sweet Survival)

I was thinking of maybe building our own and adding a little ombre effect? Maybe 3 shelves in varying shades of yellow… or green… or orange! Maybe numbered? Hmmm…