Black and White

I love black and white photography....So I must have a wall dedicated to my photos!

Here are 2 of my favorite black and white pictures I took the other day. I love pictures of my princesses just playing and being themselves.

This picture warms my heart.

Here are some of my loves from PINTEREST, which, YES, I am an addict.  It is almost 11 pm and I am sitting on the computer pinning...a mothers Heaven right!!

But I am so torn......There are so many options.....do I only do photos or do I mix it up a bit......

Oh the possibilities!

Source: prettyspace.tumblr.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Source: houzz.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Source: blog.effortless-style.com via Brooke on Pinterest

aregrre

Source: paloma81.blogspot.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Gingerbread Houses {best frosting ever}

My cute little mother every year makes ginger bread houses...the real things...where you make the dough, roll it on to a pan, cook it, cut them out by hand and hot glue them together!!!  Pretty impressive huh?  We always look forward to go to "Grammy's" to make gingerbread houses!  

Just getting started...and our faces are already a mess!!  She is concentrating very hard!

If you don't have a recipe for the frosting I would highly recommend this recipe.  You can make icicles with it and it also drys hard!

3 egg white at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon of cream of tarter

1 pound of powdered sugar

Mix everything together and continue mixing until your frosting will make peaks!

Also make sure you keep it covered with a damp cloth, if you don't it will dry out and harden!

Happy Gingerbread House Making!!!

Minnie Birthday was a success!!!!

My little princess turned 3 Sunday, Sniff, Sniff!  I can't believe  she is growing up so fast.  It seems like yesterday that I was pregnant and thinking "this pregnancy will never end."  I guess the saying, "time flies when you're having fun," is true!

For every birthday I have bought her a new dress.  She believes girls only wear dresses, to quote her "mom, girls DON'T wear jeans, they wear dresses they can twirl in."

As you can see this dress met her expectations, so, YES, pictures must be taken!  

I LOVE black and white pictures and I love how these 2 turned out!  

 She really wanted a Minnie Mouse birthday party.  We just got back from Disneyland and everyday she wakes up and tells me what ride she wants to ride on today, because all we have to do is get on an airplane and go to Disneyland...right? 

She really wanted Minnie Mouse candles....so this is my creation for candles...no we didn't light them on fire!  

I actually drew what I wanted for a cake and had a local bakery make it for me.  I put pearls around the bottom, it seemed to be just the right touch!

I created a Mickey Mouse silhouette on for my vinyl machine but couldn't get the bow quite right!  I decided to try a bow out of ribbon and I love how it turned out!  Surprisingly enough it was actually easier then cutting out bows, BONUS!!

All in all her birthday was so special for her and she loved being a princess for the day!

I LOVE YOU BABY DOLL!!!

Pottery Barn Pillows {look a likes}

I saw these pillows in the Pottery Barn catalog and really really wanted some....

but they are $36 a piece!

I found an awesome tutorial here and I made my own!  

I would have to say I am quite proud of myself as sewing is not one of my favorite things and often times when I start a sewing projects it sits for MONTHS...but not this one, they are DONE and I love how they turned out.  

They are going in my daughters room.  Her room seems to be the project that never ends...I just can't get it just right...but it is getting closer!

Living Room Progress...

Living Room Before

The Landing Floor Before

Desk Before

Living room AFTER (but not quite done) with a hint of Christmas.

I love how the casings around the windows and the chair rails POP with the dark paint color. 

I repainted the landing floor white, which turned out awesome except it gets dirty FAST!!!  I have always wanted a Planked wall so as you can see I made me one under the stairs....I will expand on that later.

 And the Desk...I LOVE IT!!!  

This is a 6 foot desk that easily weighs 500 pounds it took 3 large men 

{I mean BUFF men} to get it in my house. 

 It had to be refinished inside because it was so heavy.

I found 2 chairs to go in front of the desk, I am in the process of remodeling them right now!

Lamp Redo

Before

After

I found this lamp at an Estate sale and even though it wasn't pretty to start with I LOVED THE LINES and DETAILS!!  The best part was it only cost me $5!!

With a little paint and a new lap shade it is the perfect accessory to complete my night stand!  And it has become quite a conversational piece....I call it my little old lady lamp gone modern!