halloween decor {on a budget} – easy $4 halloween wreath

This year I wanted to make a Halloween wreath for our front door. First thing to do was check Pinterest to be inspired. I got many ideas but I was still undecided about what to do. With a vague idea of what I wanted, I headed to the Dollar store and bought some Halloween stuff I thought I could use. There I picked a wood wreath and orange, black and white crepe paper streamers.

One night while watching Dexter with the mister, I started. I first wrapped the wreath with white crepe paper {I considered using masking tape, but I didn’t like the yellowish color, and I didn’t have white duct tape in hand}. Right before I wrapped it all, I made a little loop out of scraps of orange fabric, tied it to the wreath and covered it with the crepe paper. After that, I wasn’t sure how to fill the wreath. I tried wrapping a frilly streamer around the wreath but it didn’t look fully enough. After a quick google search I found this great tutorial for a crepe paper wreath.

Once done, I felt it needed some color {orange} and something else to complete it. I looked into our Halloween bin {we have one with old costumes and random Halloween stuff} and found a “BOO” sign I got at the dollar bins at Target last year in my attempt to decorate {You can see it here, lonely and sad, hanging at our front door knob. I should be ashamed}.

The sign happened to fit inside the wreath, and although I didn’t like it very much, I used it anyway. I added a couple of glitter spiders I got at Michael’s and done.

I was {am still} not crazy about it, but I had one million other projects to do.  And comparing to last year, this is definitely better!

Materials: wood wreath – $1 {Dollar Store}, black and white crepe paper streamers $1 {Dollar Store}, glitter spiders $1 {Michaels, the package of six was $2.49, so about 50 cents each}, Boo sign – {Target, last year}.

Coming up {free} Halloween pillow covers!

Linking up with: eighteen25, somewhat simple, momnivores dilema, skip to my lou, and polkadots on parade.

chic halloween decor {on a budget}

I think I had too much fun decorating our home for Halloween this past week. And I’m not done yet! Being the first time decorating for Halloween, I wanted to keep it simple and budget-friendly. I didn’t want to spend too much time, either shopping for decor, supplies nor crafting and putting everything up. And I wanted to use mostly things I have around the house.

I was not going to decorate all the house {although the idea is tempting} so I chose a spot in some rooms on the first floor. My list included the front entrance and door, the console table on the entry hall, the console table in the dining room, the couch and sofa table in the living room and since we have a fireplace but not a mantle, the TV. I may add a little something to the powder room later.

Here are a few sneak peaks of my Halloween Decor extravaganza! I still have to finish some details but it’s pretty much done.This week I’ll be sharing more pictures and some of my budget-friendly crafts. Stay around!

what I want now…

this Colors 201 Iphone 5 case by MadeByGirl. My kind husband gave me a new iPhone 5 for my birthday. The one I had before {which was his previous one} broke during our trip to Florida so I needed to replace it. He went far and beyond to get one for me. They were sold out almost everywhere. Finally he tracked down one left at a local store. Isn’t he the best? Now I need a case to protect it and I’m loving this one.

You can get it at the Society6 website. They have so many awesome designs it was hard to choose. I’m a big fan of Made By Girl art. I have many of her posters around my house. {You can see them here}. And this is the perfect case, modern, artsy and feminine. Love it!

Happy Friday! Have an awesome weekend.

black & white halloween

In three years I’ve never decorated our house for Halloween. You see, back in my country, Halloween is not that big of a deal. I mean, yes, kids dress-up in costumes and they go out trick or treating, and even some adults attend Halloween parties. But houses decorated? No. Being in the States for almost 7 years now {wow!} I’ve seen how special Halloween can be for the little ones here. They love wearing their costumes, trick or treating, going to Halloween parties, making Halloween crafts and more. So I wanted to add to the excitement of this Holiday this year throwing a Halloween party for the kids. And of course decorating the house, a little, according to the occasion.

G is still to little to understand, but L does, and Halloween is one of his favorite Holidays. So starting tomorrow I’ll {try to} have some type of Halloween decor up by the time he comes home from school. I decided on simple decorations. Nothing fancy, and if possible, made not bought. Black and white with little touches of orange. I already finished {well, almost} my first Halloween wreath!

Here is some of inspiration around the web.

{image via the decorated house}

{image via apartment therapy}

{image via diynetwork}

{image via that’s smart deco}

{image via craft-o-maniac}

{image via etsy}

{image via a pumpkin and a princess}

Stay tuned for my $4 wreath! Happy Wednesday!

spooky october!

What can I say. Life happens. Remember this post? Well, it’s been another month with no house makeover pictures. No, I’m not teasing you. I swear, I don’t know where time goes. I’ve been busy with other little projects and with a certain little one {He’s going through a “clingy” phase} and I haven’t even tried to photograph the house. Oh well. I’m not going to say anything this time. I’ll just post pictures when I have them. Hopefully this year.

We had a busy September {and August, July, June…you know the deal} celebrating my birthday and other events. I’m not gonna lie. I was feeling a little bummed out about my birthday this year because of some aches and pains {ankle and knee tendonitis, a glandion cyst, oh yeah, fun} that seemed to happen all at once. It’s nothing serious but they prevent me from doing something I really enjoy: crossfit. I haven’t been able to go to the gym in about two months. I’m much better now, but I’m still not sure when I’ll be able to go back since I still feel some pain. It’s really frustrating.

But then I look at my beautiful family, my kind husband and my crazy but happy kids, my family in Peru, my friends, and I know I’m lucky and blessed. And that’s the best gift ever.

So I’m excited about what this month brings: Halloween!. I’m planning a little party for the kids, I’m making some Halloween decorations for the house and I’m sewing L’s costume. I’m not sure how I’ll pull it off , but I already committed and I’ll try my best. I can’t wait, it’s going to be fun.

 

images via smashing magazine

 

free printable {& sneak peek} – laundry room art

One day while at Home Goods I came across a canvas art that I immediately thought will be perfect for the laundry room. However I didn’t like the colors and overall look of it. It was not my style. As soon as I came home I designed my version. Since our laundry room has yellow accents it made sense to have a yellow background with white letters.

Once again I used Vistaprint and order a poster size print. This time I chose their regular paper. To be completely honest I’m not 100% satisfied. Their regular paper is way too thin. Once framed you can’t really see the difference, though. But I liked the thicker cardstock better. We’ll see how it holds up. For now I like how it looks in there.

You can see we finally did some work in this room. We painted white and yellow stripes {what can I do, I’m obsessed} and added some hanging bars I got from Ikea. We also had someone add wall-to-wall wood shelving on one side of the room {which was not a very pleasant experience}, covered some visible pipes with curtains, added long white curtains on the other side and placed a rug. I still have some details to finish and I’m waiting for a moment when the laundry room looks decent to snap some pictures.

If you like it, you can download it here {yellow} and here {black}. Enjoy!

Happy Friday!

Update: I’m linking up with Tatertos & Jello. Hope over there to check out other amazing DIY projects!

G’s 1st birthday party in hostess with the mostess

Giacomo’s first birthday party was featured in Hostess with the Mostess last week. I know, I’m so bad at keeping up with all these things. You can still head over there to check out all the details about this party that was planned with much love and joy. All for my little man. We love you G!

agosto

We’re having such a busy Summer. And although, hectic at times, it’s been fun so far. This month we have many celebrations but it’s also a little sad. My mom is leaving left yesterday, after three months of taking care of us. Because that’s what she did. Not only did she helped us with baby G but also cooked delicious Peruvian food for us, spoiled us with yummy desserts, spent time with L and did a lot of house chores. Which of course she didn’t have to do. But she’s seen firsthand that life can be a little chaotic in our household sometimes and she just wanted to make things easier for us. And we really appreciate that. I’m very grateful she was able to come and stay with us all this time.

But above all, I’m very grateful she’s been able to spend all this time with G, building memories that I’ll hold dear, keep forever in my heart. I know G is little and probably he won’t remember but she will and I will. She’s seen his first steps, his first music class, his first road trip and of course his first birthday. His first trip to an amusement park, his first trip to the city. She’s been cooking and trying to feed him new foods, playing with him, singing new songs, reading to him, teaching him new things. I’ve tried to document one and each of these moments, so when G is older I can show him photos of these beautiful moments and tell him about his Peruvian Nona.

Having her with us was a blessing. Now we are going back to our routines because life goes on. And because soon, in some months we’ll be together again. We love you Nona, thanks for everything. You are the best Nona ever!!!

images via smashing magazine

free printable – closet divider template. round 2

I’ve meant to create a new set of these closet dividers now that G is one year old and his closet is rapidly filling with 2T, 3T, 4T and even 5T clothes. {Yes, I’m that obsessed with buying clothes for my boy}. I also have tons of L’s hand-me-downs that I want to save for G. But those need a different storage system. For now I keep them in bins under the bed in G’s room.

Anyway, a recent comment asking for these divider templates with a different size grouping gave me the perfect excuse to finally get to make them.

These new set is grouped: 6-12m, 12-18m, 18-24m, 24m, 3T and 4T. I know each clothing brand has different sizing, so hopefully these new set will be useful for some of you. Again, I hope it’s not too late.

You can download them here and here. Enjoy!

Linking up with A Bowl Full of Lemons. Check it out!

pictures in our home

I love taking pictures. Always have. So you can imagine my hard drive has a complete archive, organized by year, by day and event, with thousands of pictures. Birthdays, holidays, important events, milestones, outings, everyday situations. I like to document everything {at least I try}.

From time to time I like to go over my folders, look at the pictures and choose one or two of each important event, or any random ones I like, edit them a bit and print them. Then I find them a place in our home. So of course my house is full of pictures. 

Our main display is our family gallery wall in the Entry Hall with pictures of both our families {parents and siblings} and pictures of us {which by the way I have to update with pictures of G. I know, it just took me a year}. I included some artwork to make the gallery more interesting.

A stone wall in our Living Room was the perfect spot for some other displays {this is a sneak peek into the Living Room. I still need to take more photos}. A couple of pictures of our wedding and a couple of our kids, mixed with some pictures {on ledges} I took of places we’ve been.

Another photo display is in G’s nursery, with pictures of my maternity photo session at 34 months. There were so many I liked that it was hard to choose just three.

And a couple of frames frames in L’s room, with another piece of artwork.

My latest photo display project is the basement staircase gallery wall, which I have yet to choose pictures and artwork for and a gallery wall above the tv in the family/playroom.

I like to mix family, portrait pictures with more photojournalistic ones and buildings, landscapes or details shots. And for the most part I like all my pictures in either sepia or black and white in similar frames, to keep the harmony. I also think adding some type of artwork balances the display and take it to a different level.

We have more photos in our home of course. Frames on our night tables, bedroom, in our closet, in the guest bedroom, on the living room bookshelves and on the dining room console. I guess I’ll have to do a second part of pictures in our home. Yes, I love, love photos! And photos of my little family even more!

How about you? How do you display pictures in your home?