Home Tour Part 2 - Jack's Space

Jack's little nook of our home is finally finished. Wall hangings and all.
If you're looking for an easy project with lots of pizzazz, framing fabric is just the thing for you! So cute for kids' rooms especially. (Note: The large print of the world is not fabric. That one is from Ikea). You may recognize the fabric in the black frame below from this post. Thank you Walmart for the $5.00 crib bumper. The blankets on the bottom shelf in the photo below are all made by dear ones. I love storing them within Jack's reach so he can pull them out for daily snuggles.

Ah yes, here's the toy box.
And some of our favorite "stuffies." James found this horse for Jack on clearance at Anthropologie while treating me out to a special shopping trip. I couldn't talk him out of it. And I'm so glad cause look how cute! This darling elephant was designed and made by Jack's Auntie Candace (my sistah). And the children's Bibles are from some sweet friends of ours. So perfect for bedtime stories.
A little space to call his own. There's the man of the hour "approving this message."  

Hope this post finds you and yours doing well!

Happy Thursday,

p.s. If you missed part 1 of this home tour series, you can view it here.

New Item Wednesday: Fig Cowl Scarf

It's that special day of the week again when I get to share the newest addition to my shop. Today's item? A cozy cowl...Available now in fig (shown above). Additional color options coming soon. If there is a particular shade you'd love to see, please do leave a comment below.

 See more photos at The Velvetleaf Boutique.

Happy Wednesday!

xx,

Simple As That

If I had known I could organize my necklaces so easily, I would've done it much sooner. I'm sure this idea isn't original and I'm not necessarily convinced it's all that genius, but it definitely beats tossing them in a box and having a mess of tangles to deal with every time I accessorize.  

Six nails (give or take). A hammer. The back of a closet. Done. The perfect place for practicing mixing and matching your jewelry. You never know what adorable combination you may happen upon.  

So wonderfully easy. And pretty too I must admit. How do you store your necklaces? 

Happy Monday all,

One of the Most Important "To Do's"

This weekend's project? It's quite simple actually... Play. 

Happy Friday all.

xx,

Color Pop

Ah dear hand warmers. Fingerless mittens. Palm cozies. Whatever it is you like to call them. The perfect pair can be hard to come by, but oh so worth the search. 

Perhaps this style suits your fancy? They make manicures pop I tell you! These beauties are now available for purchase at The Velvetleaf Boutique.

Happy New Item Wednesday everyone!

Opening Day

My shop is officially relaunched! I can't begin to tell you how excited I am for this year's new designs. These rings are definitely a favorite... The color options are yummy if I dare say so myself.
They are now ready for purchase at The Velvetleaf Boutique. Go shop to your heart's content my friend!

xx,

Weekend Project - Date Night Jar

The weekend has arrived and I'm excited to share another fun weekend project with you. First though it must be known that this is not my original idea. You may have seen this date night jar before on pinterest... Here's how mine turned out. 

My hubby and I are about to celebrate our third wedding anniversary! This just happened to be what I made him for our anniversary last year. White sticks = Expensive dates

Gray sticks = Reasonably priced or free outdoor dates

Green sticks = Reasonably priced or free indoor dates 

The "cup" is a simple mason jar. With a crocheted cozy to spice it up a bit. The added twine was my attempt at making it appear more masculine. Not sure that was a huge success, but my man loved the thoughtfulness of the gift anyway. This is such a fun idea and totally worth the project time. We still haven't used all the different date options and there are some I definitely want to do more than once.  

The date plan for this weekend? "Pack a breakfast and watch the sunrise." If of course we can drag ourselves out of bed that early on a Saturday morning. 

p.s. I'm still brainstorming about a gift for this year's anniversary. Any ideas for me?

Peachy-Keen

With summer quickly slipping away, I thought it'd be fun to share one of my favorite summer outfits from 2013. This peachy ensemble took the cake! The light-weight fabric and silky texture are oh so comfy and the color really could not be any peachier...  

I think I may just have to try adding a sweater and scarf, maybe switch out the leggings for some jeans, and carry this "peachiness" right into the next season. What do you think? Could it pass for fall? Maybe sub in a pair of fun boots? Definitely going to try it. And if it's a success I'll be sure to post pictures. 

Ah yes, and what outfit is complete without a bit of accessorizing? Some gorgeous earrings always seem to do the trick. And a fancy ring of course... Tank - Target

Shirt Dress - Gift from sister-in-law (Evie)

Leggings - T. J. Maxx

Shoes - Target

Earrings - Gift from sister-in-law (Carol)

Ring - The Velvetleaf Boutique

Happy Friday all...the weekend is nearly upon us!

Exciting Things Ahead

New Item Wednesday will be back in full swing starting next Wednesday, September 18th. You can expect to see a quick peak here on the blog of what I add to my shop weekly. Today is just a teaser since my shop relaunch isn't until Monday. Next Wednesday I will be adding this little doodad for all those cozy cups o' joe you're sure to be having come cooler weather.

 Lots of fun things to come so keep checking back!

Getting Settled - Home Tour

There are so many things about our new home that I love. I say that with so much gratitude knowing the context of how we found this apartment. It was stressful and it was down to the wire. We said one of those emergency prayers every day the final week of our search. We didn't know until the Monday before our Saturday move that we had indeed found our home. God is good! After losing out on a few favorite apartments we now realize God had something better in store. Here's a little tour of things as we get them put into place. Last night we organized James' desk. More about that gray and yellow popsicle stick holder in a future post...

Ah yes, we buy way too many things at Ikea, it's true. Should probably switch that up a bit.

In my attempt to work with what we had, I decided to stencil paint my gray curtains. It took me til about a third of the way through to admit to not really liking the result. They look alright in these photos with the sunlight streaming through but the bigger picture isn't so pretty I don't think. Especially in the evening. I feel they came out looking very hand painted. And not in a good way.

I love all the natural light that comes in and my iddy biddy couch where I sit to crochet.

Yes that's right the bookcase is nearly empty. Jack was having a hay day pulling books from that second shelf and throwing them on the floor. I finally got smart and hid them away in a cupboard. It's tough to continually say no to a face like this. This chair is one of my favorite pieces of furniture. We found it on clearance at Target last year and every time I look at it I feel modern and hip. Silly but true. The side table is a thrift store find I've been meaning to paint a fun color. Eventually.  

By far my favorite detail about our entire apartment is our vintage oven and stove top. Seriously how cute is this? Unfortunately the maintenance man today said they are going to be replacing them. It is bittersweet for me. I love how they look but I will admit they do not work as well as they probably ought.  

At least I have photos. 

That's all for now folks. I'll have to get to the bedroom and bathroom another day...Happy Tuesday all!

Special Announcement

As many of you know, I love to crochet. So much! With all the changes the past year has brought I had to slow down my output a bit. I comforted myself with the fact that the majority of the things I make are a wee bit seasonal.  Yarn is warm and cozy and not usually the thing people want to wear when the sun is beating down... 

It's much more suited for the fall. And yarn and winter are most certainly a match made in heaven. I am originally from Minnesota and know that feeling of summer slipping away and winter fast approaching. It can be a dreary transition. But not anything a beautiful new scarf or darling pair of mittens can't cheer.   

And that is why I'm back at work stitching away, photographing, and getting ready to reboot my shop. Mark your calendar for Monday, September 16th and plan a little shopping spree at The Velvetleaf Boutique to get you ready for this year's chilly season! 

Make Your Own Storage Box

To kick off my weekend project series, I'm super excited to share this darling little toy box idea. This was a project I finished awhile ago but never properly photographed until recently. And then with the move...well you get the idea.

My little sweetheart has been accumulating his fair share of toys, thanks to the generosity of church friends and family. So many wonderful little toys so desperately in need of their own little box to call home.  

After doing a search for DIY storage boxes and not finding any I loved wholeheartedly, I decided to make my own pattern... Burlap seems to be my fabric of choice lately. What can I say? I simply can't get enough. It's very possible there will be some burlap curtains in my future.  The stencil is my own design. I drew it onto thin cardboard, cut it out and painted it on with fabric paint. I still feel occasionally dissatisfied with the "c" and "k," thanks to my annoying bouts with perfectionism, but alas beauty is in the imperfection no? The pattern is really quite simple, though I admit, time consuming. Each box has five cardboard panels. Each panel is covered with its own fabric sleeve which was machine sewn on three sides and left open on the fourth. (The cardboard panel slides into the fabric sleeve). The panels are then stitched together with thick embroidery floss. And poof! You've got a box! Needless to say, Jack plays with his box almost nearly as much as he plays with his toys. I only wish I had double-layered the cardboard so I wouldn't cringe every time he tries to climb into it.

Happy weekend dear friends. I hope its a lovely one!

xx,