A Little Organization

I've got an odd little wall in our kitchen that can't take a tall piece of furniture because of the light switch in the middle of the wall.  I've also got two kids in preschool (who bring home LOTS of paperwork) and my own miscellaneous papers to deal with.  It was time to do something about it!

I already had the chest from HomeGoods, which holds kitchen things, but I needed something functional on the wall above it for all the paperwork.  I found these file boxes at Target.

The file boxes were from the Martha Stewart Living collection, but I can't find any photos online to show what they originally looked like...  But anyway, they were originally just solid colors- teal, green, and brown. 

I covered them in scrapbook papers, and added little nameplates to the front.  My husband put grommets on the top so that they'd hang on the wall.

 They each have three "slots" for papers or files, etc.- plenty of room!

 I also bought some coordinating decorative file folders from Tuesday Morning to further organize each "slot".

So now I've got something that is functional, pretty, unique, and fits around the random light switch!

Journal Pages Roundup

I haven't been keeping up with my kids' journals as much as I'd like lately, but I've managed a few pages in the last couple months.  Here they are!

In Avery's journal:

    

A spread about learning to crawl.  She's been crawling for a while, but I'm still waiting to do the "walking" page!  She's taking 7-8 steps at a time, but won't give up the crawling yet!  I guess I shouldn't complain- with my last baby, I shouldn't want her to grow up too quickly!

A spread about her baptism.  The baby in the cradle is from a vintage baptism card, and the cross above it is from the card my mom gave to her. 

Her first birthday spread.  I love these pages!  I used wrapping paper from her presents, and the little girl image was sitting out as a decoration.  As you can see, I love to use mementoes from events in my journals...

And another about her first birthday.  As I detailed a couple posts ago, I kind of obsessed about what she should wear for her birthday.  That also extended to what she should wear for her first birthday "formal" photos at the studio.  These were the two final choices- I used fabric from the outfits (scrap-I didn't cut up the outfits!) as the "lines" for my journaling.

In Riley's Journal:

 

Poor Riley's journal has really been neglected this year, but I guess that just happens as kids get older and don't reach as many "milestones".  But I do try to document big events in his life, like learning to swim!

 

And turning 5!  His birthday was this past weekend.  We had a pirate party (his first real birthday party), and I used mementoes from the party on his pages.

In Noah's Journal:

This spread is about Noah learning to write his letters.  If you can decipher it, that says "N-O-A-H" over there!

I still have lots of vintage finds to show you, and two new decorating projects.  For Riley's fifth birthday, the boys got bunk beds, so I've been decorating a new shared bedroom, as well as turning Riley's old bedroom into a playroom.  When I have some more time, I'll show you!

Doll Dresses

Well, I was prepared to show you a few pictures of some new decor in my studio, but Blogger is uploading half my photos sideways for some reason.  So you can head over to my Flickr page if you'd like to see some more detailed photos...

But anyway, I've recently acquired some things that required me to do a little rearranging.   I found the dusty pink knick-knack shelf (towards the left side of the top photo) at an antique shop, and I purchased the pile of vintage doll dresses on Ebay.  So down came some of my old stuff to make room for the "new" stuff!

You can see photos of the old wall arrangement here.  I know, it's not a big change (in fact, my husband couldn't even figure out what I changed, even with prompting!), but I do love those doll dresses so!  I've recently been on a little bit of a vintage doll kick.  Above are a few of my vintage dolls, and I'll show you some others soon.  And don't even get me started on vintage doll furniture- I really need a support club for that one...!

Head over to Flickr if you want to see a couple more photos, including one of a great thrift store find!