Semi-Homemade Girly Bedroom Concept #1: A Mad Hatter's Tea Party

I was originally going to share with you the millions of ideas I have come up with or come across for Alice in Wonderland parties... but.... as I thought about it more and more, I've decided:
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Alice in Wonderland is a contender in the next theme for Big Sis's room!
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What do y'all think? I'm going to brainstorm other ideas, too... Show you some of the details.... then maybe I'll set up a vote! ;) What's funny is, I swore to myself before I ever became a mother, that I'd never.ever.eva! do one of my child's rooms in character. But... this is kinda character couture, dontcha think? ;)

And so... concept #1..... Big Sis in Wonderland!

The inspiration:

Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton, in theaters now

The color palette:
What's awesome about this theme is how the color palette plays into Big Sis's current bedding perfectly. Woo hoo! This takes the pink & green from her bedding... color scheme from Paper Presence!

But this adds the dimension of color I want... the purple and blue that are totally necessary...

The walls:

Y'all know how much I love vinyl decals for a big bang for your buck! Lil Decal Shoppe has the cutest stuff! Like this big Alice decal

and these chess pieces! So cute, marching around the room! (Also found some fun teacups that could also be set up to parade across a room, too!)

Oh, and then you can customize the room (y'all know how much I love that!) with this decal from Personal Touches

It almost seems necessary to have a big tree decal in a corner... but it would have to be really dense, if that makes sense... and almost dark... maybe too scary! ;)

The new Alice movie is so vibrant and bold.... I'm thinking I'd want to incorporate lots of color on the walls.... and her hot pink/lime green bedding (which I don't have plans to replace yet!) would work in perfectly. Still brainstorming on details like chair rails, bead board, anything as a wall interest!

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The furniture:

Teacup nightstand ~ I'm waiting to hear back from Donna on where to find these giant unpainted teacups.... I'm picturing painting them vibrant colors... (love the Cheshire cat one!) and then putting a tabletop on it.... as a nightstand or something! Check out the amazing Mad Hatter Tea Party she threw - love it! Here's the inspiration for the teacup nightstand:

Read me bookshelf: I love all the fun phrases in the movie! I've been thinking I'd get a (cheap!) black bookshelf for her room.... and put a vinyl decal on the side that says Read me! (a play off Eat me and Drink me!) To give you an idea, here's what I'm thinking, shown on my armoire...

A simple decal on a closet door and the closet is playing along, too! This is Big Sis's current closet.... Alice'ed up to say Dress me! (Don't ya love that font? With a viney, fantasy look?)

The repurposed table & chair set: Remember this set from Big Sis's current pink & green preppy room?

Imagine if I... spraypainted it all Cheshire Cat pink. Painted light pink stripes on the table legs. Then got a decal of the Cheshire Cat's infamous grin... to put on the tabletop? So cute!

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The accessories:

I'm picturing fun throw pillows with lots of the catch phrases from the movie. Like "curiouser and curiouser!" Maybe "Dream This" (again, as a play on the "Eat this" and "Drink this" phrases). Appliqued white rabbits, pocket watches.... or maybe a set of 4 pillows, art prints of a heart, club, spade, diamond! These pillows would be cute in hot pink & lime green!

And you can find anything on Amazon... like this cute, plush Cheshire Cat.

The bedding: You could go over-the-top on bedding....

But we're going to stay with color-as-a-theme bedding that we already have! (At least until the next house...)
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The lighting: last but certainly not least!

I found a very similar (maybe this exact!) chandalier last weekend when Mrs. Everything and I went to Canton. How perfect is it?

Lamps: I'd either try to fashion a lampshade out of a Mad Hatter's hat... :) or repurpose what we have to say Light me!

So..... what do ya think of this Alice in Wonderland themed bedroom?

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The pros (as I see it):

Super fun

Super unique

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The cons:

Too trendy (but don't forget, we only have to live with this for 2 yrs!)

Too loud (but we like loud!?)

Too character-y (anyone buying my idea of character couture?)

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And for those just getting to know me.... my hubby is a builder and we move about every 2 years. I loooove decorating, esp kids' rooms, and if I had enough time and money, I'd go all out and do 1 of the kids' rooms every year. As in, over-the-top. But, I'm limited on both time & money, so I get creative and do it all semi-homemade!

Sweet Ava

Y'all, I'm asking any of you who pray.... or think good thoughts... to pray for my dear friend Jess and her family. Sweet Ava Kathryn went home to be with the Lord this morning. She was G-man's age and had the sweetest smile in all of Georgia. My heart just breaks for the whole family. Jess is one of those mommas you just adore - her love for her kiddos is what you first notice about her.

Jess, I love you, love Ava.... and sending prayers to comfort your family...

Wishful Wednesday: The Olympic Clock

So, the Olympics in Vancouver are over. I always start out excited.... and by the end, I'm glad it's over. In the way you're glad the holidays are over so you can just stop eating already. ;)

But while I watched about 2 minutes of the closing ceremonies, I was thinking.... the Olympics remind me of G-man as a newborn. He was born 8 days before the 2008 summer games began in Beijing so I saw ALOT of those Olympics. Both the highly televised primetime events... and the less popular events at the random times (in the middle of the day, in the middle of the night!) It's funny how certain things take you back to that crazy newborn stage and everything you were thinking/feeling!

Then I realized.... the last winter games would have been Feb 2006.... and Big Sis was a newborn and I was home on maternity leave with her!

So, for all of you wondering when you'll meet the 3rd Semi-Homemade baby.....

Yep.... maybe the 2012 Olympic games in London would be the perfect time! ;)

ETA: When Kelsey did an Olympian Wishful Wed, I figured I'd just piggyback onto this one... esp since I really should be doing a million things besides blogging anyway!

'I wish' .... I could have gone to the 2010 Winter Olympics to see one event, and it would have been the women's downhill!

All the fun girliness... the drama.... it was like reality tv married the Olympics! But then again it was really snowing... and I'm not so much an outdoorsy kinda girl... So could I have watched it from inside a cozi ski lodge....? With some doctored up hot chocolate (maybe some coconut rum)? I'm just saying... yeah, I'd probably hate actually BEING at the WINTER Olympics! ;)

This was me

Last week. At work. I thought this pic of the kiddos in our home office pretty much displays my 2 main emotions last week. Big Sis looks stressed out. G-man is crying.

Bear with me while I get my head back on straight. And while I help mr. fix-it get through some major drama at his job. Then I promise to be back to normal. Thanks - y'all are the best!

Canton Bound!

I'm about to head out the door with Mrs. Everything for a trip to Canton! There's no telling how many treasures we'll find.... I'm hoping to get inspiration for decor for the new house, as well as Big Sis and G-man's new rooms! I plan to go back this fall or next spring, but it never hurts to start thinking ahead! Mrs. Everything has a more immediate shopping list, and she means business! She's even measured walls and she's ready to go!

After a day of girl talk, Starbucks, and lots of laugh.... I'll be back to share any treasures I couldn't live without! :) Happy weekend!

Snow Day in TEXAS

Or what I was doing while management was in MY meeting. (I'm over it, I promise. Okay, I'm mostly over it. I'll BE over it after happy hour on Thurs. And again on Fri.)

Quiz: Is G-man crying because:
a) he was forced to wear his sister's coat when his mysteriously disappeared?
b) he hates the snow - that's why he lives in TX, damnit!?
c) he took 1 step in the snow and face planted? (okay, I can't help but giggle. sorry, g-man!)
d) all of the above



You know it's always, always d!!! Poor g....

Seriously, Big Sis was out to impress! mr. fix-it said, roll a snowball for a snowman... and she did it like it was part of her regular day. You go, Southern girl!

The finished product! Frosty with his new friends, the Semi-Homemades. And yes... Frosty is an Oklahoma State fan (go, pokes!) He's sporting his o-state cowboy hat and scarf! (And that's popcorn from Mom and Popcorn for his eyes and mouth, lol!)

Big Sis making snow angels. We got a FOOT of snow! A foot! Which means that Big Sis could do snow angels and not even sink to the ground - crazy!

She convinced daddy that HE needed to do snow angels, too... lol....

G-man was watching safely from his post on the porch. That boy did NOT like the snow. He must get that from his momma. And he's trying to pull off that manly hat to combat his pink & grey plaid peacoat.... I'm still laughing. ;)

The snow missed us today - woo hoo! And seriously, I have a call in to Spring and she better be on the way stat. But we'll always remember this snow day... in more ways than one! What a fun day with my kiddos!

Semi-Homemade Homework

Last week, Big Sis had her first homework assignment. (Geez! This momma doesn't have time for homework, lol!)

The assignment: make a collage of your family.

Sounded easy enough, right? Umm....

The lesson(?!): The lesson learned here probably wasn't for Big Sis. It was that mom hasn't printed pictures out since G-man was born. 18 months ago. We had to rely on random pictures that other people had taken and mailed us. And the front of our Christmas card. And the back of our Christmas card. Geez!

So, the boring (un-girly) piece of green paper we were given for this project just wasn't girly enough... it didn't say Big Sis.... So, in true semi-homemade style... I let Big Sis pick out a ribbon to hang it by. Let it be noted that we did not use tulle (mr. fix-it rolled his eyes when I even suggested it!)

The middle picture on the left side is Big Sis with her little brother... and Miss Priss, the oldest child of Mrs. and Mr. Everything. We consider them family, but Big Sis's teacher is such a stickler for rules... I told her it would be okay (if asked) to call her a cousin. ;)

C25K update - and rap volume 3

I'm spending a couple minutes online (before kids get up!), looking for new music. And I found this - I blogged this LAST Feb:


Y'all. I just jogged for 25. straight. minutes. I'm still breathing hard. I love running!! When I'm done. And I still haven't decided if I'm totally impressed with myself or completely embarassed by how lame my Fri nights have become. Either way. And AGAIN, I had to remind myself that I am not, in fact, a rapper. I don't have on gold chains, don't go by the name Ice-mom or E-pain or any of that. But I do love some rap to make me forget how much I don't enjoy jogging.


Hee hee! I finished week 9 last week, and I'm adding 1/4 mile every week. I jogged this afternoon... 2 3/4 miles - next week it'll be 3 miles. Straight. No walking. ;) And I've decided maybe I DO enjoy jogging. When I get to do it during the day. ;)


Hopefully, I'll be able to share some new music that I love with you soon! But for now... an old fav....


If your taste is similar to mine, you prob know of Pitbull. Good energy, great for jogging! The BEST of his is the Bojangles remix... (This youtube version isn't the EXACT one I have... not sure the exact version, but I did quick searching and didn't see it!)

And love this one, too... Get No Better by Cassidy.

Kids are waking up but I think I got at least a few to add to my playlist before I jog tomorrow - woo hoo!

New Year's Resolution.... in action!

Remember my resolutions? (These.... that I made towards the end of January, which is typically my style. I guess you could say it takes me a month to settle into the first year and see where my opportunities are.) ;)


The picture above is from last Sunday, after Big Sis's first day of Sunday school. Which she loved. Because she "made new friends and learned about Jesus." And the fact that there was coloring probably helped seal the deal.

I wanted to get a good pic of both kiddos..... but - as many of you moms of more than one will relate to - THIS is what I managed to get:

Tomorrow is the 2nd week of Sunday School and you'd think it was Christmas, as excited as Big Sis is. Last week she asked me if we could go to Sunday school EVERY day. ;) I'm lovin that she's lovin it.... and that it helps make me more accountable to one of MY goals. (I was totally hoping to get to take her to mass on Ash Wednesday with me this wk.... but I didn't get to leave work on time and was 5 min late as it was. Next year!)

THAT was the kind of day I needed....

Today wasn't a day I was super excited about. Back-to-back birthday parties for 4-year-olds. (Translation: a 2 hr party, short break, another 2 hr party.... no nap.... then dinner with friends with MY cranky 4-year-old.)

I was focused on my always long to-do list..... a few projects that must be finished before the house goes on the market March 1.... and an under-the-weather G-man (mr. fix-it took him in this morning and the poor guy has an ear infection that spread into pink eye - yikes!)

But it turned out to be EXACTLY the kind of day I needed.... first party was fun, met a new mom (her son is new to Big Sis's class), had fun talking to the 'regular' moms.... then went to lunch with my 2 fav preschool moms and their kids at this fun place on our Downtown Square. We had salads... a couple glasses of wine.... lots of girl talk. I think I was long over due (for girl time... fun gossip... daytime drinking? ;)... for time to hang with Big Sis and focus only on her and her friends).

Second party was a girly girl dress up party and Big Sis adores those. She rocked some seriously great Hannah Montana karaoke.... impressed the other moms with her rendition of Party in the USA, then cracked me up with her request of Ice Cream Paint Job. (No idea where she got that. Okay, maybe a small idea. I blame mr. fix-it.)

Then dinner with some friends expecting their first child in May. I remember those days... when you know change is coming but you really have no idea how your normal is about to get turned upside down. She had the cutest belly... and I can't wait to meet her lil man!