Author: Carrie Spritzer

The Bed Canopy

First of all, I imagine you’re all thinking, “A queen sized bed for a toddler?! Why?!” We believe 1) we have this great organic queen sized bed laying around that’s begging to be used, 2) we may have guests come to visit in which case we need a place for them to crash, and 3) I’m sure David and I will be taking turns sleeping next to the kid-o during this transition time. In fact, he slept there for two hours this morning with the toddler (who ALMOST made it through the night entirely on her own), so it’s already working out great for us, thank you very much!

We created the canopy above the bed using a sheer IKEA curtain (a hand me down from friends).

We received the handmade quilt on the bed as a wedding present from my godfather. Our daughter made it VERY clear that she wanted to use this quilt in her new room and we are thrilled to see her cherish it as we do.

Our daughter made the dream-catcher, above, in her yoga class. That was one project she made very clear that we NEEDED to keep and that it MUST hang by the bed. My original location on the wall in the living room was shot down. Clearly, I should have known better. It’s perfect here.

The watercolor painting to the left of the bed was done by my step-grandmother. She let me choose one of her paintings to keep as a graduation present and it’s never had a better-fitting location in our house. I love how the bright colors match the canopy!

We have so many treasured handmade gifts by her bed, but just you wait! We’re hard at work on an art project for above the bed. I think you’ll like it. Stay tuned…

From Office to an Almost (Empty) Room

For several months our daughter has been talking about wanting her very own room (up until now she’s been sleeping with us). And by talking, I mean asking us every single day when it would be ready. “I want to sleep there tonight.”

To say that David and I had been procrastinating on setting up her room is a bit of an understatement. To get her room ready, we first had to to tame empty the guest room/office/storage room as we live in a very small, two bedroom house. When you see the before photos, below, you’ll see why we dragged our feet. Talk about dealing with a big mess! Where to put all this stuff?!

We decided that a three-day weekend was just the right length of time required to tackle the mess and begin the transformation from a guest room storage hell into a lovely little girl room.

We had quite the project ahead of us and, as it turned out, the exact amount of time needed to empty the room. One car full of junk to the thrift store later and lots of reorganization throughout the house, we have an essentially empty room.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

(The desk and chair probably won’t stay there. We still need to find some other place in the house to put them.)

Before:

After:

(Yes, I gave up my walk in closet. Instead the closet now holds our linens. I have wanted a linen closet for a long time and I’m thrilled that we finally have a place to put all our extra blankets, sheets, towels, and sleeping bags. Now the challenge will be to keep the toddler out of there. Hmm.)

The room is now a blank slate and the fun part of the room transformation can begin. I am excited to change this sterile space into a darling little girl room. I have a feeling lots of books and toys will be involved.

Stay tuned!

Butterfly Girls in a Butterfly (Decoupage) Picture Frame

Two good friends, playing dressing up, captured in these darling photos and displayed in our homemade butterfly decoupage picture frame (a great rainy day project!).

We wrapped it up with a typed and handwritten note written and decorated by our three-year old.

A sweet present from one little girl to another, made with love.

For more information about how to decoupage picture frames, see our Picture Frame Decoupage post.

Yoga Game Time

Our daughter began her yoga studies prenatally (when I was around six months pregnant).

She then came with me to Mama and Baby yoga class for around two years:



This past summer she started going to her very own yoga class — by far her favorite structured class activity:

Because she’s grown up with it, she sees David head off to his yoga practice three days a week, because it’s a way of life around here, she’s crazy about yoga.

We knew this game, The Yoga Garden Game, would be a star player in her birthday present lineup.

What I love best about this game is that it’s about cooperative play; there are no winners or losers. We have fun doing yoga and working together to plant a flower garden before night falls.

Our daughter loves it.

She has the rules memorized, knows the yoga moves in the game, and plays it every single day.