Mother's Day Gifts {with Uncommon Goods}

I'm so excited to share a few lovely Mother's Day gifts that we recently received from Uncommon Goods. I am a fan of this company and we've loved their wine bottle cork candles for creating ambience at the Thanksgiving table each year, so I was happy to check out their specially curated Mother's Day gift lists and see what beautiful things they were offering for this special mama day.

This is a store that offers unique products and gifts and is the perfect place to find something really special for a mom. They call themselves " ... an online marketplace where they can connect makers and their creations with individuals looking for truly special goods..." I love that! Half of what they sell is made by hand and with every purchase you make, you can donate $1 to a non-profit of your choice. You really need to check them out.

We received this incredible recycled Kantha table runner. I've always wanted to buy a Kantha quilt and so jumped at the chance to grab this piece. Each vibrant piece of fabric is unique in color and design and the back side is completely different too. They are sewn by using the kantha stitching technique, handmade in India. 

Our other gift is this incredible succulent living wall planter kit which came with all these tiny succulent clippings, carefully wrapped, and a rustic wood frame with a layer of moss and mesh. There were instructions included and Scarlet and I carefully built our own little garden together. It was super easy and the effect is so spring-y and lovely. This kit allows you to hang it on the wall once the succulents have rooted into the soil which I thought was a great idea. Can't wait to put it up! 

As you can see, we had loads of fun taking pictures of these cute little plants. 

This post is in collaboration with Uncommon Goods but the review and opinions are entirely my own.

Check out the living wall planter kit and other fun gardening gift ideas found at Uncommon Goods here!

Comfort Works Soderhamn Slipcover Review

Before ... 

After ... 

I would love to share with you all the very exciting transformation our Ikea Soderhamn sectional recently underwent. We purchased our sectional just before Christmas and were perfectly content with the dark grey covers we selected. But after Comfort Works got in touch and explained how their custom slipcovers worked and how they could make something especially for the Soderhamn, in a color of my choice, well, we were all about that! I'm so excited to share this process and the before/after pics with you as these new covers have made such a dramatic difference to our living room space and, really, it was such a simple change to undergo. I have a video at the end of this post explaining some of the process along with a time lapse for you to see how it happened. 

I started by checking out the samples at the Comfort Works website and selected 8 from what I thought was a really nice assortment to see in person (I thought long about another velvet - love the idea of blue!). I ended up going with several lighter whites and beiges and about 3 gray shades which soon arrived in the mail. We stared at them for a long time, trying them in the light and shadows and rubbing them against my cheek. :) Even trying to get them a bit messy. I have always wanted a light linen couch, ever since my first stop at August Haven here in Green Bay. But of course that sounded a little absurd seeing as I have 4 children who still love to drink chocolate milk on the couch for movie nights. But one of the samples I received had really great comfort and durability ratings and in the end, those ratings convinced me to give this lighter linen color a try! The info noted that this fabric had a special coating which ensured that it would stay clean. Seriously? Yes! We received the slipcovers about 2-3 weeks later and were so excited to get the transformation going.

In the end, Comfort Works was able to take my inexpensive IKEA sectional and make it look really elegant and luxurious. And I'm really excited that it will not only look beautiful but also last for a long time. Two weeks into our new covers, we've been pleasantly surprised at how incredibly soft they are compared to the old ones. It's definitely made a tremendous difference to that cozy factor. 

This couch features slipcovers which you either zip or velcro on. They went on smoothly and easily with a little extra attention spent on the velcro at the bottom of the couches, to make them smooth. It really has made such a difference to the living room, making it feel a little more lush, better achieving that awesome industrial vintage mix that I love so much. We are very, very happy with this product and so thankful that Comfort Works sent them our way to review.  

We have, of course, already had a couple of little messes so far, the worst being some pink candy spots during Easter weekend. I took a damp cloth to it and it washed out really easily. Thankfully! I want to mention that this particular set is dry clean only though Comfort Works does offer many fabric options that are machine washable. Slipcovers make clean up so easy and restless decorators like me so happy!

Here's a look at our video! 

{Disclosure: This is a "sponsored post". The company who sponsored it compensated me with the said product received above. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe my readers will love as much as I do. This product gets a huge thumbs up from our fam!}

The Best of 2011

Happy New Year to all of my bloggie friends out there! I've had such an incredible 2011 and am so excited for all that's to come in 2012. Thank you for coming along with me as I've kept this happy place going each day. It's such a blast for me and knowing you're there makes it so worth it!

Here are a few of my favorite moments in 2011. 

The best outfits:

I loved wearing prints this year even more than solid colors (thought color blocking was a fun challenge) and lace remained my absolute obsession time and time again. In February I even took a 28 for 28 challenge during which I remixed the same 28 items in my wardrobe for the entire month! (little E helped me out with many of my pics that month).

Parker grows up:

This was a huge year for my first born (and his emotional mamma) as Parker graduated from Kindergarten and started first grade! Many tears were cried and mountains were climbed but in the end, this now 7 year old had a exceptionally brain exploding year and developed into a more confident and smart little guy.  

A wonderful surprise!

My wintery home was featured at Apartment Therapy (ugly painting and all!) and soon after I had my "extraordinary day" (a call from the Nate Berkus show - not even joking either!). 

A sweet summer:

We spent an amazingly beautiful summer in the sun - swimming, boating and wilderness exploring all summer long. It was also a time for growing and changing, more so in my little E than anyone else. He grew out of his crib and into Monty's clothes and his adored orange hair went a very subtle strawberry blonde. Parker learned how to swim like a fish and Monty polished his soccer skills. It was a dreamy and steamy summer. 

Sisters:

I had so many special moments with family, 2 of my favorites being a date night riding bikes along the river to a dinner overlooking the water and the other being a recent trip to Chicago for endless eating and Christmas shopping. 

Party (super) hard:

And we've thrown some amazing parties and celebrated many birthdays, keeping our crafting skills polished!

{Christmas party}

{A Monster Bash}

{A White Party}

{A Swim Party}

{A Ballerina Party}

{A Valentines Breakfast}

It's been all about family, me and my 4 guys. All about us. And I've loved doing life with them. :)

Happy New Year!

A Gift Review - CSN

 I was lucky enough to receive this peel and stick wall decal from CSN Stores a couple of weeks ago and they asked me to review it here for them. It's a product made by Room Mates for Kids and while I loved the look of it online, I was even more impressed with it in person. I thought it would look great in my "fireplace room" because of the blues and greens that already decorate that space. Plus, the room is a wonderful spot to lounge in the spring and summer months opening out into a backyard full of trees, so a summery tree indoors sort of works here. 

It was very simple to create and I even had an excited little helper to accomplish this. 

 There were also 3 cute butterflies in the package but I decided not to use them this time. 

Thanks CSN! We love it!