Aiden’s been really into naming favorites recently: his favorite chair, his favorite pajamas, his favorite puma…etc. Currently, his favorite song is the “ABCDs” (as he calls them) and I realized I haven’t done an alphabet printable. For some reason, in my head, that should be the first one you make.
So here you are, a free “ABCD” printable in two color options with a white background or color background:
*As usual: the prints are sized 8×10″ and all you have to do is download or save and print! Feel free to use and share as much as you’d like, but please link back to here. Blog etiquette and all, thanks!*
Do you have an ABC poster in your nursery? We have one in Aiden and Mia’s room over the glider that Aiden loves and Mia can’t quite read yet, but she likes to look at it and gurgle.
I don’t know what it is about pink and gold, but I am crushing on them so hard right now (also mint, but I’ll save that for another post). Here are a few things that caught my eye in shades of pink and gold:
I am SO excited to tell you that today Deme from Fresh Coat of Paint has featured Aiden and Mia’s room! You can check out her feature here and see my original posts on it here and here.
I love so many of her projects like this gold dot closet wall, her workspace, and my personal favorite (that I loved before it was featured on YHL!) this amazing nook which I am sure you have seen all over the blogosphere by now because it’s so fab.
I am so grateful that she’s featuring the room and would love it if you could go check it out (here if you’re don’t feel like scrolling back up :)
On another note: starting tonight is the Jewish holiday of Shavuot so I will not be posting on Wednesday as I usually do. Instead I will say chag sameach/ happy holiday and see you all on Friday with a roundup of a color combo I’m seeing everywhere and loving!
I hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day yesterday! I woke up to coffee, breakfast, cards from Tuv and the kids and the cutest gifts that I can’t wait to use! Plus, I don’t know how he managed the timing, but literally as I was finishing opening my gifts, the doorbell rang and my flowers were delivered! He says he didn’t time it but I’m gonna let the magic stay and say he did ;)
A little later we had brunch with my mother, my sister and her daughters, and my grandparents. I wish I got a photo of my stylish grandmother looking fab as always (sorry Bubbles!). Our food was delicious and the it makes my heart melt how much the kids love each other. I left a little early because of another headache (anyone else’s sinuses going crazy?) but after a little R&R at home I felt better and then we went to visit Tuvia’s grandmother. His aunt was there also and Aiden and Mia love her to bits so it was really sweet.
All in all it was such a lovely day and I’m so happy and lucky to be Aiden and Mia’s mommy (and thank G-d I’ve got Tuvia to do it all with me!)
these guys make it all worth it!
On to the chair cushion roundup:
Last year, I spotted this photo on Instagram by my friend Sara Weisblum of Little Miss Hostess (keep her name in mind, you’ll be seeing more of her on this blog soon!)
Fab, right? I obviously had to know where she got those chairs from and I was so happy to hear.. Ikea! She found great pillows at Home Goods and spray painted the chairs. I asked if I could copy her idea and she sweetly complied so off we went to Ikea to get the chairs. By “off we went to Ikea” I mean we snagged two chairs by the end of the summer (months later).
It’s been over a year now (yeesh) and we haven’t done anything with them. This year I want to get it done early on so we can enjoy our porch. It’s tiny, but it’s our little outside space and I like it.
The thing is I can’t decide what color I want to paint them! I figure I’ll take a cue from the cushions we choose. BUT finding cushions that are rounded in the back and deep and cushion-y enough for these chairs wasn’t as easy as I thought.
Here’s a roundup of cushions I like that are within our porch budget:
Clockwise from the top: blue and white damask from Amazon , chevron from Target, medallion from Target in blue and pink (the colors are more intense in person and I like them a lot more than the online photos), paisley cushions from World Market (they look a little thin to me though)
What do you think? Damask, chevron, medallion or paisley? Or is there a color you love for porch chairs? I’m definitely leaning toward bright and fun.
This week for “Be Still My Heart” we have a guest post on turquoise decor in the home! I gravitate toward turquoise all the time, it’s such a gorgeous color and I think everyone could use a daily dose. So here’s yours for today:
Hello, lovely blog readers! I’m so happy to be here with you at Shoes Off Please with a guest post from Arcadian Home. It’s a fantastic place to find lots of interior design inspiration including great decorating ideas for everything from fabulous foyer lights to colorful decorative pillows and much more.
Today, let’s explore the gorgeous ever-popular color turquoise. From the entryway to the master bath, turquoise can be used in just about any style room. Personally, I never tire of this wonderful hue. It’s beautiful whether in a pale watery shade or a deep vibrant version. Turquoise rocks my world. Please enjoy!
Thanks for letting me stop by to share.
~ Mari
From the sea-glass colored buffet lamps and lovely collection of glass on the long table to the colorful trim on the black lacquered chairs, this traditional foyer is infused with the vibrant beauty of turquoise.
This crisp white contemporary living space goes from beautiful to stunning with a brilliant turquoise floor. What a great design decision.
Turquoise meets purple hues and creates a lively palette for a teenager’s room that would also work well as a study or guest bedroom. Striped decorative pillows on the window seat do a nice job of pulling all the cool colors in the space together.
Lots of blues, including turquoise, bring this home office to life. Color, pattern and texture are used very effectively here. It’s interesting that the homeowner chose to pull black from the drapery panels onto the shelves instead of accessorizing with turquoise or one of the other blue hues.
A turquoise glass pendant light adorns either side of the tall headboard of a gorgeous upholstered bed in this open and airy bedroom. The fabrics used on the bed and the large pillows are simply stunning.
A lovely traditional bath is wallpapered with a beautiful tropical pattern in pale turquoise giving the space an ethereal dreamy look.
Paneling is painted in a soft turquoise in this child’s bedroom, creating a beautiful backdrop for a large wall gallery of favorite artwork. Diverse patterns seen in the textiles used around the room give the space an appealing global look.
I never tire of looking at this lovely eclectic room with splashes of turquoise. I’m surprised every time I run across it around the blogosphere. The paintings and the long chest are quite amazing. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
What do you think of these turquoise spaces? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to stop by our blog for more home decor, lighting and interior inspirations!
Thanks Mari! You can see other “Be Still My Heart” posts here
I’m doing an extra post this week because this feels like the second part of yesterday’s post and because tomorrow there will be a guest post!
In case you are just joining in, I’ll catch you up: we had a green lamp we got on sale from Target for Aiden’s room but it never quite fit. So I decided to repurpose it for our room based on this inspiration photo from Pinterest (which I am so sorry, I cannot find the original source, this is as far back as I can trace it)
Like the photo, I wanted to spray the base gold, and paint the trim black. Womp womp.
You are seeing correctly: it was green, I primed it, then sprayed it gold blue. Sigh.
So another trip to Michaels for actual gold spray paint, and black craft paint for the trim. I painted the base with actual gold paint this time, but wasn’t sure I liked the shape of the lamp in this color.
I decided to keep going with the shade and see how the whole thing turned out. For a minute, I considered hot gluing black trim over the green, but couldn’t find plain black ribbon in my stash…
… so I went with the original plan and painted the trim in Martha Stewart high-gloss beetle black craft paint and I love it!
All I did was put frog tape along the edge of the trim and press it down a little to make sure there was no bleed-through.
*on Amazon the paint is $4.99 but in Michael’s it’s $2.99 and our local one has it for 40% off*
I really like the shade now, but I was so excited about the Anthropologie-inspired tablecloth that I forgot to take a picture of the gold lamp base with finished shade!
Here’s one I took with my phone instead:
I’m not in love with how it turned out. I like the shade and I like the base and I like having a gold base with the shade buuuut I think the shape of this particular base in gold doesn’t work with the shade like I would want it to. It might just be it doesn’t work on my dresser…
Anyway that was the first Pinterest Challenge I accepted and I’m glad I did it regardless of whether it stays or not.
Anyone else have a Pinterest Challenge that wasn’t so successful? If you haven’t already, you should check out the linkups at YHL, Bower Power, Sparkle Meets Pop, and RedBirdBlue because some of these projects are ah-maz-ing!
My first ever Pinterest challenge is now complete!
On Monday, I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to finish a lamp makeover or make an Anthropologie-inspired tablecloth. Neither one is a necessity and the lamp is more practical, but I reallllly wanted to do the tablecloth.
Obviously, I had to do both. I like one of them more than the other so I’m just going to post about the one I like now and I’ll put the other one up tomorrow.
This was my “pinspiration” photo, an Anthropologie tablecloth, retailing for $228
It seemed straightforward enough: buy fabric and paint fat sloppy lines on it. Let’s see how that worked out for me, shall we?
The materials:I had some paint on hand from another project, got the canvas dropcloth from Home Depot, and the rest from Michael’s.
The setting:
I must confess I didn’t think about where I was going to paint it. It didn’t quite fit in the kitchen nook even when I took some stuff out…
And it didn’t really fit in the living room either, but Mia’s nap wasn’t going to be much longer and I was running out of time so I had a Tim Gunn moment and I made it work.
At this point, I had a few thoughts: 1- I should probably wash this first 2- I should probably iron this first 3- I should probably put something underneath in case the paint bleeds through
NO TIME!!! So I told logic to take a timeout (where Aiden put some pillows yesterday because they weren’t listening to him and they kept jumping out of timeout- the kid does not lack imagination).
I started to tape around the edges and ran out of tape so I just used it to make my first demarcation, less for clean lines and more as a guideline. From there, it was just a race to finish this before Mia woke up. I mixed one part fabric medium to two parts paint (as per the instructions) and just tried to keep the dropcloth as straight as possible
I like how it came out better in real life than in photos so I guess you all are gonna have to come over for a meal and see for yourself!
I’m so so happy that I did the Pinterest Challenge this time! Did anyone else participate? I’d love to see what you did! Don’t forget to check out our hosts: Sherry, Katie, Emily, and Renee’s projects!
I'm Gilit Cooper, lover of all things interior design, organization, and a total sucker for a good DIY project. Shoes Off, Please is my blog about the journey to maximize our apartment in practicality and prettiness within a budget. I hope you enjoy!
*As usual: the prints are sized 8×10″ and all you have to do is download or save and print! Feel free to use and share as much as you’d like, but please link back to here. Blog etiquette and all, thanks!*
