our kitchen & tips for installing west elm pendant lighting

One of my absolute favorite parts about our home is our kitchen. It is open, spacious, functional, basically all the things you would be looking for in a kitchen. The one thing I didn't really love was the lighting. Sometimes I swear that contractors either don't have a clue what is visually appealing or don't really care about placement because where they installed the lighting in this room was so bizarre to me. We have this beautiful island but no light centered above it. Instead there was one way off to the right and another way off to the left. The same style of light was installed over the kitchen sink and all three are what I like to call "boob lights". haha Not my favorite style of flushmounted lighting out there. The style of the chandelier over our kitchen table looked like it would fit well in a hunter's home next to a pair of antlers. Also, not my style. Going hunting is probably the last place you'll find me. haha Anyway, what I am getting at is the lighting was one of the things we wanted to change about this space. And remember how I said back in January that one of our New Year's resolutions this year was a new house project every month, just keeping up with our promises. :) Let me apologize in advance for slightly grainy images throughout this post by the way, but they were all taken on my iPhone because the whole kitchen wouldn't fit in the shot on my 50mm lens! haha

Here are the original light fixtures we had in our kitchen ...

And what they looked like in our kitchen ...

You can see in the above picture on the left, we had already taken down one of the flushmounts. 

Just a quick disclaimer before we get any further into the post ... we are not certified electricians, just a skilled husband and a wife who is pretty great at standing there to hold things up when needed. :)

For above the kitchen sink and island we chose this and these glass pendants from West Elm with their Edison-style light bulbs. 

While they are so beautiful, they were kind of a pain to hang so I have a few tips to share if you are in the market for new lighting and choose this pendant style from West Elm. I originally took detailed pictures to show you the process but after scouring my phone, Nic's phone, both of our computers, basically anywhere they might have been stored, they can not be found. I have a feeling they were deleted at some point in time so instead, a couple of tips only in words it is ...

1. When you get the rope the length that you want it, wrap the remaining length inside the face plate in a spiral shape, taping it down every few inches with electrical tape as you go. When we first tried winding the rope inside the face plate it was IMPOSSIBLE to keep it dow, even when two sets of hands were involved. Electrical tape really did the trick!

2. The screws that both light fixtures come with a really short. Every time we would try to line up each hole on the plates there was always one hole slightly off from the other and the screws were just not long enough to reach through both holes at a slight angle. Buy a few extra bronze screws in a longer length that way they will still match the existing screws (you won't even be able to tell from a distance) but you won't spend five hours holding the darn thing up while someone tries and fails time and time again to get the last tiny screw through both holes!

I can now say they were worth the installation headache because look at how beautiful they look!!! 

By the way, didn't Nic do an incredible job covering up, texturing, and painting the existing light fixture holes that used to be there?! That man has more talents than I can count and despite how handy he thinks he is not, I am always impressed by him.

We decided on this glass pendant lantern for over the kitchen table from World Market and I love it! Truthfully, when we first hung it I wasn't sure if it went well with the other two light fixtures we picked out because it is a different shape and a black finish instead of bronze but it has really grown on me.

A few more touches in the kitchen ...

All of these polaroids on our fridge make me smile! I love adding to the collection. Maybe one day, our entire fridge will be covered in them from all of our memories together. ;)

And last but not least, my beloved shelves. The first of many DIY projects Nic has done for me and I love them more and more with each season that I get to decorate them for. In fact, they no longer look like this because summer just had to make room for fall. ;) And by fall I really mean Halloween ... SO EXCITED!

There you have it, our kitchen with beautiful new lighting! I love it so much!

P.S. This post was not sponsored.

5 tips for thrift shopping for kids

With back to school right around the corner (next week in my town!) and fall months also not too far away, I have been thinking about new clothes for Liam. With him being our first child, each season is like starting over (no hand-me-downs from other siblings). It is both so much fun but can also get expensive. I will be the first one to tell you that I love name brand kids clothes. The gap, h&m, Zara, and Oldnavy to name a few. I'll be sharing a back to school style post with some of those brands later this week but before I do I wanted to mention thrift shopping first. While you can troll the sales and get a good deal on kids clothes at name brand stores, there are times when you can get an even better deal at a thrift store for the same styles you are loving on your kids. I will also be the first one to tell you that I do not love how fast Liam grows out of his clothes. I'll put on a favorite outfit on him and then turn around twice and it is already time to be boxing it away for a little sibling someday. I don't feel as bad going out and buying a new wardrobe for him when he has grown out of all of his clothes or the seasons are changing when I can get several outfits for a fraction of the cost. With that said, I have found so many great things for his wardrobe for pennies, you guys. So here are a few tips when thrift shopping for your kiddos ...

| Shop Kids Consignment |

While I am still able to find some great buys at the DI, the Youth Ranch, and Good Will to name a few, you really have to hunt at those places. Shopping kids consignment stores are amazing. Most don't accept anything other than name brands, no holes, no stains ... they are really picky! Which is great because you can find a lot of quality items for a similar price you would pay at some of the other thrift stores I mentioned above where you will have to do a lot more searching.

| Look One or Two Sizes Larger |

If your child wears 18 month clothes, don't be afraid to look at the 2T and sometimes even 3T sections. Most kids clothes are 100% cotton and have shrunk significantly after several washes. So some of the clothes in their current size will fit tighter or can even be too small in some cases because they have shrunk. Not only does it give you a broader selection to look in multiple sizes but you'd be surprised at what things could potentially fit that are one or two sizes bigger. Here are a few examples I got for Liam, all of which were 2T but still fit him at 18 months ...

| Repurpose Items with Stains |

A lot of times when you shop at thrift stores where people just drop off unwanted items you run into more holes and stains. I recognize you can't work around all stains but sometimes stains and holes lend themselves to a new distressed look depending on where they are, particularly with pants! I love distressed denim shorts on little boys and found these red gap jeans at the Good Will for $2. They had a couple black streaks on one of the thighs. The first thing I did was put some Dawn soap on the stain and let it soak for an hour or two, scrubbed it in with a toothbrush and then washed it on warm to see if the stain would come out. Sometimes you can get them out and don't even need to worry about repurposing the item! Depending on where the stain is, if it doesn't come out you can easily distress the pants in the spot and you won't even notice the stain anymore. 

| Shop Multiple Seasons of Clothes |

This is similar to the concept of repurposing an item. If it is summer, look at the jeans or overalls sections and cut them off to make shorts (like the picture above)! For girls, you could even buy a pair of jeans and leave them the way they are but roll up the bottoms a couple of times for a pair of capris. I am never very good at predicting what size Liam will wear during what season when it comes to shopping ahead but you can always look at the coat section for example and outfit your child for the next winter. It is fun to have clothes in their closet to have them grow into. Since I have a problem with this, I usually tend to stick to pieces that can be worn during any time of the year like a red Gap polo for example that I found for Liam. It is a 3T and definitely too big for him right now. I don't know if it will be too small by the time next summer rolls around but short sleeves can be worn with a sweatshirt, jacket, etc. in the winter time if that is the season he ends up fitting into it.

| Consider What the Item Will Look Like Washed |

Not only with clothes but especially with shoes this holds true. I have found 2 pairs of shoes for Liam at the Youth Ranch that were pretty dirty. However, I could not pass up this h&m pair of striped boat shoes for $2 and these Salt Water sandals for .99, especially when they retail at Nordstrom for $35! Such a good buy! The striped pair I ran under hot water and then used a toothbrush and scrubbed them with baking soda to take as much dirt as possible out of the fabric. When I got them as white as I could I used a combination of Dawn dish soap and a little bit of detergent to clean them out really good and then let them air dry on my back patio. With the sandal all I had to use was the Dawn soap to scrub them with a toothbrush and washcloth to clean them up. Kids shoes are an area where they need good shoes for support like many of the name brands offer but the $30+ price tag can sometimes be a lot to swallow when they grow out of them so fast.

Hope some of these tips help you the next time you are shopping for a new season of clothes for your kids. It is always worth it to try thrifting first because often times you will be surprised what you can find! Happy thrift/consignment shopping!

5 tips for encouraging your toddler to love reading

I have always loved reading and from the time I found out I was pregnant with Liam, I couldn't wait to share that love with him. Up until now, Liam hasn't had any interest in sitting down and reading with me (He is 15 months). In fact, his only interest with books has been to knock them off the shelf and watch them crash to the floor. haha I know he is a busy little guy and it is hard to get any baby/toddler to sit still for more than 30 seconds at a time but that hasn't stopped me from encouraging him. After trying a few things over the last several weeks, I have some strategies that have been so helpful and have watched his love for books grow to the point that now he sits down and looks at them even when I am not right beside him! So I wanted to share a few tips I have found that have really helped instill a love of reading in my toddler.

| M A K E    I T    P A R T    O F    T H E I R    D A I L Y    R O U T I N E |

Try reading with your toddler every day at a similar time of day. Kids thrive off of routines and schedules and do well when they know what to expect. At first, I would plop him in my lap and grab a book to read together and within seconds he was already squirming out of my lap. Not right away but over time it became a part of his daily routine. Now whenever he wants to read a book with me he'll go grab one and almost pull me to the ground and plop himself in my lap. He does it with Nic too and it is our favorite!!

| P A I R    I T    W I T H    S N A C K S |

The way to my son's heart is through food, particularly of the fruit snack variety right now. haha I've started pairing reading time with snack time and he loves it! It seems like his snack keeps him busy and content enough that he is way more willing to sit down with me and read a book. I am loving the Annie's organic brand of fruit snacks by the way ... they are healthier than other brands and even better, they come in a big box at Costco! Who doesn't love a snack while they're reading?! ;)

| C H O O S E    B O O K S    T H E Y    L O V E |

There are about 5 books that are Liam's favorite right now and we read them over and over and OVER again. Do I sometimes get sick of them and want to read something new, yes. But, every time I try to pull something else off the shelf, he immediately notices and pushes it aside to reach for one of his favorites. I know there will come a day when he understands the plot of stories better and will then become interested in more books but until then, I will happily read him the ones he loves most.

| M A K E    T H E M    A C C E S S A B L E |

I know this one seems like common sense but for a while I only really kept books in Liam's room and I realized that we spend way more time together throughout the day in our living room than we do in his room so naturally there weren't any books around him. He would play with the toys in the toy basket that we keep in the living room instead. Realizing this, I designated the bottom shelf of our console shelves solely to some of his books. Now he goes over and pulls them off the shelf multiple times a day whereas the books in his room still don't get touched a lot. You can even go as far as putting a couple books in each room of your house so that your toddler always has book accessible to them. For right now, the living room is working well for us. Since Liam is a toddler, I only put board books on that particular shelf so that I don't have to worry about them getting ripped/eaten/destroyed if he looks at them on his own. haha I made the mistake of putting one paperback book on that shelf that he carted out of his room one day and that book is goner now! haha oops.

| C H O O S E    I N T E R A C T I V E    B O O K S |

Books have come a long way since I was a child. They have become so much more interactive now and I love it. For toddlers, choose books with touchy feely fabrics and patterns, things that slide, or flaps that open. Vtech also has some great interactive books that light up and make sounds! All 5 of Liam's favorite books right now fit into these categories. He loves a couple animal books where you can feel their hair/skin like October the Octopus. It even has a big flap to pull open at the end of the book when the Octopus sneezes into a tissue. haha It's cute! 

If you have a toddler at home who isn't showing much interest in reading, try a couple of these tips! I hope they are helpful. The biggest thing is simply just to keep trying. Like the first tip, make it a part of their daily routine. I'd love to hear how it is going so feel free to share in the comments below or share any other tips you have with me too! It's just as much a work in progress over here too! XO