kidlark favs :: land of nod {rugs}

{click image to enlarge}

I am always on the hunt for cute rugs that don't cost a fortune. I was so happy to see the new selection at Land of Nod. So many fun and colorful prints. Not only are they great for kids rooms, but they would really look great anywhere around the house. The only bummer is that the largest size is a 5x8, but still great nonetheless. These are Kidlark's favs!

1. Pink Crow's Feet 2. Yellow Raised Floral 3. Cream Better Floors and Garden 4. Lavender Magic Carpet

5. Pink Broad Stripe 6. Grey Zig Zag 7. Green Diamonds in the Rug 8. Blue Brick by Brick

free printables :: valentine's {part 1}

My nieces asked me to make some Valentine's cards for them. One of them is in 8th grade and her and her friends have a "mustache club". So, she wanted some mustache themed valentine's cards. We decided that it would be fun to make chocolate mustache lollipops and attach this tag to them. I found mustache candy molds at Michael's. I will post a picture of the final product once we finish them, but wanted to share this printable with you in the meantime. If you want your free mustache valentines, send me an email and specify whether you like the plain or the chevron, and I will send you the download. Check back for more valentine's printables this week and next!

baby shower :: baby ford

all images via MeOhMy

My friend Nicole of the blog MeOhMy, had a sweet baby boy just days before Christmas. So, a few months ago I helped throw her a baby shower to get ready for the arrival of her baby boy. She posted the pictures on her blog a few days ago, and I wanted to share them with you as well.

In this post on her blog, she shared her nursery inspiration board in which she showed the baby's bedding. I decided to base all the designs for the shower off of that. We kept it very simple, and I love the way everything turned out. The other girls throwing the shower were in charge of all the food, and the food was incredible. Especially these cheesecake bars. The party favors were these darling bags found on etsy, filled with some of Nicole's favorite candies. All in all, it was a fun night with great friends!

custom invitations ::super bennett

My son is turning 5 in a few weeks. How it is possible that I have a FIVE year old is beyond me, but five it is. He wanted a superhero party like every other 5 year old boy out there. Everywhere I looked I saw the same sort of pop art superhero party theme. Which is so super cute, but I wanted to do something a little different. I am so glad I did because I could not be more obsessed with these cute super boy invitations. We are doing a breakfast with cereal and donuts, so it shouldn't be too much stress. Check back in two weeks for pictures of the party.

Check out Bennett's 4th birthday camping party invites here.

Find pictures of his 4th birthday camping party here.

See his 3rd Birthday invitations and party here.

kidlark favs :: cotton on

While visiting one of my local malls a few months back, I saw that they were opening a new kids store called Cotton On Kids, and it looked like something I would LOVE. I did a little research and found out that Cotton On Kids is an Australian based company. If you follow party & design blogs, then you already know that those Australians have some fabulous taste. Anyway, the store finally opened and I went for the first time this week. I fell head over heels for this place. Not only were the clothes darling, but the prices were very reasonable too. Think crewcuts style with gapkids price range and quality (side note: every shirt my daughter owns from crewcuts, has holes in it. LAME!) The website does not even come close to doing the store justice. I was especially happy to find cute BOY clothes for my 5 year old because that is always a challenge. If you live in South Orange County, run over to The Spectrum and hit up Cotton On Kids because the entire store is 30% off, but only through the end of January. I promise, it's worth it.

holiday decor :: love day

I put up my Valentine's day decorations today, all three of them. Since we live in a small place, I hate storing holiday decorations, so I tend to keep it pretty simple & almost always handmade. The wreath is just a simple yarn wrapped wreath that I made a few years ago, and the two garlands I made last Valentine's for my sister-in-laws baby shower . I love the way the colors pop against all of the white. I also love that they go perfectly with the deer silhouette print I made a few months ago. Oh and that picture of my three babies is pretty perfect up there too!

custom branding :: lilapops

A few months ago Leslie came to me and asked me to help her with the branding & design work for a new company that she started with her husband. After going on a road trip with her coughing children, they came up with the genius idea of an all natural cough drop lollipop for kids called LILAPOPS. You may have seen their ads on Style Files, MeOhMy, DesignMom, etc. The best part about LILAPOPS, is that they are made with honey and marshmallow root so you can really give them to your kids anytime. The bad part is, if your kids are anything like mine, once they taste them, they will be begging you for them all day everyday.

She had a vision and I am so excited with how it is all turning out. Not only is she a genius, she is a darling mother, and one of the most kind and thoughtful clients I have ever dealt with. Is it weird that I feel like we are BFF's now? Seriously, that's how nice she is. Oh and did I mention she has the cutest house ever? Check it out over on her blog, Drywall & Diapers.

LILAPOPS is currently offering a 25% discount to Kidlark readers. Head on over to their website to purchase yours NOW. While you are over there, check out all of the ads and other items I designed for her as well!

*Sorry for the poor iPhone images. I couldn't wait any longer to share this exciting news with you, and my good camera is acting up.*

travel log :: AZ & TX

braving the roads on the 6 hour drive to AZ

welcomed to AZ with homemade french onion soup

is there anything better than a peaceful flight without kids?

dinner at stephan piles

a night out to dinner in Dallas with old friends from college

spending time with my husband

my stash of bottles, toys, and paci's for the drive along with my 44 oz soda of course

so happy to be back in CA

My husband Andrew is working in Dallas, TX for 3 weeks. SO LONG! I decided to go out and visit him last weekend. I loaded up my car on Wednesday, and braved the 6 hour drive with my 3 kids to AZ where my parents live. I dropped off my kids to stay with my mom and dad for a few days and then flew from Phoenix to Dallas on Friday, and back to Phoenix on Sunday, and drove back to CA on Tuesday. It was a fun little getaway, and I loved getting to spend a few days alone with Andrew. I also enjoyed hanging out with my parents and sister in AZ, and of course I loved getting my Mexican food fix too!

This was my second time to Dallas, and I loved it. So much yummy food, and great shopping. Friday night we ate at an amazing restaurant in downtown Dallas called Stephan Pyles. So many unique dishes, but my favorite was the "coffee and donuts" dessert which consisted of espresso creme brûlée with caramelized goats milk, topped with homemade donuts. Then Saturday night we met up with our old friends from college and went to a mexican dinner at Chuy's. If you go there, do yourself a favor and order the queso with a side of the hatch green chile sauce. Chips dipped in that is an amazing combination.

desktop calendar :: january

This year we are offering a couple of new things in addition to the desktop calendar. Each month there will be a free iPhone/iPad calendar for your lock screen with corresponding wallpaper for your home screen (see above photos). These can be used on your iPad as well.

If you would like your FREE desktop/iPhone/iPad calendars and wallpaper for January, please

become a follower

AND click on the

Facebook "Like" button

at the bottom of this post!

Then click here to download the desktop calendar.

iOS Instructions

Browse to this post on your iPhone/iPad and click here to view the iPhone/iPad calendar and click here to view the iPhone/iPad wallpaper. Once you are viewing them on your iOS device, hold your finger on the picture of the calendar or wallpaper until your device asks you to save the image. Click on save, and a copy of the image is added to your photo roll. You can then go into "Settings" > "Wallpaper" and set the calendar as your "Lock Screen" and the wallpaper as your "Home Screen". If you are having trouble, leave a comment and we'll get technical support right on the line!

christmas card :: 2011

December was a very busy month, but I am sad that it is already over. This year's christmas card was very simple and served as a birth announcement as well. I never got around to sending one out, but I really wanted to use the beautiful newborn pictures that Ashlee Raubach took for us. I printed the card on a nice, thick, cotton paper that am in LOVE with. It was a little more expensive, but totally worth it. I also inserted a little card with our new address on it so people would know that we had moved. Finally, I made a custom address wrap label to coordinate with the card. It was a lot if work, but I was very pleased with the way everything turned out.

desktop calendar :: december

I can't believe it's already December. Time is going by way too fast.

I am busy with the Christmas card rush, but wanted to get this calendar up for

you all to enjoy. I just love the little deer and the non-traditional color palette.

If you would like your FREE desktop calendar for December, please

become a follower

AND click on the

Facebook "Like" button

at the bottom of this post!

Then click here to download the calendar.

missing in action :: update

Sorry I have been MIA the last month or so. We had a rough month with some health scares. Our baby Cosette wasn't gaining weight or growing so they did some blood work on her. That blood work came back with a couple elevated liver enzymes which could mean all sorts of different liver diseases (hepatitis, biliary diseases, liver damage, etc). So I spent the next two weeks in and out of the lab getting test after test done. Poor baby girl had to get pricked so many times and she was such a champ about it too. After a lot of tears, prayers, and blessing from my dad, everything came back normal. We spent our Thanksgiving holiday in AZ with my entire family, and our doctor called to tell us the good news just a few days before Thanksgiving. We definitely had a LOT to be thankful for this year. It turns out that my milk is just full of protein and not calories so she was a little malnourished. Sadly, I had to stop nursing her and move on to formula. She is a new baby and so happy and content. Poor little thing was just hungry. So sad, but so glad we were able to figure everything out and that nothing serious was wrong with our baby girl.

caitlin wilson design :: textiles

My beautiful and very talented friend Caitlin, of Caitlin Wilson Design, launched her highly anticipated textiles website today. Be sure to run over and snatch up your fabric by the yard, or custom made pillows. There are so many cute color combinations and prints, that it is almost impossible to choose just one. Congratulations Cait, I am so excited for you!

desktop calendar :: october

I am loving all the black and white halloween decor floating around the internet and blogging world. I decided to follow suit and do a spooky black and white October desktop calendar.

If you would like your FREE desktop calendar for October, please

become a follower

AND click on the

Facebook "Like" button

at the bottom of this post!

Then click here to download the calendar.

kidlark giveaway :: the rustic alley

Allison from The Rustic Alley is doing a kidlark giveaway on her blog. Christmas card time is coming fast, so take this chance to win a free custom christmas card design. Head on over to her blog to check it out.

baby shower :: cosette's

My amazing friends and family threw me a shower for Cosette about a month before I had her. I have been meaning to post these pictures, and am finally getting around to doing so. We had a fairly large group of ladies, so they got a private room at Lucille's BBQ. My friends made a darling BBQ invite that I will post tomorrow. They also decorated the tables with my favorite flower, peonies, and the cutest party favor. It was very low key, but such a fun time. I am so lucky to have such amazing friends and family surrounding me.

the darling and delicious cake in a jar party favor

the beautiful peonies in antique turquoise mason jars

the party people

eight months prego and feeling it

me (8 months pregnant), my sister Brooke (6 months pregnant), my SIL Shelly (9 months pregnant)

enjoying the gift opening

a special thanks to my talented friend Kristy for documenting the evening

custom invitations :: vintage baby shower

Some friends and I are hosting another baby shower next week for a dear friend. These are the shower invitations that I made for the event. We are going with a sort of vintage/classic baby theme, with vintage blocks etc. I will let you know how it all turns out.

good eats :: smore's cups

image via texas cottage

A few days ago on Pinterest, I came across this recipe for Smore's Cups. If you remember this post I did about Smore's cookie bars, then you already know my love of anything with the word "Smore's" in it. I have yet to test out this recipe, but they sound amazing and they are so visually appealing as well.

fun find :: classics at costco

Today on my weekly Costco outing, I stumbled upon these children's books.

I got a set of them from Anthropologie last year where they are $16.99, but you can get yours at the local Costco for only $10.49 each.

So RUN don't WALK.

DIY :: block print

I am sure a lot of you out in the blogging world have already seen this DIY on design sponge, but I just had to share.

I love the uneven appearance of the pattern you get by using the block stamp.

Check out the full tutorial over at design sponge here. I can't wait to try this out with my own design.