Stella & Dot Supports Autism Speaks

This April, Stella & Dot is supporting autism research!

Proceeds from the sales of the Shine Bracelet goes to Autism Speaks. 

Bracelets go on sale April 1st and I'm taking pre-orders now.  Let me know if you'd like one!

Once they sell out, they are gone.

Makes a great gift or is a great way to show you care! 

Get yours on April 1st!

And until then, have a look around here.

Follow me on Facebook to get all the latest Stella & Dot deals!

Back To The Grind

With only two more weeks left before I go back to work, and most of my clothes still being a bit too tight, it's time to get back to the grind... the workout grind that is. 

I've decided to, for the next two weeks, either go for a run or do a 20-40 minute pilates workout everyday but Sunday.  The runs seem to be easier to work into the schedule at the moment even though they are usually longer because I can take Ella with me.  The timing of them, early afternoon, seems to work very well with her schedule.  However, there are some things that I have going on during these next two weeks like lunches with friends, skating lessons, and trying to get my house back in order that are proving to get in the way. 

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays

Run

Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays

Pilates

*Extras*

To get a walk in with Ella everyday - 2-3 miles if possible!

I've been trying to map and log my walks into Daily Mile.  You can see the app on the left sidebar.  It works just fine for me... lets me map out my routes and tells me how far they are.  It also tracks my progress and allows me to connect with others and/or share on facebook. 

I wonder how long it'll take me to get back into the groove like I need to be, make sure I'm doing it consistently, and finally fit back into my clothes?!?  I'm hoping not too long.  This wearing the same thing every day is not fun!

What do you guys use for workouts?  And how did you get back in shape after babies?!?  This little pouch on my stomach wants to know badly! 

Oh well, boring Tuesday post.  Sorry about that.  I'm hoping tomorrow will be better!

Monogramming My House

There was a pop up shop - A Swanky Abode - that came to Carmel a while back.  I believe it left in January, but I went and checked it out here.  While I was there I picked up this large K because at that time I hadn't seen them this size anywhere else.  Now though, I've seen them at JoAnn. 

But it sat in it's raw cardboard color condition for a long time at the top of the stairs.  Then when it was nice out and I got all crafty crazy, I pulled it downstairs and went to it. 

I already had a teal from a sample that I wanted to try out on the buffet. 

It was Glidden's Teal Lake that I grabbed at Wal-Mart. 

Then I sat down and started painting.  This is how I do most of my projects now...

The Baby Bjorn has kept me sane and able to keep up with some things...

Then I took it back upstairs and put it right back where it was. 

Dont' judge the books on the bench, although, it's kind of growing on me, I'm waiting for Mr. K to build me a bookshelf for right around the corner of the stairs to the right.  And don't mind the creepy little doggie (Louie) on the bottom right... he snuck in there.

It's a nice pop of color for the top of the stairs, right under the fairly bland in it's all creams and mostly black and white photos gallery wall. 

Now, to work on the bench and bookcase... soon, I hope.

Happy Monday!

Noblesville Finds!

As promised (although a day late) I'm sharing our finds from our antique trip the other day!  We were looking for a bench, but I ended up spending money on other things. 

I'd been thinking about making a "E" to hang somewhere in Ella's room.  I was going to maybe try yarn art or decorate one of those card board letters but then I spotted this vintage plastic "E" sitting and waiting for me. 

It's a little scratched up, but I was thinking about maybe taking a magic eraser to it to clean it up.  I'm not sure yet... might just leave it as is for the character aspect!

Then, I found something that I purchased to take the place of something until I can find it.  For some really wierd reason I've always wanted the Coca-Cola Ice Skating Tray/Tin thing...

But when I came across this tin below, I figured I could wait a bit longer and find one in good condition! 

Plus, this one incorporates Mr. K as well.  He thought it was super cool!  AND it goes better with the decorin our house.  My downstairs is working on being blues, tans, and grays.  Now I just need to find a place to put it!

Happy Friday! 
Hoping for nicer weather than today this weekend!  Rain, Rain, go away!

Antiquing with Ella

Yesterday I decided to go out on the town...

During the day...

Antiquing...

Yea, my nights out of the town are over but I love looking at old things so I'm ok with that!

I got Ella dressed and fed and plopped her in her car seat so we could head on out and see what we could find.  Look how stinkin' cute she is! 

We were on the mission to find a bench for our pantry.  But while we were out, we found some other things that are so great, I would take them all if I could. 

Starting with some finds for a nursery...

This first rocker is the one I wanted to buy for Ella's nursery.  But, my mom found one just as cute at a festival and purchased it before I purchased this one... Maybe when I have room for a playroom?  Or need another?  It's a super cute rocker that would look amazing in white or gray with a new cushion set. 

Love this little print in a cute scalloped frame.  It's totally adorable for a sweet and girly nursery.

This rocking horse also acts as a bookcase!  haha.  Not sure if it's supposed to, but it does and I love that about it.  I do think it needs a little funkiness added to it - maybe replace the yarn with white and paint the horse hot pink?!?  Hmmm... I might be onto something!

Now for some benches - the real reason we went out.

I found this sweet settee in the basement of one of my favorite stores.  I love it.  I think it's the perfect size for an entryway or nook.  I don't think I'd keep it as is... If I used it in my pantry, I'd paint it black or white and add a striped or chevron seat cushion.  Can you see it?!   

Then I saw this one at another antique store.  I think I'm in love!  However, it's not super practical for a usable piece.  It was a little wobbly and unstable, but the look was super unique.  If I had a place to put this, it would have been home with me in no time but I don't have a place where it wouldn't be sat in very much.

And finally this windsor bench.  This I could see in a funky color like plum or teal for the top of my stairs, but it's a little big for that space.  I seriously need a bigger, more unique home! 

And some random WANTS!

This card catalog.  I want it. No, I need it.  Again, I don't really have a space for it at the moment, but I could find one if this showed up on my doorstep!  Seriously, this needs to come home with me someday.  This particular one wasn't for sale, but they pop up every now and then in these stores... Don't worry, I keep my eye out!

I have always wanted a drop leaf table. This one is really nice.  The condition was great!  It was over $200 so it was definitely out of my price range, but this type of piece remains on my NEED list. 

I thought this art was kind of cool.  If you had a blank wall it might look just perfect there.  It's made from pieces of wood and get this, was only marked for $50.  That took way more time than $50!  I was tempted to buy it, but again... no real place for it.  What do you think?  Love it or leave it?

I've seen these before - and see those pink tags?  They were marked 50% off.  It's a King and Queen carved into these old pieces of wood.  Still at $20 each, I resisted.  If I only had more walls for all this weird art I like. 

And this caught my eye... I thought it was a doll house and I wanted to buy it for Ella.  But then, I realized I was a goober and it was a bird house. 

And then I found a few things that I want to try and not buy!  But seriously, these are things I could make!  I think...

This stencilled burlap runner!  Love.  I probably wouldn't do the rooster, but maybe a flower of some sort or pattern just on the ends.  This should be a fairly easy project.  Maybe I'll enlist the help of my mother since she did the burlap for under the centerpieces at the wedding.

How super easy is this one?!?!  These are just letters cut out in felt.  I can't believe how easy and cheap!  And I don't have ANY Easter decor. 

And this would be very cool for a music room or just an accent piece to a  loft.  It's definitely a conversation piece.  I've seen these little records at goodwill for $1 a piece.  I actually think my mom picked up a few and here's an idea she could do!

So that's what we saw while we were out.  We didn't find anything we were looking for, but we did find some things!  I'll share those tomorrow!  I think they were good finds!  Ok, now off to take a walk!

GymPact

How many of us have bought a gym membership and never used it?

Have any of you heard of this? 

Mr. K found this before he had an iPhone and has now signed up.  We shall see how much he makes or loses on it!  haha.  What it does is it incentivizes your workouts.  It helps you commit to exercise using cash incentives and they say that their members make 90% of their committed workouts.  They put real money on the line and made it easy to check in at gyms so people could actually make themselves get out and go to the gym!

You do need an iPhone to get started, but if you gym has wifi, an iPod Touch or iPad can also work for check-ins.  They are able to verify any fitness center outside of your home or office. 

Your pact is a weekly commitment that runs Monday through Sunday.  You have until Sunday at midnight in your timezone to sign up for and change your pact for that week.  All pacts then start on Monday.  GymPact sends out attendance emails on Monday/Tuesday with your attendance and any payments due or rewards earned.  If you meet your pact, you get a cash reward for each day committed.  Where does the money come from?  It's paid for by those who didn't make it to the gym.  Generally the rewards are $.50 to $.75 per workout.

Wish I had an iPhone although I probably would lose more on this right now than make!  Still trying to figure out this whole baby and motherhood thing!  It can be very complicated as anytime I want or am ready to go somewhere we have a meltdown.  Oh Ella.

I'm back to using Daily Mile which you can see on the left sidebar.  :)

Happy Tuesday!

Spring has Sprung { on my front door }

I've had a few things lying around the house in hopes of using them for crafty projects or whatever. 

I finally got around to putting together a wreath for the front door and I only spent $7 for a mossy wreath from Meijer.  The accents came from home. 

I have a few of these little green vases that I used to use for Stella & Dot events.  I have them in random places around the house, mostly as place holders.  But the little green buds pop off so easily that I've occasionally had to put them completely back together.  So I decided that I'd pop them off of one once and for all. 

Then I found this mossy wreath at Meijer for $7. 

It was the perfect spring wreath option for our door!

This was sooooo easy that I really don't even have any steps to show you!  I plopped those little green buds on the wreath and made sure that they weren't going anywhere.  Then I felt it needed a little something.  I found this little K a while back for 99 cents at Goodwill and I just painted it with some teal paint I had laying around. 

And voila...

I think I like it. 

I've never had anything this colorful hanging on the door so it's a bit of an adjustment. 

I do like it though.

Now onto fixing up the rest of the porch and landscaping!

Sharing this project

Happy St. Patrick's Day

From my favorite little leprechaun!

Pantry { Part Two }

So I am working on making my pantry a bit more appealing as well as organized. 

I wanted to post this yesterday, but Mr. K stole my computer all afternoon and evening.  Better late than never, right?

I am a googler...

I google everything.  I never really got on the Bing train.

But I google printables all the time.  So I searched for "Printable Pantry Labels" and I came up with a TON of different options.  Some came with words on the labels and others were blank.  After looking at the ones that were pre-made, I decided to go with the blank ones to make the sorting a bit easier for me. 

These are from Just Something I Made.  I printed them out on card stock and started writing my labels. 

Once I had all the items written, I cut them out and was thinking of an easy way to attach them in the current pantry.  We have those plasticky wire shelves in there (which I'd love to get rid of) and they aren't going anywhere soon.  But I wanted something that I could easily move in case I had to rearrange the goods at any given time.  Which, lets be real, is probably going to happen soon. 

I had some clothes pins laying around in my craft box that were leftover from my advent calendar this past holiday.  I took a little modge podge and painted it on then added the label. 

Here's what they looked like after.  Sorry for the blurry picture.  Not sure what happened. 

I had previously separated all the areas of the pantry out.  Once I got the liquor out of there, I had a little more room to work with.  My different categories ended up being: Rice/Potatoes, Breakfast, Chips, Misc/Extras, Pasta, Baking, Canned Goods, Crackers, Drinks/Teas, Vinegars/Oils, Bread, and Snacks. 

You can {barely} see the labels in the picture below, but they are there.

I think this is a good set up for now.  Here they are a bit closer. 

There are still a few things I'd like to change - like getting canisters for some items in the baking section, adding a couple of baskets for certain categories to make it a little more aesthetically pleasing, and then finishing up the other side of the pantry which needs a new bench and some sort of fixing up of the dog bowls. 

I'm hoping to get these things taken care of before I go back to work in a few weeks.  But it's going to take a little bit of searching out items and I'm not sure how readily available the items I want will be. 

At least for now, I have an organized pantry that has completely confused my husband, but I feel a lot better about it.  I think baskets will really help it to not look so cluttered.  Off to look!