Toy Storage Tips & Tricks

So who knew that being a parent meant that your entire life would be invaded by toys? Some of them are expensive – the “must have” Christmas gift kind of items. Some of them are educational like color-coded puzzles and books that use the alphabet strategically. Some of them are less significant toys – dollar tree prizes for going in the potty or drive thru meal toys, which, for some reason, become so significant to our toddlers that if you misplace it – or heaven forbid get rid of it – you are sure to be reminded of it for the rest of your life.

They. Are. Everywhere.

It’s like Toy Story up in this joint. These things look like they have a mind of their own and are running a miniature toy village when we aren’t looking, am I right?

So we’ve got to get it under control. And the best way I have found to control the toy-a-palooza is to have a system for storage that works. It’s got to work and make sense to you and your family.

So I’m going to share that today.

We are very fortunate in the new house to have a full basement. My dad, Jake, and his dad worked really hard to finish it out. (I’ve talked about that in a few other posts – you can see our work out corner and my office in other blog posts.) A larger corner of the open den/family room space is designated as the playroom. This is little man’s space to play with the majority of his toys – but, because it’s open to the rest of the family room area, it needs to be easy to tidy up if we’re having people over or during weekly cleaning times.

So I’ve developed a system that has proven to be fairly useful. I hope it’ll be useful to you, too!

Even if you don’t have a designated play room or corner, I think that these tips and tricks can be applied to your shared family space, living room, or kids’ bedrooms.

#1: Categorize It All

A mistake I’ve made in the past is saying “I don’t know where this goes.” EVERYTHING has a place – or it should!

I think it’s important to take a sort of inventory of your kid’s toys and to make mental categories. They can be as general or specific as works for you and your child’s interest. Here are some of our categories:

  • Little People
  • Dinosaurs
  • Blocks
  • Building
  • Characters
  • Animals

It’s easy to say “okay, all of the toys that are Little People brand go in here,” but I also needed a spot for “characters” because we have a lot of specific character toys – Mickey and friends, The Incredibles, Star Wars, Spider-Man, Paw Patrol. Those kinds of character-specific toys go in the “character” bin. In your house, those might be combined into an “action figure” bin, for example.

Having a mental list of categories for all of the toys means that I have a “home” designated for each item – that they will have a place and not be a “floater.”

It also means it’ll be easy to group similar items quickly for a last-minute clean up job.

Bonus Tip: If you find you have a lot of these floating, no-home items, you can always create a miscellaneous bin – but I would suggest going through it regularly to see if a new, more permanent home makes sense for an item in the future.

#2: Invest in Storage Items

You can’t have a storage system without storage tools. They don’t have to be what I used – in fact, I’ll give you a couple different ideas here outside of what I utilized.

Think about what you have and how big your storage containers need to be. Do you need small storage, medium storage or large storage? Do you need a combination of these sizes?

Here’s another big question: do you like lids or no lids? Do you prefer drawers or baskets or lidded chests?

For my family, we have a mixture. I prefer no lids – personally, I feel it creates a barrier between mess and tidy, an extra step to lift or remove a lid that doesn’t seem helpful to my son if he’s helping pickup. I prefer open bins/baskets and drawers.

In our play corner, we have a combination of storage systems, and they all work for their purpose.

For our train and activity table (gifted by some very dear friends), we have two rolling under-table storage bins that hold Hot Wheels cars and track supplies and wooden train table accessories respectively.

We also have a cube shelf (purchased on Amazon here) that stores books and toys, labeled with tags, plastic storage that stores specific categories of toys, and a shelf for puzzles and games.

For larger items like stuffed animals, Little People houses and other places, and transportations, and mega blocks, we have larger labeled bins. The art section is a unique area where we actually have a storage cart and various art supplies.

We also have an open shelf for puzzles and plastic see-through drawers for several items like play kitchen supplies and food, costumes for dress up, or miscellaneous cars and tractors and trains (AKA “things that go”).

Using more open-concept storage systems is helpful to me so I can see where things go – and my son can see where things go to return them as he helps with clean up.

#3: Labels are Your Friend

I think my toddler is pretty smart – but he’s not reading yet. So why use the labels?

Well, for starters, he WILL be reading soon, and it’s important he starts to understand that there are words associated with specific items.

But labels are also helpful for tired mommas. If you are like me, there are days when you can barely remember how to spell your own name, let alone remember which bin the Chewbacca toy goes in. The labels can be a lifesaver.

Jake is also new to this parenting thing – and to my style of organization. He’s such a helpful partner and future stepdad, and I’m so grateful when he jumps in and helps without even being asked. Having a labeled system helps him get familiar with how I organize and where everything’s “home” is.

I got my labels and gold marker pen all at Dollar Tree. I wrote on the labels with a fun, simple font and then got glued them to the appropriate container.

Pro Tip: Don’t add the labels right away. Pick up a few times first and make sure your categories work before you hot glue labels to the bins.

What do you think? Do you already employ some of these tips in your kiddo’s play space or bedroom? What additional tips to do you have? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Halloween Fun for Toddlers

It’s the season for trick or treat! And man, my little one is about it! He loves Halloween and pumpkins and fall. At age 3, it’s important that the things we do are both age appropriate and fun, and I thought this list of seasonal activities might be helpful to my other momma hen friends!

#1: Do a Fall Craft

Here are 4 things you can do with your toddler as we approach Halloween!

There’s really no season that doesn’t come with some kind of cute craft! And there are SO many cute things to make – and many of them are great opportunities to show your kids hand-eye coordination skills and flex their creative muscles.

There are a million ideas on Pinterest for DIY crafts – and I genuinely love so many of those – but if you’re a busy momma or you don’t have all of the supplies for those, you may want to buy a simple $1 kit at your local dollar store.

This make-your-own scarecrow sign kit was $1 at my local Dollar General and the only thing I needed to add was glue. Little man had a blast – and he’s so proud of his scarecrow now!

#2: Bake a Pumpkin Patch Cake

I shared this one on the blog last week – but it’s too good of a Halloween themed activity to not share again! (Click here for the full tutorial.)

Bake a simple box cake – but purchase some green icing and pumpkin candies too. You can decorate this cake as a pumpkin patch – and, again, let your kiddo exercise their hand-eye coordination.

My kiddo has shared that he made a “pumpkin cake” with so many people! This is probably going to be an annual tradition for us now because he had so much fun – and I’ll never complain about a sweet treat in the house!

#3: Gift a Boo Bag

You’ve probably heard of getting “boo’d” at Halloween – where you leave a bag or basket of seasonally themed items at a neighbor’s stoop or a coworker’s desk. I thought a Boo Bag for my little one was a good adaptation of this tradition!

I filled it with a Halloween card, a fall book (we love the little critters books!), a glow stick pumpkin necklace, a popcorn ball, and a pumpkin cup. He loved this surprise – and half of the items are useful, which is great.

#4: Make a Salty & Sweet Snack Mix

Last year, I shared this recipe (click here) for a sweet and salty fall treat!

What says fall better than candy corn? Not much – but add a little substance to that sweet treat, and you’re right on the money!

This is a good one if your child is eager to help with mixing in the kitchen – or counting out different items as you prepare them.

What Halloween activities do you do with your toddler? Any traditions we should partake in? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below…

And from our house to yours: Happy Fall, Y’all!

Pumpkin Patch Cake Activity

It’s October, and that means it’s time for PUMPKINS! Do y’all love fall? I love the cooler weather, the crewneck sweatshirts, the natural colors, and the vegetation, including pumpkins.

I wanted an activity to welcome the autumn season but that would be both appealing and appropriate for my little one. He loves to bake (he comes by that one naturally) and he’s at an age where continued hand-eye coordination activities are helpful.

We decided to bake a pumpkin patch cake.

What’s that? Well it’s NOT a pumpkin cake – and that fact is very important to little man. He told his GiGi (my mom), “it’s a pumpkin cake, but it doesn’t taste like pumpkin. Does that make sense?”

Here’s what we had: yellow cake mix (& ingredients as instructed on the box), chocolate frosting, a tube of green icing, a bag of Brach’s pumpkin-shaped mellowcremes.

First, we made the cake according to the box’s instructions. (Seriously, this activity is so easy and perfect for families that aren’t even usual bakers – it’s perfect for kiddos!) We used our mixer, which little man loves, and we poured our batter in a nonstick-sprayed baking dish and cooked according to the instructions on the cake packaging.

Little man not only mixed them, but he poured in all of the ingredients. It was really hands on, and he kept saying he was a “chef” and that he likes cooking in the kitchen.

When the cake was baked and cooled, I quickly iced it with the chocolate frosting. It’s not a perfect icing job – but that’s okay! It’s going to be the dirt in your pumpkin patch, so it’s really okay to look imperfect.

Next, take your green tube of icing and make a few lines – these shouldn’t be perfectly straight; instead, they should have some twists or curves or little loops to act as leaves. These lines become your vines in the pumpkin patch.

At this point, I got little man involved again, and he helped me place pumpkins along the vines. He absolutely loved this! As we placed the candies, we talked about the colors of pumpkins, how they grow on the ground on a vine, and we counted the numbers as we set them up.

This cake was an absolute blast to make – and we enjoyed it for several nights! Jake loved it too – but that’s not surprising to me because he loves cake, candy, and Halloween, so this was a home run for him.

What do you think? Any fun, seasonal baking activities you recommend doing with your little ones?

Lil’ Helper Kitchen Stool

I don’t know about your kiddos, Momma Hen friends, but my son is a huge fan of helping in the kitchen. If I’m cooking or baking, he’s helping. Of course, there is a hindrance – his height. He can’t reach the countertop on his own.

So I decided that we needed to do a quick little DIY to make my favorite lil’ helper a step stool!

Here’s what you need:

  • 1 Ikea children’s stool (called Flisat)
  • 1 can of Kyrlon black flat spray paint
  • White craft paint
  • Paint brush (I prefer a sponge one)
  • Alphabet stencils

I’ll be honest – ours is NOT perfect – but I love it for its functionality and because we made it together.

I started by opening up my boxed stool (which comes with screw-in legs). I laid the top of the stool on a piece of black plastic so I wouldn’t end up spraying the driveway, and I screwed the legs into the box to hold them upright for painting. I spray painted everything black.

I let the sit in the sun and dry out. When I checked them, I made sure I got good coverage and resprayed any areas that needed it and let them dry.

Once all of the black paint was dry, I let my son help me stencil on the white lettering. We chose for ours to say “Lil Helper” but you could do anything – “Kitchen Aid” or a kitchen saying or “Sous Chef” or whatever works for you!

Once the white paint was also dry, I did touch up with a paintbrush and black around the edges of the letters. Then I screwed the legs on, and we were all set!


My little man is so happy to have helped with this – and to reach the counter! And it was all done in a day!

Kickin’ Chicken & Veggie Pasta

I have been really wanting some pasta – but something different. Today, I decided to get a little creative with dinner. (Thank goodness it turned out okay because what else was I going to share on the blog today?!)

I want to share a slightly spicy, veggie-heavy, light-sauced chicken and pasta recipe with you!

You’ll need:

  • 2 thawed chicken breasts
  • ½ box of fettucine noodles
  • 1 small can of mushrooms
  • 2 bag of frozen California blend (carrots, broccoli, + cauliflower)
  • ½ bag of frozen corn
  • ½ teaspoon of garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon of crushed basil leaves
  • 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes (cut to ½ tablespoon if you don’t like the heat)
  • ¼ cup of olive oil + some to drizzle
  • 1 cup of finely shredded parmesan cheese
  • salt + pepper

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Line a baking sheet with tinfoil, spray lightly with non-stick spray. Cut up your chicken into bite-sized pieces. I use kitchen scissors to easily cut mine into the size I want. Spread these bite-sized pieces out on about two-thirds of your pan.

In the remaining third of your pan, spread out the contents of your frozen California blend.

Drizzle olive oil on top of the chicken and veggies, and sprinkle a light dose of pepper over it all as well.

Cook it the oven at 350F for 22 minutes.

As the chicken and veggies cook, cook your fettucine noodles on the stovetop. Boil in salted water until they are al dente.  Then drain – but save about a quarter of a cup of the salted water they were boiled in.

In a skillet, cook your frozen corn and mushrooms (drain the can), on low. Once the corn is no longer frozen, add in the water, the quarter cup of olive oil, and the cup of cheese. Also add in your garlic powder, crushed basil leaves, and red pepper flakes. Cook on low until the cheese melts and the concoction is heated throughout.

Here’s what each aspect of the dish looks like before you assemble it for dining.

Serve in a pasta bowl, layering noodles, then chicken and veggies, and then your mushroom and corn in the light, cheesy sauce.

Enjoy with a warm slice of bread!

Comment below if you have tried something like this before – I’d love to hear from you.

4 Toddler Behavioral Reinforcement Books

This past week, I was talking with my colleagues about books that support good behavior for small children. As we talked, I realized I have collected quite a few of these that I should probably share as a resource for my fellow momma hens!

Here’s the background. A while back, my son was going through the toddler phase of hitting and pushing at the sitter’s. He also was lashing out at me some and hitting me, primarily on custody switch days when he’d return home after visitation with his father. I talked to the pediatrician about it, and she suggested the board book Hands Are Not For Hitting. She said there was a series of books like that that I could get for little man to help with different behaviors.

I got the book. I wasn’t sure if it’d work, but it was worth a try. Well, it turns out that repeating some of the lines of the book really helped him focus in on good behavior and helped him to verbally identify negative behavior, too.

So then I went hog wild with some behavioral books – and it really does help to reinforce the kind of positive reactions I want my toddler to emulate.

Here are my top recommendations!

#1: Hands Are Not For Hitting (& other series books)

I shared the story in the intro to this blog post, so I won’t reiterate it. But after this book worked so well, I also got my little guy a copy of Listening Time and Tails Are Not For Pulling. The first reinforces the importance of listening carefully and the latter teaches how to love on and care for our pets respectfully and safely.

These are a must-have for kiddos in the toddler age as they learn to share, understand their feelings, and cooperate with others!

#2: When Sophie Gets Angry – Really, Really Angry…

This was a purchase that I wasn’t sure of, honestly. I picked it because I wanted more books that worked as well as the aforementioned book. This one didn’t do the exact same thing – instead, it opened up some discussion with my toddler about a much more emotionally mature topic: dealing with anger.

The story is about a little girl who gets so frustrated and angry that she has to walk away, be upset, and calm back down before she returns. The illustrations are colorful and beautiful – they are engaging enough to capture and keep my son’s interest and to help him understand the various emotions that Sophie goes through to return in a calm manner.

This is a great read, a huge conversation starter, and a very helpful book. I do really recommend it, but it may need to wait until you’ve conquered some of the more basic things, like not hitting, first.

#3: Kind Hands Don’t Hurt

This book is a perfect book for dealing with aggressive behavior with a toddler. It has activity pages, easy to repeat mantras about how kind hands don’t hurt others, and interactive activities you can do with your child.

This book has created a part of our daily routine at the sitter’s. Every day that I have little man for drop off, I have him repeat several things – “AJ is not the boss. Kind hands don’t hurt. Nice friends share. Big boys use the potty.” And the repetition of the phrase “Kind hands don’t hurt” has proven really helpful. The sitter reminds him when he’s getting close to showing negative behavior, too.

Definitely recommend this one for those of you with kids who can repeat and remember phrases like this!

#4: No Hitting!

This one is REALLY simple, which is good for simple recall that is positive for young kids. It essentially shows situations where a child may want to act out, and then explains that the negative behavior is not appropriate but in easily understood, toddler-friendly language.

After reading it about three to four times, I caught my son “reading” it to himself, repeating some of the situations, on the couch as I got ready for work. Such a useful, relatable, and storytelling way to correct behavior!

I found that there are some others in this series too, but I haven’t bought them yet. May be something worth checking out!

We really do love these books – and I hope they’ll be useful to you, too!

Bedtime Bonus

As an added bonus, I want to share the two books we read before bed every night that my little one is home with me.

Sleeping independently has been a challenge for us. Little man has two homes, and, from what he’s shared with me, he does co-sleep on his visitations with his dad often. I’m NOT knocking co-sleeping – I understand that there are reasons for it and every child is different and has different needs. My personal situation is that my son has two spaces in which he lives and sleeps, and I absolutely believe its important for him to have independence and a positive sleep routine so that he gets consistent rest from house to house.

Part of our bedtime routine – which we’ve developed over months now and is going well so far – is to read two books every night. My kiddo has these practically memorized and can “finish the sentence” on nearly every page.

Just Go To Bed is a “Critters” book – like what our generation grew up with – and my son ADORES it. It’s about a kid avoiding bedtime, but eventually deciding he’s ready for bed. God Bless You and Good Night is a sweet rhyming book that was given to me at little man’s baby shower. We’ve rediscovered it, and it’s a sweet way to go over a bedtime routine with different animals and pull faith into the goodnight ritual, too.

These are the perfect bedtime tradition, so I hope they’ll be welcome additions to your bookshelf, too!

Comment below and let me know what books line your kiddo’s shelves! I’d love to hear from you.

Family Vacation & Traveling with a Toddler

We just returned from a wonderful and relatively low-key family vacation. Many of my readers know that I live right outside of Knoxville, Tennessee, and our vacation spot was Chattanooga, Tennessee – about two hours south of home.

Chattanooga is a small city with a BIG personality – lots of things to do and some pretty rich history. A lot of things to do in Chatt are family-friendly, which made this a really good travel spot for our family.

If you have little ones (or big ones that WERE little ones), you know that travelling with a toddler is no joke.

As I share our vacation with you, I also want to share my four tips for traveling with a toddler!

#1: Don’t over-plan but do HAVE a plan.

An itinerary may seem too structured for your preferred vacation – but I have found that a prepared schedule helps my little know what to expect, and that’s about half of the battle. It also means you can evenly spread out activities so you’re not OVER-stimulating your little one.

I also pre-bought tickets so I would reserve spots at various activities, learn about their COVID measures and requirements in advance, and get all of the parking and address information. I put all of that information in a spreadsheet that I shared with Jake in advance.

Our itinerary looks pretty blank, honestly, and that’s because it is. We committed to 2-3 things per day and no more. We wanted little man to enjoy the experience and not been TOO exhausted – and we planned for family downtime and playtime at our AirBNB. (By the way, we do love an AirBNB for vacations – it feels a little more family and budget friendly, since we can eat breakfast every day there and even some lunches or dinners, too. (We did a few packed picnic lunches to save on funds but also to make sure we always had something little man would eat. We also cooked 3 of our dinners at the AirBNB and took our instapot with us to cook.)

By telling our little that we were going to the zoo the next day, or the movies later, he was able to be excited and have some expectation of what was going to happen.

#2: Do go places that meet your toddler where they are.

We were very purposeful in going places that would pique our son’s interest. He’s VERY into animals – I’ve never met another three-year-old that consistently asks to watch documentaries about sharks – so we knew the zoo and the aquarium would be a hit.

We also knew that places like that are family-friendly and engaging for kids. He could play with interactive exhibits, point out colors of animals or types of animals, and there were seating areas or benches for moments when we needed to take a break. And here’s the big one – there were restrooms that were likely to be clean for a potty-training kiddo.

Our boy is also a big fan of outdoor adventures, so breaking up the road trip (even a short, couple-hour trip) by planning a picnic lunch and a walk on a paved, wooded park path was a reprieve from the car ride (and car seat) and a chance for him to get his energy out.

#3: Don’t have expectations of a perfect trip – just a good one.

I’d be lying if I said it was the “perfect” family vacation. We had some toddler melt down moments – and some moments where Mom-mom was less than graceful in her frustration (let’s just say that mastering eyerolling was NOT just a teenage phase for me) – but it was still a REALLY GOOD family vacation.


I don’t always believe that lowering your expectations is the right outlook to have. But when planning for travel with a toddler, I think that two cliché pieces of advice apply: 1) lower your expectations and 2) look for silver linings.

Little man did NOT like the historic carousel in Coolidge Park. It is SUPER cool – but he was NOT prepared for the up and down feature combined with the quicker rotation. I did NOT prepare him adequately for the added feature of up and down movement, and that’s on me. He wanted to ride a tiger – which makes sense, it’s his favorite land animal – but it was too high and he switched gears to the rabbit. Then it started and he cried for the first half, even though I held him. Here’s your Instagram versus reality photo set… He smiled at the end and said he liked it, but I think he was humoring me. Bless him.

We also did have a moment when we had to peel him from the splashpad fountain at Coolidge Park, because what kid wants to leave a splashpad?

Oh – and it rained on our last day when we were supposed to take a nature walk through the

Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center – so we just checked out the welcome center and the wall of reptiles and amphibians… It wasn’t what we planned, but still kind of cool.

Overall, though, we had a great trip. Here are some of our best moments – picnicking and walking at Fletcher Park in Cleveland, petting goats and seeing giraffes at the zoo, riding an historic train, and watching the otters play and petting a de-barbed stingray at the Aquarium.

#4: Do find something for everyone.

While this was absolutely a kid-friendly vacation through and through, we also did do things that were of interest to Jake and me.

We both love history – so the train ride was really neat for all of us. We both also love books, so we went to McKays; we spent most of the time getting little man’s books, but just being in a bookstore is good for our souls, so we weren’t complaining.

Jake also LOVES alligators and crocodiles, so getting to see them at the aquarium was a highlight for him – and they were SO active! They were sliding off of the rocks and swimming right up to where we were.

I love sharks and sea turtles, so seeing those at the aquarium was a highlight for me.

Jake and I also had a date, earlier in our relationship, to the drive-in movie theatre in Maryville, TN, and we learned that we both have great memories of going to the drive-in as kids. We were so excited that a drive-in theatre was playing the new Paw Patrol movie, so we drove about an hour to Athens, TN to see it for our boy’s first movie and drive-in experience. It was a blast – and we do highly recommend the Paw Patrol film to our parent and grandparent friends.

All in all, it was a great vacation – we loved spending time together and exploring our state. I hope these four tips will help you plan your next family vacation. Let me know what other tips and tricks you have for traveling with littles in the comments!

Here’s my favorite family picture we took on the trip.

For anyone who is interested, here are links to the places we visited:

Also, we were masked when inside (except for some pictures when we were away from the crowds) and even outside if we were in a large crowd. We’re both vaccinated, but little man is too young and we want to be a good example to him as we travel and go into enclosed spaces and as we strive to keep him well.

Guest Room Update & Reorganization

I don’t know what came over me Sunday afternoon. I should have been beat already – I had taught Sunday School at church to my youth kids and after that, Jake and I had walked almost 3 miles with Flash the dog at a local state park. (It was gorgeous – go follow me on Instagram to see what I’m talking about.)

But somehow that physical exhaustion didn’t stop me from getting a second or third wind. The guest room had to get done. No idea why, honestly – I mean, it needed to be picked up and cleaned, but there really was no TRUE reason for the re-decorating spree I went on. I just wanted to.

Here’s the before – and no judgement, pleas, friends. It’s what I like to call a hot mess express, y’all. I have been storing a ton of stuff in here – upcoming birthday, Christmas, and baby shower gifts; baby shower décor for a shindig I’m throwing for my best friend in September; items I’m going to sell on Poshmark or on Facebook; baby items from little man that we’re saving for when we have additional kids after we’re married; and other random storage items.

I decided it was time to get the space cleaned up, so I started by taking virtually everything – except the futon – out. I sorted through it all and decided what needed to stay and what could get tossed or put in a new rightful place.

Then, with the urge to redecorate, I decided to shop my home.

If you know me or have been around the blog for a bit, you know I am a HUGE fan of thrift store shopping. I love the idea of reusing, repurposing, and finding on the cheap! However, there IS actually a way to decorate your home for FREE: shopping your own inventory!

I have a storage room full of extra things – linens, décor, et cetera – so I knew I had stuff I could utilize. I had decorated with reds, burgundy, and golds previously (you might even remember some of these items from a post I made about the playroom at my rental a year or so ago), so I knew I had plenty to use that color scheme again.

Here’s the end result: I brought up the dresser and small cube shelf that had previously been in little man’s room at the rental. I’m not using them in his space now, as he’s using a larger dresser in his room that better coordinates with his bunk beds (see here). This four-drawer dresser and 3-cube shelf in expresso match the end table that was already in the guest room, so I knew it’d all work together well.

I continued to use the futon as a guest bed. I have the most beautiful handmade quilt from a sweet church friend that I decided to use as bedding.

I had the old mirror from our bathroom when we moved in that coordinated well with a collage frame I already had, and I had a pair of floral prints in red and yellow, framed in black, from a local East Tennessee photographer that I went to high school with years ago. I knew they’d tie in nicely as wall décor.

I have some wood pieces I included too – the rocking chair that was my parents’ first piece of new furniture that was passed down to me for little man’s nursery and a handmade wooden cradle that was a gift to my parents and I when I was born from my dad’s friend, the woodmaker. I included these in this room because, once Jake and I are married and are ready to expand our family, this room will convert to a nursery, so it seemed wise to go ahead and use these in this space.

I also had some brown, burgundy, and green striped sheers for the windows from a previous space in an old house, and it seemed to tie in well enough in this room, so up they went.

Here’s a tour of how the space turned out!

Here’s the bed – and the BEAUTIFUL handmade quilt from Ms. Sandy at church. How beautiful is this?! I paired it with white sheets and some throw pillows I purchased a few years back at a thrift shop. The end table was already in the guest room and I got it from a local furniture outlet in my home county – for my East Tennessee friends, check out Dandridge Furniture Outlet but remember to have cash! Again, the mirror was repurposed from the bathroom when we moved in – and I love that it really goes from end to end of the top of the futon. Since it’s basically a bed without a headboard, I like that the mirror kind of creates a pseudo-headboard illusion.

Here’s the dresser with the local photography over it. I’m really happy with how it turned out! I’ve also included a convenience basket for my guests (more on that in a few minutes!), a plant, a decorative sign, and a box of tissues.

Next is the gorgeous handmade cradle and the rocking chair passed down from my parents. I used these as places to store additional linens – pillows in the cradle and a blanket over the top of the rocking chair. I also used the collage frame that coordinated with the mirror and refilled it with pictures of myself, Jake, little man, and our families.

Here’s the little 3-cube shelf. I added some additional decorative items, a lamp, and a clock. I personally like for every room in the house to have access to a clock, so that was important to me.

Oh! As a side note – I didn’t get rid of all the things I was storing. In fact, several of the items I plan to sell online actually fit under the futon. Also, I used the dresser to store the gifts and the baby shower decorations. This means I have organized them, have easy access to them, and they’re blocked from view. Total win in my book!

If you’re redoing your own guest room, I have a few tips on items to include to make your guests feel super welcome.

  1. Tissues – you never know what they might be allergic to – your pets, the seasonal items blooming in your yard, or the room freshener spray you use.
  2. A basket of bathroom supplies – having extra soap bars, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and shampoo are a nice touch in case your guest has forgotten their overnight supplies. I also added body lotion and Glade room spray in my basket.
  3. A laundry basket – they may need a space to store their dirty clothing items until they repack as their visit comes to a close. Mine is a spare one I have from Dollar Tree, so it doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy, as long as it serves the purpose well and is clean.
  4. A trash can – for those tissues, or wrappers from the bar soap you’ve provided.
  5. Reading material – it can be hard to fall asleep outside of your own bed. It almost doesn’t matter WHAT you provide, as long as there’s access to something they can page through during a delay in sleep. I have Nicholas Sparks novels and some magazines in my guest space.

Remember, I bought NOTHING new for this room redo! Every decorative piece or linen came from my own storage – and so many of us that have lived on our own for a while, have combined homes with a loved one, or just like to purchase new (or new-to-us) décor often have excess items that can decorate an entire space and make it feel NEW without paint, cost, or TOO much sweat!

What’ve you got hidden away that might bring your space to life or give it a face lift?

What do you think of my guest room makeover and re-organization? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

The Newest Fur-Babies

A few weeks ago, we adopted two cats.

That doesn’t sound as crazy as it actually is. Let me start over.

Hi, my name is Kate. I’m allergic to cats. My fiancé already has one indoor cat. And we recently adopted two more.

Yeah, that about sums it up. That’s the right level of crazy.

So earlier this summer – early June – we were at a graduation party for a very close family friend. Frankly, this family is like nonbiological family to me – the dad was my youth leader, the mom is my mom’s best friend, and the kids grew up with me (they’re younger than me so technically I’ve watched them grow up, but I feel less like a friend and more like a big sister in my relationship with them). These people are my people.

So, we’re at the graduation cookout, and one of the siblings, Kaiti, tells Jake that she has kittens in the house. But little man went to meet the cats, too, and he fell in love with the kittens, and Kaiti asked if we wanted one when they weaned from their mother… Well of course we do, right?

Here’s a secret: I, too, love cats. I found out I was allergic when I was a little kid, spending the night at my aunt’s, and her cat had kittens, and I kept carrying them around and cuddling them to my face until the only thing that could assuage my swollen, puffy face was a long bath and more Benadryl than I can recall. (I do know that I took enough to pass out during a Mary Kate & Ashley VHS and my sister and cousin teased me mercilessly.)

So I love cats but their fur doesn’t love me.

And I agreed to adopt a kitten.

I definitely had time to back out of it. I actually reached out to Kaiti to make sure she still had them when they were closer to the date she said they’d be weaned, so I was obviously about this pet adoption. She still had both kittens. So we went to get one – but then I couldn’t stand the thought of breaking up the siblings, so we brought both home.

Little Man is smitten with them. He told me, “I can’t call them cats – they’re kittens.” And he’s learning how to carry them gently, and when he’s home and not visiting his father, he helps feed them.

When we picked up the kittens, Kaiti thought there was one male and one female. So, I’d been in charge of names, and I’d chosen Cash and Jolene. (My website is “Kate with a Twang” – y’all can’t be surprised that I’m an old school country music fan, right?)

They were (and are) so little that we couldn’t fully see their genders, so we didn’t know which was which.

Jake took them to the doctor yesterday… and – surprise – we have TWO BOYS. My house is entirely made of boys – my fiancé, my child, my dog, and ALL THREE of the cats. YIKES. I’m a tiny splash in a cesspool of testosterone. (I’m spelling out “help me” using army men and Hot Wheels, you know what I mean?)

So, anyway, we have two new kittens to add to the crew – meet Cash & Garth. (Well, we had to keep with the theme, right? Jake gets full credit for Garth, by the way – reason number 738 that I’m marrying him.)

We love them. I’m taking extra allergy medicine, and 8 days out of 10, I’m adjusting.

Welcome to the family, Cash & Garth! We love you already.

A Sweet Summer Strawberry & Apple Salad

Here’s the truth, y’all. I want to be someone who LOVES healthy food. But I am really someone who loves almost ALL food. I wish I craved salads, but I think that’ll only happen if I’m ever dealing with scurvy.

I say that, but I actually love fresh fruit and vegetables. I just need to do an even better job of incorporating them into my diet if I’m going to keep working on my figure for the wedding.

Summer is a good time for salads (my primary care physician is probably somewhere saying “every season is a good time for salads!”), particularly if you enjoy fruit-enhanced salads. This summer strawberry and apple salad is a perfect example – and it’s one you can make in a one-person portion for lunch!

Here’s what you need:

  • Spring mix lettuce
  • ½ green apple
  • 4-5 strawberries
  • ¼ – ½ cup of raw walnuts
  • 2 slices of lime

First, dice up your green apple and slice your strawberries. Then, in a bento box or other reusable container (or a nicer bowl or dish if you’re eating at home!), toss a handful of mixed greens in the dish. I like the Fresh Express Spring Mix that has spinach, romaine, and other assorted leafy greens.

Layer in your diced apples, followed by your walnuts, and then lay on your strawberry slices.

Because I’m packing mine for lunch, I left mine untossed and added the extra bits of apple and strawberry to the side section of my bento box. I also set my lime slices here.

Once it’s time to eat, simply squeeze some fresh lime onto your salad, toss lightly with a fork, and add any extra fruits to the top. Enjoy this sweet summery salad on a hot day – perhaps with a light Moscato or White Zinfandel – or, if you’re me, an unsweetened iced tea or a Diet Coke!