We usually wait until Thanksgiving to start decorating for Christmas, but Christmas music season starts in our house way before Halloween. That's what happens when you're married to a professional Christmas caroler and his rehearsals start in early October. Did you even know there was such a thing?! If you've been reading the blog awhile then you may have heard me mention that one of Scott's two careers is as a musical theater performer, but during the holiday season he also sings with a Christmas caroling company that gets hired out for private parties as well as public gigs at events throughout the city.

I love having a singer in the family to serenade us with Christmas tunes and help put us all in the holiday spirit! When Cost Plus World Market asked me to partner with them to help spread the word about their Christmas partnership with Jessie J. and the Star Maker Song Contest, and to share some gift ideas for music lovers, I was excited to get Scott involved as well! 

Gift Guide: Educational & Creative Gifts for Kids Who Love Cars

My five year old son is a typical little boy who loves cars, trucks, and pretty much all things transportation. But you can only buy so many hot wheels and toy cars before the law of diminishing returns kicks in. I prefer to buy gifts for my kids that have some kind of educational value, or that stretch their imagination and creativity, and I've managed to find lots of unique gift ideas for boys who love cars.

I've compile a list of 40 of the best educational and creative toys, games, and art projects that make great gifts for kids that love cars. The majority of these gift ideas for kids who love cars have already been tested and approved by my own little car enthusiast, and the other items are on his wish list! 

Modern Dining Room Makeover {One Room Challenge Reveal}

I couldn't be more excited to share our dining room makeover with you! This has been my eighth One Room Challenge, and as always it was a race to the finish line... but we made it and the space turned out better than I had imagined. It also remains one of the hardest spaces in our house to photograph, so I hope my pictures do it justice.

{One Room Challenge Week 5} Dining Room Facelift

It's the final week of the One Room Challenge before the big reveal next week. Our kitchen dining area has come a long way, but we've saved the best for last... which is really just another way of saying that we've procrastinated on a couple of the biggest projects and we'd better hope everything goes smoothly so we can make it to the finish line!

Easy DIY Lumiere Costume from Beauty & the Beast

My boys love Disney movies, and Beauty and the Beast is one of their favorites. Last year, Beckett and Cooper announced in March that they wanted to be Lumiere and Gaston for Halloween, but I didn't think much of it because I assumed they'd change their minds twenty times by the time the holiday rolled around. But when it got to be October and they were still set on the Beauty and the Beast theme, I realized I'd better get their costumes figured out!

I started with a quick online search and found lots of Lumiere and Gaston costumes for men, but almost none for little boys. I was able to piece Gaston together with a few online purchases (and a fun repurpose from a prior year's Halloween), but Lumiere required me to get a lot more creative!

{One Room Challenge Week 4} Island Time

It's week 4 of the One Room Challenge, and it's island time over here. That's not to say that we are taking a leisurely stroll through this kitchen makeover... there is no such thing as leisurely when you're redesigning a space in under six week. Instead, we're planning to take our kitchen island from boring to bold, but it's going to be a race to the finish line to get this project done! 

How to Make a Family Fire Safety Plan + Free Printable

Thank you First Alert for sponsoring this post. October is Fire Prevention Month - practice safety in numbers to ensure your family’s super prepared too!

I'm pretty sure I never slept as a kid. Instead, I laid in bed at night worrying. I worried about a lot of things, but what to do if there was a fire was a frequent source of my insomnia. When I would finally fall asleep, I'd often have dreams about fire. I don't know why this was so often on my mind because at the time I'd never even known anyone who had experienced a house fire. But nonetheless, it kept me up at night.

And now I'm raising two little worriers of my own. We decided that the best way to combat their fear is to make sure we are all prepared and know what to do if something were to happen. Since October is Fire Prevention Month, it seems like a great time to share some tips that we've learned, along with a free printable fire safety plan that you can use with your own kids.

{One Room Challenge Week 3} Doubling Our Dining Room Storage

It's week 3 of the One Room Challenge makeover of our dining area, and with our chair crisis averted, things are finally moving along. We still have some decisions to make, and a lot of work to do, but I'm really happy with where things are headed. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for everyone in the family! 

Better Homes & Gardens Stylemaker Event

Each year, Better Homes & Gardens selects influences who are "making style" in their industry. This year, I was so incredibly honored to have been named a BH&G Stylemaker, and to be among the eighty home, fashion and lifestyle bloggers to attend the invitation-only Stylemaker event in New York City. A lot of you have been asking me about the trip, so I thought I'd share a recap of the event, as well as the details of where we stayed, what we ate, and where we shopped in NYC.

Photo courtesy of David Keith Photography

Affordable and Modern Gray Dining Chairs

I have a love/hate relationship with shopping for home decor. I love looking at ALL the options and I start designing a room around each in my mind. When I'm shopping to buy, and not just shopping for the the imaginary rooms that I dream up, it's usually pretty easy for me to zero in on the one. But when it turns out that the one is either out of my price range, or worse, is no longer available, I get pretty frustrated. There could be a million other options out there, but once I've found what I really want, it's hard for me to move on to all of those other options.

That was exactly what happened to me back in the spring when I first started planning for the One Room Challenge makeover of our dining area.