the colorful eclectic whimsical room

welcome to ever's colorful eclectic whimsical room.

i love room tour posts that i find on the internet, they inspire and entertain me.  

how many times have a mentioned getting this room complete and how many times have i posted pictures when it wasn't quite done?  so many times.  it only took 21 months of ever's life to turn it into what i always envisioned.  this room has undergone more transformations than any room in the house, as you can see in this outdated home tour.  it started as a guest room/place for me to paint and i was always changing things because it never felt quite right or seemed complete.  maybe that is because it was missing ever then.  now that we finally moved our girl to her own room i was on a mission to make sure artsy things were hung where they should be (although still not 100% sure about that) and breakables were displayed in the safest way.  who knows i could end up moving things again but for now i feel pretty satisfied with the happy place this room has become.  ever is quite proud of it too.  she is always saying how cute each item is and she joyously declares this is her room.

i did all the paintings on this wall.....prints of some of them can be found here.  the watercolor grey framed prints are by kit chase (any of the gray framed prints around the room are from the same artist).  i found them on zulily a couple years ago but they can be found here.  will made the triangle shelves. other little items were things i had collected ages ago from all sorts of places or they were gifts.  some small items were in my own room as i was growing up.  owl book ends came from either target or babies r us.  dresser was found at a local antique store and repainted by will.  the rose dresser pulls were from my favorite store along with the lamp.  if i remember correctly my mom bought the lamp many years ago and she was going to toss it when it eventually stopped working.  i took it off her hands because even if it didn't work i thought it was pretty.  luckily will knows about lighting, he was able to fix it.   

these tiny chicks reside in one of the triangle shelves.  they remind me of ever since she hatched in the spring.  she adores these fuzzy little guys and has mangled a few that i let her play with.  i found them on etsy.  

mushroom garland hanging above closet was something i put together.  those mushrooms are actually christmas ornaments that i bought years ago on clearance from anthropologie and i just tied them to bakers twine for a cute little garland.  

this is a print by emily winfield martin...it can be found here.  i just got a couple of her prints to put in ever's room because i love everything about them.  

although it drives me a little crazy ever's crib isn't centered in the room for a good reason.  we have her bed hooked up to this monitor and the receiver is up on one of the cloud shelves.  by the way that monitor has given me so much more peace of mind...it was a wonderful gift. 

cloud mobile was made by my talented friend brandi.

i put together the big thing with her name.  letter are from anthropologie...here is a similar version.  

the crib mattress frame was an older item gramps was going to put in the trash but i took it from him a few years ago thinking i could do something neat with it.  glad i took it.  a little spray paint on a few pieces plus ribbon and those letters and it became one of my favorite things for her room.  the dream catcher hanging on it is from another talented friend tyra....she and brandi are sisters....the talent must be genetic.

the other emily winfield martin print i got.

chair was an old thing given to us not long after ever was born.  i was never crazy about the look of it so i put a small throw type thing over it that i've had for ages.  baskets for books, blankets, and stuffed animals were either gifts or from target.  curtains also from target.   

kewpies were from my own collection years ago.  ever recently shattered one because she wanted to carry them all around like they were little dolls to cuddle.  that is when i knew they needed to be displayed further from her reach.  soda crate is an antique my mom gave us.  will had the idea to hang it and it became the perfect way to display her kewpies.  framed kewpie doll art came from a little shop in jerome, az and the books were gifts from my aunt bobbie years ago.  

cloud hanger and shelves were made by my moms husband kit as part of ever's birthday gift.

i made copies of images i particularly enjoyed from the kewpie books then attached them to scrapbook paper and hung in frames with colorful yarn.

and ever's room would be complete without her own special touch.  she drew a little art on her wall (and other walls of the house)

it'll probably always stay there.  i welcome her artistic endeavors on the wall.

52/52

portrait a week 52/52

messy breakfast face.

wow that went fast.

i'm impressed that i actually stuck with posting a portrait a week of ever for the year.  

it was often all i posted for weeks at a time but that's just how it goes these days.  

it is really fun to look back week by week and compare how much ever has changed over the year. 

here are just a few of the older pictures: 

1/52

3/52

6/52

13/52

19/52

30/52

37/52

46/52

48/52

part 2 of christmas

i really wanted to get a picture of the three of us but ever refused so the bearded charmer and i posed.  

in the evening my mom and kit came by with gifts.  pellegrino wanted to be part of the action both times we opened presents.  

ever loved her jack skellington shirt and plush bear from brave.

she had to wear the jack onesie two days in a row....it didn't matter that it was dirty...she wouldn't go on without her jack shirt.  i didn't get a good picture of the brave bear but i'm sure it'll be seen in future posts since she is all about it.  she even had me put a diaper on the bear at one point and then she'd take it off when she said the bear had pooped.

"pew pew it stinks"  were her exact words.  

she also loved her pony but not at first.  the pony talks and sings and when it first started singing she backed away nervously.

as you can see she wasn't afraid of it for long.

it is sort of heavy for her but that didn't stop her from grunting and picking the pony up to carry it around the house....those pictures are on will's phone.

ever with her fashion statement of the evening.  she put her little skirt on like a sash and paraded around like that until bedtime.  

blurry picture love as always.  

by the end of the day ever was a cranky girl.  

i bet she gets post holiday blues like me.  i was sad to retire the christmas music and put the tree away but that has all been done to make room for new projects we are dreaming up.

looking forward to a new year to make new memories and already looking forward to next christmas.

ornament swap

micaela is a sweet friend i made through blogging.  if you follow me on instagram you would have seen this festive kewpie doll that came in the mail as a complete surprise to ever from micaela and her beautiful little lady felix.  over the last couple years we've been fortunate enough to get to know each other more.  i had randomly found her blog a few years ago and while i instantly was drawn to her from her blog i never imagined we'd be friends like we are.  i can't say enough about how thoughtful and loving she is.  for a few years now micaela has hosted an ornament swap.  this year she welcomed a new baby girl noel to the family before christmas so her friend erin hosted the swap.  i remember last year i considered signing up but i procrastinated (like always) and didn't make the sign up in time.

at the last minute this year i signed up and i am so glad i did.  i was paired with priya.  we wrote several emails back and forth discovering more about one another and finding out things we had in common.  she was instantly so welcoming and sweet i could tell we would be more than just swap partners.  we would become friends....and we have. 

i had a hard time making a decision on an ornament for priya because i wanted it to be perfect, but when i finally found one i also found something else i knew i had to send to her.  

to priya: 

we instantly bonded over the movie midnight in paris.  priya has been to paris and she adores it.  i had to get her this eiffel tower candle holder.  the ornament is a little snow globe with a penguin.  i found it fitting for her love of the christmas season.

from priya:

she spoiled us.  she sent me this handmade hello kitty ornament....so perfect for me.  

she sent ever these adorable apple sunglasses.  

ever was thrilled.  her love of sunglasses is pretty well documented on this here blog.  

then an additional surprise came right before christmas.  she said it was a gift for will (so he wasn't left out) and it was for me too.  we were told to wait until christmas to open it.  i almost cheated and opened it before but will made me wait.  we were so pleasantly surprised to see this wall-e print...it is on a vintage dictionary page which makes me love it even more.  

here is a close up of it and i'll have to include another picture once we hang it in the perfect place.  

she obviously knows us so well.

i love that the internet connects me with such amazing people who become friends.

and to think i almost wimped out on signing up for the swap.

christmas morning

here is a glimpse at christmas morning at our home in lots of pictures as usual, and some words too.

probably my favorite picture taken of ever that morning.  

she was happy to be eating chocolate...forget presents.

will and i got up excited to open gifts like little kids.  we could have kept sleeping since ever was asleep but we decided having quiet time to share the items we made/bought for each other would be better.  in this post i mentioned our gift giving guidelines we used to ensure we kept things minimal.

i loved how simple and thoughtful it all was.  it reminded me of our first christmas as a married couple, which was a lovely one.

will made me this amazing shelf from items he got at the antique store....reclaimed wood, a door knob, cookie cutter, and skeleton keys.  it amazed me that morning and still does.  

i made him a little book.  52 things i love about you on vintage style playing cards.  he said it is the best gift he has ever received.  i intend to post a little more about our items...a tutorial type thing for all you love birds out there that might want to make something like this for your other half.

will managed to surprise me with a few other trinkets from my favorite store...anthropologie.  best part about it was that he went in the store completely on his own while out of town one day and he picked things without knowing what i'd want.  you can't go wrong with anything from that place in my opinion but it was so cute to imagine him shopping by himself in there.  supposedly the lady ringing up the items made a big deal about how cool the stuff was that he picked out and he told her how they were presents for his wife and she said...she's so lucky.  that i am.  

ever eventually woke up and enjoyed being allowed to open gifts.  she had been sneaky the days leading up to christmas and opened a couple items when i was putting my makeup on one day.  she actually picked one of her toys got it totally unwrapped opened the box and i walked in the living room to find her playing with it.  i didn't really mind....i thought her persistence was cute.

she would rip the wrapping paper with one hand and hold items in the other like chocolate or miniature my little ponies.

i noticed she put a kiss on the s and w of her alphabet puzzle and i got a thrill thinking she did that for will and i.  by the way ever knows my name is skye.  the past couple days when i ask her what my name is she says skye...mama skye.

for the first time in several years christmas felt extra special to me.  i think ever being at an age where it was so amazing to her helped to make it more special.  any time we would plug in the christmas lights or see decorations around town she would gasp and say "wow chrisas lights or chrisas tree!"  watching her react to all of it is such a thrilling way made it that much sweeter.