Princess Room - on a budget!

 Sorry for the quality of the pictures, but they are from my phone! Here is Miss Princess Noelani. This is our almost nightly routine - dressing up before bed. She just ADORES being girly. So of COURSE we had to decorate her room as girly as possible! She loves everything princess, so it kind of all began with that!

This sign on her door was actually in her old room as well. I got this originally at the dollar store!! I wasn't sure where to put it, so I stuck it on her door since her wall space was pretty much filled.

Here is her bed. I got the comforter set online, and I really think it was the most expensive item in her room minus the dolls! The castle pillows I picked up from someone at work who had a daughter who outgrew them. The frog is actually a purse I got on clearance at TJ Maxx, and the canopy was given to us from a friend!

Here is another shot of her bed, from when we were unpacking (notice the box). But it was the only shot I have of the curtains. They have sparkly pink/purple sequin flowers....and here are the curtain tie backs I purchased for them, again online:

Her toy stand (that we already had) and I wanted in her room has green in it, and a few other items, like her rug so I wanted to tie the green in somehow

AND, here is the toy area. Don't mind the bucket of paints on the floor - my mom was painting AMAZING things on her wall....which you will see below. The bins are all toys, the carriage opens to a play house of sorts, and the storage buckets you see have all of her hair stuff, shoes, bed sheets, bathing suits etc stashed away.

And THIS is one of my moms awesome artwork pictures she painted. It is NOT crooked, but apparently my phone/hands are! This is now above the toy bins

THIS is another painting thanks to my mom. A beautiful CHOCOLATE princess! All done freehand. The sign above her, I bought at Hobby Lobby, and the framed fabric I picked up all of the stuff at Hobby Lobby and my mom framed/padded/painted it all. THANKS MOM!!

My mom of COURSE also made the sign you see, and I bought the crown jewelry holder from LTD months ago! The memory box my mom made a couple of months after Noelani came home.

Again, my mom made this, and my hands are crooked taking pictures. I got the princess/ballet slippers for about $.25 at Target on clearance!

AND, what started it all? THESE dolls! Daddy bought 7 of them for her, and I had to complete the set with the last 3. (What's with me taking crooked pics) The princess picture frame she got for her bday last year, and the TV I bought from a friend! Im not thrilled with the shelves, but they were all I could find last minute at Target for like $13 each (hello CLEARANCE i love you!). I think I will take them down and paint them white when the weather is nicer!

FINALLY, if anyone cared, this is a panoramic view of her room, minus the canopy. My hubby took this one, I have no clue how to do it!

Overall, on a budget, I am very pleased how her room turned out!! It was a dark tan color (the walls) and so I chose a light lavendar in hopes that it will last a while if we decide to redecorate again. We again did a cheaper route with the paint. I picked a Disney color at Home Depot, and matched it up to a Glidden color as best as I could. ONE can of paint WITH primer, and we got the look we wanted.

I think this is proof ANYTHING can be done on a budget.

Noelani's 2nd Birthday

Here was Noelani's birthday invites. Quite obviously, I've blocked out our phone # and address....just don't feel safe posting that! I made these entirely myself. I purchased a graphic package that matched all of her party decor on Etsy for I believe $5. I used the separate graphics for her invites, cake, and water bottle labels. 

I knew I wanted to do an owl theme since probably the day after her first birthday lol!! I was debating back and forth since she is SO into princesses and Yo Gabba Gabba....but then I realized, this is probably the LAST birthday she will allow me to choose the theme. So I figured: GO FOR IT!

I think it was around October or November when I took the above picture. It was literally THE last day that was nice enough to be outside without a jacket. Honestly, it probably was a bit too chilly, but my girl was a trooper! Our old apartment sat across the street from a beautiful Botanical Garden/Nature Park, so we walked over with the last bit of sunlight for the day, and snapped a few pictures. By the time we got home our feet were SOAKED from sinking into the mud. But, as always, she was just happy go lucky the entire time.

As you all know, we bought a house on the 10th of January. We hired movers for the 13th. Of COURSE, they cancelled due to the snow, so we did not physically move our stuff until Jan. 14th. That day, we finally got all of our stuff moved in around 3pm. 

I don't know WHAT I was thinking, but I planned her party for exactly 2 weeks following our move in! I think I mailed the invites that week in fact! 

Let me just say, my brother in law was LITERALLY hanging pictures on my walls while I was running to get this cake for the party:

Thank goodness for help! Of course, Noelani had dance that morning, so as soon as we got home, I put her down for a nap and started rushing to decorate. My mom brought over balloons, and a much needed caffeine drink (I had the WORST migraine all day and spent the next day in bed all day). 

While Noey slept, I set up all the decorations with the help of my sister. My brother in law finished hanging pictures and my mom finished snacks!

Our cake table

Party Favors (thanks to Target dollar section in the summer!)

I printed and rewrapped these water bottles using the pictures I got on Etsy ;)

I had these package of owls I think my mom got me as a craft or something! I found them and at the last minute, my sister and I took some glitter glue pens and decorated them!

My sister ordered these cookies from an AMAZING person she works with!

Balloons Nana brought

The tablecloth and "centerpiece" were from Oriental Trading! Last minute, I propped her 2nd birthday picture up against the wall!

Some of the Chaos opening gifts

Singing to my baby girl!

Honestly, all in all, I would have to say her party turned out better than I expected!!!! I had some AWESOME friends (thanks Melissa, Donna, and my aunt Sherri) who brought some appetizers. My mom and dad bought the pizza for her party, and my sister and her husband bought Noeys cookies you saw. Antoine & I got the cake, and I got all of the matching decorations from Oriental Trading AND from Target throughout the year. I printed the water bottle wrappers and cut them myself. 

Knowing that we were moving, I REALLY wanted to keep her party budget under $300 MAX. I was successfully able to do that!!!! AND keep in mind she went to Disney on Ice, the Candy Kids Spa & got the Disney Dolls.

One thing I have been VERY good at is couponing. It may sound really silly to some people, but it has allowed me to do these things for my daughter. If I can save $30 in one shopping trip a couple times a week, it allows for me to spend money in other areas!

I can't wait for next years party/birthday. WAIT....yes I can! That means my BABY will be another year older. Can someone please slow the time down!

MOVING....

FINALLY!!!! I haven't blogged in FOR.EV.ER. But, once we move and have everything settled I promise to get back to blogging!
We finally got our closing date : 1/10/12. That means, two days before Noelani's 2nd birthday, we will be home owners. For her 2nd birthday she gets: A HOUSE....lol well, we all get the house, but she will get a brand new bedroom (shhhh don't tell her!) ;)
I'm redoing her room for her in princess theme. This girl is obsessed...I mean OBSESSED with everything princess. Daddy found her 7 of the 10 following dolls, and I obsessively found the other 3. These are called the Disney Animators Collection dolls. They will be put on shelves in her room for her birthday as well. FINALLY, we will be going to Disney on Ice - Treasure Trove. I somehow got the tickets presale and got front row rinkside for her. She will probably pee her pants lol!!! She is sooooo in love with everything Disney. Mickey, Princess - you name it!

My mother and I went to Michaels and Hobby Lobby to see what crafts/items we can make for her room, and I think we have some really cute things we are going to do :) I didn't want to do the "premade" Disney princess room, but stick with more of a pink & purple "princess" theme (except the dolls above). I couldn't find any bedding I liked, but then I found a reversible pink/purple toddler bedset that will work perfect!

I'm so excited to see her face when she gets to see her new room!!! 

In the midst of this, I am trying to plan her 2nd birthday party!!! The theme is "Look WhoOo's Turning Two". I have about 2 weeks to plan the whole party after we move. Why didn't I pick princess theme? WELL...I'm sure I will have enough of those birthdays in the years to come. Wish me luck!!!!

As I type this, my little princess is asleep in her bed, holding her princess Tiana wand......

A Years Time....

I can't even believe what a years time has done! This EXACT time last year, I was leaving Noelani with my mom almost every single day after work, running from apartment to apartment, finding us a new place to live. Antoine & I lived in the same apartment for 6-7 yrs and suddenly, at the beginning of November last year, we were told our house was sold. We had a MONTH to find some place to live. Nice huh? Gee thanks landlord for giving us a month to find someplace, at the beginning of the winter and holiday season.

We found a great place....well we thought so. But, we knew it would be temporary because it is only 2 bedrooms, and we wanted to get a house. Not to mention there are like 30 stairs to get up to our apartment, and that really sucks when you have a dog and a toddler AND groceries to get in the house!

SO....needless to say.....we got a house!!!!!!

HERE IT IS.....I will put tiny captions under each:

The front - quite obviously

Part of the patio - continued below

And another shot of the yard...we also have a garage, not sure if you can tell in these pics

Our bedroom

This will be Noelanis room

Third bedroom but we will be using it as an office for now

To the right of the fridge are our laundry hookups

Dining room

Bathroom - Wish you could see the sink - I swear it is what sold me this house LOL!! The whole floor/walls/tub are ceramic

Living Room

 Family Room addition - I think this is what sold Antoine!

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And another shot of the family room

Ok this was probably a REALLY boring post....but I wanted to share :) 

We are set to move 2 days after Noey turns 2. That is a "tentative" closing date. So, now I am stressing over where to have her birthday party!!! ALSO, this is on the opposite side of the town from where she takes gymnastics, so I will now be enrolling her in dance. This Saturday she takes a trial class by our new house. If she does well, we will pick this up and take the longer trip the next few weeks so she is all set once we move.

PHEW....I hope it all goes smooth from here!

I am exhausted, and I cannot even think of moving right now! 

The surprise that isn't....

Well here was the surprise/secret I spoke about....

It may not look like much, and YES our plan was to landscape it next spring...

This is a picture that was taken this morning. This was supposed to be our new home. It was perfect for us. Four bedrooms, 2 full baths, almost 2000 square feet (the above picture is only a portion of the house). A HUGE backyard, the 2nd last house on a dead end street and  in the school system we wanted.

This was supposed to be our backyard

Sigh. WELL....we paid nearly $500 for an inspection and radon test to be done today. The sellers accepted our offer and we agreed to pay $5000 more than what we originally wanted to - because we loved the house. All went well with the inspection and there were a couple things (new windows and a new shower stall) that needed to be done. I was ready to tell the world we were moving....as soon as the radon test was completed this tuesday - on my 30th birthday. Then tonight, I got a phone call from our agent.

When we went for the inspection today, our agent left our contract on their table. Apparently they claimed they couldn't read Antoines signature through the fax, so they wanted a hard copy to sign. We had no reason to doubt this. Our agent is excellent and sold many people we know houses, including my sister. Our agent rolled her eyes and said "i'm telling you, these people have been so difficult to deal with". At any rate, we just shrugged our shoulders and finished hearing what the inspector had to say.

Tonight, when my phone rang, I was sure it was our agent, calling to make sure we were going ahead with the house since we knew it needed these things done (windows and shower). She said no, she couldn't believe it and was soooo sorry. But, the sellers got another offer that was higher and either we could counter back with more money, or they were taking that offer. We already knew we were walking into there spending money on windows, bathroom, siding, deck etc.

We had already gone up an extra $5k from what we wanted to. So, that was it. Our house was gone. Apparently now we know why they never signed the contract. All so they could wait to see if another offer was coming in. Story of my life! Guess it wasn't meant to be....but I'm ticked off we spent all that money. UGH!!