Friday, May 25, 2012

Bathroom Decorating

Below is the plan for the girls' bathroom. The wall color will be a deep purple with a big circle pattern on the walls. I haven't decided what color the circles will be, but they won't be that blue. As usual, most of the decor is from Target with the exception of the the Ikea step stool and the hand-painted knobs from Etsy. With smart budgeting and a little DIY here and there, I'm sure I can do the entire room for under $175. YAY BUDGET!


The Girls'...

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Kitchen Storage

For a few months now, I've been trying to find a good storage solution for fruit and vegetables in the kitchen. Since moving into our house, I'd been using a large white bowl to hold fruit and veggies. It worked well for the most part, but sometimes I get a little gung-ho with the produce and end up with far more potatoes, apples, bananas, tomatoes, etc than can fit in my pretty white bowl.

Then I discovered Pinterest.

Pinterest introduced me to joys and wonders of beautiful and cool things I will never have or have time to make, but alas, I spend lots of time there. That's where I found these very cool wall baskets. Perfect for the small piece of wall between the pantry and the fridge. Perfect...if they were still available.

My search began, and every time I thought I'd found the best basket, it ended up being the wrong size or far more expensive than I wanted to go with.

Finally, I came across some great baskets at Kohl's. They were originally $30, on clearance for $5 each. I happened to have a gift card for Kohl's, so those baskets were free! That's the best price ever. So, without further ado, here's my new fruit and veggie storage in the kitchen.










Nice, huh? I just hope the girls don't go crazy trying to grab the lower one from the wall.


By the way, if you'd like to follow me on Pinterest, click here: http://pinterest.com/fabfish

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

It's Potty Time!

Well...it's almost potty time. The girls are showing an increasing interest in pees and poos and potties, so I know the time is approaching for me to put on my big fat patience hat and get on the potty training...um...train.

As always, I must approach this with a plan as well as an arsenal of supplies. I've started with the supplies because the plan is still overwhelming me.

First up, the actual potty. I looked at a bunch of different ones, but in the end, it came down to price and design. The winner? The Ikea Låttsam. It's $5 and all one piece which makes it easy on the wallet and easy on the clean freak in me. I intended to get two of each in different colors--red and pink--so the girls would know which potty was which.

Ikea had different intentions. After three trips to the Atlanta Ikea, the wonderful guys at ModerNash only found green and black. I asked a friend, and the Austin Ikea only had green. In the end, I settled with four green ones. In typical Faith fashion, I plan to decorate each potty so the girls will know which is which. (I promise to post pics of pretty potties.)

Next up, the trainers. A while back I decided against disposables. Both Lillie and Dani will tell me they are wet, but neither of them seem to really care unless they've leaked. Disposable trainers seem to be glorified disposable diapers (in my opinion), so I thought it would be nicer to go cloth so the girls will be more aware of their wetness. There are a gazillion adorable cloth trainers out there, but most of them cost an arm and a leg. If I were purchasing diapers that would be worn for a couple of years, I'd have no problem paying $12-$15 per diaper, but when I hope training will only take a couple of months, I don't see the need to spend that much.

Gerber and Babies R Us both have some nice inexpensive ones, but all the reviews said they weren't absorbant at all. I don't need them to be super absorbant, but I would prefer not to have lots of puddles to clean. Enter Carter's (extremely adorable) trainers! They cost a little more than Gerber, but far less than some others I'd been eyeing.


Next are the wipes. Toilet paper is fine and dandy, but I think flushable wipes are better. I may change my mind at some point in time, but right now I've planned on using flushables. Both Pampers and Wet Ones make a flushable wipe. The Pampers Kandoo are great because they come is a large tup with a cute picture on the front. (Dani is obsessed with frogs right now, so the frog is a selling point. Sue me.)


This list is still growing. I'd also like to get a step stool so they can wash their hands more easily as well as some potty only toys and/or books. Those parents that have been through the training gauntlet, do you have any advice? I would really appreciate it!