Boys' Bunk Room Reveal

Ladies and Gents, this is the moment you've waited for....

The boys bunk room is DONE and I am so excited to share it with you! This room used to be our guest room, but we realized that we could make the space work for our family so much better if we turned this into a bunk room for all five boys and turned their old (bigger) room into a dedicated play room. I don't know about you, but there are a couple things I was tired of:

1. Boys playing with toys when they should be going to sleep.
2. Stepping on those toys when I go in to check on them at night. 
3. Boys who couldn't nap while their brothers played. Or play while their brother napped.

So we decided to ditch the guest room and create a dedicated sleeping space that is only for their beds, their clothes, and a their favorite books. This allows their bigger room to house the toys along with plenty of open floor space to play and, of course, the monkey bars + rockwall play area we built for them a couple Christmases ago. 

Ready to see how we fit FIVE BOYS (and all their clothes) into one room? Let's check it out!

**Returning to this post more than 3 years later...we still use these bunk beds every day. They've held up great and love them as much as ever!**

homeMAKER - new to my Etsy shop!

My Etsy shop is looking totally different these days, and I don't think I've ever loved it more!

I don't have a lot of time for stocking handmade items right now because I'm knee deep in all the goodness (and hardness) of homemaking. But that got me thinking - I'm a homemaker in the traditional sense of the word, but I'm also a literal homeMAKER because I love all the DIY magic that turns this house into our home. There's something wonderful about creating and nurturing a home for our family in any and every way. And I think it's something that's not celebrated nearly enough!

So most of my shop is now dedicated to all of the home-MAKERS out there! Whether you're building your own furniture, working to make your home more functional, creating a warm and beautiful living space for your family, cooking up a wholesome meal (or tasty dessert) for the people you care about, establishing the environment of love and gentleness you want your little ones to grow up in, or doing any of the countless other things you tirelessly do to care for your family and the home you share with them, YOU are doing the hard and holy work of truly making your home. 

You can grab one of the items below to you rock your role as a homeMAKER, or use them as gifts for the other inspiring homeMAKERs in your life! You can jump to a certain item below, or check out the whole homeMAKER section. And keep scrolling for a few other fun items available in my shop!

homeMAKER:

thsirt / hat / mug

These are my faves, but I also have the homeMAKER print available on several other products like stickers, tote bags, and aprons, and more. Check out the entire homeMAKER line!

Still Good:

Friendly reminder: it doesn't have to be perfect to be GOOD. This is one of my favorite quotes in homemaking - whether we're talking about sharpie on the wall, ordering pizza after dinner gets burnt, or living in a rental that's definitely not your dream home. Things don't have to be perfect (they won't be most of the time) to be good! This mug is perfect for those hard days when we can all use a little reminder.

mug

Sign Language:

Last but not least, I have a few fun designs featuring my sign language print! I do offer a free poster print download that you can use to make your own poster, but if you want an easier option my shop now stocks several sizes of poster prints. And you can even get the sign language alphabet printed on a mug or tshirt!

tshirt / mug / posters

Note: All these items are original designs made by myself and my sister, RBH Studio (check out her shop, too!), but we use a third party company to print and ship everything so we can still fulfill orders during this busy season of life. It feels like a perfect balance for my little shop right now. :) 

Thanks for checking out the shops, and happy homemaking!

Sign Language Poster FREE PRINTABLE

I've always had a super hard time decorating my walls. The last couple years especially so, as I've worked to curb my tendency to over-buy home decor by waiting for something I really love that is a good fit for the space. But I also wait something that is affordable (thrift stores are my jam) and it often takes me quite a while to hit that sweet spot where beautiful meets affordable. Which, for me, sometimes results in empty walls for years at a time. I mean, we've lived here over five years and we still have several blank walls! BUT I was finally able to fill one empty space in our home library with this sweet sign language alphabet poster!

I spent ages trying to decide what I even wanted to hang in there - since it's our main homeschool space, I knew I wanted something that would be educational, but still beautiful. As I'm learning to better embrace my roll as the keeper of our home, I really want to create spaces that are beautiful, comfortable, and useful for my family! When I came across the idea of a sign language alphabet poster, I knew it could be just what I was looking for. 

Now I've seen sign language posters before, but none of them were, well, cute. In fact I found several free printable options on pinterest, but none of them had the cute factor I was looking for. And while I found a few beautiful posters with the more simple style I wanted, none of them fell into the budget I was looking for (the cheap-to-crazy-cheap range). So I decided to make my own! And I turned it into a printable so you can make one too!

Hot Chocolate Mix

Guys, it is cold out there. I can't think of anything better than snuggling up with a warm drink, so today I'm bringing back our favorite homemade hot chocolate mix recipe!

There are a lot of hot chocolate recipes out there, but here's the thing: my husband says this one is the best. And he knows hot chocolate. You know how people like to start the morning with a hot cup of coffee? He starts every morning with hot chocolate. And this isn't a new thing; he's a life-long hot chocolate man. My in-laws like to tell about the Alaskan cruise they took when my husband was 10, and guys, he drank all the hot chocolate on the boat. So when he says this one is his favorite, you can go ahead and stop looking. You have arrived.