a bright spring dessert table

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and ConAgra Brands. All opinions are mine alone. #SweetenYourSpring #CollectiveBias

The temperatures are slowly heating up over here (although honestly I'm surprised that it's April and still only 75 degrees yesterday here in Phoenix), and with the new month on the calendar we are getting ready for spring.

And Arizona doesn't do spring halfway. Everything is blooming - the trees, the plants, the flowers, the cacti. It is so gorgeous, vibrant, and alive. (It's also incredibly allergy inducing.) But you know what? We don't really do light shades of timid spring in Phoenix. On our walk to the mailbox yesterday, I saw several trees covered in almost neon-yellow pollen, several bushes with bright red blossoms, and several shockingly bright pink bougainvillea. There was not a pastel shade to be found. Here in this crazy inhospitable desert, I haven't seen a single pastel fragile tulip - spring is brightly colored and hot instead.

These bright colors and bold feel have really been inspiring me lately - in my wardrobe, in my home decor, in everything. (I was also inspired by this site.) So when it came time to shoot my annual spring tablescape, is it any wonder that bright colors trumped delicate pastel shades?

A few little touches that made this spring tablescape bright + peppy + colorful:

For a nice and bright base, I used a green tablecloth, and then I cut a square of my favorite wrapping paper for an accent. It's one of my favorite table decorating hacks - using wrapping paper instead of a table runner is much cheaper, and you have a lot more options when using wrapping paper. 

 I then used the bright colors in the wrapping paper to help coordinate the rest of the colors. I recommend you stick to 3-5 colors for your entire tablescape.

These bunny decorative accents served a few purposes: they were fun to scatter all around the table, they brought out my main colors even more, and they were a fun decoration to put on each plate.

I added some height with these fun reusable yellow fans. I also used the decorative egg trees, the pie stand, and the drink to add more vertical layers.

When it comes to the actual food, I really like to keep it simple. It takes a lot of love and care to make comfort foods right, and with how crazy life is these days I sometimes substitute high-quality pre-made desserts so I can spend more time with my family. This Marie Callender’s® Chocolate Satin Pie hit the trifecta: affordable, convenient, and delicious. Sam and I have been cutting tiny slices of the leftover pie all week long to enjoy together after the kids are in bed. We picked it up at Walmart, and love that it's so very silky and smooth and rich (a small piece will do!).

For finishing touches, I love small details that tie both color and theme together. I loved making these utensil and napkin rolls with these brightly colored bunnies to match everything else. 

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Find more darling Easter and spring inspiration here.

And now I just need to invite more people over to help us finish that pie. 

Any takers? ;)

making sure baby products work for me

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #FirstMomentsMadeSimple #ForBetterBeginnings #MomsFirst #CollectiveBias

When Addison and Lincoln wake up from their morning nap, Claire loves to rush in and say hello to the babies before I get them out of their crib. We usually spend a few minutes cooing at the babies, and then we get them out and have a few minutes of playtime in the nursery before we change diapers, do bottles, and head to whichever outing we're going on that day.

Last week I snapped some pictures of our weekly morning playtime - the babies are happy (until they remember they're hungry and their mood switches drastically), Claire loves to chat and play with the babies, and I love to see the twins' post-nap gummy smiles.

Details about this gallery wall can be found here, and a tutorial for the DIY growth chart (just out of frame) can be found here.

^^This book and this rattle toy have been used for all my babies, and they're still going strong (and played with multiple times a day). When you're a new mom, it is HARD to figure out what products to get and what your baby will like.

In fact, when the twins were just born, I got a fancy decorative bottle dryer that was supposed to sit on your counter looking cute and air drying all the clean bottles. You guys, it did NOT work for me. It took up so much space, didn't actually dry very many bottles, and was a huge pain in general. I used it for two weeks before I realized I was working for the product, instead of the product working for me.

And now that's become my mantra when it comes to baby products. Get products that make your life easier, not harder. Make sure they work for you, instead of you working for them. Basically, every baby gadget you buy should baby you and your baby; you shouldn't have to baby the product to make it fit into your life.

Exhibit A: the Playtex Diaper Genie® Complete that we picked up at Babies "R" Us.  (Remember when I raved about the Diaper Genie here?) We go through so many diapers around here, and there ain't no way I am going to take them all the way to the outside garbage every single time. I love the foot pedal, so when I have a dirty diaper in one hand and a baby in the other hand, I can just use the foot pedal and plop it in. No manually sliding it down the same chute hundreds of others of dirty diapers have been slid down. It's the hero of the room with a neutral, sleek design and Ultimate Odor Protection - so I never have to worry about how the twins' room smells. In fact, Diaper Genie is the #1 selling diaper disposal brand.*

One thing pregnant moms can agree on is that figuring out what baby products you need is HARD. It's overwhelming to sift through the literally thousands of brands, products, promotions, and testimonials. Then you have to think about price and convenience, how it will fit and look in your nursery, and whether or not your baby will like it.

If you're an expecting new mom, head to your local Babies "R" Us the first Saturday of the month so registry experts can help you get your registry started in a stress-free way, and then head back the third Tuesday of the month for a registry completion event after you've had your baby where you can get a discount on every single thing on your registry that hasn't been purchased yet.

Here are three questions I ask myself before buying any baby product. They help me determine ease, convenience, shelf life, and usefulness of baby gear and gadgets before I buy them.

1. Is this product low-maintenance? 

When you have a newborn, the last thing you have time for is baby product maintenance. Think about whether you have to invest lots of time to assemble, clean, store, and move the product - and how often you'll have to replace parts or batteries. The bottle dryer I was talking about earlier was not low maintenance, because I kept having to clean it, move it, and rotate bottles through it.

2. Will this product get a lot of use?

Think about the shelf life of a product. I only buy one sleep sack per size, for example, because I know each one will only fit for a month or two at the beginning. The Diaper Genie, on the other hand, I'll use every single day for two to three years, which makes it a lot more worth it to me. Baby swings are only used for about the first six months, but since my twins used them multiple times every day for hours and hours during those six months, it was totally worth it to me.

3. Does this product simplify motherhood for me?

Anything that helps my children sleep better (pacifiers, swaddle blankets, swings, a white noise machine) is definitely worth it in my book. I also have two diaper changing baskets around the house (each filled with diapers, wipes, cream, hand sanitizer, etc.) that simplify motherhood and save time because I can change a diaper wherever I am. Strollers that just click in and go are worth it for me too, because it saves the time and hassle of moving your child from place to place, buckle to buckle.

Cutest little contended faces, just sitting there watching me happily :)

What are your favorite baby gear must-haves?

*based on Nielsen scan data

a gallery wall for the twins' nursery

I've wanted to attempt a gallery wall for years and years, but it always seemed way too intimidating. Like, you have to collect stuff from different places? Over an extended period of time? And you have to make sure none of it matches but all of it coordinates? And you have to place everything in a pattern that looks eclectic but has actually been meticulously planned out?

It seemed too complicated for me, which is probably why I've never made one until last week in the twins' nursery.

I didn't actually start out with a plan to make a gallery wall. I just came across the "this is my happy place" sign at Hobby Lobby, and something about the simple colors, white space, and cute sentiment totally grabbed me. I brought it home, propped it up on the top of the twins' dresser, and thought, "Hey, this would be great as part of a gallery wall."

So I did it! It's not perfect, and I had surprising amounts of stress while sorting through all the decor I owned (and a few pieces I bought) and deciding where to put everything. As it turns out, even on a gallery wall that's supposed to look a little random, I kept gravitating toward right angles and straight lines and even spacing. So apparently I'm 100% left-brained when it comes to decorating.

 Can you even believe these cute animal prints? Alyssa from Alysstrations was kind enough to send them over, and holy cow I'm in love with all of them. I honestly can't decide which little animal is my favorite, and I love how they bring a little more youth and whimsy to this wall.

I have plans to stain this ampersand one of these days. It's on my "To Do Eventually" list. But also I haven't accomplished a single thing from my To Do Eventually list since I got pregnant with twins, so at this point it's safe to assume it will stay unfinished forever.

I've been surprised how much of a difference this wall makes now that it's done. The entire room seems more put together and larger.

It almost makes up for the fact that one twin sleeps in a beautiful large white crib, and the other one sleeps in a pack-n-play in the corner. Proof:

Here are my purchase sources, in case you're wondering where something is from:
Dresser - IKEA
Lamps - Target
Noise Canceller - Amazon (link here)
Happy Place poster - Hobby Lobby
White shelves - Target
Ampersand - Hobby Lobby
Animal Illustrations c/o Allystrations
Clipboards - Hobby Lobby
Square Frame - Hobby Lobby
Yellow flowers - Target
Green succulent - Target
Plant on dresser - IKEA
Arrows - Hobby Lobby
Clock - Walmart
Cactus print - an original from a "warm-up" by the talented Art Ellie
Teddy Bear - Claire's bed... can't remember the original source

So there it is! Now that I've done one gallery wall, they seem less intimidating, and a cheap way to cover a large space. Who knows, I might even get up the courage to attempt another one sometime. I'll put it on my To Do Eventually list. ;)

PS If you're in love with these animal prints like me, head over to my Instagram for a giveaway. Super easy to enter, and hey, nothing beats free prints shipped right to your front door. :)

how I make my small spaces look and feel larger

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GladeAtmosphereCollection #CollectiveBias

We live in an apartment right now, and as such, our living areas are relatively small. We live in 1200 square feet, which is divided between two kids rooms, one master bedroom, two bathrooms, one laundry closet, a kitchen, a living area, and a porch. Living in a small space with three young children has definitely been an exercise in strategic space planning, getting the most out of a small room, and figuring out how to make our space both inviting and useful.

Despite our small living quarters, one of the first comments I get when people come to our home is, "It's so bright and airy in here!" While our space is undeniably small, I'm fairly adamant about a few important things that make it look clean and bright, despite our lack of storage and space to spread out. It's crazy how much the cleanliness or clutter of my home affects the cleanliness or clutter of my mind.

Here's how I make my small spaces look larger.

LET THERE BE LIGHT

As a blogger and as a photographer, it's pretty ingrained in me to look for good light. I turned away from a few apartments because there was very little natural light, which is bad for both my happiness level and my photography. One of the huge draws of our apartment is the floor-to-ceiling glass sliding door in our living room. It lets in so much light! Brighten up your space by opening windows, installing sheer window coverings, and adding lamps or LED bulbs in any dark corners. The more light in a space, the larger and more inviting it looks.

HIDE THE MESS

Basically my motto is baskets, baskets, baskets! We have a basket by the door for shoes, because four pairs of shoes in a basket (ahem, the four pairs of shoes my husband rotates between) looks so much cleaner than four pairs of shoes on the floor. We have another basket for blankets and another for toys. Taking twenty seconds to dump the toys in the basket is so worth it when the mess and clutter is gone and the space looks larger.

We even have a small tray to catch all the random cards, papers and coins that inevitably accumulate in a main living space.

SIMPLIFY DECOR

A tiny room may not be the best place for a large, eclectic and busy gallery wall. Lots of colors and patterns in a small space means too many focal points for the eye to take in. The result? Your room looks smaller. We have a very simple color scheme in our living room, and we keep the patterns and decor to a minimum.

SCENT MATTERS

When we first moved into our apartment, it had an.... interesting..... smell (let's just leave it at that). I had never put so much thought into the smell of our home, and I'm surprised how much of a difference it makes.

I'll admit I tried a cheap off-brand $3 plug-in when we first moved. It was so sickly sweet and powerful that it combined with the smell that was already here to make me utterly nauseous. So we spent a few dollars more and tried two new Atmosphere Collection™ Fine Home Fragrances by Glade®. I cannot tell you how much of a difference it has made! The weird smell is totally gone, and now our apartment smells like a high-end peaceful home.

My favorite candle is N°2 Bright™. It contains hints of sweet pea and pear, and overall is such a light, clean, fresh scent. In fact, these pictures were taken a couple weeks ago, and I've burned the candle during our waking hours almost constantly, so it's burned down quite a bit. Sam's favorite is the N°1 Enchanted™ (it has also been burned for many many hours at our house). It evokes a more complex, charming scent with notes of cedarwood (my favorite scent) and jasmine. We picked up both new candles at Fry's, our local Kroger banner store. These candles elevate our apartment by making it not only look but also feel and smell like a larger, comfortable, bright home.

For more inspiration, connect with Glade on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram or You Tube.

When I light the candle, I remove it from this tray and put it in the middle of the raised kitchen counter. It's out of reach of children and anything flammable, and it's a great spot for the scent to reach all corners of our main living spaces.

RAISED FURNITURE

If you can, avoid furniture that extends all the way to the floor. Bye bye, couch skirts. Our couches and entertainment set are only 6 or so inches from the ground, but any space visible underneath furniture lets more light through and makes the space appear larger.

FLOOR-TO-CEILING EVERYTHING

Guess what? Anything that goes vertically up the entire wall will make your space look larger, whereas something that only takes up 2/3 of the wall will make your space look segmented and smaller. If you have curtains, hang them 2-3 inches from the top of the wall and let them fall to 2-3 inches above the floor. If you have a bookcase or built-ins, have them extend all the way up the wall instead of partially up. Floor-to-ceiling anything draws the eye upward and makes the room look larger (and more elegant too).

While we love to daydream about owning a home and spreading out someday, we have loved making this space tell our own unique story - while feeling large, inviting, and wonderfully scented at the same time.

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Have you tried the NEW Atmosphere Collection™ Fine Home Fragrances by Glade®?

What is your favorite thing about your main living space?