Intentional

Tomorrow I return to work after having 3.5 months off with my sweet baby boy. 

Tomorrow I take Kingston to a daycare provider I've met 2 times.

Tomorrow I become a working mom. 

As hesitant and anxious I am, this is something I have to do for my family and the 'lifestyle' we choose to live. 

When I think about it - I will have about 4 (awake) hours a day with Kingston throughout the week and 12 hours a day on the weekend. When I do the math, that's 44 hours out of the 168 total hours (70 of those he's asleep and 54 he's at daycare) I have with him while he's awake. That's not very much time I get to spend loving on my little man. 

That's why I'm making a commitment and a vow to be intentional with my time. 

The definition of intentional: done on purpose; deliberate. 

Especially for those 4 hours I have with him throughout the week, they are going to have a purpose. 

That means no time with my nose stuck down in my phone. 

That means meal planning so I don't waste precious minutes slaving away in the kitchen. 

That means tidying the house, starting the laundry and loading the dishwasher in the evening after he goes to sleep. 

That means packing our lunches and laying out our clothes at night, so I can get a few more giggles in in the morning. 

My goal is to be deliberate in all of my actions so I can be the best working mom possible.  

Crafting: Kingston's Nursery

I think it's finally time that I reveal all of Kingston's nursery to you lovely readers. Thankfully, I started working on this bad boy as soon as we found out that we were pregnant because I haven't wanted to do anything in there for a few weeks.

I knew our decor scheme was going to be similar whether we had a boy or girl: 
dark walls, white furniture with metallic and either mint or raspberry accents. 

Let me remind you of our nursery inspiration.

original details here

And here is how I tried to bring that inspiration to life! 

(Keep in mind our untraditional room setup)

Wall Color // Lowe's // Valspar - Muted Ebony

Accent Paint // Lowe's// Pantone Universe - Bay

Crib // Cherry Orchard Furniture  //  Angel Line Mary 3 in 1 Crib

Chair // Wayfair

3 piece dresser/changing table // Home Decorators

Curtains // Target 

Rug // Rugs USA 

Mirror // gift from my dad which he found antiquing
Cloud Mobile // handmade by me 

Lamp // TJMaxx
K Wall Hanging // Hobby Lobby

Puff Quilt // handmade by me

Bedding // handmade by me // crib sheet, crib skit & changing pad cover
Mint Throw // TJMaxx 

Apothecary Jar // Nebraska Furniture Mart

Little Tins // Target - dollar section

Nuts & Bolts Metallic Men // Hobby Lobby 

Basket // Target 

The World is Your Playground // handmade by me

Dream Quote & K // gift from baby shower #3

Car Bookends // Nebraska Furniture Mart

Moustache Closet Makeover // done by me

*The tutorials I used for the fabric goodies can be found on my Pinterest board. 
*Shopping at TJMaxx is always hit or miss and they stock each location differently. 
*Check out my Etsy shop if you would like me to create the perfect puff quilt/mobile for your little ones nursery. 


I'm in love with how it turned out. 

It's modern. 

It's elegant. 

It's eclectic. 

It's us! 

Weekend Recap

Friday night, CT and I did a little babysitting. We had the luxury of hanging out with little miss Aynslee, and this was something I had looked forward to all week!

Her parents work 3rd shift, so we got to do all the fun stuff with her: feeding, playing, bath time, prayers, etc. 

After bath time she hung out with CT while he crushed some candy.

I love how focused they both are on the game!

I also did a little bit of shopping this weekend. 

If you like a good deal, I advise you to head to target ASAP! Most of their summer sandals and wedges are on clearance and then an additional 20% off on top of that. 

$8

Can't beat that!

I also stopped by the Christian book store to pick up some tabs.

I have such the hardest time finding the books in the bible so this will hopefully make it easier! 

I'm obsessed. 

PS- Keep an eye out for the new blog design. I'm hoping it makes it's debut by the end of the week! 

Jenn at Munchkin Land Designs is doing a fabulous job!!

Slight Obsession

Hello. My name is Tiffany and I'm addicted to pens.

Literally. 

I'm always on the look out for the best colors, the ones that don't bleed through to the next page, and the ones that write oh so smooth! 

It's a sickness. 

I am a color code of life I have and ever since I was a little girl.

Check out my stash that I carry around in my purse with me at all time.

Yikes! 

My Favorites:

Pilot Precise V5 Extra Fine

I LOVE these bad boys. 

They are such vibrant colors, they have an extra fine tip, and they don't bleed. I primarily use these for writing in my bible and when I'm trying to write really nice and professional.

PaperMate Flair Medium

These pens have a felt tip and are medium point. They are a tad bit thicker and bleed just a little bit. I primarily use these for writing in my planner and during my daily devotional journaling. 

Bic Cristal Medium

I use to use these pens a lot more then I do now. They were my go to pens for all of my school notes. They write so smooth and the flow is really good. What I don't like, is sometimes the ink collects at the tip. If the pen hadn't been used in a while and you don't clean it prior to use, it will leave a glop of ink on the first word you write. I mostly use these now for fun letters and during my daily devotional journaling. 

Pilot G2

I only have the black pen from this set, but I really love it. It's more of a gel pen that is an extremely rich, black color. It doesn't bleed and it writes extremely smooth. This is my go to black pen! Just be careful and let it dry a second or two before touching it, because it will smear everywhere if you don't. 

What pens do you adore?

I'm always on the look out for new ones to add to my stash. =))

Washi Tape Wednesday - Link Up #4

Welcome to my Link Party- Washi Tape Wednesday! 

Washi tape is one of my new found loves. It's a craft supply that is super affordable and there are so many uses for it. From decorating, to labels, to color coding your planner - the possibilities are endless. 

This is a place where you can link up your best washi tape post of the week. 


Link up rules

-Follow Crafting a Fairytale on GFC & Bloglovin'

-Add my button or do a text link back to my party in your post


 

 <div align="center"> <a href="http://craftingafairytale.blogspot.com" title="Crafting A Fairytale"><img src="http://i1352.photobucket.com/albums/q657/tiffross5/WashiTapeWednesday_zps8d468a7c.jpg" alt="Crafting A Fairytale" style="border:none;" /></a></div> <br><br> <br>

-Link directly to your post and not your home page. No items for sale, etsy shops, ect.

-Spread the word of Washi Tape Wednesday

-Check out other links and leave a comment! 

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If you follow me on

 

or

you would know that Christian and I are trying out this whole Dave Ramsey cash envelope budget system. 

{Tune in Monday to hear more about our version}

Until I have time to make some pretty fabric envelopes, I decided to go with the old fashion paper type.

I got these from walmart for $5. 

I liked the color of them, but I wanted to Tiff-a-fy them a little more by adding some glitz with washi tape!

Again, simple and easy and it just looks fun. 

I think my fav is the purple with black tape. 

PS - I found the glitter tape at Walmart for $1 in the scrap book section.
 How awesome of a deal is that?  

Tell your friends about the link up. I would love to get some new ideas! 

Weekend Recap + Shabby Spring Bunting

This weekend started a little early on Friday. I picked up a few extra hours throughout the week and had to stay late for an open house one night, so I was pushing over time and decided to leave early Friday.

Saturday was a hang at home all day kind of day. 

It was showering and thunder-storming all day, so it was the perfect opportunity to do a little spring cleaning and spring crafting! 

I mainly organized and cleaned out the hobby room. It's crazy how quickly it can turn into a hot mess! 

I still have an abundance of black feather boas from our wedding that I need to find something to do with. 

I'm thinking probably a Halloween wreath and maybe some garland on the Christmas tree? Any other ideas?

I'm also looking at doing something with these beauties! Besides these colors, I have a ton more grey, brown, and black buttons. I'm thinking about spray painting some metallic silver and incorporating them into our bedroom decor somehow.

After a little organizing, I joined the hubby in the living room with some fabric while he watched the draft. [Go Cowboys!]

 

I cut 4"x 2" blocks of some 'springy' fabric.

 Then I cut them into various shapes and left them with a raw edge which gives it a more shabby look. 

My complete Spring mantle!

I don't know how I feel about the leopard and I'm wishing it had more pink in it, but other than that I'm loving it and I'm impressed with how easy it was. 

We ended the weekend at the zoo with CT's little cousin. It's insane how crazy Kansas weather is: freezing during the week, rainy on Saturday, and 75 and sunny on Sunday! 

We had a really good time! 

It's even better when you can return the child to their parents and then come home and take a nap. Oh the joys of not having kids and borrowing them for the afternoon!

Linking up with Sami.
Linking up with Jamie
Linking up with Jamie.
Linking up with Cheryl.

Confession: April Showers . . .

Bring May flowers ...

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... and TORNADOS! 

First off, speaking of showers, CT is a varsity baseball coach and their games got rained out today. I know Spring is upon us because out of his 6 playing dates, 3 of them have been rescheduled due to weather.

It's better they are getting rescheduled though, because I would rather watch them get run ruled in the sun. =)  

 

Anyways, back to the main part of this post - tornados! 

This girl is deathly afraid of them. Ever since I was a little girl and there would be warnings on TV, I would set up our little fort underneath the stairs filled with tons of pillows, blankets, and all the stuff we couldn't live without. 

I would get so angry at my parents because they are the type of people that go out to the front porch when the warnings start going off. 

Now it's CT who does that and I get so frustrated with him! 

Look at how scary these things are.
 

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There is no messing around with these monsters!

I totally have a confession though.

I like to be a little proactive during 'tornado' season, and how I do so is by packing a bag (besides my purse) that will come to the basement with me.

Here are a few things that you could find inside.

 

1. birth certificates

2. passports 

3. wedding CD disc

4. my 'blankie' [which I may still sleep with]

5. change of undies

6. phone charger

7. water bottle

8. my good jewelry

9. my cash stash

10. my bible

11. dog leash 

Yes it may be silly, but you never know what might happen! 

How are you prepared for storms? 

Linking up with Macy.

My Dream House: According to Pinterest [2]

After my post on Wednesday about my first apartment/home, it has really given me the itch to move. It doesn't help that one of my best friends just purchased a house and has finally completed decorating it, and another one of my best friends just had their offer accepted on their first home. 

Since it's not quite my time, I can't do anything other than turn to Pinterest to pin for the future! These are some things I'm loving at the moment. 

 

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• Potted herbs in the ground. I'm obsessed with outsides and gardens. What a classy and controlled way to contain the herbs.
• If I had an outdoor kitchen like this, there would be no need for me to have an inside kitchen. How fabulous is it? And look at the view from the grill. It's to die for!
• This is what a sun porch is suppose to look like. Light and airy! I love the color scheme. Pillows are an easy way to spruce up any room.
• How warm and cozy is this room? There is no way CT would ever go for something like this in our bedroom, but I could totally see this as the color pallet for a little girls room. I can picture it now: white crib, pink accents, dark gray accent wall and rug! =)
• I am such an organizer, so of course this closet organizer makes my heart happy! You spend so much money on all those articles of clothing and shoes, you might as well have a beautiful way to display it all. This design is awesome because it is snug against the wall and has a fabulous curtain that it hides behind. 

Until the day comes where I have a beautiful house of my own, I will continue to pin for it! Follow my progress here, and check out my first set of pins from My Dream House: According to Pinterest (1).

Linking up with The Vintage Apple for OHP!