Jewelry, without doubt, can enhance and make outfits extra appealing. Even with a neutral or plain shirt, jewelry can create a focal point that ultimately makes it fashionable. So, if you’re thinking of amping your style, then you might want to consider adding a touch of jewelry. However, are you picking the right accessories, especially for your striped outfit?

I'll share all about picking the right accessory to match your stripes, without breaking a sweat.

Pay Attention to Necklines

First off, let’s talk about the basics – complementing your neckline with the right necklace.

Pay attention to necklines because wearing uncomplimentary jewelry can destroy your look. For instance, a choker would fit a striped tube top or a strapless dress. It allows you to highlight your accessory and your outfit at the same time. If you love to wear something that shows off your shoulder, just like an off-shoulder top, then dangly necklaces would be the best fit for these types of outfit as they create a focal point on your attire.

Go Bold with a Bold Necklace

Are you having trouble finding an accessory for your contrasting black and white dress? Well, since you're going for a bold look, might as well top it off with one red-colored necklace. Don't hesitate to give people a strong and glam vibe.

You can also use a clutch with your black and white dress to finalize your look!

Stay Classy With a Dangling Pearl Earring

If you want to look classy while wearing your striped body-con dress, then a dangling pearl earring will do the work.

However, be mindful that wearing bold earrings with a sexy outfit can overwhelm the entire look. Reserve those extra bold pearl earrings for simpler attires. For these cases, balance your aesthetics by wearing simple and dangling pearl earrings.

Patterns Matter

If you’re going for a skirt and a shirt outfit with remarkable patterns or bold prints, then you can choose a piece of jewelry with the same or similar pattern. If you wish, you can also select necklaces and bracelets that have the same pattern on their pendants.

This trick will balance your outfit and accessory without appearing trashy or too much. This strategy does not apply to all cases. You can go wild whenever possible. 

 

Extra Tip: Define Your Waistline With a Belt

If you want to wear a dress with horizontal stripes without making your body looking geometrical, then use a belt to define and highlight your waistline. I assure you, you would look stunning on your outfit. Work it, girl!

Here are some of the ways to pair the perfect jewelry and accessories for your striped outfits. Try these suggestions and you will save yourself from some frustrations and headaches. Let me know if this post worked out best for you!

Check out my other posts!

Things You Didn't Know Your Shoes Say About You

How to Find Your Personal Style and the Importance of It

Food art might seem time-consuming to make. But now that we are staying home more than ever before because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have more time to explore new hobbies and do something fun, right? If you’re in the lookout for something creative to do indoor then you’re in luck! Today, I’m sharing 7 simple and easy food art ideas that you can try making at home. This is a perfect way to spark creativity with your kids too! Let’s continue to do our part to flatten the curve.

Write a Message

 

Think of a message that you'd like to convey and construct it with food! This #stayhome food art I created using slices of swiss cheese and a slice of cinnamon raisin bread while in quarantine. Using alphabet cutters, I cut the alphabets to form the word and used a baked quiche for the letter, O. You can also explore different shapes with what's available in your fridge and pantry. For example, muffin, donut and a slice of lemon can also be used to form the letter, O. If you don't have alphabet cutters on hand, you can cut them with scissors. Or even write the message in another style, for example, you can form your message using spaghetti to make it calligraphy style!

What's the Weather Today?

Is it sunny? or is it a rainy day out? While the weather doesn't really matter much when you're staying home most of the time, it's fun to show the weather forecast with your food! Here I created this food art using the basics - eggs, bacon, cheese and a slice of bread! I call it, "Cloudy with a Chance of Bacon". 

To create the cloud and sun, I first separated the egg yolk from the egg whites. I pan-fried the egg whites into a large circle and cut the fried egg white with scissors in a cloud shape. I then cooked the egg yolk so that it is slightly brown. I cut up the bacon and cheese slice to form the arc of a rainbow and cut a piece of bread to form the house. Lastly, assemble all the pieces on a solid coloured plate and you're done!

Tell a Story

Think of a story to tell using the plate of food. It can be something that happened in your childhood or something memorable in your life. In this food art, my story is, "The Early Bird Gets the Worm". I grew up with this phrase and lived by it. I believed you have a greater advantage if you take action right away. And this is the story that I wanted to convey. I first whisked eggs into a bowl and pan-fried it into a large circle. Then I fold the circle in half and in half again. The fried egg would now look like the shape of a pizza slice. I tucked the corner of the fried egg underneath so that I'd have a round body for the bird. I sliced the tomatoes to form the wings and the beak. Using scissors, I cut a slice of an onion to form the feet. I spread spinach at the bottom of the plate and sprinkled some sunflower seeds for the field. The hardest part was the worm. I couldn't find anything that could depict it nicely. Thankfully, I had Lemon Poppy Seed salad dressing to the rescue, which made it super easy. I dragged the dressing longer on the plate and it already looked like a bird is biting a worm. Easy-peasy!

Create a Logo!

A logo is bold with simple shapes. You can turn a logo of your team, your favourite superhero, music band or business logo with food. I created a superman logo using a slice of toast, cheese, bacon and strawberry jam. Read about my step-by-step here. 

Show Your Favourite Character!

I was inspired by the shape and colour of my multigrain bread so I turned it into a Japanese cartoon character, Domo-Kun. You don't need a lot of ingredients either! Here, I used as few as a slice of bread, dabs of strawberry jam, blueberries, and banana slices only. It was too cute to eat! Read about my step-by-step here. 

Bring Out the Colours

Take inspiration from the vibrant colours of different fruits and vegetables and create your masterpiece with them. I love using fruits. Not only because they're always available at my home, but they also make the art look that much more appealing and appetizing. This simple rainbow food art consists of strawberries, oranges and grapes! You can add more arcs to the rainbow by adding more fruits like lemon for yellow or blueberries for blue etc. I loved how this rainbow turned out! Finish off with some scrambled egg whites for the clouds and you're set!

Go Bananas!

With food art, sky is the limit. There're endless possibilities. In this Nutella waffle, I turned the banana slices into alphabets to form a pun. I had so much fun coming up with these food puns!

I hope you guys enjoy these ideas. Check out more of my food art here. If you do give this a try, please share your pics with me on Instagram: @tingandthings! I would love to see what you come up with! Stay home and stay safe everyone! 

 

When seeking out treatments to improve your skin condition, there are far less invasive procedures that are as equally effective as others. Namely masks, and skin peels. Masks are essential for the face and are merely washed off after the application. However, there are some face masks that can be peeled-away after applying. Today, I want to discuss ways to improve your skin from face to feet using peels.

As one of the oldest of skincare techniques outside of daily washing and moisturizing, skin peels, however, can also be applied to the full body and then stripped away; removing excess dirt, oil and dead skin cells. Though the process is simple and straight-forward, there are different types of peels to choose from. In the effort to get a better understanding of what's available, let's pay a visit to various skin peels and their benefits.

Wax

Peel treatments using wax is probably the most relaxing of peels. There is the soothing warm wax, the sticky honey wax glow, and the for sensitive skin, the all-natural beeswax treatment. Whichever wax of your choosing, the process yields results that most will agree have proven to be reliable. Resulting in a new layer of skin so soft and clean, it makes you feel like you've taken years away from your actual age.

Chemical

Over time, dead skin, dirt and excess oils will combine with aging hormones and create an adverse reaction in your skin. Not to mention, harsh outside elements that are microscopic and therefore, unavoidable. These factors battle it out with our skin daily, and it doesn't get any easier with age. Therefore, depending on how much care you put into your skin, some types are so far damaged, that they would require a deeper cleansing process calling for a chemical peel.

There may be some over-the-counter manufacturers of chemical peels, but for the best outcome, I advise having it administered by professionals at a clinic. The components of chemical peels are proprietary and dependent upon the manufacturer of course, but most products involve some sort of salicylic acid, peroxides or other abrasive chemicals in order to break down those years of caked-in elements clogging your pores. If you've had a long history of blackheads, blotches, eczema, or rashes that have left there mark on your skin, this method would an ideal solution for you.

Jetpeel

The latest in skin peel treatments, the Jetpeel facial treatments can be best described by likening it to a power washer. You know, the machine used to clean sidewalks and buildings. It is the exact same technique but on a much smaller scale. An air and liquid mixture is in a pressurized-spray; directly onto the skin, safely removing layers until reaching a level that exposes fresh, untapped skin.


Each of these processes is safe and proven to be highly effective. However, they require regular application in order to maintain that baby-soft, fresh-looking skin appearance. As a warning, be prepared to budget for either a weekly, monthly or bi-monthly expense for your treatments. Otherwise, consider it to be a worthwhile investment to keep you looking like the best version of yourself. Still, I recommend trying it at least once, just to pamper yourself. Why not? You deserve it!

Be sure to come back and let us know which peel you decided on, and what your personal experience was like. Here's to wishing you healthy-looking skin every day of the week!

You have waited nine months to see your precious baby, and now that it is finally here your life doesn’t seem to resemble those cute after-birth pictures you saw on Instagram. Instead of dressing your little one in cute outfits, you do your best just not to smell like puke. For months you’ve waited to play with your child, and now you cannot wait to go back to bed and get some sleep. Yes, having a baby can be exhausting and overwhelming, especially if you are not one of those lucky moms whose children wake up maybe two times per night just to eat. All those sleepless nights, raging hormones and exhaustion can easily take a toll on your mental health. Luckily, there are some ways you can maintain your sanity and enjoy being a new mom.

Take care of yourself

A lot of new moms completely neglect themselves during the first few weeks or even months after their child is born. Of course, your baby needs your attention, but so do you. In fact, if you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be in any condition to look after your little one. And when you are cranky and fussy, your child will be too. Therefore, make sure you get some sleep, even if it means napping during the day. Forget about house chores, the world won’t stop if you do not vacuum every two days or prepare a home-cooked meal on a daily basis. Speaking of nutrition, make sure you eat food that is healthy and good for you and gives you the energy to deal with everyday problems. Also, keep in mind that fish oils reduce anxiety and depression in new moms.

Take a break

No, you don’t have to be with your baby 24/7. Feel free to take some time away from your little one and do something that helps you feel like you, even if it means just washing your hair or taking a bath with stress-relieving essential oils. In addition, make sure you spend some time with the adults. Talking to your partner and your friends will help you stay connected to the ‘real’ world and give you a mental break from your mommy chores. 

Create a support group

Being a new mom is not just sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows. In fact, it is overwhelming so make sure you surround yourself with people you can completely be real with and share your true feelings with them. Having someone to confide in is extremely important during this time, even if you believe that your feelings are completely silly. Venting to your best friend, a family member, or your partner can lower your stress levels and help you feel calmer. 

Don’t play by someone else’s rules

It is important to remember that not all babies are the same, so it is quite logical that what has worked for one mom won’t work for the other one. It is okay to listen to other people’s advice, but at the end of the day you need to care for your baby in a way that works best for you. Find your own method and stick to it, no matter what others say.

Be realistic

Do not start going through pictures of actresses who gave birth and immediately looked like a million dollars. Forget about the images you see in tabloids and on social media, most of it has nothing to do with reality. Have you heard about Photoshop? Instead of comparing yourself to others, give yourself time to get back on your feet and adjust to your new lifestyle.

Get help when needed

All those raging hormones can leave you feeling emotional and that is completely normal after giving birth. However, postpartum depression is not so if you feel like something is wrong, do not hesitate to ask for help. Waiting until things get even worse is a recipe for a disaster, so act on time. Being a new mom has its ups and downs, and hopefully, these tips will help you deal with everyday challenges a new baby will bring into your life.

One of the biggest reality-checks in life is when a woman gives birth to her child and only then starts to realize that everything she’s pictured – as a new mom – is actually somehow completely different. Everything you’ve expected or thought you’ll do once you give birth will probably be put to the backburner. And yes, that also includes exercising.

Trying to get back in shape after you’ve just given birth to a new life will probably be more challenging than you’ve thought. Even the most active people may find it difficult to get back on track after giving birth. That’s why you should be kind to yourself and your body and take things at a pace that feels comfortable. I know I've been struggling to find the time and just energy, in general, to get back to my active lifestyle after giving birth too.

But here are some things you should know about postpartum exercises that will help you better understand what your body’s going through.

Your core was under a lot of stress

What the majority of women emphasize as one of their biggest insecurities is the look – and feel – of their postpartum belly. Most of the women feel insecure about this part of their body, in particular, as it is one of the parts that’s gone through the biggest of changes. What you need to understand is that your core will stretch or even entirely separate during pregnancy. That’s why you’ll be left with a tummy that looks entirely different than what it used to be. Of course, by exercising properly and with the help of some amazing skin tightening products, you should be able to get your body almost entirely back to its previous state. However, if you’re someone who didn’t really exercise all that much before you became pregnant, you can’t really expect your postpartum body to do miracles.

Every person is unique

Since all of us are unique and every woman’s pregnancy and postpartum recovery is different, you shouldn’t be trying to push yourself into a workout regimen sooner than your body is ready for such an endeavor. Just because some of your friends started exercising two weeks after giving birth, that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do the same. Again, your pre-pregnancy fitness level will greatly influence how your postpartum recovery will look like. If your body was extremely well-taken-care-of before the pregnancy, getting back into shape will be significantly easier once you give birth. With unrealistic and heavily-curated content that’s presented to all of us through social media, it can sometimes feel like you’re not doing enough or trying hard enough. But remember that your body is the only thing you should be listening to during these challenging times.

You’ll discover new pains and aches

During pregnancy and particularly before you’re about to go into labor, your body will increase the production of a hormone called relaxin. The increased production of this hormone will actually help your body go through the labor easier as it loosens your joints. Contrary to popular belief, the production of this hormone doesn’t just go away as soon as you deliver your baby. Instead, it can stay in your system for as long as up to 12 months after labor. This is extremely important to understand as it will greatly affect your exercising efforts. Since your body will generally be “looser” than ever, you’ll discover some new pains and aches you haven’t felt before. These can even make exercising feel like true torture, especially if you’re someone who wasn’t very regular with their exercises prior to becoming pregnant.

Make sure you sleep as much as you possibly can

One of the first things you’ll hear is that the mom should be sleeping when the baby is sleeping, and that’s the rule you should start living your life by. The fact that you’ll be going through an entirely new life experience once you give birth can – and probably will – entirely mess up your regular

sleeping schedule. And you already know just how important proper rest truly is. It becomes even more important when you try to squeeze in exercise into your new lifestyle. So, even though

working out can make you feel energized, it can also seriously deplete your energy levels. Therefore, try to get as much sleep as possible to both improve your exercising efforts and help your body heal quicker.

In the end, as much as it is important to take good care of your body postpartum, it’s also important not to try and push it over its limits. Your body just went through a lot, so give it some time to heal and get back to normal as much as possible before you fully get back to your regular exercising regime.

When you give birth, you instantly become entitled to celebrating one more holiday – Mother’s Day. It usually includes breakfast in bed and hand-made gifts from your little ones, such as a picture frame made of macaroni. However, your first Mother’s Day won’t be anything like that. After all, your baby’s greatest accomplishment is not pooping outside the diaper and you still have a couple of years before you can expect any gifts from your little one. However, this doesn’t mean you cannot celebrate this holiday. You are a mom, and you deserve to have a day that is all about you. So, if you wish to commemorate Mother’s Day as a first-time mama, here are a couple of ideas you may like.

Do things at your own pace 

Every day you get out of bed, jump start your body with a dose of caffeine and power through the day doing four things at a time. Well, this Mother’s Day starts the day by having a cup of coffee in your bed while watching your favorite TV show, reading a book, or just looking through the window. You can also prepare yourself a nice breakfast to eat in the bedroom, or, if you are a lucky gal, have your partner prepare it for you.

Buy yourself a fancy piece of jewelry

You will want to remember this day for the rest of your life, and what better way to remind yourself of it than with something you can both wear and treasure. A gemstone necklace from Moon Magic is a perfect choice since it can easily dress up your outfits and basically never goes out of style.

Write a letter to your child

Kids love listening about stories about themselves from times they cannot remember. Therefore, take time to write a letter to your baby and tell them how excited you were to meet them, what the beginning of their life looked like or how they kept your up at night. Basically, there are no rules here and you can write whatever you wish. In a couple of years, take this letter out and read it to your child. They will surely be excited to hear about their first months and it may even become their favorite
bedtime story. 

Build a time capsule

There are so many things you can put into a time capsule, from your baby’s first shoes, their doll, a lock of their hair, or one of their nappies. Place everything in a box, wrap it, and put it somewhere safe. In a couple of years, you can open it together with your kid and see what is in there.

Buy fresh flowers

A bouquet of fresh flowers always brightens up the room, so do not hesitate to add some color and fragrance to your home. Whether your partner gets them for you or you pick them up yourself, they will surely look great in your house for a week or so.

Take off your apron!

This is your special day and that means no cooking and no washing the dishes. On Mother’s Day treat yourself to your favorite meal. You can order in, have your loved one cook for you or dine out. Oh, and do not skip dessert, on this day calories do not matter. 

You are in charge

Do you wish to take an afternoon nap? Then do it! Have brunch with your family, go to the park, spend an hour shopping for a new dress or watch that movie you wanted to see for so long. If needed, ask your loved ones or a nanny for help so you can enjoy a guilt-free day indulging yourself. Remember that Mother’s Day is all about you, so do not hesitate to do things you love and that make you happy.

Check out my other handmade gift ideas for Mother's Day!

Mother's Day Colouring Card Printable

Make Your Own Mother's Day Coupon Book Printable

Gorgeous Floral Mother's Day Card Printable

Ferrero Rocher Bouquet Tutorial

Heart in a Cupcake Tutorial

Buying a dress is a process. It requires some thought. You also have to really get to know your own body to find the perfect dress. That is because one dress can look completely different on two different types of bodies. Finding the right fit is not just about choosing the correct dress size. Style plays a major role.

What a Dress Length Says About You

Length is a vital part of the choice of which dress to buy. The dress length you choose can say a lot about you. For example, a short dress can say “I feel flirtatious today.” A longer dress might give off a more professional message. A shorter dress might also help you express confidence in your lower body and accentuate your legs. A longer dress with a tight bodice, on the other hand, accentuates your upper body.

Dress Lengths You Can Pick From

Dresses do not simply come in short or long styles. You can choose from mini or maxi. There are also several in between sizes. For instance, you might buy a cocktail dress that ends around your knees or try a longer dress.  Not every dress is a club-going mini skirt or a floor-touching ball gown. Finding the length you need for the occasion and for your body is a major part of the dress buying battle.

In some cases, there are also variations within categories. For example, by definition a midi dress ends above your ankle. It also hangs at least below your knee. However, that leaves a lot of lower leg to play with. By selecting a midi dress that hangs a little bit higher or lower than exactly halfway down your lower leg, you can adjust your final appearance.

Choosing a Dress for Your Figure

Not everyone's figure is the same, obviously. Every person is an individual. However, in the dress world there are figure categories. One is hourglass. If you have an hourglass figure, a dress with a cinched waist and a tight bodice is a great choice to help you show it off. If your body is more of a pear shape, opt for dresses with flowing skirts to make your features appear more proportional. Also, select dresses that have more detailed bodice work or otherwise draw the eye toward your upper body.

There are several other body types you could potentially have. For instance, you might be an athlete with wide shoulders and a slender waist. The point is, look at your body shape and how a dress can compliment it. Your body type may lend itself well to a simple, straightforward shift dress or a frilled or otherwise embellished gown. Once you know, you can work with your body instead of against it.

Another Aspect of Your Body Type You Can Play With

Your general body shape is not easy to change, but your height is an aspect you can actually play with easily. It is not possible to change how tall you really are, but you can make yourself appear the height you want. For example, an asymmetrical dress gives the illusion of more height most of the time. So does a dress with some sort of waist sash. Footwear also changes how tall or short you appear while wearing any dress, so do not limit your dress choices in your mind just because you are on the short or tall side.

Take Your Time with Choosing a Dress

The best advice about dress shopping is to take your time. Make sure you like the length, fabric, and general style. Consider everything from budget to washing instructions. Above all, make sure the dress you pick will look good on your body type and that you will feel comfortable wearing it. Then your closet will gain a useful article of clothing, rather than a dust collector.

How to Find Your Personal Style and the Importance of it

It’s official! We welcomed our baby boy, Justice to our world on March 28, 2020, 2:49 pm. Justice came 4 days early weighing at 6 lbs and 8 oz. We were so thankful that the delivery was a smooth one and Justice was born healthy.

As a first timer, I was nervous and worried about giving birth. After hearing all the experiences and horror stories from people around me, I wanted to skip the delivering process entirely. And I didn’t think I would ever be ready for it. But time just flew by. The day came before I was prepared. And I learned that I was a lot stronger than I thought.

Birth Story of Justice

I took my maternity leave from work a week before my expected due date of April 1st. I was hoping that our baby would come after April and I’d have enough time to rest up and relax. Lucky that I took time off early, I started to feel pain in my lower back just shortly after my maternity started. At that time, I had no idea those were contractions. I just felt uncomfortable and they happened infrequently throughout the day. But as the week progressed, the pain had gotten stronger and soon I found myself unable to sleep because of it. I looked up the pain and started tracking the frequency of the occurrence. It was not a consistent 5-1-1 frequency so I wrote them off as Braxton Hicks.

When I went into my weekly check up with my OB, she told me my cervix was still closed but wouldn’t want me to not call the hospital if I continue to feel pain. I managed to live through the pain for another 2 days but it had gotten so frequent and strong that I could barely do anything at home. So I called the hospital twice and both times I was told that it was still not time to come in yet and I should call again if my water breaks. That night after my shower before bed, I felt some leakage. The leakage was minor but enough for me to change my sanitary pads a few times within few minutes. I thought that must be my “water breaking”. I called the hospital at around 11:30 pm and finally they asked me to come in for assessment just in case.

We grabbed all our hospital bags and baby things and arrived to the hospital past midnight. But because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Will was not allowed to go in with me and had to wait in the car. I asked the hospital security to escort me in a wheelchair to the triage center located on the 4th floor. I wasn't able to walk by myself with the intermittent pains.

The nurse checked me with a swab at around 1:30 am and confirmed that my water was indeed broken. My cervix was also 3 cm dilated! I called Will and told him I was in early labour. After we settled in the birthing room. I tried to walk around the floor to speed up the dilation. But the pain had gotten a lot worse and I could barely walk with amniotic fluid gushing every step of the way. I spent the rest of the night lying down on the bed where Will helped me with the breathing and tracking the contraction frequency. An hour later, the nurse checked my cervix again and I had progressed to 4 cm dilated. The nurse then reminded me that if I wanted to take the epidural, she could call the doctor now to do so.

Worrying that the pain would be unbearable later and that I would miss the deadline for the epidural to be effective, I agreed to taking it. This was something unplanned for, but it ended up being the best decision I had made. It took another 15 minutes and a few more contractions before I was placed with an IV. I had to curl up like a ball for the doctor to inject the epidural into my spine. It was hard for me to stay put especially when contractions were still going simultaneously. After a few minutes, the pain was a lot more tolerable. I could still feel the pressure but at least I could finally breath normally again.

The night had gotten easier after the epidural for the both of us. I was able to take my mind off from the pain before delivery and Will was able to take a nap after having to work an early morning shift. The nurse came in to check up on me few hours later and said that my dilation was progressing slowly. The doctor had to come in and help break the rest of my water sack to speed up the process. Few hours later, I was still at 6 cm dilation, so we proceeded with having oxytocin to get things moving. The nurse who helped me at the beginning had now finished her shift. Another nurse came in and told us we could start pushing. It took me a while before I was able to control the right muscles to push during my contractions. The nurse told me the baby was still in a sunny side up position and we needed to help him turn. Thankfully, with the help of the birthing ball, the baby did end up in an anterior position. After pushing for an hour and a half, a team of staff came into my room including the delivery doctor on duty. Things had gotten more real. I wasn't sure if it was distraction or motivation but when Will told me he could see the head down there, I pushed harder. The final push was intense. I kept staring at the reflective panel at the ceiling to see what was going on. Then I heard the nurse telling me, “You can look down, his head is coming out!”.  As soon as I looked down, I immediately saw my baby’s face and his whole body coming out of mine. The nurse placed him over my chest right away while wiping the fluid off his body, I burst into tears. It was an emotional moment for both Will and I. The entire process took about 15 hours in total.

Will was only allowed to stay in the hospital with me for 2 hours after birth. And I had to spend the rest of the night alone with the baby in the hospital. But for some reasons, I wasn't afraid or worried. I love staring at his cute little face and doing skin to skin with him. It was amazing what a human body could do.  I’m so thankful to have a team of professional doctors and nurses to guide me through my first delivery and making it much smoother than I had imagined. It still feels surreal to look at my baby that was inside me for 10 months.

Welcome to the world, Justice!

Check out my other pregnancy posts!

Our Baby Nursery Room Reveal
Our Baby Gender Reveal Party! (DIY Party Decor)

How to Look Stylish During Pregnancy

Ways We Saved Money on Baby Stuff
Pregnancy Journal: Third Trimester (Week 28-36)

Pregnancy Journal: Second Trimester (Week 14-27)

Pregnancy Journal: First Trimester (Week 1-13)

Setting up the nursery room was the biggest project I tackled during my pregnancy. I had a lot of ideas on how I wanted the nursery room to be like. But it was hard to start without first knowing the gender. So Will and I kept it fairly neutral at the beginning. We didn't find out about our baby's gender until I was 37 weeks pregnant. And it was one of our best moments to share with family and friends (pre-social distancing time). If you missed the post, check out our baby gender reveal party here.

I had so much fun designing and decorating this space for Baby Sue. I wanted the space to be inviting, airy and bright. So Will painted the room in bright white paint and an accent grey wall with the leftover paint we used on our main floor. It was impressive to see how a paint change could instantly lift up the vibe of a room.

Wall art - Sol Mari Art // Bunting Banner - Handmade // Cloud mobile - Handmade // Polar bear stool - HomeSense  //  Rug - Ikea

I didn't really have a theme to work with but I wanted to add some whimsical elements to the nursery. I found a cute rug from Ikea and it worked quite nicely with the colour scheme.

Originally, I wanted to do a wallpaper accent wall by the crib. But after doing wallpaper in our master bedroom and powder room, Will didn't want to deal with wallpapers anymore. So instead, I made some removable wall decals with my Cricut machine and had Will stick them up at the top. They looked pretty good and compliment the rug. Don't you think?

Above the crib, I decided to hang some art prints from one of my favourite illustrator, Sol Mari Art. I edited the illustrations a bit to better match the colour scheme and sent it to a local print shop. I bought some white frames and stuck them up to the wall using the Command strips. This is my go-to damage-free method for hanging frames on the wall. I absolutely adore the art prints and I think they work so well with the space!

Hemnes Dresser - Ikea // Diaper Caddy Organizer c/o Putska 

I hadn't gotten the chance to buy some shelvings and a mirror for the space above the dresser before all the non-essential retail stores closed for the pandemic crisis. This wall would be left empty for awhile unless I could find something I like online. In the corner, we set up a nursing area with a grey recliner. There's actually a small cabinet set up to hold all my nursing needs as well. I just couldn't wait to spend time with my little one in this cozy corner!

Finally, I wanted to throw in some personal touches. In order to have all the decor pieces tie in together, I went with the DIY route so I could customize it to my liking without spending a fortune. I spent most of my early maternity break finishing up all those decor pieces like the bunting banner, hanging wall banner, cloud mobile, wall decals and milestone blocks. I even gotten some time to make some personalized onesies too!

Handmade Hanging Wall Banner - Check out my tutorial here.

And there you have it!

Our sweet baby boy’s nursery reveal from top to bottom! What do you think? I absolutely loved how the space turned out and couldn't wait to bring my baby into this space and create memories together.

Check out my other pregnancy posts!

Our Baby Gender Reveal Party! (DIY Party Decor)

How to Look Stylish During Pregnancy

Ways We Saved Money on Baby Stuff
Pregnancy Journal: Third Trimester (Week 28-36)

Pregnancy Journal: Second Trimester (Week 14-27)

Pregnancy Journal: First Trimester (Week 1-13)

Hi everyone! I hope y'all are staying strong and staying in during this critical time. I've been working from home for the past week and spending a lot of time indoors. Now that I'm at home more, I'm able to catch up on my pregnancy journal, set up the nursery and finish up all my DIY projects for #BabySue.

If you're finding it hard isolating away from your family and friends, I hope today's little tutorial can give you a boost of encouragement and positivity. This hanging wall banner is my aspiration for my little boy. I hope he can always stay awesome and happy even through tough times.

1. With a pencil, trace the banner shape onto the canvas with my template and cut it out with scissors. The final size of my canvas after hemming is 11" W x 13" H. You can scale it down to fit a letter-sized paper. Remember to leave 0.25-0.5" for hemming when you trace it on the canvas.
2. Fold the hem to the back and iron them down so that you have a nice clean edge. I like to use the hair straightener to do this as it is easier to iron the edge and follow along with the shape. You can also use an iron for this. Glue the hems in place.
3. Cut the stencil using your Cricut or cutting machine. If you don't have a cutting machine, simply cut out the words with scissors on a piece of cardstock.
4. Tape the stencil onto the canvas and dap the paintbrush with black paint. Carefully dap onto the stencil. Do not brush over, it might bleed underneath the stencil.
5. While you wait for the paint to dry, use embroidery threads and make some decorative tassels.
6. Fold the top edge of the canvas and wrap around a piece of wooden dowel. Glue it in place.
7. Take a piece of cotton rope and add some wooden beads. Wrap around the cotton rope to both ends of the wooden dowel and tie with a knot to secure.
8. Glue your tassels onto each corner of the canvas banner.
9. Carefully lift up the stencil from the canvas.

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