While I waited for Taylor to arrive I had spend years planning the perfect gender neutral Llama Nursery. Once we found out she was on the way last spring I started planning exactly how we were going to bring this vision to life.
Using bold jewel tone colors as a starting point I painted the entire room grey to provide a good base neutral that would make the colors pop. The base paint color is ‘Olympus white’ but it does look a bit more grey than white against the accent wall.
Throughout the entire house we lean towards a grey monochromatic color scheme, and wanted to keep something relatively simple to contrast against the colored dots. The top section of the wall is a light grey [a different shade than the base color but not much] and a dark grey. I originally ‘pinned’ the inspiration for the room nearly 4 years ago and its fun to see how many people have used nearly this exact same styling with personalized contrast patterns on the right side.
To obtain the clean lines I used a paintable silicone along the edge of the painters tape. Off hand you may not think you need the silicone but trust me, you do.
For the colored dots I cut out circle stencils using my cricut and placed them sporadically across the wall. Similar to the edges on the triangles, I used silicone to get a good clean round look. With just a few colored areas there was no need to buy full quarts of paint. Lowes and Home Depot both offer small ‘paint samples’ that work perfect for a project of this size.
To mirror the colors across the room I painted the MOSSLANDA white picture ledge from IKEA to match the colors of the dots. Since the picture ledges are finished these required several coats to cover up the glossy finished coat but they came out great after being allowed to dry for a few weeks.
Once all the core colors were up I added Night and Day Shades from Blindster. These blinds were so easy to order and install. You can see the full post about that experience and learn why we selected this two-toned cellular shade for our gender neutral llama nursery.
Once the base walls and windows were finished it was time to add in the furniture. I wanted to select a dresser that would grow with Taylor and continue to fit her wardrobe after was out of infant sizes. With so many shipping challenges we headed to our local Furniture Row and asked to see examples of white dressers currently in stock. This helped narrow things down and made sure we didn’t fall in love with something we couldn’t get in time. The original plan was to pick up just the chest of drawers but we found the tall dresser and nightstand in the scratch and dent section of the store for a steal!
We finished the room off with a convertible crib from Delta Children. Convertible cribs change into both a toddler and double bed ensuring we’ll get tons of use out of this entire set as Taylor grows up!
I love how everything came together and I am looking forward to spending tons of time in this room with Taylor! I hope she loves it as much as I do.
With as long as we had been working towards having a baby the nursery was ‘planned’ far in advance. In contrast to the popular styles today I wanted a bright and colorful nursery using bold jewel tones and llamas as inspiration. What I didn’t know, was how to cover the windows in an effective way that allow the baby to get the most sleep.
Cordless cellular shades are the best nursery blind solution and I was excited to find a Day and Night shade at Blindster perfect for helping ensure the nursery blinds would encourage the babies adjustment to the world outside the womb. I didn’t want to deal with curtains that could eventually be pulled down by a toddler but I knew I wanted something that could effectively block the light when necessary.
Despite my best intentions of wrapping up the nursery before the baby was set to arrive, our early little girl got here before everything was completely done. We are just now putting the finishing touches on the room while she spends most of her evenings in our bedroom for the next six months.
Once she transitions into her room, daylight savings will result in a bright sunset streaming through the windows at approximately bedtime. The shades we selected are multifunctional with the ability to both filter and block light. The top portion of the honeycomb cellular shared is constructed from light filtering fabric and the bottom half features blackout. This makes it easy to transition from naptime with some light streaming into the room to dark bedtime lighting – all without needing to pull a separate shade or curtain across.
The best part is how easy it was to order and install our new nursery blinds. We started by following Blindster’s instructions for measuring for an inside window mount. They even have a great video that walks you step by step through the process.
<iframe allowtransparency="true" title="Wistia video player" allowFullscreen frameborder="0" scrolling="no" class="wistia_embed" name="wistia_embed" src="https://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/6mxno90fsd" width="400" height="225"></iframe>Once we had the measurements ready to go, the Blindster website makes it super easy to select the color, mount style and enter the appropriate sizes. The pricing changes at the top once everything is finalized making it possible to estimate the cost of your nursery blinds without having to talk with a salesperson.
Since most of my nursery planning took place in the evenings after work this was super convenient. I didn’t have to go into a store and could order with just a few clicks of a button.
Once ordered it took a couple of weeks for everything to be custom cut for our room and the nursery blind install was a breeze. The blinds included a few mounts that needed to be attached inside the frame and the rest was clipped up in a snap.
I love that these are a fully cordless for safety and how easy it is to quickly transition from completely light blocking over to daytime shades. Many babies have a hard time setting their circadian rhythm and baby sleep experts recommend keeping light in the room during naptime and evenings transitioning to total darkness for the best sleeping through the night experience.
The best part about these blinds is that the will definitely grow with Taylor and do not need to be changed out later if she decides to update the decor. Investing in a good set of nursery blinds means the room is set up for a toddler, child and even teenager!
Disclaimer: I received a product sample from Blindster to inspire this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
One of the best (and arguably worst) parts of Thanksgiving dinner is all of the leftovers. After spending an entire day cooking and cleaning an elaborate meal, the abundance of leftovers can be overwhelming. The last thing you want is family quickly growing bored of microwaved turkey and a significant portion of your hard work going into the trash after a few days.
Reinventing your Thanksgiving Dinner leftovers into new dishes is the perfect way to keep the meal fresh and ensure you make the most of out of your hard work. Today I’m sharing two of my favorite ways to reuse Thanksgiving Dinner leftovers for a post-Black Friday shopping brunch.
Thanksgiving Dinner Leftover Recipe: Cranberry Turkey Sliders
I’m a huge fan of the simplicity of baked sliders and this quick and easy recipe uses three leftover items from your Thanksgiving Dinner. Similar to a Monte Cristo, this dish combines the savory flavors of roast turkey and swiss with the complementary sweetness of cranberry sauce and Hawaiian rolls.
Ingredients
- Leftover sliced Turkey
- Leftover Hawaiian Rolls [1 package]
- Leftover Cranberry Sauce [1 cup]
- Dijon Mustard [1 tbs]
- Everything Bagel Seasoning [1 tsp]
- Melted Butter [1/3 cup]
Directions
1.) Cut the Hawaiian rolls horizontally and place the bottom into an oven safe baking dish.
2.) Stack Turkey, swiss cheese and cranberry sauce evenly across your Hawaiian roll base.
3.) Combine the melted butter, dijon mustard, and everything bagel seasoning in a small bowl.
4.) replace the top of the Hawaiian rolls.
5.) Use a pastry brush to evenly distribute the melted butter mixture across all of the sliders.
6.) Bake in the oven at 365 degrees for 15-20 mins or until cheese is melted and tops are golden brown.
Thanksgiving Dinner Leftover Recipe: Sweet Potato Croquettes
Ingredients
- Leftover sweet potato casserole
- Cream cheese
- Panko Breadcrumbs
Directions
1.) Using clean hands, create balls of sweet potato casserole and add a tbs of cream cheese to the middle.
2.) Roll in panko breadcrumbs.
3.) Freeze breaded croquettes for 3-4 hours or overnight.
To prepare, you can choose to bake, deep fry or air fry. I prefer baking to help offset the heavy dinner with a small healthy choice.
4.) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
5.) from frozen bake for 45 mins, turning one time. Serve with a maple syrup dipping sauce.
Back in May we took road trip from Colorado to Park City, Utah to celebrate my birthday and enjoy getting away from home for just a couple of days. Park City is a resort town, similar to Aspen in Colorado. Walking shops, delicious food and mountain air made for the perfect getaway.
One of the things we didn’t consider when planning our trip was the overall elevation. While Denver is a mile high, Park City tops off at 7,000 feet. That means that even during late spring and summer Park City has snowstorms and chilly weather.
To escape the cold we decided to take a day trip into Salt Lake City to experience Antelope Island State Park. Antelope Island is just outside city and backs up to the Great Salt Lake. Home to over 550 bison Antelope Island offers the opportunity to experience wildlife from a safe distance while enjoying views of the mountains and surrounding canyon.
Entry to the park is $15 per car for the day, and includes access to the scenic highway abundant with bison. A leisurely drive through the park lasted about 4 hours and provided sights of both bison and antelope. The road itself is well paved so 4 wheel drive is not a requirement to visit the park, although some dirt roads can be bumpy in places.
Welcome to My Bliss
