GIFT GUIDE FOR AGE 3-5
The countdown for Christmas is on! I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping to get all of my Christmas done by December 1st. That way we can enjoy the month of December without running to the mall a million times.
Here is my second gift guide for ages 3-5.
We normally do 4 gifts per kid: Something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read. But this year we’re joining forces with our family and getting them a play couch! And then Santa will get them a gift and a book.
*Most links are affiliate links. Thanks for supporting me and my family.
Play Couch- We actually pre-ordered The Joey Play Couch from Roo + You but it won’t come till next Spring. This one on Indigo looks great and it’s available now!!
Fort Making Kit- My kiddos had one of these in a Lovevery Box and went nuts for it! This one even glows in the dark!! I could see this getting a lot of use.
Lovevery Boxes- My 4 + 5 year old have had a couple of the 3 year old boxes and LOVE them. These guys know how to make toys well.
Sofie Valdez Book- I love the messages in these books. London has the Rosie Revere Engineer one and it makes me cry!
Candyland- Age 4/5 is a great age to introduce board games! We have Snakes + Ladders and Guess Who and the kids love them!
Playmobil- You can’t go wrong with Playmobil once they turn 4/5!
Cleaning Set- It’s never to early to teach them how to clean ha! I know my kiddos would go nuts for this.
Happy Shopping!
GIFT GUIDE FOR BABIES + TODDLERS
The countdown for Christmas is on! I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping to get all of my Christmas done by December 1st. That way we can enjoy the month of December without running to the mall a million times.
Here is the first of four gift guides. I combined Baby + toddler together as the next one will be a preschooler/Kindergartener.
*Most links are affiliate links. Thanks for supporting me and my family.
Baby Board Book- These word books are AMAZING for little ones. They can learn to identify different objects and then learn the words. We were given this exact one but it fell apart because we read it so much so I’m grabbing a new one for Leo for Christmas!
Stacking Cups- We’re all about the simple toys to help develop motor skills. Leo loves building towers and these can be used in the bath too.
Lovevery Boxes- These boxes have been absolutely AMAZING! Every box is designed for your child at their specific age. My kids have loved these boxes sooo much. They even have a gift registry where you can send it out to family and ask them to contribute to it for Christmas/birthdays. They have great resale value as well!
Wooden Midas Puzzle- I had to include some aesthetically pleasing toys too ha! But in all seriousness, this is puzzle is so cute and I know Leo would love it. It’s from a Canadian online small shop, be sure to check them out!
Hot Wheels Cars- Leo is 100% obsessed with our Hot Wheels Cars. He even pushes them around in his doll stroller. These are great to use as toddlers grow to preschoolers and beyond.
Doll Stroller- We’ve always had a doll stroller for the kids and it gets used a lot! Our boys and daughter enjoyed playing with it.
Baby Doll- Every baby should have a baby doll!
Mega Blocks- All of our kids have loved playing with Mega Blocks. Not only does my 1.5 year old love playing with them but my 4 and 5 year olds do too!
Happy Shopping!
BEAR'S BLOOMS REVIEW
You will regret lots of things in life, but you will never regret buying flowers. I’ve yet to meet a person who doesn’t love flowers. Flowers have the power to brighten moods and spruce up your home decor game. I am a flower lover.
So when I heard about Bear’s Blooms- a service that delivers locally sourced flowers that last way longer than a grocery store bouquet, I jumped for joy.
Bear’s Blooms is based out of Vancouver, BC but they are able to deliver to the Greater Vancouver Area and Victoria, BC.
They make it incredibly easy to get fresh flowers delivered to your doorstep. All you do is pick your bouquet size and the frequency you want new blooms and if you’re going to be away, you can simply skip that delivery!
The flowers arrive in a cute box with instructions on how to arrange the vase. So if you have no idea how to make a floral arrangement, don’t worry because they got you covered!
The flowers arrive before they’re in full bloom so you’ll be able to enjoy your bouquet for quite awhile. This one lasted me well over a week!
Arranging the flowers was therapeutic to me and because of their foolproof instructions, I was able to create a gorgeous floral arrangement.
Bear’s Blooms would make a wonderful gift for a loved one or a pick me up for yourself. Be sure to check out their website to find out more about their awesome floral delivery service!
KITCHEN RENO PLANS + MOOD BOARD
Remember when we reno’d our 1966 kitchen two months before we moved? The kitchen was the last room we renovated in our old house so we knew when we moved into our new house that we did not want to wait another 6 years to renovate our new kitchen!
Our new home was built in 1989 and I’m pretty sure the kitchen hasn’t been touched. We’ve done a ton of renos on the entire home (floors, walls, stairs, railing) which you can check out on my instagram if you haven’t seen it yet.
Here is what we’re working with…
It’s a good size space compared to our last kitchen. We have way more cupboard space even without the pantry that we removed which was beside the fridge.
There’s a skylight on the left side near the fridge and windows surrounding the dining room so this space gets a lot of natural light! For this room I’m going for a completely different look than our last reno. I want this kitchen to feel warm yet modern, kinda California casual/boho but not eclectic ha.
This is the mood board I made for it…
I’m feeling light beige, wood tones, gold/brass hardware with clean lines. I’m reaaallly hoping for the Cafe Appliances but we’ve heard they’re a one year wait (!!!!!!)
We’ll be going with an Ikea kitchen with Kitch Cabinet fronts and I’m so excited. James has drummed up the Ikea plans and we’re about to order. We will be adding a peninsula. I would have loved to do a free standing island but the space is a bit awkward and the peninsula fits in perfectly!
I’ll show more of the plans soon and more before and afters of the rooms in the new house in the next few weeks!
xo, laura
OUR 1966 KITCHEN RENO
Guys, OUR KITCHEN IS DONE!!! We’ve lived in this house for over 6 years and up until a few months ago we changed almost every room in the house…except for our kitchen.
I’ve been dreaming about the kitchen reno for a looong time. Originally we were going to gut the whole thing and put Ikea cabinets in but then we realized that this home is just too small to be our forever home. So we scrapped the original idea and instead opted for a more budget friendly remodel!
I’m thrilled with how it turned out. We did everything ourselves (except for installing the countertop + plumbing.)
But before we talk about it, can we check out how it used to look?
What a difference hey!!?
Here’s what changed in the space:
Lighting, counters, backsplash, floor, appliances, sink + faucet, cabinets painted + new hardware.
It was A LOT of work but it was manageable and so worth it!
Now I’ll walk you through all the details! I will be doing a separate post on refinishing + painting the cabinets as that but fyi the colour we used for the cabinets was Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore and here is the link to the hardware (affiliate link).
THE SINK
Hello dream sink. Seriously, our new sink from Blanco is my favourite part of the reno. I finally have a sink big enough to bathe my baby in it and I’m totally ok with doing dishes!!!
We went with the Precis U Super Single and are sooo happy with it. It’s made of Silgranit, it’s durable, so easy to clean and sooooo pretty.
I love the look of the recessed sink but Blanco has some beautiful Farmhouse ones too if that’s more your style.
Because our kitchen is quite small, we went with a low profile faucet and it’s I’m so happy with it. It’s the Alta faucet and it has a pull out powerful sprayer which makes washing dishes so much easier. Also, it’s so great for cleaning the sink!
Another great feature that Blanco has is their drying rack that goes in the sink. I absolutely love how you don’t have to take up counter space to dry the dishes! Thank you Blanco Canada for partnering with us!
THE COUNTERTOPS
Our countertops were done by New Life Stone Works in Victoria, BC and I highly recommend them! Mathew was so great to work with and did an amazing job installing them.
The exact stone we went with was Omnia Quartz Bianco Gioia and I love it. Goodbye 1966 laminate, I will NOT miss you ha.
FLOORS
I wish I had more details but all I have is that they were glue down vinyl tiles. They were $150 off Marketplace and James had to drive an hour to get them but we’re happy with them. Not my dream floor but I think they look great here and you can’t beat $150!!
BACKSPLASH
We went with a simple backsplash from Home Depot. Originally I thought James got the 3 x 6 but he went with 4 x 12. I would have loved to do stacked but he thought because we were going to move eventually, we should do a classic pattern and I agree but our next house is getting STACKED!
So there you have it, our 1966 Kitchen reno. Let me know through instagram if you have any questions or need any other links!
And watch out soon for the cabinet post!!
xo, Laura