DIY Sparkle-saur Magnet Chalkboard

I have a birthday party coming up for a very precocious four year old who is currently obsessed with dinosaurs. Her mom on the other hand is about to redecorate her room and has no intentions of filling it with prehistoric green. I wanted to come up with something they both would love, so I put together this magnet chalk board. It will be fun for her to hang up her drawings and things, but the dinosaurs won't be an eyesore in her adorable new room. It was pretty simple, but I definitely needed help from Tom with the dino slicing. I'm not good with saws, and I prefer to keep all my fingers for life. 

Supplies Needed: Magnet chalkboard (here), plastic dinosaurs, stickers to decorate, metallic gold spray paint, small magnets, hot glue gun and glue. 

1. Either you or someone capable that loves you will cut the dinosaurs in half with a saw. 
2. Sand any rough edges and lay the dinosaurs out on their sides. Spray paint one side, let dry and repeat on the other side. 
3. Use scissors to cut your magnets to shape/size. 
4. Hot glue the magnets to the backs of your sparkly little lizards. 
5. Decorate the chalkboard using stickers. Tip: regular paper stickers stick the best to the chalk board. I found that the puffy ones just peeled off. 
6. Optional step - I saved one whole dinosaur and glued to the bottom of the board for added theme.
7. Hang the dinos with their magnets. 
8. Gift with a box of chalk. 

If you make this, you should leave a comment with a picture! I would love to see the board made with different themes/animals. Thanks for reading!

Walker's Capsule Wardrobe Fall/Winter 2016

It's finally here!! I built Walker's fall/winter capsule wardrobe from Zara Kids. He has one other pair of blue jeans that I will be adding to the mix, but you can see that even without them there are so many outfit options using only TEN items! Now to avoid stains until spring....

Minimize Me

Most recent minimalist project - wardrobe! I find I'm really good at getting rid of clothes, but also really good at buying more. I'd like to move away from the constant clothing "cycle" and instead invest in fewer pieces that are timeless and high quality. I made myself a list of items to keep in my closet so that I can focus a bit more on building a capsule wardrobe. For example, instead of just getting rid of my twelve pairs of running shorts, I want to replace them with two or three pairs of high quality shorts. I hope to use this list to avoid the temptation of a sale or "must-have" items. Granted, this is no 30-piece wardrobe. It's an in-between step. I'm sure I will find after pairing down to this list that I have room to shrink again.

TOPS 

• 2 Dressy                                                                          
• 3 Casual
• 2 Layering (cardigan, denim, etc.)
• 1 Blazer

BOTTOMS

• 2 Jeans (one black, one blue)
• 2 Leggings (one black, one printed)
• 1 Dress Pant
• 1 Pencil Skirt
• 1 Jean Shorts
• 1 Casual Shorts

DRESSES 

• 1 One-piece/Romper
• 1 Cocktail Dress
• 2 Casual Dresses
• 1 Formal Dress

ACTIVE WEAR

• 3 Running Shorts
• 2 Running Pants
• 3 Tanks
• 1 Running Jacket
• 1 Running Shoes

SHOES (This is my problem area)

• 2 Dressy Neutrals (black and nude)
• 2 Casual Neutrals
• 2 Boots 
• 2 Rain/Snow Boot
• 1 Dressy Statement Shoe
• 1 Casual Statement Shoe
• 1 Slides (hello, Berks)

WEATHER

• 2 Gloves (one light, one heavy)
• 1 Rain Jacket
• 1 Fleece
• 1 Winter Coat
• 1 Formal/Dress Coat
• 1 Warm Scarf

ACCESSORIES

• 2 Scarves
• 3 Necklaces
• 2 Bracelets
• 5 Earrings
• 2 Purses
• 1 Sunglasses

SWIM

• 2 Swim Suits
• 1 Cover
• 1 Flip Flops
• 1 Beach Bag
• 1 Beach Towel

Sorry for the long vertical list...can't figure out the columns on this template. Blogger probs. Hope this is helpful for those of you also desiring to simplify.