HOLIDAY BOOKS FOR KIDS

If you've been following along for a while, you will know that I LOVE children's books as much as book walls and try to encourage reading in every way I can in our household and in client spaces. 

Book walls provide an easy way to display different toys and of course, books! At this time of year, I switch up the every day books for books about winter, Christmas, Hanukkah, whatever else that feels like December and holidays for your family!

A few years ago, we wrapped up books for an all-book advent calendar and it was the perfect way to start a family collection of stories for this time of the year. The following years we have given the kids a new book on December 1st to launch the holiday fun. If introduced right from the start, books are loved by all. They will make the perfect gift for your own little ones but also make lovely gifts for cousins, nieces, nephews and any little friends.

Here are some of our tried and true favourite Christmas / holiday / December books!

01. // The Christmas Quiet Book; 02. // The Polar Express; 03. // Snowmen at Christmas; 04. // A Christmas for Bear; 05. // Christmas Wombat; 06. // Bear Stays Up For Christmas; 07. // Belle & Boo A Very Merry Christmas; 08. // Little Blue Truck's Christmas; 09. // Twas The Night Before Christmas; 10. // Hannukah Hop; 11. // The Jolly Christmas Postman; 12. // The Little Reindeer.

We also LOVE 'Little Robin's Christmas' but I couldn't find it in stock anywhere online. It is a lovely story so check your local bookstore to see if it is there.

Happy reading...

OH MONDAY!

1. #ohmonday seems to come so quickly each week and instead of dreading Mondays, I wake up feeling invigorated and excited to be working in a field that I love so much. Thank you for being here and following my journey!

2. If you caught my Instastories over on Instagram about a week ago, you will have seen that I'm working on a HUGE retail project that I haven't told you much about. This is my first time working outside of children's spaces and I am designing a men's retail store in Yaletown, Vancouver that will be launching in Spring 2018. I'll be sharing more about this exciting project in the months to come but for now, here is a progress shot of the retail shelving and space as well as the amazing pendants and a fun mirror that were just installed!!! A completely different look than my kids rooms!

3. Back to kids...did you know there's only 29 days until Christmas?!! I am thinking of buying dolls for our girls this year. Here are some of the ones I've been looking at; do you know of any others that are lovely and soft and cuddly? Please tell me in the comments if you do!

4. Speaking of Christmas, our favourite personalized books are on sale (last day today) for 15% off! We are buying these this year for some of the little ones in our life as Kaia, Noelle & Xavier LOVE them. The Intergalactic Journey Home is our absolute fave.

5. Hope all of my friends in the US had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family time. I'm feeling very grateful for our health, everyday opportunities and my sweet little crew below!

Adorable outfits from our friends at Petits Vilains.

Happy Monday...

GET THE LOOK {CHRISTMAS PLAYHOUSE}

Thank you for all the love on our holiday playhouse this week!!! I am so happy you love it as much as I do.

If you are thinking of getting a playhouse for your little ones for Christmas, I still love these wooden playhouses for this project.

If you are curious about how we achieved this look from the original playhouse, please find the details here.

01. // Playhouse; 02. // Birch lit tree; 03. // Boxwood wreath; 04. // Mini mugs; 05. // Welcome mat; 06. // Holiday garlands; 07. // Playhouse stools; 08. // Diamond rug.

KIDS CHRISTMAS WOODEN PLAYHOUSE

GET THE LOOK…

Our little wooden playhouse is all decorated for Christmas!!! You may remember the summer makeover of this cubby house from last year and I finally got a few things together to decorate it for the holidays. I had this idea to surprise the kids with a fun afternoon outside eating shortbread cookies and drinking hot cocoa and I am so thankful we did it before the crazy rain started because they LOVED it!

The white lit birch trees were such a fun addition that I will move inside later; one for the girls' room and one for Xavier's.

We swapped summer lemonade for hot cocoa and the menu changed to include cookies, brownies and candy canes (kids dream menu!). All three kids wanted to take turns 'serving' the others and the shortbread cookies were gobbled up nearly instantly.

I just love the unexpected colours in the peppermint garland from Pearl and Jane. It's so cute for the playhouse and would be equally as adorable as holiday decoration in a children's room!

I adore the little details in our playhouse: the tiny HO HO HO banner, gold drop garland and JOY banner are all from Etsy. So many creative makers that I love to support! I just had to include this photo of our youngest smiling broadly and poking over the door. 

If you missed the original makeover, you can find that post here. I hope you find inspiration and a little fun from our holiday playhouse.

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SUMMER PLAYHOUSE

OH MONDAY!

1. What a weekend! It flew by and we enjoyed so many sweet family moments amidst the downpour of continuous rain. Enough rain to make you want to crawl up in a giant blanket and never leave home (especially if you could look out these dreamy windows all day, right)?

Source: Pinterest

2. If you caught my Instastories on Saturday, you will have seen that our little wooden playhouse is all decorated for Christmas! I am so excited to be sharing the full reveal with you later this week, but for now, here's a tiny sneak peek.

3. Speaking of Christmas, I just bought three little felt mouse ornaments for the kids. Way too cute! We give new holiday ornaments to the kids each year on the day we decorate the tree. That way, when they leave home, they'll have a whole set of ornaments to take with them for their own tree! It's a childhood tradition that I grew up with and have loved to continue.

4. Now that Christmas is on the mind, I'll be updating the HOLIDAY SHOP and adding new gift ideas. Keep checking back if you are looking for gifts for the little ones in your life.

5. Leaving you with this Monday thought:

Have a great week everyone!