Teacher & Therapist Gift Ideas
The Holidays are here, which means it is time for gifting! If you have a child that has special needs, you may have multiple teachers and several therapists that you're looking for gifts for. So, I've come up with six different gift ideas at varying price points. These will work for teachers, therapists, neighbors, coworkers, or even hostess gifts, the people that you would like to give a gift to, but you're not super close with and don't know them all that well. I'm also sharing a few different packaging ideas in case you don't want do a gift bag or wrapping a gift isn't your thing.
Built in Bookshelves with Bench + Download
The bookshelf we had in Jackie’s bedroom just was not cutting it. It was overflowing, it wasn’t secured to the wall and there was too much extra stuff that we wanted to put on it that we just didn’t have room for. I went to Pinterest to look for something that might work for the space. I ended up finding a Pottery Barn shelf that had a ledge on it that I absolutely loved. I did not, however, love the price. So, I came up with my own much taller design of that shelf, got all the measurements I needed and got to work.
Refinishing Antique Dressers
I've had this set of dressers my entire life. They belonged to my grandparents on my dad’s side. I love the quality and the sentimental value of them, but they just really aren’t my style. However, after years of my dad telling me he didn't want me to change anything about them, he finally agreed to let me do something with them. So, now I get to update them to fit the esthetic of my home a little more.
Cookie Garland for the Holidays
Something I started doing in the last few years that my mom has always done is a Christmas cookie garland. My mom always did it over a doorway so she could see it often. Last year with the sudden passing of my Oma (grandmother in German) my mom wasn’t really feeling up to putting any of her decorations up. However, she’s always told me how much she loves it, and I know my Oma loved the tradition. So, I helped her put it up in the perfect spot around the window in the kitchen so she could see it from the whole kitchen, and I know it made her feel better through her grief.
Play Table & Benches Build + Build Plans
On the last blog post I talked about the play kitchen we got Jackie for Christmas last year. It’s so cute and functional for the space, but having tea parties on the floor wasn’t going to cut it. So, what goes perfectly with an adorable built in play kitchen? A custom play table dining set with enough seats for all of her “girls” (her dolls)! When I asked Jackie what she wanted, she requested a table with soft benches instead of chairs. So I gathered my supplies and got started.
Jackie’s Play Kitchen Space
For Christmas of last year (2021) we got our daughter an adorable play kitchen from Teamson. I got it for a great deal and it was shipped to us before Thanksgiving, so I had it in plenty of time for Christmas. When we decided that we were going to put it in her room I knew that I wanted it to be more built in. I did this for a few reasons. First, I didn't want it stick out from the wall. Second, I wanted to have confidence that it would be secure and finally I didn’t want the random stuff that kids inevitably have to get stuck behind it.
Favorite Small Businesses to Shop This Holiday Season
I love shopping small all year but when it gets close to the holidays, some of my favorite places to buy gifts is from small business. Mostly because no one else has heard of these places or is shopping at Amazon, Walmart or Target (nothing wrong with that!) so I’m not going to be duplicating gifts or items people already have. Today, I am sharing a few small businesses I love to buy from, all of which we own products from as well. Most of these businesses I have discount codes for so you can save a little money too! I have split them up into categories to make shopping easier for you.
Adding a Storage Closet Under Our Stairs
Our builder made a little indent underneath our stairs on our main floor. It was pretty useless, so when we first moved in I added shelves. In the process of adding shelves we figured out there was nothing underneath our stairs. I knew that I wanted to do something with the space because, with the little amount of storage we have in this house, every extra bit counts!
Why We Love Beddy’s
If you remember the most popular, and one of my favorite projects, is the house bed I built for my daughter. One of my most common questions I get asked it is: what sheets do you use? In the process of building the bed I did a ton research looking for the best bedding. I knew, because of how tight the space is, that traditional bedding would make it really hard to make the bed. That's when I found Beddy's.
Easy Christmas Nails with Dashing Diva Gel Nail Strips
I'm fully entrenched in Christmas decorating at my house, so what better time to make my nails reflect my holiday spirit too! The three holiday themed nail strips from Dashing Diva that I currently have on hand are: Candy Graham, Light Snow and Sugar Plum Dance. I feel like Candy Graham and Light Snow are a little too Christmas-y for this early in the season so I decided to go for the more subtle Sugar Plum Dance for this nail set.
Tile Mat Design Ideas for the Holidays
I have found that my followers seem to be really big fans of my tile mat content. Which I get, this mat is amazing! Since I’m now decorating for Christmas I decided to give you some ideas of designs for Christmas with your tile mat too.