Clean Inspiration {the laundry room}

I have always wanted to makeover my cleaning regimen and one thing in particular that I have been meaning to do is to get rid of all the clashy boxes and bottles that the laundry detergent and cleaning supplies come in. In fact, I have done this with our cereal. I made some simple white drop cloth bags to keep our cereal in because there is nothing more irritating to me than seeing a bunch of cereal boxes lined up on top of the fridge.



This photo pretty much sums up what I envision in my head. This idea really does make a difference in how you feel when you go to do laundry or tidy up. I actually have a few of these type of bottles(mine look just like these and are french lemonade bottles in which you can find them in the soda aisle at the market). I mean for most of us cleaning is not a pretty task, so why not add a little decorative flair to such a mundane activity and make cleaning a bit more cute!

Currently Loving {sunsets & lemonade}

I am currently loving...

The smell of blooming roses, the scent of lavender and cedarwood candles, and freshly squeezed lemonade in pretty glass jars... I think that every home in the spring and summer should be adorned with fresh flowers and candles. I especially like to light mine after all is clean and tidy!


Learning to count money with the little one... After doing some printable math worksheets that I printed on the web, I grabbed some toys from his room and put prices on them. Then I would ask him what he wanted to "buy" and he would have to read the amount and get the correct amount from his bank to give to me. If he gives me the correct amount, he gets to keep "buy" it and if not, he has to put it back and try again.


Blooming tomatoes...I hope to get a few more herbs and flowers this weekend. I will be sure to share pics if I do!


Cotton candy and ocean blue sunsets beyond my window...


Halima and her BaBa napping...


& homemade cardboard forts handcrafted by little hands!

Dimples & Dandelions {bedding to build a dream on}

Oh how darling. Not only do I love the name of the website "Dimples & Dandelions", but I adore these bedding collections for girls! From pretty and frilly to simple and chic, these designs are sure to make your little girl feel like the magical princess she is!

Preparing Dinner Early {tips that work}

Many of us can relate to the all to familiar "rush hour" within our homes. You know, that block of time somewhere between 4:30 and 7:00pm, when you find yourself running around the house trying to: pick up toys, cook dinner, tidy up, clear the sink from breakfast and lunch, all while you waste a bit of time trying to chat it up on your twitter or facebook accounts.

This is the usual for me, but I have realized that with me being a stay at home mom, I can take maximum advantage of scheduling my time to the best of my ability to keep my sanity in tact! So, I say all this to highly recommend to you all who are stay at home moms to give cooking dinner early(before 5pm)a try; and be sure to clean up and transfer any food to your tupperware afterwards, because you do not want to have to deal with that after dinner either!

For those of you who work, you should definitely invest in a slow cooker and a meal plan. This way when you get home from work you either already have the meal prepared from the slow cooker, and with a planned menu, you will not find yourself staring into the fridge wondering what to cook because you have already planned and scheduled it out.

Nevertheless, it feels great to have the rest of the day/evening with no rushing around in a hot kitchen and missing out on dinner around the table, and it cuts down on clean up time after dinner when all you want to do is relax!

Great Gardens for Kids {creative ideas}

Recently we went to our local library and I ran across this book called "Great Gardening With Kids". While most of the book did not offer up the "wow" factor, I did find these photos to be quite inspirational. I cannot wait to have a backyard to grow fresh veggies, fruits, and plants for our home.

I think these little grass sitting pots are absolutely adorable! I can picture setting these around a bright and cheerfully colored table in the backyard, making it a great little spot to play and color in the spring and summer days. The rustic bird feeder branches are fantastic as well! You could change them out seasonally with different fruits and nuts.



I also thought that this in-laid playing "table/floor"& painted tire sandbox was genius!

When I Grow Up I Want To Be An Artist {when a mother creates}

Motherhood Is Art...Balancing the art of motherhood and creativity can sometimes come easy but many times it is quite a task to master. I appreciate this documentary entitled "Who Does She Think She Is" regarding being a mother and an artist collectively. I have always wanted to be an artist and a stay at home mother. In fact while I was still in high school I told my mother that these were my life goals. She did not discourage me with words like "well, you can be a career woman", but she nodded her head, gave me a smile, and said "That's A Good Thing", and I forever appreciate her for that response. I think that if she had shown any dis-agreement about it, it could have reshaped my thoughts and values. Nevertheless, while attending the Savannah College of Art & Design, I feel that I started out on the right path towards becoming an artist, yet with the interventions of life and motherhood, I must say that my creative spirit took a back seat for quite some time.

Now I feel have a bit more clarity when it comes to my creative time and goals, which is why I started my craft blog: Crafty Hues. I truly feel that creativity and motherhood goes hand in hand. I tell everyone that "A Mothers Creativity Can Save The World." As corny as it may sound, I truly believe this! Imagine a world where our mothers used ALL of their forms of creative expression and love to raise their children..imagine the level of confidence this world could have! I hear a lot of moms say that they are not creative, but I beg to differ...we create life, therefore, we can develop creativity within any shape and form.

So, as I grow up and as each day sets and rises, I hope to become an artist, but not just the kind of artist that creates beautiful paintings and decadent designs, but the kind of artist that also creates a masterpiece within my family..and with the help of my husband...sculpting each of my kids as you would on a potters wheel..with gentleness, creativity, and thought. We as mothers are all artists...as we bring out the art of life with each creative moment that we offer up to our families.

And Then There Were Two

She is quite animated, she has dimples, her eyes seem to tell a story that will be told with wisdom in the future, she loves to stretch, she finds comfort in closeness, she is a messy eater, she smiles and laughs out loud in her sleep, her hair curls up when she cries, her big brother gave her a “tour” of our apartment, he picks out her sleep clothes and kisses her goodnight, she has no streaming tears yet, her feet are absolutely adorable, she loves her pacifier and throws a true conniption each and every time it falls out, and will literally knock your hand away as you try to give it back to her, she falls asleep while and after nursing and wakes up 2 minutes later to finish, she only likes baths when she is draped with warm rags, she hardly sleeps in her crib, she loves riding in her pink and brown stroller, she grunts more than she cries, she loves her boppy, she hates for her hands to be touched, purple is her color, she can stare at an object for a good 3 minutes, she sometimes makes a face of pure disgust when you try to give her the pacifier that she loves so much, she watches television with me, she sucks her arm and fist, you know she is in a deep sleep when she spits the pacifier out, I think she enjoys pooping consecutively after I have changed her diaper consecutively, she is hard to burp, and most importantly she sleeps through the night...she's our little goddess..Halima Ava Marie!



Hi everybody! Well, I am back! Our little family has grown by one and we could not be any happier. Her name is Halima Ava Marie Taylor and she joined us in this world at 10:35am Sunday May 17th at 7 pounds and 3 ounces. My delivery went pretty fast in my opinion, especially in comparison to the delivery of our son, which took around 16 hours. This time it took only 6 hours! I started having contractions Saturday, but they were so sporadic and not that strong, that I did not worry about them. It was not until 3am Sunday morning did I realize that um, hey these are labor contractions. Mind you I did not go into labor on my own with our son, so I honestly did not remember how a real contraction felt, but boy was I reminded. The contractions became faster and much harder as to where I would have to stop mid-walk and kneel down a bit. It was an odd feeling, because for a few seconds you feel absolutely miserable and then for several minutes it's pure bliss. So my mood went in and out from controlled breathing and a bit of tension to laughing and joking around with my husband.

At first they were not sure if they were going to keep me until the nurse saw how hard the contractions were. So after walking from about 4 up until 5:30am the contractions were getting even stronger and quicker. I opted not to go “au natural” with this birth as well, so after the nurse gave me a bit of pain relief I was in total bliss. I'm not going to lie, I felt great. I could still feel when I was having contractions, but the intensity of it was ten times lighter. My husband laughed as I was EXTREMELY relaxed by that point and then came the epidural. Not too shortly after that I found myself pushing so hard that once again, I felt as though I was pushing my organs out..lol. As I felt the shoulders of baby girl come out I took a sigh of relief which was immediately followed up by random questions and thoughts to myself like: will she cry(our sons cord was wrapped around his neck, so it was total silence at first, which had both my husband and I a bit scared)...is she ok, what does she look like, I hope we bond, does she have all ten fingers and toes, and is her head shaped ok..lol.

I was able to watch as they gave her her first bath, something I missed with my son, as they took him out of the room. I could not wait to meet her..to hold her, and to gaze into her eyes. She smelled heavenly and was quite cozy as I nursed her for the first time. I was quite happy..I could not believe it, we now had a baby girl...sweetness, delicateness, gentleness. We named her Halima..which means gentle.

So after all the usual cleanup all I could think about was how I was ready to get out of there. For some reason the nurses and doctors could not comprehend why I wanted to leave the next morning, and I'm like..um, because I would rather not be disturbed every 2 hours for pressure checks and temperature checks and offerings of medicines that I did not want. So we left the next morning with our bundle of joy and have been enjoying her presence since.