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Monday, February 4, 2019

WISH LIST: FOR THE HOME

We’ve been in our home for almost two years now and I still have plenty of places that need some major help in the decor department. I’ve had a hard time making decisions because decorating a whole house is one pricy and two I’ve been nervous to commit to our decor and accessories because I know we will be here for the foreseeable future and I want to love what we choose for quite some time.

The main living areas of our home are probably best described as modern farmhouse-ish. Our main living areas are mostly white and gray with wood and metal accents and pops of blue for color. Now that the Christmas decorations have been put away, I am committed to adding a few permanent things to our home and thought I’d share a few of my favorites today.
This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click on a link and make a purchase from the site, I will earn a small commission from the sale.

fringe basket / blue dot framed art / tufted bowl / vase / round basket / faux fiddle fig tree

I would say Lexi’s room is 90% complete. It needs a few finishing touches that match both her personality and are functional. This fringe basket checks both boxes and is perfect for either the bottom shelf of her nightstand or on her dresser.

I’ve had my eye on this framed art from Target for years. I finally pulled the trigger and brought it home with me. I think it will be the perfect addition to our breakfast nook. I’ll hang it on one side of our picture window with a fiddle fig tree in a cute basket on the other side.

This vase is actually pretty big and I think it would be perfect on or dining room table or console table in our great room with some faux greenery. I like pieces I can easily move around our home when I want to change things up a bit.

I love this bowl and think it would be so fun filled with oranges on our kitchen counter.

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Monday, December 10, 2018

PURPLE TRAIL STATIONERY

This post has been sponsored by PurpleTrail. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It’s no secret, I LOVE stationery! So when PurpleTrail asked if I would like to try out their new stationery sets, I couldn’t have been more excited; except when I saw they had holiday stationery sets!

If we’re being honest, having this stationery set is the only thing helping me feel like I have at least some of it together this holiday season. That and our Elf has moved every day so far. Who else has been know to forget to move that guy?!?

Their holiday stationery sets are perfect to have on hand this time of year. Each set comes with a 50 page notepad, 10 folded cards, 10 flat cards and 20 envelopes packaged in a cloth gift bag. It’s nice to have everything you might need on hand instead of running out at the last minute to pick up cards when the stores are crazy busy and picked over. I also really like that you can customize each paper style within the set to fit your needs.

Before I set out to customize our stationery set, I thought about how we will use each product. I originally was going to leave the text on the folded cards as “Thank You” but decided to change them to “Happy Holidays” instead. I plan to use the folded cards to hold gift cards this holiday season.

I decided to customize them with “The W family” (except it has our whole last name spelled out and covered for privacy) for both the flat cards and the note pad. The flat cards are perfect to accompany a hostess gift, to use as a recipe card for a cookie exchange or as a traditional thank you note. I love that the back is printed as well. PurpleTrail really thinks of everything!

I LOVE a cute notepad. Having a holiday note pad makes my never ending to do list a little more festive. The note pad has nice, thick paper; I almost feel guilty for using it daily. The paper quality throughout the set is something you would expect to pay a whole lot more for.

In addition to stationery sets, PurpleTrail has custom invitations, holiday cards, planners and more.

Being prepared this time of year is half the battle. Anything I can do to make the December chaos a little more festive and enjoyable is a win in my book. Having our PurpleTrail stationery on hand does just that. I’ve really enjoyed having this holiday set and will likely order one that is less seasonal to have on hand year round.

PurpleTrail’s processing and shipping time is incredibly fast so you have plenty of time to order yourself a set to use this holiday season.

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Friday, September 21, 2018

NOT SO BASIC BUSINESS CARDS WITH BASIC INVITE

This post has been sponsored by Basic Invite. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

As a lover of stationary and paper products, when Basic Invite reached out and asked if I wanted to work with them I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Contrary to their name, Basic Invite is anything but basic! From business cards to holiday cards and everything in between, Basic Invite has you covered!

Basic Invite has fully customizable traditional business cards to the coolest clear business cards. With Basic Invite you have the ability to order a sample of your actual card so you can see exactly how it will print as well as the paper quality before committing to an order. They are so unique I had to get my hands on one. They are just as pretty in person and the printing is impeccable. They look and feel really special.

photo courtesy of Basic Invite

Speaking of business cards, I used their business card template to design some cards for Sequins and Sandcastles. It could not have been an easier experience and I am so happy with how they turned out. Since they have almost unlimited color options with instant online previews I was able to play with my cards to make them just right before ordering. I was really impressed with being able to change the text to suit my wants and needs on my card. There were fields I chose to eliminate (for privacy reasons) and it didn’t impact the design at all. In case you’re wondering, I chose the Modern Hello design and printed them on smooth coated paper. I really like the semi gloss look and feel of the cards and the color is vibrant and rich, just what I was looking for. I love them!

photo courtesy of Basic Invite

While playing around on their website I stumbled onto the cutest Halloween invitations; how cute are they for a Halloween party? I know my kids would be SO excited to hand these out to their friends. We might have to throw a Halloween party now. With their fast shipping, I know I would receive them in plenty of time to get them out to all of the kids’ friends.

photo courtesy of Basic Invite

With the holidays on the horizon, I had to check out their vintage holiday cards. Basic Invite has so many great options for holiday cards that it’s going to be hard to choose just one. I spent a lot longer than I care to admit going through their holiday card options. I love sending a unique card and with Basic Invite’s customization ability I know I can do just that. In addition to being able to customize your card, you can also choose from over 40 different colors of envelopes that are peel and stick!

photo courtesy of Basic Invite

They also have an address capturing service that allows you to simply share a link on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other form of social media to request addresses from friends and family which will then be stored in your account and can be selected during the design process. Basic Invite offers recipient address printing at no cost on all Christmas card orders. How great is that?

Right now Basic Invite is offering 15% off with coupon code: 15FF51

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Wednesday, September 5, 2018

THE STRUGGLE IS REAL

photo by Jenni Khoury

I don’t really even know what to call this post, but calling it the struggle is real is pretty spot on. Long before I ever bought my domain or published the first post, I knew I wanted to blog. At the time, I read very few blogs but my absolute favorite was a blog simply documenting life with their little boy with a few fashion or beauty posts thrown in and I loved it. It was before Reward Style and before affiliate marketing was as big as it was today. It was seemingly much more real. I wanted to blog before Instagram was a ‘thing’, maybe even before there was an Instagram.

I’ve always struggled with how much to share. Until recently, that first post didn’t even have Dylan’s real name in it. I’ve heard enough horror stories in my day job to have just enough fear in what I put online. I don’t want my kids looking back embarrassed by what’s in the pages of this blog but I want to be able to come back and have it take me right back to that place in time. I want our out of state family to be able to stay connected if they choose to do so and I hope to inspire other moms along the way. I love sharing cute kids clothes and accessories and practical things for myself in beauty and fashion. Sometimes the journey of being a mom is long and lonely and I love having an outlet that is mine.

What exactly to post has been a struggle from the start and if you look at the history of posts, you can tell I will blog in bursts and then not again for quite some time. This isn’t because I don’t want to blog, but because I struggle: Am I posting something too personal? Will my kids be embarrassed? Is the item I’m linking to too expensive? I don’t have good enough photos to accompany the post. The list of the struggles goes on, but at the end of the day, when I take a break, I find myself missing the blog. Missing what I set out to do but didn’t do well. I’m throwing it all out the window, well except I’m still not going to post things that will embarrass my kids. You’ll see everyday life, even if it’s not Pinterest worthy, and collages will be a mix of things we love and own and also things I lust after.

I chose Sequins & Sandcastles as a name because I wanted this to be a place for me and all things girly – the sequins – and Dylan (at the time) and any future children we might have and all things related to their childhoods – the sandcastles. I love creating the shopping collages. It’s fun to sit in front of the TV in the evening and put them together or to share when I’m planning outfits for the kids (or myself), but I don’t want this to be a shopping blog or just about kids clothes. They are easier posts for me to put together since I don’t have to have Pinterest worthy pictures of my kids and and by default, what I’ve turned to for the last little while.

It seems as though most of the “mommy” bloggers I follow are stay at home moms which leads to more time to get that picture perfect snapshot or that fun outing everyday. Real life over here is the kids are out the door after I’ve already started working and (until recently) weren’t home until dinnertime during the week. This makes it so much harder to get those great pictures you see all over Instagram. When I think about the future of Sequins & Sandcastles, I go back to those roots of what I really wanted when I bought the domain and hit publish for the first time and that’s still what I want. I want that place that documents my kids lives, shares cute kids clothes and a few mama things in there too. I hope you find something inspiring and like getting a peek into our lives.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2017

LIGHT UP MY LIFE

We are getting closer to our house being done and we’ve been stopping by weekly to check on the progress. The latest development: we have stucco! I’m sure we won’t be able to get inside anytime we want much longer. We had our walk through before the drywall went up right before Christmas and I was reminded of where we put recessed lights and where we just have the wiring to add light fixtures or ceiling fans. There are a lot more places that need lighting than I remembered.

Living in the desert, we initially discussed putting ceiling fans in all of the bedrooms instead of light fixtures. It makes sense considering how hot it gets here during the summer but now that we are getting closer to having to make decisions on lighting, I am having second thoughts about the ceiling fans. We had ceiling fans in our condo as well as in the apartment we are living in now and honestly, we rarely, if ever, use them. Which has led me to toying with the idea of foregoing the fans for light fixtures in the bedrooms and living room.

When I sit down and think about the number of light fixtures we need, it’s a bit overwhelming. Since neither of the kids rooms will have recessed lights, a lighting decision needs to be made for their rooms pretty quickly. Here’s a sneak peek of a few of my top contenders for their rooms right now: light up my life The top three are my current top choices for Lexi’s room and the bottom three are what I have my eye on for Dylan’s room. We will be keeping the kids existing furniture but both need updated decor and Dylan needs new bedding. I have a pretty good idea of exactly what Lexi’s room will look like and I think she will absolutely love it, but am very undecided Dylan’s room.

I think her room would look so cute with any of the above lights. It will be really hard making a final decision. I love the chandeliers but don’t want them hanging low enough over their beds that they will mess with them. Dylan’s room is a challenge because I want it to be something he’s comfortable in now and will be for a number of years. I’ve tried getting his input on new bedding and it’s not going anywhere fast. I am going to do my best and hope to get his seal of approval when it’s done.

What do you think? Keep the original game plan of ceiling fans in bedrooms or opt for a pretty light fixture instead?

Now that I’ve been looking at just these six light fixtures for the last hour, I think I have my top choice for each of them and come up with the perfect room for Dylan. I think my choice might surprise you.

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