Kids Custom Name & Clothing Labels from {Minted}

I love opening a box of fresh stationary. We ordered our birth announcements from Minted and we were so happy with the quality. When we heard about the custom name labels minted was rolling out we were excited to give them a try.

There were so many adorable designs to choose from, I had a hard time deciding what to order, so I chose a variety of kid friendly goodies. The Minted name and clothing labels are a durable way to customize your kids' clothing, bottles, food containers, toys---anything! They're dishwasher safe, laundry safe, water proof and non toxic. These could go pretty much on every item Ben owns. Well, they are doing just that.

First, I got to work on a few thank you notes we had been slacking on. The flat personalized thank you cards are oh-so-cute and customization was simple.



They were easy to customize with Ben's name, plus, I had 100s of designs and customization options to choose from.

Then the best part, using the custom name and clothing labels on EVERYTHING. I ordered a few different sizes and styles for a fun variety.

First, I labeled his new books. We don't want any other baby getting his grubby hands on these awesome Eric Carle books.

Then, I started labeling some of Ben's Clothes, I stuck to outer wear for now--since that seems to be what we lose the most. Hats, sweatshirts and jackets.

These are great  so  that his stuff doesn't get mixed up at the sitter's. I got label happy pretty quickly after the first batch still looked so nice after I a load of laundry. 

All Ben's blankies labeled-- then tested these out right away too! They are still perfectly sticky after a few loads of laundry. 

These would be GREAT in a few years when Ben goes to school. You can personalize most of the designs with room number, teacher, phone numbers...anything!

Sippy cups were next. We typically use the cheapo ones---so everyone else has these too. It took me about 2 minutes to label all the cups in the cabinet.  The photos below are AFTER I took them out of the dishwasher. Still sticky, still attached, no movement, curling, or fading.

Of course, we had to choose one of the puppy themed stickers. He looks like a cartoon version of Ben's favorite puppy toy 'Kipper' don't you think?

Thanks to Minted for providing these handy and super cute goodies for us! 

A bit about Minted:

We believe that great design lives and thrives in the hands of independent artists that people do not have access to through traditional retailers. Minted uses technology to allow consumers to discover great creative talent, making Minted a place where artists can learn, gain exposure, and build their businesses. Minted is a design marketplace. We source creative content from a global community of independent artists, then sell the best content in the form of art, home décor, and stationery, directly to consumers. An early pioneer of crowdsourcing, Minted has held art and design challenges monthly since April 2008. Challenges are open for both submission and voting, the 'crowd' curates Minted's product selection by rating products, and Minted utilizes analytics to evaluate votes.  

Benjamin is ONE

Our sweet Benjamin is now one. We could never imagine a year of bright smiles, laughs, and memories could by so fast.

We celebrated last weekend with our family.

Adorable fox cakes! The best part is the tail coming around the side!
We went with a fox theme mostly because I always have loved little fox stuff.  Even when we were decorating his nursery I chose fox accents here and there.
I felt like this was the only time I get to choose the theme. Next year he will probably be into Mickey or Paw Patrol...this year..I had all the say!

He received sooo many nice presents. A wagon, a slide, a truck... those are only the gifts from his grandparents and us! This kid is set. He's having a ball playing with them all.

He dug into the cake. It was a long day for him, he fell asleep with cake in his hand! 

Cake banner, custom long sleeved t-shirt, and both the ONE & BENJAMIN pendant banners were all custom made by PorterDesignCo
Cake by The Cake Lady.


Related: 
He's Here!
Ben's Vintage Inspired Nursery
Being a Mama..so far

Nursery Details: Ben's Burlap print

Still sharing some details of Ben's nursery today. This one was a sweet handmade gift.

Peter Pan Burlap Print

My dear friend Brett is super talented and makes burlap prints perfect for nurseries and kids rooms. I'm lucky enough to have one in my son's room.  He even handmade the frame. It's such a fitting quote for a little boy's room!

Check out some of the other cutie-patootie stuff he's created!

Would these not be perfect if you were doing a woodland, camping, or rustic nursery? They'd be great for a little boy or girl's room!

set of 4 burlap prints

Oh man, if you are having a camping theme you need this print.

Tuck me in Tight print

Looking for some cute decor for your nursery? These would be such sweet and unique gifts to that friend who is expecting her little one. Take a peak at Brett's Etsy shop Porter Design Co. His prices are super good and he's a fast little worker so he's quick to ship stuff out too. Personally, I think that's always important because I am a last minute kinda gal. He has more adorable prints and I heard from a little bird he's great at custom orders too.

And before I end this post, I just have to show you..For my 30th birthday he made me a very special present. This represents my new family. I love it. And again, he even made the frame himself! He did a wonderful job. I love that we can add to it as our family grows too!

I hung it up the day I brought it home with me!  Although he doesn't have these listed in his Etsy shop convo him and ask him nicely and I bet he could work something out for you.

In case you missed it!
Ben's Vintage Nursery
Ben's dresser/changing table DIY
Billy the Bison Nursery Decor
Being a Mama...so far

P.S. This is not a sponsored post, my friend is just super talented and plus I love him. But go buy all the things!

Being a Mama..so far

I normally like to stick to house stuff on the blog, but want to share a little of our family life too. We'll be back to regularly scheduled house stuff tomorrow. And back to posting once or more a week too!

If I would have had time, I would have posted this BEFORE Mother's Day. But one of the things I've learned in the 3 short months of being a mom is that things no longer are on my schedule. Someone else runs the show now and his name is Benjamin.

photo credit AB Photography

I've learned so much already and love every day with this kid. He's adorable even when he's mad. I still have a weepy melt-y heart when he smiles and giggles. I can't explain how much I love this sweet baby.

We get millions questions from friends and family, so I thought I'd cover the basics here for those in blogland interested in how we are doing too.

HIS BIRTH:
Let's skip the birth story...I will spare you the real details of his birth--here's the short version:
Went to sleep Friday night at 40 weeks and 5 days pregnant and really crabby about it.
I woke up at 3:30 a.m. because my back hurt. Outside we were having a lovely Illinois snowstorm. I quickly realized as the back pain was getting really intense...it was labor pain. Adam loaded up the car and called our parents. Then my water broke. We made it to the hospital in the snow and ice...with not much time to spare. Ben was born at 6:37 a.m.
Thank god we have a Jeep, not sure we'd have made it into town with any other vehicle. The on call doctor apparently does not have a Jeep, because she could not make it to the birth.
Everything happened so quickly. I was not prepared for such an intense and fast arrival. There was not even time for the 'you won't feel a thing' drugs I heard so much about!

SLEEP:

He's a fabulous sleeper. I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that out loud!

I was prepared for many many sleepless nights with this kid. But he started sleeping through the night at just 3 weeks old. I'm sure he will go through a time when this is not the case, but we're enjoying it while it lasts! We are lucky. But it's not all luck.
I believe we can give ourselves an itty bitty bit of credit too. I believe in a routine.  Kiddo gets a bath at 8 p.m. every night, swaddled, and fed...then put to sleep. Routine is the key. When we didn't do this, we would notice a big difference in his sleeping.  Now, he will still wake up here and there for a late night feeding. But I'd say 9/10 nights he sleeps from 8:30pm-6:30am. 

Routine. Routine and a good sound machine. The keys to getting a good night sleep in my house!

Baptism weekend.

EATING:

I chose to nurse Ben. It was hard at first. It was painful. It was stressful. It still is sometimes. We are both learning and teaching each other. Our hospital is wonderful and sends a nurse to your home shortly after you give birth to help with breastfeeding and baby care. 

For the first month and a half he was nursing every two hours during the day. It was exhausting and stressful. I felt like I never had a break. After awhile we got the hang of it and figured each other out. Now he only eats 6 times a day, and almost on a pretty good schedule. Again, routine makes life easier on everybody in our house.

PUMPING: 

I hate it. I hate finding time to pump. I've had to sneak away from family get-togethers and parties to pump. I've pumped while driving. I've pumped in a parking lot. I've pumped while everyone else is sleeping and I only want to sleep. It stinks. Scheduling pumping time is a pita. However, it's paying off. I have a small supply of freezer stash. This will ensure I get much needed time away from baby.  I will need to figure out an entire new pumping routine when I go back to work (next week!).

GEAR:

I love my Boba wrap. I used this thing several times a day in the first two months. Now we only use it a few times a week since there is less sleeping and more playing and awake time. But I will for sure take it with me while we are on the go this summer. Ben loves being close to me in it and usually snuggles up and naps. I was nervous about learning how to tie it up safely but it's SO simple. A quick Youtube search and you are ready to baby wear!

We also have a BabyBjorn, but haven't use it yet. We purchased it used off a local parent site so we didn't get an instruction booklet with it and it came all buckled weird. We just have to take the time to get it all buckled correctly and we will try it. Any tips on the BabyBjorn are appreciated!

If you are an expecting mom get yourself a Sound Machine. This is one item I did not register for but Adam's cousin Laura gifted to us. She swears by it and now I do too. It's great to cover up noise when Ben is asleep. He goes to bed at 8:30 every night, but we don't. He can't hear us if we are watching a movie, or putting away dishes. We don't feel like we need to tiptoe around when baby is asleep.

Me & Ben & BobaWrap

Adam giving Scout a pep talk on Ben's first day home.

BABY & SCOUT:
We weren't really too worried about Scout & Ben. We've seen Scout play with our nephews, or with our friends' kids, and he loves them. They jump on him and pull his tail, and snuggle him and Scout smiles away and runs around with them the entire time. We knew Ben and him would be fast friends. My mom on the other hand was sure Scout was going to "bite the baby's butt" and Scout would be banished to their house to live. Sorry mom. I think she secretly wanted Scout to just ever so lightly nibble Ben's bum because they miss having a dog at their house.

When we brought Ben home from the hospital Scouty was curious and interested. Naturally he wanted to give Ben a sniff several times a day. Only once we saw him put his nose inside the bassinet though. Mostly he'd just peek and sniff. Now he sits by us every day while I nurse Ben, and I know they we be best buddies as soon as Ben is on the move.  Scout surprisingly respects Ben's toys. We only have to tell Scout 'NO' once each time a new toy comes out.  We're pretty impressed with his manners. However, I do have to say when Ben is upset and having a crying fit Scout quickly excuses himself to the other room. He's not much help.

Proud big brother Scout.  | photo credit AB Photography

DIAPERS:

Boy do we go through these things like crazy. Much less now than when he was just a tiny newborn. But they still aren't cheap! My advice to expecting mamas: sign up for Amazon mom. Diapers shipped to your door--the last thing you want to do with your precious 2 hours of free time between feedings and away from baby is to schlep to Walmart.

So far our favorite brands are Luvs and Target Up & Up brand. Blowouts contained 99% of the time versus those higher priced Pampers.

In all, I love being Ben's mama. It's weird sometimes to think 'I'm a MOM.' My friends even agreed with me this weekend. I'm the first one in this group of friends to have a kiddo. Yep, it is weird.
But, it's also so wonderful.

Did I miss anything? What else do you want to know? I've got all kinds of expert new mom wisdom now. Hah, I kid I kid.
I go back to work on Monday. Any tips for me? I already know this one...no mascara!

Ben's Vintage Inspired Nursery

Photos of Ben's nursery are here! I'll provide more detailed info on our DIYs in the room in a later post. Today, we'll just share the vintage goodness!


Vintage Rocking horse, a gift from Ben's Great Aunt Wendy sits in front of his Jenny Lind crib.

This giraffe used to hang in my childhood bedroom.

My dad made this zen garden for me a few years back. It sits on his side table.

A view of one side of the room.
The chair is missing from the room right now, as it sits in our bedroom for now.

The bookshelf was a DIY which we will share later in the details post!

Plenty of room for more books!

I used scrap fabric from the baby showers to tie back these Ikea curtains.

This corner of the room turned out perfect. The dresser was a DIY makeover. Can't wait to share this makeover... you won't believe the crazypants "before"!

We used the Billy from Cardboard Safari above the changing table. We'll talk about this DIY with you coming up too!

You may remember this hilarious President Scout print from Uncommon Goods I shared a few months ago.

His mobile was a gift from a dear friend.  It goes perfect in the room, and is something I would have chosen for the nursery myself.

All photo credit in this post goes to the talented Andrea Beltz from AB Photography. She did our newborn photos which we L-O-V-E and snapped a few photos of the nursery for us too! Sharing one of our favorites of little Benjamin below.

Isn't that face the sweetest? Happy Friday!

Oh, p.s. A reminder we have a GIVEAWAY going on right now with Body After Baby! Ends in a few days! Awesome for new moms, expecting moms too...would be a great baby shower gift too! Enter here!

Body After Baby: Supportwear Review, Giveaway and Discount Code!

Ben is almost a month old already. How did that happen?  It seems like he's only been here a week or so. We are both doing great. I guess when I think about it, I feel much better a month after his birth, than I felt a week after his birth! I remember a few days after being home with him thinking how long will I be this sore? 

In comes the Angelica from Body After Baby:

Body After Baby sent me their Angelica postpartum support garment to review. I'm so glad they did! I've been wearing the Angelica about 5-6 days a week, for about 6-8 hours a day. To be honest, sometimes I don't have time to take a shower and get dressed put on fresh sweats until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. That's when I put on the support wear, and usually wear it until bedtime. 

Speeds Recovery

• Stabilizes weak and stretched muscles from pregnancy and childbirth
• Targeted compression promotes circulation and reduces swelling, both of which speed recovery
• Supports tummy, hips, and lower back
• ObGyn recommended anatomical design focused on recovery
• Anatomical crotch panel supports and protects perineal tears and episiotomy incisions
• Reduces bloating discomfort

Comfort Focused

• Unique MicroNet™ soft-touch fabric free of harsh chemicals and dyes
• Lightweight and breathable MicroNet™ fabric keeps moms cool while recovering
• Undetectable and discreet under all types of clothing
• Adjustable and detachable shoulder straps

I'm happy I've had the chance to use the Angelica. I do think it helped me with recovery. Especially in the early days when having cramps from my uterous contracting, and general soreness. My hips and lower back have been pretty sore some days. I think it's a combination of general after birth recovery, and sitting in a chair most of the day while nursing and holding Ben. 

As far as comfort while wearing the Angelica it was what I expected. It is snug like other shape wear I've worn under bridesmaid dresses etc. It's super snug putting it on and it does suck you in the entire time. But at the same time, it's breathable. I took the shoulder straps off and it stayed on easy enough. it was just easier to nurse and more comfortable for me without the extra straps. 

I will recommend to my girlfriends and anyone who is is looking for postpartum advice to have support, and Body After Baby would be my first choice! 

Do you have a little one on the way? Or know someone who does? Enter to win an Angelica for yourself or for someone you know! 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh and that's not all! EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT!  Body After Baby is also offering a discount on their other Postpartum & Pregnancy shape wear to Let's Just Build a House readers! 

30% off the Body After Baby Postpartum Collection (descriptions below)
Code: Build2
Expires: April 30, 2015
Limit: 25

The Angelica – For Post-partum Recovery 
The Angelica by Body After Baby is for postpartum women that want to reduce pain and recover faster so they can regain the strength they need to actively focus on their new baby. No other products focus solely on the recovery process. At Body After Baby, we believe a comfortable, supported mom is a better mom so start the recovery process today.

The Sienna – For Post C-section Recovery 
The Sienna by Body After Baby is for C-section moms that want to recover faster and more comfortably so they can regain the strength they need to actively focus on their new baby. Unlike C-section panties or post partum belly bands designed for vaginal deliveries, the Sienna supports the major body parts impacted by pregnancy including the hips, and lower back, not just the C-section incision. 

The Leilani – Post-Pregnancy Shapewear
Is it time to get back into your skinny jeans? You’ve been through the initial postpartum recovery stage and now it’s time to reclaim your body. The Leilani by Body After Baby is for postpartum active moms – whether active at the gym or at work or anywhere in between – that have healed from the delivery of their baby, lost the majority of the pregnancy weight and are now focused on losing serious inches. Unlike bulky post-pregnancy bands, the Leilani can be worn under fitted clothing and also supports all the body parts impacted by pregnancy including the hips, buttocks and thighs. Plus the slimming, “no back fat” design helps you look your best even in the most form-fitting of clothes.

Expecting and the Post Pregnancy collections seems far away? How about a discount on the Maternity support band?!

50% off The Motherload – Pregnancy Support Belly Band
Code: Build1
The Motherload by Body After Baby is for active pregnant women that need to relieve back, hip and abdominal pain and to reduce sciatica. Unlike other pregnancy support bands, the Motherload is especially designed for active pregnant moms. 
Expires: April 30, 2015
Limit: 10 



As always all opinions are my own. I was provided with this product to review.

Ben's Vintage Inspired Nursery: Preview

Ben's room is not done yet. Will it ever be done? Like the rest of our home, I'm sure I will always be changing out the decor and adding something else to the DIY list.

The BIG reveal will come super soon. Today we've got a few sneaky preview shots!

Way back in November I shared our nursery inspiration and a few flea market finds. We mostly stuck to our ideas, and added a few other items to the room.

We talked about how there wasn't really a theme in the room other than "cute old stuff we like". We pretty much stuck to our ideas, and even did a few DIYs in the room I can't wait to share with you...

More to come!

And, in case you missed it, BabyN's birth announcement on the blog!