Lily's Bedroom Revealed!!!

Okay I finally got Lily's room completed. I had been searching for months for a little chandelier to be the finishing touch, either they were all WAY too expensive, or not the right color. I really wanted a black one,  but never found a black one that I liked, finally I just bought a white one from Home Depot and spray painted it black. It's just PERFECT now!!! I'm so excited about the way it turned out.  I did get a little inspiration online and mentioned this in my Cute Girls Bedroom post. This room is pretty much everything I dreamed of as a little girl.
If you're new here and would like to see other rooms in my house then click HERE.

I got these drapes from Target. First I got the clip rod rings, then I bought the sheer black, and a set of plain white drapes. Then I clipped them together with the rod rings and hot glued these pink flowers onto them.

I got this lamp at Target, added the ribbon and a crown broach to add a little bling :) 

For the frame, I just got a plain wooden one from the craft store, bought some scrapbook paper, cut it to fit, then added a little modge podge, painted the edges black and added the pink ribbon.

I bought these letters in white, but painted them black and hot glued the flowers and jewels onto them.

This little piece of furniture was left behind when we bought this house. I just painted it black, painted the knobs and hot glued the fleur de lis onto them.

I got this cute little night light from Target as well.

 This room is in the basement and has come a long way since we moved in. First we had to get new ceilings since had holes all over from renovating the kitchen. They had to get to all the pipes that way.
Fresh paint, new carpet, new windows, new light fixtures, outlet covers and changed out all the door knobs from gold to a nice brushed bronze.

Rekindling Our Childhood Dreams

Why do we stop dreaming? At what point do we decide we can't do it and our internal monologue begins clouding our minds with negativity...   you'll never be that great...  that's not your talent...  you're not gifted enough, pretty enough, smart enough? 


How can we rekindle those childhood dreams and make them our reality?

When I embarked upon this idea of a blog, I started out by sharing a small part of my "Life List", the list of things I hope to accomplish within my lifetime. We all know there's very little time to do anything else on top of just being a mom, but recently I've been waking up about an hour before my kids so I can dedicate a little time to developing my mind and exploring new endeavors.  There are still so many things I want to try out and learn. We have all been blessed with certain gifts, but how can we know what they are unless we're entertaining fresh ideas, and perusing new talents. When I look at this list I think, someday I'm going to get to do these things... *sigh*... but you know what? That someday is going to be NOW! No more making excuses about how there's "no time" for it.  All it takes is a little evaluation.  How many times a day am I doing things that are simply a waste?     TONZ!!!        I could watch less of my favorite shows, spend less time online, and sacrifice one hour of my sleep in order for me to make these things happen.  I don't want to look back in ten years and regret I didn't do more with my time.  Life will always be busy no matter what stage of life we're in.  I can't remember a time in my life when it WASN'T busy, even before kids.  

I've decided to pick one thing from my life list and focus on it for 1-6 months, depending on how much I'm enjoying it and so forth. I can always come back to it too. This way it will keep things interesting and exciting for me, without feeling overwhelmed with the many other things I'd like to do.  I love the quote, "it's not the destination, it's the journey that matters". We don't need to stress over getting something finished, or perfecting the talent, just enjoy the journey. 

I've always wanted to write and sing songs,  I shared a little about this along with my American Idol Moment video, but now it's time to take action.  My goal is not to become famous or to write a hit song, my motivation behind it rely's solely upon the idea of learning what all goes into creating a song. I'm always trying to get better at writing and expressing myself, not because I want to write a New York Times best seller, rather to relate to people, to be an example to my children, to inspire others to reach for their dreams. I don't need to become the next Oprah to feel like I'm making a difference. If I help just one person in my lifetime, that will be enough for me.

I recently purchased this new software that is an incredible tool for anyone who wants to enhance their creative writing skills or even write a song of your own.  I was just googling about song writing and came across this video. Once I watched it, I was instantly sold. Such an incredible resource for the aspiring writer. It's called Master Writer and they offer a free 10 day trial. Just simply go to their site and download the free trial, it's that easy. I've already been playing around on it and absolutely LOVE how helpful it is. Just watch this video and you'll see what I mean.

It's time to take action and what better time to start than NOW. Lets keep those dreams alive and start living them.
What are your dreams? 

Fun And Balanced Friday~ Week #8

If you're new to Fun and Balanced Friday, start HERE.

Click here to print front side.

Click here to print the back.

Click here to print the activities.

Fall Fashion Giveaway!!!

I've done a little more shopping ladies, but this time I have a couple fun items to offer to one of you!!! First let me tell you about this great new place called  The Sweetest Thingz Salon Boutique. I got everything you see below from this place. They are located at  416 East 12300 South Draper, UT, 84020

Don't you just LOVE this lace shirt? You can wear it with anything! Over a shirt, or even under. I'm pretty much obsessed with gray and wear it all the time, it's a great color for this time of year. I meant to take a closer picture of the bracelet I got, can you see the fabric flower attached to it? I got the lace shirt for $20, the bracelet for $15, and the pants for $40. Aren't those GREAT prices?

I got the pink shirt for $39, the black dress for $39, the earrings for $19 and the gray cardigan for $20.

 My dear friend Ali has offered to give away the lace top, your color and size of choice AND one of these cute necklaces to go with it.

Here are a few more pics of the lace top, the different colors and how you can wear it.

This is Ali, isn't she beautiful!!!

So all you have to do to enter this giveaway is leave a comment!!!! If you'd like more chances to win, you can leave an additional comment for each thing you do from the list below. Be sure to leave your email address along with your comment if it's not already public in a profile, that way I have a way of contacting you if you're the winner.

• Become a fan of The Sweetest Thingz on Facebook. Also leave her a comment and tell her I sent you.
• Share this on Facebook.
• Suggest to at least 3 of your friends to become a Fan of Balanced Moms and The Sweetest Thingz on Facebook.
• If you're an email subscriber, follower, or fan already you can leave another comment.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!! I'll be choosing a winner on 11-10, using random.org. If the winner lives here locally then you can pick up your prize at the store, if you're in another state, we'll have it shipped to you.

I hope you all had a great Halloween!!! Sean and I went with the Alice and Wonderland theme this year.