Category: home

Little Home Library- Part TWO
You’re Back! Yay!

In “part two” of my library post, I’m going to share how I categorized all of my books, the different genres I created, and a few book recommendations for each genre! Also, don’t forget to scroll to the bottom for a fun blog share and a GIVEAWAY!

And if this is your first time visiting (Welcome!) don’t forget to read Part One on how to start a Little Library in your own home, HERE.

Gah! I’m just so happy that you are here and interested in this little project of mine…and maybe in building your own!?! I’m such a book nerd, always have been, and I just love watching my kids get excited about books too! They’ve seriously read more and cycled through more books in the few weeks we’ve had the library than in months prior combined. I only wish I would’ve started this project sooner! Well, better late than never I guess! I’m just so excited to watch this little library change and grow over the years, as the kids do. It’s one of my greatest wishes- to instill, in them, a love of reading.

Here’s hoping…

GENRE BINS AND BOOK RECS

Ok, let’s get to the good stuff: genres and actual books! Your genre groups may be different, but I created my bins based on:

1. The books I had on hand and

2. My children’s interest level

Here are the genre baskets I ended up with along with some of my favorite books and series for each. (Just a heads up that most of these titles are chapter books/novels unless otherwise noted. Scroll to the bottom if you are only interested in picture books!) Also, these titles are NOT linked- because that would just take forever… AND also because I have full-faith in your Amazon search bar skills! 😉

*Book Levels: Most of these books were purchased by me for my third grade classroom. Please keep in mind, however, that I had students reading at all different levels…so these books can be appropriate as independent readers for kids reading at any level from 1st through probably 5th grade, OR as read-alouds for almost any elementary school age! It’s all going to depend on your kiddo, their reading skills, and their interests. And please remember when your hesitant reader chooses a book you are less than thrilled about….
- FANTASY- Emily Windsnap series, The Secrets of Droon series, The Jewel Kingdom series, Pixie Tricks series, Dragon Slayer’s Academy Series, Tashi, Rainbow Magic series, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Harry Potter (duh!)
- MYSTERY- A to Z Mysteries Series, Calendar Mysteries, The Nancy Drew Notebooks, Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew (for younger readers!), Cam Jansen series, Nate the Great series, The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids series, Third Grade Detectives series, Jigsaw Jones series, Geronimo Stilton series, The Boxcar Children, Magic Tree House Series
- PICTURE/HOLIDAY BOOKS- Picture books are my FAVORITE and I have so so so many to list. Instead, scroll to the bottom of this post for a separate link all about picture books. And for my favorite Holiday books, make sure you follow along as I post my favorites each month. You can find my Halloween Favorites HERE and my Thanksgiving Favorites HERE. (Christmas coming soon!!)
- PHOTO ALBUMS- What better way to give your dusty old family photo albums some action than putting them out on display? Encourage your kiddos to check out the albums just like they would any other book! I make mine at Shutterfly or Artifact Uprising
- NON-FICTION- (my stash is mostly picture books, like these:) Our 50 States: A Family Adventure Across America, Smart Kids series, The Eyewitness Books series. I also make sure I toss any non-fiction books for whatever holiday I have on display into this bin. I like the girls to be able to notice that there is a difference between fiction and non-fiction books even if they are both in the same general category (ie “Holiday”). I kept the picture book and non-fiction bins close to each other on the shelves for this reason!
- REALISTIC FICTION- (my stash is mostly picture books, like these:) Rosa by Nikki Giovanni, Abe Lincoln: The boy who loved books by Kay Winters, If You Were There When…series
- BOOKS ABOUT GIRLS-Sounds super random but I had SO many general “fiction” books that had girls as the main character. I just had to give them their own bin. My next task is to start a bin with books about boys!Ivy & Bean series, Willimena Rules series, Utterly Me Clarice Bean, The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes series, Katie Kazoo Switcheroo series, Judy Moody series, Clementine, Portraits of Little Women: Beth’s Story, A Little House Chapter Book series (mini chapter books based on the beloved classic novels!), The American Girl books, Junie B. Jones (although her sassy mouth is not my favorite. I may not let Q read these…girlfriend doesn’t need ANY ideas.)
- BOOKS ABOUT ANIMALS- Pony Pals series, The Saddle Club Series, A Dog Called Kitty, Shiloh, Where the Red Fern Grows, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, The Critter Club series, Snot, Big Apple Barn, Animal Ark series
- LEVEL 2 READ-ALOUDS: (Note:These are the chapter books that we read aloud at night together before bed. I created this system of leveling chapter books to create an easy system and language for the kids when we are choosing books to read together at night. I consider Level 1 read-alouds to be picture books and small “I Can Read” type books.) Level 2 are the shorter, more simple chapter books; ie books that may take a us a few nights to get through. The Adventures of Sophie Mouse series, Invisible Stanley, Lady Lollipop, The Littles series, Horrible Harry series, The Chocolate Touch, Toys Go Out, Mercy Watson series, The Hundred Dresses, Elmer and the Dragon, Sarah Plain and Tall, The Beast in Ms. Rooney’s Room, The Chalk Box Kid, Andy Shane and the Very Bossy Dolores Starbuckle, Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings
- LEVEL 3 READ-ALOUDS:These chapter books that I refer to as Level 3 will be the books that are a bit thicker and might take us a week or more to get through. The Penderwicks, Little House on the Prairie series, Poppy, Mr. Tucket, The Magician’s Elephant, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Charlotte’s Webb, When You Reach Me, The Wizard of Oz, James and the Giant Peach, The Velveteen Rabbit, Tree House, The Dollhouse People series, No Flying in the House
- DAHL, BLUME, CLEARY:I had an abundance of books from these three authors so I combined the books and gave them their own bin. Freckle Juice, Super Fudge, The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, Ramona the Pest, James and the Giant Peach, Boy, Muggie Maggie, George’s Marvelous Medicine…all the greats!
- BIOGRAPHIES: The Who Was _________ series, Dear America series, Time for Kids: Biographies are a few of my favs!
- INDEPENDENT NOVELS:These are mostly older classics that the kids may want and/or need to read later in life for school…or hey, maybe pleasure! 😉 A Wrinkle in Time, Bridge to Terabithia, The Indian in the Cupboard, Anne of Green Gables, Black Beauty, Bunnicula, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Maniac Magee, The Great Gilly Hopkins, Holes, Little Women, The Twenty One Balloons, The Hobbit
- POETRY: Some Days Other Days, Runny Babbit, A Family of Poems by Caroline Kennedy, A Pet for Me Poems, I’m Still Here in the Bathtub, This is Just to Say, *Also consider binding & including poems your own children have written!
- SCHOOL/WRITING:First Day Jitters, The First 100 Days, The Kissing Hand, Amelia’s Notebook, Miss Nelson is Missing, A Writer’s Notebook, Diary of a Worm, Officer Buckle and Gloria, A Fine Fine School
- *MOM’S FAVS: I thought it was important to have my own bin, both to actually store my old books and to show my kids that I also love to read…even though they are the reason I hardly have time to anymore! 😉
- *BOOK DROP BIN: I didn’t want the girls throwing the books into any bin when they were finished with them, but I wanted to encourage them to explore and not be afraid to “mess up” the library, so I added a Book Drop Bin. When they are finished with a book (or a pile of books more likely), I ask them to please put them into the bin so that I can make sure they get put away properly. Q is kind of an exception since she’s pretty good at remembering where they go! Cub is still a work in progress! And me? I’m pretty much just living out all my Librarian dreams over here. 😉
CONTAINERS AND BINS

Posting this here again so you don’t need to go back to the “Part One” post. All bins and baskets I used for the library are from The Container Store. I’ve linked them again for you, below!

metal bins |white plastic bins | baskets | book stand | book drop bin

|bin labels | acrylic book divider

PICTURE BOOKS & A Blog Collab

Picture books just happen to be my favorite books right now. Maybe it’s because of the gorgeous illustrations or maybe it’s because these are the books my kids are most into at the moment. But, since I’ve “talked” for waaaay too long here, I’m going to direct you over to my sweet friend Lauren’s blog, Lauren and Littles.

Lauren and I actually taught together for several years before we became mommies. Lauren has her Master’s Degree in Education and specializes in reading…so basically she knows what she’s talking about!

Lauren is covering some of her favorite picture books in several different genres and talking a little bit about how to build a library for children ages birth to seven. How fun! So, hurry up and head on over to her page, I promise you won’t be disappointed! Click HERE for Lauren’s Post.

GIVEAWAY!

And don’t forget to enter our contest over on Instagram! Lauren and I are giving away a “Little Home Library” Starter Kit including a cute Canvas Tote Bag from Out of Print, a $50 shop credit to Pearl & Jane (for some super cute book-nook garland!) AND a $50 gift card to Amazon to help you get started (or continue building) your very own home or school (yay, teachers!) library.

Best of Luck!!!
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November 14, 2017
Little Home Library- Part ONE
So, a few weeks ago my sister organized a little nook in her game room with her old teaching books and totally inspired me to do the same. I also used to teach and knew I had numerous bins up in the attic filled to their brims with books. I also had this wall of shelves in our piano room that was just filled with random decor and stacks of unread magazines. Thus, the plan for our Little Home Library was born! I’m pretty happy with how it turned out…plus the girls are reading more than ever, which is always a plus!

SETTING UP THE LIBRARY:
1. Clearing- The first thing I did was clear the shelves and put aside the (very few) items that I wanted to keep. I couldn’t believe how much of the stuff on those shelves was just “filler junk”! Disclaimer: photo was taken AFTER I started dismantling the shelves…I’m not a complete savage! 😉
2. Sorting- Next I went into the attic to bring down my book bins. I had completely underestimated how many books I had up there! I sat on the floor and sorted through every single solitary book. It took me days! I made sure to keep age appropriate books, books that were classics and good/clean reads, books that were in good shape, books that were educational, and books I knew my kids could grow into. I made a “toss” pile that included any duplicates, books I didn’t think were age appropriate, books in bad shape, and books that looked dated or had content I wasn’t sure I wanted my kids reading. Then I made a “maybe” pile. The next step was to sort my “keep” books into genre piles. I then looked at each genre I had created and pulled from the “maybe” pile if any piles were looking a bit sparse.
3. Donating- There is SUCH a great need for books out there, so I made sure that every single book in my “toss” pile was donated. Most went to Human Rights Initiative, a local non-profit that recently had all of their books stolen from their waiting room and “lend a book” library.
4. Containers- After I had my general “genre” piles made I headed out to my motherland, aka The Container Store. I made sure to measure my shelves before I went so I knew the depth and height of each shelf and most importantly, the length so I could measure how many bins would fit across. I chose a selection of all white, grated metal and straw baskets. I wanted to use mixed materials to give the shelves more dimension. I also found some great labels and book display items at Container Store. I’ve linked them all below.
5. Setting up Shop- When I got home, I played around with where I wanted all my empty baskets to go. Once I liked the way they were arranged I started filling them with books. I made sure to get all different sized baskets because not all of my genres had the same amount of books. (For example I had a TON of Fantasy and Mystery books but only a small handful of biographies.)
6. Decorating- I then went in and filled in some of the empty spaces with decor. I used a book display, a small plant, and a letter board. I wanted to break up all the bins but also keep the shelving unit clean and simple. I also replaced the hardware on the drawers. It was a cheap fix and (I think)gave the unit a huge facelift!
Ta Da…Here’s the whole finished product:

GETTING STARTED

Don’t have extra wall space or a ton of books? That’s totally fine! You don’t need either to start your own home library! There are some great cubby systems you can purchase like THIS one from Land of Nod that don’t take up much space and can still be easily turned into a library. Also, it’s ok for libraries to take years to build!

Here are some tips for starting an at-home library from scratch:
- Start with gathering up books from around your house (I’m sure you have more than you think lying around!)
- Purchase a few new books at your child’s reading level. There are great places like Half-Priced Books (or any used book store and/or flea market) where you can get books for cheap. Not in the budget? Go to your local library and check out a whole bunch of books, plop them into your at-home library and then cycle them out after you find your child “getting sick” of them.
- Books are a great gift idea! Especially with the holidays coming up…create a book wish-list with your little ones. Get them excited about books and reading by changing their mindset of how much fun books can be.
- Think outside your typical wheelhouse. Your kid loves the Fancy Nancy books? Great. But also introduce him/her to some books from drastically different genres. You never know if your kid is interested in something until you expose them to it! Grab them a National Geographic book on animals and maybe a picture book about the 50 states or outer space, or maybe an awesome book of poetry for kids. You might be surprised by which books your child reaches for, given some options!
- Start with just a few genres, maybe 3-5, and then gauge your child’s interest and build your library up accordingly! A few great starter genres: Fiction Picture Books, Non-Fiction Books, Holiday Books, Chapter Books (for reading aloud together).
- Cycle Books in-and-out. Always keep some books tucked away so that your kid’s choices aren’t so overwhelming and they never get tired of their selections! This is especially fun with holiday books! My kids only get to look at the Halloween books when I take them out in the Fall and it makes them that much more excited to read them!
- Swap with a friend! Take on this project with a friend/neighbor and cycle out your books by swapping with each other. When your books need a “time out” from your house, send them on over to your friend’s library and have her give you a bin in return. Viola, brand new books for your kids to borrow! Just make sure you take good care of them and return them in the shape you received them! 😉
- Have fun with it…make it into a REAL mini-library, complete with a book return bin, some fun signs, a few books out on display (rather than stacked), etc. I’m in love with these super adorable book stickers I had made on Zazzle! There are so many cute options, and an especially good idea if you plan on sharing books with friends!
- Remember: An In-Home Library doesn’t have to be extravagant! It can be as simple as any little space dedicated to displaying and storing a few books at your child’s level!
CONTAINERS AND BINS

All are from The Container Store. I’ve linked them below!

metal bins |white plastic bins | baskets | book stand | book drop bin |

bin labels | acrylic book divider

SUBSCRIBE

Don’t forget to check back in for “Part Two” where I’ll share all the category bins I created, some book/series recommendations for each genre, a fun blog share with a fellow book-nerd mama AND a fun giveaway…stay tuned and make sure you subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss anything I’ve got coming up (including my Thanksgiving book picks)!

Girls cute dresses from The Little Spoons

Letterboard & letters from Hobby Lobby

Step Stool is a vintage hand-me-down

Tent from Land of Nod (no longer avail, but similar HERE)

Halloween shelf decor from Paper Source
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October 27, 2017
Nursery Sneak Peek
When Ryan and I first met, about 15 years ago (holy crap!) we were attending college in Southern California. I was a fresh “New Jersey transplant” and he was the epitome of a California surfer boy, through-and-through. He wore Rainbow sandals exclusively and surfed in lieu of going to the gym. One would almost never guess that was the case if you met him today in his embroidered belt, tucked-in button down shirt, uttering the word “ya’ll”. Yep, my Cali boy has turned Texan. Which is pretty awesome too…by the way.

But, when we moved here 10 years ago and started talking about starting a family, I always said that if we had a baby boy one day, I’d love to bring Ryan’s Cali-surfer-boy style into the nursery. Well, shockingly…here we are…a baby boy on the way and surfer-boy nursery underway!

This nursery has been a labor of love, and it is still NOT finished. The OCD side of me really wanted to wait until it was all done before posting, but the impatient side of me really couldn’t wait any longer. I figured I’d been sharing enough snippits and purchases on my IG stories, so why not just put them all together here?

The colors and overall vibe of mixed media have been my vision since day one, although with such a difficult/awkward room to work with, I’ve had to compromise a bit with the overall layout and furniture pieces/placement. All-in-all I’m really loving seeing it all come together. It’s actually pretty surreal.

So here is a tiny sneak peek of Baby Boy’s Modern Surfer-Boy room…probably the only surfer boy in Texas! 😉 There are still some finishing touches to add…including linens and some framed photos from “the olden days” of his daddy, in-action, surfing.

I can’t wait to see our babe grow up in this space, to hear the stories of his Daddy’s California adventures, and to actually get to use the tiny board his dad picked out just for him. But for now, Cubby will take over & pretend this is her second bedroom…

The wallpaper is from Hygge and West and I had been eying it for a while. When we found out this babe was a boy, I purchased it that same day. I do love me a good accent wall! 😉

The gorgeous Tulum beach print is from Max Wanger. Don’t you just want to jump right in that water with a cocktail?

No?

Just me, then.

Finding a rocker that was comfy & deep but compact enough to fit into this tight corner was a challenge (and several were purchased & exchanged), but then we found this one from Land of Nod and it is EXACTLY what we were looking for!

The sweet globe below was custom made for us from this little etsy shop, Le Marigny. I got to pick the paint colors AND the quote. I’m pretty much obsessed with how it came out.

If you’ve been watching my instagram stories, you know all about my obsession with Babylit books. They are so adorable & educational…and I love the pops of color!!

Also, can we talk about how adorable that kiddie surfboard is?! And if this little man isn’t into surfing, I have no doubt his sisters will gladly take it for a spin or two! 😉

That’s it for now! I’ll be sure to do a FULL post once the room is ALL finished, complete with links to everything. But if there’s anything else you’d like info on in the meantime, just leave a comment below & I’ll do my best to answer it!

Thanks for checking out our little man’s space…and for sharing our excitement!

for your pinning pleasure…
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March 8, 2017
Ch-ch-changes
Dear Blog,

Thank you for being my BFF and sounding board during these days where too-damn-much is changing and my mama hormones just can’t deal.

Today, Ardyn’s big girl bed was delivered (..although I’m about 98% sure she isn’t ready to sleep in it yet, and will be keeping the crib shoved in the corner of her room until that time comes). So even though I’m not necessarily saying goodbye to the crib just yet, I am saying goodbye to her baby room. I knew yesterday would be the last time her room would be set up this way, so I snapped a few pictures of my babe in her baby room, on the very last day it would be just that. I’m so glad I have these, because today her room consists of waaaay more furniture than can actually fit between those 4 walls and already the baby decor is getting replaced with some of the decorations I’ve been hoarding for this very day. It’s exciting. But what can I say? I’m bad at change…

“Big Girl Room” to be revealed at a later date (much, much later). But until then…just one last peek at her room for the past two years. I kind of miss it already.
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August 30, 2016
Sleepover
Because when they ask for anything involving “sleep” in the middle of the day, the answer is always YES…with fingers crossed.

(Spoiler Alert: no luck.)
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May 2, 2016
Q’s Room
(aka Princess Drama’s Lair)

Well, it’s been about a year since we’ve moved into this house, and I finally feel like Q’s room is finished. As Ardyn would say in her best pseudo-enthusiastic, monotone voice, “Ta-Daaa!”

Ok, let me start by saying that I LOVED Q’s bedroom in the old house. There was just something about it. Maybe it was because I can still remember watching Ryan paint the walls when we first found out we were having a girl, maybe it was the set up of the room: the bed nook and the sweet alcoves, or maybe it was the blood, sweat and tears we (ok, Ryan) put into the precious wainscoting around her walls. I’m not sure what tied me to that room, but I found myself struggling with “loving” her room as much in this new house.

I knew I had to make “loving it” my mission. It’s taken me the better part of this year, but it finally feels like “home”.

So, here’s (what I think is) the pretty-much finished product. I still think some beadboard or an accent wall of amazing wallpaper would be the icing on the cake, but that’s just me. I like to think that a room, like a house, is never really finished, but rather- always evolving.

(My husband loves this theory.) 😉

I’m kind of a sucker for fresh flowers in the house. Quin recently picked up on my little obsession, insisting on grabbing some pink (her fav color- if you haven’t guessed yet) flowers from the grocery store one day. She loves being all dramatic and princess-y about them and I love the way they look- so it’s a win-win I suppose. Ok, if I’m being honest, it’s a total pain in the butt to keep up with and I’m about one Hobby Lobby trip away from throwing some fake ones in there. We can pretend, right?

I also keep this basket on her dresser of our current favorite bedtime books. We buy books in bulk around here, so the contents of this basket is always changing. (But for the record: Gaston for the win!) I also keep her framed silhouette on her dresser. We get one cut every year from the fabulous Karl Johnson and I absolutely love seeing how different it comes out each year. You know, in a love-hate/stop-growing kind of way. He travels around the country and he’s the Real Deal, you guys. You should probably check him out! 😉

Up here, out of Baby ‘Zilla’s reach, is also where we keep Q’s bowl of “Ariel treasures”. She has started collecting seashells and rocks from our travels and she probably dumps this bowl out and sorts through them on a weekly, if not daily, basis. Her favorite is this black heart-shaped rock that her Papa found for her in Hawaii. She says it gives her magical powers. Go on with your bad self, Q.

(Sidebar: pink baby cowboy boots.

That is all. Keep Scrolling.)

Ok, so this nook is one of the girls’ favorite places to play, aside from the playroom. I found this adorable dollhouse on clearance at Pottery Barn. It was actually the last of its kind and was a display item so I got a double discount! [I made sure to make a big deal to the hubs about how much I saved so that he wouldn’t notice I also bought some (zero % discounted) bedding as well!]

Right, back to the dollhouse. I struggled a bit finding dolls that would fit inside this little gem, but then I discovered the cutest invention on the planet: peg dolls. I found this set of princess pegs on etsy. They were “ready to ship” (perfect for my impatient self) and on sale. Have I mentioned I’m a sucker for sales?…and also, not sales.

OK, fine, I’m just a sucker.

Too. Much. Cute. Stuff!

See that piece of artwork resting on top of the bookshelf down there? Here’s a funny story:

Ryan and I were walking around an antique store one day when I was pregnant and I saw this piece. It’s a white out design over an antique painting of a beach. You can barely make out the waves under that stenciled out design. LOVE! Anyways, I saw this and bought it as my “inspiration” for my then-unborn babe’s room. It’s the only piece in her room that has been there since day 1. I’m still obsessed with it and I will force it into her college dorm room one day. Love ya, Quinnie! 😉

Let’s talk about this unicorn for a second. Isn’t it the cutest? Princess Drama is “Ah-sessed” with it. But the best part is that it’s actually a speaker! You plug your ipod into the front pocket and it acts as a little music player. Perfect for nighttime lullabies, or daytime play-tunes. Thanks again, Money Pit, I mean- Pottery Barn.

This bookshelf is actually the key to keeping this room remotely/occasionally clean and organized. We keep all of her bedroom toys and books in those three baskets. Easy access, easy clean up. My fav.

I can’t even with this little reading nook and if my rear end would fit into that miniature chair, you better believe I’d be hanging out there all day with my kindle. You know, when I wasn’t mothering and all that.

And there you have it. I think she likes it as much as I do, which is marginally important, right?

Sweet dreams, Q.

Wanna switch rooms with Mommy?

😉
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January 19, 2016