I am happy to announce that the Cozy Reverie Fall Collection is up on the shop website! Acorns, Pumpkin Pie, School Supplies and more! I can't seem to let go of summer quite yet, so you might see some watermelons and flamingos in there too. One really exciting item that has been launched is RAINCOATS. It doesn't rain much in southern California, but I really don't care. I'm totally getting one. OH OH! And as of yesterday, jumpsuits have been thrown in the mix! What DA WHAT?! Be sure to check out the collection and let me know your favorite picks!

With my eldest going back to school, it feels like summer is over early. We still want to squeeze in a beach trip before we have to step back into the math and science, so now all our fun will be saved for the weekends. Here's a quick recap on what we did this week at Cozy Reverie:

This Week:
Earn great rewards for school and more with Bing.com
Grown ups have supplies wish lists too
We celebrated Lipstick Day with these fabulous artists
Help people in need with this wonderful LA-based charity
Get your office ready for August with these free tech wallpapers

Fun Links for the Weekend:
Be sure to add these fun sneaks to your back-to-school closet.
I got my ban.do agenda!! YEEE! If you haven't gotten yours, hop to it.
Going to the beach? You've got to bring these towels with you!
Watermelon Day is this Monday! Prep your party with these ideas.
You can end your search for a taco purse right now and make your own!
Keep the lipstick love going with these shoe embellishments.
Stop everything! A cotton candy piñata? That is soooo happening!

Watermelon Day is coming! This is, by far, my favorite fruit and I'm actually a big fan of all the crafts that it inspires. So today, your free wallpaper downloads are minimalist version of the yummy summer treat.

Just click on the images for the size you would like and save as your background. Then try not to let it watermelon craving overcome you. ;)

Want ideas on how to celebrate national watermelon day?
Check out my finds on Pinterest!

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

Back-to-school time! I'm actually looking forward to it. Vacations are a lot harder with two kids that have such a big age difference (sorry, man, but I'm freakin' tired). My little second grader only got about a month and a half off, and soon we will have to start our early morning routines again. He's not excited at all, but I'm like this. 

School prep means we get to go shopping! I love going on the hunt for school supplies. Last year, I took the list quite literally, getting the exact brands that were specified. Well, this year, the Brodster and I will be having a bit of fun.

With back-to-school quickly approaching, I am in major money-saving mode. One way that I have found as a great investment of my time is earning points with Bing Rewards.

By signing up with the program, Bing makes it super easy to earn great rewards, like gift cards and sweepstakes entries. Personally, I usually choose Amazon and Starbucks cards. However, with school supply shopping coming soon, I have added Toys R Us and Macys to my list. Intrigued? Let me tell you how easy it really is! All you have to do is search the web using Bing!  Here's the breakdown:

1. Sign up.
2. For every two searches on Bing, you earn one point (up to 15 points a day).
3. If you use their mobile app, you can earn up to an additional 10 points a day. That brings you to a total of 25 points a day!
4. Most $5 gift cards cost 525 points. So it would only take you 21 days to earn a gift card!
5. Once you reach the gold level, your gift card cost will drop to 475 points, making it even easier to earn cards!

Another bonus is if you refer a friend. Once your buddies reach silver status (meaning redeeming their first reward), you earn 150 points! A win for your bud is a win for you!

Want even more goodness? Sometimes, Bing will send me codes for FREE rewards, like an 8x8 hard cover Shutterfly photobook! This was ideal when I wanted to document Brody's year of first grade and will do the same with 2nd.

So how  exactly does this help save for school? Here are the list of rewards I can use for during the year:

1. School Supplies: Amazon gift card
2. Backpack/School supplies: Toys R Us gift card
3. School Shoes/Clothes: Macys gift card
4. School Memories: Shutterfly photo deal
5. Good Grade Rewards: Gamestop gift card
6. Charity: $1 to Kids in Need, $1 to Teach for America
7. Gifts for teachers: Gilt, Macys, Sephora, Starbucks gift card
8. For my sanity during the school year: Groupon, Starbucks gift card

Check out the full list of rewards here

Ready to earn free rewards? Join here! 
And be sure to let me know what you get with your first reward!

I'm excited to shop! No boring, yellow pencils in this pencil pouch!  I'm probably going to be shopping for my office too (you'll see my own personal wish list tomorrow). Oh, and I think I may have become a little obsessed with erasers. What is it about the perfect eraser that makes me giddy?

Still, I'm going to miss my little rascal. Yes, I've got an 9-month old to keep me busy, but life was so much easier with his big brother around. I'm sure Lou will be missing the Brodster too. We'll just weep together while we get used to the routine again. :)

I don't think I have mentioned this on the blog before, but I am a big fan of the artist, Mary Blair. Today's DIY project was inspired by the Mickey Mouse short, "Clogged", which pays homage to her work (you can see what I'm going for in this scene). I guess you can say it's inspired by an inspiration of Mary Blair. Is this Inception?

Before we begin, I want to make clear that this will take a bit of artistic skill. What I mean by that is not being afraid of drawing lines freehand. So if you can draw a rectangle, square, and triangle without a ruler, and you are okay with the little mistakes here and there, then you are in pretty good shape. ;)

Materials needed:
Pot (clay or plastic)
A Sharpie
Acrylic paint (lots of different colors)
Paint brushes

Directions:
1. Make sure to wipe clean and dry the pot before you begin to draw.
2. For the tulips, begins with a "U" shape.
3. Add two "v"s to the top of the "U".
4. Repeat until you have made the tulip cover the lip of the pot.
5. Beneath every third tulip, draw a line straight down.
6. For the first wall panel: Make an "X". Every other wall panel will be an "X" panel.
7. Then add one more line down the middle.
8. Choose one empty wall panel. This will be the door.
9. Draw a long upside "U" as the door.
10. Add the details to either side of the door, but staying within the same panel.
11. For all other empty wall panels, they will be the "diamond" panels.
12. Draw a cross.
13. Add the diamond.
14. Draw a small circle in the center.
15. (optional) Add the flower details to the "X" panels.
16. PAINT!

Once the paint dried, I went over the lines with the sharpie again. All done!

I think next time, I'll be getting a clay pot and also using brighter colors. Can you imagine a whole mini-garden with these pots?? So so cute!

This quote is currently hanging in Louie's nursery and it's still one of my favorite wall pieces I've done. It is such a simple design, but the quote has such a great positive outlook that I can't help but love. Peter Pan may have been one conceited snot (seriously, did anyone ever notice that?), but he definitely knew how to have fun.

So today, you get to have the design too! Just download the JPEG below and print it out. It is great wall décor for any room in the house. We could all use this reminder once in a while. :)

Visit the Society 6 shop to check out the "Think Happy Thoughts" collection.

Last Sunday, we were fortunate enough to visit a lesser known historic, Disney location in Los Angeles: Walt Disney's Barn. If you haven't visited before, you owe it to yourself to take the drive. It's a great place to see another side to the genius of the Disney vision.

The barn, which was Walt's private workshop, is now a small museum filled with incredible collectibles dedicated to Disney and his love for model trains. Volunteers keep the location in its original state the best they can (only updating it to adhere city codes and such) because they realize how important it is to keep such rich history.

Fun Facts!
- Carolwood Barn resembles the barn Disney used to play in as a child in Marceline, Missouri.
- The Santa Fe and Disneyland Rainroad combine car, located towards the back of the Live Steamers Club, actually ran on the opening day of Disneyland in 1955.
- When being transported to Griffith Park, the barn had to be taken apart and put back together.
- It is said that this barn is where Disney Imagineering first began.

It is great for kids and adults alike. There is even a small train you can ride around the property! For our afternoon, we brought a small picnic at the eating area (it is picnic month, after all!) and then strolled around the exhibits. The volunteers are so welcoming and clearly big Disney fans as well. They will have special guests sometimes, so follow them on Facebook and/or Instagram for the latest news.

Want even more of a reason to visit? Both the parking and admission are free (donations to the Los Angeles Live Steamers Museum are always accepted). The Barn is open on the 3rd Sunday of each month from 11 am to 3 pm, so be sure to note that in your calendar!

Walt's barn was transplanted from his home in Holmby Hills to Griffith Park with the Live Steamers Club, and is now known as the Carolwood Barn. Why Carolwood Barn? Because it was originally built in the backyard of Disney's home on 355 Carolwood Drive. Ah, snap! Now you can get that right when it comes up at trivia night.