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Babiekins Magazine

A Trendsetting Magazine & Online Community For The Trendsetting Child + Parent

Life Is Better On The Farm

By Amy Carson Leave a Comment

The Pandemic has us all staying closer to home. While this is a bummer, the experience is not without silver linings. The girls have been looking for nearby places to visit, and in the process they discovered a hidden gem. We met some local farmers and got to spend some time among their flock.

 

Location | Tannos Farm (League City, TX)

Photography/Styling | Amy Carson 

Clothing | Cosmosophie

Hats | Tia Cibani Kids

Filed Under: Editorials, Family, Fashion, Fun Tagged With: #babiekinsmag, #fashionkins, Babiekins, babiekins mag, Babiekins Magazine, children's style, childrens fashion, editorial, farm life, farming, Fashion, fashion kids, fashion magazine, fashionkins, girls fashion, kids fashion magazine, vintage Posted By: Amy Carson

Gorgeous Barndominium in Oklahoma

By Priscila Barros, Editor-in-Chief Leave a Comment

You know we are all about having our kiddos explore and learn about the world around us through hands-on learning like farming. So when I ran into Maggie Sheffield’s gorgeous home on Instagram, I knew I had to ask her a few questions and feature it.

Maggie is a wife, mother and talented photographer in Oklahoma who decided she wanted to build a metal building and covert it into a beautiful home for her and her family.

Learn more about Maggie here: Website | Instagram

—
The concept of a metal building or – ‘barndominium’ is pretty new. When did you build your home and why did you decide this was how you wanted to build your home?    
We built our home in 2016, so having a “barndominium” then was definitely not common! My husband had wanted to build a metal home for a while! He wanted it to match our other barns in our shop area. I wasn’t so sure about the idea at first, but I told him as long as I could do what we wanted on in the inside like a “normal” home, I was okay with it! (Spoiler Alert: I couldn’t be happier with our decision!)
How much land do you have? 
My husband is a 3rd generation farmer & we live in a TINY farm town in Oklahoma with our two kiddos- we farm around 4,000 acres. Our crops include Corn, Wheat, Soybeans, Cotton. We actually built in the EXACT spot where his grandfather’s childhood home was.
What were a few of your biggest hurdles you had to get over while building?
This would probably be a better question for my husband because I honestly don’t remember any of the hurdles, but I’m sure he does! Ha! It honestly went fairly smoothly. The same man who builds our barns at our shop built our home (B & B Welding, INC.)  & my husband contracted the rest out.
How big is your home? Do you have a price breakdown for the build?
Our home is 50×100. We have 3300sqft living and the rest is our shop/garage area.
We paid around $80 per sqft and that includes EVERYTHING.  We have 4 bedrooms ( 2 upstairs and 2 downstairs) & 2.5 baths. We have a mud/laundry room downstairs. We also have a large loft area upstairs, which is the kids living area/playroom.
How did you keep costs down?
My husband contracted it himself & that saved us some. We did concrete floors in all of our downstairs area, so we didn’t have to pay for flooring or carpet. We knew this would be a “forever home” so, we didn’t want to cut corners on what we wanted.
Do you have any farm animals? If not, do you plan on getting any?
We have dogs and we had chickens & I plan to get more 🙂 I am always trying to talk my husband into ALL the farm animals once we get a fence built. My farm animal wish list: Horse, Scottish highland, 1-2 goats, & more chickens.
Did you grow up on a farm? Why was it important for you to raise your kids on land?
I grew up with Longhorn cattle and horses. Some of my favorite memories involve them. Where we live now, we don’t have any neighbors. My kids can roam and explore as far as they want. We can ride the rzr on the dirt road down to see their daddy & we can even spot him out our front windows while he’s on a tractor. It was important for us to give our children a childhood of freedom and appreciation for the land.
Describe a typical day for you.
Normally, while my kiddos are at school. I am usually working from home, running errands & house chores. Right now, during this pandemic, and also during summertime- we are home and constantly in and out of the house all day long. The kids are riding on the four-wheelers, jumping on the trampoline, playing hide & seek in all the barns, visiting daddy at the shop, when we can and we are enjoying our long days together.
Do you have any tips for someone else that wants to buy land and build?
Honestly, just to find inspiration. Pinterest & Instagram. When we built I didn’t have all these barndominium inspiration accounts on Instagram and Pinterest. I just kind of had to pick and choose from other homes I had seen on Pinterest and put it into a metal home and hoped it would look great.
What is one piece of advice you would give yourself if you had to do this all over again?
Don’t put off decorating for so long! Get it done & enjoy. We have been in our home for 3 years now and I am still not entirely done decorating and having things just how I want them. Everyone says it takes forever and you’re always changing, but it drives me crazy! I am so much closer to having it how I want it, but there are always little things to add.  This isn’t really advice, but something else I would change- do a walk-in pantry! For the most part, I wouldn’t change anything else.
What is your grand vision for your homestead?
Happy, healthy, free children + lots of animals.
What has been the hardest part of being a farmer?
My husband is such a hard worker, but he’s also the best husband and daddy. He works so hard, but he is the biggest family man, too. He never misses anything of the kid’s activities, no matter how busy he is & we are so thankful for him. He truly LOVES what he does. While there are hard times as a farmer ( farmer’s wife), I know there are families who don’t get to see their spouse for days, months, years and I want to recognize that and show how thankful I am that while farming is a very hard job, we are so thankful for those who sacrifice so much more.
We got married young when we were 19 & 20 years old. We have been through so much in our marriage of 10.5 years and the farm has a lot to do with it. It’s a gamble and everything comes into play. The weather, the seed, the ground. We’ve prayed so hard for rain some days & then we’ve prayed so hard for the rain to stop. Some days he leaves before the sun comes up and doesn’t come home until it’s down. There are days we have to take him dinner on the tractor and some days we don’t get to see him before bedtime.
The kids love going to work with him and that’s how we have to do family time during the busy season. We aren’t able to always make plans- it all depends on when he will be planting, harvesting, cutting, spraying, etc. He has a handful of guys who work for him and they are a HUGE part of it. We are so, so thankful and proud of them and it couldn’t be done without them. We appreciate everything they bring to the farm & our family. It’s so rewarding to see their hard work when you’re driving the dirt roads looking at the crops. It’s a way of life and we wouldn’t trade it for anything. I couldn’t be any more proud to be raising our children on this land in this tiny little farm town.
A little prayer we have repeated over the dry summers- “Dear Lord, if it be in your power, please bring us a nice little shower.”

Filed Under: Farm and Homesteading Tagged With: farm, farming, homesteading, kids fashion magazine, metal barn, metal building home, oklahoma Posted By: Priscila Barros, Editor-in-Chief

Folk & Flora Bunkroom Details

By Priscila Barros, Editor-in-Chief Leave a Comment


Image above:  The original house had three cubby holes at the top of the stairs that I thought was such a waste. The old owners put photos and lights in them. I originally didn’t want any cubby holes but as we started changing walls and the original space I thought it would be a great way to personalize each boys space with their own shelving. We made it with leftover 2×4 wood that we got at a local hardware store and filled it up with things the boys collected through the years and tons of books. The wire baskets are from Schoolhouse. They are perfect to collect items and I love the gym (industrial) look they give! Everything else on the shelf was either thrifted or bought throughout the years.

Image above: This room was originally the master bedroom. There was no bathroom and a small walkin closet. Since we have had to redo the whole house, we moved the original stairs which made room for a full-size bathroom for the boys to share. This corner originally was home to the door to the walk-in closet. The rug is washable and totally appropriate for active boys. You can find it at Lorena Canals. The chair is from Homeday and is the cutest. I made sure to get a leather one so it was easy to clean.

We decided to build in the boys beds. We would have had no room for play if we hadn’t done this. It was costly but so worth it! They love it and its just such a fun part of the room. Bedding is from Perfect Linens. Pillows are a mix of Oeuf and Lorena Canals.

I decided to add a light (the light is from Bella Cor ) right above our Donkey Animal Print Shop image. This is one of my favorite pieces in our home and special. It was the original artwork I put in my sons nursery. You can see that space HERE.

Image Above : I added vintage artwork, taxidermy that we used in our homeschool room (see it HERE) and combined it with more modern art I got on Minted.com and Etsy.

Image above: The storage in this room was tricky so we just added things like white lockers from IKEA and this black (with leather pull) cabinet from IKEA! I filled it up with bright things that make me happy. It also has a ton of our homeschool books organized by color. I don’t see the same cabinet on Ikea.com but you can get a black cabinet and add these leather pulls HERE. The light I LOVEEEEE and it’s by Schoolhouse and you can find it HERE.

Image above : This sofa from Interior Define is so good. Its a gorgeous blue velvet and the gold legs make it extra special. We love to hang out here, watch movies, read books and watch storms go by.


These lockers were key in this room since there is a lack of storage. They also bring in that cool industrial vibe I wanted but look modern because they are white.

Image above: I have always wanted a cowhide and when I saw these at Ikea I know I wanted to get one for the boys space.

Isn’t this light from Schoolhouse just so good?

The bathroom I am so happy and proud of. I used black and white cement tile on the floor from Cement Tile Shop. We used cross tile from Mercury Mosiacs and then did white subway tile up the whole shower.

Image above: We used the same 2×4 to create a shelf above the toilet and added these gorgeous towels from Schoolhouse.

Image above: This butterfly artwork I had wanted to put somewhere else but it added a little bit of color to the bathroom…. so it stayed. The artwork is from minted.com and mirror is from Ikea. The faucet is from Bella Cor and the vanity is from Lowes.
I am no stranger to redemption. Adopted from the streets of Brazil at age five, I knows how powerful second chances can be. So when she and her family moved to Northwest Arkansas from Southern California and were met with decay and mold inside the property they’d intended to transform into a community farm (@folkandflora on Instagram), Priscila was not deterred. “This too shall pass,” she says, paraphrasing the words found in the book of 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 in Bible. “Throughout this renovation, it’s been a deep encouragement to me how these ‘light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 

—-

Ever since my childhood running wild down the orchard rows near our ranch, I’ve had a dream of owning my own farm.  I envisioned many a night camping under the stars, radiating with laughter, and snuggling under blankets, as the storms of summer — and life! — rolled by. And so our family decided to pack up our things in California and buy a farmhouse in Arkansas, so our three boys could live out their childhood in wild surroundings, too. Little did we know we’d be camping a whole lot sooner — and for different reasons — than we originally hoped!  Last year, as we knocked down the walls and began renovations, we unearthed unimaginable amounts of mold. This decay had been hidden so intentionally and deliberately, under layers and layers of hastily-added paint, flooring, and cabinets — none of us could have ever anticipated the extent of the damage. Faced with deeply rotted boards and planks, we had no choice but to move forward, choosing to believe in redemption, and choosing to embrace the truth that beauty can arise from ashes. And so we began the painstakingly slow process of stripping the house right down to the studs. Since the house wasn’t livable in this state, we set up a travel trailer on the property and took refuge there. As you can imagine for a SoCal family of five, it was quite an adjustment! But our cramped quarters served as great motivation to get the whole family involved in the renovation. The process was more complicated than expected; weather, permitting and zoning, physical limitations, and financial delays all slowed our process considerably. 

The original footprint of the home was over two thousand square feet, but since the mold took such a tight grip on the place, the salvageable pieces left us with about half the space. As we began to build back up again, our first priority was to get our boys  situated again. We started by reframing the master bedroom, and converting it into a bunkhouse. We built four twin-size beds right into the wall, creating unique rooms-within-a-room which each boy could personalize by decorating the shelves and beds as he pleased. While giving each of the boys space, this dual-function design also allowed for the center of the room to focus on imagination and play.

I’ve always been a fan of eclectic style, never drawing fully from one genre, but instead mixing all kinds of elements to create a one-of-a-kind atmosphere. (Have you ever seen a velvet sofa and velvet drapes in a boys’ bunkhouse before? I hadn’t — until I designed this space!) Since there’s a lot of white in this room, I didn’t want the lighting to fade away into the ceiling, so I added contrast with industrial lights and Edison bulbs from Schoolhouse Electric.

Surprisingly, even though this was the original master bedroom, it didn’t originally have a bathroom. So we moved the stairs to create enough space to accommodate a full bath, and installed cement tile (cement ought to be able to keep up with three growing boys!) 

When designing, I have to keep the future of the space in mind, while also balancing my own sense of aesthetic with the needs of three active boys. Mercury mosaic tiles added a splash of modernity to the shower floor — not enough for the boys to be bothered, but enough to make the space feel fresh. And we tied in a few industrial elements here, too, to extend the style from the main bunkhouse.

Those metal towel racks and tissue holders? We made them ourselves, using pipe sections from the local hardware store, then fashioned shelves from leftover two-by-four lumber.

This room was a labor of love, one we are very proud of as a family. We all came together, and worked long hours alongside one another. We all pitched in. Even the boys helped, taking out nails in the subfloor, sanding, painting, and helping put together the finishing touches. We wanted our boys to have the rich life experiences growing up on a farm would offer them, but getting to this point has been a bit of a wild ride.  We still don’t have a completed home, but our menagerie of farm animals is growing, the wildflowers are bursting up out of the ground, and we’ve created lifelong memories already.

Every time we look at this bunkhouse, we’re reminded of the miracle of hard work and perseverance, and the magic of never giving up on our dreams. 

And through it all, I can see redemption being carried out, every day, in ordinary corners of the world — and any bumps we experience along the way are not permanent. 

I carry in my heart the hope of the eternal. This too shall pass.

photography Angelina Lopez  |  design  Priscila Barros  |  article PRISCILA BARROS as told to ALLYSON HAAS 

Filed Under: Fun, Interiors Tagged With: 1920s farmhouse, farm, farmhouse renovation, farming, farming with kids, farmstead, folk and flora, homestead, house, renovation Posted By: Priscila Barros, Editor-in-Chief

Folk & Flora Farmstead Farmhouse Mood Board

By Priscila Barros, Editor-in-Chief Leave a Comment

Babiekins | Homekins Inspo

Babiekins | Homekins InspoWe are getting excited about finally completing a space in the #folkandflora farmhouse. It has been a big project. Full of unexpected problems but we are getting close to finally finishing the boys bunk room + bathroom and the half bathroom downstairs. It’s funny how when you do without for a while how it changes your view on simple things —- like having a working bathroom. We can’t wait till this is all behind us but it’s really giving my family a ton of character. My boys are learning about handwork and my husband is really stepping up like never before. He has worked 12 hour days during the day and then comes home and works on the house and feeds the animals. On his weekends he spends his days working on the house. It’s a lot of work but we will have something in every corner of the home that we can proudly say – we did that!

Here is some inspiration for the 1/2 bathroom. The floor and dramatic wallpaper are my favorite part. I mean #fishscale tile? YAS! The wallpaper is also so beautiful. The big flower wallpaper trend is still going strong and I knew I wanted to place it somewhere in my home.

Tile: Black Moroccan Fish Scales via Mercury Mosaics  | Magnolia Mural Wallpaper : Drop it Modern | Sink: Pedestal Sink | Mirror : Ikea | Faucet : Kohler | Metal Storage : Urban Outfitters  | Rug : Urban Outfitters | Art: Urban Outfitters  | Soap : Sea Salt Soap | Light : Bellacor

Filed Under: Fun, Interiors Tagged With: #babiekinsmag, Babiekins, Babiekins Magazine, designer, farm, farming, folk and flora, folk and flora farms, home, home decor, home design, home interior, home interiors, interiors, kid-friendly home decor, kids fashion, kids fashion magazine, stylist Posted By: Priscila Barros, Editor-in-Chief


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Copyright © 2023 · Babiekins Magazine | A Trendsetting Kids' Fashion Magazine and Online Community for Parents and Children Alike · Since the Southern California birth of Babiekins in 2010, the magazine has grown from into an internationally-recognized print publication with a global circulation and now a thriving online community. We are more than a kids’ fashion magazine. We search everywhere for inspiration, and go beyond trends to bring you fashion, style, decor, design, books, DIY, parties, and playthings. Our readers look to us to keep up with the best and most up-to-date concepts in the children’s market worldwide. We have an eye for quirk. We’re high-fashion, but we value whimsy over tradition. Playful childhood is more important to us than making kids into copycat adults. We believe life is beautiful, life is valuable, and life changes when you see it through the eyes of a child. We seek to transcend skin color, language and zip codes and bring out the real, wild, magical creativity inherent in every child. And behind Babiekins is an optimistic team of mothers-turned-editors, working from home, often with our own little babiekins climbing on, under and around the desks. We want to encourage you, and challenge you to see something different — something special — in yourself and in this world we all share. Welcome to Babiekins!

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