Archive for the ‘holidays’ Category

Sponsored: Easy Thanksgiving Decor

November 26th, 2013
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This post is sponsored by Way Basics – your source for eco-friendly, light-weight and strong organizational systems. Each of their products is designed for the world’s easiest assembly. 

We don’t have any holiday decor. Holiday decor isn’t something that can be purchased all at once like a couch, or bed linens. I feel like these things are collected over time. So this year I’m working on making and buying festive decor that will easily store and last for years to come. I’m hoping that my efforts this year will make a dent and make next year’s decorating for the holidays just a little bit easier.

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Just before Halloween, I found a few of these paper mache pumpkins while at Michael’s. They’re not there any more, but I’ve since found them online here and here.

I love that they offer a blank slate. I had them out as-is, but recently decided to give them more of a Thanksgiving/Fall theme the other night.

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Is it strange that I’m still making fall/Thanksgiving decor even though most people have already decorated their homes to the gills for Christmas? Sometimes I feel behind the times, but I remind myself, “NOOOOO!! I’m going to enjoy Thanksgiving FIRST.”

I simply grabbed a #2 liner brush, white ink and went to town on my little pumpkins. While “thanks giving” may lend itself most towards the holiday, it’s a great mantra to have in the house all autumn long. I think these little babies will be a permanent part of my fall decor.

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On another note, this is the first wall shelf that I’ve mounted in our new house (besides the utilitarian ones in my studios). I love having parts in my home strictly for decor that can be “untouchable”!

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I loved how easy Way Basics’s wall shelves were to mount. I actually mounted this during a late night, it was 3 in the morning and it was still easy to install in my sleep deprived state. Total win.

I was compensated for this post, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Easy DIY Holiday Banner Tutorial

October 1st, 2013
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I whine and complain all the time about not having any holiday decorations. It’s all my fault for not having anything when the holiday seasons roll around. All my fault. I’m crafty, right? Why can’t I take a few minutes and make something?

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A few weeks ago I organized all of my holiday gear in boxes (a first!) so now it’s time to invest in some fun decor to fill those boxes.

Today I’m sharing with you an updated tutorial from days of yore and a way to jazz it up for the holidays.

Styrofoam Prints DIY

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Supplies

  • pencil
  • styrofoam sheets (or plates with the edges cut off)
  • craft paint or block printing ink (water soluble is best)
  • acrylic plate
  • brayer
  • bone folder

(more…)

Chipotle Popcorn + Easy Paper Cones

June 25th, 2013
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Last week I bought a popcorn popper! I’ve been doing it on the stovetop until now. It’s not terrible, but it is nice to avoid standing over the stove for 10 minutes at a time.

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Our neighborhood has this little tradition called “Street of Treats”. Each street is assigned a Sunday through out the summer and early fall months, and neighbors get together to provide and eat treats. Our street was up first for the summer! I wanted to do something fun, but I didn’t want to spend a whole lot of time preparing for it.

I also wanted to do something besides brownies and cookies as I knew mine would certainly not be the best nor the only ones out. So I did a popcorn bar!

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About an hour beforehand I realized I didn’t have enough paper cups for neighbors, so I had to get inventive. I certainly have enough paper on-hand, so I made cones:

Cut the 12×12 inch paper into fourths. Find some cute, but strong tape (this is masking tape from OHF).

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Lightly crease the corner.

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Overlap opposing corners.

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But don’t overlap too much.

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Secure with tape.

I believe I made about 50+ cones and about 10+ batches of popcorn last night. Neighbors and friends topped their own popcorn with cinnamon and sugar, butter, parmesan, Mrs. Dash Chipotle powder, Salt, Pepper and/or dill. The little kids loved dousing their popcorn in lots of butter.

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My personal favorite combination? Butter, Mrs. Dash chipotle seasoning, lots of parmesan and kosher salt.

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I’m pretty sure I need to host a movie night and do this kind of thing again. It was fun, easy, cheap and cute.

Does your neighborhood do any fun get-togethers like this during the summer months?

Easter Sunday

April 1st, 2013
7 Comments

Easter was a little bit hectic for us, but I still managed to do a couple of special things for the kids and get our family photo.

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I had planned on making easter coordinating outfits for everyone, but I only got around to items for Penelope and Me. I still want to do for Chris and Felix what I had originally planned, it just may take a few more weeks. I’ll be sure to share those with you when I’m done. We still managed to match perfectly for our photo!

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We call this the Gene Simmons tongue. Felix does this regularly. Also, do you see the buttons on the back of Penelope’s dress? Those are my first button holes. First ones with my current machine (it’s been about 5 years since I’ve tried). I’m pretty proud of how they turned out. Having a nice new machine with automatic button holes makes a huge difference.

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Getting these pictures for the family was a bit stressful – when are family photos not stressful? – but we got them. The photos aren’t magazine perfect, but the most important thing was that we got together and took a picture. Last time we had our family photo taken was nearly a year and a half ago! I keep thinking to myself that we should do this more often, I do have this photo corner permanently set up.

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I love this shot of Penelope. She was so excited to find her Easter basket and this was about the expression on her face when I showed her her dress and my matching skirt. She always knows when to make me feel appreciated.

At the same time, she’s in this phase where she likes to manipulate Chris and me with her love (or in my case, the lack of). I’ll take any of these sweet moments I can.

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Felix is still not walking or talking, but we may have figured out the cause of his developmental delays. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but it feels right. We will be visiting a specialist in a week and a half to find out for sure what’s going on.

He’s still so affectionate and cuddly at 25 months, I’m not sure what I’ll do with myself if he ever grows out of it.

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Penelope and Felix are getting along much better now. Now that the weather is nice they ride outside together; Penelope on her bike and Felix on his fire truck. It’s so rewarding to see them interact nicely together.

I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend! And happy April Fool’s (sorry no pranks here today).

I’ve got some great posts coming to you this week – an easy DIY with one of my favorite Target dollar finds, the only way I want to eat my Asparagus and how to make a Kate Spade inspired skirt. What are your  plans this week?

Fabric provided by Kollabora.com.

Easter Sunday Printable

March 27th, 2013
16 Comments

I had an Easter candy box printable in the queue to finish up and publish for you, but I wasn’t really excited about it. Maybe I’ll scrap it or maybe I’ll save it for next year.


This year I’m switching it up – a religious art printable. It’s a simple message for any Christian-based church-goer.

It serves as a reminder for me to stop and think of the big picture. I tend to get caught up in minutia very easily. This will have a permanent home in the office where I tend to waste my time most on minutia.

 

DOWNLOAD HERE

So what kinds of plans do you have for this Easter? I’m busy working on Easter Sunday outfits, but I think I’ll just be doing candy and dollar store toys for the kids this year. Nothing too fancy.

I’m already going a bit nuts trying to get our easter outfits done. Not that Penelope really cares about that, or even is at all excited about her dress. She saw the blue fabric and told me immediately that blue is not her color. Hopefully she’ll change her tune when I show her the finished piece.

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