Cloud Dough

What do you do with a toddler (who's sick) on a rainy day? Make a gigantic mess with cloud dough! I found this idea on Pinterest, of course. It's a really quick and easy "recipe" and entertained Jackson for almost a half an hour, which was priceless after a long week...

4 cups of flour to 1/2 cup of baby oil

Mix!

That's it! I placed it in a bowl and let Jackson go to town with a few different utensils.

DIY Party Hat Garland

While searching for first birthday party ideas on Pinterest, I came across this and knew that I had to make one for Jackson's party! It was a really fun project!

Supplies:

• several photos of your birthday subject (I picked 12, one from each month of his first year)
• scrapbook paper or cardstock
• ribbon
• rick-rack
• pom poms
• hot glue
• mini clothespins
• Command cable clips

Steps:

1. find several photos of your child (make sure that their face is straight on)
2. use photoshop (or other editing software) to zoom in on the face
3. print pictures, 4X6, in color or black and white
4. carefully cut out faces
5. cut triangles out of scrapbook paper/cardstock (mine measured 3.5" wide by 4.5" tall)
6. glue various ribbon/rick-rack/trimmings to bottom edge of triangles
7. glue pom pom to top of triangle to finish the party hat
8. glue party hat to face

To hang, I stuck three, evenly spaced, cable clips under the edge of our fireplace mantle and then strung rick rack through them. I tied the ends of the rick-rack to the clips to make it more sturdy and able to hold the weight of all the party hats. Then, I used mini clothespins to hang the party hats. It worked perfectly! Finally, I used some leftover ribbon to hang the first birthday cutout in the middle. This turned out so cute that I still have it hanging a week after his party!

One Year Old in a Flash: Party Details

I love a good party and what better reason to plan a bash than a first birthday! I had so much fun scouring the internet and Pinterest (of course) for ideas. Since, Jackson is only one there wasn't really an obvious theme choice and I didn't want to push a random theme on him... When I came across this party, One Year Old in a Flash, I was sold immediately!! I've probably talked about how fast time went during Jackson's first year about a thousand times! Plus, I'm obsessed with capturing every moment on camera (even tantrums). This particular party was designed for a baby girl, so I tweaked the color scheme (ours was teal, lime green, and navy) and also made some menu changes (we went with more hearty snacks and less dessert options). Here are the details of Jackson's party!

Invites:

I absolutely loved the custom invitations that were made for the inspiration party, but we saved some money by designing ours on Shutterfly. You can see the full design here.

I thought the pictures along the side, on the front, and along the top, inside the card, had the effect of a photo strip. I wanted to make the theme a little more obvious so I searched for a camera sticker or stamp to add to the card. Luckily, I found the perfect stamp at my second stop (Paper Source).

The invites were complete!

Photo "Booth" and Props:

While browsing at Paper Source for the stamp, I was thrilled to come across a photo prop kit! I didn't even know that such a thing existed and had planned on making the props myself. I thought the $14.95 price tag was well worth the time and energy it would have cost me to create them from scratch. All I had to do was punch out the shapes and attach them to the dowels, that were included, with a little hot glue. They turned out great!

As you can see, I also added a frame prop. I used the frame from an old mirror that was collecting dust in the basement. I just removed the mirror and painted the wooden frame lime green (I used some left over paint from Jax's nursery).

I set up the photo "booth" in our office because it has good natural light and was out of the way of the rest of the party. I used duct tape to secure a queen size sheet to the wall and then hung some extra party decorations to add a little more pizazz.

The party pics were zoomed in so the bed and attractive duct tape edging didn't show. Everyone who attended the party had their picture taken (some with a little more prompting than others) and signed Jax's guest book. I'm going to add each group's picture next to their message, so Jackson will have a nice keepsake from his party. I'm also planning on sending everyone their picture, along with the thank you notes, as a souvenir. I'll include some of the pics in another post, once we get them back from our photographer (my darling and talented cousin Becca).

Decorations:

This was my favorite part of planning the whole party! Besides this package of first birthday decorations and some balloons, I made most of the decor myself. My absolute favorite was the party hat garland.

I made another, more simple, garland using Jackson's monthly pictures.

I also made a banner for Jackson's highchair (inspired by the one from my copycat party).

Finally, I designed little cupcake picks.

I will detail all of my DIY party decorations in future blog posts!

Food:

This was definitely my least favorite part of the planning... Shocking, I know. We decided to keep things as simple as possible because we didn't want to spend Jackson's party in the kitchen. Since the party was at 2pm, we didn't have to worry about serving a meal (which would have been impossible with close to 40 guests and limited space). Instead, we had heavy snacks and dessert (and beer and wine). In all of the hustle and bustle of the party, not only did I forget to take a picture of the food table, I even forgot to put out a couple of things! This is what was served:

• meatballs
• cucumber sandwiches
• meat & cheese tray
• veggie tray
• hummus & pita chips
• potato chips
• vanilla cupcakes with vanilla cream cheese frosting
• chocolate cake

Everything was made ahead of time or came straight out of a bag. Unfortunately, we forgot to prep and put out the fruit. Oh well, we had lots leftovers so hopefully it wasn't missed...

So there you have it! We had a blast and I think our guests did, too! Thanks to Elle Belle Creative and Pinterest for the inspiration, my husband for putting up with my craziness in the days leading up to the party, my cousin Becca for taking pics, my mom and sister for babysitting while we prepped for the party, and to everyone who came to help celebrate!

DIY Dog Silhouette

I've been wanting to do a gallery wall above our couch for quite sometime. While I love my hubby's artwork, our current ledge situation is in need of an upgrade! (Notice KG's favorite napping spot- how fitting that he will soon have his very own picture on the wall behind him).

Santa brought me some beautiful frames and I've been scouring pinterest for ideas. Today, I decided on a layout and the artwork for one of the six frames that will be included in the gallery. Baby steps...

I was inspired by this DIY dog silhouette on glitter guide, which was inspired by artwork from Anthropologie (my all-time favorite store). Following their guide would have made this project ridiculously simple, but I wanted the silhouette to be of our beloved KG (not some random greyhound). The project is still very quick and easy (the hardest part was finding a good picture of KG). Plus, I had all of the necessary supplies around the house. And, most importantly, you can customize the pattern and colors of the dog silhouette and background to match your decor! Here are my directions to make a silhouette of your own pet!

Supplies:

• frame (I used the espresso wood gallery frame from Pottery Barn)
• scrapbook paper
• cream card stock
• scissors
• sharpie
• pencil
• glue stick
• tape

Steps:

1. find (or take) a profile picture of your favorite pet
2. edit the photo, as needed (I zoomed in on his profile so it filled the picture and printed a 4X6 size. The silhouette worked perfect for my 5X7 frame.)
3. print silhouette (I just printed a fast draft on regular computer paper.)
4. outline your dog's silhouette with a sharpie (it makes the next step easier)
5. cut out silhouette
6. trace silhouette onto card stock and cut out (as you can see, I traced the silhouette onto the back so the pencil marks wouldn't show on the front)
   
7. trim a piece of scrapbook paper, in the pattern of your choosing, to fit your frame
8. glue silhouette to the corner of the scrapbook paper
9. insert paper into frame

Voila!

Stay tuned for the completed gallery wall (don't hold your breath, though, this could take awhile)!

Baby's First Christmas Crafts

These adorable keepsakes are the result of a crafting playdate with one of my mom groups. We foolishly thought that we'd be able to make our crafts while the six 8-10 month olds "played" with eachother. Ha!! All I got accomplished at the playdate was outlining Jackson's hands and feet on paper (I finished the rest at home after Jax went to bed).

Supplies:

• baby hands and feet
• pencil
• cardstock
• scrapbook paper
• gluestick
• scissors
• googly eyes (is that the technical term?)
• gem embellishments

General Directions:

• trace baby's footprints and handprints onto a piece of cardstock (while this may sound simple, it is by far the most complicated step- at least with my squirmy little guy)
• cut out footprints and handprints to make templates
• use templates to make as many hands and feet as you need

Reindeer:

1. adhere two handprints to a larger piece of scrapbook paper for the antlers (I used a brownish-gold cardstock)
2. adhere footprint for the head of the reindeer (I used cream cardstock)
3. add googly eyes to the footprint (I used self-adhesive ones from JoAnn)
4. adhere red gem for the nose
5. add baby's name and date (I used stickers initially, but they came off right away so I ended up just writing the name and date with a red sharpie)

Santa:

1. adhere one handprint for Santa's beard (I used white cardstock)
2. adhere Santa hat (I happened to find this in a dollar bin at JoAnn, but you could easily make one with scrapbook paper or felt)
3. adhere googly eyes
4. cut out oval and adhere for Santa's nose

I'm planning on framing one, or both, to display every year during the holidays. These would make great gifts for grandparents, too.

Pinterest = Crack

Hi, my name is Erica, and I am addicted to Pinterest.  If you haven't already checked it out, I strongly suggest you do.  Browser beware because soon it will be three hours later and you'll wonder where your day went.  I know you're probably thinking "just what I need, another waste of time," but I promise you pinterest is so much more than that.  It took a few weeks (of crazed anticipation) to get an invitation after I requested an account.  (I have some invites left, so message me if you're interested).  It sounded up my alley, but I had no idea how quickly I would become obsessed with it.  Back in the old days, I had to actually cut out pictures in magazines that inspired me to cook, redecorate, or make a project.  These scraps of paper would sit in various corners of my house until they mysteriously disappeared my husband threw them away.  (Needless to say none of those things were ever created or cooked).  With pinterest you can do this with a click of the mouse.  Anything that strikes your fancy (as you're surfing the web) can be added to a board for you to reference later.  Or, you can repin any of the amazing ideas that are being shared every second.  You can create as many boards as you like of anything that interests you!  Some of my boards include home decor, recipes, DIY projects, and gift ideas.  I have to admit that my boards are quite scattered as I'm learning how best to organize all of my pins.  Nevertheless, I have been cooking and crafting way more than usual.  (Which isn't really saying much, since I didn't do either very often in my pre-pinterest life).  Now, I have a whole slew of DIY projects that I have been meaning to blog about.  Ironically, I haven't found the time since I have been crafting so much (oh, and taking care of my baby boy).  Just this weekend I made these cute little wintery decorations in about 2 minutes!

Plus, I found all the materials (mason jars, epson salt, and candles) around the house so it didn't cost a thing!  Thank you pinterest!

I will do my best to add some of my other projects in the coming weeks- stay tuned!

DIY Nursery Mobile

After searching high and low for just the right mobile to hang above the changing table, I decided to make my own.  I found several really cute hand-made mobiles on Etsy, but none were quite what I was looking for and they cost a pretty penny.  I headed to my local JoAnn Fabrics, with a few ideas from the mobiles I liked, to search for supplies and more inspiration.  After a little digging, I found the perfect chocolate brown ribbon with white edging.  I had a much harder time finding just the right items to embellish the ribbon...  I debated between fabric cut outs, wooden sports shapes, and various other bells and whistles, but just wasn't sold...  That was until I came across a bag of wooden stars in various sizes.  The Star Mobile was born!  All it took was a little elbow grease and about $30 in supplies.

STAR MOBILE

Supplies:

• inner ring of a 9" embroidery hoop: ($1.79)
• ribbon: I used 3 spools of Offray Sidesaddle Brown and White Ribbon (5/8" X 9').  ($3.49/spool)
• paint: I used Apple Barrel acrylic paint in White, English Navy, and Regency Blue.  ($2.49/bottle)  I also used the left-over Stem Green paint from the decorative name letters)
• paint brush
• assorted wooden stars:  I bought 2 bags of the Craftwood Assorted Wood Stars, which came with 5 different sized stars (varying from 1 1/8" to 3 3/8" wide).  ($3.99)
• hot glue gun
• threaded eyelet and anchor: ($.50)
  
• key ring

Directions:

1. paint embroidery hoop and stars (Make sure to allow plenty of time for this step because you can only paint one side at a time and I found that two coats were necessary to obtain the color I wanted.  When leaving them to dry, find a surface that the stars won't stick to...  I learned the hard way that newspaper is not a good choice!)

2. measure and cut ribbon (I used three 64" pieces)
3. quickly run lighter along the cut edges of the ribbon to seal and protect them from unraveling
4. measure 6 equal spaces around the embroidery hoop to place the ribbon (TIP:  if you use a 9" hoop, like I did, your hash marks will be every 4 3/4")
5. thread one piece of ribbon through the key ring
6. line up the ribbon so that 20" hangs below each side the hoop
7. adhere the ribbon to opposite sides of the hoop with hot glue (make sure the ribbon is not twisted); repeat this step with each piece of ribbon

8. apply a thin line of hot glue down the center of a star and adhere to the ribbon in desired pattern (I alternated 5 smaller stars with 3 larger stars)
 

9. hang (I threaded a piece of yarn through the eyelet and the key ring so that the mobile would hang lower)

Knit Baby Blanket

I started this blanket for a very good friend of mine who was pregnant- little did I know how long it would take me to finish!  I would definitely consider myself a novice when it comes to knitting.  I took a class with my mom a few years ago to learn the basics.  Since then, my knitting resume has included only very basic scarves, dish cloths, and one baby hat (that I had some assistance with).

I had visions of knitting a blanket for quite some time, but was overwhelmed by the thought of such a large project (given my short attention span and lack of knitting expertise).  I searched high and low for a pattern that I thought would be manageable.  I finally found one for a Rib Check Baby Blanket.  It seemed pretty easy and was the only one I could find that didn't involve "knitting in the round."  I bought 4 balls of Patons Beehive Baby Chunky Yarn in quicker clover and used US size 9 needles.  My project was underway!

Despite the simplicity of this pattern, I soon realized that I was not going to be anywhere close to finishing the blanket before my friend's due date.  In the mean time, however, I had found out that I was pregnant (and due 6 months later than said friend)...  I decided to keep it for myself (well, for my future baby).  Sorry Bridget!

As my due date approached, I began to fear that this blanket wouldn't even be completed in time for Jackson's arrival (and I knew no progress would be made once he was born).  I needed to get serious!  I dedicated a little time each night (while watching my favorite mindless TV shows, such as The Real Housewives and The Bachelor) to knitting away...and wouldn't you know it, after almost a year, I finished it!!  It measures 22 inches by 29 inches.  I can't wait to wrap my little baby boy in it!

 

Here is a close up of the pattern...

Decorative Name Letters

One of the first projects I tackled for Jackson's room was the decoupage/painted letters of his name.  I was inspired by this project on Spearmint Baby...  It was quick, easy, and fun! 

Supplies:

• paper mache letters
• paint
• Mod Podge
• decorative paper
• embellishments

Steps:

1. paint the letters and let dry
2. trace the letter outlines onto the back of the decorative paper
3. cut out the tracing
4. use mod podge to adhere the paper to the front of the letters
5. trim any extra paper on the edges of the letters using an x-acto knife or sand paper
6. apply a few more coats of mod podge to smooth the edges
7. add embellishments

Here is the finished product!  We are planning on hanging the letters above the crib eventually...