She's Here!!

I have been incognito in Bloggerland and this is why:

Isn't she beautiful?  We are all absolutely smitten with her.

Emily didn't want to share Charlotte with ANYONE.  She finally has a girl cousin that lives close to her and she takes that responsibility VERY seriously:).  Jack asked to hold the baby and I thought Emily was going to shoot flames out of her eyes at him.  He held Charlotte for about 2 min and 13 seconds before Emily was right there demanding her again.

Look at those eyelashes!!  They go on for days!!  I'm already rehearsing my "a lady is as a lady acts" Little House on The Prairie speech.  I am so thankful that she is healthy and here safely.  When a new baby comes into your life you can't help but marvel at the miracle of life. 

It's amazing.

It brings you to your knees.

It makes you want to be a better person.

As you look to those new beautiful innocent eyes, you feel a moral obligation to make the world a better place for her.

It beckons you to remember the moment you first became a mother and renews your spirit amongst toddler tantrums, overscheduled days, endless piles of laundry, and quests for a healthy balanced life.

It reminds you that you had these same dreams and aspirations when each of your own children were born.  And that somewhere along the way, life interrupted and robbed you of the feelings you swore you would never forget.

It helps me realize it's never too late to embrace the miracle.  It's my responsibility to begin each day by providing hope, wonder, stability, and unconditional love for my kiddos no matter how old they get.  Because if I don't do this for them, help them embrace this life, no one else will.

If you actually made it to the end of this post, thank you so much for listening to me sound out my feelings.  You know I love ya for it!!

14 Days of Love

I’m beyond excited to be partnering with all of these fabulous ladies to bring you the 14 Days of Love!  Ashley over at Cherished Bliss has been diligently working and coordinating to make this event an amazing one.  This series will begin on January 25 with each blog posting a love themed project and of course,

there will be giveaways!! 

I have taken a sabbatical with creating/selling coffee cozies as of late, but I have been working feverishly on a “new line” in support of Ashley’s love efforts.

Here’s a sneak peek of the new look (not to mention the very cozy you can win during this event):

So, stay tuned!!!

I’m No Photographer…

But I do LOVE to take pictures!!

Here are a few that I was able to take of my sister-in-law after her shower.  I do desperately wish that I knew more about photography and photo editing.

My brother-in-law and getting his hand in there.

My M-I-L and S-I-L sharing a special moment.

Andrew loving on his baby sister.

Look at that sweet baby bump!!

I know there is an overload of baby and baby shower pictures over the last week.  Obviously, I have this baby on my brain and I can’t wait until she makes her debut!!!

Love it When that Happens

Have you ever planned and planned and then planned some more for a special event only to have it go completely and utterly horrible??  Yea, me too.

BUT, that did NOT happen this weekend my friends.

Happy Dance!!

Everything actually went according to schedule. 

{{gasp}}

I wasn’t even late (I’m always late.  I try not to be. I can’t help it… getting better though)!! 

WARNING:  THERE WILL BE MANY PICTURES IN THIS POST!!

My main centerpiece for the gift table was a bouquet of baby clothes!!  I saw this tutorial here on You Tube and based my arrangement ideas from it. 

I used pants, onesies, bibs, bloomers, and a ruffled skirt in the bouquet.  The above green flowers are a little skirt that I rolled tightly and then folded in half to make two “blooms.”  The leaves in the arrangement are green velvety  poinsettias from Michaels.  There are two different types of pink silk/paper flowers tucked throughout the bouquet to add a bit of variety.  I would have taken pics of the process, but it took both hands and sometimes my feet to get everything just right.

I found this picture frame at Marshalls (Love that place).  I knew it would be a perfect little touch and that my sister-in-law could use it as a decoration in the baby’s room after the shower was over.

I covered the the cardboard backing in green taffeta and added a rose with double sided foam tape to the front of the glass.  I didn’t use hot glue as I wanted her to be able to used it as an actual picture frame later on if she chose.

Voila… easy but extremely high impact!

Time to wrap the presents…

The largest box was topped with sock roses and a tulle bow.

I tried to make each one just a bit different.

Now for pictures of a few other décor items that made me smile.

(these are going on my mantel now, btw)

crinkle paper and vase filler jewels

paper roses, spiral wood filler, eucalyptus

Oh, and the bunting (see all the details here) now lives on the wall above baby Charlotte’s crib. 

In my defense, I DID warn you about the large volume of pictures.  My friend Jessica made all of the food and an adorbs diaper cake for the shower. 

Party food/baking and me: not so much. 

Decorations: all over it like flies on poo during a hot summer day in Georgia.

Linking up here and here:  

this week my blogger friends!

Say It Ain’t So

You are gazing upon the true and final version of my soon- to-be niece’s bunting.  I thought I was finished 2 times before this, but was sadly mistaken. 

No more tweaking, I promise!

This is my first attempt at making a bunting, although I have admired them for… my whole life I think.  I’m not a scrapbooker AT ALL, so this project was a bit overwhelming for me. 

As always, the planning phase took as long as the execution phase.   I made my own pennant template (5x6) and then used a variety of of pink and green cardstock prints to make each pennant unique.

I set each letter on a pennant, switched the order of the pennants about 20 times, and finally decided on the placement.

I wanted a layered embellished look.  Another trial and error process of picking/changing shapes and prints ensued.  My goal was to make each pennant unique.  With 9 letters to incorporate, it was quite a task!!  When everything resembled the vision in my head, I used that double sided sticky foam stuff to secure the fabulousness in place.

To attach the pennants, I sewed double sided bias tape across the the top.  To make sure the pennants stayed an equal distance from each other, I ironed little strips of steam a seam connecting the pennants to the bias tape.  A time consuming process, but it definitely made the sewing step a walk in Central Park! 

After I sewed the letters together (and thought I was finished), things still just didn’t seem right.  It needed something else…

For the third time, I played around with prints and shapes.  At 12:30 am last night, it FINALLY came together!!!  I have never been more thankful for my stash of clearanced-have-to-buy-because-I-might-need-some-day crafting supplies as I was last night.  After I layered the flowers, my non-scrapbooking self had no idea how to finish them.  I scurried off to my small “scrapbook embellishment” bin in my sewing room and found these little perfect matching glittery green brads.  I  secured those babies like a pro if I do say so myself!

SUCCESS!!!!

I’m sure there is an easier way to make these, but I’m happy with the outcome.  I will blushingly admit that it took me 3 days to complete this project.  I blame it on my perfectionism. 

As I am typing this, I am cursing the thing in my basement called an elliptical.  I really need to reduce the proportions of my backside AND I need/want to get back to blogging.  Two birds with one stone?  We shall see…

Linking up to a few of these parties!!  Check out the fabulous inspiration if you get a chance.

It's A Bunting!

So, here is what I'm currently working on.  My sister-in-law's shower is THIS Saturday.  I'm trying my best to get everything completed for the decorations.  I haven't even had time to actually sew the baby ONE SINGLE THING.  How bad do I suck?

More pictures of the completed project soon.  This is my very first bunting, (thank you very much) and so far it's going as well as it looked it my head.  It remains to be seen if it continues on that path.

If you are a Pick Your Plum fan, head on over to The Johanson Journey to enter her giveaway!

Linking up here because I can!