Valentine's Day - The Sweet Treats

For not liking Valentine's Day very much at all, I do like to do a lil' something special... like heart pancakes, or cookies, or just a little sweet treat or handmade trinket or thoughtful 'something' for someone. So, I started out collecting my inspiration on my Valentine's Day Pinterest board, most of which ended up being baked goods, printables and easy crafts.

Brownie Bag & Pom-Poms
When I saw these kraft bag printables from Twig & Thistle, it was game on for brownie bags. I found kraft sacs instead of the cookie-type bags, so I adapted the size and layout of the original to fit my bags, and they turned out adorable! Bake brownies, instant adorable. I also made pom-poms with a tutorial from Creature Comforts - literally a 5 minute or less pom-pom, I made a gaggle of them and have no idea what to do with the left overs!

Printable Cards & Bear Hug Baggies
The best thing about having Lilly has been coloring. She's obsessed with it, so I was thrilled when I found these printable-colorable cards from Prudent Baby. They're so adorable, and I clipped them with pinking shears and had Lilly color them in over her breakfast pancakes. The Bear Hug bag idea came from FamilyFun. There's a bag full of Teddy Grahams and gummy bears, with cute tag that says "Bear Hugs for Aubrey ♥ Lilly" tied up with pink & red ribbon. They were a hit with my niece and nephew, not to mention Lilly!

Read more after the jump!

Baking for Valentine's Day!

Each major (or minor) holiday, my sister-in-law Sharon, myself, and all 3 kids get together and bake things and have a little family memory makin'. It started with Christmas before the kids came along, and I always look forward to it. We have this obsession with cookie cutters from the Target dollar section, so it makes holiday cookie baking that much easier. Today we got together to have a little Valentine Soiree! 

The Headboard Project

I've never really had a headboard to speak of, unless it came attached to an Ikea platform bed, and I've always wanted one (especially since we got rid of the Ikea platform bed). Torn between the upholstered headboard and a salvaged one, I opted to go for the salvage type. Ignore my basement.

Oak doors, minus original hardware, pre final sanding.

My mom told me she had 4 old solid oak doors that she found in an antique shop in Ocean City, NJ, and they had been collecting dust. Naturally, I took them and they sat in our basement, collecting dust. There were 2 doors (pictured) that I think came off a servant entrance or something like that, and 2 more doors half the size of these that I'm saving for another project. Undecided, obv. But they also all came with original hinges, screws and these kooky locks.

I'd been pinning ideas onto my pinterest for quite a while trying to decide what to do with them... then I stumbled over to Infarrantly Creative, and this tutorial for her Roadkill Rescue - Door Headboard. Total fate. I swear.

Holiday Crafts ... Part 1!

This Christmas, we (really, I) decided to go with a rustic gold & beige themed tree and decor, and of course make mostly everything. I used Pinterest, which I'm currently obsessed with, to log all my idears on my Holiday Decor board. I had made a tree skirt & matching stockings last year, and of course I didn't like them again this year. Nor did I want to use my glitter disco ornaments from Target again, so I started pinning things that I liked, and figured I'd make new stuff!


This No Sew Ruffle Tree Skirt tutorial came courtesy of HGTV & it turned out SO cute. I didn't make mine as large because our tree is one of those tall skinny ones, but it looks adorable, and it was incredibly easy, just a little time consuming. Here's the finished product!

It's Dress Up Time, Folks!

Lilly, holding the finished wings for Leah.

I love to bookmark links of projects, and hope to at some point actually get around to making them. In my travels, I had come across a tutorial for these dress-up bird wings on Craftzine (posted on Prudent Baby, created by Eri from Llevo el Invierno), and knew I'd be making these for a few little folks I know.

The Martha Stewart Show!

Wow, I haven't blogged in how long?!

THE tickets!!

Over the summer, I tried to get some tickets to The Martha Stewart show, but there were none available. I regretted waiting so long to try for some, I figured I'd never get to go... there are what, like 100 people in the audience? So on a whim, I decided to go online (read: I was already on marthastewart.com) and looked for available shows to enter my name into. Apparently, they need every single detail of your crafting abilities to apply. I had to write a bio of what I was interested in. Things that were suggested were obviously all things that Martha are perfect at -- gardening, cooking, crafting, sewing, petkeeping, housekeeping, ruling the world, etc. So I filled in my bio & contact information, expecting to never hear from the show, ever. 3 weeks later, I got an invitation. Boom!

Treasury Listing & A Sale

My Blue Pucker Belgrade Tote is featured in a Treasury! 

See the treasury here!

Froggygoo of Gooblythe Creations created the "A Calm Misty Day" treasury, featuring some really awesome finds! The blues, greys and pale greens of this treasury are probably my favorite colors to work with, and the items she chose are fantastic; I'm happy to be among them. My favorite are the candlesticks by claylicious - so unique and one of a kind. Stop by her the treasury to leave some love and don't forget to swing by Gooblythe Creations to check out some of her Button Bracelets - super adorable!

Flower Hairbands!

I'm pretty excited about these cute lil' headbands I made for Lilly!

My brother in law makes fun of them, but they are so cute I think. So basically, all you need is a flower or something you'd like to put on the headband, elastic, hot glue, a needle & thread, and felt.

All I did was measure her noggin and add 1", then cut elastic to size. I overlapped the elastic by 1" and hand sewed it together. You can do it on the machine, but I had the needle and thread handy. Hot glue a piece of felt (I used a pale green color) which I cut into a circle, to the back elastic where I overlapped the ends. Then hot glue the flower onto the top of the band, making sure it's stuck well to the felt also.

Baby Crafties!

The Shop
So, finally, the shop is out of vacation mode and I took the opportunity to list a few new things! My favorite so far, is the Grey and Rose Belgrade Tote Bag:

I am in love with this bag. I made this tote from some grey bottom weight suiting material, and I enjoy that there are so many shades of grey visible on the fabric, it makes things a bit more interesting and fun. Especially when paired with a rosey pink lining! I like pleats, so of course I added a few on both the front and back.  There are a few other new items in the shop including another tote bag, key chains, checkbook covers and zipper pouches... go take a peek!

Crafties

Here are some things from her nursery that I really enjoyed making...

Seagull Mobile
I couldn't find any mobile I liked (except for the Phillie Phanatic one we are currently using until the season is over) that fit the vibe I was going for, so Andrew helped me make this one. I downloaded a pattern for the birds from Spool - a wonderful local fabric shop here in Philly. You can download the pattern & instructions from their blog, right here. 

Choices, Betting, Diapers & 3am Feedings

I like choices. These were ours:

a) Wait it out and hope I go in labor on my own. (read: Things I am not interested in. Should this child get any bigger, I will have a toddler on my hands. Not to mention I will die of Summer.)
b) Wait until my due date and schedule an induction if nothing happens on its own. (read: While we're at it, go ahead and schedule the c-section for when my induction fails because I am not progressed enough. No one in the room was interested in this option.)
c) Cut to the chase and schedule my c-section. (read: bingo.)

After deciding to schedule the operation, we were presented with a pair of choices...
a) wait a week (read: whatchootalkinbout.)
b) tomorrow (read: sh!t, I should've packed a bag.)

So we schedule our appointment for the following day (7/29). Talk about making progress!

Now, you'd think someone who's 39 weeks pregnant would have a bag ready to go, right? Yeah, well I didn't. Not only am I starting to want to toss my cookies at the thought of having major surgery the next day as well as literally having the baby, now I have to pack a damn bag?! At least I wasn't running around like a chicken with it's head chopped off in labor throwing junk in a bag. Besides, do you know what even goes in a hospital bag? Clothes, a book, toiletries, a camera and all the necessary chargers. Know what most people bring? Their whole house. I was proud I crammed my clothing options (waistbands or no waistbands?!!??!?!) and my other things into one bag with a boppy pillow on top of it. I am such a winner.