The {24 hour} Christmas Cards

This is what you get when you design, print out, and mail your Christmas cards in 24 hours.  I was enjoying doing everyone's Christmas pictures this year so much,  we completely forgot to do our own!  No fear though,  I'm hear to tell you it can get done... with a few cut corners!  Here is how it was done:

• Take the picture.  It definitely helps to be a professional photographer, but if your not... just a picture from your digital camera is fine!  This was actually our 3 attempt for a picture,  the little one was not to thrilled about posing for us,  or even being put down in the cold weather.  :-)
• Put you picture in the computer and design the card.  This was done using Illustrator and Photoshop... but it could work using Microsoft Word or similar as well.
• Print them out at Kinkos... I know,  but it's your only option!  As you can see,  this card has a lot more to it than actually got mailed out.  That's because the quality of the pictures was just awful when prints and I couldn't put my name on them!  So now you know what they were suppose to look like!  Hey,  that's what you get when you have 24 hours.
• Cut them down to size and put them in the envelopes, put on stamps, and send off.
• For an extra little touch,  you can make your own envelope labels!  The ones above were designed in Illustrator off of some cute ones I spotted on minted.  Just print them on label paper and wrap them around the envelope for a unique touch!

SO,  there ya go.  Christmas cards in 24 hours.  I didn't say they would be amazing,  or beautifully printed,  but sometimes you have to do what you have to do!  Hope you enjoy!

the {snow globes}

Okay here is a holiday craft I've been working on.  I'm sure you've seen the homemade snow globes floating around Pinterest,  so here is my take on them!  I literally have been trying to get these done for weeks,  and still need to spraypaint the lids... but they are so cool!  Pepper Mae makes me walk along the line of them shaking each one and telling her what's in it.  So cute.  I found most of the little figurines at the toy store and found the trees at a hobby store.  Then I just added some Martha gold glitter and there ya go!  They are just something fun and festive to display on the mantel.  Enjoy!  

{the Play Kitchen}

So,  this is what you get when you take almost-too-dark-to-take decent pictures and you use the wrong lens, pictures.  We literally had minutes before dark and threw a dress {I made months ago} on her... but I wanted to get pictures of her play kitchen because I just keep forgetting to!  This is what I made for Miss Pepper Mae's first Birthday.  You can see the tutorial here.  If you remember,  I did a post on my inspiration... well mine's not far from it!  I used the mint green for the kitchen and Liberty fabric for the sink curtain.  It was such a fun project!   It allows you to put your own flair into it and have something special you made!  I want to add on a refrigerator, etc. later on when she gets older.  

Also,  you can see how to make the flower for the headband here {LOVE Pinterest!}.  I am literally typing this with a 14 month old needing my attention so if you have any questions about the kitchen just ask... I'm happy to share all my tips and tricks on how to do everything!  

{more ruffles, please?}

She is doing a new "smirky" smile... love it.

What can I say, I'm a serial crafter lately... so bare with me.  This is what Pinterest will do to you.  I made this dress based off of this one, and it turned out oh so cute!  Don't get me wrong,  this is the 2nd try... the first one was not-so-great!  Miss Pepper Mae loved modeling it for me,  and I loved taking pictures of her in it!

{button up boomers... oh my}

So,  let me start by saying that some of you probably don't know this but one of my main forms of nesting during the last part of my pregnancy was making bloomers.  Lots, and lots of bloomers.  I went out and got a pattern and went to town.  It almost would be considered obsessive,  especially considering she only wore a couple pairs for a few minutes after she was born! {see top picture}

Well,  I think I've found my replacement for the bloomers.  I saw the "Button-Up Bloomers" on a website when I was browsing for diaper covers... I had seen someone make a pair with an old antique flour sack and and oxford shirt and wanted to make them.  {still plan on it!}  The girl who did the tutorial was on project runway at one point and now enjoys making clothes for her daughter and posting tutorials on how to make them.

With all that said,  here is my first of many pairs!  I think they are adorable and were super easy to make! {took one 3 hour naptime}  Pepper Mae seems to be very comfortable crawling around in them and they are so easy to take off and on.  The possibilities are endless...  I just paired them with a grey tank from Baby Gap.  One of the next pairs will be ones I make for her 1st Birthday to wear during her smash cake,  and will be a beautiful Kokka pink striped fabric with light blue piping!

Next project?  Jackson's suspenders I found on a DIY boys accessory tutorial on Babble.  They are going to be light blue with white dots and will coordinate with Pepper Mae on her birthday.  Can't wait to show pictures of Jackson showing them off!

{play kitchen... in progress}

So,  this is the beginning {or kinda middle} of the play kitchen we are building Pepper Mae.  In the middle of building it I started to get flashbacks of 12 hour days in the wood shop in Architecture school {good ole' Eichberg Hall}.  I am pretty pleased at how it's turning out though!  Tomorrow will be more sanding, priming, painting, more painting, then the... details! {well,  I don't know if all that is tomorrow but we will see}.  Can't wait to post the finished pics! 

{a crafty easter}

So out of the 50 projects I wanted to get done this Easter,  I ended up just doing these two!  The top pictures show the wooden eggs I stained instead of doing real Easter eggs.  I plan on decorating a couple with some paint details and writing the date on one so we remember what year it's from.  From now on,  every year we will dye wooden eggs and decorate them!  Hopefully,  next Easter Pepper Mae can be part of the fun!  

For the dye:  I used regular McCormick food coloring in just boiled water.  I used a mixture of the neon and regular dye colors to get the right shade (mainly guessing as I went along),  and plopped the eggs into the bowls for 30 minutes some longer (agitating often).  There was a bowl for each egg color.  Then,  let them dry overnight.  I love love love how they turned out!

Next,  is the infamous wooden containers I have been planning on growing grass in for over a year.  Well,  I did grow some grass in them once,  but it didn't turn out how I wanted it so I let it die.  The first attempt a year ago,  I tried Rye grass.  It grew great but the texture was very fine and no matter how many haircuts it got it didn't have the structured look I was going for.  So this year,  I did Wheat grass... and it turned out lovely!  I didn't start growing it until a week ago and look how much it's grown in such a little time!  The blades are much thicker and it has a much better structure to it.  Also,  I painted the containers teal (what did you expect?) and it makes a good contrast against the bright green grass.  

To make the wooden boxes:  All I did was get some 1x8's and cut them down to the box dimensions I came up with.  Then all you need is some nails and wood glue.  I did a thick plastic liner inside the boxes to protect the wood from the dirt and water.

For the Wheat grass:  All you do is place some aggregate at the bottom of the container to help with draining (if yours doesn't have drain holes as well),  then fill it with dirt leaving around an inch at the top.  Sprinkle the grass seeds right on top of the dirt very dense so there is little dirt showing through,  and water.  I use a spray bottle with water in it to keep the seeds moist throughout the day.  Works like a charm!