My Little Unicorn

A few weeks ago, Lily was invited to a costume birthday party and right away, knew what she wanted to dress as!  Duh, a unicorn!  My first thought was, "How in the hell am I going to make a unicorn costume?".

Well, I did it.  And I think it's pretty darn cute! 

We picked up a summer dress from Target in just the right colors and that is the only thing that I spent money on!  I had everything else on hand - I love that!

 

Some vintage lace, sequins, and velcro made up the hooves.

 

The sparkly horn and flower crown took some time, but was well worth the effort.  I love it. 

 

The tail is ribbon, ricrac, and lace. 

 

 

She can't wait to wear it for Halloween!  I'm going to make a few adustment to the tail and add some more flowers to the crown, but overall, I'm pretty happy with it!  I may end up making more and listing them on Etsy! 

 



Family Photos

We had these amazing photos done about a month ago and I couldn't be happier with how they turned out.  Never again will I let my mother talk me into taking my daughters to get cheezy department store photos!  Of course they will be cute - they have my children in them!  You can't beat having beautiful photos done in your own home (or whatever location you choose) by an incredibly talented photographer. 

If you would like to see more of her photos, here is a link to her site: www.gabyjphotography.com



Sorry to bombard you with so many photos, but it was hard to choose just a few to post! 

Lily and Iris, my pretty little flowers.



Roos N More Zoo

We spent the day yesterday at Roos N More Zoo, located just passed Moapa, NV.  It's a non profit zoo owned and operated by a family of veteranarians.  It's completely interactive.  There are only a handful of animals that we weren't able to touch, if not hold.  It was pretty neat. 

The zebras were Lily's favorite.  Not a surprise given her new unicorn/my little pony obsession.

And this is my new friend, Mr. Tucan!

These little guys gave us a giggle!  We were looking for them, when Lily noticed they were peaking out at us from behind the sign!  Sneaky!

If you want to learn more about this unique zoo, click here

Hope you had a fun weekend, too!

Holga Lens VS. Diana F+

Diana F+ - When I received this as a Christmas gift from my husband last year, I didn't really know what it was.  I thought it was just a toy, but when I did a little research, I became excited about the pretty vintage-looking photos!  Dreamy!  I could have my very own - no editing required! 

Sorry, Instagram. 

There are so many things you can do with this camera.  There are little color gel swatches that can be inserted into the flash for color splashing!  All of my experiments with those were too dark, unfortunately.  I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but even with the flash, I still need sunlight for a decent photo.  Oh, and the double exposures!  I love the look of double (and some of mine were even triple) exposures.  It's super easy to do and the camera manual tells you everything in just a few paragraphs. 

 It uses 120 film, which is easy to find online.  If you're worried about developing the film, no worries.  Walmart develops it for $8 a roll (I know, Walmart is yucky, but going the economical route seems best for a beginner like me). You can find more about developing at Walmart  here.

I love the double exposures!  So awesome!

Holga Lens - I ordered this lens right after I received the camera, just to experiment a little before using up my film and paying a fortune for it to be developed (before I discovered the Walmart secret).  I like being able to take photos and see them right away, but you can't do the double exposures with digital.  They are still super dreamy and you have instant gratification!

I would like to try this lens, as well.  I'm not sure if it will be any different than the Holga Lens, but it's worth a shot!  The Holga Lens was just $25, this one is $60.  So, the Holga Lens is more economical, especially if they take similar photos.

Any camera is fun to use when you have adorable subjects and are making priceless family photos! 

Mom Tips: Placebos!

 My 6 year old sometimes complains about the silliest little aches and pains.  It's very obvious that she is just doing it for attention and many times there's really nothing I can actually do about it.  So, what do I do?  I lie.  Oh, just a little white one giving her the attention she craves and a made up solution!

I'll give you some examples:

Lilia: "Mom, I bumped my hand against the wall and it huuuuuurts!" (really whiny voice here)

Mom: "Oh, no!  Hurry, run it under cold water and it will feel much better!"

Or

Lilia: "Mom, I can't eat this salad, the dressing hurts my lips!"

Mom: "Put some chapstick on and you'll be able to eat all of it!"

Or

Lilia: "Ouch!  I have a rash and it itches SOOOO bad!!"  (she has like, 5 tiny bumps on her arm)

Mom: "Come here, honey, let's put some lotion on it!"

It makes sense, right?  Fake problem, fake solution?  I'm not saying to shrug off your child when she hurts herself - as a parent, you know when she is really hurt or not.  She gets her moment of attention and your family gets to return to whatever activity they were doing when the little problem arose. 

Win/win!


Note: I'm not claiming to be expert parent of the year or anything, just sharing a simple solution that has worked for me.  Gotta think on our toes, moms (parents)!

New Shop Listings...

I've listed 2 Jewelry Display Frames in my Etsy Shop! 

I had a ton of fun making these!  I made one for myself and hung it in my bathroom.  I love being able to see all of my jewelry displayed - it makes choosing what to wear so much easier!

Relaxing, but very productive weekend

This was the frist weekend since Baby Iris was born that I've been able to get some sewing and crafting done.  I even cleaned!  I told Mark at the beginning of the weekend to not let me clean - that I had too many projects lined up to spend all of my free time doing what I do every day (clean!).  I snuck behind his back and cleaned, anyway.  Why?  Because I had time!

Just look at these two.  I love watching them nap together.  Good thing Lily wasn't there napping with them, that would have been cuteness overload.  I can only take so much! 

Anyway, while they were napping and being all cute and stuff, I did the dishes, scrubbed the kitchen, and finished this beauty:

She will hold my fabric that I intend to use in the near future.  Maybe eventually just scraps (I save a lot of my fabric scraps - why?) or yarn, but right now this is what she does.  Oh, and looks pretty.  Mark told me it looks like something you'd find at West Elm.  I'd say that's pretty successful!

I think this may be the first project in a really long time that I have started and finished in one weekend!  If ever.

Easter Weekend

We had a fun Saturday at Sagebrush Ranch!  Lily rode her first horse, we went on a hayride, pet cute mini horses, and hunted for easter eggs!  I spent half the time nursing Iris in the car, but Daddy got some great photos of delighted little Lily on her horse!  We will have to try harder to get some other family members in photos - Lily is just so cute to photograph...

On Sunday, we woke up to bunny paw tracks coming from our front door to the living room where Lily's Easter basket was!  There was also a huge mess from carrot crummies!  Lily was so excited - we are working extra hard to keep the magic in her life! 

We made really yummy caprese eggs benedict for breakfast (I used this recipe).  It was good, but very rich!  Definitely a fun holiday breakfast.

My Easter girls are so beautiful, aren't they? We are lucky parents.

Please excuse Iris's nudity.  She was getting ready for a bath and was so awake - I had to use this photo (plus, she's looking up at her big sister.  So sweet.)!  Here's the one of her dressed, not as alert..

 

Hope you had a wonderful Easter!  We sure did!

Lily is the sweetest big sister!

Lily is at the zoo today with her grandma with a $5 bill in her pocket to spend at the gift shop for being a great helper and a sweet big sister on her spring break vacation!  I'm so proud of her.  She is one well-behaved little girl.  She loves to help dress Iris, check on her while she's sleeping, and is great at helping mommy around the house.  She is a joy to have around and I'm so grateful to be her mom!

Iris is here!

1 week ago today, I gave birth to a 6.5 lb. baby girl in my very own bedroom.  Labor was easy and much different from the birth of my now 6 year old daughter, Lilia, who was born in the hospital.  After having experienced both types of births, I would recommend a home birth ALL. THE. WAY.  I was able to walk around in my own comfortable home and do anything I felt the need to do.  When my body told me that it was time to push my baby out, I squatted down (please excuse my boorishness) on the floor and pushed her out.  It was so much easier than being in the hospital where they tell you what to do and when to do it.  Labor is no fun already - even less when you are in a strange place with a bunch of strange people.  And the recovery!  Oh, the recovery has been a dream!  I have energy, I'm not very sore at all, and my uterus is almost all the way down already - that's what happens when you don't have anyone tugging and pulling on you, your baby, and the placenta. 
Anyway, back to this baby!  She is so sweet.  This baby is so satisfied, we hardly ever hear her cry!  She nurses and poops and makes cute little faces - all of that great stuff that babies do.  And she's so alert!  In fact, when she came out, she stopped crying as soon as she heard her daddy's soothing voice - it was so awesome.  We have been staring at her non-stop all week - we are so entranced by this beautiful baby Iris. 

My First Fan Photos

About 10 months ago, I received an order for 5 Strawberry Felt Pillows from a very nice lady in Texas.  She told me that she planned to use them to decorate her baby shower, and then, her nursery.  What a cute idea, right?  This was one of my favorite orders I have ever had.  She was SO excited to have found something that fit her need so perfectly - that made me really happy and eager to please!  She told me that she would send photos of the pillows when they were strung up and around her nursery, but until the other day, I hadn't heard from her.  I'm so delighted that she thought of sending these amazingly adorable photos to me after quite a few months!  They really made my day!

These photos were taken by Brandon Kidd Photography

Maternity Photos/Bed Rest Sucks

We just received out maternity photos from our favorite, very talented photographer, Gaby J!  I'm so in love with them.  These photos will be family treasures for the rest of our lives!

On another note, I am on bed rest for a few days.  No big deal, just something we are watching carefully.  So, when I remembered that I have been meaning to update my blog, I thought I'd jump on and post these sweet photos.  Bed rest is very boring, but I have had time to catch up on some embroidery that I started months ago!  I love embroidery, but I'm more of an instant gratification crafter.  So it seems, bed rest is the only way I get it finished! 

Hoping to get out of the house soon!

Well, we bought a deep fryer!

We spent about 3 hours (or more!) this morning making the best doughtnuts ever!  Seriously, ever.  This deep fryer is just about the best thing that has ever happened to this pregnant lady.  I would love to tell you that the recipe for the doughnuts is mine, but it's not.  Here's where you can go to get it!

http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2008/08/oh-my-god-doughnuts/

Our weekend tradition is to make fancy/fun breakfasts and dinners, so I will be posting recipes every weekend (mostly my own) for your enjoyment!  :)

Ummm... yeah.  I should also warn you that the 3 of us ate almost the entire batch. 

 I think Lilia ate 5 herself!  So, beware - they are addicting!

My First Photoshop Creation!

My mom sent me a text this morning asking me to check out some baby shower invites on Etsy.  I found a few that I really liked, but nothing stuck out to me.  Plus, I've been eager to try out some Photoshop skills I've been learning from my sweet husband and various blogs.  So, here it is - my finished product.  It's not much, but I'm really proud of it.  I'm so glad I'll be able to put it to use (and show it off!).  It really is cute, isn't it?

The images are all from http://www.puglypixel.com/.  She's amazing.  I also use one of her blog templates here!  When I learn how to use the rest of what she offers to her members, my blog will be a much prettier place.  The fonts are from http://losttype.com/.  This site is a great place to find fonts for the amount of money you can afford.  I try to pay at least a small something for each font and more for the ones I know that I will use more frequently. 

New Items on Etsy!

3 new banners!  I love felt and lace - definitely 2 of my favorite materials.  Lace isn't so easy to work with sometimes and felt can be tedious to cut, but I love the way they look! 

I had fun making these.  I hope they go to a good home that can enjoy them!