ABCs and suppressed keychain nightmares

I'm a fan of any alphabet theme and was excited when a client asked me to create a custom ABC print and tie in her new nephew's crib bedding:

Paint-Me-A-Picture also features great personalized, hand-painted ABC artwork which would be fantastic in any child's room (and more affordable than prints from the big stores):

Having an unusual name myself, I've always appreciated personalized items because I was always that sad little kid at the mall keychain kiosks who could never come to terms with being forced to purchase "Lee." But I digress...

I love milk. I love cookies. And I'm down to party.

Wavey's 5th birthday is next month and while it wasn't really in my plans to theme her small party, I ran across a post about Kim at the Frost Me blog that just may change my mind to host a milk and cookies party.

It just doesn't get any better than that, in my humble cookie connoisseur opinion.


[Image source]

Milk + cookies = yes, please.

[Image source]

Kim knows (like, knows-knows) party inspiration inside and out.  From baby showers to butterfly parties, she's even featured party-worthy sandwich wrapping.  How she finds such great ideas is a mystery to me, but she's a valuable party resource and is now offering custom inspiration kits.  Check it out!

Now, I must decide on cookies for the party...decisions, decisions.  One thing is for sure: there will be no shortbread cookies.  I refuse to cough down dry, bland shortbread, and you can't make me.

Wedding save-the-dates: monograms and ampersands

I've been working on a few wedding projects these days, but won't yet reveal the invitations until the brides officially mail them to their guests (I wouldn't want to mistakenly spill the beans!).  Instead I thought it would be neat to share a few wedding save-the-date designs I've completed.

I've been seeing more ampersand trends, and I like how the oversized ampersand worked well with the shimmering pool and cherry colors of this save-the-date.

For the save-the-date shown below, the bride chose a navy and clementine color combination that is not as common as the autumn color palette used in most fall weddings, but combined, the colors are very stately.

And it goes without saying that I love monograms.

All personal information has been modified for privacy.

Watermelon as serious business

While it's not quite summer, I'd say 80-degree weather at the beginning of May is good enough reason to bust out the season's first watermelon. 

And Griffin finds it serious business to eat a slice; the drippier the better, too.

Wavey couldn't care less about it, though.  She's too busy studying up on how to be a princess.

DIY silhouette project: one big melon

I've learned two things from completing a DIY silhouette project:
A) It was much easier and quicker to accomplish than I had thought, and
B) Geez, my kid has a giant noggin

Let's take it from the top:

First, I considered a few profile photos of Griffin that I took when I stumbled upon him wearing his sister's dress-up necklaces and playing with her toy mobile phone (don't mind the little bump on his head...it was probably from one of countless times he's barreled into a wall).

Next, I printed out the photo with the best profile and gathered my supplies of a pencil (bunny pencils are the household standard), sharp scissors, black construction paper and tracing paper.

Next, I sandwiched the papers in the following order: picture on top, tracing paper in the middle, and construction paper on the bottom.  I taped it to the table before tracing so the image wouldn't move around, then I used the pencil to outline his profile on top of the photo.

You can see where the tracing paper is a little sensitive and leaves marks, but it was ok because I was going to show the opposite side.  You'll also see that I modified the neckline with my pencil, too.

I then cut along the traced line and bingo! Instant DIY silhouette.  It took me longer finding the right photo than the ten minutes to print, trace and cut the image out.

Wavey's silhouette will most likely be harder to do because she has curly hair to work around, but I'll cross (and curse) that bridge when I get there.

DIY silhouette ideas

I'm on a mission to attempt a silhouette project this weekend.  We'll see on Monday how far I make it - expect lots of whining.  In the meantime, here are other inspiring DIY silhouette projects which might get you in the mood, too:

 [Image source]

Check out this very cool project featured above from Time Out New York.

[Image source]

Lemon Tree Creations completed a DIY memo shutter board project and added a neat silhouette to the final touches.

[Image source]

While I'm in no way qualified to operate a jigsaw, I do think this hardwood silhouette idea is a nice touch to a bedroom from Brooklyn Limestone. 

Of course, hanging anything over my bed still won't incent me to make my bed.

Perfectly imperfect

I ran across this post from Letti confessing her "real life." She mentioned how she had not posted pics of her messy house or talked about her less than stellar moments in motherhood in an effort to be a "perfect blogger."  It made me laugh a bit because perhaps I am guilty of the same. 

In my defense, I enjoy keeping things fun and light so you'll most likely never see an emotionally heavy post on this blog.  But in my effort to share imperfections that make me human, here is my (condensed) list:

+ I do not make my bed, even though I'm constantly considering buying a new duvet.  Seriously, why would I bother? 

+ I tend to stuff clutter in closets believing in the theory that if it looks good on the outside, only snoopy people will notice the inside...and they'll get the avalanche they deserve.

+ I have no intention of breaking Griffin of his pacifier habit until age three for one very selfish reason: my own sanity.

+ We sometimes eat fast food and prepared (frozen) meals.  We could certainly use less of both.

+ I don't care how healthy whole wheat bread is.  I shamelessly love white bread.

+ I am guilty of wearing the same (albeit clean) black track pants nearly every weekend because a) they're comfy and I don't care who sees them each Saturday/Sunday while I run errands, and b) they give the impression that I am coming from or going to the gym, either which cannot be further from the truth.

So there you have it...at least the short list.  :)

I {heart} silhouettes

I've been thinking a lot of silhouettes these days and how it would be cool to make one of each Gravy Kid.

(Image via Design*Sponge)

I'm not opposed those who create them in Photoshop, or crazy enough to do the whole stand-in-front-of-a-light-bulb-and-trace-on-a-wall way, but that'll never happen with two kids under age five.  Instead, I'd prefer to half-fake my way through the project by using a digital image as a pattern. 

(Image via Design*Sponge)

Design*Sponge featured great tutorial on creating your own silhouette by tracing and cutting, and The Vintage Farm has a version where you cut out a photo and then paint the back (clever!).

These would make great Mother's Day gifts!

"Cheep-cheep" kitchen towel

When I bought the dish towels for my last project, it came in a two-pack so I've been jonesing to figure out what to do with the extra one.

I thought it would be fun to try a my-first-applique project and the results were decent.  I printed a bird silhouette I found online and used it as a pattern:

Remember, I'm super-novice when it comes to sewing so just figuring out the zig-zag setting was an accomplished feat.

And I used leftover fabric from the pillowcase dress of shame to create the ruffle:

I'm pleased with the final results!

Share in my envy for good lookin' kitchen towels here.

Shiny new shiner

There's never a dull moment in our house.

Griffin tripped right into the corner of the coffee table yesterday.  We were horrified when he fell because when he hit the table and propelled forward, the corner missed his eye only by about 3/16 of an inch.  It still gives me the willies to look at it, the poor kid.  In typical Griffin fashion, he cried for a bit, dusted himself off, and took off running again. 

We also enjoyed having friends over and Wavey had such a great time hanging out with Abby, her best friend since they were three months old.  They're a hoot together.

The verdict is still out on how much Olivia, Abby's little sister, and Griffin like playing with each other since they still play very independently.  Griffin looks less than thrilled to be around all girls, but the shiner isn't exactly making him a 'looker' to the ladies, either.

Not one purple pair in my closet

Wavey's class has been working on a rainbow theme, and on one project, the kids were asked what certain colors reminded them of.  Some equated the color blue with skies and flowers; or the color red with ladybugs and lollipops.

Never one to be predictable, Wav answered the inquiry as follows:



I mean, doesn't everyone have "pants" come to the forefront of their minds when thinking of things that are purple?

Being present to win

Things sometimes get busy, and I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here.

When things get kind of nuts for me, there's sometimes an inadvertant shift of priorities and I have to remind myself that if I'm not present with my family, I may later regret it. 

Cue the Chapin song "Cat's in the Cradle."

A Design So Vast occasionally discusses "being present" (this is my favorite post), and reminds me to enjoy what I have now, stop grappling for what I may not have, and to live in the present.
 
Always keeping the "be present" message in the back of my head, I was thrilled when I stumbled upon and bought this cool little print from Raw Art Letterpess to hang in my studio:

Free printable: DIY candy-colored gift tags

I'm a big fan of spring season colors, and to share the love, here's your free DIY printable gift tags from Good Gravy!  

Featuring candy-colored hues, these print-and-use tags are perfect little dressings for any gift big or small, and I intentionally designed them without specific messaging so they're applicable year 'round and for all occasions. 

Happy gift giving!