I was doing some thrift shopping the other day and I found this adorable shirt in the children's section. It fit me, but really isn't my style. I just had to buy it though, because it's so true: I DO love skinny boys with glasses! (Well, one skinny man in particular ♥)
I decided I would just make something cute from it, and I might as well take photos and do a little fun mini-DIY post. I'm not going to get all technical on this, because most of the steps are pretty self explanatory.
Here we go! Enjoy!
For this project, you'll need a cute t-shirt, a cheap picture frame (I got this one at a dollar store a million years ago), some sort of backing (I used matte board scraps), and a handful of miscellaneous crafts supplies for cutting and glueing and the like.
First I traced the glass onto the matte board to get the right size. I used board because I didn't want the glass to be behind the shirt. (Now I'll need to come up with something crafty to do with a random glass pane though!) And I cut the board down to size with my metal ruler and an exacto knife. I covered one side of the board with double sided tape. (I actually used carpet tape.)
Then I placed the board inside of the shirt and centered the design where I wanted it to be. Stretch it nice and tight and give it a good rub so it sticks to the double sided tape. (You could use glue, but I am way not that patient!)
I then trimmed along the edge, leaving a few inches, and used more double sided tape to hold the edges down in the back. Clipping the corners will help make it less bulky. I also ended up trimming off the piece of neckline, luckily there was still enough fabric left on that edge to work with.
Now just put it back in the frame and hang! Super easy! I mean... that was so hard! I bet you are glad I showed you how to do that! You may never have figured that out on your own.
PS. Sorry Hubs.. I know I was supposed to be CLEANING the living room...
Friday, April 29, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Etsy Love
I've mentioned recently that someday I'd like to have a collection of family portraits done by various artists, of all sorts of mediums and styles. (I'll definitely be hitting up some of my siblings for artwork!) I've found a lot of fantastic artists on Etsy, and someday when I have a little more money saved up, I'd love to commission some pieces. That wood painting is so dreamy. ♥
1. Custom Portrait on Wood Panel- 11x14" by MilkMaidStudio
2. Personalized 11X14 Portrait by frenchlanguage
3. CUSTOM 3D paper family portrait by asklaver
4. Custom Baby or Child Fine Art Portrait from Photograph by Tmuffin
5. Custom Portrait for Jamie by NanLawson
6. Custom Portrait in Watercolor 8"x10" by PortraitsAndPrints
1. Custom Portrait on Wood Panel- 11x14" by MilkMaidStudio
2. Personalized 11X14 Portrait by frenchlanguage
3. CUSTOM 3D paper family portrait by asklaver
4. Custom Baby or Child Fine Art Portrait from Photograph by Tmuffin
5. Custom Portrait for Jamie by NanLawson
6. Custom Portrait in Watercolor 8"x10" by PortraitsAndPrints
One Month Old
Our little Flynn turned one month old on Easter Sunday. Already! He's a fantastic little guy. I love the tiny baby stage, so I've been soaking up as much sweet cuddles as I can before he's a crazy toddler. I could just sit and stare at him all day! I love him so much ♥
I decided to finally sit down and write out Flynn's birth story. It was an entertaining night! I'd hate to forget the details. So for anyone who is interested, here is the full story.
The Story of Flynn
It started with some fresh pineapple. They say that helps get things going. :)
When we went to sleep on Wednesday night around 11:00, the baby was being extremely active and my mind was racing. I couldn’t stop thinking about our plan for the next week because I knew he was going to be coming at any time and I didn’t feel quite ready. We hadn’t even settled on a name! Before I fell asleep, I said a prayer and I asked the Lord to help me know when it was time to go to the hospital. (I was worried because I didn’t want to be in the hospital as long as I was with Juniper, but I didn’t want to wait TOO long before we went in.) After the prayer, he calmed down and I felt super peaceful.
At 12:57 I woke up feeling a little strange. There was a lot of pressure, and then all of a sudden my water broke! I couldn’t believe it! I hit Shaun and told him what had happened and he didn’t believe me! I sent out a text message to a few friends of mine to see if anyone was awake that could come watch Juniper, then I took a shower. I figured we had a few hours before we would have to go to the hospital. They say the baby needs to be born within 24 hours once your water has broken. By the time I got out of the shower, the contractions had become very regular, every 5 minutes. They were getting more and more intense with each one so I decided it was definitely time to go to the hospital. Luckily our friend Veronica woke up to my text and was able to pick up Juniper for us. We left for the hospital around 2:00AM.
As soon as we got to the hospital they sent me right through triage to be examined and monitored. Ah triage… I’ll be honest, I was not the nicest person in the world during this whole process, but those triage nurses were driving me insane. They just weren’t taking me seriously and didn’t seem to believe anything I told them. After a short urine sample debacle, I was sent into the monitoring room and the one nurse handed the other my clip board and said, “She thinks her water broke.” (THINKS…)
First they had to run some tests to see if my water had actually broken. They got some fluid samples and made slides and sent them down to some lab to be tested…The test actually came back negative, but when the lady checked me she said “Well, I don’t feel a sack. I feel a head, and you’re at 4cm, so I think your water actually did break.” And I was thinking, “Yes, you feel a HEAD. Can I go have my baby now please?” At this point the contractions were right on top of each other and crazy intense and all I wanted was to go upstairs and get some sort of pain relief.
As much pain as I was in, I couldn’t help but find the whole situation hilarious. I was screaming and laughing and on the verge of crying the whole time! At one point the nurse said to Shaun, “Come on coach, help her get through this” and he replied “Actually I think the less I say the better”. That boy is too funny! The triage nurses probably thought I was crazy. Maybe that’s why they were treating me like I didn’t know what I was talking about. After some fun arguments about urine (“Well, sometimes a woman thinks were water has broken and it was just pee.” “I didn’t pee, my water broke.” “Well, sometimes it’s just pee.” “It wasn’t pee.” “Well it might have been.” “It wasn’t…”), the nurse told me they were going to go ahead and let me stay. THANK YOU. There was absolutely no way I was letting them send me home, it was pretty much one big contraction at that point and I was already getting the urge to push. They still took their sweet time before they got around to moving me upstairs. (First they had to make sure 40 times that my name was spelled right on my paperwork.) I think it was around 3:30AM when I was moved. Looking back, it doesn't seem like I was in there all that long. But when you are in the most pain you've ever been in in your entire life, time goes by REALLY SLOW.
Once I was upstairs, they checked me again. As soon as the woman said “She’s at 9”, with a sort of surprised look on her face, it was all business. The room filled with people hurrying to get things ready, and a midwife named Gracie came in to do the delivery. As soon as the epidural kicked in, it was time to push. (I told the anesthesiologist I loved him, he said he gets that a lot.) It was all a blur at this point. It happened so fast that I hardly had time to think about what was happening! Before I knew it, they were placing a little baby in my arms. I was still in shock. I had a baby! And I felt GREAT, so much better than I felt after I gave birth to Juniper. I guess I wasn’t in labor long enough to get exhausted! (With Juniper I was in labor for 33 hours. With Flynn, 3 hours and 20 minutes. Woo!) I was a little nervous about breastfeeding because it’s been so long, but he nursed like a champ. And man was he handsome!
It was quite a while before they could move me upstairs to the recovery room because my legs were still numb from the epidural. But if I could, I would have marched down to Triage and said “Told you so!” In the end, we were in and out of the hospital in less time than I was in labor with Juniper. They all said the second child would go faster, but I wasn’t prepared for that. If the third one is even faster I may be in trouble… (Not that we’re planning on having another any time soon!!) It was fun calling everyone in the morning. “Oh, by the way, we had a baby!” I am so grateful for how everything went down, I wouldn't change a single detail. Words can't describe the amount of pain I was in, but I did it. (Definitely grateful for epidurals though!) I really felt great once it was over. I felt stronger, and SO blessed. I love my life ♥
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Easter Outifits
I started sewing this dress for Juniper the week before Flynn was born. All I had to do was hem it, but it sat unfinished in my closet for a month. When we were invited to a friend's house this Sunday for an Easter egg hunt, I decided to finally finish it. It's made from a vintage blouse that I found at the Goodwill Clearance Center. (LOVE that place.)
I really wanted to make Flynn a little hat and a matching vest from some corduroy scraps I have, but I didn't have time. (I'm still planning on making them though) I made his bow tie in the car on the way to our friend's house! I am absolutely in love with bow ties on little boys. So stinking cute!! I will most definitely be making some more.
I tried to get a picture of Flynn and Juniper in their matching outfits, but this was the best I could do. Juniper LOVES her little brother and gives him lots of sweet big sister hugs and kisses, but she refuses to let me get any photographic evidence! I'm going to have to start getting sneaky...
And Flynn got to see his best buddy, baby Makayla! She was born last week and is SO tiny. Just look at all that hair! She's precious. Flynn totally has a crush, can you tell?
I really wanted to make Flynn a little hat and a matching vest from some corduroy scraps I have, but I didn't have time. (I'm still planning on making them though) I made his bow tie in the car on the way to our friend's house! I am absolutely in love with bow ties on little boys. So stinking cute!! I will most definitely be making some more.
I tried to get a picture of Flynn and Juniper in their matching outfits, but this was the best I could do. Juniper LOVES her little brother and gives him lots of sweet big sister hugs and kisses, but she refuses to let me get any photographic evidence! I'm going to have to start getting sneaky...
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Central Florida Earth Day
Central Florida Earth Day at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando is kind of a family tradition. It's one of those things I look forward to doing each year. I guess I'm just a hippie like that. The first year we went was sort of a mistake, we had gone to see the Jim Henson (love him!) exhibit at the museum and noticed the festivities at the park. This year was a little sad for me though, because Shaun had to work and couldn't make it. Luckily my good friend Ashley came to keep me company.
I didn't take a ton of photos this year, but here are a few of my favorites. We need to go to the park more often....
This is my "I love tantrums!" face.
I love these three pictures. While they might not be the best photos ever taken, I love seeing how much she's grown over the years! It's hard to believe she'll be 3 this year... *tear*
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
A Drawing to Keep
I've decided that when we have a house, instead of hanging photographs in our living room, I'm going to start a collection of family portraits done by various artists. How much fun will that be? It will be our own little art gallery ♥
It is so hard to photograph pencil... I'm not 100% satisfied with this drawing, mostly because I'M in it and I am way not a fan of drawing myself. But Juniper and Shaun turned out cute so I'll let it pass. This drawing was my waiting room entertainment while I was pregnant. (I spent a lot of time in waiting rooms...)
It has been a REALLY long time since I've drawn anything for me to keep. Everything I've drawn in the past 5 years has been a commissioned piece, and I've made it a goal to get a drawing into every state. So far I've got 10! Someday though, this whole map will be blue! (Probably a very long time from now.) Anyone know anyone who lives in a non-blue state who might be interested in a drawing? Use the coupon code GOBLUE10 for 10% off in my Etsy shop! (Don't worry, that'll even work for those of you in blue states haha)
It has been a REALLY long time since I've drawn anything for me to keep. Everything I've drawn in the past 5 years has been a commissioned piece, and I've made it a goal to get a drawing into every state. So far I've got 10! Someday though, this whole map will be blue! (Probably a very long time from now.) Anyone know anyone who lives in a non-blue state who might be interested in a drawing? Use the coupon code GOBLUE10 for 10% off in my Etsy shop! (Don't worry, that'll even work for those of you in blue states haha)
Monday, April 18, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Baby Shower Fun
Our good friends Iris and Steve are expecting a little baby girl, pretty much any day now. (We were preggo-buddies!) Her sister Veronica threw her an awesome baby shower last weekend, and I got to have fun helping her pull it all together. We made a spiffy diaper cake and diaper bassinet, cute little wash cloth candies and butterflies, and I baked a cake. My mom sewed a plush stork to hold the basket of yummy chocolate lollipops that Vero made. (Which I thoroughly enjoyed eating.)
I love babies, and I can't wait to take a ton of cute pictures of our two kiddos together ♥
I love babies, and I can't wait to take a ton of cute pictures of our two kiddos together ♥
Mmmmm... Chocolate baby heads...
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Crib Recovery
It seemed simple enough. Just adding a little bit of fabric, right? Well, as my husband will agree, this project nearly destroyed me. Almost every night I would throw this little crib up against a wall and declare that I was giving up. And every day when Shaun came home from work, there was I was working feverishly on it yet again. I just couldn't accept failure. (I have a big issue with failure.)
I am so glad I stuck with it though, because I love the finished product! And as meaningless as my sweet husband thought this was, my little guy deserves a little bed that's all his.
A week before Flynn was born I FINALLY started getting my creative mojo back so I was able to finish this on time. (I finished a few other little projects as well that I'll share soon.) And now that everything is settling down, I'm really hoping to keep those creative juices flowing! I'm finally feeling like myself again, life is good.
I am so glad I stuck with it though, because I love the finished product! And as meaningless as my sweet husband thought this was, my little guy deserves a little bed that's all his.
A week before Flynn was born I FINALLY started getting my creative mojo back so I was able to finish this on time. (I finished a few other little projects as well that I'll share soon.) And now that everything is settling down, I'm really hoping to keep those creative juices flowing! I'm finally feeling like myself again, life is good.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Three Weeks
It has been three weeks since our little Flynn made his amazing entrance into the world. I'll share the whole story another day. Tonight I just wanted to break my blogging silence with some of my favorite photos from the last few weeks. I love this fella. ♥
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