spring is in the air

or at least teasing us with a stint of warm weather. we've been taking full advantage and getting out as much as we can. i was actually able to walk 4 days last week. (need to whip this body back in shape)

the boy absolutely loves it. he's still a little shaky on his feet, but loving it nonetheless.

spaceships and laser beams

website wednesday: spaceships and laser beams

for the boy's first birthday we did a low key party with just my parents and siblings who were here for the holidays. with his birthday so close to christmas it's hard to pick the right time to actually have a party. people have their own holiday schedules and throwing a birthday party in the mix, i know it wouldn't be on the top of everybody's priority list.

for his second birthday i've already started planning. looking at dates, themes, etc. (i know, who are you and what have you done with procrastinator sue!) i only have a couple of years before he'll want batman or some other licensed character party. *cringe* so i better get on it asap.

i was thinking about going with the robot theme i used for his nursery. and in my search i came across the spaceships and laser beams etsy shop. i love the fact that it's geared to little boys and that the art is bold and graphic. i hate that they've got me thinking monsters now instead of robots. i mean look at this adorable cupcake! how can you not want this to be the center of attention at your birthday party. i know the boy is the most important person there but this little guy would give him a run for his money. :)

hmmm, i guess i can look at it as having his next five birthday themes in the bag.

what's your sign?

awes and i have been teaching the boy a few basic signs. he's been picking them up pretty easily but i'm not sure he's associating the meaning of the sign with what it actually is. for instance, when i tell him "please" he walks over and points to the graham crackers. i've shown him the sign for cookie but he prefers to use the "please" sign. if anything i'll have an overly polite boy who says "please" for everything. i guess it's close enough.

and his first "official" word. one where he associates the name to the object and can actually say it. nope not mama or dada. it's ball. he is his father's son.

hmmm, i just thought about it and my mom didn't put a sports option out when little man was choosing his destiny. i think he may be trying to tell her something. she may have a professional athlete as a grandson. ;)

baby steals

here's wednesday's website of the week.

"At BabySteals.com we sell one quality baby or maternity product every day at up to 80% off until it sells out. It's not just a deal, it's a steal! A 'BabySteal'! No, we're not stealing and reselling babies. We drop one amazing steal a day at 9am MDT and another at 9pm MDT until it's gone, and they sell out fast. Once we're sold out, you lost out. On the weekends we give you a second chance on steals we still have, and you might get lucky and find more than one Steal a Day!"

i've only purchased one item from the site. stonz booties for the boy. with the winter we've had i thought it best we invest in some type of foot protection. i like these cause they can slide over his regular shoes, they're fleece lined, water-resistant, and they can be worn through a few shoe sizes. so he'll be wearing them next winter as well. we just got them in the mail and most of the snow has melted so we haven't tried them out yet. but i'm sure we'll be using them sometime in the near future.

restraint

so it's taking every ounce of my being not to get the boy a pair of creepers. of course, these are a slimmed down version of the real thing (no platform). but they are cute nonetheless. awes absolutely hates them, at least the adult version. but i think if he saw these he might change his mind.

yes, i might be pushing my shoe fetish onto the boy. restraint seems to have flown out the window when it comes to the boy. so don't be surprised if you see him sporting them in the upcoming months.

lord help us if we ever have a girl!

website wednesday

as if i didn't have enough going on, here's my latest love. if you love anything and i mean anything crafty this is a fantastic site to check out. fair warning, it can be an inspirational overload, at least it has been in my case. so enjoy my friends.

slope slider

so the boy has already gone sledding three times this winter. i mean three separate weekends where we've had fresh snow. and this is not including christmas weekend. (i was too lazy to bundle him up for two minutes of sledding that weekend.) we really can't tell how he feels about the activity. he seems to be indifferent. at least at first. i'm pretty sure by the end of the season he'll be sledding down on his own. :)

you would think living in the mountains people would be prepared for this much snow. but apparently we live in the "south" and this is a ridiculous amount. poor kids, i think they'll be attending school well into the summer to make up for all the snow days they've had.

we are definitely having a white winter. surprisingly enough i'm not sick of it yet. ask me again in a month. the man, on the other hand, has been looking at beach vacations this week. anniversary in the caribbean this year! thanks snowy winter!

tweeting today

please b a 24 hr bug. please have started 12 hrs ago. please don't ruin my date nite. u r, however, more than welcome 2 take 5-10 lbs when u go. thnx.

feral child

apparently my child prefers anything dog related. kisses, toys, food, and i'm pretty sure if our dogs barked, avery would be barking as well.

by kisses: he opens his mouth to let the dogs lick inside and out. by toys: he would rather sit and play with their toys then his own. by food: the only baby gate we use upstairs is to prevent him from playing with and eating their food and water.

i've gotten rid of all the raw hides as well, he's decided they are tasty enough to gnaw on. i should have gotten video of his reaction when he got caught in the act. you'd make eye contact with him, i'd chirp something like "un-uh!" he'd keep gnawing, i'd stand up, he'd throw the bone and quickly crawl away, i'd sit back down and he'd go right back after the bone. he's a smart little bugger.

so if you want to get anything for the boy, might i suggest something canine in nature.

ginger kids

if you couldn't tell, one of my resolutions is to keep up with the blog. to at least post a few times a week, if not every day. one of the main things i want to post about is crafting. what's on the agenda, what's in progress, what's completed. i'm hoping it'll motivate me to keep things in motion.

this year my family came to visit for christmas and it's always nice to have activities for everyone to do. and if it's crafty in nature, it's even better. one thing we did was decorate gingerbread houses and cookies. while out shopping before christmas, i found a gingerbread house kit that contained 5 houses. i thought this would be perfect - everyone would get their own house to decorate. little did i know the houses were pretty much the same size as the images on the box. they were TINY. the roofs were the biggest surface to decorate and they were about the size of a credit card. i'm a stickler for detail and it was a challenge to do anything on these houses. i think we're done with kits, next christmas we'll do everything from scratch. that is if i can get my act together in time.

we had better success with decorating the cookies. i found a cookie cutter that's shaped like a house so that made up for the tiny house fiasco. here are a few of my creations. as you can see, my cookies tend to be somewhat non-traditional in nature.

he's one!

omg! the boy turned one. where has the time gone? my precious little baby is now a little boy and a smart one at that. cute, loving, inquisitive. his personality is getting bigger by the day. love this boy to death!

i wish i could keep him small forever but i love seeing him grow!

edible decor

last year our good friends got us a whirley pop for christmas. it only took us a year to open and use it. and of course, the first thing i decide to do with the popcorn is a christmas craft project. our rotating tree was looking a little sparse when the lights weren't on so i decided to string a popcorn garland to jazz it up. it was pure torture for the dogs, they love popcorn. bosco literally sat underfoot the whole two hours it took me to string it. occasionally scoring a kernel or two.

behold. the finished product.

so far the tree is still standing. i was worried i'd come down to an annihilated tree this morning. we'll see if it makes it the rest of the holiday season. i'm not sure if the dogs realize what and where it is. let's hope they don't figure it out.

felt fetish

i don't know why but i have a love affair with felt. lately my craft projects have revolved around the medium. right now i'm attempting to make 3 dimensional felt flowers. it's basically trial and error, trying to use paper techniques and applying it to felt. once i master them i'll have to figure out how i'll use them. i will be posting the new felt hair clips i made for the craft show i did few weeks ago. i've got a few new designs i came up with that i'm pretty happy with.

i finally finished the stocking i started last year for the little man. my brother and aaron both have/had stockings made by our mom's so i thought i'd do the same for avery. it's made from a kit just so i can get the hang of layering and what not. if i do another larger felt project i think i'm gonna attempt making avery a halloween bag. although this one is reasonably priced.

shop update is coming really soon. i promise.

halloween 2010 in a nutshell

halloweens of yesteryear. yeah, we love the holiday!

everything is coming up poppy

one of my first crafting projects in a long time: baby bedding for my friend, greyson. she's expecting her first, a little girl, in a few weeks and i volunteered to make the bedding for her as a shower gift.

she picked the fabrics and i did the rest. this was the first time i've made either a baby bumper or a crib skirt. i crossed my fingers and prayed the end result would be somewhat recognizable. i ended up using the directions from amy butler's little stitches for little ones book. the directions were fairly simple. but i'm not sure if i'm out-of-practice because i did find myself reading and re-reading each step. what am i saying? i've always had a hard time reading patterns. it's like it's written in some kinda sewing code or for the dyslexic.

in the end, i was happy with the outcome as was greyson. the nursery is absolutely adorable. almost makes me want to have a girl for our next. almost.

another crafty project i did for her shower: poppy cupcakes. brett and grey are 90% sure they are gonna name her "poppy" so as one of her gifts i got her this. which inspired me to to makes these for the shower.

they are homemade peach cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. i used prepackaged fondant to make the flowers, didn't trust myself to make my own. unfortunately i could not find black edible candy balls in boone, so i used yellow instead. they still turned out great and actually matched the cake at the shower, at least the coloring (ha, ha. if you saw the cake you would understand why this is funny). nothing like a baby to inspire some craftiness. tomorrow i'll post my ghetto-rigged teeth guard i put on little mans crib yesterday.

cutting up

last week we had a pumpkin decorating/carving party at our place. we had appetizers, chili and butternut squash soup for dinner and cupcakes for dessert. the party was a huge success and i think we may have started a halloween tradition. unfortunately, not everyone was able to carve their pumpkin. we did a little too much chit-chatting and some friends had to leave before we got started. for those who did stay, we did get some crazy pumpkins. see photo below.


and here are two cuties who came but were a little too young to participate. there's always next year, boys!

red all over

Red Rum - letterpress greeting

Red Love Grows with Dove

Hand Screenprinted Birch Forest in Red fabric

VIVID RED POPPIES Shoe clips

purple people eaters

PASSIONATE PURPLE Recycled Magnetic LOCKET SET

Violet Hydrangea Ring Box

Handmade Purple Tiny Tile Bobby Pin Set

Penelope Necklace No. 2

perfectly pretty in pink

this is actually proving to be more time-consuming than i thought. looking for the perfect item then trying to find the perfect corresponding pic, yeah it's taking me a lot longer than i expected. hence the lack of commentary.

one reason i'm doing this is to spark some inspiration. i've started crafting again. little things here and there. i was just asked if i'd like to consign some of my stuff at a local bookstore. i hardly have enough to keep my etsy store up and running let alone consign or have a booth at a craft fair. since the weather is starting to grow colder and our lives a little less hectic, i'm shooting to get back in gear. i need to set mini goals and a little sweat shop in my craft room. maybe then i'll get some stuff done.

Polaroid Coaster - Pink Fairies

Savoy Truffle - 9-Piece Enameled Bangle Set

Pair Vintage Table Lamps with New Custom Drum Shades

Large berry bowl strainer and scallop saucer in lilac.

berry blue

Navy Blue with Honeysuckle print throw pillow

Dipping dish - beetle in ocean blue

Coco - 3 lovely blue wool felt flowers headband

Tattoo Style Anchor Love Pendant