here are some of my favorite things this week

Here are some of my favorite things this week from the blogs that I read!  Enjoy!

Make a map for the places you've visited!  So cute!  From Lil Blue Boo

This circle punch photo collage is a super cute and easy way to display your favorite pics.  From Eighteen25. 

Make a shag pillow.  I don't know how to sew but maybe I'll teach myself so I can make this pillow.  From V and Co. 

I love these!  Make a 5 strand braided heaband.  Tutorials from Make it and Love it. 

oh beau berry!

Oh sweet Beau Berry, my precious baby boy.  I love him so much, handsome and sweet - flat head and all. 

Yes, Beau Berry has a flat head.  We really didn't know this could happen but it did.  When he was an infant, he really loved his swing and we let him sit in at all the time.  Not like neglecting him, but he is a second child.  Here he is in his favorite swing.

Well, believe it or not, I can't find a picture of him in that swing.  But here he is flattening his head in the car seat:

We were hoping that he would grow out of the flat head in time.  We even held him upright and didn't let him lay down except for sleeping in hopes that his head would round out.  As much fun as that was, it was to no avail.  We were sent to the head specialist who said he needed to wear a baby helmet.  Ugh.  It will only be for around 10 weeks but we are promised a perfect head.  And since Beau Berry is going to be QB1 for the Dallas Cowboys, he needs to have a perfect head. 

So Chase took him in to get fitted for the helmet.  We were told by my friends and family who have had to have the helmet for their kids that there would be a big plaster cast made of his head and the helmet would be fitted from that.  Well, times have changed!  All they did was put this beanie cap on him and scan him with a barcode type laser.  That's it!  Here is the pic of Beau in the beanie:

Cute, no?  These days, they offer helmets with a decorative print and we chose one. He gets his helmet next Monday - look for pics for the big reveal!

this week, i think i'll not do anything!

Well, this week is a crazy week!  Vivi went the lake with my parents so we only have Beau this week.  We are super busy at work. 

So this week, I think I'll do nothing! 

But, I AM working on Vivi's artspace.  I'm pretty excited about it!  I was inspired by this post over at Childhood 101.  Here is a pic of my inspiration:

I really like the idea of giving the kids a creative space.  My mom always did creative projects with me as a kid and I'm really happy to be getting to the point with Vivi that she can do crafts, too. 

I'm going to start with this table from IKEA:

I love that it has the storage unit instead of legs on one side.  I have a whole laundry list of other things we'll be getting from IKEA this weekend.  Keep tuned in for the details!

pardon our dust!

{Please pardon my dust while I work on formatting this site!!}

this week, i think i'll finish looking at 101 free printables from everything etsy

Ok, so here are the best of the rest of the free printables from Everything Etsy's 101 Free Printable List!   



I totaly love these!  Go to Oh My Handmade and download these cute cupcake toppers and stands!  Oh and there
is also the recipe for raspberry lemonade cupcakes!

 

Love these printable shower decorations from Hostess With The Mostess!

 

So sweet for a little girls room!  Que Sera, sera!  Download this free printable from Making It Lovely



How sweet is this card?  Go to The Green Gal and download is free card!



I always love inspirational sayings!  This download is from Thirty Handmade Days. 



Super cute bookmark and gift tag from Simply Modern Mom.

  What a fun project for this week!  I hope everyone enjoys these finds!

this week, i downloaded a bunch of printables!

OK, so I couldn't wait!  I'm only on #54 of Everything Etsy's 101 Free Pretty Printables and I had to share these!  



What can I say, I'm a sucker for love.  This origami free printable is from
Eat Drink Chic

  



Vivi is OBSESSED with cupcakes!  I'm going to print out this
free printable from vol.25 and let her make as many cupcakes
as her little heart desires!

 



Shiver me timbers a free printable
birthday bundle from Cottage Industrialist

  


Oh my goodness!  Free printable paperdolls from
Paper Thin Persona

 



With Vivi starting preschool this year, these
lunchbox notes from illustrator Fresh Picked Whimsy
are a must!  SO cute!!

   



Here is a really cute free printable card set from
Do It Yourself Invitations

  I'm going to finish going through the list this week!  An added bonus of going through that list is that I've added a ton of new blogs to my Google Reader!  And that means more crafts!

this week, i think i'll.....

I'm going to start a new series on mommy loves pretty!  The title is "this week, i think i'll....".  I'm going to pick something crafty or fun from the blogs that I read and do it during the week!  I'll let you know what I'm going to do at the beginning of the week (Sunday or Monday) and complete it by the end of the week.  Fun! 

Soooo......

This week, i think i'll go through this list of FREE printables from everythingetsy.  I'm going to go through them, find some that I might use and save them onto my computer for a rainy day!  I'll let you know the best finds later this week! 

making ice cream in a baggie

 Last week I read a blog post at 2 Little Hooligans about how to make ice cream in a baggie.  Interesting, I thought!  I invited my friend Teri over with her two littles, A and L to try to beat the heat and enjoy some baggie ice cream!  It was really good and fun to make with the kiddos.  They had fun helping measure and watching us shake the bag.  Needless to say, we've repeated this activity several times since.  Here are the pics from our adventure!

 



Pouring half and half.  Brave, I know.  But she did a good job!

 


A is so patient!

 

 


  



A helping shake the bag





Little hands waiting expectantly.....

 


Vivi is unsure of the outcome.

  



She really did like it, I swear!

 


A liked it for sure!

   


Poor Boo Bear wanted some....






And sweet L was just happy to be there!

 

So, here is the recipe and directions!

Ingredients:

2 TB sugar

1 cup half and half

1/2 ts vanilla extract

1/2 cup coarse salt

Ice

1 gallon zip lock bag

1 pint zip lock bag



Instructions:  Measure out half and half, sugar, and vanilla and pour into pint size zip lock bag.  Fill the gallon zip lock bag 1/2 way with ice.  Pour the salt over the ice.  Put the pint size bag into the gallon bag and shake the bags for at least 5 minutes (I liked it better when it was shaken for 7 minutes, it's a little firmer).  When it gets to your desired consistency, rinse the bag under water to rinse salt residue off and voila!  Delicious, fresh ice cream!

Make it today - you won't be sorry!

princess crowns!

 

Oh my goodness!  What is better than a surprise Princess Crown Making Party?  That is what I found myself doing today!  My friend Sarah from Icing on the Paper came over today with little Miss Lily for a crown making party.  Her Friday free printable this week are printable crowns and goodness, they are cute!  We took the printables and bedazzled them with glitter, pom poms, sequins!  Sarah and I sure had fun - the girls preferred playing in the glitter and drawing with the markers!





Get the free printables here!

  



Sweet Vivi with the crown she made

 

Well, that was humbling

Chase and I started the Insanity workout today. I'm struggling what to write. So I'll just use short phrases.

Wow.
Really?
Sweaty.
Out of shape.
When did this happen?
Sweaty.
Sweaty.
Sweaty.
Again tomorrow?
No thanks.
Ok, maybe it will be easier.
Challenge?
Check.
Bring it.

(i'm really crying inside)

Fun with Tie Dye

I'm not sure why but tie dyeing popped in my head the other day. Then, as I was going through some of Vivi's old clothes, I found a tie dyed onsie a friend made her. Totally fate, I thought. I should have a tie dyeing party! So I did!

First, I gathered my materials. I got seven different Rit Dye colors at Hobby Lobby. I also got a big ball of rubberbands from the grocery store. This is what happened to them:

Vivi bracelets. At least she was occupied for about an hour. I got together what I wanted to tie dye: a couple of onsies for Beau, a couple of shirts for Vivi, a couple of shirts for Chase and I (let's be honest, who can resist a man in tie dye), and an Old Navy tank that I never appreciated in white. I also got some gallon buckets from work, gloves, and two tarps.

I had to make the dye, meaning take the powder in the box and mix it with water to create squirtable dye. I didn't want to buy squirt bottles because I wasn't going to be tie dyeing everyday so I made some out of water bottles. Chase took a nail and lightly hammered it in the lid to make a hole and Voila!

Here are the pretty, pretty dyes just waiting to be squirted on fabric! Once everyone came over, we watched some videos about how to make the different tie dye patterns. Nobody really paid attention. We decided to just go for it!

Sarah decided to ombre some favor bags for little Miss Lilys' 3rd birthday party. They turned out really cute! She just made a dye bath out wiht 1/2 dye concentrate and 1/2 water and soaked it in each color for about 10 minutes.


I made a onsie for Beau that is Dallas Cowboy blue!

Teri, my friend that used to be a fabric designer had awesome use of color!! She did a super cute fabric tote bag!


All in all, it was a fun party! It was hot as all get out outside but we made it and got to be creative in the meantime.

Toys R Us: Store Closing at Lakeline Mall Area - 40% off everything!

The Toys R Us at Lakeline Mall in Austin is closing and everything is from 40% - 60% off! They will be completly closed in 12 days and the discounts will get more every day. We got a ton of toys for $100 - we're putting them away for Christmas! My favorite deal is the hot pink Barbie iHome for Vivi's room - it was $10! Fun!

Speaking of Icing on the Paper

Check out Icing on the Papers' FREE pinwheel template. She has free paper crafts every Friday on her blog. I think that Vivi and I will do this one this week!!

Icing on the Paper Rocks!!

So I decided to start a blog about all of the things I love - crafts, business, deals, my kids, etc. I asked my friend Sarah of Icing on the Paper (check her out here on ETSY) to design a blog banner for me. I can sort of do grapic design but Sarah is obviously much, much better! I went to her house and she whipped up the blog banner for me in like 10 minutes! It would have taken me 4 hours and it would have looked sad. Yay for friends! Check her out if you ever need invitations, business cards, logos, or pretties of any kind!!