DIY 'i carry your heart' mug

in case you missed it,
i did my very first guest post
at GOMHP last friday
for the lovely brooke's
"friday randomness".
it was fun!
(i'll be guest posting in march too. yay!)

here's the "meat" of last week's post
with instructions for my DIY mug...

.........

1. Porcelaine pen markers can be found at Michael's and Hobby Lobby for $4ish. Make sure to shake it well, then "pump" the ink into the tip by pushing it against a piece of paper. (This mug was from Dollar Tree.)
2. (Keep a wet napkin and wet Q-tip on hand.) Outline the handle of the mug first.
3. Draw the other side of the heart, using the handle-side as a guide for symmetry. If you make a mistake, wipe it off with the wet napkin right away and wipe dry. (The marker comes off easily when wet.) Once you have the outline of the heart, draw the lines in thicker. Let dry...only takes a minute.
4. Write in 'i carry your heart' with a little heart. Use the wet Q-tip if you make a mistake and need to rewrite.

The cup is dishwasher-safe in 72 hours.

The words are from one of my favorites poems my E.E. Cummings - "I carry your heart in my heart." It seemed appropriate for a warm cup of coffee and a Friday to reflect on the week. :)

........

muah, muah.
have a rockin' weekend!

time capsule ornament

hope you had a merry, merry Christmas!
mine was loud, busy and fun.
suri was spoiled like crazy
and is enjoying all of her new toys.

december   f   l    e   w   by for us.
so, to remember this fun and festive time,
i made this time capsule ornament for suri...

i got the glittery tree ornament at target in the dollar bin.

i wrote '2011' on there with a sharpie paint marker.

i  tied up the important suri info. :)

what is she like right now?
here's what i wrote on the suri sheet:

Suri is almost 17 mos old.
She is such a quick learner
and VERY observant.
Recently...

She took her dad’s keys and tried to 
unlock the front door with them.

She took his electric shaver
and pretended to shave her face.

She took my curling iron and pretended 
to curl her own hair.

She helps put on her own lotion after her bath - 
she rubs it all over her tummy.

She learned the word ‘No’and  tells us if 
she doesn’t like a particular food or outfit.
(She already won’t wear something 
she doesn’t like.)

She loves wearing her dress-up shoes 
and is already such a  girlie girl, 
except she hates hair things. 
She now lets  us put pigtails in without
yanking them out.

She gives “running” hugs and sometimes kisses. 
(Now, she doesn’t like to give too many
kisses like before.)

She still loves the book “Where is 
baby’s belly button?” She has it at daycare
too. But, she picks at her belly button afterwards.

She cries to type on my computer 
because she likes the typing sounds.

She currently has 4 top teeth
and 4 bottom teeth and wears
size 4 shoes. (Her feet are little!)

She has a preference towards
anyone that wears glasses.
She especially loves her
uncle Addison, cousins Leighton
and Bryan and Grandpa Boune.

She dances ALL THE TIME.
She loves playing any sort of
pretend game.
She also does a dramatic
fake-laugh.

She says the word “Bath” and extends it out, 
like “baaaaaath” - she wants to take one all the time.

She takes medicine easily, but fights 
you like crazy if you try to clip her nails 
or do the nose suction.

Every time we turn on the Christmas tree and 
lights, she says “Wow”. 
If it’s not on, she points at it to remind us. 
She doesn’t pull the ornaments off or 
mess with it. She’s a good girl.

She likes to throw her diapers
or other garbage away by
herself and afterwards
she waits for you to clap
and say “Good Job.” She claps
along with you.

She’s very smart and picks things up 
without us even teaching them to her. 
She’s our ray of sunshine.

:D
i plan to do one every year, so she can see
how much she grows every year.
p.s. more suri pics to follow.

suri in vintage glam

Fancy Dog loves her sister.

why is it that when kids wear over-the-top stuff,
it makes me feel so giddy????

i adore this coat for suri.
hubster is not the biggest fan,
however, he agrees that it's the perfect warmth,
weight and easiness instead of stuffing her into
her big, poufy coat.

i put this coat on her when we go to the
grocery store and everything!
i told him it's not tacky when it's on little kids.
he agrees to disagree.
what do you think?

we originally bought this as a holiday coat:

i replaced the roses with some vintage buttons.
i think it's very audrey hupburn-esk.

literally giiiiiiddy.
how can you resist this?!

coldplay k-cups

one of my girlfriends is obsessed with coldplay.
i mean obseeeeesssssssed.

her b-day happens to be on christmas,
so i made her these coldplay k-cups.
(she works the night shift and has a cup of coffee
from her keurig machine every night.)

i thought this was a fun idea.
kinda like picking a song or album
for whatever mood she's in.
the album covers are always really artsy
and perfect for a pretty project.

here's what the box looked like before it
was rocked out by coldplay artwork:

i opened the box up with an exacto knife
on its side, not top.
then, i flipped the k-cups face-up

i found photos of the band by googling "coldplay image" 

and printed them on my picturemate for the outside of the box.

(luckily i didn't need anything that was bigger than a 4x6

to cover each side of the box.)

flipping the k-cups face-up had made the box widen,
so i folded one of my printed photos in half,
glued it on and rounded one side for the flap.

for the k-cup toppers, i got the album artwork
from the coldplay website
under the 'recordings' section
and click on the 'art' link for each album cover.
(see where i marked with a yellow arrow below.)

i used a 1 1/8" punch for the keurig circle. 1" would work too.

the k-cup toppers are all 2" circles.
i reduced the size of the album cover artwork,
printed them out and punched them with a 2" punch.

the box was 18-count = 18 gorgeous album covers.

i glued them on with my tombo glue runner.
she'll have to take each album photo topper
off each one before she uses it.
(the keurig machine probably shouldn't
attempt to puncture the album cover toppers.)
don't worry, the toppers come off easily
because the tops aren't perfectly flat.

there are tons of keurig lovers out there
that this gift could be customized for.

i'm super-stoked about how it turned out!
the coldplay album art is so totally rad, which helps. :D
maybe a holiday edition...or a twilight version??!!

happy holidays, my lovelies.

clownin' booth props

it's pretty much impossible to
not have fun when you're in
a photobooth.

there's a silliness that comes out
in all of us that enter.
just ca aaaa an't fight it,
just too ir rreeeesist aaa able.

throw in some extra-cool booth props
and you're done for.

sure, there will be the boa, floppy hats,
wacky sunglasses, etc. that come along
with the photobooth guy
(ours is tim from a special event dj)

but, that just ain't the way of the scrapbooker, is it?
definitely gotta mix in our own crafty ones. ;)

presenting...
the 2011 get inspired fall event booth props
(handmade by muah)

oversized bowties and neckties

framed chalkboards

and, of course, mustaches and glasses on a stick

definitely scrappy-style, right?
i think they'll be a fun addition.
cannot wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s. thank you so much to those
who came to my thirty-one party,
i appreciate it.
i am truly blessed to have so much support
and especially LOVE getting to
spend some time with friends.
here's just a few pics from
the end of the night.

1. rachel + suri with their matching outfits 2. me and hubby + suri and her bff eva 3. suri and her cousin averi 4. girls at end of night.

making it cool with chalkboard

there are a few items that
i've been obssessed with lately.
1. chevron
2. chalkboard
3. felt

well, today we'll be talking about chalkboard. :)
i've been getting ready for this thirty-one bags party.
i sure hope more ppl RSVP.
hint, hint. ;)

i purchased this chalkboard vinyl at  hobby lobby.
it's got an adhesive back
and with my 40% off coupon
(which you can find on their website almost always)
this roll was only $5.

here are just a couple crafty ideas at work:

chalkboard wine labels

 to get the labels off,
just soak the bottles in warm water
for an hour or so.

chalkboard in a frame - one of my photobooth props, but it'd be cute home decor too.

i'm also just cutting them up
for chalkboard nametags
and chalkboards strips to label plastic cups.
very cool stuff.

cheers!

$1 and ten minutes

hi loves,

my time is ticking down for suri's bday
and i made this ribbon in a snap.

i was inspired by paige evans' birthday badges
for this diy project/makeover.

i purchased the award ribbon from dollar tree for $1.
i created the artwork on my computer.
(but, you could easily just cut out the circle
from patterned scrapbook paper and stamp your title.)
if your circle looks jaggedy from being hand-cut,
lightly sand the edges.

next, hotglue all the ribbons in.
(i added some hot pink netting too.)
then, add a doily on the back.
i cut a space for the pin
and used my taperunner to attach it.

something fun to add to the day. :)

happy thursday!
xo
minna

can't get enough

this past weekend, our friends welcomed
a new baby boy into the world.
i hope to be smothering him with kisses very soon!

his name is maxwell (so cute!)
which could not be more fitting for a bowtie-wearing baby.
i think you know where i'm going with this...

you may remember these baby bowties from this post. 
but, i've decided to revisit this tutorial
and give you some better photos.
here goes...

 1.) Start with a fabric piece that is 5.5w x 2.5h. (Thicker fabric is better.) Fold lengthwise to meet in the middle and hot glue - should be about 1"h or so now:

  
2.) Fold in sides also to meet in middle that way. Should be about 2.25" - 2.5"w or so. This is the back of the bowtie:

3.) Cut another piece of fabric that is 1" x 2" for the middle of the bowtie. (Btw, you'll cut most the 2" off.) Fold lengthwise to meet in the middle and hotglue. It should be now a little more than 0.25":

4.) Hot glue one end to the back of the bow and bring it around to the front. Make it really tight and "scrunched"-looking. Hot glue on the back and cut off the excess fabric:

 

5.) Hot glue the bow to the onesie, just under the collar "lip". (Keep your hand behind the fabric and press, so the hot glue doesn't bleed through that first layer of fabric.)

There you have it.
Supereasy.
Supercute.

she's sweet and cool

suri's 1st birthday is at the end of this month.
no doubt it will be sizzling hot,
so i decided to make her party theme
sweet and cool.

i made her invitations to look like popicles.
they say:

she's sweet 
and cool
and so much fun.
come join the party
suri's turning one.

first, i created the invitation in a 2.75w x 4h size.
(i used a adobe illustrator, but this could easily
be done in photoshop as well.)

nothing too fancy in setting it up.
i simply made each letter a different color
for 'suri's turning one'.
the font i used is 'prissyfratboy'
and can be found here for free.
i used it in all CAPS.

i took them to my local printer and printed 50 of them.
i asked them to trim them down to 2.75w x 4h for me.
this all cost me about $5.
(the printing was much better than from my own printer.)

i bought zots and wooden popsicle sticks from michaels.

for the back of the popsicle,
i bought scrapbooking paper in a pink stripe
and used my paper trimmers to cut them into 2.75w x 4h size.

i rounded all the corners of the invitations and the backing.


i laid my pink stripe backing facedown
(the other size was polka dot)
and used my glue runner along all the edges of the paper
and used a zot on each side of the popsicle stick,
placing it a little more that halfway up.

after affixing the invitation on the front,
i used my scalloped circle punch to
take a "bite" out of the corner.

if you have questions or want my illustrator file,
hit me up via email at minnaks at gmail dot com.
:)
lata, dolls!

 

world's greatest dad award goes to...

being a dad came naturally to my hubby.
he was so calm.
and loving.
i was always anxious about everything.
he'd soothe me.
and soothe suri.

the breastfeeding was so hard.
suri woke up every half hour to an hour to eat.
night or day.
the doctor called it 'cluster feeding.'
this lasted for 3 months.

my hubby was my biggest cheerleader.
and my biggest whipping post.

he understood how exhausted i was.
but, he was exhausted too.

he'd wake up with me every time she cried.
he'd change her diaper.
he'd help me sit up and make myself comfortable.
i'd feed her and lay her down.
and we'd we start all over again. again. and again.

now that suri's almost 11 months, she's a lot easier.
and she is definitely a daddy's girl.

he lets her take naps on his chest.
he holds her and they chillax and watch sports together.

they watch youtube music videos and he sings to her.

he washes off all her "blow-out" clothes that
come back from daycare loaded with poop.
(and makes gagging sounds the whole time. LOL.)

he is an amazing father.
and a wonderful husband.

when we were guessing the sex of the baby,
he was adamant that it was a girl.
i was certain it was a boy.
i said it was mother's instinct.
he said it was father's instinct.

well, i guess he was right.
i suppose i can say that on father's day. :)

for his first father's day,
i wanted to make him something memorable.
so, here it is ...
a scrapbooked shadowbox display:

i found this at a thrift store for $2.99 and decided to scrapbook it.

this is borrowed from a poster i saw at hallmark.

see the cute, cut-out suri peeking out above the circle? ;)

i put a family photo into a tim holtz vial.

more tim holtz vials: one with a piece of paper that says 'wish'. one baby photo of suri and one with music.

YUM YUM. pretty irresistible, right?

haaaaaaaaaaaappy father's day
to all the dads out there.


especially suri's. ;)