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!

 

it ain't easy being cheesy

one of my favorite things about being a mom
is getting to be silly with suri.
i actually don't remember my parents ever
being silly/playful with us as kids.
ever.

suri is a born character.
it cracks me up all the time with her mannerisms
and animated faces.
i always think 'where does she get this stuff?'
she is a c l o w n .
a cheesy, happy clown.

she loves wearing my fake glasses.
(i got lasik. these are no-prescription, style glasses.)

they don't stay very well on her little, baby nose.

i slicked her hair with some water for a more nerdy look. hehee

 cheeeeeeeese

kerclunk

photo via Katie Armour

there is just something about the
sound of an old typewriter
that is so appealing.
clink. clink.
kerclunk.
*sigh*

i downloaded this software for my mac computer
that makes the sounds of an old typewriter as i type.

oddly enough, it's actually made me
a little more productive these last few days.

see for yourself.
it's like magic. :)

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. ;)

that's my babygirl

this week has been
m o n u m e n t a l
for suri.

1. she got her first tooth (at 10 1/2 months!)
2. she pulled herself up to stand!
3. she started crawling!

(i'm going to have to refrain myself from using
too many exclamation points in this post.
it's been exciting!!!!)

teething has made her pretty grouchy.
only one tooth so far.
the second one is not quite showing yet.
her grandma says that if your teeth come in one-by-one,
instead of as pairs, you are going to be naughty. LOL.
let's hope not.
trust me, her grandma has a million superstitions.

suri actually stood up before she crawled.
all the sudden i look over and she's standing in her playpen!

i think it's time to put the playpen down.

i had to inch my way to the camera,
hoping not to distract her and cause a fall.
i was seriously holding my breath
and gliding like a crazy trapeze person.
LOL.

suri has NEVER been a fan of crawling.
we thought she was just going to skip it.

she'd occasionally get on all fours
and rock back and forth.

here she is rocking.

then, we picked her up from daycare the other day.
they said she crawled across the room!
Eeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!

as soon as we got her home,
we called her grandma on skype
and were ready for a show.
and boy, did we get one.
cutest baby crawl ever.
here's a little snippet.

bravo, babygirl!
you did it.

p.s.
yes, that's me towards the end of the video freaking out.
dontcha just hate listening to the sound of your own voice?
always sounds weird.

baby rosettes + baby bowtie = love

isn't everything that comes in baby-size so stinkin cute?!
this weekend, i have two baby showers to attend.
one for a baby boy.
one for a baby girl.

i got them the usual from-the-registry-gifts.
but, i wanted to add a little something with a handmade touch.

so, i made these cutie-pa-tooties:

swoon
baby stuff is just so precious.
gets me every time.

the rosettes i've seen done via the internet.
the bowtie i made up on my own.
i actually saw an iron-on tie for a baby boy online,
but i figured out this bowtie on my first attempt.
hooray for me!!
who doesn't love a baby with a bowtie on? :)

let's start with the bowtie:

1.) Start with a fabric piece that is 5.5w x 2.5h. Thicker fabric is better:

2.) Fold lengthwise to meet in the middle and hot glue - should be about 1"h to 1.25" now:

3.) Fold in sides now to meet in middle. Should be about 2.25"w. This is the back:

4.) Flip over. This is the front:

5.) Cut  another piece of fabric that is 1" x 2" (you'll cut most off the 2"). This is for the middle of the bow:

6.) Fold lengthwise to meet in the middle. It should be now a little more than 0.25":

7.) Hot glue on end to the back of the bow and bring it around to the front:

8.) Make it really tight and "scrunched"-looking. Hot glue on the back and cut off the excess fabric.

9.) 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.

now for the rosette tutorial, my dears...

(you'll have to excuse some of the blurry photos.)

1.) Cut 3 strips of fabric 3", 8" and 11"high and all 1"wide. (I snipped the fabric and tore up for a frayed edge:

2.) Fold one end of each strip of fabric in half and roll it for approx 1.5". Use dab of hot glue so it stays. This is your rosette middle:

3.) Twist the fabric and add a dab of hot glue for a "petaled" look. Twist again and again. Use a dab of hot glue with each twist. (It doesn't have to be perfect, you can "adjust" later.):

4.) Secure the end of the fabric on the back. Here is a blurry example: (sorry!)

5.) This is the finished product. I usually add dabs of glue here and there to adjust it accordingly to look more like a rosette:

6.) Attach all three rosettes using hotglue. Keep your hand behind the fabric and press, so the hotglue doesn't bleed through that first layer of fabric:

all done! supercute, right?

the instructions look extensive, i know.

but, it's REALLY simple.

i'd estimate about half hour for the entire project.

no sewing + easy on the pocketbook.

happy friday, loves!

a girly necktie

oh yeeeeaaaaaaa, i'm excited for june. woot! woot!
so many fun events to look forward to.
but, you will have to wait and see, my loves.
my goal is to post lots more,
so you'll forgive me for slacking in may. ;)

let's start it off with a crafty project.
here is what i would describe as
a girly + modern version of a man's necktie.
i adore this project and i found it at: Crazy Wonderful.

i decided to make this for my little sis, skyler.

she turns 21 this month + she landed a full-time job
at her company, which means no more weekends +
a raise + a set schedule. yaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!
i could go on and on about how wonderful this is,
but when it comes down to it:
i'm hoping she gets to visit des moines more.

i picked out a purple and gray tie for spring.
(burlington coat factory @ $7.)

i changed it up a little from her instructions:

1. i used hot glue instead of sewing. (i won't kid myself that i actually know how to sew.)
2. i made it shorter because i thought it looked cuter "bib-style" -  more like a necklace/accessory rather than part of a shirt.
3. i did not add a button. i like that you can clearly tell it's a man's tie. i prefer the layered look - like with strings of pearls shown. 

adding some stacked bracelets and high heels would be perfect.  definitely one of those just-for-fun projects.