gabby's valentine parfaits

I just wanted to quickly share Gabby's little treats that she and I made for her Valentine's party in her Kindergarten class this morning. She was such a great little helper, and they turned out so yummy and cute!! I found this pin on Pinterest (surprise!) and knew that this would be right up my alley...I like finding alternatives to cookies and cupcakes...nothin' wrong with either, but we all know how I feel about baking and decorating!

To make your own Valentine's Parfaits you will need:

-a cake mix

-cool whip

-vanilla pudding mix

-vanilla yogurt

-sprinkles

-plastic cups

Decorate plastic cups. Bake cake according to instructions on the box. Let cool completely. Scoop into bottom of cups. Mix together cool whip, pudding, and yogurt. (add food coloring if desired) Scoop into cup. Top off with with cool whip and sprinkles. Done!

Hope you like' em! I'll be making these again for sure!!

xoxo

valentine's decor & a birthday party

I gotta say, I love decorating for Valentine's Day...pink and red and hearts...oh, my! When I saw this banner by Rebecca from Simple as That, I got to work. It has been soooo long since I've properly scrapbooked or made much in the way of cute projects, so it was nice to get out some paper and scissors and cut and play. Thank you, Rebecca for the inspiration and the motivation!

After I finished this banner and hung it up I decided it was so cute that I made another one for our mantle and then I made yet another one for my sister...I just love the mix of the vintage book papers with the pink and red hearts...so so cute!! And believe it or not, I added some hearts to twigs to put on my mantle as well, and then I saw this post of Rebecca's...mine are purely decorative, but I love that she's using hers to write love notes to their family members...I'll have to keep that in mind for next year!!

We also had a little birthday party for Payton on the weekend, and since our house was already half-decorated, we went with a Valentine's theme for her party and I loved how it turned out!! It was sooooo easy to throw together since there's so much in the way of Valnetine's stuff in the stores right now. The girls did some v-day crafts and coloring, played human tic-tac-toe, decorated a valentine's frame and of course, had some heart-shaped cake.

So we're very much in the "Valentine's Spirit" around here...next up on the to-do list is the girls Valentine's to bring to school!

DIY: Lavender Heating Pads

Hey, Everyone!

Popping in today to share a super easy DIY project! For Christmas this year, my sister-in-law's and I decided to do a handmade gift exchange. It had to be super cheap and totally handmade, so of course, I turned to Pinterest! (heehee)

I came across this pin, and since it was like, December 22nd or 23rd, I knew I needed something really simple! These adorable heating pads were very easy to make. Trust me. If I can make them, anyone can! I am not a seamstress by any sense of the word, but if you can sew a straight line, then you're good to go!

I made my heating pads following this tutorial from Elm Street Life, but I only sewed 1 seam down the middle instead of 3...like I said, simple people, simple! I filled my heating pads with rice and then scented them with Lavender essential oil. I love them!! They turned out so so cute and I use mine all the time. I am always cold at bedtime so I love heating one of these babies up before bed and they smell so good! All the fabric I used were scraps I had on hand...since I started these at about 10pm, I had no other option, heehee!

So there ya go...a simple little gift idea for any occasion. Have fun!!!

diy: oversized photo collage

Hey, everyone!

Hope you're all having a great Monday and today I have a fun little (or maybe I should I say BIG?) diy project to share. Introducing my oversized photo collage. Ever since I pinned this on Pinterest, it was one project I knew I HAD to do. I bought this big frame at Ikea and it sat empty on my landing upstairs for 2 months at least! (I know...pathetic!) I just couldn't commit to what photos I wanted to use and where I wanted to put it...so I did nothing. Which is lame.

A couple weeks ago I got the urge at about 10 o'clock one night to go ahead and do my collage, and this is what I ended up with. And needless to say, I love it soooooooo much!!! I carefully chose each photo (a few older ones, the rest new) and printed them all on my printer. They're all about 8x10" in size. Then putting the collage together was a little like a puzzle...I moved the pictures around until it looked just right. Then I just adhered the photos to the large photo mat that came with the frame and I was done!

I was originally planning on hanging it down in my scrapbook room, but I ended up loving it so much that I couldn't put it down there for no one to see! So I hung it in our front hallway and like I said....LOVE!

I still want to hang something else above it, maybe a word with some of my cute wood letters that I haven't used yet since we moved, so we'll see...for now, I'm glad I just finished a project! Heehee!

And here's one last little look so you can get an idea of how big it is...my 5 year old standing behind it.

Hope you like it!! Now go and make one for your house!!

Tal:)

(and P.S...these pictures don't do it justice AT ALL....it's in a really tricky spot to photograph, and trust me, it looks awesome...the pictures are all so sharp and clear...looks way better in real life!!)

gabby's popcorn & movie party!

A little peek at Gabby's "Movie & Popcorn" birthday party....






(plastic popcorn containers are from the dollar store and I made the banners using some of my old House of 3 digital kits!)

Yes, she turned 5 back in July. But, it was summer and it's always hard to plan parties with friends when everyone's away on holidays. So we did her party and few weeks ago and it was such a hit! All of her friends came over in their jammies and we had pizza, pop, popcorn and treats! Everyone got a little purse with "money" in it and they had to line up at the concession stand to pay for their treats, tickets and popcorn. Then they went downstairs to the "movie theatre" where thet saw the debut of "Barbie and The Princess Charm School". Honestly, the girls had soooooo much fun! We'll be doing this again for sure!!

Love you Gabbs!!! xo

T:)

photo album scrapbooks

If you're anything like me, then you have piles and piles of photos in boxes, waiting to be used. I've recently been unpacking my scrapbook stuff and I couldn't believe the amount of photos I've accumulated over the years....holy cow! I knew I had to something with them, and fast. Today was another rainy day around here, so it was the perfect opportunity for the girls to make their own "photo album scrapbooks" while Kherington and Crew slept. They had so much fun!

We started off with empty 4x6 photo albums (I got these ones at Superstore) and I just spread out a ton of pictures on the table and let the girls use whatever ones they wanted in their albums.

They both spent 2 full hours on these this afternoon! I was so impressed...they carefully put each and every photo in themselves and it was so fun for me to watch them look through the pictures and laugh and remember...it was awesome. Payton decided to embellish hers a little bit with stickers, while Gabby decided to keep hers plain. Whatever they wanted.

And just like that, 200 pictures are now out of a box and in an album, ready to be enjoyed.

:)

crew's baby announcements

One thing I've always loved doing is baby announcements. These were Crew's. Simple and fun. I also did up a coordinating little thank-you card for all those people who were sweet enough to give us gifts. We've been so spoiled! The announcement is 5x7" and the thank you card is 4x6" and I just wrote personal messages on the back. I had them printed at Costco and loved how they turned out! (the cute baby definately helps...heehee.) I still have a handful that need to be mailed...that is on my to-do list for next week!

For now, we are off to pick up Payton from her last day of school. Whoo-hoo! Here's to SUMMER!!!

T:)

kk and crew's room

Well, here it is...Kherington and Crew's little room. I had so much fun putting this room together and finished it and took these pictures last Tuesday morning...just in time, since I went into labour on Tuesday night! (nothin' like putting it off till the last minute!!) Anyways, for such a tiny room I had to keep it simple, but I think the fabrics and colors make it fun...I was totally inspired by all the grays and yellows I was seeing online, and thought that would be a fun color combo for a boy/girl room...take a look!

This little Pooh bear was a gift from my dad and has been in all my babies rooms.

KK's bed...she LOVES her bed! Naptimes and bedtimes are quite easy around here! All of the fabulous bedding was made by my mama. We went out shopping together and picked out fabrics, I told her what I kinda wanted, then she sewed everything up. I looooove how everything turned out!!

Love this pillow!

*sigh*....the ruffles.

I'll be adding a picture of KK and Crew together above the change table, and I made the "I am a Child of God" print in Photoshop. Again, I'd seen alot of these online and just created my own. I made the little elephant shadowbox using scrapbook paper and this cute elephant template. Oh, and the fabulous knobs on the dresser are all from Anthropoligie.

Of course that empty frame will be filled with an adorable picture of Crew...

And, the yellow crib. I love it! (am I saying that alot?) I wasn't sure if the yellow would be too much, but after having a pink crib for 2 years, what's the big deal to switch to bright yellow, right? These clouds were in KK's nursery, and I have a big "C" on order that will go above the crib, too. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to make/add a mobile for above the crib or not...we'll see!

The gorgeous quilt and bumper pads made by my mom. Again, just loving the yellows and grays!

A few more close-ups...the "you make me happy when skies are gray" was another one I created in Photoshop. I love this quote 'cause my grandpa used to sing me this song when I was little. :)

And there ya have it! I'll still be adding a couple things here and there, but just getting the room this far before Crew was born was a huge accomplishment! It's tiny but functional for my 2 little babes...thanks for taking a peek!

Tal xo