Thursday, October 31, 2013

Bumpdate -Where are these boys?

It seems these two boys are very comfortable where they are at. Even though this means that their mom may not be at this time. I have basically been on bed rest and working from home for the past month. I thought I would share a picture collage that now includes this week, which is week 38. I definitely consider myself very lucky to have gotten this far with twins, as I know that sometimes they are known to come very early.  

Thanks for all the support over the past few months. Rob is hoping one is born tonight and the other early tomorrow morning, and then they will be born in two separate months. We shall see if that happens.

Here I am at 19 weeks, 32 weeks and 38 weeks. I wanted to wear the same dress to show the transformation even more.

Hopefully we will have some exciting news to share soon.  

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Onesie Making Station for Baby Shower

My amazing friends threw a baby sprinkle in honor of the boys recently. They had thought of every little detail. I am so grateful for their creativity and willingness to put on such a great party. They had a onesie making station set up for the boys.  



Guests were able to pick out an iron on transfer cutout and iron them on the onesies provided for the boys. Here are some of the creations that my guests came up with. I cannot wait for the boys to be able to wear them.I think this would be cute to do along with burp cloths too.


The mustache on the bottom of this one is just too cute!

I know that these will definitely get a lot of use around here. Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, October 28, 2013

Precious Cargo Baby Sprinkle

My amazing friends threw me a baby sprinkle for the boys. A sprinkle is just a scaled down version of a baby shower. We already have so many baby items from Wynn, so this was a chance to get some boy specific items or double of some items that we may need the most.  It was a lot of fun, and the details of it were just adorable. They went with a theme of Precious Cargo. Here are some images from that afternoon.


They used cute maps and globes to decorate. The cupcakes looked like the earth inside of them with the blue and green combo. The cupcake stand was covered in maps on the bottom of each tray.  I loved the In Flight Beverage Service sign.


These adorable planes with signs were hanging above the food table.



Guests were asked to drop off their baggage (gifts) too. We received so many wonderful gifts and necessities.


Here is the adorable invitation that my friend Jessica had made especially for the theme.




On the way out the door guests were asked to pick up their favor at Baggage Claim. Thanks for stopping by. The boys still have not arrived quite yet. We are anxiously awaiting their arrival.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Pottery Barn Knock Off Napkin Rings


I saw these beautiful napkin rings on Pottery Barn's website for $39.50 for a set of four. I also had seen some cardboard roll napkin ring ideas on Pinterest a few times. I thought I would create my own version of these for my holiday table setting.
I purchased some gemstone stickers from Hobby Lobby. Each package was on sale and I used almost two packages of gemstones for each napkin ring.  Each package was $1.50, so that is $3 per napkin ring. I already had the brown paint, and I just used toilet paper rolls that I cut in half.
 I painted the paper rolls, and then cut them into pieces. Then I adhered the sticker rhinestones around the roll after it dried.

 I am very happy with how they turned out. I was able to make four napkin rings for $10 as I did not have to use all of the rhinestones. I think I will make a few more. This year we are having a low key Thanksgiving, so I will not need to many for my table this year.


I made four napkin rings for the price of one of the Pottery Barn's version. I think I may have to make a few more different kinds of cardboard roll napkin rings in the future. It took only about ten minutes to complete.  Thank you for stopping by the blog today.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Simple Toy Storage

We have gotten up to our ears in toys, which I am sure is a right of passage when you become a parent. However, not all these toys get attention all the time. Wynn has a select few toys she enjoys weekly, and the rest seem to get ignored. I also realized that there was no way Rob would be able to build storage any time soon.

I ordered some canvas bins from Amazon and got a great deal.  Then I adhered chalkboard labels on the outside, and used a chalkboard pen to write the description of the toys on the outside.

Then I placed them in our storage shelving that Rob built for our family room. I am not that great at decorating and styling shelving, so this gives me a reason to cover some ground without having to put much thought into them. Also it takes the toys off the floor, and if Wynn wants to play with something in particular she just has to ask. It has worked out well so far.


Don't mind the missing trim at the bottom of our shelving. We had  some flooding from the pipes in our laundry room recently, and this was done before the repairs were in place. Nothing like having 100 gallons of water come out of your wall in a ten minute period.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I think these baskets will also help when the boys get older, and Wynn can keep her toys out of reach.



Monday, October 21, 2013

BOO! Yarn Wrapped Halloween Letters

 I took some white wooden letters from Michaels and wrapped them in some orange yarn to create a BOO sign for my floating shelves in my living room. I added a spider I got last year at Target in the clearance section after Halloween for a quarter.  
I placed them on the shelf above where I placed my cabinet door spider, my Halloween bottles and a glittery pumpkin.  
These add a little fun and sparkle to the living room, and Wynn really loves them too. Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Monster Party Ideas Part II

I shared a few party ideas this month already for Wynn's Monsters Inc. party. I wanted to find some fun and inexpensive goodies for the favor bags. Right after school started I picked up several boxes of crayons at Target on clearance. 
Then to make these go with the theme I attached some simple scrapbook paper, eyes and a cut out mouth to the box of crayons.
I also found a two pack of bubbles on clearance in the summer section at Target. I made them monster bubbles by adding the signature one eye like Mike Wazowski.

I also saw this adorable cup idea on Catch My Party. I picked up some plastic cups, attached some eyes and then put a cute paper straw along with it.
Just a few more monster goodies for Wynn's party that I was able to get done ahead of time. Thanks so much for stopping by!



Monday, October 14, 2013

Baby Gift Ideas

It is almost that time for our twins to arrive. I thought I would take some time to share my favorite baby items that I used with Wynn or plan on using with the boys in the future. Many of of DIY and craft projects have come to a halt as I spend most days relaxing as best as I can. 

If you are expecting or know someone who maybe expecting in the future here are some helpful products that any parent could use.  

The first item is the Itzbeen Timer. This timer was a lifesaver for me. It helps keep track of time that has elapsed since the baby last fell asleep, ate, had their diaper changed or taken their medicine. There is also a small nightlight on it as well. It is great for when you are fighting sleep deprivation.

The Lap Pads by Carters are a great addition to any gift for a new parent. They can be placed on a diaper changing pad, your lap or any other spot where you have your newborn. They make easy clean up if there is an accident and saves you from changing your clothes.


The Summer Infant Swaddleme swaddles were a lifesaver for me the first time around as a mom. I am excited to see if they are just as helpful when I'm trying to put two babies to bed.  I never would have known about these if it were not for my cousin who brought me some to my baby shower. I did not even know how much I would need them.

The pacifier was something that I had no idea would be so complicated to figure out. I guess that is why there are so many options out there. I found that the Wubbanub Pacifer was the best option for Wynn for two reasons. It has the hospital recommended pacifier attached to it which is the Soothie by Avent.  It also comes attached to a little animal as well. It makes it really easy to find when the child tosses it to the side, and it rests on their chest when they sleep instead of falling some place and waking them up.

The Boon Spoon allows you to fill it up with baby food, and this makes feeding very easy. You can use one hand to feed the baby, and then have something to eat yourself with the extra hand. It is very simple to keep clean and use. 

These Angel Dear  animals make the perfect gift idea. One pack of two allows you to have two of the same item, and that way you can always have one on hand. No more losing the favorite blanket and not having the ability to replace it.  They are super soft, and I like to give these as new baby gifts.

The  Bumkins Bibs are easy to clean and make messy eating situations not so bad. They have a lot of fun patterns and prints to chose from. They are also washable and have a pocket at the bottom to collect falling food.
Finally once your baby or even toddler is done eating or playing you'll need to wash their clothes. The best stain remover that I was ever introduced to by my cousin is by Dreft. I even use it on my clothes now.  I used to be able to find it at my Target, but they have not had it recently. I ended up buying several bottles of it from Amazon.  

Grabbing any one of these items and adding them to a gift for a new parent or for yourself will definitely make life easier! Hope you have a wonderful day.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Monster Party Ideas

Wynn has been obsessed over Monsters Inc and Monsters University lately. She asked to have a Monsters birthday party. Her birthday is not for a few months, but I thought this could also fit in with Halloween too. That is why I'm sharing some of my projects so far in advance.  I also wanted to get some of the party decorations finished while I had time.

First off is the Mike Wazowski favor bag. I picked up the green bags at Michaels, and then simply layered round scrapbook paper to create the infamous one eye of Mike.


On the site Catch My Party there was an adorable Monsters Inc. party shared. They had made the words Mike and Sully out of larger letters and decorated them in the colors of each character. I took that idea, and thought I would make the letters spell Wynn's name and use the colors of Sully. 

I took some paper mache letters, and some craft paint to make the look of Sully on them.  I used a simple sponge dauber to make the polka dots on the letters after the coat of turquoise went on.



The third decoration I have created is the door garland after seeing an adorable one from the same Catch My Party  website. The doors are an important part of Monsters Inc. because the monsters enter through them to the human world to scare children. 

I simply cut out shapes in scrapbook paper and glued them to some rectangle shapes. The wanted the shapes to have a little bit of a whimsical look, so I did not worry about cutting straight. That helped me also save time and make this in about ten minutes too. Wynn saw it and right away said look at all the doors for the monsters to go in. 


Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you liked our Monsters Inc. party ideas. I had a lot of fun putting them together. I have created a Monster Party board on Pinterest if you would like to check out some other inspiring ideas.



Monday, October 7, 2013

A Little Bit of Fall Decorating


Most of the fall or Halloween decorations in our house right now are mainly for Wynn. So they are a little more fun and kids related. This little spot in the living room is just for me. I love anything metallic. I took some fun metallic pumpkins and placed them on candleholders and a rusty spring. I also placed a picture of my sister and I and my World Market wood decoration in the middle.

Then I added some copper colored accents to a gold vase I have to fill for each season in my living room shelving.  I placed my candle pumpkin I picked up on clearance from Hallmark last year along with my gold candle holder.

In my Pier 1 wire wall decoration I added a brown flower clip that I picked up on clearance at Michaels to give it a little something more. I placed everything on my little buffet on a burlap table runner from Hobby Lobby.
Nothing to crazy, but this is just enough for me to have a little grown up fall display in my living room. Also, when fall disappears and I am to my ears in diaper changes it will not take long to take down and put away. Even better!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Fall Treat Jar

I'm have been in the midst of pinning Fall and Halloween ideas on Pinterest the past few weeks. I saw these adorable treats from Cupcake Diaries and knew that Wynn would enjoy making them.  Check out the link to see how easy they are to make. 

I packaged them up in a glass jar from the Dollar Tree with a vinyl sticker I cut out on my Silhouette Cameo machine. Off they went this morning to my in laws to brighten their day. They said they really enjoyed them, and I just love these little Dollar Tree jars. I need to go and snag some more at some point.
If you do not already follow me on Pinterest click on the link at the top of my sidebar. It is my favorite place to share my ideas and favorite ideas shared by others. Thanks for stopping by!