A Year of Baby W

Dear Baby Dubs,

My-oh-my, how you have grown in just one years time.

Let's take a looksie...

{your first hair cut--which you hated}

And what a year it has been!

I love you, my little man.

love,

mommy

Anthropologie Lace Flower Necklace {as seen on Tatertots & Jello}

REPOSTED from a Guest Spot I had on Tatertots & Jello

{one of my favorite bloggy peeps of all times, just so you know}

I think I'll spare you all the mushy details about the admiration, respect and general happy feelings I have towards Jen and the fabulous Tatertots & Jello  blog.  She is basically pure awesome {but you all know that}, so I'll skip to the real reason I am was asked to guest post today...

To teach you how to make this super duper, crazy easy, Anthropologie inspired, lace and pearl bib necklace.

And this is me, Little Miss Momma {aka Ashley}, wearing said necklace and taking photos of myself through the bathroom mirror {I kinda do that a lot}.

I have a little blog where I like to write about my life lessons as a Momma-in-training {with some occasional crafting during nap time}.

And now, lets make a necklace together:

Here's what you need:

Beige felt {about a square foot}

Pretty Trimming/Lace

Necklace chain {mine is 24 inches, but 18 works well too}

Pearls or other embellishments

Glue gun

First, cut out three felt circles in the size you want your lace flowers.

Cut one circle larger than the others--this will be the middle flower.

Apply a circle of hot glue around the border of one of the felt circles.

Apply the edge of the lace to the the glue.

Continue this process until you have glued down the lace spiraled all the way to the center. Cut the extra lace and glue down the end.

Glue down your pearl embellishments into the center of your flowers.
Now, lay out the flowers on top of the felt in the shape of your necklace.

Glue down the middle flower first.

Next, we get the chain ready.

Here is the chain I ended up using {not the same as the one in the supplies picture}.

Cut the necklace in half.

Apply hot glue to the back of the flower and lay about 3/4 inch of the chain in the glue.

Repeat the same step with the other chain piece.

Now turn over the flowers and glue them into place on either side of the center flower. Lastly, trim the remaining felt from around the flowers.

And that's it!

Here is another necklace I made using a similar tutorial {click here}.

Happy Crafting!

xoxo,

-ashley

Dear 18 Month Old Baby W,

Dear 18 Month Old Baby W,

 

3,042 diapers

6,005 bottles

700 baths

156 bananas

50 gallons of apple juice

0 full night's sleep

92 temper tantrums

4 trips to Urgent Care

100,000 kisses

and unlimited love

 

That's how we've spent the past amazing 18 months.

 

I watched you grow from my precious little baby,

 

 

into my sweet little boy.

 

 

You like to do big boy things now.

And like all big boys do, you have a mind of your own.

 

Case in point:

 

You despise shoes--especially shoes with laces.

The one and only pair of shoes you allow me to put on you, are your ridiculous Crocs {the shoes I swore I would never let you wear when I was making plans to have the most fashionable baby alive}.

 

You don't like food--unless its covered in sugar or whipped cream.

I remember one special moment a few weeks ago...it was a small miracle when you ate every bite of your dinner, and I literally cried tears of joy.

 

In fact, I cry at all your "little moments". The other day I walked in on you doing a puzzle all by yourself--correctly! And I shed the first of many proud Momma tears.

 

You still have Donald Trump comb over hair, but I think you are adorable and handsome anyway *wink*

 

As it turns out you're a bit of a tickler. And while Mommy thinks its adorable when you try to tickle her neck while we cuddle on the couch, it may have come as a surprise to the unsuspecting little girl at the mall play place.

 

And yes, I have finally caved in and allowed you to play in the mall play place {aka swine flu breeding grounds}. Although, only under the condition that you allow me to disinfect your hands every 10 minutes {sorry your Momma is so OCD}. I'm sure your future brother or sister will actually lick the slide and I won't be fazed.

 

You have selective hearing. For example, "get out of the fireplace" means nothing to you, but "let's go get some frozen yogurt" has you at the door ready to buckle yourself into the car seat.

 

You still drink a bottle...a lot. You even wake up in the middle of the night to have one, which worries me about your teeth.

 

I worry a lot.

 

 But I am doing the best I can, and we even brush your "tee" {as you call them} a couple times a day.

 

You have a remarkable sense of balance--as is evident when use the back of the couch as a balance beam, or climb onto the kitchen table, or shimmy UP the big slide at the park. It would be safe to say that you make my heart stop about 15 times a day--and not in a good way.

 

You get a lot of boogies--and your Daddy is obsessed with getting every. single. one. of them. Even if this means grabbing a flashlight and a bulb sucker in the middle of the night to extract them.

 

You still sleep in bed with Mommy and Daddy. I would tell you to be sure you never bring your future kiddos in bed with you when you're a Daddy if you want to have a good night's rest, but that would make me a hypocrite--since some of my favorite Momma moments are when you nuzzle up against my cheek at 3 in the morning {but seriously, don't bring them in bed with you}.

 

Sometimes when we go to the park, I just take a step back and I watch you...like really get a good look at you...try to get into that little head of yours and see the world through your eyes. And in these moments, I admire your fascination with the all the little things this world has to offer--all the things in this world that you are witnessing for the first time. And then it's like I am seeing the world for the first time all over again.

 

 

I get giddy when I see your wheels begin to turn as you learn something new. And you are always so eager to learn to learn new things, so long as it's not Momma trying to force you to learn them.

 

You do things in your own way and in your own time, and I am learning to be okay with this.

In 18 short months, you have changed my world,

and I am so proud of the little boy you are becoming!

"I love you through and through",

Mommy

 

p.s. Baby W is rooting for you to WIN the Silhouette we are giving away!

 

*honk*honk*

Cutlery Vinyl Wall Art TUTORIAL {Dezign With a Z decal review}

Cutlery Vinyl Wall Art Tutorial

{using a rad decal from Dezign With a Z}

It's no secret that I kinda have a "thing" for vinyl projects.

So when Dezign With a Z contacted me about reviewing one of their projects, the wheels began to turn in the crafty section of my brain.

I headed over to the shop, and before I knew it I had been browsing for over an hour trying to narrow down my favorites from dozens and dozens of really awesome designs.

But, I had this picture in my mind of a project I wanted to complete for my eating area, and when I stumbled across this decal I knew it would be perfect:

Once I painted and applied the decal, I distressed the wood to give it the "look" I wanted. You can find this fun cutlery decal here.

Here is a step by step tutorial for my

Vinyl Cutlery Wall Art

Supplies:

Cutlery Vinyl 11 x 20 inches

Wood approx: 24 x 13 x 1 inches

White acrylic paint

Black acrylic paint

sand paper

paint brush

First, paint your entire top side and edges white. I didn't paint the backside.

Let is dry.

Now paint the edges one coat of black. Let it dry. Don't worry about painting the edges neatly--no one will see them anyway.

Once the black paint is dry, repaint the entire board white, so that the black edges are no longer visible.

Once again, I didn't worry to much about how neatly I painted, because I was going for a more distressed look.

NOTE: Be sure to let the paint dry completely or else the vinyl will remove the paint {and won't stick} when you try to apply it--I may or may not have learned this from personal experience.

Now remove the backing from your vinyl decal.

Carefully follow the instructions included in your order and place the vinyl centered on the wooden board.

Use a credit card to rub the vinyl onto the board.

Then very slowly and carefully lift the adhesive from the board.  If any of the vinyl starts to come up as you are lifting, just put the adhesive back down and use your credit card to rub it back in place.

And here is the "pre-distressed" board.

Now take the sand paper and distress the edges of the board to your hearts content.

I even sanded on the face of the board to smooth out some of the uneven paint.

And that's all there is to it--really simple, right?!

Dezign With a Z has a smorgasbord of fabulous designs your must check out.

Some of my favorites are:

I think this London phone booth is incredible!

How great would that look on a wooden board!

My lap top wants this.

These clouds are perfect for Baby W's room.  

And I think this chalkboard decal is so great--especially when teaching your little ones to write.

So a big thank you to Dezign With a Z, for feeding my vinyl addiction, with one of my new favorite decals of all time!

You can visit Dezign With a Z on facebook for the latest and greatest deals by clicking here.

**I will be linking this project up to these fabulous link parties.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And don't forget to enter the latest LMM giveaway for a FREE Silhouette craft cutter!!!

Over $300 value!