Steph's Pick | Subway Art

I have a new found {mini} obsession... I love subway art! Just check out my Pinterest account and I can guarantee you'll find a good sprinkling of this type of art throughout my boards.

In light of this I decided it was time to get my DIY Craft/Design self on and create my first subway art piece.

After a couple hours in Photoshop I finally decided on the below design.

Cool, huh?! I'm a little biased myself (obviously).

I ordered it in poster size (24x36) and can't wait to get it in the mail this next week! I'm thinking I'll either frame it or glue it onto a canvas of some sort. Thoughts?

If you're interested in reading more about what all went into writing Elsie's blessing, you can do so HERE.

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DIY Valentine's for Daddy

Ah.....Valentine's Day.

We're not into doing a ton for Valentine's Day but I do try and make it a little special at least. Unfortunately my mommy brain has been in full throttle lately (aka:: I can't seem to remember much of anything) which means that today I woke up in a slight panic because I had yet to put together anything for the girls to give their daddy. (Oops!)

Thankfully I quickly designed these "I love Daddy" Valentine's Day cards this morning and thought I'd share the love! :) Just in case any of you are in the same boat.

I printed them out and attached them to card stock and plan on having Nora color hers this afternoon at a little Valentine's Day party I'm hosting for a couple of her little friends.

Pin it. Print it. Love it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

{Oh and yes - for those of you who saw this Definition of Love that I designed last week for the Family Matters Blog - I'm a bit in love with chevron print right now - I apologize if you're not so in love with it.)

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DIY Advent Calendar

This is the year....the year when holiday traditions start to "stick."

YIPEE!!

Up until now Nora has been too little to participate in much of anything in terms of traditions around the holidays. Of course we've read her the Christmas story, bought her a stocking and have done a number of other things to celebrate the coming of Jesus. But let's be honest - she hasn't really noticed many of those things the past two Decembers.

Well that's all about to change - I can't wait!

Along with a number of other traditions our family will do, I wanted to create our own family advent calendar. I figured Nora would love the routine of opening a box each day as we anticipate the celebration of Jesus's Birthday on December 25th. And what kid doesn't love an advent calendar tradition?

I immediately went to the best place to go for ideas - Pinterest. Thankfully I found an advent calendar that I loved. It was beautiful and easy to re-duplicate. Perfect!

Here's what I did...

Items Needed for DIY Advent Calendar ::

• Avery Print-to-the-Edge Square Labels 22806 (I found these at Office Max. Please note that they are not among the normal mailing labels as they are designed more for packaging needs. I found them in the stationary/postcard section)
• Favor Boxes (We found ours at Michaels - they are 2x2x2)
• Hot Glue Gun
• Items to put inside

Directions ::

• Download the following three Word Documents and print on Avery 22806 Labels ::: (1) Click HERE to download Advent Calendar Day 1-12 ::: (2) Click HERE to download Advent Calendar Day 13-24 ::: (3) Click HERE to download Advent Calendar Day 25
• Assemble Boxes
• Stick Label on front of Boxes
• Hot Glue boxes together
• Insert items inside

Here are a couple notes for the DIYer ::

- Favor Boxes come in packages of 100 - so it's ideal to split the pack with 4 other friends. Host a little Girls Night Out (that's what I did at least).

- Boxes can be glued in a square or a tree formation.

- When gluing boxes be very mindful of getting the boxes very close and tight together.

- Some of my friends who did this project also adhered their boxes to a painted canvas or a canvas wrapped in fabric. Super cute.

- I'm working on making little ornaments to go in each box. The ornaments will include a verse from the Christmas Story that we'll read each day. I'm thinking I'll either write the verse on the ornament or do something like this

The verses are as such:

Day 1: Luke 1:5-10

Day 2: Luke 1:11-13

Day 3: Luke 1:14-17

Day 4: Luke 1: 18-20

Day 5: Luke 1:21-22

Day 6: Luke 1:23-25

Day 7: Luke 1: 26-28

Day 8: Luke 1:29-33

Day 9: Luke 1:34-35

Day 10: Luke 1:36-38

Day 11: Luke 1:39-43

Day 12: Luke 1:44-45

Day 13: Luke 1:46-56

Day 14: Luke 1:57-58

Day 15: Luke 1:59-61

Day 16: Luke 1:62-64

Day 17: Luke 1:65-66

Day 18: Luke 1:67-71

Day 19: Luke 1:72-75

Day 20: Luke 1:76-80

Day 21: Luke 2:1-7

Day 22: Luke 2:8-14

Day 23: Luke 2:15-20

Day 24: Luke 1:5-2:20

What do you think? Nice, huh?!

Can't wait for December 1st!

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Steph's Pick | DIY Monthly Development Onesies (Girl edition)

Some of you may remember my DIY Monthly Development Onesie post back in November. I've had such great feedback from so many of you that I thought I'd create some new girl colored onesie files (yeah - I have girl on the brain - what can I say?!).

But first, a few notes for those who are actually making these...

* First, use the Avery brand labels. Supposedly the other brands are not nearly as good.

* The sizing of the onesies might be the hardest thing to determine. Especially since Gerber brand white onesies are so tiny. I've heard from experience that generally it's best to make the last month, the larger size. So, for example when you might think to make Month 3 a size 0-3 month size onesie, it's probably best to actually make it the 3-6 month size. Make sense?

Click HERE for file (1-6 months)

Click HERE for file (7-12 months).

Alright - I think that's about it!

Good Luck! And please report back if you do end making these... I'd love to hear from you.

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Steph's Pick | DIY Monthly Development Onesies

I'll admit - I'm constantly on the lookout for do-it-yourself baby shower gifts. I don't know what it is about it but I just love putting the extra love into a DIY gift (that's cute of course - that's they key).

When I started planning my friend, Brittany's, baby shower, I also started my search for the

perfect DIY gift for this girl. Here's the great thing/problem about Britt - she's SUPER creative, trendy and cute so I had a lot to consider when choosing a project. So when I stumbled across these on BabyCenter (written by one of my favorite blogger's - Young House Love) I knew I just had to do something like it. She'd love it for sure!

Now Young House Love actually does a weekly picture (which is crazy ambitious) AND they do the design work via photoshop - so my version is a bit different - but you get the point.

Here's what you do (it's easy-peasy, I promise)....

* Buy 12 white onesies in appropriate month sizes. (I bought packages of Gerber onesies)

* Buy Iron-On Transfer paper - You'll need 2 sheets. (found in most paper/craft sections of

Target, Walmart, Michaels, etc)

* Pre-Wash Onesies & Iron them for easy iron-on transfer

* Print the two documents below. (downloads are already flipped for iron-on needs)

Click HERE for file (1-6 months)

Click HERE for file (7-12 months).

* Cut out each month image being sure to trim the image leaving a small border.

* Iron-on images one at a time to corresponding month onesie (following iron-on transfer instructions)

Here are some project notes: These were made for a little boy so colors could be changed to be more girly if needed. And lastly in my opinion - packaging of these are the key. I rolled mine up and put them in a super cute round zebra box (Hobby Lobby) with turquoise ribbon (not shown). It turned out soooo great - if I do say so myself :)

Stay tuned for my "Do's and Don'ts of Thanksgiving" - it's a must read.... you always learn a lot when hosting your first Thanksgiving. :)

***UPDATE: If you're interested in the "Girl Edition" of these onesies (plus some must read practical tips for making them) please go to this post.

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Steph's Pick - DIY Strawberry Ice Cream Topping Favors

As promised in this post, this is my last birthday celebration post, I promise! Well... until next year that is! :)

So as I was trying to decide what to do for favors I thought it might be fun to do something along our Ice Cream Parlour theme. So.... Strawberry Ice Cream Topping it was....

Here's what they looked like...

Ingredients

• 1 pint strawberries, cleaned and stemmed
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Cut about 1/3 of the strawberries in half. In a saucepan over medium high heat, combine strawberries, sugar and vanilla. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. In a blender, puree about 1/3 of sauce, then mix back into remainder. Store in refrigerator.

Recipe from AllRecipes.com

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Steph's Pick - 1st Birthday Links

I know, I know...this week has been A LOT (maybe too much) about Nora's First Birthday Party. I fully realize that. If you haven't checked out the Overview, Invites or my downloads posts be sure to do so.

I've had some of you contact me for more info and so to please those of you who might ever be thinking about doing this theme for a party in the future I thought I'd highlight specifically where I found all of the things I used for the party. Sound good?

But first, here's a pic of the set-up.

Before I get started you must know that the key to an inexpensive party is to BORROW things from friends! So not all of these items were purchased (honestly - most of them weren't).

Alrighty - let's get started....

Turquoise Cake Stands - Costco

Turquoise Platters - Target $1 Section

Dark Pink Chargers - Crate and Barrel

Sign Stands - The Menu Shoppe

Trifle Bowls - Walmart

Beverage Containers - Costco (a MUST buy for anyone who loves parties - only $20!)

Syrup Containers - Walmart

Sundae Bowls - The Dollar Tree

White Platters - The Dollar Tree & Walmart (hint: it's always good to have white platters on hand - they've come in handy for EVERY party that I've planned in the past)

Paper Products - Party City

Decorations.

See downloads post

Pink Pom-Poms - DIY Tutorial on Bambina Babe

Paper Globes - DIY Tutorial on HELLOmynameisHeather

Only one more post about the party and I promise I'm done.... Up next: DIY Strawberry Ice Cream Topping Favors!!!

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DIY Ice-Cream Parlour Downloads

As promised - here are the files for our DIY Ice-Cream Parlour Birthday party theme. Thanks again to Eat, Drink, Chic for the original files. After downloading hers I changed the colors up to match my color palette and either printed the files at home or sent them to Costco to be printed (those that were printed at Costco are noted below for all of you detail people)

So this was our Main Sign that I sent to Costco to print as a 20x30. I cut it out and taped it to the cupboards as seen in some of the pictures in the posts below.

Download Main Sign File.

Download Argyle Paper Cup Template.

Download Labels.

Download Labels 2.

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Steph's Pick - DIY BabyLegs

Remember this post? Well Nora (and mom) still can't get enough of BabyLegs. However, their not so easy on the budget. At about $12/each these are some expensive leg warmers :)

Fear not, I have some VERY crafty and gifted friends who have come to the rescue (phew...) Allie managed to post a DIY tutorial of how to make your own babylegs out of women's knee high socks - so fun, huh???!!!

What's even better is that Target came to the rescue (again) and has a large selection of $2 women's knee highs (see top pic). So a couple weeks ago I picked up 4 pairs and headed to my friend, Sara's place to make Nora four new pairs of BabyLegs. Thanks to some help from Sara and her good ole Singer Sewing machine we completed these during Nora's nap. Yipee...

Check out Allie's Tutorial (and be sure to take a look at some pics of her sweet little Reese)

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Steph's Pick - DIY Baby Tee's

What is it about cute fabric that makes me smile??? :)
Here's a VERY simple DIY that I did for Nora just last week.


What you need....
- small pieces of fabric
- animal image (mine is a bird) to trace
- sewing machine
- button(s) for eye(s)

Here's what you do....
- print out animal image to serve as a stencil and cut it out
- trace stencil on fabric and cut fabric (I used 2 pieces of fabric for this birdie, 1 for the body and 1 for the wing)
- with zigzag stitch slowly sew animal to tshirt
- attach button(s)
- tada!!!! you've got yourself your very own DIY Baby Tee


Soooooo cute! See previous post for pics of Nora Baby modeling the finished product.

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Steph's Pick - DIY Fabric Flowers

Last week I was trying to think through all of the details of a party we were hosting after Nora's Dedication at our church (more pictures to come). I came across this idea on one of my new favorite blogs and had found my inspiration :) DIY Fabric Flowers - perfect!!! Here are the steps I took to make these beauties...

1. Start with your different sized circles (I used 4 circles)
2. Squish the fabric in a little ball.
3. Iron the fabric balls. This helps them maintain their creases.

4. Smooth them out a little and stack them (alternating colors/fabrics).

5. Here is where you have options - either sew the circles together - or if you don't have a sewing machine (like me), use glue dots or hot glue to attach them to one another.

6. Sew or Glue a Button in the middle.

What did I use these for you might ask? See below for one example. I'll be sure to post more pictures of our party sometime this weekend which will highlight other ways the flowers were used. Until then I'm off to attach magnets to the back of a handful of these flowers - they will look perfect on our fridge!!!

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Steph's Pick - DIY Mod Podge Letters

Before Nora (BN), I had seen dozens of nursery pictures with cute little letters. Now I knew I wanted to do something with her name, but I had a hard time deciding what. Here's what I did....

Supplies:
Wood Letters (can be found at any craft supply store)
Scrapbook Paper
Mod Podge
Paint Brush
Scissors
Pen

How to:
- Trace letters onto scrapbook paper and cut out (Note: be sure to cut paper a little smaller than traced letter so it adheres well to the letter)
- Brush a layer of Mod Podge on the back of the scrapbook paper and adhere to letter
- Brush a layer of Mod Podge on front of paper (after attaching it to the letter) to give it a nice glossy look
- That's it - super easy, huh?

** Note, you can also do this with many other things. I've Mod Podged paper to a cheap ($1) wooden frame at Michaels. Use your imagination.

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Steph's Pick - DIY Magnets

One of my dear friends in AZ, Amy, has been making these magnets for the past year and sending them as gifts. Magnets are one of those things that I hate to have to buy but can always use more of - especially cute one's! These specific one's always turn out so cute and so I decided to give them a try myself. They are soooo easy. Here's what you will need:

Items needed:
- Small round magnets (we found a 50+ pack at Michael's or any other craft store)
- Magazine/Decorative Paper cut outs for artwork
- Round Clear Rocks (again at any craft store)
- Gift Card tin for easy display
- Hot Glue Gun

Directions:
1. Cut out numerous round artwork pieces
2. Hot glue artwork to rock and let dry
3. Hot glue magnet to back of rock and artwork
4. That's it!! Like I said - super easy, huh?

As with any of my DIY projects, if you decide to try your hand at them, please be sure to send us an email with a picture of your finished product. Happy Crafting...

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Steph's Pick - a little craft project

One of the very first projects I created for our little gals room was the butterfly shadowbox shown above. I was inspired by a friend's sister-in-law's blog and wanted to try my hand at making something similar for our nursery. It seemed easy.... and it was! Even for those of you who wouldn't consider yourselves crafty - you could easily do this (and in less than 30 or so minutes)!

Here's how to make your own:
- Gather Supplies: a shadow box (mine was from Michael's - be sure to collect their 40% coupons), an assortment of papers, a butterfly punch (mine was from the Martha Stewart line from Michael's) and some mini glue dots.
- Mark the back of the shadowbox with a pencil every 1 1/2 inches...leaving a 3 inch border around the edge.
- Punch out the butterflies
- Lay out your pattern and then attached butterflies to the paper with the glue dots
- While attaching, slightly bend the butterfly wings up

That's it!! Happy Crafting!

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Steph's Pick - DIY Fabric Headboard

Like most first time mom's - I've spent a decent amount of time thinking through what I'd like the nursery (and in our case nursery/guest room) to look like. Early on in my pregnancy I started formulating a list of things that needed to be done before our little peanut comes into this world.
In April we were fortunate enough to have my parents come down for a week to visit AND they were eager to help us with all of our projects around the house. They were so helpful - thanks Mom and Dad!!!
One of the projects we completed while they were in town is a fabric headboard for our guest bed. This isn't the best picture of it - but it will give you an idea of what it looks like. The best part about this project is that is was sooooo easy!! Some DIY (do-it-yourself) projects aren't all that easy, but this one really was. So I thought I'd share my step-by-step instructions so you can do this yourself.

1. Assemble Tools and Materials.
Here’s what you’ll need:
8-foot tape measure
plywood for the main fabric-covered area (the cheapest grade is fine since no wood shows)
plywood for 2 legs: about 30” x 4”
roll of upholstery batting or cotton batting
a beautiful piece of fabric for the cover
a power drill (if you have one)
a staple gun (preferably an electric one!)
Optional: cording, braid, or other trim

2. Decide on the shape and size.
First measure the width of your bed and decide how high to make the headboard. Remember that the box spring, mattress, and decorative pillows will cover up part of the headboard, so you may want to add more height to compensate. I recommend having the bottom of the fabric-covered wood headboard start at the top of the box spring Total height of this top section (not counting the legs) will be about 36 inches.

3. Cut the wood for the headboard and legs.
If you don’t want to cut it to size at home then ask the salesperson to cut it to your measurements. At less than a dollar per cut it’s money well spent. Also have them cut 2 pieces about 30” long by 4” wide. These will be attached as legs at the end of the project.
If your headboard will be rectangular then you can proceed to covering it with batting.

4. Cover the wood with batting.
Lay the batting over the wood frame, adding 2" all the way around. Staple the batting to the back of the frame where it won’t show.

5. Secure fabric with staples.
Iron your decorative fabric and smooth it face-down on the work area. Set the covered headboard, face down on top of it. Cut the fabric the same size and shape, adding about 4” extra to wrap around the back of the headboard.
Starting at the center top, begin stapling the fabric to the back, making sure that any pattern on the fabric is properly centered and straight. Pull it just enough to get a smooth front side, but not so much that it puckers.
Once you have about 12” of the top stapled, switch to the bottom edge. Smooth the fabric around the wood and staple several places on the bottom edge. Continue working in sections along the top and bottom. This might be a good time to lift up the headboard and check your progress before stapling the sides.
If everything looks good, set it down and begin to secure the fabric to the sides, folding over the outer sides and staple the fabric to the back. Make sure the corners (if you have any) look neat and tidy from the front.
Staple lining fabric onto the back of the headboard, covering all the raw edges of fabric and batting.

6. Attach the legs and secure to the bedframe.
Cover the 2 leg pieces of wood with lining or decorative fabric, stapling to the back of the leg.
Place the headboard, face down, on a flat surface. Determine the desired height of the finished headboard, and attach the legs to the headboard, about 2” in from the side edge.
Now drill holes in the legs and attach them to the frame of the bed.

That's it!!! It's a great (and cheap) way to add another great decorative dimension to any bedroom.

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steph's pick - DIY heating pad

Awhile back I was given a home-made microwavable heating pad from my dear friend, Nealy. It was one of the best gifts and I've used it so much since receiving it. (if you really want to know - I'm using it right now!) In light of how much I like it, I thought I'd post a step-by-step guide to making your own.

Microwave Heating Pad Directions:
No pattern is necessary, simply cut two pieces of cloth in the size/shape you wish your bag to be. Make sure to leave a seam allowance for yourself (about 1/2″). Some prefer regular square shape bags, others prefer tubes or more rectangular shapes. Experiment, whip up a few different sizes and shapes to try. These are really easy to make as well as cheap!

Filler Options:
Uncooked rice
Wheat
Feed corn ** (what Nealy used in mine)
Barley
Oatmeal
Beans
Flax seed

Fabric Options:
Cotton: (plain, prints, flannels, denims)
Alternate ideas: old socks (sew or knot end closed), washclothes, old towels
You can also choose to make cozy, removable & washable outer pouches. This is especially nice to do when giving as gifts.
Fabric Ideas: use old towels, fleece, velour knits, pretty fabric prints and flannels (don’t microwave anything other than cotton fabrics). The softer & fluffier & better!

Instructions for Making the Heating Pad:
Cut and sew the fabric for the heating pads the size and shape you want. Leave an inch or two open on one side so that you can fill bag with your choice of filler. Fill the bag about 1/2 to 3/4 full, more or less as you prefer. Don’t fill too full though, you want the bag to mold itself around your body when you apply it. Once bag is filled, sew opening closed either by hand or machine.

Directions for use:
Place in microwave and heat for 1 to 3 minutes, depending on size of bag.

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Steph's Pick - DIY Monogrammed Art

I have this weird fetish - I always want to change things up in our home. Although we are blessed to have an incredible condo, it just isn't all that big, so I don't have the option of making hugely noticeable changes (ex: moving furniture). However, I'm always able to move artwork, shelving, and decorative items.
Just a couple weeks ago I wanted a new art piece for one of our walls but didn't want to spend much money. I went to Michael's with my 40% off coupon and came out with everything I needed to make my own monogrammed art piece. Here's how I did it:

Items needed:
- An inexpensive canvas at an arts and crafts store.
- Wood Letters
- Fun fabric to cover canvas
- Black paint
- Hot glue gun
- Staple Gun

How to:
- Cut fabric to fit tightly across the canvas with some extra to staple to the back
- With staple gun, staple fabric to back wood frame of canvas (remember to pull tightly)
- Paint letters and let dry (only if needed obviously)
- Measure out placement for letters (just to make sure everything is even)
- Hot glue letters to front of canvas

That's it! It was super easy and didn't cost me any more than $15 for the entire thing. I think it looks pretty good too! :) (Note: this also makes a great wedding or anniversary gift)

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