Decorating with Pictures

Have you been following this fabulous series about decorating with pictures? There are some AMAZING ideas out there! I'm guest posting today on a few ideas for decorating with pictures in a temporary home, visit Kristen Duke Photography to check it out!

DIY throw pillows and easy faux French stripe

I couldn't seem to find any of our throw pillows when we unpacked our things, but I've had my eye on several pinterest ideas and decided it was a great excuse to finally do something creative. I'm totally in love with the French stripe feed sack style right now, but didn't want to spend a lot of money on something that my boys will probably destroy in a matter of weeks. I found a few tutorials on how to create your own faux french stripe and it worked perfectly!

Preparing for baby, sewing projects

I've really enjoyed getting into sewing again. In my pre-baby days I used to sew all the time, but I pretty much stopped sewing after I had the boys. When I found out I was having a girl, the first thing I did was get a new sewing machine and order a ton of fabric. I even learned how to sew a basic rag quilt using these Riley Blake pre-cut squares. Quilting has always terrified me but this was simple as could be- cutting straight is half the battle, all I had to do was arrange them and sew together, no cutting at all.

Our German house tour + DIY wall art

It has taken me FOREVER to get unpacked! I am sooo tired of moving. At least this time I know we'll stay put for 2-3 years (the longest we've ever stayed in one house!) But getting ready for Christmas and a new baby makes unpacking slow. (Not to mention my little helpers who follow behind me undoing all my work...)

Anyway, a few of you have expressed interest in seeing what our house looks like. So...here are a few pictures of the rooms that are mostly unpacked and semi-clean (sadly, they'll probably never be this clean again).

Living Room

Decorating for Christmas (without a mantle)

2011 Scrapbook

I finally finished our scrapbook for 2011! I got really lazy towards the end, like always...but it's DONE. Now I can begin working on 2012, before it's over...

Create your own Photobooks with Inkubook.com!

How to rock a ponytail

I had originally planned this post the week I was in Houston, but something happened on my phone and the entire thing was deleted. It's taken me this long to sit down and type it again. Hope it works this time!

I don't know about you, but since I've become a mom I have a lot less time to get myself prettied up for the day. But one thing I've learned is that if I show up at the store by myself with three little boys in tow wearing gym clothes and a ponytail I'm probably not going to get friendly or sympathetic looks from fellow shoppers. Instead, I'll probably get those looks that say things like "are they all hers?" "does she know about birth control?" and "can she shut that kid up?"

HOWEVER...if I go out in public with makeup, jewelry and cute hair, I get the exact opposite reaction. People will come up and say "wow, you have your hands full!" "are you going to try for a girl?" and "can I help you to your car?" And those that don't comment are giving sympathetic smiles rather than dirty looks. The difference is amazing. And kinda sad.

I have gotten my routine down where I can shower, blow dry, make up and dress in 30 minutes, but I still don't want to do that every day. So on those off days I throw it in a pony tail, add one of these cute little clips and voila- no longer schlumpy frumpy mom. This look says I  chose to put my hair in a pony tail and I like it that way. 

You can buy fabulous clips like this at Whippy Cake, however you can also make your own at home and it's super easy. There are dozens of tutorials out there, but I thought I'd share how I make mine.

Supplies:

3 coordinating fabrics (I buy the smallest yardage they let you- usually 1/4 yard)

3 decorative buttons (fabric store or ebay)

1 pinch clip (sally's)

Felt (I use white or grey)

Glue gun or needle & thread

Start with three coordinating strips of fabric about 2-3 inches wide and at least 6 inches long. I like to snip the fabric and then rip it lengthwise to create frayed edges. The wider and longer the fabric, the bigger the flower.

Fold the inside corner in half and start to roll to create the center of the flower.

As you roll, twist the fabric. The tighter the twist the flatter the flower will be. Experiment with looser and tighter twists to determine the style you prefer.

Keep twisting until you reach the end of your fabric.

Tuck the end under the flower and either hand sew through all layers of the flower to keep them together, or use hot glue to secure the layers together (you can also hot glue as you roll- to make sure every twist is secured).

Sew or hot glue a button to the top of the flower (ebay is the best place to find decorative buttons).

Repeat with each additional flower.

Attach the flowers together by hand sewing or using hot glue. Then cut a piece of coordinating felt in the shape of the back of the flower (hides the underneath and makes it look more professional).

Hand sew- or hot glue this to the back of the flowers.

Cut another piece of felt large enough to cover the clip. Clip the felt and put hot glue all over the clip and the felt cover.

Attach to the back of the flower- making sure the clip is positioned so that the flower faces the direction you want it to.

Place in your hair, on a cardigan or bag for a stylish way to add a pop of color and accessorize your outfit.

So go ahead, rock that ponytail!

p.s. these clips also look fab attached to a cardigan- adds a fun pop of color to any outfit. And for some super cute hair ideas, check out these sites:

Easy up twist with Whippy Cake

30 Days of Hair Romance

30 Hairstyles in 30 Days

Hair tips from I heart Naptime

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve the boys were so excited to open their presents I thought for sure they would wake up early on Christmas morning. Joshua and Grant both fell asleep during our Christmas Eve stories and by 8am everyone was still fast asleep. I think it's the first time since we moved that Grant has slept past 6am. We had trouble communicating with Anthony, skype and the phone were intermittent, but we did get to chat for a few minutes.
The primary gift this year were lego tables. I made one for each of the boys so they could work alone or push them together for one long table. I searched out all kinds of lego tables and this style from Meet the Dubiens, was the best I found. It was so easy to make and I think they turned out really well. Ethan was the first upstairs, and in dramatic fashion he yelled "LEGO TABLES!" then fell to the ground. Needless to say, they were a big hit. They played all day and all night, I could barely get them off to bed.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Enjoy your family time, I'll be back after the new year!

Free LDS Temple pictures & more!

I should have known I couldn't go a full month without posting anything! We haven't even headed out west yet (Saturday's the big day!)

I have created a new website where I share FREE pictures of LDS temples, as well as quotes/sayings that inspire my life (more to come there as well). These are available 100% free for personal (and church) use!

If you can, please contribute a small donation (right toolbar) or purchase deeply discounted prints online here.
Enjoy!

Easter Countdown

I found this adorable Easter countdown idea and just love it! The cards are available as a printable .pdf from Chocolate on my Cranium. They include scriptures and questions to discuss for each day which are great to include in your daily devotional/scripture study or could also be a great Family Home Evening lesson. If you follow her blog you'll also get a fun object lesson to go along with each one. A great way to feel the spirit of Easter!

And speaking of chocolate... I just posted these yummy double chocolate cookies on my food blog. They are soooo yummy!

The Osborne's

Moving...again...at Christmas...

I started to get all excited about Christmas... since all our holiday things got ruined in the flood I get to start from scratch this year. So I had my sister make me a bunch of vinyl to decorate ornaments and this fun charger. But my holiday cheer was dampened by a call from the owner of our house informing us he was going through bankruptcy and could not get financing to keep the house. Meaning, we have to be out by January...

 

 I am so going to miss this house! Yes, it took some adjusting to living in half the space since the basement got flooded out, and the water pressure issue took months to resolve... BUT the backyard was amazing and the playroom enormous. Not much else matters when you have three boys! I'm totally going to miss this setup! I know we won't find a yard like this that's fenced with a massive playset already installed, but hopefully we can still have a big playroom...Wish me luck! I won't be doing many updates for the next few months and won't be sending out cards until we get a new address- so hope they're not too late! If YOU have moved this last year- be sure to email me your new address so I can send you a card once WE move!

Custom Vinyl decor

Isn't this the coolest thing ever? It's vinyl. Amazing huh? My sister makes all sorts of vinyl decorations- I've never seen anything like it- she prints all the pieces in different colors then you piece it together like a puzzle so rather than one solid colored shape it looks like the actual character.

She made these Cars ones for the boys, they were so excited running around the room while I put them up.

She also does a ton of Disney princesses and decorative phrases. I've never come across any vinyl before that layers the colors like this, it looks so fabulous on the wall and the possibilites are endless you can put vinyl on just about anything. If anyone's interested in ordering Cars or any of the Disney Princesses or anything else for that matter, just send Mindy an email: mindytaylor@gmail.com  You can buy individual characters or as a set. Her prices are as AMAZING as her creations (seriously- you will never find a better price on vinyl)!

  

Strawberry Owl Designs!

Remember that beautiful apron I posted a few weeks ago? Well I had to find a way to repay my fabulous friend- so I designed a website for her! Check out Strawberry Owl Designs http://www.strawberryowl.blogspot.com/ and become a follower to see some BEAUTIFUL creations! If I had a little girl I would be buying this adorable dress! Joshua used his little hoody towel she made up until just a few months ago- they are so cute. And I am dying to get some of the felt food- it's so fun!

my new apron!

Isn't this the most beautiful apron you've ever seen???  My incredibly talented friend Amber made this for me! And it's even cuter on!

I absolutely love the fabric and the design is so adorable. Now when I answer the door rather than seeing me still in my pajamas they'll think I'm wearing a fabulously stylish dress ;)

Valentine's Cards

 

Ethan has been so excited about Valentine's Day, every day he says "today is Valentine's day!" And yesterday we woke up to about 4 inches of snow, work got cancelled so we played in the snow all morning then made Valentine's day cards in the afternoon.

He had lots of fun coloring each one and there's a little wheel that spins to show different v-day sayings.

I made a template for this card you can download here.

Fall projects

Since I didn't have to buy anything new for this baby, I decided I'd attempt to be crafty and tackle some projects. I made a new nursing cover, decor for the boys room- although Michael's discontinued these wooden letters so I'm not sure how I'm going to finish it for the new baby, some burp cloths, baby hats, blanket and attempted my first- and last- quilt.

Most were pretty simple except the quilt- I've never done one before and have no desire to patchwork pieces together, and I hate the tie quilts because those fuzzy things always go up your nose. I thought it would be easy to hand stitch designs in the fabric. But after I started I realized the stitching looks terrible on the backside and couldn't figure out how to make it look good. So I decided to machine stitch it. I don't have a quilting machine and it took hours to try and go around each curve. I think I can safely say it was my first and last quilt. And I did go ahead and make another blanket with ties- I figured it's not my nose they'll be tickling.
For some reason I was feeling ambitious and decided to make Halloween costumes. Call it nesting, I call it a dose of reality- my last few weeks of semi-freedom. But I did manage to complete them all. The boys are going to be Thing 1 & Thing 2 and Anthony's the Cat in the Hat. It was actually kind of fun, I have gotten out of the sewing mode and it was nice to work on a few projects.

The Dress...

Some of you know I'm making a wedding dress for my friend Juliann. I actually finished the dress in April, but just finished some last minute touches. I just took her bridal pictures, she's getting married tomorrow. Isn't she gorgeous?