Jonas turns ONE

I had to pop in to share Jonas' first birthday party. I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures as much as I did putting everything together! All photos by Mark William Photography.

crayon making

As Jonas' first birthday creeps closer and closer I have begun thinking about his party. With the party comes a lot of things that can be costly, like favors. I'm not stoked on spending money on plastic crap made in China that will be thrown away after the day is done. I know kids look forward to the goodie bags and the kids at the party will range in age, so I decided on crayons in fun shapes. Most kids like to color and the babies can use them soon enough.

I put a request on my local Freecycle asking for used or broken crayons. I got 3 responses; 2 from teachers that "had" to get rid of their crayon stash because every fall they "have" to put out new supplies. I got BAGS of crayons that were perfectly fine, maybe 5 broken ones. Insane. For free, the best part!

Some of my crayon loot.

Besides the crayons you will also need a fun mold to melt the crayons in. I got this fruit one from eBay for $3.99. Most silicone ice cube trays can withstand high temperatures so when you search you don't have to search for baking molds, but ice cube trays too! IKEA has some great ones for $1. 

You will also need a knife and cutting board that you can dedicate to this project, no food should touch them from here on out.

Then you cut up the crayons in tiny pieces and fill the molds! You bake at 250 for about 8-10 minutes and allow them to cool completely, about 15 minutes. I think they are beautiful little pieces of art. 

{The grapes are my fave}

I have been saving baby food jars thinking I could use them for something and now I have! I will add the crayons in the jars for the birthday favors. I obviously need to get more, but maybe I can put another Freecycle request out or ask my mom's group.

I plan on spray painting the lids some fun colors to complete the look. This whole project (that provides me with supplies that will last well beyond the party favors) cost $3.99. Not bad!

13 days until Spring!

While I am known to not let others jump the gun on fall, I kind of want to jump the gun on spring. Are we ready? I sure am! This mama wants nice warm weather so Jonas and I can get outside much more than we have. I always know spring is on the horizon when bright colors start creeping their way into my life again.

Anemones from the Farmer's Market// Tons of flowers from the Farmer's Market// DIY marbling some tags with nail polish// Jonas hanging out in his new Polarn O. Pyret onesie, just like Grandpa's Model A!

a ladies lunch baby shower

I feel so lucky to have such a sweet cousin who wanted to throw me a shower, any kind I wanted. Since we already had our big co-ed one, I thought something much smaller with just a few of the ladies I love the most would be a great way to celebrate baby Jonas. She threw the classiest luncheon ever. Take a peek!

The adorable banner greeted us as we walked inside.

The beautiful table settings. 

All the place cards had quotes related to babies and children. 

My sister in law set up a station for us to scrapbook Jonas' baby book. Everyone was in charge of creating a few pages like First Tooth, Nursery, Coming home from the hospital, First solid food and so on. All the pages were decorated so cute and uniquely so now whenever those moments happen, I just have to glue in the photos! Such an amazing time saver.

Beverages.

Peaches & Prosciutto. 

Our beautiful and colorful lunch. 

And lastly, one of my favorite presents: a homemade linen pillow from my Aunt Liana. 

It is sooo beautiful in person. I sure felt the love from everyone that day!

We have a crib!

So we have known for quite a while that the crib was already taken care of, since before I was pregnant. You see, my mom has saved the Jenny Lind crib that my brother and I both used when we were babies. She has stored it at their various homes for the past 33 years! She went with my Grandpa to buy it back in 1978, a few months before my brother was born. And when she realized she was having a girl, five and a half years later, she went and bought a canopy for the same crib. And here we are, preparing to use it for our son in 2012. Crazy!

Even though my brother and I were fine, since this model is a drop-side crib, we are going to make it stationary to not take any chances. We were not wild about the dark wood, 

so Jon took on the huge task of sanding and painting the crib. 

We forgot to paint those buggers in the corner white! Back on the (massive) to-do list....

 We are super stoked to use this crib because unlike cribs you buy today, this one is made of real wood, was constructed in the USA and is generally of higher quality. 

I guess you could say, "they don't make 'em like they used to".

Almost ready for our bambino!

A Bridal Shower for Brigitte

With the popularity of blogs and Pinterest, not only have weddings been taken up a notch but also showers. I went to a Pinterest worthy bridal shower for my good friend Brigitte this past week. Take a peek at all the sweet details!

The pretty garland made from paint chips!

The yummy spread.

Cute chalkboard signs and painted bottles. This was a little area to address your own Thank You return envelope. Such a time saver for a busy bride. 

 Well this was just random, but the bunny in the backyard was too cute not to take a picture of.

 I'm obsessed with how these painted Mason jars turned out. 

When I am allowed to be around paint fumes again, I am totally making some of these!

The beautiful bride to be reading a card. Happy shower Brigitte!! 

The wedding will be here before you know it. :)

DIY Art

What if I told you this was a piece of wrapping paper from Cost Plus World Market? The picture doesn't do it justice, but it is thick and textured and cost $2.99 for one sheet. I slapped it into a frame that was containing some artwork I liked in college but not anymore. So pleased! Cost Plus also had this print in shades of pink.