Cinnamon Cutouts

or otherwise titled, "control freak mom loses it while trying to use glitter with preschoolers".

i was feeling pretty convicted from my last post about not letting my kids help me make ornaments for the tree last year. so i went ahead and started the 3 day craft of cinnamon cutouts. we had to first make the dough, which made my house smell ridiculously good, but also made all of our boogers (we're sick) cinnamon tinged. gross.

it took about 3 days for the cutouts to dry, and 27 sweepings of cinnamon piles from my floors, before we could add glitter.

so let me just start by reiterating how OCD i am:

1) i am not good at delegating. i figure, i can probably do it better, faster, and more perfect so i will just to it myself. not very humble... but i'm being honest. 2) messes really bother me. 3) i like to have "contained" crafts, ie: in one area, where it doesn't get messy. 4) when people don't follow instructions i get really frustrated and say i will do it myself. 5) i don't like cleaning.

so once the cutouts were dry i devised a "plan" on how it should go. each of my children would get a bowl of glue and a paintbrush to "paint" the design on. each color of glitter was separated by individual bowls. they were to apply the glue, shake on glitter, and pour glitter back into specified bowl so as not to mix the colors. sounds good, right? wrong. need i remind you that my children are 2 and 4!!! they totally mixed all the glitter, used the paint brush full of glue to smear glitter-glue all over the table, paper and ornament, and managed to get at least half the glue on their face, in their hair, and all over the floor.

ok, so now that i'm done complaining, i can tell you how much fun my kids had. they hand picked out each shape to compliment each recipient. made precious gifts that they are excited to give away. and i'm sure, they will remember this is a good memory and not my rantings of how they weren't following instructions, i hope.

i love them and i don't care if the person who gets them doesn't love them until their adults and can appreciate the hard work my kids put into them, or ever...

i just don't think i will be allowing my kids to use glitter as a craft until they're teenagers. or maybe we'll just stick to sequins.

anyway. here's a picture of our tree.

Christmas crafts

i have been so busy lately i haven't had a chance to update this little blog with any of the Christmas crafts i have done.

first of all, due to my busyness i haven't been able to make any NEW crafts, so all the crafts i'm showing you today are from last year. i hope to correct this problem very soon before my poor kids go a whole holiday without crafting.

here is my lovely "joy & merriment!" bunting that is adorning my mantle. the inspiration for this was found on Wedding Chicks blog last year around this time. the talented ladies from Posh Paperie have so many great ideas up their sleeves.

excuse my mantle, we are renters and don't really care to invest in painting and updating the fireplace for a place we don't own... but i have my dreams.

i also made some "cinnamon cookie cutouts" last year FOR my kids (read: they did not help... i wouldn't let them because i'm that OCD.) this inspiration comes from Martha Stewart. i wanted to make shapes my kids would love and did a bird, rocket, and race car. they love them.

i think i'll make more of these this year and let my kids help this time... maybe.

Corn husk Wreath

LAST YEAR i was inspired by this Martha Stewart corn husk garland. i have an avid love for corn husk that stems back to elementary school when i made corn husk dolls every year. i have like, 68567687 corn husk dolls now and was very excited to see that i could do something else a little more grown up with my favorite holiday craft material. i chose to use the tutorial to make a wreath for starts.

i will say that i had to change a few things from the "Martha way" to make it a little easier. her tutorial suggests using wire to wrap the cornhusk, which i found shredded my finger tips to bits. so i decided to use white floral tape. much softer, indeed. this is what i'm going to do with all the left over corn husk i have.

Happy Thanksgiving! i can't wait to start posting about Christmas crafts. (i know this is supposed to be a blog about the invitations and stationery that i make, but i've been making TONS of crafts lately and really want to share them. i have a few weddings in the works so i will share about them soon, promise!)

tiny tooth tale

long ago (3 years ago) , in a far away land (Orange County), there was a boy named Big A. he was only a little guy and just learning to walk. well, that boy came across some jagged asphalt that was lookin' to fight. that poor little guy couldn't stand a chance against that big mean asphalt. Big A fought fare and square but just like any sneaky villain, that jagged asphalt came from behind and tripped Big A! Big A came tumbling down and knocked a tiny tooth loose.

as the years went by, that asphalt kept bullying Big A and he kept tumbling down. his poor front tiny tooth took a beating, 3 times to be exact! well, that tooth, decided to call it quits and hit the road.

now Big A is a toothless tyke. and that's the end of my tiny tooth tale. true story.the hubs and i are kind of mourning for a few different reasons, 1) poor Big A didn't lose his tooth naturally and had to have it pulled due to it becoming abscess, and 2) we are now old enough to have a kid that is losing his teeth.

to brighten a kind of sad situation i started pumping Big A up for a visit from the Tooth Fairy. he's pretty excited, and to make it even more special i whipped together this sweet little Tooth Fairy bag. i got the tutorial from Purl Bee. love that blog.

Big A is so excited that he has one less tooth and thinks he just looks so handsome, which, of course, he does. (see evidence above) he asked me on the way to the dentist what the Tooth Fairy does with the teeth she takes. the only thing i could think of was that she ground them up and turned them into fairy dust. gross, i know. but it's the only think i could think of off the top of my head.

so here's a nice little sprinkling of ground up teeth for you, and you!!

DIY mirror make over

our bedroom has really been suffering for the past...7 YEARS! its the last room in the whole house to get any decorating love. because of that reason it ends up being a dumping ground for piles of laundry and random odd and ends that have nowhere else to go. this is not the case anymore, thanks to this handy dandy little mirror that put a fire under my butt to get the place "where the magic happens", well, um... magical.

this bad billy was found for $5 at a garage sale while a girlfriend and i were out thrifting it up. thankfully she had cash, cause i never do, and she didn't think her husband would approve... so i totally scored! thanks Jen!

a $3 can of sunshine yellow will make anything look good.

why yes, that IS the bedding i wanted from my birthday wish list!!! my loving hubs gifted that to me and i am sooooo happy! the dresser was a $50 craigslist purchase from about 5 years ago that i sanded and painted and we added new hardware to. i know the room still looks a little bare, but it's gonna take me some time to get it exactly the way i want it.

this is a picture of my bedroom inspiration, found here. i've got a long way to go!

Felt Quiet Book

for my niece's 1st birthday i wanted to do something special. now that we live 6 hours away i wanted to make sure she knew how much we love her, so i made this quiet book. i was inspired by this quiet book, which is way more extensive and creative. i decided to start small with my first one so i didn't overwhelm myself.

the fish page was inspired by this tutorial for aquarium magnets. it comes with a template and instructions and the fish are super cute. i have plans to make my kids shower curtain look like an aquarium and i have it almost completed. its taking me forever because i only get to work on it a little at a time. someday....

i think the house is my favorite. i don't know if you can tell by the pictures but i pleated the curtains to make them look drawn, and i love the material. just a little detail that makes me happy. i wanted to cut out a little cat to put behind the door but i totally spazzed.

i will probably have to make another postcard since she will probably eat this one to death, if i had more time i would have laminated it. next time! hopefully she loves it as much as i do!

bird mobile

a couple months ago my sweet friend asked if i would help her make a bird mobile for her baby girl's nursery. i usually jump at the chance to craft with a friend, so i said yes. i found the tutorial on this super cute blog and Kahea provided the fabric so we got straight to work.

i must say, i was pretty nervous to see if my beginner sewing skills would be a good match for this project. so nervous, i made Kahea sew her birds while i cut all the fabric out and pinned everything. once i saw how easy it was i went home and tried it myself.

i'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. the original tutorial calls for eye hooks and branches to make the mobile but for the life of me i could not get the balance figured out. so i resorted to using embroidery circles and made it more of a chandelier. not as cute but still totally works.

here's a top view of the fabric Kahea let me take home.

and a view of the belly. sorry the pictures are all crazy, i had trouble with the lighting.

Heather & Aaron's Invitation Suite

this invitation suite is one of my most favorites to date. not only was it for my best friend, who i share an almost exact stylistic taste with, but there are also so many elements to it that very much speak into all the things i love. each piece is unique in it's own tactile way and we were able to incorporate so many fun little details into it all.

the invitation itself is backed in vintage floral fabric that the bride had to track down. she almost didn't find it and it was a miracle straight from the good Lord in heaven that she did.

the RSVP card was stitched with a zigzag stitch that matched the envelope and had the cutest little icons to help you select your meal option.

this map... oh, this map. this map is my one true love. we laughed together, we even cried a little. i almost dumped it but we made some changes and fell back in love. seriously, i gaze lovingly at this map. printed on craft paper and folded up real tiny into the cutest little envelope in all the earth. what's not to love?

can't forget the vintage stamps. the bride hunted these bad billies down and painstakingly applied each and every one, just so. doesn't it look wonderful? i bet people were so excited to see what was inside.

i know i was.

MARRIED: Anne & John

like, forever-ago.

man, it has taken me SOOOO long to blog about this wedding. in my defense, i did pack, move 6 hours away, and unpack my family in the past couple months. now that things have settled down i have to play some catch up.

first on my list of catching up is telling you about this beautiful wedding invitation that i made for Anne and John. the bride was referred to me by her wonderful mom and i am so glad i was able to work with her on this super fun design. her mom, Lori, makes the most beautiful aprons with vintage and new fabric and we traded a custom made apron for myself and a matching one for my daughter for the invitations. so. fun. i'll try to post pictures of them soon!

Anne and her family made the envelope liners from a stamp from Paper Source. they turned out so perfect with the design of the invitation.

full invitation suite: wedding invitation, RSVP postcard, envelope and matching wrap-around mailing label.

love it. hope you do too!

birthday wishes

tomorrow is my birthday and i love presents. i have been dreaming of things that i think would make great gifts, because they're all the things i want. a girl can dream, can't she?

1. navy blue jack purcell's, size 8

2. melissa button frye boots, size 8

3. tweed blazer from emerson made. or anything from that shop. seriously.

4. hoop earrings from melissa joy manning. every girl needs an essential like hoops.

5. left handed calligraphy set.

6. ok, ANY jewelry from melissa joy manning, like this sweet and delicate bracelet.

7. 4 edge wine glasses from crate & barrel. my sweet mom surprised me with a set of 8 one christmas and only 4 have survived the years.

8. aspen dinnerware from crate & barrel. i have some nice black & white damask dinnerware right now but i'm looking to tone it down a bit.

9. *see #6.

10. dwell studio for target bedding.

11. blasippa bedding from ikea. our room needs a makeover, and quick!

this list also doubles as a christmas list. *wink*

Super Hero 4th Birthday

super hero 4th birthday party (read: spiderman party masked as super hero party.)

see this blog post. :)

this lovely handmade cake was made by the one and only Kahea from the blog Tickle Cake. she's an artist turned cake decorator and she made this cake for me as a trade for her daughter's baby announcements. i love trades. they make me happy.

some of our close friends picked up some spiderman comics that we used as decorations around the room and on the cake wall. thanks chris and melissa!

bunting, of course. made out of comic book pages and the polka dot paper that lined the envelopes for the invitations.

my favorite part: the decorate-your-own-super-hero-cape craft. it was so cute seeing all the kids running around with their very own cape.

just a little sticky back felt and glitter foam board. i precut the fabric and hot glued velcro to the straps. i kept the craft was super simple because we had over 20 kids and it was a parent-assisted craft so i wanted to make sure it was fast enough for everyone to make one.

one of many spiderman gifts big A received. all in all, it was a hit.

Aaron & Heather: MARRIED!

there are so many wonderful details about these people, their relationship, and the wedding that i would not be able to list them all here in this blog. i will show you some pictures and you can find the rest and an amazing write up about the wedding here. i was honored to create all of the paper goods for the wedding and reception. heather and i worked together quite a bit on all this stuff and i was just blessed to get the time to sit and craft with my dearest friend.

these people, i love.

fabric backed escort cards.

hand sewn wedding programs.

fabric backed table numbers.

bunting. of course. to match this mini-bunting.

hand sewn guestbook instruction cards.

hand sewn cake cards.

fabric backed favor sign.

heather & aaron: God's face is already shining apon your marriage because you radiate with His perfect love. what a great example of what our marriage will be like to Christ you have already been and will be for many happy years. we are so happy to know you in this life and after.

all photography by the amazing jackie wonders.