Projects with Marie

One of the best parts about being home over the holidays was crafting with my little sister Marie. She is super creative, super stylish, and all in all amazing. I was drooling over all her handmade accessories. She taught me how to do two simple projects. (1) Floral Headband You can sew the fabric flowers/ruffles to an elastic headband or a ribbon, which I did. Marie does lots of varieties and uses some of the ribbon kind as belts under cardigans, etc.

(2) Anthro-inspired Necklace

You can do it all one color or vary it. Or you could attach a ribbon instead of a chain.

We also made some handmade coptic bound books, but I didn't take pictures.

So fun to have an amazing sister. Everyone should have one.

Thanks Rie! Can't wait to craft with you again!

Quiet Book Grand Finale

I'm sure you'd rather not hear another word about my quiet book, but this will be the last of it. Here's the finished cover. I used regular cotton fabric with thin batting in between. I cut my fabric long enough to wrap around the whole book and overlap across the top. And I left a little room so I can add more pages down the road. I sewed the pages together in pairs, back to back. The pages and the cover all had button holes for the ribbon to go through.

The cover closes with velcro.

And here's what it looks like opened up. It's been a huge hit with Brynlee! Her favorite part is yanking the velcro flowers off and hiding them underneath random flaps throughout the book.

Here's the individual pages:

Quiet Book, part 1

Quiet Book, part 2

Quiet Book, part 3

And here's another quiet book that you've got to see, if you haven't already:

Homemade By Jill

Check out her other projects, too!

Fabric Bunting

There's a lot of cute bunting ideas on etsy and craft blogs, and I've been waiting for a good excuse to make them. I finally made some with a friend yesterday. I'm not sure what I'll use it for, but I'll find something. Birthday decorations was the thought, but Josh is the next birthday and he's not really a pastel-colors kind of guy. Ha.

(Maybe I should have ironed them before I took pictures, but come on.)

Thanks to Di and Michelle for the tips!

Smoothie Recipe

Here's Kristin's smoothie recipe I've been using:

1 cup orange juice, almond milk, or milk

3 handfulls baby spinach, blend until smooth.

1 frozen banana, blend until smooth.

At this point you can also add yogurt (any flavor), fresh or frozen berries (the smoothie will be an ugly color, but will taste great!), 1 T. ground flax seed, 1 kale leaf, 1 tsp. coconut oil, any frozen or fresh fruit you'd like to add.

You've got to try it, if you haven't already. They're delicious, healthy, and totally trendy. Ha ha. Jump on the bandwagon!

Spinach Smoothies

My friend Kristin has gotten me addicted to spinach smoothies! She taught a class on it for part of a Relief Society activity, and all of us were hooked. Brynlee's become a fan now, too. Now my fridge and freezer are both stuffed to the brim with huge, costco bags of spinach, frozen fruit, orange juice, etc. Maybe this can take the place of all the cookies I eat! That's the goal!

Swimsuit Model

Bryn's got confidence.

Even in a bathing suit.

It's in the blood. Ha.

23

Cute birthday sign from Josh

I had a wonderful birthday on Wednesday...

Josh made my favorite homemade pancakes for breakfast.

Bryn shortened her naps to spend lots of extra time with me. (Her plan, not mine) Went to lunch with a good friend.

Got a package from my fam, and mail from other relatives.

Ate way, way too many chocolate covered raisins. Seriously. Made art for four hours while Bryn was asleep and Josh was at Scouts.

Watched "Sense and Sensibility". And cried.

Great day!

Best birthday gift! An electric sander that I've been researching for months. Now I can finish some fun furniture projects that had been stalled. Thank. You. Josh.

Bryn's Pictures

I got Bryn's pictures back today! I love them!

Bryn

Thankfully, nothing was broken by this little monkey yesterday. (Unless you count the milk carton being smashed, about five seconds after this picture was taken.) And the laptop and call phone are both working now, thanks to some tips from friends. But Bryn did manage to stain her shirt with banana. (Of course, it was a new little shirt she was wearing for the irst time.) I've tried soaking it, washing it with detergent, dish soap, spray and wash, and oxi-clean. Still stained. Any magical tips for getting banana stains out?

Ribbon and Thread Organizers

I've been looking for a thread organizer that was just a straight line, but all I could find were the big square kind. So yesterday Josh helped me make what I had in mind. And we made a ribbon organizer while we were at it. We just bought a few feet of a thin wood baseboard, two sizes of wooden dowels, and two metal hook screw things. We cut the thinner dowel into two inch pieces and sanded the ends. Then drilled holes into the baseboard, two inches apart. I planned on gluing the dowel pieces into the holes, but it was a really snug fit, so I didn't need to glue. And the ribbon organizer is even more self-explanitory than the thread organizer. Three dollars later, my crafting nook is a little more organized. (Did I really just say "nook"?)

Brynlee loves technology. Well...breaking it.

Yesterday Bryn pulled three keys off of my laptop keyboard. And hid them around the front room. Technically, I didn't see her yank them off, but I'm almost positive it wasn't Josh. (We sort of fixed it. For now.) Today Bryn decided Josh's cell phone needed a bath. In the toilet. I saw her open the toilet lid with the cell phone in hand, so I lunged over and yelled "Nooooooo..." which, now that I think about it, is probably why she dropped the phone. (I think this one is un-fixable. Poor Josh.) The question is: What will she break tomorrow? Camera? Camcorder? I-pod? Stay tuned.

Christmas Card Holder

This is late. I probably shouldn't even post it, but whatever. I saw this cute little Christmas card wreath, from Martha Stewart. And I tried to make it. But it turns out not everyone sends quaint, little Christmas cards that coordinate with everyone else's. So mine doesn't look nearly as tame. And the old green ribbon from under the bed doesn't help, either. Ha.

But....I liked the original idea of using the embroidery hoop and mini clothes pins. I'll have to use it for something else. Hmmm.

One Year Stats

Look at Bryn's sad little hand after they took two little vials of blood from her fingers, testing for lead poisoning and another freaky thing. They gave her the regular vaccines then said "Okay just head down to the lab for the blood work." Bloodwork? On little B? Supposedly it's standard procedure at the 12 month check-up, but it caught me off guard. I'm still a worried, little first-time mother!

Height: 2 feet 7 inches (93rd percentile)

Weight: 21 pounds (56th percentile)

Head: Large. (92nd percentile)

What a blessing to have a healthy child. I've never even had to take Brynlee to a doctor except for her regular check-ups. Brynlee promised, at a very young age, to stay completely healthy if we'd buy her fruit snacks with the money we otherwise would have spent on co-pays and perscriptions. We shook on it, and that was that.

I'm Dying

One of my best friends here in California, Michelle Nguyen, also happens to be an amazing photographer.

Featured in

Ceremony Magazine 2008

Ceremony Magazine 2007

Modern Bride- Feb/Mar 2007

Platinum Weddings 2007

HGTV How to Plan a Wedding Guide 2007

Grace Ormonde Magazine- Spring 2006

and now she can add the exclusive Hawkins Blog 2010. Ha.

Today she shot Brynlee's one-year photos. And I'm completely giddy about the samples she sent me tonight!

If you need an Orange County photographer, you've got to check her out!

momentsbymichelle.com

Bryn's Favorites

When Bryn's not climbing the step ladder or playing in her fort, she is...

Running around with a dishtowel or two, and cuddling them. Especially if they're wet.

"Combing" her hair with the bath squeegee. (The secret to her beautiful, matted down hair). This picture doesn't really show the actual combing, but it's close.

Or spending quality time in my closet. Examining my clothes, climbing up and and down my shoe shelves, getting stuck in my sandal bin, or hiding out.

This is a silly stage.

Entertained

This little fort kept Bryn's attention for nearly two hours straight, so I could work on some things for my calling. She was going in and out, in and out, giggling, singing, reading books inside, playing peekaboo with the blanket, and giving "loves" to the toys she had brought inside. Just completely in her own world. It was awesome.

Step Ladder

Our cupboards are really high, so I'm always using a step ladder. Bryn always drops what she's doing, runs over to the ladder, joins me at the top, and bounces up and down with a big smile. It doesn't take much to make Brynlee happy!

Mail Sorter

I've been on an organizing frenzy since being home from our trip. But so far my apartment is in the gets-worse-before-it-gets-better stage. Hopefully I can get things set soon. I just made this little mail organizer after seeing a link to this on Apartment Therapy. I changed the dimensions and added a fifth pocket for receipts, but the basic pattern is great and easy to follow. I love one hour projects.

Snow Day

Exploring the back yard

Sledding with Josh

Logan shows us how it's really done

Bryn just loves snow and wishes we had some in California

Bryn told Jae he should shave his mustache. ASAP.

He thought she was joking so he laughed.

But it was not a joke.

And that wraps up our trip to Utah.

New Years Eve

We played Charades

and

Watched Planet Earth