Dresser Project

The baby's room had become the resting place for most of our unpacked boxes and random items from the move. Finally, we cleared out the room and it's actually looking like a nursery now.... which is good because we've only got 7 more weeks until my due date! I've been busy working on some projects for the room and I thought I'd share this dresser project since it felt like quite an accomplishment for a tired lady with a big pregnant belly :)

The baby's room is really small, so we didn't want to take up the whole room with a big dresser or changing table. Instead we decided to use this skinny little dresser that we found by a dumpster for free. I painted it blue (it's so fun to decorate with boy colors after having two girls!) and then replaced the knobs with some $2 knobs I found at Hobby Lobby. 

 The dresser was in good shape, but some of the drawers were stained and I didn't want to put cute little baby things on thfele dirty drawers, so I lined the drawers. I've never lined my drawers before, so it felt like a pretty fancy project for me! I just used wrapping paper with clear contact paper on top, then stuck the paper down with double sided tape. 

The best part was filling the dresser with a few little boy things we have so far :)

Catherine Baby Shower

One of my very best friends Catherine is pregnant with her first baby and I had a fun time throwing her a baby shower with a few of my friends. She is going to be the best mama and we are all so excited for her!

I sewed the coral fabric runner and the coral and yellow triangle bunting - my last sewing projects before I packed up my sewing stuff for our move!

 The hostesses and the mom-to-be!

(I wish I had brought my real camera because the blurriness is these phone pics is killing me).

 We love you already baby Pyfer!

Bryn's Princess Party

I've never thrown a birthday party for Bryn before (December 30th is tricky timing for a birthday!), but this year Bryn had her first one! As per her request, it was a "Purple and Pink Princess Tea Party" ...I love being a mom to girls :) 

 I had tons of pink and purple felt already, so I made a bunch of felt princess crowns in lieu of party hats.

I also made some simple princess wands with felt, ribbon, and spray painted wooden dowels. 

Bryn pointed out that fairies - not princesses - have wands, but we just kind of went with it :)

 The decorations were pretty simple with balloons, crate paper, etc. But the night before the party I got out my cardstock and added this banner and paper flowers. It was a good way to fill my big empty wall!

 I also made some simple garland for the kitchen with the same colored cardstock paper. I just punched circles and then sewed through them.

Here's the kitchen set-up. It was pink and purple overload!

But Bryn went nuts for all the pink and purple :)

 One quick shot of Bryn and Mya before the guests arrived

When the guests arrived they used stickers, crayons, and markers to decorate their "princess name card" for the table.

Once everyone arrived we did our first game: "Pin the Jewel on the Crown"

The bedazzled crown

After that the girls each got a little cups of beads and string and they made princess necklaces.

We had beads spilling all over the place, but finally we thought to tape one end of the string to the table and then it worked much better!

The girls also got another little cup of beads and a stick of pipe cleaner (is that what it's called?) to make a bracelet. 

 We had pink lemonade and lots of pink-ish snacks

 Josh (a.k.a. the Party Master) did an impromptu game of Disney Trivia and the girls got so into it. It was really funny. (That's what the above picture is of).

We played a "Floating Lanterns" game where they had to keep the balloons up in the air. 

We also played a "Find the Princess" game that I don't have pictures of.

 Mya stood back and watched, and was very well entertained by all the chaos.

 Opening presents

 Such a fun group of girls! Bryn is lucky to have such cute little friends.

Planning a party takes more work than I realized(!!) but the party was such a fun time. Josh and I are still laughing about all the cute/funny moments. And best of all, Brynlee was completely thrilled about the whole thing. Love you, princess Bryn!

Tuck Craft Fair

Last year I helped to organize a fun craft fair with my friends and it was such a blast, but most of those crafty friends moved and I wasn't ambitious enough to organize it this year without them. Instead, I decided somewhat last minute to participate in the Tuck Craft Fair. It was completely organized by the Tuck administrators who set up the booths in Stell Hall, advertised in the community, and catered breakfast and lunchtime appetizers for the guests. All I had to do was show up and sell whatever I wanted. Awesome!

 I didn't make or sell as many things as last year, but it was still a successful craft fair and I sold everything I made except three things ...which I can probably give as gifts :) 

 My fabric stash is always overflowing (as well as my stash of un-used frames) so the craft fair was an awesome way to help me get rid of it! The only "supplies" I had to buy were two of the black frames- the rest of the frames, watercolor paper, fabric, and all the other sewing supplies were just supplies that were just taking up space in my craft closet. I have to say, it was pretty cool to use up all that stuff!

 I think I am officially done painting the Tuck building (after painting it so many times this past year), but if anyone is interested in a state outline watercolor (in any state) let me know!

Halloween Baking and Making

I'm normally not a big Halloween person, but this year I've been able to fit in a lot of fun crafts/treats with the girls. Here are a few of the fun things we've been up to...

I usually don't make sugar cookies except for Halloween and Valentine's Day, so it's always a treat for Bryn to frost cookies. 

I didn't let Mya frost any because I knew the frosting would just be shoveled into her mouth, but she did get to sample one frosted cookie and of course she loved it.

 This black bunting was an impromptu project that used up some old black fabric and bias tape I had from past projects. I love projects that use up old materials and can be made start to finish during one naptime! I pinned up our Halloween table cloth, added the black bunting, and used it as the backdrop for the "photo booth" at our Halloween party.

 Bryn and I dipped nutter butters and mint milano cookies in white chocolate and turned them into ghosts. Fun, easy treat for kids to make....and adults to eat!

I made the Boo banner from this tutorial. Another really simple project.

 Bryn made lots of these Halloween collages during Mya's naptimes. We've got them hung all over our house and they make me smile.

 We hung our Halloween bats again, but this year Bryn thought we needed a witch flying with the bats. She drew it, cut it out, and proudly had it flying with the bats before I even realized what she was working on.

 I had a collection of old bottles from an project, so I decided to spray paint them and turn them into Halloween decor. Most of these cute little pumpkins were grown in my parent's garden and sent to us in a  cute Halloween package. Thanks Mom!

 More pumpkins

My summer wreath got really faded and ugly by the time September rolled around. I was going to chuck it, but then I sprayed it black, added a black ribbon and $1 strand of glittered pumpkins and now it is our Halloween wreath!

 More treats! Oreo bats! Bryn totally loved this project. She helped cut out the wings and dip the oreos, but her main job was putting on the candy eyes. Josh even got in on this project and was in charge of adding the wings to each bat. It was a family affair, and yummy one, too.

Bryn and I gathered rocks from the trails behind our neighborhood and then painted them as Halloween characters. We did this last year, too, and it's so much fun.

It's been a really fun, really busy month. I'm officially crafted-out and treated-out, so I think we'll make it a really low key Thanksgiving month :)