HAPPY HOLI-DIY | a recap of my craft night at Anthropologie

Last night was so much fun - I hosted an event at Anthropologie (you may have heard about it, ha) and to top it off two customers thought I worked there because I "dressed like it" and I had a "great outfit." Two of the greatest compliments of my life right there. Oh, and my mom and aunt came out to support me and they were like my personal fan club so that was nice, too. Hopefully everyone who came to the event had as good a time as I did! We made initial ornaments that do double duty as gift toppers, and a few industrious people even made enough letters to make a word garland! Check back tomorrow for the tutorial. Here are a bunch of photos of the event... much thanks to Matt who stopped by for a little while to capture these images for me. 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Most of all, thanks to Anthropologie for having me and to everyone who came to the event! Hope we can do another one real soon :)

HAPPY HOLI-DIY | a craft night with Anthropologie & me!

I have such fun news to share today! I'm excited to announce that I'm partnering with Anthropologie and hosting an evening full of crafting and snacking at my local store in Garden City on December 18th. We'll be making yarn monograms which can be used as ornaments or gift toppers, so come on by and craft with us! 

There are two one-hour sessions and space is very limited so if you'd like to join us, email anthroevents@anthropologie.com soon to reserve your spot at the workshop! Please include your preferred session time in your email. Hope to see you there! 

a chocolate chip cookie celebration | happy birthday to my husband

Last week I hosted a chocolate chip cookie taste off in honor of Matt's 28th birthday. It was quite possibly the best birthday party I've ever hosted. I got the idea from You Are My Fave and used the invitations from there, too.

We had eight entrants into the taste off and almost all of them were classic versions of the chocolate chip cookie. My favorite part about being the host was the questions I got to answer, like this one from my friend Karissa: So if I bring slice and bakes, should I send you the ingredients list and cooking instructions? That was a joke that I didn't get (Matt is vehemently opposed to any and all forms of store bought cookies and Karissa knows it); thankfully no slice and bake cookies were entered in the contest. Another good question: Are we limited to one batch per couple or can we each enter a recipe? There's a back story to that one - my friends Keri and Josh had a dispute about whose recipe to use (they're married) - Keri's famous "Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies" or Josh's "Sweet and Salty Chocolate Chip Cookies" (or, as Keri called them, "Variation on Toll House Because My Wife Wouldn’t Let Me Copy the Recipe Cookies"). Here's a quote from Keri: "I'm glad there can be spousal competition, because I thought marriage counseling was going to be necessary if we had to narrow it down to one recipe."  This is the kind of dedication our friends brought to the party. It was awesome. And Keri won, by the way. Here's her winning batch of cookies...

I highly recommend having your own chocolate chip cookie taste off. Soon. In fact, I may need to have another one.

P.S. I made this for Matt's birthday cake, but doesn't  this one look incredible?

Ezra turns 2! | a school bus birthday party

I've been putting off writing about Ezra's second birthday party because I was overwhelmed by the amount of pictures that Matt took, but I finally sorted through them and chose some of my favorites to share here. We held Ezra's party on a Thursday morning because of some weekend scheduling issues that couldn't be resolved, but it ended up working out quite well. The party was school bus-themed because Ezra loves watching the neighborhood children getting picked up in the morning right outside our house every day. After Matt's return home from work, I think it's his favorite part of the day.

Matt started snapping before I had everything completely set up, and once the toddler party guests arrived my carefully staged dining room was quickly dismantled (as it should be at a party!) so there aren't any pictures of the full set up. The paper products are all from Target (plates found in the dollar section and the rest are Mara Mi), and I borrowed the yellow striped tablecloths from my mother-in-law.

They're hard to see, but I made little flags for the cupcakes out of white and yellow ticking. A matching garland hung from the two shelves in the dining room.

I replaced everything that's usually on them with a few things that coordinated with the party theme - yellow tulips in a mint julep cup, an embroidery hoop displaying a square of school bus fabric (Kokka Beep Beep, in case anyone is wondering), a wind up school bus toy, a framed illustration of a bus, the silver E from Ezra's room (it made an appearance last year, too), a wooden school bus I found on Etsy, and a candle. Yeah, the candle didn't have much to do with anything, but I needed something to fill the space. Of course pom poms were involved (will I ever stop making them?).

We served banana bread, pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, cinnamon rolls, and mini bananas.

Drinks were kept simple - just water and apple cider.

I found these cute school bus wrappers for Hershey's chocolates, so of course I printed out a few sheets and Ezra and I spent an afternoon cutting and sticking them on. (Of course I was in charge of cutting so don't anyone get worried. Ezra was in charge of the glue dots.)

Lucky for us, my dad works part time for a bus company so he was able to drive a school bus over to the party and take us for a ride! I was beyond ecstatic when his request was approved because I thought it would be the perfect party activity and I knew Ezra would be excited to ride with his Grandpa.

We rode over to a playground near our house and let the kids burn off some energy for a while. 

Obviously it's very difficult to take a picture of twenty toddlers and preschoolers with their moms.

After about twenty minutes we all piled back on the bus and headed back home for birthday cupcakes!

Ezra had been waiting for this moment since he woke up. He had been practicing blowing out the candles since his friend Amelia's party. You know, just blowing on anything or nothing after half singing "happy happy!"

I think Ezra ate the frosting off of three cupcakes and left the rest. He basically ate cupcakes for breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, and dessert that day. What can I say? A boy doesn't turn two every day.

A week before Ezra's party I decided to make a child-size photo booth prop. We didn't do a fancy backdrop, but the kids had fun pretending to drive the school bus around our house.  

Babies got in on the action, too!

We sent everyone home with yellow school bus crayons and little school bus coloring books I made using Microsoft Word and free school bus coloring pages. Apparently I didn't get any photos of the books and crayons... just the bags. Oops!

Two and a half weeks later and Ezra is still talking about the 'coo bus' ride with his friends. And the frosting. He certainly hasn't forgotten the frosting. Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us!

P.S. I'm happy to give the cupcake flags and garland to anyone who's local and can pick them up! Just send me an email...

required reading for new mamas

This morning I sat down with my friend Hillary's mom and started planning her baby shower. It got me thinking of all the things we do to prepare for the arrival of a little one, and one thing I did was lots of reading. I wrote a post a while ago about the books I read when I was pregnant to educate myself about birth, breastfeeding, newborns, and all the stuff that comes along with them (check it out right here), but I also read a few books that were less educational and more encouraging. Becoming a parent for the first time is so wildly unlike any other experience and it was so nice to read the words of moms who have been there. These are two books I would recommend to any expecting or new mother. They'll make you smile and cry, sometimes simultaneously, and then you'll want to hold your little one extra close.

Great with Child by Beth Ann Fennelly - This book is a collection of letters that the author wrote to a friend who was expecting her first child. It reminded me that motherhood, despite it being unknown territory and therefore a little scary, is wonderful and above all else, a blessing. Her words are reassuring and encouraging, salve for the mama's soul.
Waiting for Birdy - Written by one who's expecting her second child, this book reveals the thoughts of a mother preparing to welcome another baby into the family. She writes with honesty and wit, and her recollections of conversations with her three year old son will have you laughing out loud. Having a toddler of my own made this book even more touching as I reflected on the ways Ezra has changed since he was a baby.

Do you have any great books for mothers to recommend?

image of me seven months pregnant with Ezra by Matt. More of my maternity photos here, here, and here, if you'd like to see.

wee woodland | a quilt for Frances

Matt's sister's friend is pregnant, due with a baby girl in December. I actually started working on this quilt for her when I found out she and her husband were trying to get pregnant a while back and picked it back up again recently so I could finish it in time for her shower this past Sunday.

All the fabric is Wee Woodland by Keiko for Moda... it has the most adorable little mushrooms, snails, and squirrels all over.

I used a charm pack for most of the quilt top and bought an extra yard of the teal stripey print to fill in the holes.

The backing is a yard of one of the white prints covered in multicolored ferns and mushrooms, plus more of the teal stripe, and I bound it in the stripe, too. What can I say? I love stripes of any stripe.

I quilted alongside the seams of each charm square on the front which gave the quilt a nice crinkly texture. I don't usually quilt so many lines but I knew it would look nicer that way. Most of the time I get lazy and try to quilt as little as possible. Does that make me a bad quilter? Probably.

A little handwritten label completed the project. I'm hoping to order some real labels soon! Just working out a few details and then I'll be the proud owner of some personalized ribbons :)

And I couldn't resist one last little gift to go along with the quilt - two onesies that I embellished with little pockets! They make me want to add pockets to everything. 

P.S. Speaking of babies, it's crazy for me to think that at this time two years ago I was a little over twelve hours away from meeting Ezra for the first time! Can't believe my little guy will be two years old tomorrow!

it's a plane! | a quilt for Will

Another quilt finish! I've been whipping them up lately. This one was for my friend Keri's son Will who is almost two months old now. His nursery, although a blank slate as of now, will be decorated with a vintage airplane theme in mind, so I picked up a US Navy commemorative fabric that I found on Etsy.

The pattern is a modified large log cabin block, and when I say modified I mean I calculated my measurements wrong and had to make it work. Oops! Math was never my best subject.

I chose graphic red and blue fabrics to complement the airplanes - some chevron, polka dot, and a weird red pattern that reads as a stripe that I think is Flea Market Fancy. When I came up short with the design I had sketched I decided to add some red, blue, and tan seersucker, too. I couldn't believe how soft the seersucker made the quilt - so much more cozy than regular quilting fabrics and absolutely perfect for a baby. I definitely plan on using more seersucker in my quilts.

The back is a simple patchwork using scraps from the front. I think almost all of my quilt backs end up being scrappy. It's always fun to deviate from the pattern on the top and come up with something completely unique while using up some of the scraps!

I quilted along either side of the seams of the log cabin squares to echo the pattern on the top of the quilt, so it looks pretty random on the back. 

Stripey bindings are one of my favorites, and this red seersucker didn't disappoint. Hopefully Will is as happy with his quilt as I am!