A {little late!} DIY Advent Calendar

Christmas and crafting go hand in hand.  At least for me.  I’m not saying it’s always turns out well… but my crafty mojo really gets going around this time of year.

This year I decided to create an advent calendar!  I had a big blank space of wall that was just begging to be filled in.  So, after pinning multiple DIY advent calendars like this and this, I finally ended up making one that looks like this!

Materials:
– mini paper bags
– mini clothespins
– number cut outs
– something to mark the days (I used a sparkly star)
– twine
– tape and glue

I didn’t get very fancy with this.  I have tape holding up the ends, people.  And as long as I only fill each bag one day at a time, it won’t fall down!  Hah.

At least it looks pretty.

…right?

Merry Christmas!

Belly to Baby

Wow.  Nearly a year since my last post.  What better way to start anew than with baby news!

Winston was born via emergency c-section on January 31 at 2:00am. Born at 35 weeks, he was a wee one, weighting in at 4lbs 10oz. Perhaps one day I will share my birth story, but until then, join me on my journey of belly to baby!

Easter themed layer cake

A while ago I posted about this Rainbow Cake that I thought was to.die.for.  I finally found a reason to make it!

Last night I went to my sister’s house for Easter dinner.  I brought this.

Half inspired by the Rainbow cake, half inspired by this photo I found on Pinterest:

(thank you, Martha)

I followed the Rainbow Cake instructions, and made 6 little cakes (2 bit the dust).

(pretty pastel cake batter)

I stacked ’em all up and hoped for the best.

It totally turned out!  Isn’t it beautiful?

Wanna make it?  Check out Meredith’s recipe here.  Because not only was it pretty, but it was delicious, too!

Happy Easter to you.

Linking up at I heart Naptime and Making it with Allie

why you should read instructions

I learned this the hard way.

Last week, I set on a venture to knit a cute little baby hat.

I surprised myself by being done really quickly!  I knew it was too good to be true.  Because it ended up looking like this:

Yep, that is what I knit.  It looks like a yarmulke.  You know, a jewish head covering?  Not the little baby hat I was going for.

After cursing the pattern (because it’s obviously not my error, right?!), I went back and found that I overlooked a teeny tiny detail that instructed me to knit up to a certain point, and then make it gradually smaller.

Apparently I just knit the very top of the hat.

My bad.

But here’s the finished project!  Super cute, right?

Lesson learned.

Date coupons

I know, I know.  Date coupons are totally cliché.

But I like cliché, so bear with me.

As you may have read, I recently completed a self-inflicted challenge that I dubbed 31 days of Birthdays, for my man’s 31st Birthday.  It was fun to come up with little gifts each day, but experiences together are worth so much more.  (Yes, I am aware that statement was totally cliché as well.  Please see above.)  I still wanted something to give him, so, enter: the coupon.

I found a generic ticket template via Google images, and tweaked it in Photoshop.  And, viola!  Date coupons for my man.

If this is your thing, feel free to print ’em off (formatted to print on a 3.5×5 photo size) or tweak ’em yourself!

 

 

Linking up to Making it with Allie, Every Crafty Endevour and It’s a HodgePodge Life.