the party that never happened

Whew, this past week has been a blur.  Friday was Evaleigh's 2nd Birthday.  I decided to be all "I'm a cool pinterest mom" and put balloons in Evies room the night before her birthday so they would be a fun surprise for her when she woke up in the morning.  John and I crept up to her room after we heard her start to stir and I began recording a video to see her reaction.  Well, it went something like this...

HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAAYYY!  

AH!  

Oh woops.

Oh thats throw up. 

Yeah.  

You ok?  

Ok. 

It was horribly sad...and graphic.

Evie spent all of her birthday wrapped in sheets with a nasty stomach bug.  Since we didn't want to plauge our whole family with the sickness we had to cancel her party.  I was pretty sad about it.  Her Auntie flew in from Colorado and John's Dad and step-mom came up from Florida. We are hoping they didn't all go home with the bug.

So here it is, the party that never happened. It was supposed to be a sewing theme party with a vintage Holly Hobby sewing machine, old wooden thread spool garland, a spool cake topper, and a hand made sewn bday banner.

I have a 5 layer confetti cake sitting in my refrigerator that I have no clue what to do with. 

The good news is that by that night she was running around saying, "I two I two I two."  The bad news is, John and Avett and I all caught the bug too.  Hopefully we will all be back to normal by tomorrow. 

Happy 2nd Birthday darling, sorry you spent your special day trying to keep down bites of pedialyte popsicles.

felt ball nursery mobile

Ooooo today I was crafty and it felt so good! It has been quite some time since I had a moment to myself.  My sweet mother took Evaleigh with her to her doctors appointment this morning.  Since Avett has been sleeping in til 10 like a teenager I ran outside and picked out the perfect branch for a project I've been itching to do.  I used fabric and felt balls I already had and made Avett a mobile for his nursery.  I don't know what it is about making something that does good to my soul.  I had fun.  Seeing Avett look up at it after I finished and smile for about 3 minutes made it even better. 

DIY Instagram Board Book

Last year I worked for about 4 months collecting images all around our home to make EJ her very own Alphabet Board Book.  It all started around the end of summer when I was house sitting with Lisa at a beautiful little bungalow near the city.  I have fond memories of watching An Affair to Remember all snuggled up with some Ben & Jerry's and shooing away two doggies.  RIP little bungalow, I sure enjoyed pretending you were my house.  Hey Lis, I wish we could go back.

Here are the images in 3 volumes. (1,2,3)

I found a company that does custom board books and sent the book off to print for a Christmas present for Evaleigh.  I used My Custom Story.  I highly recommend them.  The quality of the book has withstood the test of my little book biter and they shipped it a couple of weeks sooner than expected!  I am so in love with how it turned out and I love seeing EJ enjoy it.  (P.S. I spy one hand of painted fingernails and a curl popping out of her head at the end!)

Vintage First Birthday Tea Party for Evaleigh

This past weekend we celebrated one whole year of Evaleigh Joy's life.  We had a Vintage Tea Party for her at our little townhouse in Atlanta.  So many people helped to make this day special.  (A special thanks to Karen and CJ for helping me learn how to frost a ruffle cake!)  EJ was a perfect birthday girl.  She walked around so proud of her new dress and smiled and was happy the whole time (except when she almost inhaled all of the frosting off of the top of her cupcake).  We loved watching her with all of her family and friends who came.  It was a tight squeeze in our little space but thankfully the weather was kind and we made it work.  We had all of EJ's monthly videos playing in the living room for everyone to watch.  Thank you to everyone who made her First Birthday so special!

Happy Birthday darling girl, we can't wait to see what this next year is like with you!

Cupcake: Sweet Dee's Bakeshop

Hairbow: Bow to the Queen and King

Tea cups and mugs: Anthropologie-similar

Striped Paper Straws : Target

Big Round Balloons: Balloonsfast.com

Felt Balls: Tadaa Studio Felt

chalkboard fireplace

Last week my good friend Katie brought me an old bookcase she was getting rid of. I immediately saw the potential in it and couldn't wait to get it in to my house. I've had a can of chalkboard spray paint in my craft closet that has been burning a hole in my pocket for quite some time. I knew exactly what I was going to use it for. I took the back of the book shelve off and removed all of the staples and nails. Then I sprayed two coats of chalkboard paint on it and let it dry for 48 hours.

I have really been wanting a chalkboard wall but because we are renting and will loose our security deposit if I paint it has simply been out of the question. This is the perfect idea for renters! Ive already used it as the backdrop for our family Christmas photo and I can't wait to use it for all sorts of things!

I used a chalkboard pen which makes makes much clearer lines and you don't have the chalky dust mess to clean up. It comes off with water just like regular chalk. Finding out about those pens changed my life. For real.

Right now I am using it in front of the fireplace to block Evaleigh from playing in the ashes. Looks cute and saves EJ from making a mess.
I love it.

tender loving care

Yesterday I found this bread box at Goodwill for $4. It was brown wood and had a wooden knob on it. I already had some mint paint at home that I'd been waiting to use on something. Another thing on my to do list was to run to Hobby Lobby to pick up some crafts for Johns youth project for mutual last night. So while I was there I picked up this cute little red knob for $1.50. I painted it this morning and love how it turned out. Can't wait to make a homemade loaf with tender loving care and put it in there!

(Thanks for my sweater pumpkin CJ! I love it, even though right after this picture Evaleigh ripped the leaves off of it.)

ch ch ch changes

A week or so ago my sister let me de-flower her luscious locks. I have been waiting 23 years for her to let me do something to her hair. She is not the kind of person who likes a whole lot of change so this was a big step for her. Me...I thrive on change. I love it. I need it. It's the spice of life for me.

So, we used Em Dickson's Ombré hair tutorial and got this girl a new do! I love how it turned out and she does too. (Even though almost two weeks later she is still getting 'used to it'!). I'm so glad my little sister let me fulfill a life long dream of dying her hair, I can finally check that off of my bucket list.

This was so easy and a perfect new look for fall.

Fall !!!!! I'm so happy you're here!

bungalow bridal shower brunch

This weekend my friend Maxine and I threw a bridal shower for our dear friend, the future Mrs. Jenna Zimmerman. I can't get over Maxine's perfect little house in the perfect little spot. It made me so excited for the day that ill get to have a cute home of my own! I enjoyed making this pretty little event happen with her. The shower was so intimate and small. There were six of us ladies (+baby EJ) and we sat around and talked about married advice and stuff got REAL. It was so honest and just about the best chatting and fun I've ever had at a bridal shower. 

We had:

Greek Yougurt Nutella Dip

Spanikopita

Pancake Balls from Trader Joes

the yummiest Doughnuts from Sublime Doughnuts in ATL (YES, THERE WAS A MAPLE GLAZED BACON DOUGHNUT!)

Piggies in a blanket

& Pink Lemonade

One of the girls typed up the advice and emailed it out to all of us, here are just a few toned down snippets of the advice. ; )

Let the boys have their toys, they are still just little boys in big bodies.

Don't complain to your parents about your husband. You will forgive them but they won't.

Expect change in your husband. Someone who stayed the same all the time would be boring. Don't be afraid when 10 years down the road you look back and say, "I'm not married to the same person anymore." Change can be a great thing and you will change too.

Learn to stay awake during movies.

Get alone time- both with and without your husband.

Make time with women.

You will get annoyed. It's okay.

Sex. We'll leave at that.

Keep dating after marriage.

Combine bank accounts and talk regularly about finances.

Remember what brought you together.

Both of you pray out loud together every night.

Flash him in the middle of arguments.

Frozen Peas.

Learn to find the humor in everything, it's there.

Try to be the first one to apologize even if you don't think you were in the wrong. You will make up eventually, theres no use in stewing over it longer than you need to.

Be silly.

Marriage is fun.

Don't make the children the center of your universe, just allow them to join it.

Cant wait for your wedding this weekend Jenna, its going to be lovely!  Now I just need to finish all of those fabric Z's for you!

**Drinking chalkboard mason jars made by me with my friends Cricut and some chalkboard paint.**