link love - 5.20.11

It's finally starting to feel like Spring here in Portland... the sun is shining, people are out and about, and I no longer have to wear a jacket (none of which zip or button anymore anyway.)  Today is set to be the nicest day of the year so far, AND Jared is coming home after being in Seattle all week for work - soooo, I'm in a pretty fantastic mood. Here are some other things that lifted my spirits this week...

  • White Peach Sangria on Celebrations at Home - I've been craving peaches for months now, and as soon as they're in season (and I'm no longer pregnant) I'll be whipping up a pitcher of this sangria.  It looks soooo yummy...

  • Crossover Pinafore on Smashed Peas and Carrots - I love pretty much anything made with this Amy Butler fabric combo, but I particularly love this crazy cute pinafore...

  • Zig Zag baby quilt on Red Pepper Quilts - This quilt is a perfect use of scrap fabric, and I love the unique quilting.

link love - 5.13.11

Happy Friday the 13th!  I was born on Friday the 13th, so I've never bought into the whole unlucky day business.  A Friday is a Friday and that has to be a good thing.  :-) Here's what I loved from around the web this week:

  • DIY Fold Away Drying Rack on Centsational Girl - Your average drying rack is neither aesthetically pleasing nor space saving, so I was quite delighted when I saw this DIY drying rack.  It would greatly perk up the laundry space in our drab, unfinished basement.

  • Make Ahead Freezer Smoothies on The Tidy Nest - Where has this idea been my whole pregnancy!?  Delicious, healthy, easy, quick... I will definitely be making these this weekend.

PS... I finally discovered Pinterest this week (I know, a little late to the game) and holy moly - I'm hooked.  It's an endless source of eye candy and inspiration.  If you haven't checked it out yet I highly recommend it!  (You can see what I've been pinning by clicking on the new "Follow Me on Pinterest" button on the right.)

link love - 5.6.11

Happy Friday!  I hope everyone is recovering nicely from Cinco de Mayo.  I spent last night getting my water aerobics on with a bunch of other pregnant ladies... a stark contrast to my Cinco de Mayos of yore.  :-)  Anyway, here are a few of my highlights from blogland the past couple weeks:

  • Bolefloor on Twig & Thistle - Ohhh, these floors.  I've never seen anything like them.  I'm a sucker for wide plank hardwoods but these might be my new favorites.

  • Railroad Plate and Saucer Set on ohdeedoh - I seem to have a lot of friends with train-obsessed little boys, so I had to share this adorable plate and saucer set.  Cute design, fun for kids, what's not to love?

  • Mall Pretzels on elephantine - Yummmmm.  I've tried to make homemade soft pretzels a few times, but they always end up too dense and not nearly Auntie Annie's-like enough for my tastes.  So when I saw these my hope for making delicious homemade soft pretzels was renewed.  I'll let you know how they turn out!

Have a great weekend!  Jared and I are off to Cannon Beach for a little weekend babymoon.  Amazing food, a jacuzzi tub, and a prenatal massage are just what the doctor ordered.

Peep strawberry cupcakes

peep-cupcakes_side-view.jpg

My block had a potluck Easter dinner this year, so - naturally - I signed up to bring dessert.  And, as with most things, I went a bit overboard.  (Hey, I gotta take advantage of having time to take on crazy baking adventures before the baby comes!)

I'd been wanting to make Sprinkles strawberry cupcakes for a while now, and they seemed a bit Easter-ish, so that's where I started. You apparently have to follow the recipe from this YouTube video (click on "show more"), because the recipe posted on MarthaStewart.com and elsewhere is wrong.  Overall, I really liked the taste of these cupcakes - though I probably could have taken them out a minute or two earlier.  The frosting, on the other hand, was aaaaa-mazing.  I doubled the recipe for both the cupcakes and frosting, and instead of 7 cups of confectioners sugar I only used 6.  There, it's in writing... one time in my life I used less sugar than I was supposed to.  Any more and I felt like the sweetness would have overwhelmed the strawberry flavor.

Once everything was baked and mixed, it was time to decorate.  My mom has always made a Peep cake for Easter, so I decided to carry on the tradition - with a twist.  I smeared a bit of frosting on the bottom of a Peep, stuck it to the cupcake, piped drops of frosting around the Peep using an Ateco #32 piping tip, and finished with a pinch of sprinkles.

Since not everyone is a fan of Peeps, I made half with fresh strawberries on top instead of Peeps.  (While I may never understand these Peep-haters, I still want them to eat my cupcakes.)

I used the same basic approach to decorating the strawberry version...

I'm not going to lie, I took a break in the middle of writing this post to eat the very last Peep cupcake.  So sad to see them go.  Until next year my Peep friends...

link love - 4.22.11

Happy Earth Day, everyone!  In honor of this wonderful day, I'm going to share three things I loved this week - none of which have anything to do with the environment or conservation.  (But if you happen to be looking for things you can do to make the world a little greener today, check out this link.)

  • Photo Stats by Miz Booshay on The Pioneer Woman - As someone who's still learning her way around the Manual mode on our camera, I've found photo stats to be immensely helpful in learning how to achieve the perfect balance between aperture, ISO, and exposure.  I love Miz Booshay's photos, so it's great to see what settings she uses... it's like a cheat sheet for getting better shots.  If you're struggling (like me) to learn how to use your fancy camera, I highly recommend checking out Miz Booshay's posts.

  • DIY Bunny Garland on Twig & Thistle - If you're still looking for some last minute Easter crafts, look no further than this super cute and easy bunny garland.

  • Record Player Wedding Invitation on Design*Sponge - This is easily the most awesome and impressive wedding invite I've seen in a long time.  You have to check it out.

{nursery progress} a tale of two mobiles

IMG_54411.jpg

Yes, you read that correctly... I ended up making not one, but two mobiles for the nursery. If you'll remember, I started out with the idea to DIY a mobile like the one I had in my mood board:

But then my friend, Rachael, sent me the link for this bird mobile tutorial and I decided to make that one instead.  Here's how it turned out:

I was so so happy with how it looked, especially once I hung it over the crib - but the idea of that original mobile kept nagging at me.  I love a good challenge, and finding a way to DIY something I saw selling on Etsy for $80 was just my kind of challenge.  So... much to my husband's dismay, I decided to make a second mobile for the nursery.  I had no idea where I'd put this one - if it would replace the bird one, if I'd end up with two mobiles, if I'd junk it altogether after punching out a gazillion little circles.  Luckily, by the time I finished it late one Sunday night, I was completely smitten.  It was so fun and cheery... just looking at it made me smile.  I knew I had to find a home for it in the nursery.  So over the changing table it went...

Here's a close up:

I used 3 shades of yellow paper to get a gradient effect, fishing line, clear beads, wooden dowels, and jump rings.  The whole thing cost me maybe $15.  I'm hoping to get a tutorial posted for it next week so stay tuned!

link love - 4.8.11

TGIF!!!  I'm still not quite sure how I survived this week, but I sure am glad to see it come to an end.  In my flu-y state I didn't keep up with my Google Reader as much as I would have liked, but here are a couple things that caught my eye...

  • Muralette stickers on Project Nursery - Wall decals have become pretty standard nursery fare in recent years, but I've never seen ones like these.  I still can't believe they're decals... simply stunning.

  • Lovemaestore on Etsy - Apparently I was on a bit of a decal kick this week (which is kinda strange since I have no plans to use decals in the baby's nursery.) I completely fell in love with the fabric decals at this shop... especially the Dress Up collection.  They're like awesome paper dolls or Colorforms (remember those?) you can play with on your wall.  Brilliant.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!  :-D

monogram ruffle butt onesies

There are few things I love making more than gifts for my friend's babies, so when I found out that one of my oldest friends in the world, Stephanie, was coming to my baby shower I got to work on brainstorming something for her beautiful new baby girl.  Applique onesies are always a solid choice (quick, easy, and a great use of scrap fabric) but I wanted to jazz them up a bit this time.  I started out with a basic monogram applique using Steam-a-steam fusible web and a zig-zag stitch around the letters...

And then things got crazy...

RUFFLE BUTTS!  Seriously... these ruffle butt onesies are pretty much the cutest things I've ever made.  I take no credit for this brilliant creation - as far as I can tell that credit goes to Char from Crap I've Made.  I followed her tutorial to a T and it turned out even better than I hoped.  I used the serger approach, since I've been waiting for an excuse to practice using my new serger.  Here's a close-up...

As fun as it was to make these onesies, it was even better getting to catch up with Steph (we hadn't seen each other in about 9 years)... it's amazing to think about how far we've come since we first became friends in the 2nd grade. It seems like just yesterday our biggest concern was making sure our Trapper Keepers were organized just-so, and now we're approaching 30 and our lives are consumed by babies.  Ba-na-nas.  But good bananas. :)

 

{maternity series} 29 weeks

You might notice that this week's photo is a bit different... I had to pull one from the shower pics because the stomach flu prevented me from being in even halfway decent shape to take one of my regular belly photos.  Having the stomach flu at 7 months pregnant is pretty much as miserable as it sounds, but thankfully I'm finally starting to feel better.

link love - 4.1.11

Happy April!! (Is it just me, or is 2011 flying by?) Here's what I loved from around the web this week:

  • Paint Chip Easter Garland on Modern Parents Messy Kids - I sure do love me some Easter crafts (okay, and candy) and this one caught my eye for being both super cute and a great recycling project.

  • Oh, What a Busy Day! on No Big Dill - Still loving this Once Upon a Thread series, and I really wish this adorable top came with a tutorial!  So stinking cute.
photo courtesy of No Big Dill

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  I'm off to DC for my baby shower, which I could not be more excited about.  Family, friends, food... what more could a girl ask for? Oh, yes - a Phillies win on Opening Day. That would also be lovely. :-)

link love - 3.25.11

What a week!  Did anyone else wake up this morning relieved to no end that it was finally Friday?!?  I have more than enough projects to keep me busy right now, so this week's posts are mostly just stuff that inspired me:

  • A is For Asher illustrated letters on Twig and Thistle - There's an endless supply of custom letter prints on Etsy, but these custom prints by Wallace Design House really caught my eye.  I love the colors and the typography, but the tiny little animals steal the show...

  • Hello Sunshine hat by Kate Spade - Ohhhh, this hat.  If this isn't purely fabulous summery goodness I don't know what is.  Everything about it makes me want to escape to Capri and sunbathe on the Mediterranean in a cute little vintage suit (I have my pre-baby body in this fantasy) with big sunglasses, perfectly pedicured toes, and of course - my Hello Sunshine hat.  Ahh, a girl can dream.

    Hello Sunshine is also the name of a fantastic song by one my faves - Langhorne Slim.  So here's even more Hello Sunshiny goodness for ya:

     

  • Cupcakes in a Jar on The Kitchn - Because it's Friday, and because I'm pregnant... and because who doesn't love cupcakes in a freakin' jar?!?