Year: 2017

A Travel-Inspired Gift Basket

Published by

Black Dog Animal Rescue. I haven’t mentioned them in a while, but this little (but always growing) organization will forever hold a special place in my heart. I volunteered for them, fostered for them, and got my sweet baby boy from them when we lived in Wyoming. Now I’m just a member of their Constant Companion Club and make a gift basket once a year for their silent auction. Something is better than nothing, right? ;) Also it’s been a lot of fun coming up with basket ideas. Last year, it was right before the new Gilmore Girls came out on Netflix, so I went for a Gilmore Girls theme. This year I guess I’ve been dreaming of getting away, so I went for a travel theme. :) What’s included: Southwest Airlines Gift Card (thank you, credit card points…) ;) Lonely Planet Ultimate Travel Book (it’s a really fun book with lots of inspirational travel photos… I might have to get one for my own coffee table) Cozy socks (always necessary for the plane ride… these …

Wedding DIY: Part 4 | Beaker Candle Favors and Kid Favors + Beaker & Erlenmeyer Flask Centerpieces

Published by

Photo Credit: Brooke Beasley Photography There were so many reasons we chose to get married at the gorgeous location we did, but one of those many reasons (aside from the lake access, gorgeous facilities for the entire weekend, etc. etc…) was for the lavender fields.   Photo Credit: Brooke Beasley Photography Seriously, who can resist a spectacular blooming lavender field!? With that said, of course we tried to plan the wedding at the right time between the blooming and harvesting of the lavender. And, although it was early on, we ended up hitting it at a pretty perfect time.    Photo Credit: Brooke Beasley Photography Because of all the lavender, I knew I wanted to incorporate it into the wedding somehow, and what better way than lavender candle favors!? Then when the guests leave and burn the candle later, it can bring them back to that wonderful day in the lavender fields. (ha! too much? sentimental overkill? oh well… that’s just how things roll around here…). Photo Credit: Brooke Beasley Photography I’ll start off by …

PJ Masks Costumes

Published by

My nephew had just woken up from a nap, a groggy little just-turned-2 year old. He walked into the living room, his face brightened up, and he exclaimed “Gekko!” It was my favorite moment from Halloween last year. What he didn’t know when he woke was that his cousins were already in the other room getting into their Halloween costumes. :) Now seems like good a time as any to share these… they were last year’s costumes but it’s almost that time of year again and I’ve been brainstorming lately what to do for this year. PJ Masks were absolutely perfect for them last year… three little ones, two boys, one girl… popular, but not overdone, and they all love the show. Gaaa! And just look at them… how cute are they!? Pattern used: Jalie 3135 Skinsuits I thought about doing leggings and tops, etc. from patterns I already had, but this just seemed to be a better match to the characters. I’ve only used one other Jalie pattern thus far (see here), but I said …

Wedding DIY: Part 3 | Star Wars Ties & Bow Ties + Groomsmen Gifts

Published by

I love you. I know. :) Okay… before you start… click here if you’d like a soundtrack to go along with this post while you read. For our wedding ceremony, we used a string quartet version of Canon in D for the bridal party processional and Take My Hand by Emily Hackett for the father/daughter walk down the aisle (side note: try watching that video and not crying… I can’t do it… and I #couldnt on the day either; had to take a few huge breaths before walking down the aisle because I was about to be a blubbering mess). DIY-ing a wedding can be a little bit stressful but overall a whole lot of fun. The real reason I wanted to DIY so much of our wedding was to get all of those personalized details there’s really no other way of getting! Photo Credit: Brooke Beasley Photography From day 1, I knew we had to incorporate Star Wars in some way. Danny and I both grew up on the movies, and come on, it’s Star …

Wedding DIY: Part 2 | Save the Dates & Invitations + Bridal Jewelry

Published by

It was 104°F yesterday when I went outside for lunch. Got up to 114° in some spots around here. I’m all for the summertime heat, but this week has been exhausting! I’m sure many of you are feeling it where you are too! Makes me think back to the summers I worked outside building docks right across from the movie theater where all of my friends worked in the nice, cool air conditioning. ha! Loved that job, but now that I’m older all I can say is how glad and thankful I am to have an indoor job! :) On to it! Our save-the-dates went through SO MANY revisions (this was version 10) :) because I’m picky and I waited until the last minute to send them. I originally wanted to have a picture of us on there but we ended up having to push back our engagement photos a few times (rain, etc…) so instead the pups got to be center stage! Because, well, look at those faces… I used the same photos of …