Posts Tagged ‘holidays’

Easter Sunday

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Easter was a little bit hectic for us, but I still managed to do a couple of special things for the kids and get our family photo.

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I had planned on making easter coordinating outfits for everyone, but I only got around to items for Penelope and Me. I still want to do for Chris and Felix what I had originally planned, it just may take a few more weeks. I’ll be sure to share those with you when I’m done. We still managed to match perfectly for our photo!

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We call this the Gene Simmons tongue. Felix does this regularly. Also, do you see the buttons on the back of Penelope’s dress? Those are my first button holes. First ones with my current machine (it’s been about 5 years since I’ve tried). I’m pretty proud of how they turned out. Having a nice new machine with automatic button holes makes a huge difference.

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Getting these pictures for the family was a bit stressful – when are family photos not stressful? – but we got them. The photos aren’t magazine perfect, but the most important thing was that we got together and took a picture. Last time we had our family photo taken was nearly a year and a half ago! I keep thinking to myself that we should do this more often, I do have this photo corner permanently set up.

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I love this shot of Penelope. She was so excited to find her Easter basket and this was about the expression on her face when I showed her her dress and my matching skirt. She always knows when to make me feel appreciated.

At the same time, she’s in this phase where she likes to manipulate Chris and me with her love (or in my case, the lack of). I’ll take any of these sweet moments I can.

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Felix is still not walking or talking, but we may have figured out the cause of his developmental delays. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but it feels right. We will be visiting a specialist in a week and a half to find out for sure what’s going on.

He’s still so affectionate and cuddly at 25 months, I’m not sure what I’ll do with myself if he ever grows out of it.

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Penelope and Felix are getting along much better now. Now that the weather is nice they ride outside together; Penelope on her bike and Felix on his fire truck. It’s so rewarding to see them interact nicely together.

I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend! And happy April Fool’s (sorry no pranks here today).

I’ve got some great posts coming to you this week – an easy DIY with one of my favorite Target dollar finds, the only way I want to eat my Asparagus and how to make a Kate Spade inspired skirt. What are your  plans this week?

Fabric provided by Kollabora.com.

Printable: Painted Gift Tag

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I designed these printable gift tags for Emma Mag last month (see page 59!). I’ve been meaning to share these with you, but I haven’t wrapped a single Christmas gift until today!!

The design is really basic, I hand lettered to and from on the front with a bunch of holly leaves on the back. Print it on any color paper and paint or keep it plain if you want! They’re a really easy craft (and fantastic for wee ones looking to get crafty, too).

The lovely ladies from The Girls With Glasses featured my tag on their most recent video. You can see how they styled their tags here.

Download the printable below.

This tutorial or freebie is free for personal use and should not be distributed/republished without the express consent of Melissa Esplin. I love getting shout outs from around the web, but please, link with love. You may publish 1 photo along with credit back to the original post. Never link directly to the download. If you would like to use this tutorial or freebie for commercial purposes, please email me. Thanks!

2012 Christmas Candy Box

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It’s that time of year. I can’t believe this is the 6th one I’ve done!! (2007|2008|2009|2010|2011) I was hoping to start on the design much earlier than yesterday, but alas life happens and things inevitably get pushed into the month of December.  I’m pretty excited about this box. This year’s design can be cut out quickly and printed black and white – perfect for saving time and a little bit of cash (buy yourself some mean chocolates with those savings, perhaps?).

I sort of stumbled upon the idea for the constellation motif and I feel like it perfectly conveys a tone of the real meaning of Christmas, without claiming that specifically. The printable includes a Happy Holidays tag that could be used to decorate the box, as a tag or not used at all for year-round gift-giving.

You can also print this on any kind of paper. I cut down some ikea wrapping paper and used that! I love the natural feel it gives. I would’ve used paper grocery bags, but I didn’t have any on hand. I would recommend you print on a medium weight text stock so you can bend and pinch the paper with ease (28-80lb text stock – your local print shop will know what I mean).

Decorate your boxes with glitter ribbon, fancy brads, markers, paints, crayons or anything. This would be great for a family activity for neighbor gifts.

I do hope you get around to making a few of these this Christmas season! Read more for the download and step by step instructions for assembly.

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DIY: Coffee Filter Wreath

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Yes. I did. Everyone else in the world has one, so I should make one, too! I found a bunch of coffee filters at the thrift store for 25¢, so I had those just sitting in my craft supplies for years. The wreath I made from fabric circles based off of Domestifluf’s tutorial did NOT travel well over the last 3 years, so I stripped the foam wreath of the gnarly fabric and attached between 75-100 coffee filters. With pins.

Mine turned out really fluffy, but more directional than other coffee filter wreaths I’ve seen. I like that.

I didn’t feel the need to take any process photos because this tutorial has been made a million and a half times, so here are a few coffee filter projects (and the like) below:

What have you been up to lately? Have you found any holiday DIYs that have found inspiring you?

Humbug Halloween

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I love the holidays, but I don’t want to do a thing for them. I’ve got my BOO sign out front and some random gourds; and that’s all I want to do.

I’m having a hard time mustering the motivation to do anything festive or productive today. I had planned to make us all Adventure Time characters for Halloween, but I think only Penelope will be dressed up at this point. And it’s just because I just so happen to have a black cape so she can go as Marcelene. Maybe we’ll pull this off, but I highly doubt it at this point. Maybe I’ll get really ambitious and hang up my skeleton painting.

So who else is doing the bare minimum while gawking at brilliant, easy and ambitious Halloween projects on the interwebs? Just me?

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