Valentine's Day Bling

I can't believe we are coming up on Valentine's Day! Where does time go? I'm trying to not be so last minute this year and have been looking for ideas on Pinterest but more on that later!

First, the shop is stocked with blingy Valentine's cuffs ready to customize and is also stocked with red and hot pink braided leather cuffs. Both are really fun to stack. Kids love the colorful braided leather bracelets. So check out my shop! I can customize the cuffs with an inspirational message of your choice.

Now, back to Pinterest ideas. Don't you think Valentines have become so much more elaborate since we were kids? I stepped up my game last year with these Minion Valentines. Never again! But they were cute!

The year before we made felt heart pins. I felt better about these because I imagined the kids will pin these cuties on their jacket or shirts even days after. Cute, right?

This year I think we'll make these cute bookmarks. Easy enough!

My son won't be down with those so I found these cute hoppy ones. Check out Lil' Luna's site for these. She has printables and said you can find these cute hoppers at Target.

What cute Valentine's Day ideas do you have?

Felted Pin Hearts as Valentines

We're finally just getting into the Valentine's Day swing around here. It seems like just yesterday I put away the Christmas decorations. I'm still in denial that the first month of 2013 is already over!

MiniMe wanted to make something special for the girls in her class. We thought a felted heart that the girls can pin on their coats or purses or backpacks would be fun. Here is what you'll need (image doesn't include everything so please read list):

Red and/or pink felt sheets (8 1/2 x 11)

Embroider floss (Red floss for pink felt and pink floss for red felt)

Needle

Scissors

Stuffing

Glue gun/glue

Hole punch

Flat brooch pins

Red and/or pink construction or scrapbooking paper

Valentine or heart stickers

White construction paper (to write Valentine note on)

Begin by cutting a heart template from construction paper. Once you have the heart just as you want it, you'll fold your felt so that when you cut around the template, you're actually cutting two hearts. Cut as many as needed.

You'll then separate the embroidery floss in half (into three strands) and cut enough so that you can sew around your entire heart. Make a knot at the end of the floss and insert your needle through the inside of one of the felted hearts (to avoid an unsightly knot).

Then you will stitch around the edge of the heart and stop just short so that you have enough open area to insert the stuffing.

Insert just enough stuffing to give the heart a puff. If you stuff too much, the heart is hard to sew closed and loses shape. If you can't seem to stuff it in cleanly, don't worry too much. You can cut the excess stuffing around the heart when finished.

Finish stitching back to your starting point. Make sure to knot your embroidery thread on the inside to hide the finishing knot.

Cut a matching piece of felt that will fit inside of your pin.

Shoot a straight line of glue on back of heart and place felt and pin on it until dry.

From here you can probably get super creative with the decorations on the card. We decided to stay simple. I found the middle of the card (at the top) and made a mark on either side of the halfway mark to holepunch. This ensures the heart is centered. You can use the first precise holepunches you make as a template for the others you have left.

Pin the hearts to the cards and decorate. We used white construction paper and stickers to decorate ours. I hope the girls in the class like her valentine to them!

4th of July

I had one of the best Fourths ever. It was all about family and it was just.....well.....nice. I woke up and went for a run and this beautiful sight was in the sky.



We went to Snooze for breakfast and I ordered some yummy red velvet pancakes with cream cheese icing. I wish I had taken a picture but I was much too anxious to eat them! MiniB sure liked them though!



After breakfast we walked around Old Town Fort Collins. I love the piano project going on in Old Town. There are random pianos placed all over town and there is a note on them asking that you just cover them if it starts to rain (there is a tarp nearby). What a great idea!







The kids were so excited to get their faces painted. Aren't they cute?




We ended the day with more family fun. I made a delicious apple pie and failed again to take a picture. What can I say? I'm all about eating the food and not stoping to capture it! Ha ha. I wish I could say we watched some fireworks but the kids were zonked and were asleep by 8:00pm. We could hear them though! It's the first 4th of July I didn't actually see one firework but it was one of my favorite ones nonetheless.

Christmas Morning

A s a child, I remember the delight in finding Santa's gift on Christmas morning. Having little ones takes me back to those days. It's so fun to see their faces the moment they see their gifts from Santa.

Not Wanting the Season to End!

H ere are more pictures from our holiday. I'm just not wanting to say goodbye to the holidays. They just flew by so fast! Anyway, on Chritmas Eve, we put some faralitos outside our house. We were the only house in the neighborhood to do so. Faralitos are so common where I'm from (Santa Fe) so I'm always surprised that I never see the same here in Colorado. We're only one state to the north! Oh well. My fellow NM friends also put some outside their house here so I know I'm not alone in trying to have a Santa Fe Christmas.

We had a lot of fun decorating and lighting all of the candles!

Santa Brunch

S o if you read my blog and don't let your kids believe in Santa, please don't be offended but I've had three instances this year where kindergarten-age kids have told my kids that Santa isn't real. It just kills me that one of them said it to my 3-year old. I totally understand if you don't want your children to believe in Santa for whatever reasons you might have but it is so frustrating for our family who chooses to let our children believe. Really, can't we just let them believe for as long as we can? I think if B and I chose the path that we weren't going to let our kids believe, we'd really stress to them that some kids DO believe and to not go and tell them otherwise. One child in my daughter's class actually said, "Santa is dead." I'm afraid to ask why that is a better belief to have than Santa exists. But I digress....

Anyway, after all of the discussions about the reality of Santa were over, my kiddos went and visited Santa's "co-worker." We had a lovely brunch with Santa and even got to visit with two reindeer.

Bokeh

I 've been playing around with my camera. This time of year I see so many lovely Bokeh pictures online. Taking a bokeh picture is harder than you'd think--at least it was for me. Here is my attempt!

Melted Snowman Sugar Cookies!

I got the idea for these melted snowman sugar cookies from Smashed Peas and Carrots. Please visit and you'll find not only a lovely blog but an awesome tutorial and recipe for these snowmen.

My daughter did all of the decorating. It was a fun project for us! :)

I love this time of year!

I love all the holiday decor around our house! With everything so festive, it makes me want to bake and spend time with my family.