Tea Party Baby Shower

My little Lolo is having a baby girl this summer, we decided to throw her a tea party baby shower. 

I didn't have a lot of time or supplies to make the cake, so I went for the rustic look with fresh flowers on the top, easiest quick cake to make! 

Valentine Photo Shoot

I love these kiddos! Even though it's so much work to try and have a photo shoot with some of them! 

 I love having all these models in my family! 

Summer Daze Baby Quilt

This quilt was made for my granddaughter Ruby Jane. Her mom said she wanted purple and green so I went scrap diving (similar to dumpster diving, only much more fun). I did end up buying four fat quarters and of course the fluffy purple for the back. Quilt is from the book Scrap-Basket Quilts by Kim Brackett (free advertising). It calls for 32 - 2 1/2 x 6 1/2", 64 2 1/2 x 4 1/2" and 128 2 1/2 x 2 1/2" rectangles. I left off the borders because I wanted the quilt to be baby-sized.

Wedding Cake & Photos

PHOTO OVERLOAD! 

A couple summers ago, my little sissy got married. I did her photos and cake. Here are a few of my favorites

I know she's in the shadows, but I love how this looks with all the light coming through the trees

Can't go wrong with a bridge, and having such a pretty subject helps too! 

The CAKE! To make this cake less stressful, the bottom two layers are Styrofoam. I was able to make them days before the wedding, which allowed me time to help out with other wedding activities. My sister-in-law made the birds on top with clay. They turned out super cute! 

Fall Photo Shoot

 Photographing kids can be extremely difficult! Every time I visit my family I try to get cute pictures of all the kids. Sometimes it's hopeless, sometimes I get a few good ones, and other times I get a lot of good ones! This photo shoot we had to bribe with candy, cheetos, and toys. I think it worked out well. Here is the advice I have for trying to get cute pictures of kids who don't want to cooperate! 

 1- You don't need to travel far from home to get nice pictures. We took these in my brother's neighborhood, because we didn't want the kids to have to sit in a car or get fussy before we started. I love this picture of my cute little Rue standing by the neighbor's fence with the mountains in the background. Or this picture of cutie Ez holding his toy and looking happy as can be. He's smiling because he has his toy, not because he likes to cooperate!! 

 2- PROPS! I grabbed this baby pumpkin off my Brother's porch at first I thought I could use it to distract the kids into smiling, but then I thought "hey it is fall they might as well hold it". And they do look super cute holding it in the pictures! Especially Ruby who kept calling it an apple! 

 3- Take candid shots. There are SO many cute photos out there that are completely staged. I'm a little jealous because I don't know how people get a toddler to look, and smile, and play with the right item to create the perfect photo. I'm not a professional, so maybe there is a secret, but I've had to learn that candid photos are just as cute as the super staged cute photos. That doesn't mean I won't give up trying to get that perfectly staged shot. I just have to work harder by running around, getting different angles, and always having my camera on and ready to capture the cute little moments. 

 Ruby and her sunflower

 Alex and Ezrah being buddies

 Trying to get Ruby to smile

Ezrah's 2nd Birthday

End Construction Zone

I'm excited that my very first post to the blog will focus on my energetic, handsome, sometimes terrible toddler Ezrah!

His birthday was at the end of September and I have to admit I was hard at work crafting this construction themed bash for my babe, but I think the outcome was worth it! 

We knew pretty early on that we were going to go with a construction theme, because Ez is so obsessed with backhoes, bulldozer and dump trucks  I spent a lot of time looking for invitations but I either didn't like the wording or I felt like they were too busy. I ended up typing the information and printing it on heavier card-stock.  With the help of my hubby we cut out some scrapbook paper  to make them a little more colorful. I really wanted "tire tracks" going across the top and bottom but after numerous failed attempts I opted for some smeared brown paint to look like mud.  

Once we had a set time and date I tried really hard to keep up with all the projects I was planning. One of the bigger tasks I embarked  on was making bunting. With the help of my mom we drew up a template and cut out approximately 100 triangles (from fabric and batting). After I had them all sewn together I was done! I decided to cut out 100 more! I know that sounds crazy but I needed enough so I could write "HAPPY BIRTHDAY EZRAH" and still have some to hang.

      (This was actually really easy and it turned out better than expected!)



Now I want to take a minute and talk about the AWESOME cake that Rachel made! Since my sister decided to drive 800 miles last minute to be at this momentous event she spent the whole morning before the party constructing this bad boy. She whipped up her Best Chocolate Cake and Ganache and created this work site inspired masterpiece!

As for the rest of us the morning of the party we were scrambling to decorate, finishing all the food and digging up the "construction site". I was one stressed out mommy, but my boy had the time of his life!