DIY Baby Tag & Rattle Blocks

I took pictures of our two week old niece last Sunday. But the Thursday before, I just HAD to make some photo props (other than this tutu). At midnight. Well I started at 10pm. And finished at 2am! Dah! I don’t recommend this.  Your eyes will glaze over and quality will be out the door! This definitely wasn’t a perfectly crafted project on my part. But Baby Erin won’t judge me and say, “Auntie, why can’t you cut straight lines and sew perfect squares? And your appliqués and hand stitching are whack!” Right?! L I mean they’re soft squishy baby blocks, who says they need to be perfect!? 

Aaaaaanyway – don’t get me wrong, I’ll be doing this project again despite my poor craftsmanship the first time around. Mainly because Doug said, “Oooh those are cool! But why is your "E" so ugly? And how come Mia doesn’t get any? L”  Here are the details:

Materials/Cost

$0 – Fabric (used scraps on hand)

$0 – Heat n Bond (optional, for appliqué - used scraps on hand)

$3 – Polyfill stuffing (1 bag, with 40% off coupon)

$1 – Easter eggs (optional, to make them rattle)
$0 – Paper clips (optional, to make them rattle)

$0 – Ribbon (scraps of course)

Total: $4 for 4 blocks - awesome!

Time: 5 hours (for 4 blocks) - yikes.

These blog posts are making me realize how long my projects take! BUT, that won’t stop me from making another set.

Instructions –

Baby Block from Zaaberry

Appliqué from my Baby Tag Pillow/Blankie

Rattle from Samster Mommy - I used an easter egg filled with paper clips.

Ladder Stitch (to close) courtesy of YouTube

Mia loved hugging and squishing them! And Doug liked playing catch. These really are great for babies. Of all ages. I’ll let you know when Mia and Doug's numbered blocks are done J

linked up here and participating in a blog hop today...

DIY Printables

My friend called me the other day asking me what to write on a “giveaway/thank you” tag for her daughter’s first birthday. However, the giveaway was for daycare. And there was no birthday party. Apparently at daycare, you bring in treats for your child’s birthday. We thought that was kinda silly for a one year old. But, I would never turn down a chance to brainstorm some creative ideas!

All she asked me was what to write on a tag for some snacks since she couldn’t exactly say "Thanks for coming to my party!" Because there was no party!  But instead of just doing what she asked, I made this for her J

It took like 5 minutes. No joke. You can do it too! Homemade by Jill has a great make your own printables tutorial here. 

Here's what I did:

1. Create a new blank image in MS Paint. Save as a jpeg.
2. Upload to picnik.com (free!)
3. On the edit tab on top, click the crop button. And then select square from the dropdown box (quicker than cutting a circle, especially for a busy momma!).
4. On the create tab, click the effects button at the top and select duo-tone on the side. Pick what color you want.
5. Click on the frames button at the top and select either border or museum matte on the side. Play with the outer and inner thicknesses and colors to your liking.
6. Click on the text button at the top. Type your message, pick your font and click add. Play with the sizing and place it where you want.
7. I added the flower/cloud thingie and a heart by clicking on the sticker button on top. Select the flower/cloud, right click and select send to back.
8. Save!

Then open with MS Windows Picture and Fax Viewer --> Click on the printer to at the bottom to open the Printing Wizard --> Select contact sheet prints --> Increase the # of times each picture is used to how ever many tags you need (taking into consideration the size you want) --> Print --> Cut --> Attach by hole punching and ribbon or taping/gluing on --> Done! J

Le Colonial

Last weekend my dear Tuesday took me out to a belated birthday dinner at Le Colonial on the Gold Coast.  It is so relaxing to drive alone when there’s gorgeous weather, the sunroof open and radio blasting.  Not to mention how much I love the views of Lake Shore Drive. I’m not around the Gold Coast often, so to be there on a beautiful evening was a nice pick me up. And I found good parking J Which always puts me in a good mood. 

Similar to when we ate at Terzo Piano, we seemed to be the youngest people there. Maybe because it was a Sunday night? Or we just are really old and boring have really developed palettes. Ha I’m kidding. I’m no foodie. I just like to eat good food. And here's my review of Le Colonial...

{image via Le Colonial}

We started with crisp, fried spring rolls of shrimp, pork, & asian mushrooms, with chili lime dipping sauce. We were informed by the waiter to eat it inside a piece of lettuce with mint, cilantro, carrots and cabbage and then dip in the sauce. It was crispy and delicious. But I usually don’t expect to get messy/my hands dirty at a nice restaurant.

Then I had sautéed diced chicken with Japanese eggplant, mango, yams, string beans, & cashew nuts in a yellow curry sauce to satisfy my curry craving. And Tues had grilled salmon over vermicelli noodles, with dill, mesclun greens, & ginger-lime garlic fish sauce which was perfectly cooked. They were both delish. Which was obvious by our clean plates.

We also had two yummy refreshing drinks. Everything on the specialty cocktail list sounded so good. Mine was a Passion Martini, I forget what was in it other than Pomegranate Liqueur, sorry! But it was light, pink, and fruity. The drink and the restaurant itself with its palm trees and big plantation style shutters made me want to be relaxing on a beach.

To finish stuffing our little bellies, we had the crispy banana wonton and chocolate mousse cake with raspberry sauce. And coconut sorbet with a little candle in it J The banana was warm and the wonton was light and crispy, so you can tell it was just made. It was plated with a beautiful chocolate sauce all around. The chocolate mousse cake was very rich, almost like a flourless cake, but the raspberry sauce that was prettily drizzled around the plate made you completely forget how rich the cake was. Yum! Thank you for a wonderful date Tues J If you're thinking about going, I would take into consideration how you feel about expensive Asian food. I personally think it should (usually) be dirt cheap haha.

As I left at 9pm, it was still bustling on the Gold Coast on a Sunday night. I bet everyone wanted to take advantage of the warm weather! You should get out there and get something good to eat this weekend too! If it's not 45 degrees and sleeting. Did I not just post yesterday how it was 60s and 80s?! Chicago for ya...

Finally Feels Like Spring!

A month ago, I may have said that Spring was around the corner. But let’s be honest, it still wasn’t safe to pack away the winter coats. Until this weekend where it was 60s on Saturday and then near 80s on Sunday! 

 Even flowers aren’t sure if they can come out from hibernation yet.

 But I did make this Spring/Birthday arrangement out of Jewel's 3/$12 bunches. Not bad, right?

Mia loved being outside and was SO happy to take a walk with Halmani.

And Halmani's always happy to see her two babies.

We also got together for my mom’s birthday with pizza from Barnaby’s and a cake from Rolf’s, just like she wanted. J
I attempted to get some birthday girl pictures with all three grandkids, which was quite challenging.

The cousins loved playing outside! And I love watching how much fun they have together.

Can't wait for summer bbq'ing in that backyard J

I hope you were able to get out and enjoy the gorgeous weather too! I know my mom enjoyed her golfing J

Happy Birthday Mom, we love you! Hoooooray!

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New Ride

Check out Mia's sweet new ride! It's so freakin' cute, right!? With a functional horn, radio and turn signals, how cool! Oddly enough, when Mia first saw it, she said bi.cy.cle. I have no idea how she knew what it was before us telling her. It must be from her books. Crazy how many new words she learns every day! She's totally going to talk a lot just like Daddy.

  

I was originally going to ask for my present back from Ryu paint my 25 year old classic Strawberry Shortcake tricycle a second time for Mia, but now I don't have to haha. Thanks Rochelle and Roselle! :)

 

Urban Cozy

We’ve been in our place for 2 ½ years and will probably move out in a few, but I am still working on decorating. And probably will forever. I am really hesitant with large purchases (both in size and $$) and am intimidated by blank walls. But I finally decided to invest in two large Chicago pieces and have decided that the look/feel we (me) are going for is urban cozy. Does that make sense? Because Doug has no idea what I mean. But as long as I know, that's all that matters right? haha

I like things to be meaningful and personal. And I want to embrace the few years that we have in the city because I know we’ll end up growing old in the suburbs. Ha, that sounds way more depressing than I meant it to be. I loved this Chicago neighborhoods subway art canvas on etsy for awhile and contemplated on how I could do it myself. But I knew that it wouldn’t look as good, would still be costly, and time consuming...so I just said let’s get it! You gotta do a cost benefit analysis sometimes. Ha, that's the accountant in me talking, sorry. And I have one more Chicago piece coming in a few weeks! *aaaah* I’m slowly filling up the empty spaces. What do you think? 

 
linked up with Darcy and Little Miss Momma

Party Ideas: Wine & Cheese

**Warning** This post has lots of pictures. Of cheese. So you might not want to look if you're hungry.

What three things get better with age? Wine, cheese and me! J Instead of trying to think of a delicious restaurant and fun bar to go to for my birthday where I can’t even catch up with everyone, I decided to stay in this year. And I’m glad I did! I was recently infringing on Agatha’s French themed dinner party plans by suggesting a cheese tasting. I know I love cheese, but I don't know much about it and want to learn. So instead of forcing my ideas on Agatha’s dinner party, I decided to host my own!

Doug and Mia went to see Baby Erin while my girlfriends came over to eat cheese, drink wine and catch up J I didn’t know how to decorate until I came across this page in a Crate & Barrel catalog the week before. Then I had the perfect vision.

I also didn’t know where to get fancy cheeses, but my cheese loving world traveling jet setter friend recommended Pastoral.  I requested that everyone bring either a bottle of wine or a cheese but we ended up with 13 cheeses and 11 bottles of wine for 9 girls! Just so I remember next time, we had: brie, Rogue River Blue (cow), Dante (sheep), Tomme Brebis/Chevre (sheep/goat), English cheddar with caramelized onions, Ossau-Iraty (sheep), Prairie Breeze (cow), Delice de Bourgogne (cow) and a few others.

Necessities (and decorating tips near the pictures):

–    Cheese - get good tips on what to buy here, from Real Simple.

–    Wine

–    Grapes

–    Meat

–    Crackers

–    Baguette - slice, drizzle with olive oil and toast at 350° for 5-10 minutes.

–    Knives/plates/platters - love the B. Smith collection at Bed Bath and Beyond.

–    Small plates – mine were from World Market.

Make one set of fun napkins go a long way by mixing with plain ones.

Inspired by HWTM (as always), cut strips of cardstock with fun scissors and used double sided tape to close.

No misplacing your glass at this party!

Faux table runner made by laying out four placemats and overlaps were hidden by chargers (from Target).

Hydrangeas from Jewel (*gasp*)! Picture frame with glitter wrapping paper from the Winter One-derland.

Used leftover flowers from Erin's tutu to take this from spa to Spring.

Replaced my Christmas wrapping paper (finally!) with cardstock.

Bought one thing of yellow flowers from Michael's.  

My favorite of the night - a seasonal blue cheese wrapped in grape leaves steeped in pear brandy.
The non-blue cheese likers were not a fan.

Cheese labels made the same way as the wine glass name tags except with toothpicks.

This one definitely tasted like onions - so I put it on my burgers the next day!

This one oddly tasted like an omelette - so I put it in my omelette the next morning!

I think we all had a good time talking and snacking the evening away J It also forced me to dust my furniture, change out the Christmas wrapping paper in my frames, and buy new Spring placemats and kitchen towels. Maybe I should do this party every year? Thanks for joining me ladies!

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