Pretty Little Pumpkins....

This year our local pumpkin patch, Lane Farms had quite a few visits from the Welsh clan.

These are pics from when we all got to go together. So I was behind the lens snapping away.

You never know what you're gonna get with these Welsh ladies.

check out some of the hilarious outtakes (which are more like our standard pic(k)s these days) 

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Soooo here's your typical family photo, except notice that two little pumpkins are enraptured with something to their right
that would be the hayride tractor pulling up right as we're trying to capture this moment
I will also tell you that the lady taking this photo "traded" off with me- she took a full on photo shoot of her family for the entire 2 hours she was there. I think all those kids got to do was pick up a pumpkin (which was then used for their "prop"). She offered to take our picture if I took hers. Can I just tell you I took a bizillion awesome photos for them. She, in return took 5 quick photos and beamed "you got a LOT of great shots!"- we have not one of us all looking in the same direction or of us all smiling. Ah, such is life! Important lesson to remind me to stay in the moment. that real life is in the outtakes and what happens outside the lens. 

upon arrival I asked Pen to take this pic for me
this is her "I'm too cool for this" face

my heart stops

this one cried for the first 30 minutes because she refused to wear the shoes we brought
the only other ones we had in the car were her UGGS and I told her it was way too hot for those
I finally caved and let her run around barefoot- hey don't judge, we all get worn down eventually

not sure whats going on with P here

more sad pouty face, everly on the other hand appears to be stoked she's just allowed to be standing up there

hmmmm not sure what's going on here

"no I will not hold your hand Violet"

the best I could do- Little E almost looking at the camera!

hmmm now I think I'll put something on baby sissy's head

scarecrow Joe- he talks ya know

showin some leg- gonna have to watch out for this lady! :)

there were many more outtakes but who's got the time
one day when I'm really old I'll look them up on the cloud or whatever we'll have by then and laugh my hiney off

and yes, the two younger dresses I made myself

the pattern can be found in the adorable book

Girls World by Jennifer Paganelli

Valentine's craftiness...

I know I've said this before, but to me VALENTINE'S is so much more than a day for romance.

It's an excuse to show others in your life how much they mean to you.

Even with the smallest of gestures.

This year I was in my crafting glory- with homemade teacher gifts, candy and hostess gifts.

I even like to make sure my lady friends get a little special note.

It was fun to see the girls get in on part of the action too.

I like when they get to take ownership in their own gifts to others.

The girls also went on their first official "daddy date."

It was a daddy-daughter dance that our church Ocean Hills puts on.

They got all dolled up, and had so much fun.

This love day had something for everyone to get excited about!

enjoy the pic(k)s!

sort of chopped James's head here a bit!

first up, my valentine baby shower hostess gifts-
I bought jelly jars and red candles at Michael's

and these adorable heart doilies....

the lighting here is due to the fact that most of my crafting happens around midnight!

and wrapped it all up!

second... personalized aprons

pounce on fabric paint and use the doily as a stencil
I used a spray glue from Michaels to get it to adhere so it wouldn't move around on me
These cute cream aprons came from Michaels too!
they already had the lace detail 

then I used some letter stencils that I already had with some black fabric paint

let dry

and voila! such a cute little personalized apron

teacher/trash guys/postman/cleaning lady/ etc etc gifts...

We made valentine bark and packaged them up in cute little gift bags I found from the dollar bin at Target

this bark is so easy and yummy- its also a great activity for small children 

this bark is simply melted chocolate of your choosing (I chose ghiradelli milk chocolate chips)
then pour melted chocolate into a smooth layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
put in fridge for a half hour to set
next step, melt light pink candy melts from Michael's (I like to use a glass bowl and set in the micro at 20 sec intervals, stirring in between, pretty foolproof)
pour over milk chocolate layer
then BEFORE it sets sprinkle valentine M&Ms, and valentine sprinkles

gently press candy into the chocolate
let it sit in the fridge until it hardens
then you can break it into pieces and package it up!
This is always a hit!

It wouldn't be a holiday without a themed breakfast (at least in my house)
here we have Nutella "heart" french toast, heart bacon and strawberries

I made coffee cozies for teacher gifts
I used a starbucks sleeve as a stencil on a piece of light pink fleece
and sewed a zig zag stitch as a detail
then I cut out a heart in red fleece and sewed it onto my sleeve
Before doing so though I took some embroidery thread and sewed their initial
I left the top open so I could stick a gift card in it.
I mean cause at the end of the day its all about the packaging right? ;)

I used the nice recyclable/resuable cups 

In between the two pieces of felt I placed a hair tie
then I sewed over it with a zigzag stitch
I sewed a button to the other side and now you have a cute little closure

I also made these INCREDIBLY YUMMY sugar scrubs for my baby shower hostess gifts.
You have to understand, my baby shower had so many amazing crafty DIY details I knew I had to go big for these ladies.
This idea I found on Pinterest from Oh So Pretty.
The recipe and printable labels were all there so it made for a super easy and fun project.
Not to mention it smells AMAZING!
The jars are also from Michael's.

ah, homemade gifts are the best!