Tissue Paper Pom Pom Tuesday

Seems like every pretty party I see is decorated with these big fluffy tissue paper pom poms:

Couldn't be hard to make, right? All you need is 8-10 sheets of tissue paper, wire and scissors.

Lay your tissue paper vertical on the table.

Fold paper accordian style with each fold about 1" wide.

Wrap wire around the tissue paper, tying a small loop at the top. (This is how you will hang the ball when it's done.)

Round each of the ends.

Let the sides fan out.

Then, gently start pulling apart the layers.

TADA!!

It took longer to write this post than it took to make all three.

Easy, cute & super CHEAP!

Another Project

Ok, I'll say it. I'm crafty.

I'm happiest when I'm up to my elbows in a project.

I LOVE personalized details that make a party look like a million bucks. For our wedding, I embroidered our married monogram on 100 linen napkins. Each guest had their name at the top of their menu. There were tons of little details that I obsessed about-- and they were my favorite part of our wedding design.

I volunteered to host my cousin's baby shower in April and I have gone a bit crazy scouring the internet looking at pictures of other people's showers to get ideas and inspiration. (Well, I'll be doing the planning and decorating, my mom will hold the party at her house & I'm sure my aunts will all pitch in just as they did for my fabulous shower last summer.) The wheels are already turning regarding all of the little details I want to put into it and since my time is so limited, I want to get started early (aka now).

A few days ago I stumbled on a tutorial for making these:

& I thought they'd be adorable to drink out of with a really cute paper straw, like these:

So, I gathered some supplies to give it a try:

A Starbucks Frappuccino (drink or dump coffee, peel labels off and scrub)
Rubber Gloves
Glass Etching Cream
A Paintbrush
A template
Stickers

Instead of using paper and adhesive like the tutorial suggests, I made my template out of contact paper so that it would stick. It worked perfectly!

I cut a circle out of the contact paper and stuck the remaining square to the bottle. Then I put a sticker in the middle. I dipped the paintbrush in the etching cream and covered the area, then let it sit for half an hour before rinsing it off.

So, my first attempt didn't come out as clean as I wanted- I wasn't careful enough when I pressed the template to the glass so you can see some spots where the cream snuck underneath the template and created an imperfect circle.

However, my second attempt was much better! (I did it on the back of the same bottle for practice.) The circle came out perfectly and the "b" was nice and clean. I probably could have left the etching cream on a few more minutes, but I wasn't paying close attention to the time in between nursing, naps & diaper changes.

I love how easy these were and what a sweet touch they'll be at the shower when they are done with a scalloped edge circle with a little "m" on them! The mama-to-be's name is Mary Allison (she goes by Memo, which we pronounce Mee-mo) and the sweet baby girl scheduled to debut in May will be named Susie Amelia, but she'll go by Millie. That's a lot of m's!

I was also thinking that I might use these as a decoration at the party-- perhaps I'll spell out m-i-l-l-i-e with the bottles across the mantle, using them as vases for gerber daisies? Ahhh, the possibilities are endless.

Now I have the task of collecting enough frappuccino bottles for each person at the party plus extra and unfortunately, they're not my favorite. Luckily, my mom likes them, so I just have to convince her to drink them more often. Also, our newborn photographer offers them to her clients, so she's agreed to hold on to them for me. I think I'll need about 35 bottles by the end of March, so if anyone drinks these regularly let me know! (I think that you could probably squeeze enough of these bottles into a flat rate shipping box to make it worthwhile.)

I'll definitely post more pics of projects as I work on them!

Piece of Cake

I'm working on a post about Christmas Day (which I accidently posted earlier tonight, then promptly returned to draft mode when I realized it!) so that you can see some pics of how spoiled Liam was (well, we all were!) on his first Christmas.

Under the tree this year, I found this book:

Along with this adorable addition:

I couldn't wait to try it but really needed an occasion to go through the trouble of gathering the ingredients and putting these together. Then, a friend called and invited us to a cookie swap tomorrow night. Perfect!

I opted for the no bake (easy!) recipe which consists of a package of crushed oreos and a package of cream cheese. After mixing them together and chilling them, I used the cupcake mold to shape the dough into tiny cupcakes, chilled again, then dipped the bottoms in melted chocolate and inserted the lollipop sticks. I turned them upside down in an egg carton to let the chocolate harden.


Then, I dipped the top in pink candy melts, and decorated with an m&m and sprinkles. I stuck the sticks in styrofoam so that they could harden.


I made Rob my official taste-tester. Rich. Moist. Delicious!!

Then, I packaged them up for the party tomorrow night. (Really, what doesn't look cuter with a green grosgrain ribbon tied to it?)

I'm thrilled with how these turned out and just had to share. I can't wait to experiment with other cute creations from the book and make more of these cupcake pops! (These will be so perfect at my cousin's baby shower in a few months & I've got a while to perfect my technique before then.) If you ever need a cute treat, give these a shot. They were fun & so easy!

From our family...

...to yours.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling.

Letters to Liam, 3 months

My Little Liam,

A year ago today, I wondered if we’d ever have a baby of our own. Would I ever know what it was like to watch my belly expand as my baby grew, to feel a little one twist and turn inside me, or to see the face of a child that was a little bit of me and a little of your daddy? A baby was our biggest Christmas wish, and you are our dream come true. Although we didn’t know it yet, on Christmas morning last year you were three days old, at the very beginning of your little life. As we decorated our Christmas tree this year while you watched, I teared up thinking about how lucky we are to have you. Three months old and you are the light of our lives.

Last week, I started packing up your newborn clothes. What a bittersweet day! I mourn the fact that you are growing so quickly and celebrate it at the same time. Each day I see you change and it takes my breath away.

It’s almost time to move you out of your bassinet in our bedroom and into your crib in your own room. We decorated a beautiful nursery for you, and you’ve never even slept in it! It’s silly, I know, but it feels like such a big step and while I know that you are ready, I’m not sure that I am. Once you’re gone, you’ll never again be the tiny baby sleeping steps away from me. I cling to these days (even the difficult ones) because I know how sweet and precious they are.

Speaking of sleeping, you are doing so great-- We put you to bed around 11:30pm each night and you sleep until 8:30-9:30am the next morning! I am SO happy that you sleep through the night because it makes our days together much easier. We’re still having problems with your tummy, but we’ll keep trying new things until you feel better. We increased your acid reflux medicine and changed bottles recently. I’m committed to continue breastfeeding you and daddy gives you a bottle of my milk each night. Your colic seems to have calmed down considerably, but I don’t think we’re out of the water just yet. We’re trying to be patient.

You rolled over for the first time yesterday! Today you have been showing off your new trick—you’ve done it several more times and you seem so pleased with yourself until you realize that you can’t figure out how to flip back over. Daddy and I are so proud of you (and terrified)!

You had a great first Thanksgiving at Marmi & Poppy’s house! Grandpa Blakely, Aunt Barbara, Uncle Jeremy and your cousins Sarah and Jack came to celebrate. We had so much fun getting to see them and you and Jack had a great time playing. We got some sweet pictures of you two together— I hope that you two grow up to be friends as well as family like we are with your Aunt Barbara.

Christmas is just a few days away and we’re so excited to celebrate with you! We can’t wait to give you your presents—some blocks, cars, books, keys and teethers. You’re not quite old enough for most of your gifts yet, but you will be in the next few months and we can’t wait to watch you grow and play. We’ve added new ornaments for you to the tree and we’ll build our own traditions as a family each year. I’ve been working on sewing your first stocking this week and can’t wait for Santa to fill it with goodies.

I’m not a big fan of Christmas songs, but one song I keep hearing has lyrics that make me overwhelmed with gratitude for all we’ve been given this year:

My whole life has turned around,
I was lost but now I’m found…
A baby changes everything.

You’ve changed our lives forever, and we couldn’t be happier.

I love you, my little Christmas miracle.
Mommy

Got Milk?

Whoever said, "Don't cy over spilled milk" was obviously not a breastfeeding mother, who just accidently dumped an entire bottle of pumped milk all over the kitchen counter.