Sneak Peek: Henry

This just might be the cutest little guy yet. Such squishy little cheeks and gorgeous black hair! It was a pleasure to hold this sweetie and photograph him on his 8th day in the world. His Momma and I have been friends for years and years and it did my heart so much good to see her cuddle up with her tiny baby Henry.

Two Lollidots

Ann Marie and Cody make hip, trendy children's clothing at Two Lollidots. They have a variety of tutus for special occasions and holidays, cute felt clips, t-shirts for boys and girls, and reversible sundresses. Everything is so cute! I will definitely have to get some of their tie t-shirts for my little boy.

I had the pleasure of doing a product photo shoot with them. Their children made great models and I think we all had a lot of fun trying out the different outfits and running around alleyways and on train tracks!

Adventures in Finger-painting

I recently let my son, (then about 10 months) try finger-painting. I mixed up some Jell-o vanilla pudding with pureed sweet potatoes, pureed peas, and pureed blueberries. I make my own baby food, so I had some readily on hand. Then I put them in little dishes with a large piece of drawing paper on the kitchen floor and let him have at it! It was fun watching him really get into it. The only thing I would do differently is put the "paint" in plastic cups instead of ceramic ones, because he did try to throw them!

Starry Night Bottlecap Mural

This fall I made a large 8 ft. x 12 ft. mural with my elementary art students completely out of bottlecaps. We studied Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night and then each of my 700 K-5th grade students took turns drilling in about 10 bottlecaps each. We used about 7,000 bottlecaps, all recycled from the students' homes! The idea came from artist, Michelle Stitzlein , who sells the complete instructions to the mural in her book, Bottlecap Little Bottlecap.

Favorite Artist of the Week: Toilet Paper Tube Art

I found this image online and it just made my heart smile. I love that the artist used a recycled toilet paper tube to create a tiny little world. I don't know who the artist is though, unfortunately.

Sneak Peek: Emily

Now that my son is almost a year old it is hard to believe he was ever as small as little Emily. She was just one tiny bundle of cuteness. She was very good and quiet while her sisters were running around her photo shoot in fairy costumes. I think she even fell asleep with all the noise! I guess when you are the third child in the family, you get used to that sort of thing. Take a look at her pink striped leggings... now that's stylin'!

Circus Baby Shower

This weekend I helped throw a baby shower for my dear friend Julia. It was a circus themed shower using her nursery room colors: red and light blue. The party was held at the church where Julia is a children's pastor. Aren't the decorations cool? (Thanks to my co-hosts Shannon and Amanda). They were inspired by some of the links above.

Amanda made these cute little circus tags for all the food with circus stickers.

Strawberry, Nutella, and Vanilla cupcakes with animals on top.

These are so easy and yummy to make: cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, and a little balsamic vinaigrette on top right before the party.

The pretty pregnant lady: Julia Goolia!

Our craft activity was to have everyone make a quilt square for a crib quilt. I cut flannel into 8x8 inch squares and the ladies traced stencils and die-cuts into shapes on fleece. Then they pinned them to their quilt square.

A few finished squares. I'll post the finished quilt when it is done.

Guacamole, Artichoke dip, Italian Skewers

Fruit salad, cupcakes, cookies, lemon blueberry trifle

To make the Lemon Blueberry Trifle:
For the lemon mixture: Mix two 3.4 oz boxes lemon Jello pudding powder with 2 1/2 cups milk and three 6 oz. containers lemon yogurt
Layer 1 inch cubes of angel food cake, then lemon mixture, then blueberries. Repeat two more times. Top with Cool Whip and blueberries.


Tissue paper flowers

The guests filled out wish cards for the baby.



I just love this silly lady and can't wait to meet her baby!