27

happy anniversary birthday (27 on the 27th!) to my sweet sissy & best friend in the world, kara. xo

{kara & me at a rooftop party in nyc a few years ago}

if I was miniature...

because I have freakishly small feet, I get the jcrew kids catalog in the  mail. but this month's issue made me really wish I was a child, because all of the clothes are pretty stinking adorable. 

displaying old books

my mom is probably the biggest book nerd you will ever meet. when she was kid, she dreamed of being a librarian when she grew up. she also begged santa for a set of encyclopedia one christmas. oh, and I'm pretty sure she cried when she found out carolyn keene wasn't a real person. 

so yes, she absolutely loves books. she even saved a bunch of her old nancy drew books. but unfortunately, they were very well-loved & now look really old & beat up. not the prettiest thing to display on a bookshelf. so instead of putting them away, mom covered them with some glossy white paper. if you were born in the 80s like me, you might need to watch this youtube video on how to cover books (my mom couldn't believe that we never covered our school books). I think it looks so clean & modern when a bunch of them line a shelf. and not to mention, very simple & inexpensive to create.

cute kiddos

I've taken some pictures of some awfully cute kids lately. hope you don't mind if I share. I kind of wanna steal one. 

{"e" waiting to greet his guests at his adorable 3rd birthday party}

{miss "o" turns four...}

{... and already looks too grown up!}

{little brother owen hanging out at his big brother's birthday party}

{sweet baby "h". which we now sadly have to call toddler "h"}

messy ballerina bun tutorial

my sister kara was in town last awhile back & taught me how to do this cute messy ballerina bun. I know there are plenty of hair tutorials out there, but I thought the photos turned out so pretty that I wanted to share. 

this look works best with “day-old” hair. no product is necessary, but hairspray helps “dirty” up the hair, so it's best to use a little.

step 1: gather all of your hair up into a high ponytail.

step 2: with a rubber band in one hand, make one loop through your hair, as if you’re making a pony tail.

step 3: twist the rubber band and make a second loop (don’t pull through) to make the bun.

step 4: use your finger and place it in the center of your bun and fan out your hair around it, so the bun is full.   

step 5: using your hand, smooth out your bun by wrapping the pieces around it.

step 6: make a final loop over the bun with your pony tail holder.

step 7: use bobby pins to tuck in any missed pieces if necessary.

remember, it should look messy, so don’t fret too much

ta da! and simple as that, even if your ballet teacher wouldn't approve.

state bird prints

I have a case of wanderlust. the only thing preventing me from dropping everything & traveling the globe right now is the fact that I'd be broke in about two weeks. so for now, I just dream & plan pretend trips in my head that will most likely never happen. but I find joy just in thinking about it. and these letterpress state bird/flower prints definitely inspire me to do more traveling in the usa.

robert & I found the first one at an adorable gift store while we were visiting friends in maine. we decided it would be a great tradition to buy one for every state we have visited together. luckily, dutch door press has an etsy store, so I have been gifting robert with a print for birthdays or holidays. right now we have texas, virginia, maine, new york, california & illinois. wouldn't it be awesome to fill the entire wall with prints? our good friends are able to fly for free & have taken their kids (ages 9 & 11) to almost every state (they are up to #42 right now!). so cool.

{print from dutch door press. 5x7 frames from target}

april cookie: carrot cake whoopie pies

every year I make the easter dessert & the request this year was for carrot cake. I wanted to put a little spin on it & since I obviously love whoopie pies (seen here & here), I decided to make carrot cake whoopie pies. I used this recipe but adapted it just a bit. they were really good (especially the orange cream cheese filling!), with only one to spare at the end of the day. hope you guys had a wonderful easter weekend!

happy easter!

"praise be to the god and father of our lord jesus christ! in his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead..." - 1 peter 1:3

make a felt flower pin

my friend jenny had me over recently for a little craft day. we had all kinds of projects we planned to tackle, but got a bit distracted & then ran out of time (due to a much-needed trip for some red velvet frozen yogurt). however, we did manage to make these fun felt flowers. jenny first spotted the tutorial from jones design company. they only require few supplies & are easy to make.

here’s what you’ll need:

cardstock to make the flower template

a quarter (to trace for the base piece)

a sheet of felt

a pencil

scissors

glue gun

pin

draw a flower-shape onto cardstock to make a template. we just drew ours by hand; it doesn’t have to be perfect. cut out the template & trace onto a sheet of felt. i made six or seven felt flowers for each pin.

for your “base”, trace a quarter onto the felt & cut out.

once you have all your pieces cut & laid out, fold a flower over in half & then in half again.

add a bit of hot glue to the end & press onto the circle base. hold until dry.

keep adding the petals around the circle.

once you have added four petals, add glue to the center & add two or three more to make the flower look full.

when you’re finished adding the petals, flip the flower over & add a bit of hot glue to the back & add the pin.

easy as that! you have yourself an adorable little flower pin.

these pins look really cute on cardigans; try grouping multiple flowers together. you could also add these felt flowers onto packages, hot glue onto headbands, or even clip onto ballet flats. they make great gifts & would be perfect for easter!

march cookie: brown sugar cookie

just in the nick of time, I baked up a batch of the "march" brown sugar cookie on the last day of the month. it was dark & stormy all day on saturday, which for me is the perfect baking weather. these cookies are really soft & chewy, with a hint of spice & brown sugar flavor. you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry right now - go make them. :)

{recipe}