i make stuff

yarn ball wreath

our new front door called for a new winter wreath..It was pretty simple to make.. A bit time consuming but totally worth it and i'm loving it.

wishing you all a wonderful holiday next week!

a holiday home

i've been away for awhile.. we've been busy packing, moving, unpacking and planning. We're rebuilding our family home.. and it's going to be an adventurous 9 months ahead.

Years ago, Joseph and I designed our dream home, a home we imagined our children growing up in.. and now it's becoming a reality. 

So for now we've moved to our temporary casa.. while all the construction is happening. And I wondered if it was even worth it to go to all the trouble setting up a tree.. We always travel up north for Christmas.. and it seemed simple, to keep it simple. But I added to my ever growing to-do list.. and this week we set up a tree that we can marvel and enjoy for the next two weeks before our travels.

I'm glad we did.. it finally feels like home.

I'll plan on sharing all the details of the remodel with you along the way. Or you can even follow me on pintrest while I pin away!

I'll check back soon with some holiday treats I've been working on. Have a great weekend!

authentique & twinery hop

If your visiting my blog via the hop.. thanks for stopping by! If you're coming by way of Goldicar Designs you're on the right track. If not, make sure you start at the beginning over at authentique paper blog and don't forget to check the bottom of the post for giveaway details..


This weekend cyra has plans to attend a birthday barty for two very special twin girls.. so we worked together to wrap some special gifts.


First we made some letter cut-outs using authentique paper's uncommon collection and hung them with twinery blossom twine. I laminated the letter cut-outs so they would last longer.. i think these would be sweet as tags for a backpack or lunchbox. Finally we taped them to the package using some pretty japanese washi tape. 


These twin girls are turning 5.. and I wanted to incorporate their age in the packaging.. so I wrapped the larger box with five strands of twinery blossom twine.. made mini flags using washi tape and finally used the petite type circle stickers also part of the authentique uncommon collection.  Each flag & strand representing a year of their life.


For the twig ornaments, I followed the traditional native american god's eye technique and used twigs with beautiful pink sorbet and lilac twinery twine. For a special touch.. cyra painted the twigs pink and purple before we wrapped the ornaments.. these would also make special holiday decorations..



Special gifts for some special friends, all wrapped with love.

Your next stop is suburbNgypsy.. thanks again for stopping by!

Don't forget to leave a comment on this post to be entered in the hop giveaway! The Twinery will be giving away an ultimate color sampler pack.. and Authentique Paper is giving away beautiful paper of course!

Have a great weekend!

tiny dragon - halloween 2011

Cyra has an acute obsession with dragons.. so it is only appropriate that her favorite little man be a dragon for halloween. I used this adorable tutorial from projectsbyjess..

And for the hoodie, I just stitched simple triangles starting at the top center of the hood all down the back.

it turned out so fun... i'm loving this little character.

the ladybug girl - halloween 2011

She wanted to be ladybug girl. And she’s working on taking flight.

For the wings, first I cut out the shape/size from cardboard that I eventually wanted them to be.  Then lined it with batting, using a hot glue gun to keep the batting in place on the cardboard. Next, I stuffed the wings in-between the batting and the cardboard with poly-fil. Once the wings were stuffed, I stitched the quilting cotton & knit jersey front & back. I attached the elastic straps by cutting through the fabric and cardboard and gluing them where I imagined her shoulders would be.

For the tutu, I used 8 yards of red tule and assembled the skirt using this technique. The leotard is actually the same one she wore last year with her cupcake costume.. I just dyed it black & I added fancy red spots..

We've been having fun with this costume for weeks now!  Check back tomorrow and I'll share with you the little guy's costume!

halloween crafting

we've been in full swing with halloween crafting at home.. idea's for these projects came via the following links.
clothespin bats via martha, ghost feet on pintrest, q-tip skeletons via u-create and our lovely bat family is just simple black vinyl cut on the silhouette, hung on the columns outside our home.

i'm almost done adding the final touches to the kids halloween costumes..
I can't wait to share them with you!

the little guy's birthday bash - car theme

in keeping with the car playmat.. zaya's big sister thought a car birthday party was in order.. if I've learned anything when it comes to birthday parties.. is when they are little.. is to keep is small.. so on Saturday we celebrated the little guy turning 1.. with a few special people. here are some of the details..







a sweet party for a sweet little guy..

a happy 4th

we spent our morning admiring red, white and blue..


made ruffled streamers..


ate some balloons..


went to a parade..

found some patriotic bugs


and ate some grass.



hope it was happy.. just like ours.