monthly pic how-to

I have had many people inquire lately how I create the monthly update pics of Adeline.  (You can find those: here, here, here, or here!)  I was so excited when I learned about this trick and found this site, that I'm excited to share!

I use the website, PicMonkey.  It's free (mainly-unless you want to get super, duper fancy)!

First, I just make sure to have a picture of Miss Adeline (that's not hard to come by ;) that has a nice foreground image of her, but also has a lot of background area so that text will fit.

Example:

 

{1}

{2}

{3}

 

{4}

Clear as mud? ;)

This has been such an easy, fun, and creative way for me to keep an update on Adeline each month after she turned 1!  I try to be good and make these as soon as she turns another month old, but that just doesn't always happen.  I can't imagine why! ;)  If I forget what she's been up to when making my photo, I just go back and look at my Instagram pictures or my Facebook pictures from that month to get ideas. 

I like to save these in a special photo "Adeline-Year 2" on Facebook and on my computer under Adeline's file of pictures, in which I have another file titled "Monthly Pictures".  I also update them to the blog each month, of course. :)

I have noticed these do not print correctly from places like Walgreens, etc.  (the text doesn't fit all within the dimensions of the photo).  I would just recommend printing them from your computer on nice stock paper if you want them printed.

Other ideas with PicMonkey:  Text art for blogs, etc, or you can even do collages and make a Facebook timeline photo.

Enjoy!

memory keeping

I am guilty for a few things.

One.  I am a memory hoarder.  Seriously.  I try to hang onto every moment and memory.  Having a baby has taken this to a whole new level! ;)

Two.  I am always looking for ways to change and add/update our home.

Three.  Pinterest is an addiction of mine.  I pin and pin and pin.  And then pin some more.  It's like a drug for creative people.  I have a "memory keeping" folder, an "our home" folder, and a "photo ideas" folder that often get filled up with pin ideas for our home.

So, oh my was I happy when I was recently able to make some of my pinning happen in "real life"!

My first project is a silhouette of Adeline.  I so love the whimsy and charm a silhouette adds to the wall.  Not to mention the beauty of having Adeline's sweet little profile captured at 9 months! 

I found the oval frame at a yard sale for $0.50! A little spray paint was all it needed! I simply used a silhouette tutorial online and am so, so pleased with how it turned out!

The silhouette became one of a few things that I added to our hallway.  I added it to a collage of frames.  One frame to go around the thermostat (Pinterest idea), a newborn photo of Adeline, the silhouette, and then a quote I printed that I found on Pinterest that I love..."i wouldn't trade you for the world".

Another memory keeping project I did recently was actually a gift for Father's Day for Justin.  It's a collage of pictures of Adeline that I finally got it hung in our bedroom.  I so adore it (and so does Justin ;)!

The final project I completed recently was corralling two years of cards.  Yes, I save all the cards we receive for birthdays, holidays, etc.  We have a bunch of cards for 2011, one for 2012, and then I have started a bunch for Adeline of all her cards from her first year.  I grouped them to include the Christmas cards from the December right before (so the 2011 bunch has 2012 Christmas cards) and I plan to start a new bunch at each Christmas and collect as the year goes.  I used an automatic whole punch and binder rings you can get at any store with office supplies.  I love having our cards organized and a plan for where they are going.  (I keep a card display on our foyer table of the current cards.  They will now get moved to the ring of cards once a holiday passes.)

Whew! Feels good to get this accomplished and in our home to enjoy for years to come.

pillow talk

We recently purchased new living room furniture that I love! Our couch was a hand-me-down from my brother-in-law and sister-in-law which they had gotten used from my brother-in-law's parents. Needless to say, after us having it around for 4 years of marriage, it was on its last leg.

At the furniture store, we pieced a couch and chair together from different lines. So the pillows that came with our couch had the couch material on one side and another fabric that didn't match our chair on the other. We could have bought a set of pillows that match the chair for $50. Um, no thanks.

For the meantime we've had the fabric side of the pillows facing the couch to hide the mismatched colors. I have been shopping around and hadn't fallen in love with any pillows that match our couch and chair...especially at a price I'm happy with.

Well as you know (and probably do too)....I love Pinterest!

I found a great tutorial for a no-sew pillow cover simply using fabric and folding and knotting it around the pillow. My kind of project!

I also really liked the pillows that came with our couch--they are large and really cushiony. I was having a hard time thinking that we would just throw perfectly good pillows down into the basement, replacing them with others.

So without further ado, with a whopping $9 at Wal-Mart and literally maybe 5 minutes of time...we have new couch pillows that match our chair (and so happen to also match our living room curtains...love when decor details just fall together like that)!

Here's the direct link to the tutorial (I'm on my phone, so no fancy link):

http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/31-insanely-easy-and-clever-diy-projects?s=mobile