Small Style: Glitter & Stripes

Family photos are always a little high pressure when you have children, but the results are well worth the temporary stress. For this shoot, I wanted Emma to wear something stylish, but relaxed. I chose a navy & white striped jacket, skinny jeans & and an adorable glitter bow headband. 

Photo by: Volatile Photography

PS. I cannot believe this little girl starts preschool today. I am not sure I'll be able to hold it together.

Jeans and Sequin top: Gap Shoes: Max Studio

Little Bag Lady

I always keep my eyes open for cute and stylish pint-sized purses for Emma. She loves bringing little bags filled with mini toys when we are out and about, and I figure if she's going to bring them anyway, they may as well be fashionable. They are seriously so cute that sometimes I'm tempted to borrow her bags and use them as clutches for date nights!

One. Two. Three. Four.

Birthday Girl!

We'll be doing an afternoon post today! Celebrating little Maggie's first birthday fiesta full of polka dots, mischief, sugar, skinned knees, and tissue paper has taken a bit of our energy level and given us a case of the Mondays.. slow moving today. See you soon!

Psss! Quick tip for polka dots with icing: when you put the icing dots on, they'll look more like thorns than polka dots. Once the icing starts to harden, use freshly scrubbed hands (or a tiny kitchen tool that I don't own) to poke each dot and make them flatter. I was about to give up and let the dots look like thorns when my husband poked one for a taste and unknowingly saved the day... my morale at least, and I got the look I was aiming to get.

Red Saltwaters

I'm a firm believer that I should get fewer pairs of shoes for my girls and just keep the the style neutral and  high quality. It took awhile to get to this point. When Sophie was a baby I wanted tons of shoes for her- different options for every different look. Makes sense right? She had tons of shoes and she wore one good pair of 

pedipeds in about 95% of pictures from about six months to 15 months or so (she stayed a size 3 forever, conveniently enough!). It was then I realized the value of good quality shoes. I spend more, but end up spending less. Oh, and storing less. Win win. The Salt-Water sandals are SUCH a good buy. Not only do they not get ruined when they're in water, they actually mold more to your kids' feet! Love. 

Also, neutral means different things to different people. For me red is neutral. It cheers basic colors, and blends well with most brights. I never think that colors need to be the exact same to truly match. It's more about the style matching and the colors not clashing... and to be honest, if they were brown or black and truly neutral, my child would never want to wear them. :) Dress: h&m Sweater: Crewcuts Sandals: Salt-Water Sandals

Rare Finds

Cactus + Olive Mobile

I am a big fan of buying handmade one-of-a-kind products for my children. When I was planning the design for Cohen's room, I had a seriously hard time finding great unique pieces for a boy. Etsy is my go to spot for these types of products. When I was planning the design for Cohen's room I had a heck of a time finding great baby boy room decor that was not animals, sports or other typical boy decor. I turned to Etsy and found everything I needed. These are some of my favorites!

So Bebelicious Booties

SparklesSewShop Blanket

diy: Pretty Little Bows

My Maggie is turning one next weekend, so I spent this weekend prepping for her party (and getting super sentimental... ONE already?). It's a girly fiesta, so I figured out how to make festive little bows for the little guests' favors. I'd always wondered if they were easy to make, and the cost of buying them motivated me to look into making my own! :) 

Supplies:

• Felt rectangles the size of a sheet of paper (they're like 30 cents at a fabric store- big spender!)
• Hot glue gun & plenty of glue sticks
• Scissors
• Cute ribbon. Mine is actually gold glitter tape from Paper Source. 

1. Fold the felt in half both ways.

2. Unfold it and cut an inch wide or so to the crease on the width side.

3. Your strip should be about 1 inchX4.5 inch.

4. Use your hot glue gun to make two stripes in the middle of the felt strip.

5. Fold in one side toward the center.

6. Fold the other side toward the other (do these steps quickly because the glue dries so fast).

7. Pinch the middle with your fingers to shape it.

8. Cut the ribbon or glitter tape to wrap it around the center.

9. Glue the ribbon on the back and you have yourself a pretty little bow!

Now hot glue it to a hairclip or headband, tape it to beautify a birthday present, or string it and make some garland... the possibilities are endless! Once I successfully made one (in about 3 minutes flat, mind you), I went a little bow crazy. Big, small, glitter center, felt center... kinnnnd of addicting!

See? When I'm motivated, I really can be crafty. You can too!