Before and After: Tiny Tapper

I’m going a different route here today at the In Place Of Her Crown blog.

Since the addition of my new baby, (the camera that is) I have been addicted to photography blogs. I recently stumbled upon this amazing blog called Pixel Perfect.  You really should check it out! The photos are amazing and the words are inspirational!

Today I decided to link up to Pixel Perfect’s before and after blog hop. I have to admit with all of the amazing edit entries I was a bit intimidated to link up. But, hey you have to start somewhere right?

The little sister received her dance recital costume last week and of course couldn’t wait to try it on! And I of course could not pass up an opportunity to use my new camera!

Here is the before SOOC version (taken with Cannon Rebel t1i)

 

And here is the edited version

Cropped, door knob removed, basic lighting and contrast adjusting, and finally my favorite part, pioneer women’s seventies action!

I love the way the edit brought more attention to her sweet little painted finger nails and the expression on her face! She’s such a little ham!

Don’t forget to check out the other AMAZING before and afters over at Pixel Perfect

 

 

Greeting Card Hoarders Unite!

I really wanted to share this idea sooner, but those nasty germs we had flying around here put a damper on my plans. Believe it or not I am just now finishing up taking all of the holiday decorations down? Crazy right? My house has been kinda funny. Half of my Christmas décor still out with little traces of Heart Day in the air!

The last thing to come down was my high school musical memo board turned Christmas card holder. Which you can find here.

I don’t know if your anything like me, but I Heart Greeting cards! So much that I hate to throw them away! Christmas Cards, Birthday Cards, Anniversary Cards, Valentine Cards, you name it!

Here is a great way to keep those cards as great mementos without just stuffing them in a box never to be seen again.

 

What you need:

Stack of greeting cards from any occasion

1 hole punch

Book ring

Punch a hole in the corner of each one of your greeting cards. Open up your book ring and add each card to the ring. That’s it! It’s that simple! Your kids will love having their own little book of Birthday Xmas ect. cards they can look back on for years to come!

We put our Christmas card “books” away each Christmas and bring them out the following year. It’s fun to look back at all the picture cards to see how much each family has changed.

The sisters really love their Birthday card “books” We leave them out year round in the bookcase and they have so much fun digging them out every now and then to relive the moment!

It may be too late for most of you to try this with your Christmas cards, but keep this idea in the back of your head for all those Valentine’s coming your way! *wink*

 

Here is where I’m linking this project up to…

Itty Bitty Doughnuts!

 

Yay! This post has been featured at I love nap time with chocolate sundaes!

OMGosh! I am so excited to share this with everyone here in blog land! 

 

Cute right? They are little itty bitty doughnuts! And you’ll love what they are made out of!  Want to learn to make your own? Keep reading!

 

The little sister got an adorable book (made by the American Girl Company) called “Tiny treats” It is full of recipes for sweet little treats, but on a major miniature scale. There are so many cute things I want to try with the sisters.

We started with the mini doughnuts because we happened to have every thing on hand.

Here is what you need to make your own itty bitty doughnuts…..

• Cheerios (we used honey nut)
• Powdered sugar
• milk chocolate chips (melted)
• tiny non perils
• shish-ka-bob skewer
• waxed paper
• optional:  tiny box & white tissue paper  (we handmade and folded our box out of white cardstock

 

Your Cheerios will become your “tiny doughnuts” Add a few to some powdered sugar and coat them well. “Tiny powdered sugar doughnuts.” OMGosh these are just so cute I’m bursting!

And who doesn’t love a doughnut topped with chocolate? Melt a small handful of milk chocolate chips and dip just one side of your Cheerio into the frosting.

Got sprinkles? We do, and what’s better than a doughnut topped with chocolate? A doughnut topped with chocolate and sprinkles!!

Don’t worry if you doughnut hole gets clogged with chocolate and sprinkles….. that’s where the skewer comes in…….

It’s all about the presentation right? (Even if you have two sisters like I do that are going to gobble these up in a second)  A mini doughnut box made just for your batch of mini doughnuts! LOVE IT!

And of course when you are done making your perfect Mommy doughnuts, (for blog purposes only) let your little ones did in and have a ball!!

What kind of itty bity doughnuts can you create????

 

Be sure to check out the fabulous parties I am linking this post up to!

7 year old manicurist, hit with the tummy bug, my special gift, and fun with Bokeh!

 

Wow what a week this family has had! So sad how our last few days of vacation were cursed by a HORRIBLE! Stomach virus! We won’t even get into that topic…….

Needless to say I have no craft, or anything real exciting to blog about, but still I feel the need to blog. The title of my post pretty much sums it up!

I’ve been playing around with the new camera and I LOVE it! I still need to learn to take it off auto a little lot more, but it’s been fun. My family thinks I’m a crazy camera lady. Just roaming around snapping pictures of random objects around the house.  “Mom!! Why are you taking pictures of my DSi games?”  “Mom!!! pictures of the stuffed animals? Really?”

Anyway since our tree is still up (due to the sickies we’ve had around here) I really wanted to experiment with Bokeh. The sisters were at school and my other Christmas décor has been put away so I decided to take pictures of the wonderful and thoughtful gift the husband got me for Christmas. Here are the shots I took….

Isn’t the husband the best? There is actually a tiny story behind this ring, but I won’t bore you with the mushy details! Instead just enjoy the beautiful Bokeh and the priceless manicure! That’s right ladies I have my own personal manicurist! Don’t be jealous! I have a personal masseuse as well but her prices jumped up to $100/hr. The manicure was free! *wink wink*

 

OH WAIT!!!!

I almost forgot I have a kind of craft to share with you!

The sister’s whole Christmas this year was pretty much based all around American Girl Dolls. The husband and I got them cubbies so that they could neatly store (read: learn responsibility) all of the accessories.

I decided to have some fun with my cricut and make a “special spot” in the play room just for AG stuff. The pictures are bad, (still learning that camera) and while it’s not really a creative craft I did have to get a little “crafty” to do it, so I think it deserves a spot on the blog!

 

 

 

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Sorry I’m a day late and a dollar short on this post! I’ve kinda just been taking it all in!

Another Christmas has come and gone! Presents opened, toys out of boxes, wonder and excitement in our eyes! I love reliving it all through my children! Here are some highlights of our amazing day!

A quick photo shoot before leaving to go to Great Gma and Gpa’s house on Christmas Eve

Grandma “T” brought the most adorable ice cream ornaments for the kids to make!

       Milk and Cookies for Santa                  I think the girls were really good this year!

      Peeking out the bedroom door

    about 7:30am Christmas morning              Let the Unwrapping begin!

The girls, SUPER excited about their Pillow Pets.      We had an American Girl kinda

                                                                                                   Christmas!       

       

                                                             BEST DOG EVER!!

 

    

Oh, and how can I leave this out? Merry Christmas to me!!

Now if I can just figure out how to use it!!

 

Hope everyone had a fantastic Holiday with great friends and fabulous family! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!