happy valentine’s day from henry

twice in one day! it’s a record. but i just had an impromptu photo shoot and he’s just so darling so i wanted to share (and me editing so fast is another record). his big blue eyes just melt me. sorry for the henry overload; perhaps i should rename my blog to ‘all henry all the time’.

note to self: next time, make the heart out of a heavy cardboard. also: wear deodorant – holy sweat fest photoshoot with a moving babe (because, um, i’m still in my pj shirt and deodorant isn’t usually applied until i actually get dressed).

xo,

{justine}

mini heart garland {diy}

sorry for my absence. it’s cold. we’re not doing much around here. no house to move into and do things to. this week all three of us got the stomach flu. and there’s only so many photos of henry i can subject you to.

so with that, i’ve had a hankering to do a craft, and with valentine’s day creeping up,  i’ve seen lots of v-day crafts. i’m not big on decorating for smaller holidays, but i thought a little heart action couldn’t hurt.

i decided to finally replace my christmas wreath with my coffee filter wreath (remember when those diy’s were popular a few years ago? still have it and love it) and make a mini heart garland for it. not wanting to go to the store for anything, i scrounged around my craft supplies for the garland materials. i found:

-a heart paper punch (used for this pinterest inspired heart artwork)
-red cardstock
-a red and pink ombre flocked striped notecard (that i diy’d awhile ago and decided i didn’t like enough to send to anyone)
-”all you need is love” stamp (used for the hotel thank you bags for my wedding)

i punched out a bunch of red hearts…and decided they were a bit…red. i’m not much of a red person.

{note to self: love the stripes with the heart punched out. just noticed now}

so i punched hearts out of the front of the flocked note card and loved the striped, furry hearts. then i stamped “all you need is love” on the remaining parts of the note card and cut out hearts with different parts of the phrase on them.

once a bunch of hearts were punched i estimated the amount i would need for my garland, decided the order i wanted them in (mostly random though) and sewed them together. to sew them i pulled the thread so there was a few inch tail at the start and simply sewed through the hearts horizontally, gently pulling the thread about an inch between each heart, and then i left another tail at the end.

in all honestly the hardest part was getting it to lay perfectly on my wreath.

it was fast too. it would have been a naptime project, except this past week my son has decided he will take even shorter naps now, if he naps, so not quite that fast.

enjoy your day!

{justine}

christmas 2012

i feel like as you get older, birthdays and holidays lose their excitement a bit. don’t get me wrong, i still love the day that celebrates me, and christmas is my favorite time of year, but it’s not the same as when you’re a kid. but it turns out having a kid is just as good, or perhaps even better since you are the one bringing them such joy. sure, henry was too young to understand christmas and santa (and i can’t wait until he does), but the magic was back in full force.

we had a lovely christmas eve at my parents’ continuing our traditions of christmas eve mass, opening a present (if there is one that is useful for the night like a game), a delicious dinner and playing games (and, um, drinking too much ). christmas morning was full of present opening (with some really great presents!), eating paper and ribbons (henry only), and getting the house and food ready for the 36 total people attending christmas dinner at my parents’. it was a packed house, which is how i love christmas, and it was so great to catch up with cousins and grandparents and eating way too much delicious food. henry did so well, happy as could be getting passed from person to person, until dinner time, of  course. but once he was fed he was happy again and i could actually eat my cold but delicious dinner.

such a great first christmas with henry, and i already can’t wait for next year!

how was your christmas? did you get everything you wanted?

{justine}

thankful

i have so much to be thankful for. so so much. i’m a lucky gal.

(even though these pictures only highlight the newest reason to be thankful, as always, i am most thankful for my entire family, and all our happiness and health. especially all my boys.) (and blue eyes )

have a very happy thanksgiving!

{justine}