Spring Is In The Air – DIY Bird Mobile

I love being a teacher.  I still get to have spring break!  One of my goals for vacation was to start and complete this bird mobile I’ve been wanting to do since Ev and I got married.  My friends and I had made almost 100 birds to hang from the trees at our rehearsal dinner.  The guests were invited to pick a bird and write a special message on the back; words of wisdom, advice, best wishes, that kind of thing.  This was one of my favorite parts of our wedding weekend.  My best friends were with me all morning hanging the birds.  We never thought we’d finish on time.  Of course we did, right under the wire and it was so much fun.  I’ve been saving the birds over the years trying to figure out what to do with them.  Now that we have little d, a mobile for her room seemed like a great idea.  I tried stringing them up a few different ways but in the end, scotch tape, some treated branches, crystal beads and fishing wire worked best.  I love how you can see the messages when the birds turn.  I keep rereading them.  I think my favorite is from one of Ev’s best friend from childhood.  He and his wife wrote three tidbits of advice.  1.  First class is always cheaper.  2.  Your wife is always right. and 3.  Separate bathrooms = Marital bliss.  Words to live by.

As soon as Ev hangs the mobile in d’s room I’ll post some more pics.

D's bird mobile vine.co/v/bITaUQYtZXK—
  (@mericherryla) April 02, 2013

Gratitude, Joy, and Hand Me Down Heaven

Yesterday, my girls received the best gift EVER.  About six bags of amazing hand me downs from their very special big girl friend, Frankie.  My heart jumped out of my chest as I unpacked every bag and meticulously folded every item and placed it in it’s proper pile.  Let’s just say my girls are set for life.  Or at least until they are seven.  THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FRANKIE!  (and to your mama too for having the best taste!)  Gigi and little d will be stylin for years to come.  Amen.

vine.co/v/b6pDBrJMO9P—
  (@mericherryla) February 20, 2013

I am a handmedown/consignment/garage sale addict.  Before little d was born I would get up early almost every Saturday and go from yard sale to yard sale while Ev hung out with Gigi.  I’d prepare my list the night before from Craigslist and Jen’slist.  It was very therapeutic alone time I treasured.  Now it’s a little harder with two so I save my extra cash for a few monthly and yearly events, with the occasional yard sale thrown in.  Here are my not to be missed favs.

1.  LA Kids Consignment throws the absolute BEST EVER kid consignment blowout events.  The Burbank one is the mothership of them all and it’s happening in exactly 20 days 10 hours and thirty some odd seconds but who’s counting.  I couldn’t recommend this event more.  My heart starts palpitating just thinking about it.  They have everything from strollers, to toys, to endless racks of gently used clothes size 0 thru around third grade at incredible prices, plus stuff for moms.  Splurging on the VIP pass is well worth it.  You can go the night before the sale is open to the public and avoid two hour lines.  Plus, you get first round picks.  It’s amazing.  The other locations are good also, but Burbank is by far the biggest and the best.

2.  Cal Kids Consignment is a much smaller event but if you need a fix it can be pretty good.  It’s getting bigger I think, so hopefully in a few years it will be really good.

3.  The Silver Spoon Kid’s Consignment Shop in Palm Desert.  We go to Palm Desert pretty regularly and always make a stop here.  Last time I picked up the cutest Dwell crib bedding set for 20 bucks and we love it!

4.  The Rose Bowl.  Every second Sunday of the month you’ll find me there with this girl.  Best second hand shopping experience ever.  If you don’t know, now you know.

5.  Bluebird is a great source for designer gently used kid clothes.  The prices aren’t like LA Kids Consignment, but hey, they have a store to run so I get it.  And definitely great for nicer stuff.

If you have any other spots that are a must shop, please let me know.  Obsessed!

DIY mini BELT

Gigi needed a belt.  So, today, I made her one…from Loopers.

I tried to show the steps one by one below.  FIrst, I looped the loops to make three long ropes, about seven loops long each.  Then I tied a knot at one end and taped it down to the table.

Next, I braided the three ropes and tied a knot at the end.

I found a button around the house and sewed it onto one of the knots.  Then, I cut the loops at each end to create fringe.  *NOTE* I left one loop on the opposite side of the button uncut so I could loop it around the button.

Voila.  A sweet little belt for my girl.

Pretty cute.  Hope she likes it.

 

Washi Tape Feather Headdress

We took our duct tape headdresses a step further today with washi tape.  You can follow the directions here and then just add washi and gems.  This headdress is going to a special friend tomorrow!

My mom recently surprised me with the peacoat Gigi is wearing below.  It’s from when I was her age.  So cool.  Thanks Mama.

DIY Duct Tape Feather Headdress

The weather in LA is sooo gorgeous right now.  Gigi and I made an impromptu feather headdress and played outside all afternoon.  I had some inspiration from this post, which involved some crazy glue to stick ribbon together.  I skipped that part and used duct tape instead and it worked great.  See instructions below.

vine.co/v/b6mxP6Dpwij—
  (@mericherryla) February 18, 2013

Directions

Put out a strip of duct tape sticky side up.  I tuck under the two edges so they stick to the table on either side.

Stick feathers on the duct tape.  Make sure you don’t go lower than the midpoint on the duct tape.  Fold over the duct tape (in half) so there is no more sticky side exposed.

Stick on gems or other decorations.  I got these sticker gems at Target and plan to get more.  They’re great.

Take a little duct tape to join the edges and voila, a feather headdress.

Valentine’s Day Stickers

Happy Valentine’s Day everybody!  Gigi and I woke up to a whole lotta love this morning.  Little d slept through the night and all is right in the world.  Time to celebrate!  I found a stack of blank UPS stickers and cut them into different heart shapes.  I’m pretty sure these are still available for free from UPS.  If not, any sticker paper will do.  Then I stuck some washi tape over the hearts in different shapes.

After all the tape was down, Gigi and I used paint dots to cover the hearts.  If you don’t have these for your toddler, I highly recommend them.  No mess and super fun!

We covered the hearts with dots and let them dry.  It only took a few minutes.  Then, Gigi had fun peeling off the tape from the hearts.  I just started the peel for her a little.  Great for fine motor.

We stuck the hearts all over her.  And voila!  Happy Valentines.  May your day be filled with love, joy and good health.

Washi Tape Building Blocks – Fav DIY

I know I’ve posted about these washi tape blocks before but I’m having so much fun with my new photoshop skills from BlogshopLA that I am posting about them again.  This was the most satisfying DIY to do when I was 9 months pregnant.  I barely had to move.  I could just sit on the couch with a big basket of blocks and my washi tape collection and just tape, tape, tape.  We play with these soft giant building blocks all the time.  Gigi loves to stack them and jump off into Ev’s arms.  It’s kind of the best.

Up and Running (again) and Making Baby Barrettes

Every time I think I’m back in the swing of blogging it doesn’t quite seem to go that way.  I manage one post and then come to a quick halt.  My intention is to post more frequently, which means more daily art projects.  That is definitely what I want!  An 8 week old doesn’t quite coincide with that desire but we’ll see.  Last night and this morning I had some free time while G napped.  Though my girl doesn’t have any hair just yet, I decided to make some barrettes.  I was inspired by a few I saw online, like these and these.  Anyhoo, I ran out of barrettes mid project but still continued on with the tops.  It’s easy enough to get the actual barrette.  I am also OBSESSED with pinterest (follow me!), which lead me to these owls, so I decided to squeeze a little owl in there as well.  Everything was really easy to make.  All you need are some fabric scraps, barrettes or bobbi pins, pinking shears and a glue gun.  Enjoy!