spring bookmark tutorial

I co-hosted a book-themed baby shower for our sweetest new cousin this past weekend. Everyone was asked to bring a book to help start a library for the little guy. It was such a clever theme to work with, which included darling cupcakes with children's book character toppers and the gifts were so very thoughtful and personal. Each guest gave books that had meaning to them in some way or perhaps passed along a childhood favorite of theirs. It was so neat to see what each person gave!

To go along with our theme, I made these bookmarks for the favors. They were so much fun to make, that I thought I would pass along a little tutorial as to how I made them. Here goes!

Materials:

* cardstock for bookmark
* color printer (or a black & white printer would work as well)
* scissors or paper cutter
* hole punch (I prefer the smaller hole punches)
* pinking shears (to cut the fabric for the bookmark topper, but you can also use string, yarn or ribbon)
* fabric or paper glue
* fun fabric or paper scraps

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1. print out this template

2. cut out bookmark shapes

3. cut out the 2 flower & 1 leaf shape



4. trace those shapes onto your fabric or paper and cut out

5. glue the flower & leaf into place (mixing & matching colors & patterns is the most fun part!)



6. punch a hole at the top inside the circles

7. measure how long you want the length of your bookmark topper to be and double it; use pinking shears to cut a narrow strip of fabric the doubled length (or just use string, yarn or ribbon)

8. fold the fabric in half and thread the folded part through the hole in the top of the bookmark just enough to pull the two ends through your loop



9. pull gently and voila!


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For our shower, I used the word 'grow' on all of them, and then we customized the back with a little 'welcome to the world' message to the baby. But I love the word 'grow' for so many things, and perfect for spring! The bookmarks are just happy and they are such a sweet little treat to pop in the mail to someone you love. I mean anything via snail mail is special nowadays, so why not make someone's reading pleasure even more enjoyable.

And while we're on the topic of reading, I do have to confess my addiction to the library and putting books on hold. I have rediscovered how great the library is since having children, and I think I check out more books than my kiddos do. Rarely do I actually ever finish a book before it's due (okay... maybe never), but the art of checking them out is seriously exciting for me. The crafty and cooking books top my list... and it's a fabulous way to test out a book to see if it needs to be added to your collection or it's just better to borrow it. Talk about saving a few buckaroos! Anyhow, here's to reading about what you love, visiting your local library and enjoying early spring!

reprodepot

This online shop has such an amazing array of crafty goodness. I just happened along their fabulous new book of vintage patterns and just knew I had to add it to my budding crafty, artsy library collection. The book is just filled with charming patterns, each in several various color schemes, and the best part ~ it includes a cd so you can use the patterns for your own projects. Lovely? Inspiring? And how! It just so happened that I'm co-hosting a baby shower this weekend so I was able to put the patterns to use right away. I created the placecards and menu cards using complimentary designs. Don't you think they turned out cute?




Talk about sharing the wealth! I just love when artists and designers operate in such an open way. Thank you Djerba Goldfinger!

my flower girl

We received the flower girl dress for my sister-in-law's wedding this summer in the mail over the weekend, and my girl twirled and twirled when she tried it on. She loves it and it looks really precious on her. I love this photo because it is so ethereal and angelic... and so many thoughts come to mind when I look at this picture. Children are so pure, so honest, so genuine, truly carefree and know how to just be in the moment... without trying at all. It just comes so naturally to them and that is the gift of children we all try and capture, and why we want to rediscover the world through their eyes all over again. Oh to be a child again ~ to be carefree, free from worries, to have no preconceived ideas about anything and to be so easily forgiving. I wish we could bottle this magic up and hand it out. Imagine how this would change our world...

bread!

Did I mention how much I love to bake? I received this lovely, useful book as a holiday gift and it has become my bread bible. I had no interest in baking really until I had kids, and now I can't stop! Yeast has always been intimidating to me and I still get so excited when any dough I make actually rises! One of my goals for 2010 was to bake our own bread and so I've been making a batch of dough at the start of the week, and bake several loaves (or buns or naan) throughout the week. Brilliant I say! I love knowing exactly what goes into it and the way it makes our house smell on baking day. And honestly, what is better than warm bread right out of the oven? My pre-schoolers can eat half a loaf in one sitting, provided there's a little honey to go along with it. If you have ever thought about baking bread, take a peak at this blog and give it a try! The book is filled with great recipes, healthy ingredients and honestly requires very little work. Right up my alley! YUM!

an ordinary day

so appropo to my post yesterday...

where i've been...

:: riding trains at the zoo

:: taking the kids to & from school & activities

:: having lots of snuggle time (my favorite place in the world to be)

:: learning about the healing power of food

:: being so thankful I feel like myself again!

:: making bread dough (that can be used for so many cool things other than bread)

:: going to bed very early

:: researching summer activities for o & m

:: planning & making dinners

:: finding a dance class for mia (her first one!)

:: hiking with dear friends

:: planning baby & bridal showers

:: celebrating my cousin's birthday at an awesome restaurant root down

:: starting at-home date nights with my husband

:: feeling my energy return

:: researching a csa to join (I think we'll join this one)

:: enrolling o for kindergarten (yikes!!!!)

:: spending time with my mom

:: making plans with friends

:: starting a knitting group

:: getting back into our family rhythm

...what a blessing in disguise to appreciate all of these beautiful little things again!

he's off!

It was such an exciting weekend for us! Owen learned how to ride his bike with pedals! He was seriously proud and announced to everyone we passed, 'I can ride my bike with pedals now.' It was a magical day, and a wonderful memory to see the sparkle in Owen's eye. Of course we had to celebrate by having ice cream for lunch. Yum yum!

yummy treats

Baking is therapeutic! We do it at least several times a week and I love trying healthy recipes or substituting healthy ingredients for not-so-healthy ones. We recently made these yummy peanut butter krispy treats from one of my very favorite food blogs 101 cookbooks. I combined almond butter with the peanut butter and used only a little maple syrup combined with lots of yummy raw honey. I'm determined to get my kids to eat anything in the peanut butter family because it's such and easy source of protein for their little growing bodies and truly, life would be so easy if we could just make peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for lunches & picnics. Like the recipe called for, I put in a few pistachio nuts (also hoping the kids wouldn't really notice the nuts smothered in honey-flavored goodness) but to no avail. They both picked out every nut. So it goes... Owen did like them and has brought them to school the whole week, and a few extra to share with friends. I want to make every recipe Heidi features on her blog. I mean the photos alone make you want to grab a fork and take a bite right out of the screen! Her recipes are divine and full of healthy, natural, whole food vegetarian goodness, and she is working on her third book Super Natural Every Day. I can't wait!

little guardian

I believe we all have one, a guardian angel to watch over us and guide us... and this little one is as sweet as she can be. I am smitten with this artist's style and aesthetic, and love how she has created these guardian angel dolls (she has a boy version too!) that are so simple, warm, adorable and have such an enchanting meaning. What a wonderful gift this would be for someone you adore! Happy Thursday!

oh spring...

...definitely puts me the mood for a sweet little dress like this! Leave it to Anthropologie, the store I love to wander through from time to time not only to see their latest and greatest and hunt the sale rack, but just to be inspired by all of the colors, patterns and textures they use in their merchandising and home accessories. Have you ever noticed how many things they repurpose and recycle into fabulous decor?!? I am in awe of their ideas and yes, I would love to just move right in!

hello march!

Oh I am so glad March is here! Doesn't this sweet little pot make you want to plant something special in it just in time for spring? I feel like I disappeared the entire month of February and am so happy to put it behind me and start a fresh month with spring just around the corner. I am slowly getting my energy and strength back, with the amazing help of my family, especially my mom and my mother-in-law, who between the two of them, have been with us this entire past month to help get me back on my feet! I am so blessed, so thankful and feel so lucky to have that kind of support. It's been such a good lesson to accept help (why is it so hard?!?) and try to practice self-care without it feeling selfish. I've also been encouraged to take a step back and figure out what led me to become so sick. Trying to do too much? Not enough sleep? Stress? All of the above? I've come to the conclusion that trying to simplify things may be a good place to start. With two little ones running around, well that's a full time job in and of itself. A job that I love more than anything in the world and I give my very all to. I'm realizing that for now, this is enough ~ wonderfully enough to get back to being an energetic mom that is always available instead of being sick in bed. I have so many things I want to do, dreams I want to follow, a gazillion crafting projects on my list, but for now, it's okay to just be enough. Here's to a lovely March!