More Bows!

I made two more bows for Harper. One I started a long time ago, it's a dog bow for her. She has a few outfits to wear it with. The other I just made tonight. I just liked the ribbons and was playing around with some different bow types.

Geggie Baby Shower

Today my team at school threw me a beautiful baby shower. See, they were going to throw it before Harper was born, but Harper had different plans. I actually think having one of your baby showers after the baby is born is a good idea. I got so many nice gifts today that I wouldn't have gotten if the shower would have been four months ago. Harper got 6 month+ toys and clothes, safety items for around the house and lots of beautiful picture books (plus a number of other things). I just finished up unpackaging all of Harper's beautiful things and enjoyed a leftover cupcake before I sat down to blog about my fun day. Harper's babysitter even brought her up so she could enjoy her first party.
My team. I am especially thankful for two of my teammates that I have now taught with for FIVE years. My teaching memories wouldn't be the same without them.

Some of my favorite gifts were the picture books Harper got, the bedtime lotion I use for Harper and an adorable puppy dog jumper (which the dogs look suspiciously like Westies).

New Bow for a Cute Outfit

I ordered a holiday outfit for Harper from my friend who created her own business, pink lime designs. The outfit turned out so cute! I LOVE the leopard antlers on Rudolph. Harper will be wearing this to our baby shower tomorrow at school. You see, because I had Harper so early, my third grade team at school didn't get a chance to throw the shower they were planning for me before Harper arrived. So, they decided to throw it once I went back to work. Now Harper gets to come too! Since she will be wearing this adorable outfit - I thought I'd make a bow to match it. I wanted to get to Hobby Lobby to buy some leopard ribbon, but I didn't make it there - so I just used the cream and tan ribbons I had on hand with some red and black gross grain. I think it turned out pretty cute.

Little Girl Christmas Stocking

Tonight I finally finished Harper's Christmas stocking! I chose a red quilted fabric for the main portion of the stocking. The inside is a tan material - I originally wanted to use burlap, but I thought this would be easier to work with. I then added a little ruffle with the fun green, red and pink snowflake fabric. And lastly, I added the fun green ball strip as a cute detail. I think it turned out pretty well. I wanted to make a heel and toe with the snowflake fabric, but my sewing machine wasn't really cooperating on that one, so I skipped it. Next year I may remake my stocking and Will's as well...but I won't have time to do that this year!

A Christmas Style Boutique Bow

I've ordered a few bows for Harper off Etsy, but I've really wanted to learn how to make boutique style bows. So I found this blog - she has videos on You Tube on how to make all different kinds of bows. For my first boutique bow I tried I used pinks, greens and reds to make a Christmas bow for Harper. I think it turned out well for my first one of this kind! Anyway - check out her blog and videos on You Tube to learn how to make these bows. They are pretty easy!

Harper's Birth Story

It occurred to me I never shared how Harper graced us with her presence. The week before labor day weekend I had been having some high blood pressure numbers and what I considered pretty bad swelling in my ankles. I had kind of a bad feeling about what the doctor would say about me teaching (I was only two weeks into my new school year)...so I put off calling the doctor until Thursday afternoon. She wanted to see me. Friday afternoon I took a half day and went to see my doctor. The nurse came in, blood pressure was high, very high - she had me lay down for 15 minutes in the dark - the doctor came in, blood pressure was even higher. She told me that was it - no more work for me. Some people may love the idea of bed rest - not me. I wanted to use all my maternity leave for AFTER Harper was born - not before. You see, I was still 4 weeks from my due date and the idea of laying around my house big and pregnant for 4 weeks wasn't real appealing to me. So I followed the doctor's orders and went straight home (NOT). I went to school - I had to get things in order before I left for good. Lucky for me, I'm a planner and I had pretty much prepared almost everything my sub needed already.

I laid around the house all weekend - taking my blood pressure twice a day just like the doctor ordered. Sunday evening I started having elevated numbers. I called the doctor and she told me I better go in to the hospital to make sure the baby was ok. This was 11 o'clock. Got to the hospital and after about an hour and a half my blood pressure went down and they told me we could go home. We got home to a confused Samson around 1:30.

We were pretty tired.

Then at 5:50 I wake up. To my water breaking - although at the time I wasn't sure that was what it was. So I called the doctor again - back to the hospital. So at 6:30 that morning the nurse told me I was going to have a baby today, on Labor Day. Crazy I know. In LABOR on Labor Day. You have no idea how many times I heard that that day.

Harper graced us with her presence at 9:14 that evening, after a long day for Mom and Dad. She was amazing from the moment we saw her. Will was so proud of his little girl - they even stamped her foot print on his hand.

I'll never forget that day and I can't wait to share it with her one day. I love our little girl.

Samson's New Christmas Stocking

I wanted to make Samson his own stocking. Last year I tried to find a dog stocking I liked, but they were all cheesy. So I found my inspiration here. I decided to use felt instead of fake fur for my outer part of the stocking. On the inside I picked a fabric that had a burlap look to it but was more of a thinner canvas.

Finished product!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween - from our front porch to yours!

Giveaway Day at TT and Jello!

Check out the giveaways at Tater Tots and Jello...she is having a giveaway day!

This one is for an adorable child's play TEEPEE!

Check out this one for a giveaway to Timeless Settings!

Silhoutte Giveaway on TT and J

Tater Tots and Jello is giving away a Silhoutte Machine.

It's on my Christmas list, but I'd love if I could get one for free. Check out her blog and maybe you could win too.

Harper's Nursery

So when Baby Harper made her arrival four weeks early - I hadn't posted pictures of her room yet. So now you get to see the slightly lived in version. Here is the door hanger my friend Katie made for Harper. It has all her birth stats on it and hangs outside on her door.

Remember the bow holder I made this summer?
This part of the room still needs a little work. I need to buy a few more picture frames and reorganize the shelf. I was going to get around to that in the last few weeks before she was born - but she had a different plan : )

Changing station

Another shot of the changing area.

Crib Area

Another shot of this corner of the room.

Chair and window area.

These are two things that my grandma had made that were passed down to me. I decided to frame them and put them up in Harper's room.

I hope you enjoyed your small tour of Harper's room! I think she is one lucky girl.

Our Beautiful Baby Girl - 3 Weeks

Happy 3 Week Birthday Baby Girl Harper

Easy Fall Decor

I wanted to do something rustic but fun looking for one of my glass jars on our media stand in the family room. I saw these two ideas on Pinterest and it sparked an idea for my simple (just had a baby 3 weeks ago) version. Layer Studio

The Wedding Bee

I had some old sticks/twigs in my basement that I was going to use for another project. So I grabbed four, picked up a bottle of golden color spray paint at Walmart and lightly spray painted the sticks. I left some of the original twig color showing just to keep it looking a little more rustic. I put some faux pumpkins and leaves in the bottom of the jar and popped the twigs in!

Happy Birthday Harper Lynn

Harper Lynn Hubbard - born 9/5 - weighing in at 6 pounds 4 ounces and 20.25 inches long. She is beautiful and we are in love.

Auburn Newborn Tutu

In honor of yesterdays Auburn win, I decided to start making Harper's Auburn tutu. I had bought the tulle a while back and just had not gotten around to starting it yet. I followed this tutorial. It was pretty easy and only took me about an hour and a half. Harper will now be ready for all the game days this football season (whenever she decides to maker her debut) and also she will wear this for when my friend Katie does Harper's photo shoot after she is first born.

Easy Keepsake and Nursery Decor

A lot of people tell me, "you're so creative" but really I just steal my ideas from places like Etsy, blogs, Pinterest and other creative friends - like my friend Katie McCaw. I had seen a fun project Katie had done with cards from her wedding and wedding shower...and it hangs in her condo now. It was a super cute idea. So, I asked her if I could steal her heart cutter to do the same with cards I had gotten from baby gifts for Harper. My version of this fun keepsake craft is below - or you can check out Katie's version here. It was pretty easy and now it's fun to look at and think about all the generous friends we have that have already helped to spoil Harper.

Christmas Keepsake

Do you have keepsakes that you never look at because they are in a box somewhere?

I know I do. My wedding invitation, graduation announcements and most recently - Harper's baby shower invitation. Somewhere I saw this idea - I thought I had saved the link on my Pinterest, but I didn't. So, if I am stealing this from you, I'm sorry - it is not intentional. This is so super easy to do and then you get to see your keepsake once a year - instead of never because it is in a box somewhere.

Buy some plain clear ornaments from Hobby Lobby. Shred your keepsake in a shredder. Curl the pieces like you would curling ribbon. Drop them in the ornament. Add some coordinating ribbon...and...it's done!

Ruffle Butt Onsie

I attempted my first "ruffle butt onsie" tonight. I think it turned out pretty cute - definitely not perfect, but good for my first try. My ruffles got a little uneven on one side. The writing says "I heart Samson". The fabric is black with little white dog bones. I got some cute ribbon to match to make a bow, but didn't get that far tonight.

Free Paint Swatch Bookmarks

For all you teachers out there - you'll love this idea I found on Pinterest. They are bookmarks you can make from paint swatches - free paint swatches! I quickly put these together and gave them to my kids for the first day of school. I just got some swatches from Walmart - cut a few in half and glued a strip down the middle of one I hadn't cut. Then, I laminated them. Once they were laminated, I hole punched a hole and tied some ribbon in the top. The only thing I paid for was the ribbon. They turned out cute and the kids loved them.

Classroom Giving Tree

I'm a teacher when it is not summer time. So, Sunday I crafted a little something for my classroom. I'm always looking for donations of different supplies - Ziploc bags, Lysol wipes, GermX... just stuff that you need for your classroom - stuff that adds up if you purchase it all yourself all the time. So, I made a Giving Tree! This Giving Tree will sit out at Meet the Teacher Night, Curriculum Night and at Fall and Spring Conferences. Parents are always asking me if I need stuff - so I thought why not present it in a cute and *optional* way.

I made the base out of some scrap wood...I tried to nail it around the little twig, but I didn't have nails that were long enough...so out came the hot glue.

I wrapped the base in some quilting filler to cover all the splinters from the scrap wood.

Then I wrapped the base in some pretty, green, scrap fabric I had.

I made a little sign for my Giving Tree just so the parents knew it was optional.

I made little leaves that hang from green ribbon.

My finished Giving Tree. I think it's so cute!