Mustache Bookmarks

I recently got Photoshop and I've been trying to learn how to work its magic. Inspired by these Valentines from Plum Adorable, I decided to make mustache bookmarks for my little sister's birthday. I started with photos of my baby nephew in Photoshop and then ran with it. It was worth it for the sheer amusement; I laughed out loud so many times (Ryan gave me the "you're weird" eyebrow lift). My nephew is just too cute, especially with a Mario Brothers' mustache.

I made the bookmarks to accompany the first two books of The Hunger Games trilogy in her birthday package. If you haven't yet, you should must read these books! They're pretty addicting.

To start, I used my sister's instagram photos of the baby, but any photo cropped down to a square will work. Then I googled "free mustache clip art." Here's a 'stache that I used. I used Photoshop to add the mustaches to the photos. If you don't have Photoshop, I'm pretty sure you can do the same thing with Pixlr for free!

I then came up with mustache-related sayings. Only one is actually related to reading...oh well! After printing the bookmarks off, I cut 'em out and glued 'em to cardstock in a contrasting color.

S'mores Cupcakes Please...

I always opt to make cupcakes for birthdays and gatherings. They're just so much better than cake. There's no cutting involved, no forks, no plates and let's face it they're so cute! We had some family and friends over for Ryan's birthday yesterday. For dessert we had S'mores Cupcakes.

Now, I'm not the biggest fan of s'mores. They're just so sweet and whenever I'm in a situation where there are s'mores, like camping, there never seems to be an ice cold glass of milk around. Which prompted Ryan to ask : "Do you even like s'mores?...Then why are you making s'mores cupcakes?" Good question. Not really sure. They seemed like they would be a crowd-pleaser. And they were! Check it out:

 Ryan liked 'em

Lexi liked 'em

Rilyn liked 'em

Even I liked them! The graham cracker layer at the bottom gives a nice crunchy texture to contrast the super moist cake. And Ryan concocted a cream cheese marshmallow frosting. True teamwork. I baked the cupcakes, he made the frosting. He frosted the cupcakes, I topped them off with a piece of chocolate.

For the recipe read on...

Happy Birthday Handsome

Today is Ryan's 28th birthday. It's my day to spoil him. I got my happy butt up at 4:30 this morning to make him waffles with homemade vanilla syrup. He claimed it was the best waffle he'd ever tasted. He sure is easy to please, seeing as they were Bisquick waffles.

He also woke up to this little Post-it banner on his bathroom mirror. This is a simple and quick way to surprise someone for a special day or just because. Who doesn't like waking up to a surprise note? Just cut post-its into triangles, spell out your message, and stick 'em. No hole punch, no string, no fuss.

My man...so excited to get a jerky maker. "Food dehydrator" to be exact. Although he mainly wanted it to make jerky, he was intrigued to read that he can make his own fruit roll ups as well. Again, easy to please. Don't worry I got him other stuff.

Why do I keep him around? Well, he's beyond handy, incredibly brilliant, an amazing artist, and let's face it devilishly good looking. He never sighs when I take on another DIY project, instead he asks if he can help. He doesn't complain if I have nothing planned for dinner, instead he offers to exercise his culinary genius to whip something up. And no matter how much crap he catches from his friends, he has no problem walking around a craft fair or taking an art class with me. As if that isn't enough, he let me take over, and I mean completely overtake, our second bedroom with craft "supplies" (more like tons of crap I'm hoarding in the hopes that I will someday use it to make something pretty)! One day he will have his mancave and it will be epic.

So here's to you John William Ryan Turner (you can thank family tradition for all those names), my partner in crime, I love ya and appreciate all that you do. Bon anniversaire!

The Little Man has Arrived!

Sorry that I've been M.I.A. for the last few weeks, but my little nephew finally came! He is cuter than I could have ever imagined. 7 lbs. and 13 oz. of pure awesome. I'm gonna miss him when I leave.

I've spent the last two weeks dipping into crafty projects, treasure hunting at local vintage and antique shops, and spending lots of time with the people that I love. My time here  is coming to a close and my little wiener dog and I will soon be hitting the road, headed home to Paradise. Here's hoping there's no snow in the mountains or I foresee a hot mess involving me and some snow chains. As soon as I get back, I have a lot of Christmas projects to share with you all.

Welcome to the world beautiful baby Riot!

DIY Felt Dress Up Dolls

Ryan's twin nieces were turning six and I wanted to make them something special. I came across this idea for felt dress up dolls at Smile and Wave, which also led me to these extremely cute felt dresses by Olivia Mew. I absolutely love the way the dolls turned out! 

I couldn't wait to start cutting out the miniature fashionistas. I headed to Joann's and grabbed a bunch of felt. I hadn't done any crafts with felt in a loooong time. I was surprised to find they even had animal print felt. 

Of course, I had to throw in a little felt wiener dog. We had fun coming up with the accessories. Ryan made the cupcakes and cut the parrots freehand! He never ceases to amaze me.

Rachel was sweet enough to share a template for the dolls in her post. Use this as a jumping off point and then channel your inner fashion designer and run with it.

A hunt through my craft room turned up flower-shaped brads, mini pearls, ribbon, buttons, and lots of little bling. So I went to town adding the finishing touches to the clothes.

Meow! My attempt above at felt cat-eye glasses. Maybe if I had done them in black, they would have looked more like cat-eye glasses and less like a superhero mask.

I would have loved to make even more clothes and accessories. Ryan had to pull me away when I was still cutting out little hairdos and handbags ten minutes before the party was supposed to start. He reminded me that I could make them more wardrobe pieces as a Christmas gift (which is the perfect idea since I'm sure a few pieces will have been sucked up into the vacuum by then). 

Now I know that it's lame to give a dual gift to twins. But with the sandwich board they can each have their own side to dress up dolls. I personalized them with their names. Plus they have twice the wardrobe options so they can swap clothes with each other, doll clothes that is (one of the twins is much taller than the other).

You can choose a different color for the board felt. But I ended up following Rachel's lead and choosing a light gray. No other color worked as well. It's neutral and it allows the brightly colored clothes to pop.

Here's how to make the felt board :