Recovering from Belgium

This is probably the longest time I have gone without posting anything...  Shame on me!  In my defense, it has been quite a busy and wild week.  The good, the bad, and the downright ugly.  As you know we have been on vacation the past two weeks with cousin Krista and even though she has already left, I am still recovering.  You know, the vacation from your vacation.  

So if you are wondering where I have been the past week... in the country that understands me the best.  Beglium, known for their chocolates and of course waffles.  My favorite part of the trip was when we went to Brugge.  Just look at how gorgeous it is!  Oh those fall leaves make my heart skip a beat. 

                            

I was in love with this cute little city.  A must see if you are in Belgium.  And yup, I still have that bum knee and kept on movin'.

It was totally worth the discomfort to see this place.  The canals were just gorgeous!  We took a little boat tour for really cheap and got to see the city a different way.

I could hop around this place all day.

I'm a sucker for brick buildings and beautiful architecture. 

Can you tell I fell in love with Brugge?  Brussels was fun too in a different sort of way.  Definitely more tasty.  I fully enjoyed eating sugary treats there. 

And the peeing little boy was dressed up this time.  The last time I saw him over a year ago he was nude. It made us giggle.

And even though I don't like Brussels as much as Brugge, it is a beautiful city too.

The two weeks have gone pretty fast and we got to see a lot considering my bum knee.  By the end of the trip we were all handicap.  Cousin Krista came down with bronchitis and Boo Bear caught a 24 hour bug in Belgium and she was throwing up all over the place.  Pictures don't exactly tell the whole story hhuh.

And now that the vacation is over, I have gone full speed into finishing up the prep for our Halloween party.  The more I decorate the more excited I get!  I can't wait to show and tell.  Here is a sneak peak of what's brewing at my house....

Out of the Office and at Disney Paris

If you haven't noticed, we are still on vacation.  I don't technically have an office but all "work" and our daily routine activites have been put on hold.  I know I say it everytime I go on vacation but it feels more tiring than my day to day life.  But it's worth it because we are having a lot of fun! 

This weekend we went to Disney Paris.  It was a lot smaller than the park in California but they had all the important stuff.  Not to mention their castle was gorgeous.

And the neat part is inside the castle there is a very real life looking dragon in the dungeon.  Very cool-io.

I especially loved that it was all festive and decorated for Halloween.  Inspired me to get on the ball at home. 

The Haunted House at this Disney is not fun like the one in California, it is suppose to be more morbid and scary [not for the kiddos].  I didn't go but cousin Krista said it definitely was creepy.  My personal favorite ride was Thunder Mountain Railroad.  So fun! 

But, the best moment of the whole day was when my Boo Bear met her favorite character... Winnie the Pooh.  It was magical.  Probably a moment I will never forget.  I wasn't sure how she would react and thought she might be afraid but I was oh so wrong.  She ran up the stairs [without me], gave him a huge hug, kisses, more hugs, touched his nose, and squeeled with joy.  It melted my heart!   I wish I could have gotten it on video.

We had a great time at Disney and so did the little one.  She wasn't afraid of any of the rides.  Even after the first drop in Pirates of the Carribean she asked to do it again.  I can't believe how fearless she is!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well!  Now off to bed I go as we are off to another adventure tomorrow. 

Tutorial: Pom Pom Spiders on a Web

In preparation for our Halloween play date I have started to minimally decorate.  We have this small wall that I thought would be perfect for a spider web.  The hubby isn't a fan but the spiders are cute and not scary so it isn't bad.  Aren't they adorable?!  The web took longer than I thought it would but it was worth it. 

The pom pom spiders are really easy to make.  There are a few ways to make pom poms but I thought this way was the easiest.  I actually watched THIS Youtube video to figure it out.  You can also just follow the pictures below.

I completely forgot to take a picture of how the cardboard circles look.  Whoops.  It is a circle cardboard with an inner circle cut out and a slit on the side.  You can reference the video.  One your cardboard is cut, wrap the yard around as much as possible.  The more, the better because it will be fuller. Then cut the yarn through the middle part of the two pieces of cardboard.

Take a piece of yarn and tie it really tight in the middle. Once it is tied, you can pull the cardboard off. 

Once you have the pom made, take some googly eyes and pipe cleaners.  Glue the eyes on and the legs on the side with a glue gun.  I was running low on pipe cleaners but I suggest making the legs longer.  My spiders look a little stumpy.

And that is it!  It is as easy as that.  Happy decorating. 

My Last Fall

And I don't mean fall like the one I took on Friday when I blew my knee out.  This will be our last fall season in beautiful Germany and it makes me sad.  I am soaking up as much of the colors, leaves, ivy and autumn charm.  Who knows if our next home will have a real fall like we do out here.  I love it and I am so glad I can share it with cousin Krista as she is here on her holiday.  Now that my leg is feeling better we have sort of been able to be out and about, so here is another photo dump.

We start our little vacation at gorgeous Cochem Castle.  A medieval beauty....

with a breathtaking view. 

Everywhere you turn, there are gorgeous leaves and ivy.  I was in heaven.  This was probably my favorite building  because it is covered in leaves.

The colors weren't just purty in nature but also through the stain glass window.

Just lovely.

I love the small town charm of Cochem and the castle has a great tour.  

Today, we kept it light and just visited a cute little Abby.  I am still recovering after all.  

But my favorite part about traveling and sightseeing is the good eats.  I am still thinking about that strawberry eclair and cappuccino.  Yuuummy!  

And just a little odd back story.  See that strange dark mark right near my eye.  Well, I got that in the knee popping ordeal.  I think the paramedics burned me with something and they didn't tell me.  I woke up in the ER with it on my face.  So, it's my unsolved mystery... 

I know I said tutorials and crafts were coming and I really am hoping soon.  Traveling with my mini me has just wiped me out by the end of the day so fingers crossed a toot will come by the end of the week.  

Popped Knee and an Insta Update

Anyone out there keep a calendar planned to the minute.  Mine isn't that extreme, but I pretty much had the past two weeks planned and booked solid!  Well, plans don't always go exactly the way we want.  On Friday, cousin Krista arrived for a visit and we were suppose to do all sorts of traveling and crafting. We had itineraries, tickets, and lists of sights to see.... we were suppose to go to London. Big deep sigh.      In an instant those plans were broken and thank goodness cousin Krista was here and is such a trooper! 

Friday night in an attempt to move the couch my knee moved the wrong way and I was on the floor holding my knee cap to the right of my leg.  Let's just say the ER wasn't exactly where I thought I would be that night.  I ended up with a big huge unnecessary cast and it has been an up hill battle since.  I was pretty much helpless and poor cousin's vacation turned into work.  Taking care of me and Boo Bear.  

Not to worry though because my knee is doing oh so much better.  Crazy cast gone and I am in a knee brace walking around.  I still have to have an MRI done but I am hopeful that nothing is torn.  I hardly have any pain.  I am back on my feet, feeling like my old self, and yup we did what we do best... craft!!!  [Oh and have snacks too].  Hoping this is a sign that things are turning around!!   

All that to say,  I am back online and get ready for some fun fall and Halloweenie crafts.  

Easy DIY Halloween Party Decorations

I wanted to first say, how are you liking my new blog design?!  I love it, especially those media buttons to the right.  All this thanks to Marcy at Perpetual Love.  I will do a formal post on her and her talents later along with the giveaway she is offering to you blog readers! 

Anywhoo, I didn't realize how busy fall is when you have a kid and mine isn't even two yet!  I guess it's my fault for signing her up for a handful of activities ... She is seriously the busiest toddler I know!  And  of course it keeps me busy too.  I am trying to adjust to our new busy-ness hence the lack of blogging, but I'll get the hang of it.  I have been able to craft a tid bit, but I'm going to make this a quick one because it is late. 

I have finally gotten into the festivities and started decorating for our Halloween Party.  I am very excited!  I am going for a very colorful, fun, and cutesy feel.  None of that scary stuff, I'm just not into that.  To start, I made some super fast and easy felt candy corn pillows like the 30 minute pillows cover I made a long time ago.  They slip right on to my throw pillows so I am only have to save the slip cover instead of a bulky pillow.  You can find a nice tutorial for these fold over pillows HERE.

And for some tips, I doubled the felt in the front so you can't see through it.  Cut the three color pieces and sew them together.  Then, assemble the pillow like in the tutorial.  I love how colorful they are and after all, it is my favorite Halloween candy. 

And I know I say it all the time, but a party is not a party without pom poms.  Yup I made pom pom ghosts and colorful pom pom monsters.  The ghosts were made from regular white napkins and the monsters from gift wrapping tissue.  The monsters were an inspiration from these darling Sesame Street pom monsters that I saw online!!

Aren't they so cute?  Definitely not too scary for the little ones.  My pom pom tutorial is HERE.  All you have to do is add eyes to them.  Easy enough. 

It's a short one, I know.  I will have more fun Halloweenie stuff coming along with the tutorial for the Little Ballerina Bag so stay tuned! 

Woodland Themed Birthday Party

This past weekend, we went to a lovely birthday party.  My first ever real mommy blogger friend, Adria from The Cruchy Lion.  It was so darn cute and she did such a good job!  Her daughter loves Bambi so she went with a woodland theme.  The food was probably my favorite part,  especially this cute porcupine cheese ball.  Not to mention it was really really yummy!

I completely failed because I didn't get a full picture of the cake that had a cute bunting on the top, but how adorable are those mushroom cupcakes.

The big hit with the kids were the acorns.  Chocolate peanut butter acorns of course.  Hershey kisses and mini nutter butters.  I think all the kids had at least ten of them! 

And if this isn't cute enough, she also made all the kids felt crowns!  Here is the birthday girl wearing hers.

Aren't the crowns just darling?!  Mine refused to wear hers so she isn't in the picture.

Halloween Party Invitations

The first week of October has passed and I am just getting started on the decorating.  I'm feeling a little behind after seeing so many wonderful Halloweenie crafts out in the blogging world.  This year I thought it would be fun to have a Halloween Play Date for Boo Bear and her friends.  Just something simple.  Get the kiddos in their costumes, eat yummy sweets, and maybe do a craft.  Then, I saw these invitations on Pinterest and I knew they were perfect.

If you know me you know I love paper invitations.  These are relatively easy to make and they are just darling. I couldn't find yellow polka dot scrap book paper so I had to stick to pain boring yellow... but, to make these you will need some card stock, vellum, thick black ribbon, googly eyes, and fancy scissors. 

I printed out all the information on the vellum leaving plenty of room on the top for the bat.  Then, trimmed the bottom with fancy scissors.  I don't know the proper term for them. 

Then cut a long strip of thick black ribbon and tie it into a loose knot to make the bat.  Hot glue on the eyes and head seal the edges of the ribbon with a lighter so it doesn't fray.

Glue the bat onto the vellum.  Them place ea dot of glue on the vellum and glue it onto the card stock.  Yup it is that easy and the invitations come out really cute!  Stay tuned because I have more fun Halloweenie stuff coming this week. 

Tutorial: How to Make Big Hair Bow Clips

For the past few days I have been going bow crazy!  Now that my Boo Bear's hair is long enough to put in one pony it is time for the big southern boutique bows!!  I bought a few when we were stateside for super cheap at Downtown LA and I mean cheap like a dollar a big bow.  I miss that... But cheap-o me doesn't want to pay a fortune out here so I decided to make some with some ribbon from my collection.

This one is probably my favorite.  It looks so cute on her when she wears it with her leotard!!!

Not too shabby for my first time.  I am not at all a fan of bow making and I wish I could say it is so easy but I had a really hard time figuring it out.  Mainly figuring out how to fold it.  I probably lack the coordination and patience for bow making.  I watched THIS YouTube video about 20 times and tried and tried until I finally got the hang of it.  

I also took the clip tip from THIS tutorial when adjusting the bow.  I just don't like the way she created the bow.  Too confusing for me. 

 So, I combined the two and came up with my own.  I cut a big piece of ribbon, folded and I pin the middle.  Clipped it with my salon clip, take the pin out and adjust.  Then carefully fold it in the center.  I check the back to make sure everything is even.

Sew through the ribbon a few times and then wind the rest of the thread around.  Trim and then heat seal the edges with a lighter so it doesn't fray.

Glue to clips.  I personally like the alligator clips because the teeth or ridges hold really nice in her hair. The rest you can figure out or get from the youtube video.

                              

I also made mini bow sets.  Cute right?  I ordered her a baby blue leotard and so I made those and then kind of went over the edge.  To make these, cut a long strip.  Fold the left side over to the right and vice versa.  Pin it in the middle.  Pinch the middle and sew it a few times followed by winding the rest of the thread. 

Trim and heat seal the edges.  Then glue onto clips.

                             

It took me some time to figure it out but once I got the hang of it I was zooming.  I even added some buttons on some of them. 

                               

Looking for some inspiration?  I follow booowlover on instagram.  They have some really adorable bows!