Bow Tie Baby Shower

Back in November I threw this Bow Tie Baby Shower for my friend Karren and I'm excited to share it with you!

Prior to the day, I spent my evenings watching shows and hand sewing bow ties.  After all of them were done, like 10 bow ties later, I now know a quicker way of making them.  Basically, use the sewing machine a little bit more!  But it was nice having a project to keep my hands busy while watching a show.  It makes me feel like my whole self isn't going to *mush* as I'm plugged to the tube.  :)  

Let's start with this free printable!  I have no idea where I found this, but I printed it and stuck it in a frame for the shower.  I thought it was a very clever addition.  

At the entrance: I used my Ikea frame, stuck some fabric behind the glass, and then wrote on the front.  On the wall I made a pendant bunting from cardstock.

As I talked about in the Yogurt Bar Baby Shower, I always have guests fill out an envelope for the guest of honor to more easily write thank you notes.  Then I draw a couple at the end of the shower for prizes.

I also made these clip on bow ties.  Thanks to Heather for using her cricket and cutting them out for me!  It saved me hours of work! 


I took the bow tie pieces, and using zots, stuck the middles on to each bow.  Then I hot glued the pin to the back.  I also used the bow as a template for making bow tie onsies.  


We had a very fun turnout of friends!  You can see the bow tie onsies I made in the background.  The hanging poofs come from these easy instructions from Martha Stewart.  Seriously, 8 pieces of tissue paper and I hung mine with fishing wire.

I really like how the clothes line turned out.  I used the double stick pelon to adhere the bow ties, then did a single stitch around the outside to make sure they were going to stay.  


**Side note...you might recognize the fabric from the bow ties on these Chenille Burp Cloths I made for different friend.  

Okay.  Now enter the part that I'm kicking myself for!!  Remember how I mentioned I spent hours sewing bow ties.  There they are in the basket below.  I used them as prizes for games at the shower.  They might be my all-time favorite things to give as prizes.  

Here's the catch...this is the only picture I took of them!!  So many good ones.  There was a money tie, some pink, some green, some uglyish colors, and some good.  Oh, well.  I hope the universe is enjoying them.  Or at least laughing with them in their silliness.  :)  

If you want to know the secret of how to make bow ties from men's ties, follow the tutorial from Make it and Love it.  If you want to cut down on your hand sewing, use your machine to sew the outer edges that get tucked in AND the length of the bow tie itself (in that order).  Read the tutorial and if you have a question how I did this, feel free to ask.

Below, Alisha is wearing one of the Bow Ties that I made.  If you're looking for some good tutorials on homemade ties, look at the end of this post.

 So you might have already gathered this.  But having gobs of people in my home, eating some food, visiting, and generally having a good time together, is one of my favorite things.  This day was no exception.  Thank you Karren for having a baby so I could indulge myself!  :)

Okay, for food.  I made Cookie Dough Brownies that were to die for!  Seriously.  Here's the recipe from Recipe Girl.  Thanks to my pinterest dessert category, I could still find the recipe!

Thanks to my friend Traci for making her amazing caramels!

Karren, the star of the show, is one of the most incredible women I know.  She is always giving, always positive, and makes everyone feel like a million bucks!  Besides all that, she's quick witted, is a great story teller, and to top it off is a professional chef who likes to share her talent with all of us.  (She's the one who made the glorious little quiche at the Yogurt Bar Baby Shower.  Granted those were just semi-homemade, she could have done them from scratch!  I've eaten her homemade yeast waffles with asparagus and brie.  I'm not joking about her skills.)

One of the fun gifts she received was this carseat.  The green skull and crossbones cover is homemade by our friend Rachel!  Very awesome skills. 

Sticking with the green/blue theme, we had a jellybean guessing jar.  Instead of a typical list to write guesses, I had guests write their guess in a jelly bean.  I thought it was kinda cute.

 Thank you to everyone who came and made this shower a success!

If you want to check out some more tutorials for making ties, I've collected a few for you:

Okay, so this isn't a bow tie, but it's the tutorial for making a vest onsie that would be really cute with a bow tie on with it!


Here's a super easy bow tie that was also used at a baby shower.

And if you're looking for something for a grown man, less bow tie, here's Purl bee's link for their ties.

Vintage Apron Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope some of you are getting a date night like I am tonight!  We are heading to a restaurant in town and then capping off the night with looking at some bikes for me.  I love date/kid swapping.  

I was hanging hooks in my sewing space for my aprons and found this one.  I thought it would be fun to post for you.  This one comes from an estate sale, probably for only a couple dollars (that's how estate sales roll).  I think it would be fun to replicate it.  It's so pretty with the laciness, little pleats around the waist band, and cool straps.


Thanks to my 6-year-old for this picture.  You can see one of my tomato boxes in the background.  For a Relief Society meeting we built the boxes, then I brought them home and filled them with some heavy bags of potting soil.  I ended up with 3 extra plants/boxes and I'm really excited!  Tyler thinks the cheap plywood is ruining our glamorous backyard.  I think it looks rather gardeny (yes, that's a word now).  Let's just say our unfinished backyard looks a little more unfinished.  :)  We kinda need some more plants back there.

Chicken Souvlaki & Tzatziki Sauce with Naan

As I was browsing pictures, I realized I forgot to post this!  I'm just glad I remembered where I found the recipe because it was so good!!  Yes, it's being put back on the menu for next week.  

This is not my recipe, thanks to Rachael Ray (and my MIL for getting me a year subscription) for this one.  Here's the link to the recipe.

The marinade (it was a quick marinade) made the chicken taste awesome.

Also, I bought the costco pack of naan bread (frozen section) to speed up the cooking process.  Super good naan.  Who doesn't love costco?! 

However, if you're looking for a good naan recipe, I like to use this one from allrecipes.

Welcome to our Office

*There is an Office Update that includes a blue wall. Check it out!  


I love our office.  The floor is often covered in whatever projects I have going on downstairs, well, that or children's books.  My little baby (who just turned one!!) loves to quickly pull books off the shelf before I can catch him.  He also loves to crawl around under the desks and turn off the power cord.  Hmmm...little monkey.


The walls are painted in Sherwin Williams Tony Taupe.  It's a medium gray-brown, slightly darker than the Sherwin Williams Accessible Beige of the main portion of the house.

The desk tops, drawers, and shelves (5x5 and 1x5) are from ikea.

The chairs are all craigslist finds.  I found them separately and covered the 2 black ones to match (see the larger chair here).  The yellowish one is very cool and vintage. The cover is removable and I could easily remake it in a fun print.

The curtains I made with this fabric from etsy.  I was looking at the Urban Outfitters chevron curtains, but pricing it out, the ones I made were cheaper and better quality.


The desk tops are solid wood, so you can stain or paint them whatever you want.  The stain I used was Dark Walnut and I only did one coat.  Then I put on 2 layers of fast-drying polyurethane in clear satin, sanding in between.


The other fun thing about this room is our old camera collection.  It all started with Tyler's grandpa giving him a camera, quite a while ago.  Then my grandpa gave a camera, then my grandma gave a camera.  It has been fun to look for them (love craigslist!) and hear stories from their original owners.  

The camera on the far right is the most recent addition (as well as the farthest left, a flat camera).  I got it from a gentleman that is 89 and his wife.  They were fun to talk to.  They told how they traveled the world, pointed out things in their home, and mentioned how now their traveling is the kitchen, to bedroom, to grocery store, and back again.  I wish I could be their neighbors.  They have a whole slew of movies from this camera of their family.  The far left one dates pre WWII and was carried everywhere.


The transitional gallery wall.

This is a fun wall to have in the house because some things can easily be changed in and out of frames.  I do think it would look better with all black frames, but for now it will do.  

As for descriptions: 
1. The little hearts (I did myself), the idea came from this etsy store and this episode of Emily Henderson's show.  I blogged about how I did it here.
2. The yellow fabric is a placemat from Target that I really liked.
3. The Life Aquatic "This is an Adventure" print comes from Urban Outfitters.  We are quirky enough to like this movie and have found only 2 other people who agree with us.
4. Family Picture.
5. "Divine Redeemer" from Simon Dewey.  One of my favorite portrayals of Christ.
6. People cutouts from maps.  Each of us is cut from the map that we were born in/grew up in.  Idea from pinterest (the link to the original idea is dead now).
7. "You are my Sunshine" from this etsy store.  This is one of the songs I remember my Dad singing to me.
8. Llama print...we have a weird love for llamas around here...come from this etsy store.
9. "Babies don't keep" print is a free printable from Lay Baby Lay.  Says it perfectly.


10. Flight Map - My Dad worked for Delta Airlines while I was growing up.  Being on the airplane was part of our life (yeah for free flights!) and this captures that.  I love this print.  There aren't any outlines of countries, only the lines of the flights.  Find it here.
11. (small picture on top) - one that I took back in California.  Sunlight shining on the park and grass in front of our apartment.
12. Another free print from Lay Baby Lay.
13. A cut-out from a magazine, President Hinckley (past LDS prophet) speaking to a crowd at BYU.  The quote is "You are good.  But it is not enough just to be good.  You must be good for something.  You must contribute good to the world." - From the talk "Stand up for Truth" Sept. 17th, 1996
14. "Sunday Best: South Side Chicago" is Tyler's favorite print from Chicago.  He served his mission there.
15. Another cut-out from a magazine.  Rinos in pattern.
16. Map of CA labeled with the counties from fab.com (I can't remember the original store).


17. Portland Temple - not my favorite print because it's a little grainy.  I need to get another one.
18. Old picture of the Portland waterfront in about the 30's.  None of those buildings are there anymore.


We used to have a yellow desk, but Tyler just ended up sitting on the floor with his computer.  We really needed our own spaces.  And he loves having his own drawers!  So the yellow desk turned into the coffee table and we got these instead.


I love my little bird.  The quote: "Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working." - Pablo Picasso


Framed Diplomas on the wall and a view to our dining space.  

It's nice that this space has doors that can close.  The doors are glass-paned, nice for the privacy but still having the computers in visibility, and nice for having a quieter phone conversation if needed.  (3 kids doesn't make that always conducive as I'm sure you're well aware!)


Yogurt Bar Baby Shower

We had such a fun time this morning celebrating Baby Amelia!  This was an extra special shower for my friend Heather because they have just adopted this sweet girl.  It has been a blessing to watch Heather and family during this exciting time.  After what seemed like such a long arrival, years in the waiting, Ameila is finally here and we get to celebrate!

Baby Ameila with her big sister and Mom

Welcome to the shower!  My husband blew up all those balloons and I strung them on fishing line.

I had found some paper doilies a while ago and thought they would be perfect for this.  My friend Summer used her cricket and cut out the letters, using zots we stuck them on easily.  I just strung the ribbon through the dollies.  

The diaper cake (curtesy of my friend Summer) was perfect for a centerpiece for the gift table.  Especially since it was "girlified" with pink tulle.

I decided to go with a yogurt bar for our 10am shower.  It was perfect and I'd do it again.  It was fresh, offset with some chocolate - definitely a must, and the mini quiches were a savory addition.  

The Punch...to die for.  Ingredients: 2 - 25.3 oz Perrier Lemon carbonated water (any brand will do), water, pink lemonade to taste, sliced limes, and mint leaves.  (Thank you, Summer!)

Quiche...semi homemade and you'd never know it!  (Curtesy of my friend Karren, who is actually a professional chef).  The quiche bases were from Costco, cooked/heated, then topped with a swirl of spinach artichoke cream cheese (from Winco).  On top of that she put some fresh chives from her garden and little pieces of sliced ham.

"A" Cookies...decorate mint cookies with your letter of choice.  And then box some up for party favors.  (Thank you, Karren.)

The Brownies...homemade brownies (brownies from a box is a crime to her...thank you, Alisha!) with pink frosting.

Yogurt...Alisha brought some tangy unsweetened yogurt and added some honey for a sweeter flavor.  This makes it less sugary (better for us) and we were topping it with fruit and granola anyway...and possibly some mini chocolate chips.  

Toppings...granola (2 kinds from the bulk section of the grocery store), strawberries, kiwi, and pineapple, and mini chocolate chips.  You could do blueberries, mango, melons, etc.

Such cute homemade cookie, brownie, marshmallow bites!  These are reminiscent of s'mores.  They were made in a small muffin tin.  A bottom layer of cookie, then a layer of brownies.  After they are done baking, turn your broiler on and place the strawberry (because it's a girl!) marshmallows on top.  Broil for 1 - 1 1/2 minutes until lightly brown on top.  Watch carefully.  (These are curtesy of my friend Alisha.)


I kept it simple for games.  I always do the one were everyone fills out the envelope with their own address, it makes writing thank you's so much easier for the guest of honor.  Then I draw one or two for prizes.

The 2nd game I did was put 9 baby items in numbered and stapled shut brown paper bags.  The guests were able to feel the items and guess what they were.  The things I put in were: binky, binky clip, fingernail clippers, bath toy, shoe, saline solution, finger tooth brush, mini bottle, and a hair band.

We are so excited for you Heather!  Congratulations on your new addition!
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