DIY

I love a good theme. From birthday parties to Halloween costumes, I love thinking about all the little details. Joel and I used to dress up even before we had an excuse a child. But after we had Judah, we became all about the family costume. That's right--kids AND parents taking the neighborhood in disguise. And I'm here to tell you that it's not as intimidating as it may seem. 1. Start asking your child what they want to be early. Before Judah could express which superhero he wanted to be, I took it upon myself to find an easy group costume that would require minimal effort. But for the last few Halloweens, I began asking him what he wanted...

Stay Cool This Summer Teacher Gift Tags May is bittersweet for me. I am excited about the lazy days of summer, but I always find myself teary-eyed saying goodbye to teachers who have loved on my babies all year long. Every year, I pick out a little something to thank them for a such a great year. This year, we decided on a beach towel and magazine. And you can't have a teacher gift without a cute tag to top it off! Hoping all our favorite teachers stay cool and have a relaxing summer by the pool. I designed the 3 inch tags with a watercolor background and a few of my favorite fonts. You can download the file using the link...

Springtime always reminds me of baby showers. All those beautiful tiny clothes get worn once or twice. The baby blankets are snuggled closely and that monitor gets plenty of use. The cards are read and enjoyed during a moment of gratitude, then placed back in the gift bag. The real tearjerkers might get passed around first. But then where do they ultimately end up? I had my daughter two years ago, and yes, I still have all the baby shower cards. I'm not usually a hoarder, but I kept them partially because they meant a lot since she was our first, and also because I always planned to do something with them. If you haven't already thrown yours away, put...

Hello. My name is Kristen and I have a problem: my phone is filled with pictures. Filled. I'm the default family historian and I love my job. It is a slippery slope though - it's dangerously easy to let the cataloguing of my life get in the way of living it (or to let the "I'm taking the picture" get in the way of being in the picture). Before my phone became my primary camera, I had memory cards upon memory cards of photos... just sitting there or uploaded in the back-up hard drive, in some file...waiting. Every now and then, a coupon from some photo site would catch my eye and it would prompt a momentary (and fleeting) resolve to PRINT...

Last year, I threw my first ever "Galentine's Day" party.  "What's Galentine's Day??," you ask. Source Don't worry, I didn't know anything about it until I binge-watched Parks and Rec while I was pregnant with my second son last year. Once I saw it, I knew I had to do it. An excuse to host some of my favorite gals? Yes please! Here is what I did. First, a couple weeks before the party, I emailed all the husbands, fiances, or boyfriends of the women who were coming with these questions and strict instructions NOT to tell their partners: What is your favorite sport? Where did you go on your first date? What is your favorite dinner that she makes? What is her favorite pastime or...