DIY Silhouettes

I have been wanting to make or buy silhouettes of my boys for quite some time. I think I even blogged about making DIY silhouettes once, but that probably involved Photoshop or Publisher or Picnik (BTW...what the heck am I going to do without Picnik?), which will totally work if you have that little thing called patience. I however, have very, very little patience, so I desperately needed an easy-peesy way of making silhouettes or I was going to have to turn to Etsy.

Then BAM, I came across this blog post, which led to this simple DIY silhouette tutorial and I have been thinking about making them ever since. On this Monday afternoon, after helping Jackers with a project, I had loads of motivation to work on some of my own projects. 

And silhouettes of my boys it was! 

Why finish the table and chairs I have been rambling about for the last year?

 

Disclaimer...they are not perfect, but I think kinda close. Technically, they should be the same size and so I may redo Owen to make his the same size as Jack. I also need to clean up the bottoms as I have to much body. Lastly, I know Jack's silhouette is crooked, but I was working quickly as both boys were needing my attention and the sun was going down so I was losing light for picture taking.

The how to is that I truly followed this tutorial, but I will give you a quick rundown being that it was so easy and probably took me only minutes to complete.

1. Take a silhouette photo of your child, spouse or pet.

 2. Print out the photo on card stock type of paper.

3. Using a sharp scissors, cut out the silhouette.

4. Paint the photo with black acrylic craft paint.

5. Let the photos dry.

6. Align the silhouette evenly on a piece of white card stock and tape or glue them down.

7. Pop them in a frame of your choice. 

My choice of frame for the silhouettes are these large Ikea frames. However, I'm not sure they will stay in these for long. You see, I have another project in the works (the home for these silhouettes) and it's a kids art wall.

This is my inspiration...

source: asoftplacetoland via Nicole on Pinterest

I have the chalkboard portion complete and now I'm just working on the top portion that I will fill with art and frames. I would love to put these silhouettes here and so in order to use the space to its greatest potential I just need to scale down the frame size.

More about this later though!

DIY silhouettes of my boys have been attempted and I think successfully completed!

Sigh.

Can you see my boys?

They picked themselves out right away, so that is a good sign!

Week 25

Week 23

Who Knew?

Who knew that new pillows could make a girl so very happy?!?

Blue and Natural Chevron from EstyByBetsey and Sunflower from Target.

It takes me awhile (a long while) to make decisions about decorating my house. I think too much and I'm always in search of that perfect thing (whatever that is?!) plus I have two little sticky fingered boys to consider (what's mine is theirs). To make a long pillow story very short, I found these and I couldn't be happier! I might add one possibly two more fabrics to the mix, but that decision could take me another six months.

A Question At Bedtime.

Jack - "Mommy, do you want to know who is the best Mommy in the whole wide world?"

Me- "Who?"

Jack-"You are!"

Monday Random

1.

Beasley follows me around this house all.day.every.single.day. 

Do you think dogs can really sense when you are pregnant?

2. 

I can't get a nice, natural smile out of this Bubs no matter what I do!

3.

Well, kinda?!

He is in love with our dog Max. He was just whispering to him, "Shh, good doggie... I love you Max".

4.

After about 10 months, we are almost done with our table and chairs redo! 10 months...seriously Nicole! We are about 90% done...Hallelujah! More about this adventure later on this week when we are 100% done...and we will be.

5. With every new year, I get the overwhelming urge to purge and organize around the house! And this year was no different! We are making great strides around this house to become supremely organized so we can live a more simple (and sane) life. This brings me to one of my new favorite blogs...IHeartOrganizing. Awesome stuff can be found there...most recently this!

6. Reason #682 that I love Pinterest. Today, a goal of mine is to make a rosette wreath for my front door. To find inspiration, I searched rosette wreath on Pinterest and found all of these. Oh and check out Valentine's Day here. Oh my goodness...talk about Pinspiration!

7. I also found this Carmelitas recipe on Pinterest....oh my gah! Make them now...I'm not kidding!

via

8. And speaking of rosettes! Oh how I love rosettes....you can find a great deal code for 50% off (today only) on rosette necklaces, headbands, brooches and hair clips at Soleil Solene and her store is here. I have purchased two necklaces from this shop and they are very well made and super cute!

9. I told Jack he didn't have to nap this afternoon. I set him with one of his preschool hidden picture books and a pencil and shut his door. When I went to check on him 15 minutes later, I found him sound asleep and snoring cuddled up on his bed. It's so great when he listens to his body telling him he's tired. 

10. Pat and I get bored with our salads rather quickly. This one looks delicious, maybe it will be our new one.

11. I know I use way too...too...too many exclamation points. I'm working on it.

23/40

I came across this idea on Pinterest and although I never actually pinned it (I'm not sure why?), it did lead me the creator's (inspiration) blog. I found it to be such a cute idea, that I couldn't help myself from giving it a try! I think I am trying to accomplish two things here....(one) Consistent documentation of this third/last/final pregnancy and (two) Procrastination in blogging about Christmas.

That's all for now!

Owen is 3!

Owen is officially a three-year old! With all the craziness of the past few weeks, this sure crept up on me. It's hard to believe he is no longer a baby...it seems just like yesterday we were driving to the hospital in a terrible Michigan snowstorm with me gripping the door handle during contractions.

Anywho...

This year he completely understood that it was his birthday as he told everyone he saw today, "I'm the Birffday Boy...I'm Free (Three)".

He started off his day by walking out of his bedroom with his door decorated a la this. When I told Owen it was finally his birthday day, he asked very innocently, "Momma, did Santa leave me a special kiss downstairs for my birffday?" I told him nope, no Santa on your birthday, but there is something special down there.

He found an early birthday present (foot jammies...his absolute favorite kind of pajamas) and a sprinkle doughnut (might as well start the day off right!)

 He told me this morning while wearing a huge smirk on his face, "Momma, now that I'm free, after my nap I'm going off to college". I told him that he's not quite ready for that and Mommas don't come with to college. He quickly replied, "well I want to stay with you so I don't want to anymore". 

Someday O-Bubs.

I tried to have a little photo session with him this afternoon with my trusty assistant Jack. Owen simply was not having it! Jack's creative fart noises to help induce giggles didn't even work...90ish pictures later and this is what most of them look like.

This is the first picture I took and it's the best out of the 90ish.

Owen just wanted his presents, cake, ice cream, candles and for us to sing to him. 

So that is what we gave him.

He is the hardest little bugger to buy presents for because when I ask him what he likes/wants, he always replies with these three things, "a squishy, Captain America, and a Clarinet". There are only so many squishies and Captain Americas a Momma can buy and we told him he needs to be 10 years old to have a Clarinet. I found a few things I thought he might like, although I don't think he cared for any of them. The biggest hit was a huge, frog piggy bank as he is quite obsessed with collecting pennies (and pennies only because that other money is "too big"..."I like small monies Mommy").  Such a funny kiddo he is!

(See, look at that face! Bribing didn't even help!)

Happy Birthday Owen! I love you to the moon and back!

A Photo a Day

(this is my attempt at making a blog button...now I just have to figure out the code to link it up!)

With the new year, I started a new blog called Myers365. It's just a small place for me to document our lives over the next year with a photo a day. You might be thinking (as I kinda am), this girl is crazy as she could barely complete the photo challenge from September without some grumbling. However, I see this differently and with no added pressure in having to take a specific picture. It will just be a picture of something random, yet meaningful to us. Although I want to keep getting better at photography and I will strive for that, it won't be my main goal. The pictures might be from my phone, Pat's phone, Instagram, blurry action pictures, or even pictures the boys may take.

I just want to really remember the small things that happen on a daily basis in our little family.  My little guys are growing up right before my eyes, I mean Owen turns three years-old on Wednesday and Jack starts Kindergarten in less than one year. This is just crazy to think about and fills me with bittersweet feelings for sure. As I have mentioned before, I am a self-professed slacker at the baby books and there is no way I will ever become a scrapbooker (not ripping on those who are, I just can't seem to find the time with all these half done DIY projects going on around my house). Blogging is what works best for me!

So, here goes to the next 365 days with a photo-a-day....

Pat's Grandpa.

 Just this past October, Pat's Grandpa was chosen to go on the Honor Flight to Washington D.C. to visit all of the memorials dedicated to honor his service and sacrifices in WWII service.

 At the same time my grandpa became sick, Pat's grandpa became sick as well. Pat's Grandpa Gordy has been in the hospital for the past three weeks and just recently has been put on Comfort Care at his own request. This is such a sad and emotional time for Pat's entire family. Grandpa Gordy is coherent and aware of those around him, however, because of a throat paralysis condition, he is unable to speak. We went to visit him in the hospital yesterday and although he was not able to talk with us, his face truly lit up when he saw the four of us walk into his room. He smiled and his eyes showed happiness upon hearing our various stories and with the boys small touches of love through holding his hand and building him Lego creations. We are so happy to have had this time with him yesterday.

 Owen is showing off his Great-Grandpa's Medal of Honor for serving in WWII that he received last week.

I found this guestbook entry Pat wrote on his Grandpa's CaringBridge. It is a very heartwarming note to him and so I placed it here as a reminder of this special day.

Good morning, Grandpa!

What a blessing for all of us-Me, Nicole, Jack and Owen-to spend some precious time with you yesterday. Every minute of this time will forever be cherished in our hearts-you holding Jack and Owen's hand, the boys building you lego castles or rocket ships, Owen rubbing lotion on your hands, telling you stories about our boys and watching you smile!
 
As we left your room yesterday, we ran into Grandma and Susie in the main lobby as they were coming to see you! Jack and Owen after giving Grandma and Susie hugs became immediately interested in the mechanics of grandma's wheelchair. We decided we would walk Grandma and Susie to the elevators so we could talk with them. Of course this prompted Jack and Owen to want to push grandma in her chair. Needless to say, as they jockeyed for position (in their competitive brotherly way) grandma's ride became quite the experience weaving back and forth across the hallway! Despite the roller-coaster ride, Grandma was quite the trooper! At the end, the boys were rewarded by grandma with cinnamon flavored gum-which of course reminded me of grandma's endless supply of Big Red gum when I was kid!
 
We love you grandpa! You are in our thoughts and prayers, everyday!

Pat, Nicole, Jack and Owen!

We are currently...

re-acclimating back into our real life.

After two solid weeks of being busy, having fun, planning, buying, emotions flying, being sad, being happy, crying, wrapping, cooking, baking, celebrating, crying, playing, laughing and loving up on the three boys in my life, we are now getting back to our normal. 

Thank goodness!