Winston was born via emergency c-section on January 31 at 2:00am. Born at 35 weeks, he was a wee one, weighting in at 4lbs 10oz. Perhaps one day I will share my birth story, but until then, join me on my journey of belly to baby!

Last night I went to my sister’s house for Easter dinner.  I brought this.

Half inspired by the Rainbow cake, half inspired by this photo I found on Pinterest:

(thank you, Martha)

I followed the Rainbow Cake instructions, and made 6 little cakes (2 bit the dust).

(pretty pastel cake batter)

I stacked ‘em all up and hoped for the best.

It totally turned out!  Isn’t it beautiful?

Wanna make it?  Check out Meredith’s recipe here.  Because not only was it pretty, but it was delicious, too!

Happy Easter to you.

Linking up at I heart Naptime and Making it with Allie

Last week, I set on a venture to knit a cute little baby hat.

I surprised myself by being done really quickly!  I knew it was too good to be true.  Because it ended up looking like this:

Yep, that is what I knit.  It looks like a yarmulke.  You know, a jewish head covering?  Not the little baby hat I was going for.

After cursing the pattern (because it’s obviously not my error, right?!), I went back and found that I overlooked a teeny tiny detail that instructed me to knit up to a certain point, and then make it gradually smaller.

Apparently I just knit the very top of the hat.

My bad.

But here’s the finished project!  Super cute, right?

Lesson learned.

But I like cliché, so bear with me.

As you may have read, I recently completed a self-inflicted challenge that I dubbed 31 days of Birthdays, for my man’s 31st Birthday.  It was fun to come up with little gifts each day, but experiences together are worth so much more.  (Yes, I am aware that statement was totally cliché as well.  Please see above.)  I still wanted something to give him, so, enter: the coupon.

I found a generic ticket template via Google images, and tweaked it in Photoshop.  And, viola!  Date coupons for my man.

If this is your thing, feel free to print ‘em off (formatted to print on a 3.5×5 photo size) or tweak ‘em yourself!

Linking up to Making it with Allie, Every Crafty Endevour and It’s a HodgePodge Life.

When we got married, we were gifted a Queen sized bed, but have never purchased a bed frame for it.  For the last year and a half, we have been sleeping on the box spring and mattress… which is functional, but not that pretty.   We want to hold off buying a bed frame, as we are pretty intent on buying a King Sized bed in the near future.  (I’m a total bed hog.  It will be necessary for the sake of our marriage.)

In the meantime, I’d like to find a solution that looks pretty, but doesn’t break the bank. Here are some of my faves:

…this glorious West Elm upholstered headboard

…this beautiful DIY headboard by Centsational Girl

… this simple Victoria Natural Fabric Headboard

…and of course, the fabulous stenciled headboard by Infarrantly Creative

I don’t think I could do a crazy stenciled fabric, or even anything more than a rectangle (because I don’t know how to use/am afraid of using a saw), but I do think I could something more simple.  There are so many DIY tutorials online, that I’m sure I could make something without screwing it up too bad.  (Famous last words…)

Whaddya think?  Have you made something similar?  Any tips?

]]> http://happyasabee.com/2012/01/14/headboard-envy/feed/ 4 charmainegail Headboard headboardfinal_thumb L12923845 coral-and-gray-bedroom_thumb charmainesignature http://happyasabee.com/2012/01/08/31-days-of-birthdays/ http://happyasabee.com/2012/01/08/31-days-of-birthdays/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:28:29 +0000 charmaine http://happyasabee.com/?p=1254 Continue reading →]]> Anyone else a big birthday person?  I know I am.  My family always made a huge deal about birthdays, celebrations and miscellanous occasions.  Every trip we went on (even short weekend trips) was followed by souvenir gifts for the whole family.  Any reason to celebrate – I’m in!

Now Michael, on the other had, has insisted that he doesn’t care too much about birthdays, trip souvenirs, etc.  His family never made a big deal out of these kinds of events, so I shouldn’t feel the need to make a big deal for him.  So, when he turned 30 last year, I didn’t make a big do of it.  (I know, I know – bad wife!)  It was the day after Christmas, we were traveling that day, et cetera, et cetera, and we spent the night with his parents at their place and turned in early.

For all of last year, I did not hear the end of it.  (Lesson learned:  when the husband says he doesn’t care, he really does.)

So for Michaels’ 31st birthday, I wanted to do something special.  Enter,

31 Days of Birthdays!  

Starting on November 26th, each day Michael woke up to a card and small gift.  Each gift had its own special significance and he  was like a little kid each morning.  It was very cute.

I have definitely learned that no matter what he says, this man loves birthday celebrations.  I mean, who doesn’t love the chance to feel special and get presents??  I should have known, and I won’t make that mistake again!

I’ll add this to “lessons learned in the first year of marriage.” :)

Linking up at C.R.A.F.T and Craft-O-Maniac

The Sunny Baby Blanket.

I love it.  Mostly because it’s so pretty, and that I can say I knit it myself!  Really, though, this one really taught me a lot about knitting.  I made a lot of mistakes, but through going back and fixing them (thanks to Suzie for teaching me how to undo stitches – I ripped out a lot of rows), I learned how to prevent mistakes or fix them as I go.

So thank you, blanket, for what you taught me this month.  I feel like a better knitter because of you.

(Merry Christmas to my future niece/nephew!)

Enter: the topic of this post.  If you are in Pinterest and perusing Christmas crafts (you mean that’s not how you spend your evenings??), you may have come across this.  When I saw these photobooth props, I knew I had to have them for a Christmas card photo!  But I don’t like to pay for things I feel like I can make on my own.  To the craft drawer!

With a little foam, scissors, tape, and bamboo skewers, I was able to make my own!  (Because I’m a copycat like that.)

cheeeese

Now to convince the Husband to pose for a photo…

I completed a knitting project.

While this is likely not very exciting for you, it is a momentous occasion for me.  You see, this girl has never done that before.  (No, I take that back.  I have made quite a few “not-quite-big-enough-to-be-dishclothes” squares of yarn.  I don’t think those count.)

No, I made something I can actually wear, see?

It does have a few blemishes, which have been strategically placed at the back of the head. If I can’t see them, they’re not there, right?

Ah who cares, I MADE A WHOLE HAT all by myself!*

*i.e. with the help of YouTube

I perused around Pinterest for some ideas, and found this Owl Costume.  Since I am mainly dressing up for the children at work and the trick-or-treaters tomorrow night, I thought I should be somewhat recognizable to the kiddos.  So to the children at the very least, I will be a bird.

This was definitely a feat, even though the intructions described this as both “quick” and “easy.”  Probably quick and easy for a kid version, but I was not prepared for the amount of cutting involved!  BUT, while it was time consuming, I was happy to get into the crafting vibe again.  It has been too long!

So after much tracing…

cutting…

and gluing…

I have a crazy owl costume for the kiddos.  (The fabric glue is drying, otherwise I would show you what the whole getup looks like.  Stay tuned, though!)

In the meantime, here is a photo of me in my mask.  Hubs has deemed it too creepy to wear right on my face (I sort of agree), so I will opt to wear it as an “owl-face headband” of sorts.

“hoo!”