Baby girl's 6 month photo shoot

It's no secret to anyone that knows her... #3PbabyB is pretty much the most beautiful and precious baby girl- not that I am in any way biased or anything (wink).  Time is flying by with this little one and she is in fact already 8 months old, but here are a few snapshots that my talented friend Nicole of Nic's Pics Photography took a few months ago.  I just can't stop perusing through these- thanks a million, Nic!

You can see some other work Nicole has captured for us here and here.

Bachelorette Party DIYs

< little DIYs add the perfect personal touch to a girls' weekend >

What happens when your two best friends in life are both engaged at the same time, and both getting married within the same year?  Well, lots of exciting things, to be truthful.  And of course, one of the greatest reasons ever to plan a fun trip with them, a bunch of great friends, and schedule all kinds of weekend fun in celebration of their engagements.  For this joint bachelorette party I was so excited to plan for my two friends, I decided I have to practically infuse all kinds of pretty, particularly of the DIY genre.  Since the bachelorette weekend was scheduled by the beach, I decided to create a palm tree theme with both of their favorite colors, and a splash of gold here and there.  Some of the items I created for this getaway weekend were cork wine charms, a tissue paper tassel garland, cork coasters, and delicious sugar cookies.  These DIY projects are all pretty simple, but its all in the details, right?  These items were a hit during our bachelorette weekend, so let me know if you are interested in help with any of your bachelorette part details and I will be glad to get you some 3P details in the mix!

DIY cork wine charms

< supplies: wine corks, eye pins, 'ring' earrings, beads for decoration >

 < DIY process: Soak corks in hot water for 10 or more minutes, cut to desired width.  Decorate as desired (I added each Bachelorette attendee's initials in gold puff paint on one side, and a dimensional palm tree sticker on the other side).  Poke eye pin through cork, bend the loose end and cover with a little glue.  Secure earring ring through eye pin, add decorative beads.  There you have it! >

< ta-da!  Each wine glass has a cute personalized touch >

DIY tissue tassel garland

< supplies: gather all the tissue paper colors you want to use, some sharp scissors, and string or twine in the length you need >

 < DIY process: fold several sheets in half lengthwise, then once width wise.  Fold again width wise and cut strips (these are your tassels), leaving about 2 inches at the top.  Unfold once, and cut down the middle to create two sections.  Unfold again, and grab one or several pieces together.  Roll your uncut middle portion of each piece like a hot dog, taking care that the tassel pieces to not become tangled.  Then twist this rolled portion around itself to create a little loop.  Glue this loop to twine or rope to create your tassel.  Alternate colors and arrange spacing for a beautiful garland. >

< ta-da!  Although this tissue tassel garland became somewhat smashed and wrinkled during the plane ride across the country, it was still fun to incorporate into the weekend decorations.  And one of my friends loved the idea so much she asked my to make one for her wedding (glad that the one I'll make for her won't have to endure a plane flight)! >

DIY cork coasters

< supplies: blank cork coasters, painters pens, craft glue, and glitter >

< DIY process: Decorate as desired.  I basically hand drew a little logo on one side with my painters pens and let dry. I then covered the other side with glue and glitter.  Once both sides were dry, I sprayed each side with a sealant spray and let dry in between. >

< ta-da!  Cute little coasters that are useful during a bachelorette trip and make for a great little souvenir once the ladies' weekend is over. >

DIY sugar cookies

< supplies: cookie cutter of your choice and a batch or two of your favorite sugar cookies >

< DIY process: prepare sugar cookie dough as desired (I made mine from scratch and doubled the recipe). Cut into your desired shape (I got my cookie cutter at Sur la Table) and bake.  Frost as desired (My sweet grandma helped me frost these, and she used a powdered sugar frosting recipe, which we colored with green and pink food coloring to stay thematic with the weekend). >

< ta-da!  These homemade sweets were gobbled up during our bachelorette adventures. >

P.S.- See how all these DIYs were incorporated into this amazing bachelorette party weekend.

DIY jewelry case

 < Lovely little, very simple, totally cheerful DIY jewelry travel case >

Oh Thursday, I am glad that you are finally here.  As an official "Weekender" (as dubbed by great friends), I really cannot wait for every weekend and the adventures that those days will bring, near and far.  When many of our "Weekender" weekends are filled with travel, I often find myself tossing jewelry haphazardly into this bag and that as we head out the door for an overnight trip somewhere.  No longer will this be the case.  Enter the creative repurposing, Martha side of myself: take an old box (in this case it was a plastic Crest Whitestrips container), decorate it 3P style, and then love it to bits.  Yes, this very simple DIY jewelry case will now get to come on many adventures with me.  Thank you cardboard, contact paper, Crest case, and creativity!

 < Supplies for this DIY were not very demanding: an old box/case, contact paper in my favorite chevron pattern, an empty egg crate, and some sharp scissors >

 < After applying contact paper to the lid and the bottom sides, I decided to add a little of this fun pattern to the insides >

 < I pictured little egg crates as the perfect divider to fit in this little box, and boy are they! >

< Here we go: blue and gold jewelry all packed up and ready to go! >

DIY: glitter chevron artwork

< love the glitter and the ombre effect! >

I love me an easy DIY project, and the magpie in me loves anything that glitters.  Put this two and two together and what do you get?  A 3P artwork project with glitter and glue.  I have had this DIY on the books for forever, and with a little bit of work on these canvases the past few days, I happily completed chevron stripes (one of my favorite patterns), in ombre shades of glitter on this personalized artwork project.  If this inspires you to a little DIY of your own, just grab some glue, a canvas, and your favorite colored glitter and get to work!  

< supplies: paper to cover the workspace, 3 different art canvases, glitter, glue, a ruler, and a pencil >

 < step 1: use the ruler to create an evenly spaced grid of pencil marks along each canvas >

< step 2: create chevron lines by drawing diagonal lines across each box, alternating directions along each row.  Erase any unnecessary pencil markings after your chevron lines are created. > 

< all chevron stripes are in place >

 < step 3: apply glue along chevron stripes (be sure to cover pencil lines with glue) >

< step 4: sprinkle your glitter over the glue stripes >

 < keep sprinkling that glitter! >

< ta-da!  I'm going to love seeing this simple, sparkly set of chevron artwork each day! >

Painted Masterpieces

< From let to right: OPI Servin' Up Sparkle, A Oui Bit of Red, & Cozu-melted in the Sun, Essie Golden Nuggets, Love & Beauty Green, Essie Beach Bum Blue, OPI Grape...Set...Match and Flashbulb Fuschia >

I appreciate having a great selection of nail polishes (as seen here), and love how the polish colors can inspire an outfit and easily add more color to everyday life.  I have selected a few of my current favorite polishes in a rainbow of colors to use as inspiration for choosing art, and am happy to share my pairings with you today!  One of these days, I would love to own at least two of these artistic creations for the walls of my house.  Tell me, what inspires you to choose a nail polish color?  An outfit? A piece of art?

< Silver artwork >

< Red artwork >

< Orange art >

< Gold polish and yellow wall decor >

 < Green artistry >

< Blue Paris illustration >

< Purple frou-frou >

< Pink inspiration >