January 30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 1

So this year for Christmas, my husband bought me a Canon T3i. And I LOVE it! I have always wanted one ever since my daughter was born! I always wanted to take great pictures of my kids and my existing camera just was not cutting it! I took a photography class back in college and was hooked but it was never in my budget to purchase a nice camera and so I never owned one.  Back then it was film, not digital. So I was very very excited when I opened up my present and saw my camera. Yea!!!! Did I tell you how much I love it? I really do! Its been so many years since using one and now I am relearning all about ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture, composition, depth of field, etc.

 

I came across a fun challenge called 30 DAY Photography Challenge, that I am participating in to help me get familiar with my camera and sharpen my skills in Photoshop at the same time. These pictures by all means are not perfect but a work in progress. And I am excited!!!

 

So here is challenge Day 1..... Self Portrait. I personally do not like this challenge but so be it. Here is my face. Lets move on to Day 2.

 

Home: Kitchen facelift

Earlier this year we moved into our new home. We absolutely loved it! It was move in ready. No major improvements needed. Just some minor tweak's my husband and I wanted to touch up to make it feel more like home. The first thing I notice was all the walls in the entire house were white. We have two small kids and I knew these walls were a huge empty canvas's in my kids eyes. I needed to get it painted. But this actually was not our first project we tackled. It was the kitchen. We wanted to add a backsplash.

So here is the before photo.

And the after.

 

Eventually we are going to splash some paint onto those boring walls.

 

My next project.....the Pantry.

Oh dear.

Handmade Barbie Clothes

My 5 year old wanted some clothes for her Barbie dolls and after looking around the internet and stores for clothes I just could not find any that were cheap enough to consider buying.

 

 

 So I browsed around the internet and found some great tutorials on how to make Barbie clothes!

The tutorial from Craftiness is not Optional was my favorite that I used.

 

Love that this project cost me zero dollars!! I just used scraps from my left over fabric pieces!

 

This black piece with red piping was my first attempt. So easy!! I just added Velcro to the back and voila! Seriously, so easy!

 

 

Since my daughter is going to school for the first time this year, she is all about school stuff and she told me she needed an outfit for the teacher. So I made this.

 

A little girl needs a gown in her wardrobe, so a wedding dress was added.

 

Here is the first collection.

 

More to come soon once I understand how to make pants and shirts with sleeves. Fall is coming you know. These Barbie's need to dress warmly and with style!

 

Juliana's cooking creation

My 4 year old wanted to prepared her own breakfast this morning. So she grabbed strawberries and a bag of powered sugar and this is what she came up with.

I guess she watches one to many cooking shows on the net with her momma.

Crafts: Halloween

This year I had a little help decorating for Halloween. I wanted to keep it simple and yet a little spooky for the kids this year. Since joining Pinterest, I have found so many great ideas to help me find just what I wanted to do.



Here are the list of Halloween finds, with tutorials that I used, from Pinterest.

Bird Silhouette for the pillow from BHG

Pumpkin Decor from Urban Comfort

Halloween Burlap Bunting from Dream Book Design

I just LOVE Pinterest! Its such a great source of putting all your creative finds in one simple easy to use place. If you haven't joined Pinterest already, what are you waiting for?

Cooking: Thank you Jessica Seinfeld!

I believe it was last year for Christmas, my sister gave me a book called "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. Let me tell you, my daughter is one picky eater. This book has helped me to help my daughter get her nutrients one way or another.

Here are a few of the things I have made from the book. Some were winners and some were not so lucky.



Brownies (with carrot and spinach)

Not surprised this was a winner. She loves anything chocolate. Ha! Just like her mama.



Macaroni and Cheese (with cauliflower)

This did not pass the test. Although I did enjoy it.



Chocolate Peanut Butter Dip (with carrot)

My daughter ate the entire apple and put the dip aside. But again, I liked it. Not so bad.



Pancakes (with sweet potato)

This is a winner. Her absolute favorite! She request this almost EVERY morning. Yeah! What a great way to start the day.



French Toast (with sweet potato and blueberries)

She didn't quite like this one but she did enjoy eating those blueberries!



We've been doing this for about a year and we are slowly, but surely, eating our vegetables one spoonful ate a time. :)

Sewing: Juliana's two very talented Grandma's!

A few months ago my sister spotted one of Juliana's shirt and said she loved it so much and insisted that I have my mother make one like it for Juliana, since she is such a great knitter.

Here is the original shirt.



Here is Grandma Christiansen's version.



The details.





My sister even bought some labels for my mother since she has been making all sorts of stuff for her grand kids. This piece will be staying in the family for sure.



I think she loves it Grandma!





Juliana is very lucky to have another VERY talented grandma! She loves to make quilts and is sooooo very good at it. This Quilt she made was a Valentine Day quilt.



Here is a full length shot.

Sorry, the only pic that came out was this upside down view.



Juliana enjoying the beautiful valentine's print and colors.




I think she likes this one!




Sorry Juliana but this Quilt was made for ..... MEEEEE!