diy mama

lifestyle blog sharing diy, family, travel, organization & disney tips

friday finds

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1st Birthday Party Ideas

Happy Happy Friday! I’m super pumped about this Friday Finds post because I got to do it around 1st Birthday Party Ideas for Sophie’s Birthday in two months. Pinterest is INSANE with making it look like you have to do a super massive party for a child’s first birthday. The ideas I saw on there were overwhelming! I decided I wanted to try to DiY her party using supplies we already have. Once I got a better idea of what I wanted her party to look like, I realized I will have to buy a few lot of balloons and some floral pins but I’d say that’s pretty good for me (usually I spend a bit too much on birthday decorations.) I decided I wanted Sophie’s theme to be happy/fun/colorful just like she is. She has the biggest personality to match her larger than life smile. I thought a ‘confetti/sprinkles’ type party would suit her perfectly.

first-birthday-ideas

  1. Confetti Balloons are SO fun and I knew I had to try my hand at them for her party. I love the huge round balloons but those are pretty pricey so I thought I’d get more bang for my buck by using regular, clear balloons. Kristen wrote an awesome tutorial at KojoDesigns when she made them for her little girl’s party.
  2. Cake. Duh. Very important part of every party but especially a little girl’s first birthday party. I love the whimsical 1 on this birthday cake by Kristine at Kristine’s Kitchen. Her cake sounds phenomenal too but I think I’ll have enough stuff going on that I’ll probably buy a mix.
  3. I’m a big garland fanatic. I make a new garland for every party we have. I have a Sophia bunting that hangs over her crib that I’ll use somewhere but I also wanted to make some pompom garland that can go in her room once the party’s over! I just got a clover pompom maker and Tara at One Stylish Party has a great tutorial on how to use the pompom maker.
  4. Big Ole Welcome Wreath! I wanted to make a wreath that I could use every year for birthday parties. I thought this balloon wreath made by Erin at Just Two More Seconds screamed ‘birthday party and fun to be had inside!’
  5. Finally, I MUST show a year of photos of my baby girl. There will probably be a slide show or video playing but I thought this 1 display of photos shared by Emily at Babble was seriously cute. I only have about 3,000 photos to go through from this past year…nbd.

I’m just tickled to be thinking about celebrating our little girl with our immediate family and some of her favorite friends! I wanted her gift from us to be fairly small but meaningful and I’d seen Tamara post a personalized children’s book called The Little Girl Who Lost Her Name. She’s obviously too young to read this book but we can start reading it to her now  while she looks at the beautifully illustrated pages. What did you do for your child’s first birthdays? What did you learn from that party that you will remember for all future parties? Now I want cake.

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Top 5 Photography Blogs

Hello and welcome to another episode of my Photography Series! Today, to stick with my Friday Finds theme, I’m going to do a round up of five favorite photography blogs. These blogs were highlighted for multiple reasons: 1. I’ve frequented them over the years. 2. The tutorials are well written. 3. They’re in terminology that I can understand!

photography-blog-roundup

  1. Inspire Me Baby is an awesome blog for inspiration. They have their site categorized by the type of photos you’re looking to shoot. They give tips on staging, what to wear to a shoot, and the basics on beginning photography. They also have guest photographers and you can submit to be featured for feedback.
  2. Digital Photography School is one of the top photo tutorial blogs. It’s free (biggest perk) and MASSIVE with submissions from hundreds of photographers! Literally any photo subject you can think to get better at, there will be a tutorial. I like how they have their site categorized by beginners but they also have a most popular posts section that is extremely helpful.
  3. Canon Blogger is a great site for me, because we shoot with a Canon EOS. It’s a great blog for classes, equipment, photo reviews and tutorials. Some of the articles aren’t Canon specific but deal with lighting, flash, composition etc.
  4. Clickin Moms is one of the very top photography sites right now. It’s basically the SITS Girls of photography. A wealth of knowledge from all kinds of photographers. You can even become a member to submit your photos and questions to get feedback on your shots. They’re also great for getting photo op ideas!
  5. Click It Up A Notch is one of my favorite photography sites to follow. I follow her on Facebook and Twitter because she always has an awesome post on a subject I want to learn more about. She also has a lot of Light Room tutorials which gets me closer and closer to buying that program every day! I really enjoy her photography style because it is so ‘in the moment.’

I feel so inspired when I look at every one of these photography blogs. These people know what they’re talking about in the way of getting the perfect shot. I hope you don’t lose too much time going to one of these sites because you could spend an entire day at each one! Set a timer. 😉 Any photography blogs I missed that you’re loving or have helped you in the past?

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All Things Creative and Beautiful

Hello and a Happy Friday to you!! I’ve had a great week filled with a little crafting, sunshine and being in awe of my little crawler. It’s amazing how quickly babies learn! It took her one week to be a master crawler and is now set on learning to walk. Anchoring furniture and cleaning baseboards are on the list for this weekend! 😉 For now, let’s go be inspired by all things creative and beautiful!

friday finds 5.30

  1. I really loved the reading chain idea that the girls at eighteen25 wrote about in their Summer Activities post. Our little one isn’t old enough to start reading books on her own but I really think instilling the love of reading at a young age is extremely important. This is a great way to get kids excited about reading over summer break! PS. Reading Rainbow is coming back! (I hope I got that song in your head!)
  2. Ash at Sugar and cloth made this darling succulent wall for her back yard. I love the glossy stained wood for her yard but it might be cute to paint it a Robin’s Egg blue or Mustard yellow. You could also use spray painted food containers or tin cans as the vases as long as you drilled a few holes in the bottom. I love succulents because they’re so easy to care for and most of mine last outside during the winter.
  3. The ladies at Be Crafty made the simplest, yet cutest, garden markers ever! I can even see doing this with your kids but using kid-safe paint and having them write on the forks or later lettering them yourself.
  4. Amy at Delineate Your Dwelling made the most creative piece of art that I’ve seen in a while. Her chalkboard tree stump art has the perfect mix of delicate girlishness and natural texture. I loved her color choice of mint and gold and that this could be applied on any shape or size of wood.
  5. Jen over at i heart organizing has THE most organized home of anyone I’ve ever seen. She has a great way to make her kid’s crafts organized, easily accessible and beautiful. I loved her method for organizing their loom supplies!

These ladies all had great ideas on how to make education and crafting fun and make simple DiY projects to decorate your home. No joke, I want to do every last one of these projects! Has anyone used chalkboard paint for a project? What about making your own garden markers? Did you get the kids involved in your garden this year? For now, I’m happy with watching Soph learn to go from sitting to crawling to standing but I’m also excited for her to read, plant and make crafts with us! 🙂 Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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