Two thousand eleven was Heaven.

I think it's definitely accurate for me to say that 2011 was the most memorable and definable year in my whole 21 (almost 22) years of life. When I think about all the has happened to me in the last 365 days it is somewhat overwhelming but gives me the most amazing feeling and sense of accomplishment. This is what the past year has looked like for me.....

I turned 21!

We bought a house!!!

We became fur parents!

I married my best friend!

I got my first tattoo!

My photography business took off!

And I became 100% happy in my professional life!

Although it has been the most amazing year of my life it definitely didn't come without some downs as well, but the positive has by far outweighed the negative. I can only hope that 2012 is as good to me as 2011 was! -K

The one with all the baking....

Last Christmas I made the mistake of baking and creating tons of treats for my husbands work. It didn't seem like a mistake at the time because I had plenty of time off work to bake. This year, however, I did not. I wasn't planning on going all out again until my husband told me my treats were a huge hit and were being requested again. Flattered? Yes. Excited to waste 5 precious hours in the kitchen slaving over a hot oven? No. But I did anyways because I do actually enjoy baking ( and I wanted to one up last years treats)!

So off to the store I went and I collected these supplies....

I decided to make cookies, candy cane cake pops, chocolate cover pretzels, and oreo balls! It went a little something like this....

               These are pretty self-explanatory right??

 Oreo balls: Crush up oreos, add cream cheese, roll into balls, put them in freezer for 15 min, then cover with chocolate and let harden. Mmmmm!

Kyle's work!

My work!

This little endeavor didn't turn out as bothersome as I thought it would be, I actually had fun making everything, baking is definitely a stress reliever! Time to start thinking of what I can make next year to top my cute gingerbread man full of treats! -K

Merry Christmas & DIY picture frame gift!

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas, I know I did! I got to bake until I couldn't bake anymore, spend time with my awesome family and the in-laws, and of course, OPEN PRESENTS! I have to admit that this was the very first year in the history of our relationship that I had NO idea what Kyle was going to get me, and he definitely didn't disappoint!

My new STUDIO SET UP! This just confirms what I knew all along, I have the most amazing husband in the world! (He also surprised me and set this up last night and took the photo himself). Love him!


Now I want to show you a project that I could hardly keep to myself until after Christmas. My best friend, Brittani, is a starving college student but still had to get her aunt a gift for Secret Santa so she crafted this cute little DYI picture frame for her!

 First you're going to get a frame big enough to hold all the photos you want to display, I think Britt just recycled this from an old high school collage.

 Then paint it the color you want, let it dry, then sand it in areas to give it that rustic look. I had some left over paper flowers from my own wedding crafts that I let Brittani have and she hot glued them on the corners, you can add unique little touches like that to fit your style or the style of the one receiving the gift.

 We also used some twine that I had leftover but you can get a spool at any craft store. Hot glue or staple the twine to the back of the frame to create a clothes line affect. Finally, hang the photos using mini clothes pins (which you can also find at a craft store).

Tell me this isn't freaking cute?!?! Britt used photos of her aunt's children and husband, best DIY gift ever! Great job Brittani! xoxo -K

DIY gift tags!

Reasons why I suck at posting this week:

• EVERYONE decided to have a birthday this weekend, including my amazing dad, Jim.....this song is for you, I love you!!!
• I started my first official week at my new job!
• All my awesome friends are home from college for the holiday.
• Christmas shopping, baking, wrapping, ahhh!
• Ice skating is way more fun than posting, sorry! :)

In between all the holiday fun however, I did have a chance to experiment with my DIY gift tag idea! And here we gooooo....

I went to my girlfriend's house and borrowed her mom's Cricket machine, AMAZING. Thanks Di!

I also borrowed some of her stamps, she has an outrageous stamp collection, I'm so jealous of her crafty self! Using the Cricket, we cut out all the tags we wanted....she had tons of shapes to choose from!

Then I just stamped the tags with the design I wanted on the front and then I stamped the names on the back...too easy!

Now make yourself some hot coco, turn on some country Christmas music, and have fun wrapping! 5 days until CHRISTMAS!!! -K

Crazy week & some favorite photos!

I can't believe I haven't posted ALL week...but if you knew about the week I've had you would understand, so I'll tell you.

Monday- I went to Disneyland:) and got a call that I got a job I applied for a month ago sooo I'm now the Administrative Assistant at Dieda Weeks Insurance Services! Oh and I'm still keeping my personal assistant/nanny position so I'll work until 6pm mon- fri and then go straight to Tammy's at night and on weekends. No pain, no gain!

Tuesday- I took Christmas photos for a cute little preschool, then to work, then to a meeting for new job, thennnn Girls Gone Creative Boutique (which was a great success!).

Wednesday- Work all day, photo shoot, then dinner (where I met Twitch and his family, oh em gee.) & Christmas shopping!

Thursday- First day at Dieda Weeks! Love it so far! Then off to SD for Bruni & Crotzer's Annual Christmas Party, so much fun.

So as you can see I had absolutely NO time to deliver a presentable blog post, my apologies. I will need to find time in my new long days to post though! Things will be a lot less crazy after the holidays.

Okay enough about me....favorite photo time! My clients always seem to love these the best....enjoy!

               Geez I have some good looking clients! -K

Shabby chic ladder redo!

One day my boss had a yard sale, that same day I stole this bunk bed ladder from her (thanks Tammy)! I had plans for this ladder, because the weekend before my husband had "accidentally" pulled the towel rod on my side of the bathroom out of the wall...oh the life of a 22 year old. Anyways, I didn't want to go to The Home Depot and buy another silver rod that I didn't fancy the much anyways so I just patched up the holes in the wall and got to work on my new, FREE ladder!

Before

Step 1. Pick a paint color, get a brush or 2, and try this genius little rubber band  trick that I saw on pinterest! {No more drips down your paint can!}

Step 2. Sand your ladder a bit, primer if you want (I didn't) and paint! {let dry}
Step 3. Sand your ladder in corners and areas that would naturally fade over time for a rustic look!
Step 4. Set up your cute new ladder in your bathroom & admire!
Step 5. Thank your husband for getting drunk and clumsy that one night:)

After

Please excuse the blah picture, taken on my camera phone:/ I hope you can see how cute it turned out though! Keep an eye out for a lost and lonely ladder friends! -K

Apothecary jar centerpieces {Christmas}

I have been searching for apothecary jars at a decent price for weeeeeks! I went everywhere...Target, Home Goods , Hobby Lobby. I couldn't seem to find one for just the right price, until I went to Ross (duh!). I was looking for 3 of them and they only had 2 but for $11.99 each I HAD to get them! Here is what I did with them without having to buy any more supplies....

And here is what I plan to do when I find my third jar and decide to get my lazy self to the store for some more goodies!

I first saw this on Pinterest of course, but then I found the blog here!

 

 

 

Let your creative mind guide you with this one! There are so many things you can put in your jars to make then YOU! I'm totally going to put something new in them each season! Happy Saturday!!! -K

Girls Gone Creative Christmas Boutique

When: Tuesday Dec. 13th from 6-9pm

Where: Emilio's Mexican Restaurant in San Jacinto, CA

What: Creative girls set up a table of their awesome crafts and merchandise and sell them to you!

Why: Because Christmas is almost here and we will have the CUTEST, most inexpensive gifts in town:)
We will also have free appetizers and $2 margaritas with a purchase!

Our Creative Girls Include...

Scentsy

Chelsi's "So Fancy" Clips

Silpada Jewelery 

Designs To Di For by Diane

Creative Memories

Endeavor Designs :) 

La Sorellas Spa

Family Flame

Jeans Crafts 

Toni’s Touch

Dove Chocolate by Sandy

Scarves by Carla

Herbalife

Mary Kay

...And MORE! 

I am so excited about this event and I wanted to give you guys an idea of what I have been working on for my booth!

 

{Are your earrings sick of losing their mate? Or being tossed on the bathroom counter?? Mine are!}

                              {How to}

                        {Great for busy moms}

{Place on your husband/wife's nightstand and leave them cute notes!}

               {I want to keep this for my own kitchen!}

                            {Kid's room?!}

 {Originally I was just going to make one for my little sissy for her graduation from beauty school, but I had to buy the charms in bulk so now I'm making lots! I had to make the chains too, apparently everything is sold in bulk in L.A...tedious, but super cute!} 

I also have super cute earrings that I stumbled upon and will be working on more crafts this weekend! And let me tell you, I have seen what the other girls are working on and I'm going to go broke! Going to get all my Christmas shopping done in one night! Can't wait! I hope to see everyone there! -K