The Bride's Tree

Raise your hand if you're a newlywed....{picture me raising hand}. My husband and I got married on 7.16.11 and are celebrating our first christmas as a married couple, new parents, and homeowners! Here are a few photos of such things...

Yes, new parents to this little cutie!

Isn't she cuuuute?! Paisley, not me haha. So let's get down to business. My brother Chris is king of all things random. He recently gave me a list of ornaments that newlyweds should have on their christmas tree. It goes a little something like this......
                
"The secret to a good marriage? Christmas ornaments of course. According to a Bavarian custom called the 'Bride's Tree,'  there are 12 special molded glass ornaments that newlywed need to hang on their tree. Each one reminds them of what's necessary  for a successful relationship."

  .....Bride's Tree.....

    Angel {God's guidance}

     Bird {Joy}

  Fish {Christ's blessings} 

  Flower basket {Good wishes}

 Fruit basket {Generosity}

    Heart {True love}

   House {Protection}

   Pine cone {Fruitfulness}

     Rabbit {Hope}

    Rose {Affection}

     Santa {Good will}

      Teapot {Hospitality}

Look's like I have some shopping to do, I only have 3 of these so far! -K

Christmas tree ohhhh christmas tree

I LOVE finding new blogs! I learn so much and get so many great ideas from them, I could read them all day! So not productive, but fun nonetheless. I recently stumbled upon Unskinny Boppy...check it out, she's awesome! Last year she posted a quick How To on photographing your christmas tree so I decided to try it out....too bad my tree doesn't look NEARLY as great as hers.... :/ someday...someday. I also wanted to show you my favorite ornaments, because I looove them and they each have a meaning behind them, for the most part.

 I got this one when my husband (then boyfriend) and I got our first place together!

             Our first apartment together was near the beach!

       Kyle is my "lobster". Friends is my ALL time favorite show.
        (I even walked my recessional to "I'll be there for you")

             Because my husband likes to drive fast cars.

       I can sometimes be a girly girl, love to get dressed up!

 

                     Have to have some Santa ornaments!

                         I love, love, love tea!

                     I also love presents and glitter!

                Everyone plays hide the pickle right??!

 Got this one for the husband, we bought our first house in may, enough said.  

    He loves to play the guitar, he has 5 of them AND a ukulele.

      Because he is my prince charming, and sometimes a toad haha

 Because I can be a pig hahaha Jk, I love piggy's and *fun fact* I used to raise them in FFA.

                             I LOVE to bake!

                       Just because they're cute!

   Husband likes to play "brainy games", and is super good at them!

 Had to get this one, one of our favorite movies is Step Brothers. "Did you touch my drum set?!"

                 Yay our first tree as homewoners!!!

I get MOST of my ornaments from Pier 1 and the  Hobby Lobby! I hope your christmas tree ornaments have some meanings behind them...it's more fun that way! -K




                                            

                                            

Initial wreath {&} Creating Christmas!

Happy monday!! Today I  was featured on Love, Lindsey as a guest blogger! Lindsey is co-hosting Creating Christmas week with The Girl Creative and I was very honored to be asked to share a christmasy craft with them! They will have awesome christmas crafts every day this week so be sure to check them out!


Now...do you remember those $1 ornaments from Target that I used on my pinspired picture frame craft? Well it seems I bought many more than I thought because I found 2 more tubes today! So I made this cute little creation...

  {You'll need}

-Cheap ball 

ornaments

-Hot glue gun  

-Bendable wire  

-Wire cutters 

-Small piece of twine or ribbon

-A cup of hot coco with mini- marshmallows. (just because it's delish and it's christmastime)

 

Super simple! Just bend the wire into the letter you want to make and 

hot glue the ornaments onto the wire.  

 Then put a cute piece of twine or ribbon through the top ornaments to hang it!

 Cute huh?!?!

p.s. congrats to Love, Lindsey on her 100th blog post! And thanks for having us help you Create Christmas! xoxo -K

First attempt at Cake Pops!

When most people go to work they actually have to "work". Well when I got to work the other day my boss and I decided to BAKE! Tammy is in the process of teaching me some of her cooking skills, she's a top chef for sure! First we made banana nut bread and she taught me how to use her Kitchen Aid Mixer (amazing). Then I went home to get my Cake Pop book that my mommy had gotten for me (thanks Mom!) and I attempted to make Cake Pops, soooo much fun...I can see why people are addicted to these things, they are so much fun to make, super cute, and delish to boot!

                                                           

{My new best friend}

First, gather your supplies. You'll need box cake mix, frosting, lolly pop sticks, candy coating, wax paper, styrofoam block (I had to use styrofoam cups, ghetto).

1. Mix your cake and bake as instructed.
2. Let cake cool completely.
3. Crumble up cake with your hands, pick out any large pieces.
4. Add about half of the frosting and mix, you won't need the remaining frosting.

  5. Roll the cake and frosting mix into balls.

6. Let the balls cool in the fridge for several house, or put in the freezer for 15 minutes. You don't want them frozen, just hard.

7. Dip the stick into the candy coating and then poke them into the balls.
8. Dip the cake pop into the candy coating, add sprinkles if desired.
9. Stick the cake pop into the styrofoam to dry.

{Freaking cute huh?!}

10. Show everyone how talented you are and let them taste one of these delicious creations.
11. Send the rest to work with your husband so you don't eat them all (not me of course). Boom now you're everyone's favorite person!

This was only my first attempt so don't judge too harshly! I think I'm going to make snowman ones next! Yay!! New hobby, dangerous hobby. I don't think my thighs can handle this...I'm going running now. -K

Cork boards!

If you've ever had a wedding you know about all the awesome presents you get. Such as, crock pots, a Magic Bullet, silverware, and other sweet household items like that. Well we got all that and more, but one of my very favorite gifts to get on my our wedding day (well the day before because she got excited) was from my sister Cheney. She's a crafty little one like myself and made me us a cork board, I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Not because I'm obsessed with cork boards or anything, I don't think I've even used it yet, it just sits on display in my kitchen. But I love it so much because it was handmade and she took the time that she doesn't have (my sissy is a busy girl) and made it for me us (I really gotta stop doing that haha) because I'm sure she knew how much I would freak out over it! I'm a sucker for creativity and handmade, thoughtful gifts!

 

Here she is!!!

So basically my awesome sissy had been collecting corks from local winerys in Ojai, Simi Valley, and Paso Robles. She then purchased a board with tree bark on the sides (from Michaels) and began to glue the corks on with wood glue (which you can also get at Michaels). She then wrote a sweet little note on the back:) I will have this board forever, I may even ask to be buried with it, is that weird??

With this board as my inspiration I made my own mini cork board with corks that I have been saving from winerys in Temecula (you can go into the winerys and ask for a bag of corks and they will give you them for freee....no need to drink all that wine, but you can if you want). Her board puts mine to shame but I was just practicing for the huge one I'm going to make someday:)

I saw one about this size on pinterest being used as a trivet (great gift). Also I used a hot glue gun instead of wood glue, works just fine:) If you end up making a cork board for someone this christmas  PLEASE don't forget to write something super cute on the back, it will mean a lot to them I'm sure! -K

Pay It Forward 2011 & my very first BLOG AWARD!

First off, does anyone else love coffee as much as I do?? Because I love it...a LOT! It makes every morning like 20 times better! As if this morning could get any better....


This morning I woke up to an email from the amazing family I have chosen to receive a FREE family photoshoot from Endeavor Photography. I have been taking nominations for about a 2 months now and I was just so touched by the email I received about the Bocchini Family that I had to choose them. This was originally going to be a holiday family session but due to medical reasons and BIRTHDAYS:) we will have to wait until the new year, which just means I have more time to think of super cute ideas! Can't wait to meet this awesome family and capture their happiness in photographs!

                                                                                      ....Printable made by Endeavor Designs ....


On another VERY exciting note, I was honored with a Blog Award from Love, Lindsey! Lindsey was awarded the Leibster Blog Award because her blog is awesome! She actually designed my blog header and is a huge inspiration to me! Check out her blog, you'll love! Thanks again Linds! xoxo -K

Cry a baby, cry a baby, cry a baby, cryyyy

Anyone seen the movie Cry Baby?? You have to have seen it to get the title, picture me singing it like Allison!
Okay so I know this is my second blog post today but I just get so excited about my new posts and I made sure with a follower (Kristin) and she said it wouldn't be weird for me to post multiple times a day, I'll just be the Crazy Blog Lady, nbd.

Anyways, I wanted to share some of my favorite photos EVER! Not because I like it when babies cry but because they look so stinking cute! I get these photos all the time. It's weird but towards the end of my shoots (and sometimes the beginning and middle too) the babies tend to get cranky. Understandable I guess after having some stranger move them, put them in awkward positions, and snap pictures of them for 2 hours. A little sad, but cute nonetheless! Enjoy. -K