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It's Miniboss's Birthday!

Today is our daughter's 3rd Birthday! Wow how time flies when you're chasing after a toddler! It honestly has for me. She's not a cheesy gummy bear I once knew. Now she's blossomed into a funny, silly, crazy, sassy, full of attitude stinky toddler! We did her birthday fun earlier on Sunday and took her to Chuck e Cheese and she got to pick out her own birthday cake at the store.

We usually never throw her a party but hopefully next year when we will have a house and can finally throw her that big birthday bash :)

Her tiny hands were trying to reach the banner to be in the picture. I made the banner with my Silhouette machine, doilies with cupcake liners, and tissue paper for the tassel poms.

It was white chocolate ganache cake.

The cake she picked out happened to match the banner I made perfectly. It was a happy coincidence. Well maybe not because her favorite colors are pink and purple lol. But how did we know the store was going to have a pink and purple cake?! Exactly. Magic. Serendipity.

And of course every year we do a photoshoot on her birthday. Last year she was too naughty and we got one shot. Just one. But this year she did much better with a little bribe :)

Here's all her official birthday photos.

I love that each year is so different and unique! Can't wait for another year of new mommy adventures! Each year is a new learning experience and every year I love this girl more and more! Love my baby!

Does your husband cut his own hair?

My husband cuts his own hair. I know...why don't I cut it for him?! Well it's just easier for him to do it himself. Less cleanup. He's been using the same old clipper set since before I met him so I got him this as a surprise :) Wahl 79524-2501 Chrome Pro 24-Piece Haircut Kit It's 39% off right now, and it's something he needs but won't buy a new one of.

Sometimes it's the little practical gifts in a marriage that keeps it going :) Gonna give it to him for Valentines heheh. Do you guys still get eachother things after you're married and have kids? I don't care for flowers and chocolate, I'd much rather get the things that I want than a surprise gift that's romantic but useless lol.

Is This Cup Clean?!

We have a huge problem in the Douangphila household. My husband and child always seem to go through so many cups a day and I have a habit of finding random cups and tossing them in the dish washer, only to have my husband say, "Hey..what happened to my cup? I wasn't done drinking!" I don't know if other Mommas have the same problem, but I hate having dishes and cups just sitting around on tables and counters! Are they clean?! Are they dirty?! How long has this cup been sitting here? Anyway to solve this problem I came up with a solution that will help me keep my sanity, and save me some time from washing 89349299 cups a day.

Now everyone has an assigned place to put their cup, and if it's not on their coaster, it's going in the dishwasher. If you have more kids, you could use a longer board and add more names. I am hoping this solves our cup problem!

I just found an old piece of wood, well it was supposed to be a shelf to an old desk we have. It wasn't being used, so I re purposed it. I cut out our names in vinyl, I did Dad, Mom, and Lexi so it'd be easier for the toddler to learn her letters.

I marked a line on the board with white crayon so it'd be straight. It can easily be rubbed off later when you are done placing the vinyl on.

The coasters were found during the 90% off Christmas clearance sale and they were just .69 cents! They have a tree design on one side but when you flip them over it's just the plain wood grain pattern :)

I didn't glue down the coasters, but you always could. I wanted to be able to change it out to different ones later on. This was just a quick temporary solution so everything is easily changed out like the vinyl as well. If this idea works well for us, I'll make a better more permanent one, one that's with sealed wood, and our names will be painted on the wood as well. I'll keep you updated.

Cheers to HOPEFULLY doing less dishes :)

Stella & Dot Jewelry

One of my New Years Resolutions this year was to start wearing big earrings! I usually like to leave the house with no makeup and my hair in a pony tail. BLAH! Frumpy mom alert! So I thought I'd take a hint from Sherry/Younghouselove and wear big earrings! If I'm not going to dress up, at least my head with have something fancy and I won't feel so frumpy...It's a step in the right direction.

So anyway, I turned to my sister Jennifer, who happens to be a Stella&Dot stylist. & I ordered 5 pairs of earrings. They had so many cute pairs I couldn't pick so I just bought them all lol. I splurged, and it's a gift to myself. I deserve it :)

Here are the ones I ended up purchasing.

(from top to bottom, left to right)
SERENITY STONE DROPS IN GREEN,
CAPRI CHANDELIER EARRINGS IN TURQUOISE,
SERENITY STONE DROPS,
GENEVE LACE EARRINGS,
SEYCHELLES CHANDELIERS
(Pictures from Stella&Dot)

The earrings came in these adorable boxes!

Is that not the most adorable packaging?! It always makes me feel giddy like I'm getting a gift even though I already know what's inside lol.

I love that there is some weight on these, but not too heavy. They are quality jewelry pieces and the look so classy and fresh. I usually hate to buy "fake" jewlery because it looks too much like Claires kiddy stuff. These are totally worth the money, and they're sophisticated and definitely can hold up to all mom ear pulling from babies type of thing. I now officially own more Stella & Dot jewelry than any other brand. The quality and styles just keep bringing me back to splurge on myself :)

I have makeup on here in these pictures, but hopefully even without makeup, I'll still feel pretty and sparkly when making a run to the mail box or to the grocery store :) And what kinda family blog would this be without a shot of Miniboss wanting her pics taken too! She doesn't have her ears pierced yet so she can't join in on big earring 2013 with me lol.

Anyway, if you're looking for an easy way to look a little more glam head over to Stella & Dot and give my sister some love!

I wasn't paid or perked for this blog post, I just love Stella & Dot jewelry, and I love supporting my family!

Baby Shower Gift

I always have to have a unique handmade babyshower gift. I think it's more personal, and I love the reactions I get from the moms and other shower guests. What can I say? I love the attention lol! But really, how nice is it to open a gift and know it was handmade with love especially for your child?

I'm still on that crochet kick so I knew I was gonna try and crochet a little something for the babies. Yes babies, I have a bunch of shower gifts to make! BTW Why is everyone prego or just had a baby on my fb feed? I'm a little jealous Miniboss is turning 3 this month and not a sweet smelling gummy bear toothless newborn! Ok so I don't have a tiny baby to smother but I do have adorable baby shower gifts to make.

Awwwwwww!!! Isn't it adorable? I've seen a bunch of different versions on pinterest so I figure I could whip one out. It was harder than it looked though. I made 5..yeap 5 hats before I got the right size down. Some were too big, too short, too just not right. But then finally all the crochet stars lined up and I had made the perfect baby hat. I can't reveal who it's for yet because it's gonna be a surprise, and I'm not sure that anyone reads my blog anyway, but just incase...

It took a shorter time period to make this hat than my big ombre throw, but it involves so many small bits and parts you have to hand sew on. I'd rather make another throw anyday! But it is worth it...It'll make such a cute baby picture prop :) I wish I knew how to make these back when Miniboss was a baby. But that's the best part of gifts, someone else has the time and energy to make you amazing things :)

I used recycled buttons for the owl's eyes that came from old ABU. The mommas are all military or prior military so that's why I used them. I think it's an adorable personal touch the mom's and dad's will notice :)

Btw sorry the lighting is weird in the pictures, it's a super cloudy day and not even PS could help me =/ Well...now I gotta go make some more shower goodness, and a hat for Miniboss, cuz really..come on, how could I not make her one?! She's still my old baby heheh :)

Ombre Crochet Throw

I've been itching to crochet since it got cold out here in Texas. I guess it reminds me of home. My Mom's really into crochet, and unfortunately I never took to it because it seemed too complicated. Well Thanks to the magic of youtube, I could stop the videos and pause and struggle and learned all sorts of amazingness! I did learn the basic stitches from my Mom last winter, but this year I wanted to take it to a whole 'nother level! I can't wait to show my Momma what I made!

It took me several weeks of on and off work, mainly because I have an almost 3 year old running around and the husbands a cripple thanks to his latest knee surgery, so this was something definitely just for me to relax and do something. So anyway, here it is!

Of course Miniboss saw me taking pics and jumped in and made herself at home =/. Toddlers! sheeshhh! lol Well..what do you guys think? You like?!

It's the crocodile stitch. It looks a lot harder than it really is. I love love love it. I used 11 skeins of yarn. Starting from the bottom, the darkest color is Peacock by I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby. The second darkest is from Michaels in Aqua by Impeccable. The second lightest color is from Hobby Lobby I love This Yarn in Turquoise. And the lighest color is Lion Brand Pound of Love in Pastel Green.

I ended up having to use different types of yarn to find the shades I wanted since neither store had all the colors I was looking for. With the lightes color I actually had to use two stands because the strands were a lot thinner than the rest of the throw. I think it turned out nice though, and you can even tell.

The colors were a little hard to photograph but it's mostly teal. I didn't originally make it for our bedroom, it's actually supposed to be a throw for when we buy our new couch...which won't be until we move in a few months. We're probably getting the Ikea Karlstad sofa in white or a light grey. I want a couch without throw pillows since the couch we have now have a ton and Miniboss is constantly tossing them everywhere and it always looks so messy.. so I made this throw for the back of the couch so it'll have some color without the busyness of pillows. Plus I think it'll work for winter or summer because of the bright colors and its super thick so it's great for winter. It probably weighs 7 or 8 lbs. I went through a LOT LOT LOT of yarn lol.

Now that I'm done, I'm off to make some baby shower gifts :)

Silly Girl, and a project preview

She is obsessed with making funny faces when she sees the camera. There goes the end of the cute poses for Momma =/...but now it's super funny to scan back through the photos and find a bazzillion of these babies lol. Having a toddler is a completely new journey for us I'll tell you that! They have a crazy brain of their own :D

Also you can see what she's laying on, it's my latest crochet project I've been working on for the past few weeks now. I'm not quite done with it yet, but I'll share photos when it's complete! :)

Happy New Year 2013!

2012 Has been good to the Douangphilas! Lots of ups and downs, but more ups, which I'm always thankful for.

In 2012 I got to go to Vietnam for the second time. I went with my Mom and little sister Stephanie. It was a great bonding experience, and I came back feeling blessed and thankful for all my parents have done for me and came back with new respect for everything I am lucky enough to have.

Miniboss got to meet her half brother for the first time. That was a memorable moment of her life. I did get a picture, but with respect for him and his mom, I will not be posting that Kodak moment on our family blog..But I wanted to share with you guys that information because I think it's important for Miniboss to remember that later on in life :)

I got to meet John and Sherry from Younghouselove. I love their blog and I like to imagine we are liek the asian versions of them lol. I mean husband, wife, little girl, and an adorable pup? Yea..a girl can dream right?!

Miniboss started dance classes. She's always been our tiny dancer, and I thought it would be a fun thing for her to try. She's always shy so it was important to expose her to new people and places. She's growing up so fast and I can't believe she'll be 3 soon. We've come a long way from the lost parents of a newborn with no family and friends near by!

There were plenty more memorable moments, but I wanted to just recap and share a few. I hope 2013 brings more adventure! This is the year the Douangphilas move out of Texas, so I know things will be crazy, but we will make the most of it, we always do :) Happy New years guys!

Blue The Betta Gets Some Vinyl

Told you I went label crazyy. Yeap the fish got some too. I used frosted glass vinyl for his bowl so that it wouldn't obstruct his view hehe :) Now Blue will know his name, well I guess to him it'd look more like "3ULB" lol. I cut out two name banners for him, one for each side of his bowl, but I ended up only putting one on it.

Our betta developed this white stripe and his top fin thingy turned white too. I seriously have no idea how that happened, but we think he's slowly turning albino lol! So maybe blue won't be a good name for Miniboss's betta anymore..maybe Whitey. Ehh at least he's still alive :)

Sugar Vinyl Label

I've had this jar of sugar all plain and uggs just waiting for the perfect vinyl label. Well no such luck. Maybe I'm too picky? Either way I've been dying for some vinyl labels ever since the house of smiths pantry makeover. YES! THAT LONG AGO! lol. Well forget waiting because I got my own good ol cameo now and made my own label.

Now that's a label. :) I bought a subscription from silhouetteamerica so I figure if I'm paying I might as well be making use of it right? I dl the shape from their site and tweeked it to get my perfect label. Don't you love the font? Isn't it ...wait for it...sweet?! lol #nerdalert

Now to get more jars for the flour, and whatever else. I'm label crazy ya'll. & in case you're wondering, the spices already have labels, on the lids, so no vinyl for them. Darn I know.

Merry Christmas 2012

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years!

Ceramic Piggy Bank Gets A Makeover

You've probably seen this piggy bank before. Everyone sells it. Sure you can draw on it and make it cute, but I took it up a notch and added vinyl :) Now it looks like this.

If that's not a kawaii makeover I don't know what is lol. Its sooo darn cute now lol. You'll never see that plain boring pig in the same way again! I designed the eyes and placed it closer to the nose. Then I cut one of my doily patterns I bought from the silhouette site and used the negative space out outs to form the decorative head piece. If you look close enough you can see where the old eyes used to be.

I might add Miniboss's initials to it or something on the side later on.

Looks so cute on my desk shelves :) Now to add a decorative border to my shelves! Yay more vinyl projects!

Just some popart

Not to sound crazy, but I love this picture lol. I gotta post it everywhere so that when I'm having my frumpy mom days I will remember that hey, I look like crap now but with some makeup and good lighting, I look like THIS! lol. Yea, I had a veryyy long day yesterday as mom and wife, so I deserve some me time.

A Silhouette from my Silhouette : Chalk Vinyl

I have been in love with my silhouette cameo. It's sooo much fun. I've been playing with the chalk vinyl and I have to say it's my favorite! I love that it's much thicker than regular vinyl, and hello, you can DRAW ON IT. I am going to order a lot more next time around.

I made these chalk labels to organize Miniboss's small toys.

I went to Lowes and bought the small plastic containers that are supposed to be for organizing shoes, but it works well for holding all of her tiny toys. I love how it turned out, so much more organized! I need to go back and get some more containers, because I still have a large bucket of toys to sort through. Sigh* sooo many toys! BTW The top labels look a little weird but it's just the sun streaming through from the window behind the containers.

& I finally made a silhouette of Miniboss :)

Isn't it adorable?! I'm surprised I haven't done one sooner..ohh yeah, because I didn't have a Cameo back then lol. Want to know how to make one too? First I took a picture of her profile.

I took it and edited it in Photoshop. You can see I added a sweet curly ponytail, since Miniboss's hair was uhh..a hot mess lol. This part took a huge chunk of time to create her silhouette and to then slowly smooth it out and make it look nice. You basically use the pen tool in PS to create the outline shape of your childs head and it will automatically fill in the area you create and you copy and paste it into a new document.

Once I got the image I wanted, I saved it as a tiff. file and imported it onto my Silhouette Studio, and cut out the image. I didn't use transfer paper because chalk vinyl is so thick anyway, it peels off easily.

I knew I wanted to put her silhouette into this plate I got in a yard sale years ago.

I liked the decorative edge of the plate, but the blue flowers just felt like it was missing something. I'm glad I left the plate alone until I found the right project to use it!

Here it is all done. I made the image slightly bigger than the center so that the hair hangs off a little. It was just my preference to do so. You could always make yours slightly smaller. I wanted to hide most of the floral background, and I love the way this turned out.

Best part is that now I can leave tiny messages on her BRAIN!! lol. Miniboss likes to say there are bugs in her brain when she has an itch on her head. Kids say the darnest things :D