giveaway!

I was delighted when Veronica of Life in the Thrifty Lane contacted me to be a sponsor for her giveaway celebration week to celebrate her birthday! I'll be giving away a $25 credit to my Etsy shop and offering a sweet discount to my shop during the giveaway as well. Hop on over to Life in the Thrifty Lane to find out how to enter and all the details. I'm also going to add a few new items to the shop this afternoon. Ohh, they are so pretty, I wish I could keep them all for myself (hey, maybe I will! Ha.)!!!

52 in 1: WEEK 6 - a baby shower for Alyssa

It was my absolute honor to throw a baby shower for one of my very best friends on Sunday. Alyssa and I have been friends since the beginning of college and our friendship has grown so much through marriages, babies, moves, and so many other life changes. Our good friend Beth made all the food (which was all to DIE FOR!!!) and our friends Valissa, Gina, and Rebekah made amazing desserts and helped with other preparations. I was so happy with how everything turned out. The rain held off on us, but it still wasn't too hot... just perfect. We held the shower at Alyssa's house which was convenient for Beth and me (since we both now don't live in Rochester- sadness) and for Alyssa since then she didn't have to haul the gifts home and Jason could just take all of the gifts upstairs to the nursery. :) The shower went perfectly and was just so fun. I can't wait to meet Alyssa's sweet baby girl!

Father's Day 2011

This is our annual (since about 1993) Father's Day picture under the maple tree (that was just a baby tree in 1993) at my parents' house. Ryan wasn't able to be there (sad) but it's amazing to look back even in the most recent years and see how much has changed...


2010 - B had just turned 1 and Mac was a bun in the oven

2009 - Brynlee was only about 2 months old!

2008

2007

52 in 1: WEEK 5 - a bridal shower for my sister

We had such a beautiful day for Meghan's bridal shower on Saturday. My mom and I worked hard to prepare for this big event, but it paid off. The food was divine, the gardens were perfect, the weather was warm and ideal, and everything went off without a hitch. My parents worked for days on the gardens and landscaping and it paid off in full. The whole event was simply gorgeous. We played a fun "get to know Adam and Meghan" game (I'm not big on games but this one was fun to put together and carry out). Enjoy.

...and he's off!

Big boy decided tonight was the night to just get up and crawl... there's no stopping him now!!! Nothing like a little iPhone bribery to get a kid moving. And Brynlee was trying to be a streaker in front of the camera (they were about to get in the tub) so that is the reason I was so adamant that she "hold on"... silly girl.

*(Don't miss B singing "Little Bunny Foo Foo" in the background.)*

crawling Mac from Ashley Kirnan on Vimeo.

52 in 1: WEEK 4 - flowers for a shower

So this week I'm kind of cheating on my 52/1 post. I am going home later this week to throw a bridal shower for my sister this weekend, staying for the week, and throwing a baby shower for Alyssa the next weekend. I have about a thousand (give or take) things to do before I leave (and I'm traveling alone with the kids) so I thought I would feature something I made yesterday for Meghan's bridal shower, even though I'm going to feature her whole shower for my next post.

I used this tutorial to make these flowers, and then glued pin backs on the back of the flowers. These flowers are SO fun to make. They are a bit tedious if you're making 50 of them, but luckily I had a helper at least in the cutting process. :)

We are going to use these pins as favors, and I can't wait to see how they look all set out. Now, off to do some damage to that to-do list!

52 in 1: WEEK 3 - a simple skirt

I've been a busy bee this week with listing everything in my Etsy shop, but I still wanted to keep up with my little "52 in 1" challenge. I've been dying to make Brynlee a skirt, specifically using this great tutorial. I am ashamed to say I have really never sewn clothing before (besides those horrific sunflower patterned shorts I made in middle school home ec)! This skirt was SO EASY to make, though, and took me no time at all. That is, once I (literally) dusted off the serger I had inherited from my great grandmother after she passed away a few years ago. And, of course, I HAD to figure out how to thread and use it on my own. Teaching myself to do things is kind of the only way I can really learn and retain the information. Stubborn. And I wonder where Brynlee gets it from!

So here's my newest creation for my little sassy pants (skirt?) girl. I have been obsessed (to put it mildly) with this Anna Maria Horner fabric for quite some time and I'm so glad I finally took it out of my hoarding pile and put it to good use. Even though it really did pain me to actually cut it. What is my problem?!

Anyway, she loves it. And I love her.

taking the plunge... introducing The Poppy Chain!

I've been planning and creating and so anxious about this for awhile and I'm so excited to share that...

I'm opening an Etsy shop!!!

I've been wanting to do this for a LONG time now. As of right now, I'm selling pretty, vintage inspired cabochon jewelry and accessories. I'm hoping to list more items soon (as soon as I get more supplies in) but I do have a few items up. I am also happy to do custom pieces! For my grand opening week (today through next Wednesday, June 15) I'm offering 20% off and a FREE cabochon ring with a $25 purchase with the coupon code "POPPY". Feel free to stop by and browse in The Poppy Chain Boutique! Yay!

7 months

My big boy is 7 months old old today! Mac is SO on the verge of crawling. He is just the sweetest baby ever. I am so thankful for this ray of sunshine! He has filled a void in my life that I didn't even know was there.  He is ALWAYS laughing, smiling, and squealing.  Brynlee just ADORES him, and the feeling is definitely mutual. Oh, how I love them!!!

Crazy sister!!!

Good thing Sissy is here to comfort Mac when his mean mommy makes him sit on the hot cushions!

It's hot here today! Currently it's around 85 degrees and it's supposed to get up to 95 by the end of the week! Whew! Happy Tuesday! :)

52 in 1: WEEK 2 - fluffy flower sandals

During our visit to VA, we took a little trip to the outlets for some shopping (duh). I fell in love with a pair of sandals at the Nine West store. Grey, kind of gladiator style, with funky fabric flowers (alliteration anyone?) down the top strap. Marked at $78 originally, the $54.99 outlet price seemed like a good discount. I was so infatuated with them that I seriously considered splurging. I am not normally the type of girl to shell out lots of money for shoes. So the fact that I even THOUGHT about buying these sandals said a lot for how much I liked them. Especially since they were about 22 times the cost of a pair of Old Navy flipflops. Luckily, I restrained myself (okay, Beth and Carrie restrained me) and I walked away from the sandals, after convincing myself I could make a pair that looked just like those beloved Nine West ones.

After we got home, I scoured the internet for a picture of those sandals so I wouldn't forget exactly what they looked like (I had stupidly forgotten to take a picture of them in the store) but no luck. Not a single pair out of thousands of Nine West sandals on the internet looked like the ones I was looking for. Boo. However, when I was out shopping (at the outlets again!) the other day with my friend Sarah I spied a pair of sandals at the Gap that had a similar idea that the Nine West sandals had (blurry cell phone pic):

Inspiration! I had been able to find plain-ish grey sandals at Kohl's for about $7 (originally $35) to use for the project and picked up a bit of grey linen at Joann's.

So how about a little tutorial? I feel a little silly writing it all out, but I would love to show you all how I made these sandals look pretty without blowing lots of money! :)

1. First, make a template in the shape of a small heart on a piece of vinyl. Using a disappearing ink pen, trace 12 hearts onto the linen. Cut them out quickly! That disappearing ink sure does live up to its name!

(Tangent: by tracing and cutting out these hearts, I was instantly transported back in time (about 15 years ago) to when my mom and I worked for a lady at our church.  She essentially provided the product that we (and a few other women at our church) assembled to a country-type shop.  I would trace hearts onto gingham fabric, cut them out, and get paid five cents per heart.  Once I made $50 in one month.  Yes, that's 1,000 hearts.  My mom would applique the hearts onto shelf liners and get paid a certain amount (I can't remember exact numbers) per shelf liner.  They were VERY country and I used to have nightmares about cutting out thousands of hearts.  Not kidding.)

2. Continue tracing and cutting, until you have 6 piles of 12 hearts.

3.  Take one pile of hearts and set the rest aside.  Fold one heart almost in half, but not quite.
4.  Fold another heart the same way and hot glue the bottom tips of the heart together, with the rounded parts of the hearts going in the same direction.  (Wow this is hard to describe.  Just look at the picture.) 
5.  Repeat step 4, then hot glue the two overlapping heart pairs on top of each other.
6.  Make another "heart pinwheel," if you will.

7.  Hot glue the two heart pinwheels on top of each other, staggering the "petals".

8.  Make another "heart pinwheel," only this time with just 3 hearts.
9.  Hot glue the three-heart pinwheel on top of the other one.
10.  Cut the last heart from the pile in half.  Discard the bottom half.
11.  Take the top, rounded half of the heart and roll it up between your fingers.

12.  Hot glue the rolled up half-heart onto the middle of the "flower."

13.  Do steps 3-12 for each pile of hearts, until you end up with six "flowers."

14.  Using E-6000 or another super-strong glue, glue three flowers across the top strap of one plain sandal.  Repeat for the other sandal.  Let dry.  Wear your gorgeous sandals proudly, and bask in the glory of the under $10 price of making them!  (I also apologize for the foot picture, if that kind of thing makes you squeamish!)

A few words of wisdom to consider:
*Do not get hot glue all over the hardwood floor.
*Do not burn your fingers on the glue gun 27 times.
*Do not get entirely too excited to try on the finished product that the glue doesn't dry enough and the flowers fall off the straps and you smear E-6000 all over your feet.


Please forgive me for my amateur tutorial-writing skillz.  I blame everything on the hot glue gun.  We are not friends.  Now go forth and pretty up some boring sandals!