Utah friends: What are you doing for your holiday pictures this year?

If you are like me, you are scrambling around trying to figure out what to do about Christmas cards. What to wear, where to do the photos and are they all booked up?

 

I'm lucky because my talented sister Wenderful has been studying photography for years and is a Photoshop guru. AND she's coming to my house for Thanksgiving! And since she is going to be in town for a couple days, I've convinced her to let my Utah friends share in her talents. She normally charges the big bucks because she is so talented and in demand, but she is going to do mini-sessions for ONE day: THIS FRIDAY, November 27th and has arranged a beautiful outside venue at Trolley Square. There will be old bricks if you want an urban, rustic background, a huge beautiful tree if you want Christmas card photos and all sorts of other options.

So here's the deal, she only has a few slots open that day. If you would like to be signed up for a time, either leave me a comment or shoot me an email (my address is on the sidebar). You know your pictures will turn out great because she is uber talented PLUS she has the Photoshop skillz. And let me tell you, it is a good deal. We had ours taken by a local photo studio last year and the whole thing ended up costing me over $300. You get images that are edited -- so everyone will look better, the backgrounds will be more vivid, and she can touch up any trouble spots. You will have the rights to one of the pictures and then you can order any of the 5-10 other images for half price. So you can send them in to a cute site like Shutterfly or Tinyprints and do something really different for your Christmas cards this year!

Check out her website or her personal blog and see her wonderful pictures. Here are a few of my favorites! I can't wait for our session!!!

I hope you are having a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

 

 PS - I finally got to see New Moon last night. So good :)

Friday Favorites

Amy, at the Red Chair Blog did an astounding makeover on her stairs. Taking them from dull to adorable!

 

Lisa at Moore Minutes put together an amazing Thanksgiving table (with burlap) and a really fun kids table with homemade Mayflower boats. So cute.

Here is a project that is on my to-do list, Roots and Wings made these fantastic silhouette Christmas ornaments and has a tutorial to help us do it too!

 

Char at Crap I've Made, has come up with an ingenius tutorial on how to copy Pottery Barn's glittery peace sign ornament. I love that you could make any shape you want for your tree. So great!

Jill at Barnes Yard transformed a mirror into a fabulous burlap board. Really adorable!

And Ruffles and Stuff is a blog I just discovered full of great tutorials on how to ruffle up all sorts of things. Look at this adorable shirt she ruffled up with little leaves on it. How cute would this be to have your little girl wear for Thanksgiving dinner?

 

And speaking of adorable, my sweet friend Kasey has made the cutest clothes for her little girl. So fun!

And for all sorts of other great favorite ideas, head over to Melissa's at 320 Sycamore, she is having a wonderful Favorite Things party! There are all sorts of great ideas that people love. You should check it out!

And at this time of Thanksgiving and with Christmas right around the corner, I love the idea of helping other people in need. Kendra, at My Insanity has started a wonderful project called Big Hearted Holidays to help two families dear to her hear who have lost parents this year. Please go over and help these families out if you can. Or blog about this project! There is so much love and resources here in our bloggy world, let's make the world a little better this holiday season.

Please go over and give these ladies some bloggy love!

And if you haven't signed up for the Twilight Necklace Giveaway, go to my post here!

Thank you for stopping by - it means a lot to me!

Have a great weekend!

XOXO

More Burlap Projects: make a Holiday Card Holder using a tomato cage?

I know the title of this project sounds weird. My sister Wenderful actually gave me this idea. She had heard that you can turn your garden tomato cages into card holders. So I looked around and I found this picture from Lowe's.

 

Well of course I wanted to see if I could incorporate some burlap into the project - lol. Last night I stayed up way too late experimenting and this is what I came up with. It's an inexpensive way to display your cards. And if you made it neutral I think it would be fun to keep out all year to display cards or even your child's artwork. I used  tomato cage out of my garden and the other supplies I had around my craft room so this project ended up costing me nothing to make. I think I am going to display it on my kitchen island. I'm still trying to decide what to do with the top - any thoughts?? Also -- entire project made with a hot glue gun - no sewing required....

 {sorry I had to use "fake" Holiday cards since I don't have any yet...}

And just in case you are getting tired of my burlap projects (as one commenter obviously did yesterday  -- have you ever heard the expression, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all??? I thought the bracelets were cute...), I have my J Crew Fashionista Project #2 coming tomorrow...

Tonight's the night! Can you believe I don't have tickets. Arrrgh - it's sold out here. Are you going?


Have a creative Day!

XOXO

Congratulations to my winner and check out these other New Moon giveaways!

Thank you to everyone who entered my LA/New Moon Giveaway! {I am going to get over to visit all of you} I wish I could give this prize to every single one of you! I used the Random Number generator and it gave me:

Jess from The Brannon Family. Jess is a really cute mom who is an wonderful photographer. So congratulations Jess!

Now, the giveaway I'm hosting for the two beautiful New Moon necklaces is still going. It will end next Tuesday. So if you haven't commented, here is the link!

Also, there are a bunch of other really great New Moon giveaways going on right now. 

My good friend Jenny Kate is getting ready to throw a fabulous New Moon party and she is giving away all sorts of really great things on her blog, including one of the goody bags that she put together for her party! Her giveaway ends on Friday. Her whole blog is Twilight themed --it is really fantastic!

And, Pink and Polka Dot, another great blog, has made the cutest little bags with Edward and Jacob on them. Her giveaway also ends on Friday!

I ♥♥♥♥♥ You Guys!

XOXO

More Burlap Projects: Burlap Bracelets!

This is what I did last night when I was supposed to be getting stuff ready for the boutique :)

 

I bought these bracelets yesterday at the Target's Dollar section, and I was so excited to see what I could make with them.

 

 

 

If you would like to make some, here's the tutorial!

• Measure the width of your bracelet and the length.
• Cut your burlap to twice the width of the bracelet and to a little bit longer than the length.
• Arrange your burlap in front of you. Stand the bracelet up in the center of the burlap strip. 
• Do this step quickly: run a line of hot glue along one side of the inside of the bracelet.  Put the bracelet back in the same position as before and quickly take the burlap edges of that side of the bracelet and bring them toward the center of the bracelet. Roll the bracelet down the length of burlap as you go so that the bracelet stays in the center of the strip. This will help your burlap stay centered and keep the material from bunching up.  Continue until you come to the starting point.
• Do the same thing on the other side of the bracelet. Pull taught as you go.
• Trim the edges where the bulap meets. Then glue down this area. Don't worry too much if it doesn't look perfect. You will be gluing the embellishment over this area.
• One the bracelet is completely covered in burlap, cut a length of ribbon that is longer than the circumference of the bracelet. So it's not itchy!!
  
• Run a squiggly line of hot glue down the center of the inside of the bracelet. Quickly take your ribbon and press it against the burlap. Do this all the way around the inside of the bracelet. Trim the edges where the two ends meet and glue that center down.
• Now you can make the embellishment. There are many different embellishments you can make using fabric, beads and brooches. I found some brooches on clearance at Michael's Crafts in the beading section a while ago. But you can also just use fabric and buttons.
• Glue your embellishments down and you are done!
• Note: this is a tricky project. It might take a few tries to get it right. And try not to burn your fingers with the hot glue. I used a popsicle stick to press the glue down onto the ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by! And thanks for entering my LA/New Moon Giveaway {ends Wednesday 11/18} and New Moon 2 Giveaway {ends 11/24}!

 Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

XOXO

What's better than a New Moon Giveaway? How about TWO New Moon Giveaways?

What's better than ONE New Moon Giveaway? How about TWO???? My good friend Kristen from La Dole Vita has made the most AWESOME New Moon-inspired necklaces! And guess what? I have one of each to give away to you! Aren't they beautiful?  

Two lucky winners will win one of these necklaces. Okay, here's the deal:

• This contest will run for 1 week: ending Tuesday, November 24th at midnight (MST).
• Let me know if you are TEAM EDWARD or TEAM JACOB
  
• If you want to be entered -- leave me a comment on this post.
• Each of my followers will get another entry -- just because I ♥♥♥♥♥ you!
• If you want a third entry -- post or twitter about the giveaway and then leave me another comment letting me know.

Good luck! And, if you just can't stand it and need a necklace to wear to the movie this weekend, go over to Kristen's etsy store. If you mention TATERTOTS during the giveaway, she will give you FREE shipping! Then if you win -- you can give the necklace to your best friend/daughter/sister for Christmas!

I can't wait to see the movie!!!

{Sorry I haven't gotten around to visiting you this week yet, today is the boutique and then things should settle down again!}

{Thanks everyone for all of your comments, twitters and blog posts about my LA/New Moon Giveaway (it ends on tomorrow night)!}


Have a Sparkly Day!

XOXO

My LA/New Moon Giveaway!

 

I had a wonderful trip in the sun. It was in the 70's there! So I was in for a big shock when I got off the plane tonight and the temperature reading was 30-degrees. Brrrrr.... Well, I looked around for some fun Southern California things to giveaway, but got a little sidetracked.

It seemed like everywhere I looked there were New Moon posters in L.A. And then, yesterday we went to The Grove in Beverly Hills and there was this huge mob of people and tons of papparazzi milling around.

 

I decided to hang out and see what would happen. About 1/2 hour later Janet Jackson's Rythym Nation started and 600 dancers came out doing her dance. And then the next thing I knew, she came out right above where I was standing! Now, I'm not a huge Janet fan, but it was pretty fun to be there right in the middle of it all!

Then, we went into the Nordstrom there and they were having a big New Moon photo shoot for Seventeen Magazine. With Sprinkles!!! I took that as a sign that maybe I need to have a New Moon giveaway -- since the L.A. premiere is tomorrow night!

So I picked up a really cute New Moon shirt, a New Moon cup, a New Moon magazine and (9) New Moon tattoos. And then we went to a great flea market where I found some earrings made by a local L.A. artist that I think goes really well with the t-shirt! And of course I had to stop by Trader Joe's for one of my favorite things -- Pumpernickle Pretzels. And since they are my latest addiction, I think they should be yours too! So I am throwing in a bag with the giveaway.

 

 

 

 Ok, I want to get this shirt out to the winner so they can wear it to see New Moon, so this is going to be a quick giveaway! It will end -- Wednesday night at midnight and then I will get it in the mail on Thursday! If you would like to be entered:

• leave me a comment 
• all of my followers will get an additional entry -- just because I love you!
  
• and if you want three entries, blog or twitter about the giveaway and leave me an additional comment
• good luck!!!

Also, anyone that is in the Salt Lake area, there is a great boutique on Tuesday. I will be there with my burlap magnet boards, decoupaged stars, jumbo clothespins and pillows. Plus tons of other great holiday gifts -- here are the details!

And, oh my goodness! I just found out that I am featured today on Today's Creative Blog! How sweet! Thanks so much Kim!!!

Have a Wonderful Day!

XOXO