Eight DIY snowflake tutorials

In the last two years at my desk job, someone has organized a day at the beginning of December when we get to make some kind of decoration for our cube land. When you are in a tiny box for so many hours a day, you're kind of limited when it comes to decoration. And this year, we are moving to a new building at the very end of December, so no one is really feeling the holiday magic this time around. So I decided I would look for something small, easy and pretty that I could make for each desk that no one would feel bad about tossing when we move.

Enter, paper snowflakes! I have collected a mix of the some of the best paper snowflake tutorials out there, ranging from easy enough to do with your kids to true works of art.




This is what I did last year, in a previous department. I think this year I may do it in a fun paper. So easy!


A twist on the previous snowflake, but still in the realm of possibility for kids, maybe just a little older.


A little fancier, but still do-able for kids.


I like that this one is not the typical 8-point star.


Out of toilet paper!


Using pipe cleaners. So fun, and double sided wrapping paper would be gorgeous.


For the inner nerd - Star Wars snowflakes! I'm thinking you need an Exacto blade for these. But I won't lie - I plan on trying them!


And for the truly talented - a quilled snowflake! I can't imagine how long this took.

Are you making any snowflakes this year?

Easy DIY boy gifts

Every year for Christmas and his birthday, I try to come up with some fun ideas for Micah that I can make myself. Last year I made him a play mat with roads he could drive his little cars around on. I expected it to be a big hit and it sort of wasn't. Thankfully it was a cheap dud, but still, kind of disappointing.

So this year, I have been showing Micah the things I come across that I thought he would like, to get kid approval. I know how hard it is to make things for boys, when it is so easy for girls (or maybe it's just that there are more DIY options out there for girls), so I thought I would pick out the things Micah showed the most interest and excitement for and share a list!





This is something I was looking at for ages. The pediatrician I take Micah to has a HUGE white board that is magnetic, covered with fun letter and shape magnets, at a lower height from the floor so the kids can play with it. He absolutely adores that wall. I think for this project, the most expensive part would be the magnets you add to the board. Maybe thrift shops or Craigslist could help there!



This one is best if you know you will reliably get snow at some point this winter. Since we live in the desert, I don't think this will be a gift, but just something I make one day if it snows.



This is a big favorite, and I am definitely making Micah some of these. Little stuffed fish with a magnet in the "nose" area (do fish have a nose?), and a corresponding magnet on a string attached to a stick. Tons of fun, plus a bonus way to get rid of scraps!



What kid doesn't like play dough? And this is an easy way to color them exactly how you want, without the mess of food coloring dying things you didn't intend on dying. Plus, it smells pretty good.



This would be fantastic for cold days when you make living room forts! Added bonus - if your kid goes to daycare, perfect for naptime. Micah hasn't napped in almost two years, but I know other lucky moms get the occasional nap!



For the truly adventurous - a marshmallow shooter! Maybe just add the caveat that it has to be used outdoors.



Micah really liked this idea. I was thinking I could start working on money with him. He gets a quarter every time someone says a bad word, and loses a quarter if he says a bad word. Thankfully there isn't much money passing back and forth, but it was a good way for him to see money. Maybe we can start talking about how four quarters equals a dollar this way.

What do you plan to make for gifts for Christmas this year?

November 30th - Small Business Saturday

I have made a huge leap of faith today. I am offering up a few select items for sale on my Facebook (my personal one) to celebrate Small Business Saturday on November 30th.

If you haven't heard of it, Small Business Saturday is a day devoted to buying from your small local businesses. It's a great way to help support the local economy, and make a lot of extra smiles. As you probably know, Sunshine Stars has had a very hard time getting off the ground because I have a day job and not enough spare cash to start building a stock or even supplies. I could probably start a piggy bank, but I admit to being a bit discouraged, so I haven't made much effort yet. I'm hoping in March when I get my bonus from work I can use it to get started. But I digress.

In an effort to give it a shot again, I am offering fleece ear hats and scarves, plus scoodies (hooded scarves). These are all things I am familiar with making and comfortable to do quickly and without much expense. It's also a good way to cut my teeth on the business side of owning a handmade business. I admit that numbers and such are not my forte, but it's something I need to learn if I ever want to do this for real. And I really, really do.


Fleece Fun's version and pattern.


My version I made for Micah. He wears it all the time to play pretend that he's a cat.

I won't lie. I am scared half to death that I am going to fall flat on my face. But the only way to learn is by doing! I have one sale already in progress, and the best part is that it is out of state. So I can learn the best way to ship, too!


A Simplicity pattern I picked up in both adult and kid sizes just before Halloween when they had patterns 5 for $5.

I think I'm going to pass out now. Please excuse me.

Halloween!

Halloween this year was both awesome and messy...mostly because I am incapable of starting a project far enough in advance that I have proper time to finish it sooner than the day of the event. Arg.

So originally, I wanted all three of us to dress as characters from Assassin's Creed - Micah and Antonio could be different versions of the main character, and I could be the female "love interest" from one of the more recent games. I have never played any version of these, I just knew of the characters and how awesome their get-ups were. I had a pattern already that would work well for mine and I could wing it for the boys. I got Micah's finished and was really proud of it. He wore it to visit my coworkers and the high school my mom works at, and everyone thought he was a pirate instead. Since he has no idea what Assassin's Creed is, that's ok. I was still pleased with the outcome.







I think it really came together!

My husband and I were invited to a Halloween party of epic proportions. He has a friend from high school that is known for his parties because he spares no expense and goes all out. He works in the film industry and so he hadn't had a Halloween gathering since I met my husband eight years ago, so I was really looking forward to my first one. It was worth the time and effort we put into our costumes, too.

And then my husband saw an episode of Mythbusters where they talk zombies and Jamie dresses in this rather impressive zombie-hunter outfit. And so our costumes changed, even though I had spent something like 24 hours on my dress. A little hacking to my hem and forgoing the pretty finished edges and mine worked out.

Then we added details. I found a tutorial to make a duct tape top hat that looked like leather, and using a cheap $1 base hat, I cranked one out for both of us. I spray painted a pair of hiking boots I scored at Savers for $5 to look metallic, then we both took a pair of welding goggles and added a few details and painted them to look brown and black. My husband tore up an old leather jacket that no longer fit him and he hadn't been able to pawn off on anybody via Craigslist. And instant steampunk? Maybe. I have no idea what we are, but we got tons of compliments, so I guess we look put-together!



What did you do for Halloween? Did you dress up?

Must we talk about Maria Kang?

In case you aren't as much of an internet fiend as I am, go take a look at this article about Maria Kang.

I had never heard of her before the recent explosion over a photograph of her posing with her three (adorable) children while dressed in a sports bra and running shorts appeared all over the place. She is rather beautiful, and her body definitely shows the amount of work she has put into it to look the way she does. Flat abs, strong arms and legs.

I think the problem begins with the caption she added to the photo. Without the caption, the photo is not only lovely, but inspirational. My first thought was, "WOW, that's dedication!" It's hard enough for me to find time to workout with one child, much less THREE. That's brilliant.

However, she also added text to it. "What's your excuse?"

The text soured it a bit for me. I don't think she is taking a stab at heavy people, or lazy people, or even people in general. The phrase is popular and common in the fitness world. Many photos are out there with the same caption, and they are meant to inspire. For the type of people that like having drills shouted into their faces by their trainers during workouts, this phrase does what it is intended to do - it makes them get up and work, and work hard.

For those of us that prefer a different approach - softer, if you will - the phrase is jarring and borderline rude. A trainer shouting in my face about how fat I am and to work harder would succeed only in making me cry and leave. I would never pay anyone to berate me, I do enough of that to myself, thank you very much. And that, I think, is where the problem lies. Many people took the message personally when it wasn't intended to be as such. They took it as a personal stab at women, mothers in particular, as if it said, "What's your excuse for not working out and looking as amazing as I do?"

I honestly don't know anything about Maria Kang. I know she has an online following and she is fairly popular in fitness circles, with many Likes on her Facebook page. And the only reason I know any of that is because of the sudden explosion of interest in her due to this one photo.

So I am certainly not an expert on Maria Kang. I don't know if she is normally a nice person, or rude, or conceited. All I know is that she is in fantastic shape for having had three children. (Though I am bit jealous of her lack of stretch marks. I have ONE child, and enough stretch marks to reach around the Earth if I lined them all up. So unfair.) I suppose my opinion is that I really wish she had no captioned her photo. I think it took something away from it that would have otherwise been wonderful for those that wanted to see it. I have no doubts that people still would have ripped her a new one simply for having the photo taken, and that is likely because they are cruising for an argument. Trolls, if you will. Whiners, certainly. And lots and lots of jealous ladies.

But had she not...I would have posted it on my Instagram in amazement and used her as a goal. Not necessarily to look like her, but as a way to tell myself, "Hey, if she can do it, so can I!"

But otherwise, I have no opinion either way. Go, Maria Kang. Do your thing.

The disappointments of being healthy

This is my last week of what Google Image calls the 30 Day Challenge.



I am one day behind because I went into it full-tilt, and my thigh muscles were in such agony for two days that I could barely walk, much less squat. I caught up by doubling up my workouts for a bit at the beginning, and again in Week 3 because I was so down on myself I missed a day.

These sort of workouts make it seem so easy. They have the obligatory photo of a woman with crazy cut abs as the background, they build up "only" a few reps a day, and when you first start, you feel awesome. I'm productive! I'm burning fat! I'm building muscle!

And some of that is true. I startled myself in Week 2 when I crossed my arms and felt my right inner bicep and it was hard as rock, even though I was at rest watching tv with my husband. I was so excited, I made everyone I saw feel it for two days. I made muscle!
Here's the thing though. The entire ordeal is almost not worth it when you see what it is costing you in groceries, in time, and in ego when you realize that all your hard work has done absolutely nothing on the scale or in your clothes. I went from spending only $50 or so on groceries for a week to spending over $100. I was doing my absolute best to "eat clean" and not eat anything processed or packaged. That's great in theory, not very realistic in practice. I haven't had much of a problem actually doing it - I love veggies, chicken and fruit, so it isn't like I'm eating things I hate - but it's so expensive that each week I find myself doing it less and less. I just can't afford it, and that makes me angry. Packaged junk is cheap, and for someone with bills and a child (someone with the average life), it is just not feasible. Not to mention it makes eating with my family an absolute chore and nearly impossible.

I give myself one "treat" meal a week when I can have french fries, Dr Pepper, and a burger. My mom calls them Hamburger Wednesdays and we started doing them years ago. It's her meal to break up her stressful work week. The rest of the week isn't nearly as bad for her and french fries are her one vice, much like me. One meal will not set anyone back for life so I don't worry about it, and it hasn't stressed me out at all. Even the most dedicated body builder has the occasional pizza (The Rock even posts about it on instagram with a certain level of glee).

I am in Week 4 of my 30 day challenge. I've built endurance so that I can do a ton of squats and barely break a sweat (I'm doing 200 tonight). Crunches, pushups and lunges, I haven't built as much endurance for, but I am doing them and getting better every day. My calorie tracker I got for free through work tells me I burn at least 100 calories each time, though that was disappointing at first because I expected it to be more. I have a great support system that really helps me keep going - my husband cheers me on as I nearly kill myself doing crunches, a friend on Facebook sends me inspirational photos and quotes all the time, and I follow a few people on Instagram that make fantastic cheerleaders. I have all the things I need, and I'm working hard.

But guess what? I have lost only a total of two pounds. My clothes fit almost exactly the same as they did when I started. I see only the most minute differences in my body, and in odd places - my inner knee, my inner arm, my hips. My belly looks exactly the same. My thighs, identical. I haven't even lost anything in my face, which is usually where you can see weight loss first. And I have been BUSTING MY BUTT, watching other people doing almost exactly the same thing see dramatic results. It's discouraging, it's disappointing, and worst of all, I want to quit. I feel like I'm wasting my time. Everyone says, "eat better, exercise for 15 minutes a day, and you'll see results!" And it's true...for everyone but me, I guess. I actually count every calorie I intake, and never eat more than 1500 a day, which is actually less than most programs tell you to eat.

And nothing. This is why people quit, or give up. I honestly don't know how people lose weight doing things like Weight Watchers, and not working out. Or paleo. Or this stupid "eating clean" bull. I'VE BEEN DOING IT. And NOTHING.

At this point, my frustration knows no bounds. I want to quit. I'm tired, I'm sore, and I'm so disappointed that thinking about it makes me tear up. It's so unfair to work so hard for nothing.

But I won't. Micah gets bigger and faster every day, and when I break into a disgusting, heavy sweat just carrying him across the house, or fail to catch him when he runs from me, it means I am a failure already. And I can't let this beat me.

But sometimes I want to.

Baby Nadia in her handmade bedding

Remember this post where I showed off some handmade bedding I made for a friend who was expecting? Well, that little baby was born just over two weeks ago, so I stopped by to see her and take some photos of her cuteness in the bedding I made. And seriously, Nadia is just the sweetest little baby.





She's exactly the way Micah was as a newborn, wide awake and moving and shaking up a storm. I'm glad I had my new 85mm F1.8 because she was so busy I had to shoot fast to catch her without blur. And the best part? Her mom dressed her up in outfits that matched her bedding, though we did have to take an obligatory bottle break halfway through to keep the princess happy. It was worth it.





I remember when I first started with photography, I would be so excited to see people using the photos I took of them on their social media profiles. It was ego-boosting to see everyone comment on the pictures, saying how nice they came out. But I gotta say, seeing the things I handmade for someone being used is even better. My time and energy is taken so much more literally when I sew, and seeing a sweet newborn laying on her brand new blankets and sheets I made? Incredibly gratifying. I appreciate every opportunity, and I hope I have many more.