Easy DIY Scrapbook with Wedding Cards

My least favorite thing is throwing away beautiful greeting cards. I will keep them in bags or boxes that the presents came with and then after about 2 years, or when I finally need the bag to wrap a present (recycling!), then I finally throw them away. I just couldn't do that with our wedding cards, so I found a solution inspired by my lack of beautiful script,  lack of a printer (to print captions), and lack of funds (to buy a Shutterfly photobook).  Scrapbook my cards! 

Another thing I used was a coffee table book that I got from a bridesmaid that had beautiful wedding quotes in it but I would never read or display, so I cut up the pages in that, too.

MATERIALS:

Scrapbook (ours was a wedding present from my mom's talented cousin)

Spray adhesive

Menagerie of  wedding cards

Scissors

Wedding photos

Wedding quote book

I just have photos of the finished project, none of the making. I did this one day while our honeymoon baby was sleeping, so I was rushing and didn't think to take "during" shots.

The cards that had really intricate pictures, I cut into the pictures and used them almost as a frame for the photos. It was pretty tricky but turned out alright. 

I wish I had more handwritten notes to us in the cards but I must have lost those or not gotten any because when I was making this, I didn't find them.

The spray adhesive I used was just to reinforce the pictures or cards when they were placed on top of each other since the scrapbook pages were already sticky.

Hopefully you kept your wedding cards or plan to! I love reading the wedding quotes when looking at our pictures. It brings back the emotions of the day.

Blessings,

Kirsti 

Half a Year!

Holy buckets.

 My baby girl is halfway to her first birthday. She's kind of a big deal. To update those of our family who don't follow me on Facebook - or don't get to see Daniel's amazingly entertaining stay-at-home-dad posts - here's what Faith has been up to this month.

She has outgrown her activity gym

 She knows how to roll the ball back and forth

She is able to rest on her knees and just hang out 

We're working on holding a bottle for ourselves

She's stinking cute!

How cute is this baby? Very.

She's learning how to stack the rings (she's a rock-star at UN-stacking)

Regular pillow talks with Daddy

Regular giggle-fits from Daddy

Visiting Grandma at her work - wearing matching outfits!

This is how Daddy dresses her - dress on backwards & bloomers from a different dress

Her big girl car seat!

Exploring every nook and cranny she can find

What's missing:

A video of her crawling (At 5.5 months)
Her signing MILK as I mix her bottles - I DID IT! I TAUGHT MY BABY SIGN!! *happy dance*
Giving kisses with her open mouth
How perfectly she puts herself to sleep now - without a peep!
Her pulling herself to standing along furniture and then WALKING on her own alongside it



And so much more. I know this is a bragging blog-post but I'm so momma-proud!

Pass the peas, please!

We have moved on to our 2nd veggie! I decided to go with peas because they're packed with nutrients and are more starchy than other vegetables in stage one and Faith needs more substance - since we took out the brown rice because of her allergic reaction.

First, I gave her a serving of squash (I asked Daniel to give her one at lunch - and he didn't) to mainly make sure she would eat something she liked - just in case the peas backfired. Then, we cooked up some frozen peas and tried 'em out! (Recipe at the bottom of the post)

She's a champion jumper!

The anticipation! (note the leftover squash to help her get used to the new veggie)

Not quite sure what is in my mouth...

Maybe I'll take some more!

Gobbling it up!

I'm clearly not quick enough for her.

Mmmmm!

Who wants to lick the spoon??

Faith is done and Mommy gets the leftovers! Yummm!

By the end of dinner, she had 3 servings (including her 1 squash)! I think she definitely needs to start eating at lunch. Now, I just need to nag Daniel some more until he does it.


Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup water

Boil 1C of water and add peas. Bring back to a 2nd boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 7 minutes (less of tougher, more for smushier). Drain and rinse.

Put a small amount into the Magic Bullet and add about half as much water as you did peas into the cup. Blend for 30-40 seconds and check consistency. I added a little more water and then blended about 40 more seconds to get it very smooth.

Some suggest to strain the hulls of the peas, but I didn't want to waste food so I just decided to add more water and blend in small amounts.

Baby Food #2

We have successfully homegrown, harvested, roasted, pureed, and frozen Faith's first veggie! Last night she had it fresh from the oven (cooled down, of course) and here are some pictures to show her reaction!

The anticipation!

Big girl bite!

See that hand? She can hardly get enough!

The spoon I use is pretty sloppy. I got a new one though!

I believe we found a keeper veggie!

Yummy!

A big ol' mess makes a happy baby!!

Oh and don't mind the belly - she got a slight rug burn from scooting so much. It didn't bother her but I learned my lesson about letting her run around naked!

I feel very good about giving her organic, fresh food. It makes me feel like I'm making up for having her on formula from day 5.

Recipe for squash:

Ingredients

- butternut squash, deseeded and cut in half

- splash of water

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400*

2. Put squash face down in a roasting dish with about an inch of water

3. Roast for 1 hour

4. Scoop out meat and put into Magic Bullet with the tiniest bit of water

5. Puree until it's a pretty runny consistency

6. Put into ice cube trays and freeze overnight

7. After completely frozen, microwave the tray for 10 seconds to loosen the cubes and pop them out. Make sure they're still frozen!

8. Put in a freezer safe ziploc and label the date. 

I've heard squash shouldn't be frozen more than 3 months and butternut and other winter squashes will usually have a shelf life of at least 3 months, so I'm only cooking what I need for a week at a time - since they will keep better out of the freezer than in.That gives me roughly 6 months of reserves on squash just from my mom's garden.

She loved it day 2, also!

Sisterly Love

Yesterday, I didn't want to wash my hair before work. I have a thing about Fridays. They're pony-tail days. The bad thing about this Friday? Well, since my aunt did an amazing job cutting my hair in Florida, I still haven't master the ponytail and what to do with my bangs. So I got brave, pulled some inspiration from Karla and decided to french-braid my bangs. Just to get the approval from the master, I sent my sissy a picture after I got to work.

Not bad for wearing my first self-braid!

Her reply?

Much more professional than mine!

Yep. 2 sisters. 2 states. 1 hairstyle on the the same day.

This got me to thinking. I miss my sister. Since she moved across the country, it's made me appreciate the bond that we have.

Don't get me wrong, my brother is an amazing young man. He is kind-hearted, helpful and great with Faith. Besides, he was everything my parents wanted in a farmhand so Karla and I didn't have to do anything. :)

Then I started thinking, I really hope God gives Faith a sister someday. I want her to get to experience having a best friend that you can fight and make-up with in very short periods... Well, they get shorter as we've gotten older. Fights used to last quite a while when we were younger. Especially over clothes. Now I see her in my clothes and I just let it go because it looks better on her!

I'm so grateful for my sister, brother, and family. Having started my own has been the biggest blessing and I'm excited for it to expand, Lord willing, in a few years. :)


Oh, and... Someone's ready to crawl very soon!!!!

Why am I always naked, Mom?
Because Faith, then you don't ruin your clothes with your slobber.

5 Month Update (lots of pictures)

We've made it to 5 months!

As I write that opening sentence, I'm trying to comprehend how tired I am... Today was the first day of school where I work. My kids are great but going from teacher to mom is hard to transition psychologically.

Moving forward! As a teacher, I really like to go over my goals and reevaluate for my next time period. Wooo!

Continue teaching her the signs for: MILK, MOM, DAD
Survive a 25-hour drive to Sanibel Island, FL, with my family
Survive a 7-hour plane trip from FL - MO
Visit the beach for the first time
Visit a pool for the first time
Scoot more efficiently
Sit for longer periods of time

We did a great job meeting all of our goals! Faith no longer needs to sit with her hands supporting her and can sit for a long period of time. 

She has been scooting wonderfully - even taking a crawl step every now and then.

Showing off her muscles!

She loved the pool and the beach!

Aunt Karla and Fifi on her first trip to the beach!

In her life-vest that was a boy's and too big! 

My dad and mom with Faith in the ocean. Mom knitted her sunhat that I am absolutely in love with!

Our last night at the beach. Dad got a great shot of Faith throwing up!

His favorite grandbaby!

The plane was a successful trip.  She only slept for 2 20-minute naps, but we survived.

At this point, anything counts as a chew toy.

So thankful for my dad to be on the same flight!

Waiting for our luggage so patiently. I have the most tolerant baby ever!

She doesn't sign yet - it's normal for her to not sign back until after 6 months - but when I say and sign milk she laughs and flaps her arms!


Some things I want to make for goals for 6 months are to :

Continue working on signs for MILK 
Start crawling
Be on at least two fruits and two vegetables 


And that's all I can think of right now. I'm surprised I got out a somewhat successful post considering how mushy my brain is right now. I'm going to snuggle with my husband and mindlessly watch The Office. :)