DIY Board Book {Father's Day Present}

Happy Monday, friends! 

I wanted to share what Ella got her dad yesterday for Father's Day...a board book! 

My husband hates getting presents (I knowwww), but since this book is technically for Ella, he loved it! And Ella's favorite thing to do these days is read books with Daddy, so what better than to read a book about Daddy?!

It was super to easy to make!

First you will need:

-blank board book (there are directions to make them if you google it, but I ordered mine off Amazon here)

-square prints of photos (I printed mine 5"x5" but you could certainly print them the same size as your board book...I just wanted some space around the edges)

-spray adhesive

-words typed out on card stock

-paper cutter 

At first, I typed out the words on photo paper, but they smudged almost instantly. So I printed them a second time onto card stock and that was much better!

Cut the card stock into strips with each sentence on it.

Lay out each page to make sure everything fits/looks right/is in the order you want it.

I sprayed the words and glued all of those down first before I glued the pictures. I will say be sure to put newspaper or a sheet down where you are spraying or you will be stuck with sticky adhesive all over your dining room table (whoops...any ideas for getting that off?!).

And voila...a fun board book for the dad who hates presents!

I'm really happy with how it turned out, and Ella loves to read this book with her dad, just like I predicted!

Life with Ella {week 31}

{similar top and jeggings}

Here's a look at our past week!

Monday was Labor Day, and my parents were still visiting, so naturally this happened:

{flag dress}

That evening we had our friends, including Ella's BF over for a BBQ! Things got a little racy when Ella decided to take her dress off. (I didn't want her dinner to end up on those smocked flags!)

Ella also helped her dad with his fantasy football draft!

On Tuesday, we hit up Whole Foods...

{romper}

...and then Ella had her very first modeling experience! Like, real modeling, not just for me! :) 

It was for Sweet Needle Co. and I've got to say, it was probably the funniest thing ever. 

Ella was a pro. She knew when to smile and ham it up for the camera. When the photographer told the other kids to look at each other, Ella looked at them, too! (Seen in the bottom right picture.) She follows directions so well...the teacher in me loves that! :)

I can't wait to see the professional pictures. You know I will share them on here! 

Wednesday was Ella's 7 month birthday, so we had to make the chalkboard (hey, at least it's not every week like when I was prego, that got old real quick!) and have our photo shoot!

{striped two-piece set}

On Thursday, we had planned to go to library story time, but we were running late, so by the time we got there, they were full! :( So we went shopping instead!

I think this should be an ad for Target: 

{striped bodysuit / bow}

She was so happy in there!

And to round out our day, we stopped at a consignment sale...Ella's new favorite thing is to grab clothes and "ask" me to buy them for her. I said no to this outfit.

On Friday, we went to the mall, where Gymboree was having special activities for the launch of their Eric Carle line. 

{little peanut onesie}

Then we went to Trader Joe's, where, again, Ella should do some advertising for them ;) No fewer than about 15 people came up to us and said how cute Ella was! When we got to the checkout, cashiers from other lines left their lines to see Ella! Haha...it was quite comical! 

She just loves life sitting up in that shopping cart! It's so funny to me what a little ham she is becoming! 

We were supposed to go to Chapel Hill on Saturday for the UNC game, but Ella woke up pretty congested and really cranky. After much debating, (and driving around Charlotte for 20 minutes), we decided it was probably best for her if we didn't go. For those of you who know my husband, that's saying a lot for him to miss a Carolina game!

{cheerleader outfit}

So instead, we stayed home and cheered from our couch (well Trav and I did...Ella was in bed by the time the 8:00 game started). 

I also took this opportunity to wash and lay out everything I had bought at the 3 (yes three! tis the season) consignment sales I went to this week... (this one, this one, and this one if you're really interested!)

Lots of good buys!! Ella is good to go with leggings (and clothes in general) for the winter! 

I just need to find a cute appliqué to cover up the girl's name ("Katy") on that bookshelf...but for $12, I couldn't pass it up!

I also decided that since we needed more storage for Ella's clothes, I needed to do something about her hair bows that were taking up a drawer of precious space in her dresser. So I made this:

I wish I could give you some sort of tutorial, but it was really the easiest thing ever. I got a big picture frame, fabric, and ribbon. I just hot glued the fabric onto the cardboard that came with the picture frame, and then glued the ribbons on the back as well. I used these hooks below it to hang up her ridiculous amount of headbands. 

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

Yesterday, we had to cheer on the Panthers!

And we ended our weekend by steaming in the bathroom. 

Definitely helped out my allergies (and I think Ella's too!)...and how cute is that robe?!? $4 at a consignment sale!

Here's to hoping Ella's sniffles go away this week!

Five on Friday!

1. I made these cookies the other week, and I definitely need to make them again. 

They are so delicious and I totally forgot how enjoyable licking the batter is!!!

2. I've already told you about my new favorite website/app, Tweekaboo...BUT! I just ordered my first book of Ella's first month (I'm getting a book every month or 2 of all of the Facebook/Instagram/private photo stream pics I post) and it turned out sooooo great!!! 

Like Shutterfly quality, but I love how it also includes the date of each picture annndd people's comments from the Facebook pictures!

Yay! Can't wait to order my next book for months 2 and 3! This child is going to have her life so well documented between these and this blog ;)

3. I decided to be crafty last week and attempt this past week and make this Easter egg garland I found on Pinterest. 

Well, it was a complete Pinterest fail. The water balloons would not inflate, the string got all tangled and wouldn't stick to the balloon at all...basically it was just one hot mess! So after that, I just ordered this paper garland off Etsy. Thank goodness for Etsy!

4. Here is the paper garland in action...as well as the rest of my Easter decor. I know, it's very over the top and ambitious of me. HA!

I mean, I'm just proud of myself for getting Ella an Easter basket! (Also from Etsy....here!)

5. I'm saving the best for last! :)

I saw this idea on Pinterest, and unlike the disaster garland, this turned out totes adorbs if I do say so myself.

It was pretty easy...the bunny ears were in the $1 section at Target, then I loaded up a basket (same one that we used in her newborn pics, that thing really gets around!) with some plastic eggs, and voila! Cute baby photo shoot!

GAHHHHH! I can't even handle the cuteness!!!

Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Five on Friday!!!

It's been a while since I've linked up for Five on Friday!!!

We have been super busy lately....here's what we've been up to!

1. Two weekends ago (hello, slacker) we went to the pumpkin patch! I had wanted to go apple picking in the mountains, but seeing as we didn't get out of bed till 10:30 and it was raining, the pumpkin patch it was! 

{we don't look very happy, but I promise you, Trav was thrilled haha}

{Our pumpkin!}

2. Last weekend was the infamous black tie gala for Travis' work...you remember, the one where I had to wear tennis shoes with my formal dress?!? Ugh. Luckily, I found this guy at Macy's for under $100 and got some cute Carolina Blue Nike Frees that I plan on wearing again (and again and again) when my feet become huge and swollen! So yay. That worked out fairly well!

3. Because I am stuck in a land of parent-teacher conferences, end of quarter grades, PDPs, PEPs, MAP data, PowerSchool, lesson planning and every other teacher-related task ever right now, I was much too lazy to carve a fun design onto our pumpkin. So we once again opted for the drill polka dots. I wanted to do an owl, but there just wasn't enough time (nor energy). Maybe next year? 

4. I wasn't too busy, however, to make this pumpkin shirt that I wore to school yesterday!!

It was super easy to make. I got it off of Pinterest (duh) and you can find the directions here!

5. We are getting the nursery painted tomorrow!! Our painter is coming bright and early and I couldn't be more excited!!! I decided on Sherwin Williams Evening Shadow. 

{stolen off a google search!}

It's a bit lighter than I was originally thinking, but because our bedroom paint color turned out so much darker than I thought it would be, I decided to err on the lighter side for this room! I hope it turns out well!! You know I'll for sure post pictures and let you know!

Have a wonderful weekend! Extra hour of sleep Saturday night...YAY!!!