We finally made it to Utah for our Christmas Break and we are having so much fun being with family and friends! We are also freezing.... but that's another story for another day. :) 

Christmas is just around the corner (1 week to be exact) and to say that we are excited would be the understatement of the century. 

We are ecstatic!

Let the Christmas Countdown begin!

Bentley is getting to be such a fun age. His personality is really starting to show and we are having the best time ever. Last week I posted a picture on Instagram of Bentley checking out his stocking. He knew exactly which one of his! He got those smart genes from dad ;) Oh, and don't mind my blurry Bentley pictures from now on. We have officially entered "that stage" where Bentley can't sit still for longer than 2 seconds. Always keeping me on my toes this one!

I made our stockings last Christmas. It was Bentley's 1st Christmas and up until then we had never invested in stockings. I know, I'm not sure what we were thinking! I really wanted something that was going to be uniform for our family, but still personalized and individual for each member! I took my idea to my mom and we went to work. 

-Disclaimer- 

I am going to apologize now that my directions may be very confusing! This DIY was a bit more advanced and initially I needed my mom to help me through it. Thank goodness for my mom, she is pretty much amazing. It's always nice to have another person to talk my ideas out to. Love her!

Supplies

Upholstery Burlap

Cream Muslin

Sewing Machine || Cream Thread

Hand Stitching Needle

Iron

Full Sheet Labels

How to make a Burlap Stocking

My mom had a stocking on hand and I liked the shape so all I did was flip it inside out and traced around it. If you do not have a stocking already, google "stocking outline" and there are tons of options available for you to print off and trace. You will need to cut out two stocking shapes (front & back) for 1 stocking. I also lined my stockings with muslin so you will need to do the same with your muslin fabric. 

The reason I chose Upholstery Burlap was because it is so thick. I didn't want our stockings to fall apart after 1 year and fray like regular burlap tends to do. I wanted these babies to last for a looong time!

Match up a burlap and muslin piece together.

Pin the burlap and muslin and you're ready to sew! Using a basting stitch, I sewed these 

with a 1/4 " seam allowance.

Once you have the burlap and muslin based together, pin right sides together, and sew with a 1/2" seam allowance. 

I chose to reinforce this seam using a zig zag stitch between my straight stitch seams, then graded (trimmed) my seam allowance to get rid of bulk. 

Next, you will need to fold down, pin and finish the top edge of the stocking to keep it from fraying. 

Boy Stocking
For a boy stocking, you will need to cut a strip of fabric 10" by the width of your piece of fabric. This will give you enough pleated material for 2 stockings.

On one of the long edges (this will be the back side), fold over a 1/4" seam and press that all along the long edge. 

Turn your fabric to the right side and using a seam gauge measure out your pleats. I did pleats that measured 1". Press as you go along the length of your fabric.

My boy stocking had 4 pleats all measuring 1".

On your 4th pleat, fold down the bottom edge and press 

Wrap and pin the pleated fabric around the top of your finished stocking. Leave yourself enough fabric on the back side of the stocking to fold over the unfinished edge. Make sure this finished edge is on the back of the stocking so there is no visible seam on the front.

Top stitch the pleated fabric to the top edge of the stocking. Finally, you will need to pin and stitch the back of the pleats to the back of the stocking. The picture below is the completed boy stocking from the back side.

Girl Stocking

Cut 2 strips of muslin 5" by the width of the fabric. I chose to use 2 ruffles at the top of my girl stockings. This will give you enough ruffled fabric for 1 stocking (if you choose to do 2 ruffles).

Fold the strip in half the length of the fabric and stitch the unfinished edge at 1/4" seam allowance.

 Turn this long tube right side out and press.

 Using a sewing machine basting stitch or alternately a needle and thread by hand, run a basting stitch down the center of your tube of fabric. Gently gather your fabric pulling the basting thread to create your ruffles. 

Once you have ruffled the length of your fabric, pin and adjust along the top edge of your stocking. Attach the ruffle to the stocking by stitching on the center basting stitch using that as a guide.

You may need to hand stitch the 2nd ruffle down. I was able to do it on my sewing machine but it was pretty awkward with it being so far down the stocking! 

Personalized Names

I wish I had taken a picture of this when I had done it (duh, what was I thinking) but I will try to explain this as best as I can!

I cut a piece of muslin to 8.5" x 11". I attached that piece of muslin to a Full Label sheet (it is sticky on one side) and ran the muslin through the printer with our names! You will want to do a test page on a blank piece of paper before you actually print your names on your muslin. Once I had my names printed on the muslin, I cut my name patches to approximately 1.5" x 4". Finally, you will need to hand stitch the name patches to the stocking! 

And there you have it, personalized stockings for the girly girls and the handsome dapper men! Please let me know if you have any questions or if you need any clarification! 

Happy Holidays ladies!

We are slowly but surely adding the finishing touches to Bentley's nursery. It is by far the most decorated room in our home and, I'm totally okay with that! I have loved putting my focus there. It has truly been a labor of love! For his nursery, I chose the "Nautical" theme for multiple reasons. I absolutely love that theme (if you haven't noticed here and here) and I really wanted something that he could grow with and wasn't just "baby".

One of my favorite pieces has been this growth chart. I love that no matter where move to, we can always take it with us and keep those precious little memories! It completely amazes me how much our little boy has grown. Seriously wishing I could stop that! Here's what you'll need to make your own :)

We had everything on hand except for the pine board so this project cost us a total of about $12. Not bad right?! I wasn't sure how the stain and paint would go together since we already had them but I love how it turned out! These were the ones we used.

1. First off, my pine board in this picture will look different than the one you have. For this tutorial, I used the back side of the one I had already made. (I'm lame and didn't take pictures of it the first time around because I wasn't sure how it would turn out). So it had already been stained before in the picture! I used 2 garbage bags and cut them in half to put underneath of the board. 

2. Dip your paint sponge into the stain and go in strokes up and down the board. I would do a straight line from the top all of the way to the bottom without stopping. The pine will absorb the stain so its best to distribute the stain evenly to avoid the blotches. Mine wasn't perfect at all. If you look closely at the pictures below you will see the stain is a little bit uneven in places but I was kind of happy with a more "weathered" look. You can apply as many coats of stain as you want. It will get darker with each application but wait for it to dry in between coats if you choose to do multiple coats. 

3. & 4. All done! Let the stain dry completely. Yes, I know it's hard :) 

5. I couldn't find our measuring tape so I had to improvise a little bit. I used a permanent marker and marked inch marks all of the way down the board. 

6. Next, you will need to decide how you want it painted! I chose to do a stripe every 6 inches. Double and triple check this part to make sure everything is even and you have taped off the correct areas. This is the most tricky part! You can see how I taped off ours below. I painted 3-4 coats of the cream white paint so it would cover the stain. Make sure to let each coat dry completely before doing another! That way you will avoid clumps. 

7. Once the paint has dried, remove the painters tape and your ready to mark your board! I chose to start our board at the 1/2 foot mark that way I can hang it a 1/2 foot off the floor. I used just a regular permanent marker for this and I used a stencil to trace out the numbers.  

Our big boy is already measuring in at 2 1/2 feet. Of course, I had to include that hair! I love that we can document our sweet Bentley's growth for many years to come! :) 

If you live anywhere but California or Arizona you are probably feeling fall in the air and oh how jealous I am! Don't get me wrong, I am a sunshine lover but there is nothing more perfect than a fall afternoon. Pumpkin bread, boots, and sweater weather? How can you beat that!? While we were in Utah, we saw the first signs of fall in the canyon leaves and I haven't been able to shake my fall fever since. This past week Los Angeles averaged around 90 degrees but I'm hoping that by putting up my fall wreath it will make it come faster. Wishful thinking? Maybe ;) 

I made this wreath last year and it has officially become my favorite wreath ever. Like ever ever. It did take a while to make and I got more glue gun burns than I can even count but... it was well worth it!

Depending on the styrofoam wreath you buy, you will want to wrap it in some kind of fabric. Mine was a green so I definitely didn't want that color to show through! It will also help blend if you have pieces that are missing.

Next, I cut the burlap, lace, and tulle into 2 x 18 inch strips. I went with longer strips so that the rosettes would be bigger = less rosettes to wrap :)

Once you have a ton of strips (not an understatement) cut out, it's time to roll those rosettes! These take some patience and some practice! Don't get discouraged if it doesn't look good the first time you try. As you get used to rolling them you will find the technique that works best for you. Here is how I did mine! 

1. Fold the strip in half lengthwise with the raw edges together. I wanted the raw edges down so the fabric wouldn't unravel on the top of the rosette.

2. Start by rolling up the end. Make sure you hot glue as you go to secure the roll. Don't forget to do this!!!

3 & 4 Rolling, rolling, and more rolling!

5. Rolling done!

6. Once your rosette is all rolled, you will want to hot glue the end down. I also cut off the end if it was too bulky which helped it lay more flat against the wreath.

7. I chose to decorate my rosettes with pearl beads! The way I found easiest to do this was with a pair of tweezers and a dab of hot glue. 

8. The finished rosette!

Now for the fun part- laying out and hot gluing all of those rosettes to the wreath!

Once finished, I hung a "fall" banner across that was made with  the same burlap, some twine, and paper letters! 

Have you caught fall fever yet!?

We finally made it to Utah after a long 9 hour drive for our summer break! We will be spending the next 3 weeks here so Brady can prepare to take his part 2 dental boards in a couple of weeks. We will be so happy to have those over and after that, we're ready for graduation next May! I can hardly believe it's already been almost 4 years that we moved out to Los Angeles. I know I will miss it more than I can even explain. It's been such a blessing for our little family. I will forever cherish these years that we were in school! 

On to part 100 of Bentley's 1st birthday party... I'm totally kidding (but not really). We were going to have Bentley's party on the beach which in my head worked out great. But then I got to thinking and decided not to (thank goodness). We ended up having it at a little park by our house and it was absolutely perfect! These were the invites we sent out.

We served chicken salad croissants, goldfish cups, fruit skewers (with pineapple, blueberries, and marshmallows), cupcakes, sugar cookies, homemade caramels (from my friend Jenae), and lemonade! 

We included a little book where our friends could wish Bentley "Smooth Sailing"

Favors "For the Little Mates"

 

 

I ended up finding this adorable shower curtain at Target that totally went with the theme! It made the perfect back drop for our photo booth. I brought the boat we used in

 {Bentley's Birthday Photoshoot}

so the babies could play and get pictures in it as well!

That face? Priceless!

It was the happiest of birthdays for our sweet little boy!