Anna's 1st Birthday // Colorful Dots // {Favorite Things} Print

Can't believe my little girl is one.  Thought I'd try my hand at a favorite things print.  It was hard to decide exactly what to put on here.  A picky eater for sure this little girl would be a fruitarian if I let her.  She's extremely active... always has been even before she was born I could feel her kick all day long.  I do believe she'll play soccer, or maybe swim... or perhaps dance?  I think one day she'll just get up and run and never look back.  She can light up a room with her giggle.  And I love how she smiles with her eyes.  A sweetie for sure, but she knows what she wants.  A trait she gets from her daddy since I can't make decisions.  How much fun it is having a little girl.  I love watching her develop into this little person.

{diy} Anna's 1st Birthday // colorful dots // Recycling Your Baby Food Jars As Thank You Gifts

As most of my fellow new mom's know, these little jars flood the house.  I hated throwing them out, but boy do they clutter.  I must say a big thank you to my friend Carrie.  She saved so many jars I was actually able to pull this off.   They are just the right size for take home snacks.  A big hit at Anna's birthday party.

I used the same design from the paper flags.  See my recent tuitorial on paper straw flags for the how to.

Anna's 1st Birthday // colorful dots // Maypole felt pom {GIVEAWAY}

I stumbled upon Aubry somewhere on instagram.  She is one creative and fun individual!  Her shop, Maypole,  has been booming since last fall and its honestly not hard to see why -- she does beautiful work.  Her main focus is handwritten art prints (check them out) but on the side she offers up these whimsical felt balls (which I fell in love with for Anna's Birthday Party)  SO FUN!

In honor of my adorable Anna and her birthday, Aubry decided to go in with me on a GIVEAWAY.  A bag of 50 colorful 100% wool felt poms // color combo of your choice.  Each ball is 2cm in size, hand felted and made in Nepal.  Their possibilities are endless strung (or even thrown in a decorative vase?)  Would love to hear how you would use them!  GET CREATIVE. All you have to do is enter below.  Super easy! 

Ok, ready? set .... GO!  You have all week.  The more times you enter the  luckier you are to WIN!


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{diy} Anna's 1st Birthday // colorful dots // paper straw flags

These are super easy to make!  They are so easy I feel very confident you don't need step by step pictures to do this!  All you need is cardstock, double sided tape, scissors, and a printer.  

On 8.5 x 11 paper design (in photoshop, Publisher, or Word) little flags 1" high.  You'll get 11 down the page.  Next type out what you want the flags to say.  Leave room for the tiny "v"s at the edges of the page on either side.  (If you aren't very crafty, Sarah Hearts put together a wonderful Word Template you can use.)

Now you are ready to print.  Printing on cardstock is best because the flags will hold their form better on sturdy paper.  Once you have them printed cut flags into strips.

Tape to straws.  (You can get paper straws on Amazon for an affordable price.  I just used cheap and plastic colored ones from Walmart) Then cut out little "v" at edge.  This gives you a true flag feeling.  Easy right?  And super festive! Enjoy!

{Recipe of the Week} Anna's 1st Birthday // Colorful Dots // Fruit Cookies

Sometimes I get tired of balling melons all the time for fruit bowls.  I whipped these up in no time for Anna's birthday part.  They were a hit especially with her one year old friends.

 

{shanks household} happy one year to my Anna Marie // weekly onesie collage

We spent all of last week visiting family in the States and celebrating my daughter's first birthday.  I can't believe this little girl is one already.  Seems like just yesterday we brought her home. 

I had the inspiration for a weekly onesie picture from my friend, Kathy.  They grow up so fast, so I didn't want to JUST do a monthly picture. I also didn't want to spend a fortune (and time ironing on) all those weekly pictures.  Since I know a little bit of photoshop this wasn't that hard to do for me.  I took a picture of Anna every Monday on the same blanket.  (I didn't want to spend money on 52 yards of fabric either) It was knitted by my grandma so its sentimental to me.  I thought putting her on the same blanket each week would show how much she is growing week to week.  After I took the picture I uploaded the image to photoshop.  Then I added a circle and the text.  Super easy right? 

I saw last month that Young House Love is doing the same thing for their daughter, Clara.  They have a very user friendly photoshop tuitorial on their blog.  The hardest part about doing this is remembering to do it every week!  It is SO rewarding though in the end.