Mia Brooke | First Birthday Invitation Design

Miss Mia turns one year old on November 1, and we plan on helping her celebrate in style. So when Tiff asked me if I'd design her first birthday invitation, I agreed.

And this is how we brought a little island style to the Big D.

Happy Birthday Mia!

DIY: Baby yellow braided scarf headband goes to the Pumpkin Patch

Holy crap, I'm crafty. Who would have thought? Not me.

So just this week I decided to visit Etsy to check out all their cute, vintage baby headbands. This is when I realized where all the cute baby stuff resides — accessories, dresses, tights, jewelry. You name it. You can find it here.

But being the money-conscience person that I am, I just couldn't find it in me to spend any money on anything for Kassidy. I mean, the girl has enough clothes from Mia and Teagan to cover her little butt until she's 18.

And while most of you admit that your little girls cost you an arm and a leg, I have to sadly admit that I honestly have spent maybe $50 on her, with the most expensive clothing purchase being a $15.99 Dallas cowboys onsie because Brady just had to have it. Read had to have it.

Don't get me wrong. If I didn't already have access to used clothes, shoes and accessories, I could easily have the best dressed, and probably most expensively dressed, daughter out there, because after perusing Etsy, I also realized that my taste in baby clothes and accessories is pretty darn expensive. Vintage, couture, one-of-a-kind. Yeah, I could totally be a rich snob in another life.

But in this life I am a practical mom. And I don't like to waste things. And I like to try new things. So I was easily inspired to try to make my own one-of-a-kind baby headbands. Thanks Allison. Thanks Little Red Wagon Photography tutorial. And thanks Hobby Lobby. Two hours and $50 later, I was ready to give it a try. And by $50, I mean that I bought enough goodies to probably make 50 headbands. Yeah, I went crazy.

So, check out my first attempt at making my own headband for Kassidy. I even reused a blue, elastic band I already had but wasn't using because the cheap bow on it scratched her head. So I ripped it off and started fresh.

I made this headband because I needed something to match a dress from Mia that I wanted her to wear to the Pumpkin Patch in Franklin. So that is where I got my inspiration.

And, I should also note that the only reason I was even inspired to make my own headband is because it did not involve a second of sewing. Just hot gluing. Which I can handle.

Things you will need if you are a money-conscience mom like me and want to be crafty too:

• Hot glue gun
• Glue sticks
• Scissors
• Felt
• Elastic ribbon
• Fabric or in this case, an old scarf from my closet
• Embellishments from Hobby Lobby
• Wire cutters
• Caribbean jerk seasoning
• Ability to not cry when you hot glue yourself
• Band-Aids for when you poke yourself with wire and bleed
• A husband to watch the baby so you can focus

Even though I bought 10 types of fabric at Hobby Lobby, I didn't come home with anything yellow. Which is why I stole the yellow scarf from my closet. I cut it into thirds and braided it together.

I used the Caribbean jerk seasoning because the container was the perfect size circle I was looking for. So I placed it on the felt, traced out the circle, and cut it with scissors. Then I hot glued the braided yellow scarf on the felt.

 

Then I hot glued the entire yellow circle onto the elastic headband where the headband already came together. I cut a second piece of felt and hot glued it on the other side of the elastic ribbon so it would be soft on Kassidy's head.

I added some fun embellishments to the headband. In this case, some tulle with pearls and a ring of beads in the middle of the yellow braided scarf. The tulle with pearls came from the wedding aisle and the beads came from the flower stem aisle. And flower stems are wiry, which is how I poked myself and made myself bleed.

But my burnt and bleeding finger did not stop the pure joy I felt when I was finished!

And I think Kassidy liked it too. Because she was the cutest little pumpkin at the Pumpkin Patch. And this money-conscience mom bought her a mini pumpkin for 50 cents. Yep, I'm a big spender.

Total cost of headband = less than 50 cents. And 30 minutes of my time. And a hurt finger.

Wow, the mini pumpkin cost more.

Tyler Liere | 5th Birthday Invitation Design

What better way to celebrate a little boy's fifth birthday than with a huntin' party? Too bad I didn't get a picture of Kassidy in her camo onsie, but then again, you probably would have had a hard time spotting her in the photo.

Guess you'll just have to live vicariously through the birthday invitation. Can you find Tyler?

We go together like peas and carrots

Whoever thinks a new dad has to have a son to play dress up, think again.

Brady and Kassidy seem to be doing just fine.

The camo look. I wonder if deer can see pink?

Go Lions!

We're working on her Whooping skills

Even little girls look cute in cowboy blue

3 Months with Kassidy

Kassidy turned three months old this past Thursday.

And, in the last week, she was baptized, started daycare, made a boyfriend, learned to sleep 10.5 hours at night, and became a Hudini baby that can escape out of not one, but two swaddles.

And to celebrate the Ags upcoming move to the SEC for next year's football season, I thought this picture would be very appropriate.

Gig'em Ags. And Gig'em Kassidy.