I have a three-step process for putting up my Christmas tree so that babies don’t destroy it (more on that below) and I’m only on step two, so I’ve been putting up my other decorations to fill the void (not really but yeah really).

My silver glitter “Be Merry & Bright” banner is new this year. I was actually inspired by a customer who ordered a gold “Be Merry” banner, but since I can have banners as long as I want I expanded on the original idea. The lights are clear globes that I’ve had for a few years but never used. Originally I was going to do something with them in the kitchen, and then the bedroom, but they ended up just collecting dust on top of the bookcase until last night.

pro tip: unscrew the bulbs and stash them in empty egg cartons so you don’t break any when you’re hanging up the cord!

I also put up my Playmobil nativity scene. Actually, I set up the stable and Sym arranged the characters. She’s also promised to loan me some extra animals from her vast Playmobil collection. There were guinea pigs at the nativity, right? I mean, Santa was there:

I have an unofficial tradition of adding something new to my wreath every year. The first year I made it I took a plain wreath and added tiny gold leaves, red berries and small white globe ornaments. Last year I added two little birds, and this year a string of tiny lights (battery operated). Next year maybe I’ll add a bow? WHO CAN SAY.

How To Put Up Baby’s First Christmas Tree

This is actually Gwen’s second Christmas but last year she wasn’t the force of destruction she is this year, and I had no idea how she’d react to a lighted, ornament-covered tree suddenly appearing in our living room. I’ve honed this three-step technique over the past seven years of being a childcare provider, where every year was SOMEONE’S first Christmas, and I’ve never had a tree incident (knock on wood). Doing it this way gives baby the opportunity to get used to the tree being there, and gives you the opportunity to see how they’ll react to it, and also to teach them to leave it alone.

Step 1: Put up the tree with no lights or decorations, and then leave it for three days to one week.

Step 2: Add the lights on the tree and the leave it for three days to one week.

Step 3: Add all your ornaments. By now baby is so used to the tree it doesn’t even register on their radar. I hope!

I put our tree up on Sunday and originally I was planning on adding the lights this Friday and the decorations next Friday, but tbh the lightless tree was starting to depress me and Gwen was doing really well with it, so I decided to do the lights last night and we’re adding the ornaments tomorrow night, so fingers crossed it goes well! When I first put it up Gwen crawled over and gave some of the branches an experimental poke, but they’re quick prickly so she quickly moved on. This morning she tugged on one light cord but I just distracted her by saying “Gwennie! No!” and is silly shocked voice, and when she’d moved on to some toys I tucked the offending cord deeper into the branches. So far so good!

cinnamon toast waffles & mandarin orange / tomato, cucumber & cheddar salad

I’m pretty sure Gwen has now fully made the transition to being a one nap-a-day baby. It’s weird to think that only a few months ago she was still have THREE naps! She still wakes up around 8:30 or nine in the morning, and then she goes down for her nap at around 1pm. If I’m lucky she sleeps for a couple hours, if not then she has a total meltdown before we can get her in the bath. She has a new, earlier bedtime of 7:30-ish.

I think for me the most difficult part about her adjusted sleep schedule has been figuring out her new mealtimes. It used to be really easy: food when she wakes up, bottle before she goes down. Now it’s breakfast when she wakes and maybe a lil snack then lunch at 11:30 and a bottle at 12:30, then snack after nap and dinner HOPEFULLY around 6 (I’m not used to getting dinner ready that early!) and a bottle before bed. It sounds simple now but it’s taken me a week to get the whole thing down.

And finally, this baby is now a walkin’ fool. She will walk unsupported for 5-6 steps at a time, before she has to grab onto the furniture or drop to a crawl. Every day she walks further and further on her own.

Essie in Mesmerize + Sinful Colors in Hottie (what a weird name for a blue glitter, should be Coldie)

I don’t like Hottie on it’s own; it’s too translucent for my tastes. I layered it over a blue to try and capture how it looks in the bottle, but I think a more electric/royal blue would have worked better. tbh I really hated this mani at first. I did it at night and in the artificial lighting the glitter looked like plain silver. It reminded me of this weird glitter paint I used to have for the daycare kids, haha idk. It’s grown on me though, and the glitter is more dimensional than just silver; it’s actually turquoise blue and iridescent.

duh.

do you like blackberries, Gwen?




everything.



a grumpy robot.


concert hangover recovery.

We call them Floorios around here.

I’m not a fashion blog person (unless someone made one of just sweatpants outfits) but I enjoy reading Katie’s.

My favourite, Sara M Lyons, is running an amazing sale this weekend with tons of new products!

Elf of the Shelf: What You Need to Know

I need this.

Scream-laugh-barfing

A couple things Gwen wore recently.

A final reminder that anyone who wants to receive a banner in time for Christmas/New Year’s should place their order by the end of the weekend AND as an added bonus all ready-to-ship banners are now 25% off, no code necessary.

… to get a banner for Christmas (and don’t forget new Year’s Eve decorations)! My cutoff for holiday orders is this Sunday, December 1st- I can’t actually guarantee orders placed by this date will arrive before the 25th but I’m like… 99% sure they will. Orders placed after the first may still arrive in time but I can’t promise anything.

Also, if you follow me on instagram you will have already seen these (I’ve been blowing up my own feed) but I’ve made mini stickers to start including with banners (for free), and I think they are so cute!

Also: don’t forget to “like” my facebook page for pics of recent work, shop announcements and promotions!

Supplies & Equipment
- stiffened felt, this is available at craft and fabric stores and comes in 9 x 12″ sheets in a variety of colour (and with glitter, which you know I had to use)
- decorations like pompoms, rhinestones, feathers, etc (optional)
- 1/8″ or 1/4″ elastic
- needle & thread (to match your felt colour)
- scissors
- ruler
- binder clips
- cardstock (for templates)
- pencil or marker
- glue (optional)

Party Hat Instructions

Mark and cut a half-circle from the cardstock to make your party hat template. You can use a plate or a bowl as a template for your template.

Trace the template on to the back side of the stiffened felt and cut it out. Depending on how wide you want the base of your hat you may want to trim a wedge off one half of the circle, as pictured below.

Twist the felt half circle into a cone, overlapping the edges by about a 1/2″ and clipping in place with a binder clip.

Sew the overlapped edges together. Go as high up the cone as you can, but remember it’s not necessary (or really possible) to sew all the way to the tip. I double stitched mine for extra durability.

Crown Instructions
For the crowns the only template you need is a triangle in the size you want the points on the crown to be. This can be as large or as small as you like.

To make the sides of you triangle symmetrical, fold the cardstock in half and cut a half-size triangle from it.

Once you have your triangle template, you need to mark the crown on the back of the stiffened felt and cut it out. Lay your ruler on the felt along one of the long, 12″ edges. This will be the part of the crown below the points. Place the triangle template on the felt above the ruler. Trace the triangle, move it over, and repeat until you have fit as many triangles as you can on that edge. There should be a small flap left at the end; this will be the overlap for sewing.

Clip the ends of your crown together with the overlap on the inside and the “valley” between the two end points matched up. Sew together up from the base of the crown to the “valley.”

To make a larger crown cut two pieces, one from each long side of your felt sheet. Clip the two pieces together with the overlaps on the inside of the crown and sew together.

Finishing Touches

Cut a piece of elastic in the proper length to fit the head of the child or adult (or pet…) who will be wearing the crown. For children especially you don’t want the elastic to be too tight. I like to make my elastic long enough to go around the back of the head like a headband, rather than under the chin (which I find uncomfortable). Sew the elastic to the inside of the base of the crown or hat.

Decorate your hats and crowns by sewing or gluing pompoms, feathers, rhinestones or whatever items you have on hand.

On Friday Taylor & I watched The To-Do List

idk if it’s a good movie. It’s certainly a GROSS movie; Taylor was very traumatized by one scene in particular. I spent a goodly portion of it screaming my head off because nineties.

One super amazing thing that happened this weekend: Gwen walked! She’s being walking around holding our hands or the couch, or while pushing a chair ahead of her for a long time, and a couple times she’s taken a single step on her own before “taking a knee” (as we call it), and dropping into crawling position. On Saturday though, she took three whole steps, all by herself!

Gwen is also in the process of eliminating her morning nap, and the change from being a baby who naps twice a day to a baby who naps once a day hasn’t been easy. The past couple days have had her falling asleep on the living room floor, falling asleep while eating, and falling asleep in her stroller… but then having a temper tantrum when I put her in her crib because she’s overtired! Personally if it was up to me I’d never give up the morning nap, but babies have their own opinions about these things.

On Sunday Taylor and I took Gwen for a walk. When it’s not raining I always feel like I should be getting outside, getting fresh air, blah blah blah but it’s freezing cold so it’s kind of a hassle with the baby. She needs to be dressed up super warmly but if you go anywhere indoors she instantly overheats. Last week I had to bring her with me to the hair salon and I swear it took longer to get her all dressed in her sweater and coat and hat and gloves than it did to get my hair cut.

very bundled!

I couldn’t figure out why Lost Lagoon seemed so different and then I realized: all the geese have flown south! It’s all just ducks now (and swans, seagulls and cormorants, plus pigeons).

Also: a quick reminder that if you are thinking of ordering any banners for Christmas or New Year’s Eve you have until Sunday, December 1st to place your order to guarantee* delivery before the holiday.

Happy Holidays, ya jerks!

*not an actual guarantee, I don’t control the mail

Essie in Case Study + Deborah Lippman in Stairway to Heaven

So I guess we need a new stand for all the media devices.