Self Portrait Assignment (or learning to love your tripod)

I have been following Kelly  over at Live Laugh Rowe  and her super talented sister,  Kristine at  Kristine Lynn Photography  over the last couple of week s for a  Self Portrait Challenge.  Kristine  gave us a whole bunch of tips on how to take better self portraits of ourselves.

I find it is never easy to look at pictures of myself because most of the pictures I've done my own makeup and hair.  And the lighting is never good . And I'm making some kind of goofy face. blah blah blah. I think the only day so far in my life where I have liked every picture is my wedding day.  Because.....somebody else did my hair, makeup, and was there to tell me if I was making a dumb face.

I've been watching my friend, Michelle over at Callia's Corner the past few weeks being all diligent and taking all kinds of great self  portraits of herself.  And I was all like, " Yeah, I'll do that today." She made it look too easy. I had all intentions of trying to do this multiple times to practice but life and kids intervened  and I got to it once, in 100+ degree heat. Yeah, me!

So it shows up  when I publish this post.... I think this is my favorite one...

Manual ISO 400, 1/100, f 6.3

Or do you like the Black and white version?

But this one was good too....

 Or this one...

My house has exactly three places where any lights hit all day ( note to self: next house...more windows). And yesterday happened to be all overcast and cloudy so none of that light was coming in. So I headed out in the heat by my fence. I set up the tripod and a piece of tape  on the fence for focusing.

 Here is one of my blurry shots. The fence is in way more focus than I am.

Then  K wouldn't take a nap so then she was outside with me. I mean, look at that sweat on the sides of her nose. Yep, sweaty.

Her job was to make me laugh and keep the dog out of the way. See how much that worked...

He photo bombed me !!

I just wanted you all to see that  when i get a blog award I'm all like ahhhh...

 Then I'm all eeeeee....

I course I couldn't not have her jump in one time.

Thanks for all the tips , Kelly and Kristine! I might actually use one of these for my  front page photo and about page.


Monday
What is the Gunny Sack -Making the world Cuter -Debbie Doo -DIY How Off
DIY Shop - Lines Across My Face -I should be mopping the Floor
Great Fun 4 Kids

Tuesday
How to Nest For Less - Tip Junkie - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia -The Kurtz Corner
Sugar Bee - Romance On A Dime - Debbie Does Creations - Funky Polka Dot Giraffe
The Winthrop Chronicles


Wednesday
 Thrifty Home - Someday Crafts - Sew Much Ado
- Junk in Their Trunk  - Southern Lovely


Thursday
My rePurposed Life - Beyond the Picket Fence - Somewhat Simple - Live Laugh Rowe
Loving this Crazy Life - Fireflies and Jellybeans - The Shabby Cottage
The Taylor House- House of Hepworths-SNAP
Friday
Naptime Crafters - Stay At Home Nation
Young and Crafty -  My Turn(ForUs)
Delicate Construction
Serenity Now
Here Comes the Sun

Saturday
Six Sister's Stuff
Be Different Act Normal
Cheerios and Lattes
Natasha in Oz -Say G'Day

A Cute Saint Louis Cardinals Girl's Shirt

 We decided to take K to her very first Saint Louis Cardinals Baseball game. Up to this point she was so not ready to go. Nor did she care.  And when you go to a Cardinals Game you have to wear your cardinal gear/garb.  It's really great how we have such team spirit here.  But then I realized we had a problem.... I never see any cute Cardinal shirts for girls.  And since I have girls, gosh darn it, they are going to look cute and girly!!


What we did have were two generic Cardinal T-shirts  that had Albert Pujols name and number on therm.  And since he left our team,  J and I aren't very happy with him. But we don't need to go into that here.

I decided that I could reuse the Cardinal logo itself in a different way.  I went and cut the logo off the shirt.

I also went and raided my stash of old t shirts just waiting for the next t-shirt quilt and found a nice quality white shirt that I wanted to make a heart out of.   I traced the logo on a piece of paper and  made sure it would be big enough, then cut it out.

I  needed a plain red  tshirt so I went to Kohls and found, in the  boy section, a red plain t shirt with a pocket for $6.  I  borrowed my mom's seam ripper ( man I need one of those) and took off the pocket. You can see there was little outline but I knew the heart would cover that.

   I was going to use this stuff called Wunder Under that is sold at fabric stores that my mom had but it was really old and wouldn't stick :(    I used it for another project  before and it works great when it's not old.  At  Michaels , I  found  Aleena's Peel and Stick Sheets. It says they are for fabric , they are permanent, and washable. Hey, let's take a chance.  Since  I'm still a sewing newbie, I don't mind using stuff like this until I get better at it.

I laid the heart and the Cardinal Logo out on the sheets of stick and made sure I had enough to cover it.  The sheets are only 4.25x5 wide.

Then I had to cut around them and let me just tell you this is the stickiest stuff I have ever dealt with.  I tried the scissors and they kept getting stuck. I broke out the  X-acto knife and that seemed to work really well especially around the logo. You had to peel it off  and lay it down carefully so it wouldn't bunch up. 

 I put it on the shirt and it was  time to add a little border.   It looked so plain so I asked my mom about putting some kind of embroidery stitch around it and she showed me how to do a  blanket stick around the edge of the heart. You start from underneath and go up and through the loop you just made. BUt remember to come  up with your needle as close to the edge as you want your border to be. I didn't a few times and I had to redo it because it wasn't right on the edge. I hope the pictures below kinda show what I'm talking about.

The going up  part , right be the edge.

The going under/through the loop part

A close up of the stitch

All finished with the  blanket stitch.

After all of that I thought she still needed something else.  Rhiannon over at Being (mom)me made these firecracker  hair bows and  I thought...perfect.  I'll do a version  for K.  I had  bought some  red and white ribbon  at the store just in case.  I took a few strips and sewed them together adding a bow in the middle.

I got done with that and though the shirt still didn't look finished so I took some of the same ribbon ( which I though kinds looked like baseball stitching) and sewed  some bows on the sleeves.

Now.... I was happy with everything and when I showed it to K, she ran and told  daddy that mommy had made her a shirt for the baseball game.  I'm glad she liked it.  I'll post pictures soon of her wearing them.

Monday
What is the Gunny Sack -Making the world Cuter -Debbie Doo -DIY How Off
DIY Shop - Lines Across My Face -I should be mopping the Floor

Great Fun 4 Kids

Tuesday
How to Nest For Less - Tip Junkie - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia -The Kurtz Corner
Sugar Bee - Romance On A Dime - Chronic Christian Crafter - Funky Polka Dot Giraffe
The Winthrop Chronicles


Wednesday
Oopsey Daisy - Thrifty Home - Someday Crafts - Sew Much Ado
- Junk in Their Trunk  - Southern Lovely


Thursday
My rePurposed Life - Beyond the Picket Fence - Somewhat Simple - Live Laugh Rowe
Loving this Crazy Life -Scrappy Crafty Happy - Fireflies and Jellybeans - The Shabby Cottage
Quality Cheap Home  - The Taylor House
House of Hepworths   The CSI Project

Friday
Naptime Crafters - Stay At Home Nation
Young and Crafty -  My Turn(ForUs)
Delicate Construction
Serenity Now
Family Ever After 
Here Comes the Sun

Saturday


Six Sister's Stuff
Be Different Act Normal


Sunday
Nifty Thrifty Things


Other Fun Blogs

Things I Love about St.Louis: The Saint Louis Zoo

(This is the fourth in the Things I Love about Saint Louis Series. If you want to know more, go here.)

Living in Saint Louis my whole life, sometimes I forget how lucky we really are having this awesome Zoo.  Not every city has a zoo and  not every zoo is free to get into. I know there are alot of other zoos around the country but I'm a little bias. The Saint Louis Zoo is just all around great.

I went to the zoo every year as a kid, not alot  but at least once a year. Ever since J and I had kids, we've been going to the Zoo ALOT.  Say... a few times a month alot. We started going to often that we decided very quickly to become members.  The Zoo is open year round and we have been there at all times except when it's 30 degrees or under or it has snowed which I'm kinda bummed about because I've heard it's pretty.

Hmm..... which kind do I want?

As a member( there are different levels), we get the free parking and so  many go- anywhere passes which get you on the train, the carousel, the children's zoo, and  the sea lion show. If they melt down after 30 minutes, I don't feel bad leaving because it was paid for along time ago. And  J's work donation-matches so we can  up our membership level, score! If you are from STL, look into if your work matches too. It's so worth it.

Price....mostly FREE...
If you are not a member or just visiting, you can go through the whole zoo for free. Yep, free ( if you can avoid the food and gift shop. I know, easier said than done)  If you get there the first hour of the day,  you can go into the children's zoo, carousel,and sting rays for free. FREE.  If you have a bigger family, that's a heck of a deal. You can also park for free along the streets  in Forest Park, which will be is it's own post of awesome-ness. As my friend Katrina over at Keys To the Magic Travel says about WDW....a very affordable option for souvenirs are the pressed pennies that you can find all around the Zoo. K loves them and for 51 cents. I can't beat it. 

If you get here after the first hour, they do have a Safari Pass. For $10 per person, this gets you one admission to the Children's Zoo, Zooline Railroad, Conservation Carousel, Movie and 4-D Motion Simulator and Stingrays at Caribbean. It maybe worth it, it may not be depending on what you want to see and do.

S  loves the squeezy applesauce.

Food
We usually bring some snacks for the girls when we go like squeezey applesauce, crackers, grapes, and  drinks.  The Zoo is cool with you bringing a cooler and  all the food/drink  you need with you.  How great is that? But if you don't want to worry about it, the food is great here.  It's the typical tourist prices. They have everything from BBQ to Ice Cream to Beer. There are 10 places to get food all around the Zoo. They have this deal for a Souvenir cup for $8 but then refills are only a $1. If you can share one of those, you're set. And if you come back, you can bring it back and reuse it again all season.

Attire
I always dress for comfort and a little sweating, especially in the summer here in St.Louis ( hot and really humid) Lugging two kids in a double stroller for 2-3 hours doesn't make for cute. I see plenty of cutely dressed people but I want comfort. It is a bigger place so I would recommend tennis shoes but again I  see people in all kinds of shoes.

Our Route
Our usual Zoo trip goes something like this....( and keep in mind this is a 4 and 2 year I'm taking )

We try to get there as early as we can to avoid the crowds and  the heat in the summer. We go through the south gates by Highway 40 and make our way to the right where we climb up the hill towards the big cats and large hooved animals.  There are many cool buildings with other animals that you can look at along the way but right now my kids have no interest in them and there are so many other animals to see that it doesn't matter. There are two baby lions that were out this morning and they are so cute you will want to take them home.

Mountain Bongo

Then we make our way back down the hill to the apes/monkeys,birds...

  around to the carousel.....

 

 ....bears, Living World ( not much for my two right now but tons of cool stuff),Children's zoo, Insectarium

and then on the River's Edge to see the hippos and Elephants, who are the girls favorite. There are folks all around the Zoo who are explaining the animals and will answer any questions that you can think of or will find out who can answer your questions if they can't. We finish up the day with a ride on the Zoo train which right now is the highlight of the trip, which is why it's left until the end.

New Baby Kenzie and her mom, Rani

Grandma Ellie, Mama Rani and  Baby Kenize- Three elephant generations. What a family.

My little photog K capturing the hippos

Being the ages they are, there is a bunch we don't do  but when they are older things will totally change I'm sure. I so recommend this place to anyone visiting from out of town with or without kids. It's one of my top 5 places to go here. I  have been in no way paid or compensated for this post at all. I just love this place and am so blessed that it is in the city where I live. Please come and enjoy it if you are ever in town.

Monday
What is the Gunny Sack -Making the world Cuter -Debbie Doo -DIY How Off
DIY Shop - Lines Across My Face -I should be mopping the Floor
Great Fun 4 Kids

Tuesday
How to Nest For Less - Tip Junkie - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia -The Kurtz Corner
Sugar Bee - Romance On A Dime - Chronic Christian Crafter - Funky Polka Dot Giraffe
The Winthrop Chronicles


Wednesday
 Thrifty Home - Someday Crafts - Sew Much Ado
 Junk in Their Trunk  - Southern Lovely


Thursday
My rePurposed Life - Beyond the Picket Fence - Somewhat Simple - Live Laugh Rowe
Loving this Crazy Life -Scrappy Crafty Happy - Fireflies and Jellybeans - The Shabby Cottage
Quality Cheap Home  - The Taylor House
House of Hepworths

Friday
Naptime Crafters - Stay At Home Nation
Young and Crafty -  My Turn(ForUs)
Delicate Construction
Serenity Now
Family Ever After 
Here Comes the Sun

Saturday


Six Sister's Stuff
Be Different Act Normal


Sunday
Nifty Thrifty Things


Other Fun Blogs

10 things I learned on a car trip with two small kids

                This is what 15 hours looks like....goldfish crackers all over and feet in my face.

1. Dual DVD players are super NICE!
They weren't plugged in the whole time but when the wining and complaining go to be too much. It saved
me and J.

2.  Bring every pool/water  toy/floaty you can fit in the car. Even if you don't think you'll need it.
We had to buy many things that we didn't think we would need  and left at home but then we did need.


3. The kids liked the pool more than the ocean.
It was a little wavy to say the least so once we showed them the calm, warmer pool. K didn't want to go  back to the beach. We tried to explain to her that we have pools at home but not beaches. She didn't really care.

4.  Be prepared to be a bad recycler.
This was hard for me. I'm normally a great recycler. I recycle everything. But down in Pensacola Beach. I couldn't find any kind of community recycling place and the condo complex definitely didn't care one way or the other. I had to suck it up and say sorry environment for a whole week.

5.  Don't bring too much stuff for yourself ( the mommies and daddies) to do.
We brought all kinds of IPod, IPad, speakers, magazines, books.... you know...thinking we could do something besides watch our kids. Nope. We were busy we the kids whenever they were awake and when they were napping or asleep.... We were napping or asleep. Long gone are the days of reading a magazine on the beach..unless we go somewhere without kids. I know, we were a little delusional.

6. The kids may not sleep at all in the car.
Everyone was saying" Oh, they'll sleep for hours". You are all  F-O-S. They slept for 30 min each on the way there. Yes, you read that right....30minutes....for a 15 hour car drive..... That's nuts.  I know my kids are not normal but come on..... 30 min?! really?

7. Pack less toys and books for them.
I packed 6 books per kid and a small book bag of toys per kid. And they proceeded to read the same two books all week and play/fight over the same four small toys all week. Lesson learned.

8. Not even cute maps help after 15 hours in the car with a 30 minute nap.
 She was doing really well with the map until hour 13 and then it was every five minutes " Are we at the beach now?" But it did work until then.

9. Portable apple sauces, squeezy yogurt tubes and goldfish crackers are a god-send.
 Buy and pack as many as you can into a cooler. They helped avoid many meltdowns and supplemented alot of the meals we stopped to eat when they didn't like anything on the menus.

10. That it should only get easier or at least a different kind of hard.
 They were really great for the amount of time they were in the car.  I had to keep telling myself we were asking a 4 and 2 year old to sit for hours and hours and hours.

Wall-E Party

( From my pre-blog days when I should have documented more.Wall-E parties are just hard to come by. Please only use printables for personal use. They took a while to make and I want to share them.)

K,our oldest daughter,  two years ago (2010)  decided she wanted a Wall-E party . I was a little disappointed. I wanted to do something cute and girly and pink and fluffy. But she loved Wall-E ..like watched it everyday kinda love. There is nothing girly about Wall-E. I decided to go the primary color route. It seems to be a theme with most of my parties so far.

Wall-E, for those that don't know is this adorable little robot  that Disney/Pixar made a movie out of.  I went  to to Amazon where you can seem to find any kind of obscure party supply known to man and bought balloons, plates, napkins and a table cover. I was lucky enough to buy the cake toppers from Walmart ( before they stopped selling them directly to customers. I know...total bummer) I think all in all I spent $30 in supplies. Normally I like cheaper but it was alright.

I took a bunch of clipart ( see images above) I found online and made a few e-cards that I emailed to family and friends. Otherwise I would have probably printed them out at Walgreens again like I did with Caillou.

Click to download

Click to download

 I always like having something on the mantle when we have any parties upstairs ( all parties are downstairs now) I went on the computer and downloaded some images of wall-e and eve online and made a banner using Photoshop. Then I used my handy dandy paper slicer and cut them myself and taped them together not glamorous but  I though it looked cute all the same. I really need a Silhouette or a Cameo. It would make life alot easier.

The  smaller squares are around 3"x 3" and the larger squares that made up her name are 5"x5". The font is Futurama Bold.

I made a plain old 9"x13" cake and decorated it in the primary colors again. K didn't care because she doesn't like cake. She had birthday Pringles. Everyone got a kick out of that. She still doesn't like cake but she will sometimes eat plain vanilla ice cream.

She loved it at the time and sadly two months after that when S was born she just lost interest in Wall-E and it was on to Mickey Mouse....

Monday
What is the Gunny Sack -Making the world Cuter -Debbie Doo -DIY How Off
DIY Shop - Lines Across My Face -I should be mopping the Floor
Great Fun 4 Kids

Tuesday
How to Nest For Less - Tip Junkie - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia -The Kurtz Corner
Sugar Bee - Romance On A Dime - Chronic Christian Crafter - Funky Polka Dot Giraffe
The Winthrop Chronicles


Wednesday
Oopsey Daisy - Thrifty Home - Someday Crafts - Sew Much Ado
- Junk in Their Trunk  - Southern Lovely


Thursday
My rePurposed Life - Beyond the Picket Fence - Somewhat Simple - Live Laugh Rowe
Loving this Crazy Life -Scrappy Crafty Happy - Fireflies and Jellybeans - The Shabby Cottage
Quality Cheap Home  - The Taylor House
House of Hepworths

Friday
Naptime Crafters - Stay At Home Nation
Young and Crafty -  My Turn(ForUs)
Delicate Construction
Serenity Now
Family Ever After

Saturday


Six Sister's Stuff
Be Different Act Normal


Sunday
Nifty Thrifty Things


Other Fun Blogs