Giveaway results

And the winner of the bamboo cutting board

and coupon for a free, yummy freschetta pizza is . . .

Julie!

Julie wants to try the hawaiian style pizza. I think that's an excellent choice.

Have a great day!!!

And a big thanks to Freschetta for the giveaway.

Photography: embrace the camera 05.26.11

Had a mini vacation the past few days and drove to Vegas to be with family.

It was nice and warm outside.

We all went to a splash park one day.

Reese was loving it.

Can you believe she's 6 months already?

Maybe I should get off of this subject before I start crying.

Embrace the camera!!!!

Oh, and come back later today to see the results of this giveaway!

Party Details: tissue pom pom tutorial

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Here's how I made the tissue pom poms for Ava's birthday party and for the Milk and Cookies baby shower. So easy!

what you'll need:

- 1 package of tissue paper (I think they come in 8 sheets usually)

- string/twine

Take the tissue out of the package and lay it flat (this package had 12 but I recommend 8). I like to do the smaller tissue pom poms so I cut the tissue paper in half so that it's a rectangle - - about 13x20 .

Here comes the fun part. Remember when we were kids and we'd make paper fans? Was I the only one that did that? Well, that's basically what you do to make these pom poms. Make a paper fan like in the photos below.

Fold the short side about 1 1/2 inches thick and keep on doing that until you have a fan.

Once you have your fan, you want to cut a design out on the ends (like when we were kids and we'd make snowflakes - - all this paper crafting when I was a kid really paid off).

This time I made it pointy on the end (I rounded the corners on the ones I made for the party - - I think I like those ones the best).

Almost done. Just tie some string/twine (whatever you want) to the middle.

After you've tied the string, you want to carefully separate each tissue paper towards the middle. Be. Very. Careful. The separate tissue papers are very delicate and can rip easily (but if they do rip, no biggy - - they still look good and no one will notice).

It'll finally start puffing up and look amazing. Everyone will start asking you where you bought your pom poms and you can proudly tell them that you did it. All by yourself!

Then just hang. I love hanging 3 pom poms together or just 1 by itself.

There you have it. Some Martha Stewart-ish party decor that was easy, fast, and cheap.

(If your pom pom is looking a little flimsy, make sure you're using at least 8 sheets of tissue paper. It makes a big difference.)

Have a great weekend!

Well, I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!

I am.

My husband officially finished his 2nd year of law school yesterday.

Whew! One more to go. We celebrated last night by getting pizza

and then we came back and had a little slumber party

in the livingroom and watched "Enchanted" with the little ones.

Ava was loving every second of it.

Oh. Plus my sister is in town for a few hours.

Can it get better than that?

Anyway, I just wanted to inform you all of an awesome fundraiser

right now going on at Worley House.

My friend, Andrea, is trying to raise money for a couple that want to adopt.

How sweet is she!

Go here to donate and to enter the giveaways.

There's some awesome stuff, I tell ya!

Party Details: ribbon backdrop tutorial

Remember the birthday party for little Ava? Within the next few weeks I'll do a few tutorials of a few details from her party. Three months later, I'm finally getting to them. Hope you like them.

First one is the ribbon backdrop tutorial:

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This will be perfect for that upcoming baby shower that you're planning or any party. And the best part? It's really easy to do. It'll make your party definitely stand out (for the good).

What you'll need:

- one wooden dowel (can find at Michaels, Joanns, or any hardware store)

- ribbon . . . different colors and sizes (make sure you

buy them on sale, cause they can be pricey at times)

You first start by figuring out how long you want the backdrop to be.

I cut my dowel to 25 inches across.

With the thinner ribbon, I doubled them and then made a knot around the dowel. With the thicker ribbon, I used a hot glue gun and glued it to the dowel. (when on the dowel, the thick and skinny ribbon were the same length - - once hanging, the ribbon were 27 inches long)

It's really easy. You just decide the pattern you want - - how many thin ribbon and how many thick ribbon, tie/hot glue it on the dowel, and then hang. Simple!

(For mine, I used 14 thin and 7 thick ribbon)

Easy, right? If you do this, I'd love to see your creation!

I'll be linking to these parties here.

Pretty Paper Lanterns

Saw these tissue paper petal lanterns and am dying! They're so stinkin' cute.

Can't wait to try and make them.

Can find the tutorial here.

Seriously. Martha thinks up everything.

Milk and Cookies Baby Shower

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Something's in the water where I live because I have so many friends that are having babies. Just one after another. So of course that means there are gonna be a ton of baby showers.

Well, a few weeks ago, me and a few friends put on a baby shower for two friends that are due around the same time and are both having boys.

I'd seen this party here and then had seen all of the milk and cookie parties around blogland and wanted to do something similar to those.

So, between the three of us we made 8 different types of cookies and put each one in a cylinder vase/jar. I also had three milk jugs that I put fat-free, 2%, and chocolate milk in {found at local thrift stores}.

Here are the details:

I tied ribbon around each vase and found the tags {found online for free - - forgot where, I'll keep on looking} that I just printed out, cut, put a ribbon on, and taped it to the ribbon on the vase. The tissue paper I had already had {thrift store find}, the eclectic white plates I'd found at many thrift stores in the past 2 years, vintage stroller to hold all the gifts {found on craigslist for $20 to use as a photography prop}, tissue pom-poms I made {tutorial to be up this week}, glass cups found at ikea for cheap, paper straws I found here {groupon deal}, and take home paper bags I made. So simple.

We had a few games here and there, opened up presents, and just mainly socialized . . . of course. Love baby showers.

Milk and cookies . . . the perfect treat.

I'll be linking to these parties here.

Made me smile.

I've known this song ever since I was Ava's age.

This song put to pictures/people singing it, made me smile.

Thought I'd share.

What made you smile today?

Happy Monday!

Come back tomorrow to see a baby shower that I helped put on. So easy and very classy!

Great deals that expire on May 15th

So, I was watching Oprah yesterday (9 more left!) and on her makeover show, she said that if you go to her site, you can print out a coupon for 50% off a single, regular priced item at Old Navy. I printed mine right away. You need to print it by today(the 13th) and use by the 15th. Guess where we're going today?

And, don't forget the free 8x10 canvas from Canvas People. This offer is valid until May 15th also. Click below to go to their site.

Have a great weekend!!!

The 13th

This morning I went to my blog and the last post (for the giveaway) was completely gone. Not sure what happend. I'll blame it on Friday the 13th. So, I posted it again . . . but the 13 comments that were there now aren't. So, if you entered the giveaway in the past few days then enter again. Sorry to all those that entered already.

Pizza and a Giveaway!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of FRESCHETTA® for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

So, we recently had the opportunity to taste some yummy pizza. It's the FRESCHETTA® Simply…Inspired™ pizza and it was so delicious. They come in 8 flavors and I chose the Harvest Supreme, cause any chance I can make little Ava eat her veggies . . . I do it! And we both loved it.

I also loved how it's packaged in their new Fresch-Taste Seal {which uses 30% less packaging}.

FRESCHETTA® Simply…Inspired™ is offering one of my readers a coupon for a free pizza and a bamboo cutting board. I'm loving the one that we received.

Go to Freschetta's facebook page and like them so that you can get their $2 off coupons and find out about their giveaways. You can also follow them on twitter {@FreschettaSI} to keep up with their news.

Here's how you can enter (separate comment for each):

1. You must be an "Our Daily Obsessions" follower and go to Freschetta Simply Inspired and tell me what your favorite pizza is!

2. Like Freschetta on facebook.

3. Follow Freschetta on Twitter {@FreschettaSI}

This giveaway will be open until Friday, May 20th at midnight {PST} and open to US residents only.

Loved their pizza. Hope you win!!!