My sister in law, Gabby of Design Mom just launched their first episode of Olive Us! It’s a charming little mini series about their children living in France shot by Tiger in a Jar. It’s beyond adorable, you have to check it out!  Oh, and did I mention it’s produced and directed by Gabby and Ben themselves! Amazing, right!? I’m constantly floored by how talented that family is! You can find out more about the series here and subscribe to future episodes here.

blouse via here, similar blouse found here

picture via here

shorts via here, pants via here, similar pants found here and here.
What color are you crushing on this season?

These puff fabric flowers are a sweet, hand crafted gift that lasts forever. Pretty to create a few for special event, or as a permanent centerpiece on your table.

Keep reading to see the full tutorial with photos…

Supplies:

1. Cut your fabric in 2-3″ wide strips. I layered all my fabrics on top of each other to save time. Be varied in your strip width for more interesting flowers.

2. Using the cardstock, make a few stencils for the petals the same width as your fabric strips. No need to be perfect! Make some petals wide, thin, pointy, and narrow.

3. Wrap one fabric strip around the stencil.

4. Using the small scissors, follow the stencil and cut the petals out of the fabric.

5. Unroll the fabric strip. Grab that needle and thread. Stitch big stitches all along the bottom of each strip.

6. Scrunch up the fabric strip by pulling the thread taught. Stitch each end of the fabric strip together, making a circle of petals. Make two petal circles per flower.

7.  For the center of the flowers, casually fold up a fabric strip in another color and cut a lot of little slits to create a fringe effect.

8. Place two petal circles on a stick. Using the glue gun, hot glue the fringe for the center of the flower around the stick. Glue the petals around the center fringe. Tada! You’re done.

Check out my lists of favorite sandals under $30 here and cute summer dresses under $30 here. What trends are you excited about this summer?

Hi friends! I’m here in Utah enjoying the beautiful, warm weather. Today we went swimming and rolled around in the grass. Then we took the minivan through the drive through to get ice cream cones. Ahh, the suburb life! Up to anything fun this weekend? Hugs to all you moms out there, hope you feel appreciated and loved! Have a great one, see you next week:

Have you entered the $2500 Tempur-Pedic bed giveaway yet?

I want to make these tree tables

Oh man, these look delicious

DIY bakers twine in pretty colors

Can’t wait to see this movie

Sweet Mothers Day gift idea

Chevron pillow tutorial

Excited to watch Jordan’s progress on her cute new place

Are you mom enough?

A couple of my Momtastic posts:

Watercolor gift tags for Mothers Day (image above)

Polka Dot Wrapping Paper

Painted Bead Dip Dye Necklace

A couple of my Babble posts:

20 Adorable Summer Dresses Under $30

8 Last Minute Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

Fantastic Low Key Summer Hairstyles

These cute little plant labels are fully customizable, and would be a great activity to involve the kids in… plus with Mother’s Day only a few days away, they’d make for an easy last-minute gift or addition to a pretty store bought plant

See the full tutorial after the jump…

You will need:
- Oven-bake clay
- Cookie cutters (mine are from Ikea)
- A stamp you can customize
- Wooden craft sticks (mine are the jumbo size)
- A hot glue gun
- Scissors
- Baking paper
- Rolling pin (not in the photo)

Step 1.
Tear off some baking paper to work on. Roll out the clay until it’s approximately 5 mm thick (about 1/8″) and, using a cookie cutter of your choice, punch out the shape from the clay.

Step 2.
Set up your stamp to spell out the word you want on your plant label. Practice stamping it first on a spare piece of clay to make sure spacing/spelling is right, then stamp onto your cut-out clay shape.

Step 3.
Bake the clay shape according to the packet instructions.

Step 4.
Take a wooden craft stick, and cut the bottom of it into a point using the scissors. If yours is too hard or thick to cut, it’s not a problem.

Step 5.
Once the clay shape has cooled, use the glue gun to run a line of glue down on the back of it, and quickly stick the wooden craft stick to it, holding down firmly until it’s dried.
*If there are children involved, please make sure it’s an adult doing the hot gluing*

Step 6.
That’s it! Stick your little plant label into a pot, stamp someone’s name on it and give it as a gift.. up to you!

photo // chambray // top // shorts // bangles // ring

I love this outfit because it combines some of my favorite looks for spring. The floral print (in a short none the less), a light-weight “rorange” top, a chambray pullover and jewelry made with natural materials. Not a bad combination for under $100!

Bright lipstick has been a hot trend for a few seasons now. Up until a couple years ago I rarely wore lipstick and now I wear it when I’m headed anywhere one step up from the grocery store. I’ve learned a few things along the way, would you like to know my favorite lipstick tricks? I’d love to hear yours as well!

Images by Liz Daly Photography based in the Bay area.

1. No Lipstick Marks on Your Glass: Discreetly lick the rim of your glass before sipping. Seriously, try it! It works!

2. Mix Shades: Instead of buying a new lipstick this season, try layering shades you already have. Above I combined coral and red for a dark pink.

Keep reading to all six tricks, including my favorite tip for repairing a broken lipstick (Ugg. Don’t you hate when that happens?)

3. More Matte: Apply a layer of pressed powder in between coats to make the color more matte and intense.

4. DIY Tinted Lip gloss: Add dabs of your favorite lipstick shade onto your lip and then coat and smooth with a layer of clear gloss. Sometimes I add a bit more lipstick after the gloss is on if I want even more color.

5. Fill with Liner: Use liner on your lips to keep your lipstick color last longer. Fill in your entire lips with a lip liner shade similar to the shade of your lipstick. Add lipstick on top of the liner layer. The liner stays on much longer so you won’t have substitute teacher lips!

6. Repairing a Broken Lipstick: This might be my favorite tip! Instead of throwing away a broken lipstick, barely melt the broken off piece with a lit match. When it has melted a bit (only takes a few seconds), put the broken piece back on top of the base, and swivel it down. Let it harden in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before using.

I’d love to hear your favorite lipstick or beauty tricks- what tips do you swear by?

Keep reading to see the full tutorial…

Supplies:
1 container of COOL WHIP
1/2 cup of water
Large mixing bowl
Spoon
Wax paper
Tray
Mini cookie cutter (I used a star shape)

Step 1: Pour the COOL WHIP into a mixing bowl and add the 1/2 cup of water. Adding the water is necessary so it freezes well enough to cut out pieces that hold their shape.

Step 2: Mix well with a spoon until the water is incorporated evenly into the COOL WHIP.

Step 3: Line tray with wax paper. Pour the mixture into the tray (you’d like it ideally about 1/2 inch thick or more) and freeze at least 4 hours

Step 4. Lift wax paper out of sheet and place on a table.

Step 5: Cut out shapes with your cookie cutter and place layers of the mini marshmallows between sheets of wax paper in a freezable container.

Step 6: Store in the freezer and pull out individual marshmallows as needed for fancy hot chocolate!

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Earlier this week my sister in law Jordan and her family moved home from Paris! Hooray! Currently they are crashing with us while they finalize their apartment plans and it’s been a none stop cousin party ever since. We are actually taking off later this weekend to head to Utah for a week or so, but I have some really fun posts planned to share with you all this coming week. You’ll love it! Up to anything fun? Here are some links to explore and blog housekeeping:

Did you enter to win the $2500 Tempur-Pedic bed yet?

I’m teaching both Blogging 101 and Advertising Options for Bloggers this coming Tuesday. They’re really fun, hour long video classes for only $15.

LOVE this idea of painting your ugly cement into red bricks!

Love this summer dress on sale!

Did you see Gabby’s sneak peak of a web series they’re creating called Olive Us? Looks too adorable for words

Oh man I need to make this top

Fruit balloons party! Cutest things alive

Gorgeous Mother’s Day Brunch (and wonderful idea!)

Lovely baby wearing style

Kind of obsessed with this yellow and white dress

Pretty homemade bubbles and bubble wands

A pretty new blog I spotted, Revel