Saturday, October 29, 2011

week in iphone pics, w.24

Here we are again. Another week past. I can't believe it's going to be November in just a couple days. And JC will be another month older. Will you just stop growing already? Speaking of which, I read this post of Amy's yesterday and I was bawling. Straight up tears. I was also screaming "DON'T EVER LEAVE!" to JC. It was not pretty.

Anyway, most of this week was spent taking care of a sick kiddo. Poor guy has had a really bad runny/stuffy nose and a little bit of a cough. No fever but I hate to see him not able to breathe like this. It was so sad watching him try to breathe and eat a PB&J at the same time. And of course he despises the bulb aspirator. If we want to use it, we literally have to hold him down and he gets so mad afterwards. It's not even worth it. A little vaporub and a humidifier in his room seem to help him stay asleep at night though. He doesn't seem to be bothered by his illness too bad during the day. Still running around and getting into everything.

I'm hoping he'll be up for all the activities we have planned this weekend. Tomorrow, we are headed up with a whole crew of us to Apple Hill. It's a fall tradition in these parts. Just 45 minutes away and there's a whole bunch of apple farmers who open up their orchards for people to frolic. Plus there are petting zoos, hay mazes, apple donuts, apple pies, apple cider. Pretty much the best thing ever. Then of course, there's Halloween on Monday. I guess that's technically not the weekend but you know. We finally got our costumes all situated and I am actually really happy with how they turned out. I really need to learn how to sew so I can just make our own costumes already.

Here's our pictures!



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Linking up with a good life and life rearranged.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

october sponsor love, part two

Here are the rest of the great ladies who chose to sponsor swap with me this month! Interested in swapping sponsorship next month? Here's the info!


the abundant life spot
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baby in bulgaria spot
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pauly meg and zoey spot
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its a sun kissed life spot
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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

{diy} halloween yarn wreath tutorial

Do you like to do-it-yourself? Sorry, I always think of 40 Year Old Virgin everytime I see "diy" or "do-it-yourself". Soooo I finished this wreath a couple weeks ago but all I needed was the final "done" photo which I didn't take until yesterday. So you are getting a Halloween decoration tutorial about six days before the holiday. BUT, it doesn't take very long (finished all but tied the ribbon on during one of JC's naps) and it really is just a yarn wreath tutorial that you could embellish or change the colors for whatev holiday your little heart desires. Yay!

First, a disclaimer. This is my first tutorial of any kind. I am not any sort of "crafting expert" or "wreath aficionado". This actually the first wreath I've ever made. I just like yarn and I have a lot laying around so I thought I'd use some up in a non-knitting project. So, don't make fun of me too bad. Thanks.



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The finished product! Thought I'd lure you in with the beautiful project all sparkly and finished so you'll keep reading...



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Supplies you'll need:

- 12 inch foam wreath form

- yarn (I used two colors for stripes, Caron Simply Soft)

- fun embellishments (got these sparkly spiders in pack at Jo-Ann's for like $1.29)

- adhesive (I have a glue gun pictured here but I didn't even use it. I used Aleene's Tacky Glue Pen and it worked just fine.)

Optional: Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte so you feel all cozy and fall-like.



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To start the wreath, just tie a simple knot and leave a small (about 1" long) tail of yarn. You can hide the tail (seen in next picture) underneath the yarn you are wrapping the wreath with. Don't drive yourself crazy like me trying to make each yarn strand lie perfectly next to each other. I actually wish I would have overlapped the yarn because when you lie it perfectly, there will be "bald spots" where you can see the foam underneath.

I made stripes so I thought about three inches wide would mathematically make sense. Ehh, not so much. My last stripe ended up a little short but the ribbon hides that transition pretty well, giving the illusion that it all evens out. I think if you made your stripes about two inches wide, you would have better results. But remember, I have not completed college and have not taken a math course in seven years.



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Attach the next stripe the same way you did the first, just by tying a knot. After that, you don't need to cut and re-tie the next color every time. Just carry the yarn on the underside of your wreath, wrapping it with the current color you are working with. Then you can just pick it up and switch when you are ready to change colors.



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Here is the wreath all wrapped up, pre-embellishments. You can see at this angle, there are some bald spots. But when you look at it straight on, you won't see them. A yarn with a little bit of fuzzyness to it will help hide this also.



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I used Photoshop to create my little pennant diamonds. You could easily use any other program that you are familiar with. All you need to do is create uniform diamond shapes about two inches long and one inch wide. I made my banner say "trick or treat".

Print it out (plain old paper will work just fine) and cut 'em out.



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To attach your letters, fold your diamonds in half to create triangles. Place just a dab of glue toward the bottom of the triangle. Then fold over the yarn and press down. I didn't want my letters to be glued to the actual string because I wanted to be able to move the letters around so I could space them out the way I wanted them to be.

Then, tie the pennant banners to your wreath. I used the same yarn I used to wrap the wreath to make the pennant banners. I just tied it on either side and left a little bit of slack. I tried my hardest to position it so the knots were on the backside of the wreath.



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Then, use more glue to attach your sparkly spiders, or what you have.

This glue worked really well. After you're done, turn it over and let set over night. This glue dries clear, so I also applied some glue onto the knots that were created when I tied the pennant banners. Just to help them keep their place.



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Tie a ribbon at the top and there ya go, a finished Halloween wreath! Your siblings will even think that you bought it at Target (no joke. this was the biggest compliment i could have ever received).

Linking up with:
Visit thecsiproject.com

Featured On The  Crafty Nest

Monday, October 24, 2011

october sponsor love, part one

I cannot express how much I am loving doing this sponsor swapping shenanigan. Not only am I getting new readers/followers every day, I am also being introduced to some new-to-me awesome sauce blogs. I really hope you will take the time to check out some of these lovely ladies who have decided to give my blog some love.

Are you interested in swapping sponsorship next month? Check out the info here and shoot me an e-mail at knitpurlbaby {at} gmail {dot} com. Let's talk. (you can insert an optional "coffee talk" new york accent there if you wish)




livin the dream spot
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young and restless sponsor spot
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{photography blog}
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a little king and i blog sponsor spot
{blog} {twitter} {facebook} {pinterest} {@sweetshawntae on instagram}
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Check back in a few days for the rest of my sponsors!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

week in iphone pics, w.23

I pretty much sucked at taking pictures this week. I've been slowly but surely trying to catch up after being gone last weekend so taking pictures hasn't been a huge priority. It's crazy how much two days can throw off your whole sha-bang. But we did manage to have some fun this week.

This week included my twenty-sixth birthday, Charles and I's eleven year anniversary, a food truck meet up just down the street from my house, boot shopping for me, coat shopping for the little guy and lots o' family time.

There is a very real possibility that I will get a new iPhone 4S tomorrow (or very shortly thereafter, since I'm pretty sure I'll have to be put on a waiting list). I cannot even explain how excited I am about this. I have a lowly 3G (S? I don't even know) so it would be a huge step up. Anyone get one yet? Better yet, anyone get one on Sprint? I am SO tired of AT&T, it's not even funny. I love my phone but I can't make a phone call to save my life. Talk to me about it.

Here's our pictures from the week!


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Linking up with a good life and life rearranged!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

las vegas via instagram

I figured since today is my birthday, it would be a good day to post pictures of my birthday trip. Charles and I went to Las Vegas last Friday and came back on Sunday. It was the first time that we've been away overnight from JC and we were definitely ready. I really think that because JC was a preemie and we were away from him most of the day for the first seventeen days of this life, it made it so we NEVER wanted to leave him again. I could count on two hands how many dates we've been on since he was born. When he was really little, I couldn't bear to leave him with anyone else. It really wasn't healthy. Once he got older, he has just been so easy to take out with us. If we want to go out to eat, it really isn't that big of a deal to take JC along with us.

So needless to say, Charles and I could use a little "mommy & daddy" time to ourselves. My soon-to-be in-laws was nice enough to pay for our airfare to Vegas and my parents were nice enough to watch JC while we were gone. We really could have gone and stayed in a hotel down the street because it was nice to just relax and not be constantly worried about someone else. But Vegas is nice too. And JC did great! I almost kind of wish he would have missed us a LITTLE bit more than he seems to have. No problems at all. No late night phone calls begging us to come home.

We went to Vegas with two other couples that we know from work (I used to work with two of them and Charles currently works with them). We stayed at The Venetian which was AH-MAZING! So beautiful. Probably the nicest hotel room I've ever stayed in; and we were staying in their cheapest room! We flew Allegiant, and I can say that I would NOT recommend them! Super cheap airfare but the ordeal that we went through to get home was inexcusable. If you follow me on twitter then you know that I was really about to punch someone in the face. Kind of put a sour end to our trip. But all in all, the trip was a lot of fun and it was nice to have some grown up time. Plus, it doesn't hurt that public drinking isn't only legal, it's encouraged.


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just a taste of how beautiful our hotel was

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getting ready to go out the first night

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the fountain at caesar's palace, i promise no one in my group jumped in

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the faux eiffel tower lit up at night

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refueling at margaritaville

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statue of liberty at new york, new york

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more loveliness inside the venetian

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ummm our BATHROOM! bigger than my bedroom at home

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going out the second night (it looks like charles has an awesome neck tattoo in this picture but he does not)

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do NOT waste your time at the pirate show in front of treasure island

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first time i drank a rockstar vodka in a loooooooooong time. they both taste so horrible, they kind of cancel each other out.


Charles's mom is already trying to get us to go to Vegas again next month! I think we will have to pass for now because our bank account is not very happy with us right now. But it was great to get away, even if it was just for the weekend.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

week in iphone pics, w.22

Here I am! I promise I'm still alive. I made it out of Vegas in one piece, but just barely. I finally got a free minute to sit down and go through my iPhone pictures (sans Vegas ones, those will be a later post) from last week.

If you follow me on twitter (which, by the way, you totally should), you will know about our scary moment last week when JC decided to climb out of his crib. He's fine but it was definitely very nerve scattering. So you'll see the new result of taking out JC's crib bumpers and lowering his crib to the lowest setting. I've also got some sweet moments between JC and Damian and some pictures sent by my parents while they were watching JC while we were in Vegas.


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Follow me on instagram! @melissajenkins

{linking up with a good life and life rearranged}

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

wordless(ish) wednesday: cozy coupe

These pictures are actually from a couple weeks ago but I just got around to editing them tonight. JC received this cozy coupe for his birthday back in June but we just barely put it together last month. Although, I think he is just old enough to actually enjoy it. We still have the floorboard in it so he can't use his feet to Flintstone move it yet but we just push him around in it for now.

He loves it so much! When we are inside the house and he sees it in the backyard he points at it and says "THAT! THAT!" Since JC isn't really a fan of his stroller, I've considered using this as a means of transportation to get around the neighborhood or to the park. As soon as you put him inside of it, he starts rocking back and forth to try and move it. I don't understand how he understands how this works. But somehow, he does. When it's time to get out, I open the car door for him and he steps right out and closes the door behind him. This kid is definitely getting his driver's permit at exactly 15 years and 6 months.

I'm not quite sure of the origin of the feet driving skill.


driving with feet

super focused

vertical driving

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{Linking up with The Paper Mama,a little king and iand then, she snappedSupermomLive & Love Outloud5 Minutes for Momjenni from the blog and Baby Baby Lemon. Whew, that's a lot of linking up.}

Sunday, October 9, 2011

week in iphone pics, w.21 and we have a winner!

Wow, I really didn't take very many pictures this week. I feel like I say this every week but I definitely fell short of how many I used to take.

I've definitely got Vegas on the brain this week. Just a few more days and we are Vegas-bound! So excited! Of course, none of these pictures showcase that buuuuut they are pretty cute.


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Going to the grocery store is pretty awesome because it comes with built in entertainment. Spicy!

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Modeling some of his new fall digs

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We managed to sneak in a zoo trip midweek when Charles had the day off. So much fun! We even managed to beat the rain that came down as we were leaving.

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This may or may not have happened while I checked my e-mail. Whoops.

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And JC was totally down to try on some killer shades at the Halloween store. He was not totally down with all the scary things popping up and scaring him. I really hope he's not to scared to go trick-or-treating.


And finally, we have a winner of the Burpie Bundles giveaway! Sorry it took me so long! Well, the $15 store credit goes to comment #14 Vanessa Coker! I'll be contacting you via e-mail. Thanks to everyone who entered!

{Linking up with a good life and life rearranged}
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