Christmas Photoshoot At Home

My favorite picture from our "at home shoot"

We hired a professional photographer to take pictures of J. Our session would be a 6 month/Christmas photo shoot. When I booked the 3:30 appointment, the fact that J starts turning into a pumpkin at 4pm totally slipped my mushy mommy brain. While we were lucky enough to avoid a meltdown, Miss Prim still decided that she was NOT going to be all smiles for our photographer.

The day after our session, I came up with the idea of staging my own Christmas photo shoot for J. I own a pretty fancy camera (that I really have no idea how to use properly, but learning it is definitely on my to-do list) and I certainly have the time. So, I thought, why not have our own photo shoot and put something together for Daddy for Christmas? He needs stuff for his office!

I took to Pinterest once again....dun dun duuuuuuunnnnnnnn.

The original plan was to have J hold the wooden letters (one at a time) and get a total of five pictures. Those five pictures would then be arranged in a long frame to read I Love Dad. Cute, right?

Plan A materials

We worked on this project every single morning for the past week and I got tons of great pictures. However, only one or two of those great pictures include the wooden letters. I just could not get J to hold them still. When she finally did hold still AND look at the camera AND smile or laugh at the same time, the letters would be backwards, sideways or upside down. On to Plan B.

Plan B - pick a favorite picture and find a cute Daddy frame.

Now as I said earlier, I have a great camera but I am not a great photographer. I got the above picture through lots of trial and error.

Our "studio" consisted of the guest room, 2 boxes of Christmas lights and a package of clear hooks.

Our "studio"

Mini Command damage free hanging hooks and GE mini lights with white wire

These held all of the lights on the wall perfectly

I hung the lights, put J in her Christmas outfit, shut the lights and closed the curtains. The only lights were the Christmas lights.

I did play around with the settings on my camera and worked with a setting that automatically blurs the background a bit. But other than that, it was just trying different angles until I got a shot where her face wasn't too dark. Honestly, I wish I had more to say about how to take pictures but I've got nothing.

Anyway, the whole point of this post is that it's another easy, crafty idea. It's inexpensive and really thoughtful - her daddy will love it!

Oh oh oh! And by the way, I JUST got our pictures from the photographer and they are stunning. Considering that J was in a mood, this photographer is amazing to have captured what she did. SO THRILLED!!!

5 Reasons Why Everyone Should Shop Locally This Year

"What does it mean to GoLo? When you GoLO, you're making a conscious choice to think "outside the box," avoid the malls and instead patronize the locally owned, locally operated businesses in Jacksonville's historic urban core neighborhoods. These local "Indie" stores play important roles in our communities. They help sustain appealing, compact, walkable neighborhoods, enshrine diversity and choice, and promote a vibrant local economy. 
Fortunately, going LO isn't hard. Because that's also where you'll find the city's best boutiques, restaurants and bars--not to mention communities with unique character, friendly faces and unparalleled style. Please support your Locally Owned, Locally Operated businesses. GoLO."

I used to think that shopping locally meant spending more. As I've stated a million times throughout this blog, I am a bargain junkie. I rarely shop full price and or without coupons. Therefore, while I would love to help support local business owners, I love saving even more. 

However, a recent visit to my local specialty toy store and children's clothing boutique has really changed my feelings on shopping locally. 

During my first visit to one of my local shops, I simply browsed and snapped some pictures of the toys that interested me. When I got home, I took the time to look up each toy on Amazon, eBay, and any other websites I could find to check out the store's markup. I was pleased to find that this particular store charges only what each toy is worth. No astronomical markups!

When I went back to the store earlier this week, the owner's mom gave me the most personal shopping experience that I have ever had, and it was amazing! She showed me age appropriate toys not only for J, but for the other children in our family for whom I was shopping and gave me her honest opinions on each. The shop has so many unique toys that you won't find in your local Toys R Us, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. which makes it easy to become overwhelmed. This is precisely why shopping locally is the way to go.  

Why Shop Locally?

1. You get a personalized shopping experience. 

2. Small boutiques are not going to be as crowded and crazy as large chain stores. 

3. You're supporting your neighbors and their families by helping keep them in business.

4. You are certain to find unique and high quality items that you will not find in the big chains.

5. Gift wrap. This may sound crazy, but there's something about having a gift wrapped that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. These days, many stores won't even give you boxes with your purchase anymore. Or, they'll give you a box but only if you pay extra for it. However, most of these mom and pop shops will not only give you a box, but they'll wrap it for you too. And I just love that about them. 

Support your neighbors this year and try shopping locally. Your community will thank you for it!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

NOT that I'm trying to rush is because I hate the commercialization of Christmas just as much as the next guy. Note to retailers: Christmas trees before Thanksgiving is bad enough. But up with the school supplies in September? Come on now. However, it doesn't bother me this year because it's the first Christmas in years that actually feels like Christmas to me.

I grew up in a family of Christmas-a-holics. My grandma and my dad were all about it. And it was just a magical time. I remember Christmas as a kid. Our Christmas tree was always in the den - a live tree that my dad would chop down and then leave outside on the deck for a day or to so that it could settle. Waiting for the tree to settle was the worst because I was so anxious to get it set up. And even that seemed to take forever. Daddy had to get it trimmed to just the right height, into the stand, and then put the big colored lights on it. Then, and only then, did my brother and I get to decorate it. And it was thrilling. 

The rest of the time between the tree set-up and Christmas morning was my favorite (Christmas morning, believe it or not, was a little sad because that meant it was all over until the next year). My dad donned his goofy Santa hat everywhere we went, Christmas music was always playing and the house was decorated. I remember Christmas shopping, watching the classic shows and movies on tv, and just feeling like it was Christmas. I wish I could adequately describe the feeling. And Christmas morning? Forget about it. 

The double doors to the den would be closed with a stocking hanging on each door knob. That only meant one thing - SANTA CAME! I remember always being the first one up; slowly opening the left door, taking extra precautions to ensure it didn't creak, and turning on the light switch. The Christmas tree lit up and the lights hitting the wrapping paper and bows on all of the presents made it so much brighter. It was magical. 

The magic of Christmas started to dwindle after my grandma died, and even more so after my dad died. The past four Christmases have just been ordinary holidays - and I use the term holiday very loosely here. They have consisted of just trying to figure out what shit to buy which people. I became a gift card giver and an "I'll just stick this is a sparkly bag with some red and green tissue paper" wrapper. Those two things are completely acceptable to most people, but not to a family of Christmas-a-holics. I had always put so much thought into finding the perfect gift for each person on my list.

And every year I chose a theme for my wrapping paper and ribbons. Sometimes (actually most of the time) it was red and gold, other times green and silver, and I think once I went with blue, but that didn't feel Christmassy enough for me. And then it all stopped. I bought whatever dollar store wrapping paper and those boring stick on bows if I was actually wrapping and not bagging it. It was just something I had to do that time of year. 

But this year is different. Now that J is here, I feel like Christmas is magical again. I love going to the stores and seeing the glittering Christmas decorations. Christmas music is on before Halloween? That's totally fine this year says the girl who is walking through Michael's singing Frosty the Snowman to my 6 month old. I love telling her about Santa and I'm debating Elf on a Shelf in the years to come.

Once again, I am on a mission to find the perfect gifts - I LOVE giving presents and watching people open them. I really do believe that it's better to give than to receive - I haven't decided on a wrapping paper theme yet, but I may try gold and navy if I can find it. Otherwise I'll go with my trusty red and gold.

I really believe that this will be the best Christmas in a very long time, and I can't wait.

The magic is back!!!

Baby Footprint Plaque

I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. I can pin all day long but when it comes to actually making something? Well, that usually just results in a mess in the kitchen and a whole lot of money wasted at the craft store. 

This time, however, I decided to try something relatively simple and it actually turned out pretty cute! **Note: I do not have a single artistic/creative/crafty bone in my body so it actually turned out amazingly well by my standards.**

I wanted to make something for my husband for Christmas. I figured that something for his office from Baby J would be really sweet. So we headed [aimlessly] to Michael's. I ended up with two ceramic plaques and some acrylic paint (the smaller plaque was going to maybe be a Baby's First Christmas ornament).

The idea was to have my daughter's hand and footprints on the larger plaque and just a handprint on the smaller one. Who knew that a 6 month old would decide not to unclench her fist for an art project? So the smaller plaque didn't work out, and we had to improvise on the larger one. 

For prep, I had a bowl of warm water and a washcloth ready to wash the paint off of her feet (I didn't use soap). I also squirted some paint onto a piece of cardboard to make life easier. 

Ceramic plaques and acrylic paint

I did a few practice runs on paper and I'm glad I did. First I tried finger paints. I figured, they're kid friendly and there's a lot of it. It was the worst. It was way too runny and made her foot slide all over the paper and the cardboard. 

Next I tried a giant ink pad. This made perfect footprints on paper, but you could barely see them on the cardboard. 

The last thing I tried (based on a Michael's employee recommendation) was acrylic paint. I was told that it would work best for making hand/footprints and it would wash off easily. I got Martha Stewart multi-surface acrylic paint in Poodle Skirt. 

Martha Stewart acrylic paint in Poodle Skirt

We tested out the acrylic paint on cardboard and it came out great! 

J sat in her Bumbo on the kitchen table and I used the sponge brush to paint her feet. As soon as her footprint was on the plaque I immediately wiped them off with the washcloth. All of the paint came right off. 

One foot with the paint and the other after just having been wiped off

So, of course the footprint came out perfectly on the cardboard, but not on the plaque. I actually used a q-tip and touched it up in a few spots. 

She wiggled her feet as soon as they touched the ceramic so it's not perfect, but I'm still happy with how it came out.

Turns out, the finished product will not be hung in Daddy's office. I just couldn't resist making it so girly! I actually thought about going over the feet in glue and dumping glitter on them, but I showed some restraint. 

Maybe if I do this enough times it will end up looking more Pinterest perfect. But until then, I'm just happy that I completed a project. 

Overall, this was a really easy project to make and a super cute Christmas gift for baby's grandparents. 

Or you can do the footprints in red/green and make a really sweet Baby's First Christmas decoration for the house. 

Bottom line is, if I can do this project then ANYONE can do this project!

The total cost of the project:

Plaque:           $3.99

Paint:              $1.99

Flowers:         $4.99

Jewel design: $3.99

Sponge:         $0.49

Total: $15.49 (before coupon)