Catching Up

Now that I have the most adorable & kissable baby ever I need somewhere to share all the millions of pictures I take of him. So I've been working on putting this blog together. I've taken past posts that I didn't want to lose from a former blog and before I get to talking about baby Trey non-stop I wanted to catch up on a few other things.



Like sharing these photos I took of another adorable baby a few months ago. Our good friends Cameron & Ashley Owen have a 10 month old - baby Eli - and I had the opportunity to take his photos.

Isn't he the cutest?


Also I have realized that I LOVE taking pictures of babies. It's just so rewarding to capture such cuteness on camera. I love the candid aspect of it too, you never know what expression you're going to catch. So I find myself asking friends if I can take pictures of their kids. Luckily, it's not creepy because we're friends. At least I hope so.

Pretty in Pink

Reposted from former blog, Just Add Sparkles.


Ready for pink overload? And an overload of cuteness? I sure hope so. Because that's what you're going to get!

This past weekend I had the chance to photograph my (almost one year old) twin cousins. Amelia and Isabella aka Amy & Bella. My aunt is going to surprise her husband with these photographs today as a Valentines gift!

Here is the beautiful Amy. . .

And the adorable Bella. 

Now, I've never taken pictures of little twins before. Let me just say it was hard to get both of them in the same pictures where they were both looking and one wasn't crawling away.

Luckily we had my brilliant sister Taryn (she is also the nanny to these little ones) as the master distracter and the one that could get them to smile. Plus it also helped that Amy & Bella are fascinated and probably a little scared of my husband so every time he walked in the room they would stare at him. I could always snap a few pictures before his presence would make them cry.

Yes, they are staring at Aaron in this picture below.

And I have to say that this one is one of my favorites. I don't know why crying pictures amuse me, but they do. I think I like them because they're the reality of it all. This is what is really happening 80% of the time during a baby photo shoot. Plus it's reminiscent of my own "sisterly love". 

And here the babies are with their beautiful mother.

Cruisin'

Reposted from former blog, Just Add Sparkles.


I'm pretty jealous that Noelle had such an awesome opportunity to go to Thailand, but then I really can't complain because while she was there I was relaxing in the Caribbean.

The hubs and I got to go on a cruise that left from Tampa and stopped in Cozumel Mexico, Belize, Roatan Honduras, and then the Cayman Islands. And it was fantastic. The weather was perfect and each port was beautiful.

So before our blog goes all Christmasy I need to share some of my adventures with you.

The first item of business once on the ship was to locate the soft serve ice cream. Check.
I ate so much ice cream, and every night at dinner I ordered the chocolate melting cake. HEAVEN, I'm telling you. I definitely came home fatter.

Ready for a picture overload? Good.

First stop: Cozumel.

We went snorkeling and then shopping in town. We bought the most souvenirs here and after it was all through I was exhausted. You are never alone in any shop, the owner is hovering over your shoulder convincing you to buy something he saw you glance at. Luckily Aaron is a pro bargainer and good at saying no.

Next stop: Belize

We went cave tubing here. Don't have any pictures to show because the Go Pro batteries ran out before we even reached the caves. It was a ton of fun though. And I had plenty of women calling at me to get my hair braided.

Third stop: Honduras

SO BEAUTIFUL HERE.

We rented a car and drove around the island with a tour guide. He told us what to stop and see. 

He took us to a beach where we could spy on these people getting their dolphin tour. It seemed a little sketch at first but then I got this shot and couldn't complain.

This was probably my favorite stop because it was unbelievably beautiful. The beaches, the trees, the tropical flowers.

Our tour guide was taking photos of us in front of this view and asked if we wanted to "have a moment" for the picture. He told us to kiss, I guess we were being boring just standing there smiling. 

Then we went on a monkey/bird tour. 

Playing with these monkeys was probably my top favorite thing that we did.

Lastly, we snorkeled. 

Last stop: Cayman Islands

This actually ties with Honduras as my favorite. The water was such a gorgeous blue. 

We went to Sting Ray City, which was SUPER cool. Seriously guys, if you ever find yourself in the Cayman Islands you NEED to go there. You take a boat out to this sand bar where there are TONS of sting rays swimming around. 

When I first hopped off the boat it was totally freaking. They are HUGE and brush up against you as they swim by. But after a little bit Aaron and I were swimming around with our Go Pro and goggles getting some great footage. 

We didn't get any pictures of the sting rays, so I'll have to go and take some stills of the video footage we have. 

And yes, I was the person that took photos of the cheesy photos that the cruise ship tries to sell to you for a bajillion dollars. Okay - not a bajillion but more than they should cost.

• • • 

While on the ship honestly, we took a lot of naps and kind of went to bed early most nights. Just after such full days of running around we got pretty tired. 

We did go to a ventriloquist show where the puppet said he had a crush on me and made me come up on stage so he could sing to me. Then Aaron was pulled up on stage to "be a puppet" and the ventriloquist talked for him as he moved his mouth. The rest of the week people on the ship kept on coming up to him telling him how funny he was and that they thought he was a part of the act. We were basically like celebrities. ;)

My favorite part about being on the ship was always coming back to a clean room with a towel animal waiting for us.

And the formal nights were pretty fun too.

So that's it! Sorry for the very long post but there was just too much to share! 

Chalkboard Art - Free Printable

Reposted from former blog, Just Add Sparkles.


Sometimes my mom asks me to design things for her. Which I like because it makes me design something that I probably wouldn't have done or thought to do in the first place. It's like a school assignment (the good kind) where I'm able to create and practice doing what I love without always having to think of the prompt, just the solution.

She asked if I would make a chalkboard style art print using a quote that she provided so she could give the print away as a wedding gift to the many wedding she attends. (She does surprisingly attend a lot of weddings.)

So this is the solution I came up with.

Like it? You can download a printable version here. (It's sized to a 5x7, if you try to print anything bigger the resolution will probably be poor.)

Pre-Workout Snacks

Reposted from former blog, Just Add Sparkles.

Sooo . . . . it's the holidays. They are coming. Which means here comes the breads, pies, cookies, and every other baked good known to man. Watch out they'll be coming for you, begging you to just take one bite. Because they know once you have one bite, you'll end up eating the whole platter. Or wait, maybe that's just me. And maybe you're thinking I'm crazy because I'm talking about baked goods taunting me. But they do. ALL THE TIME.

I have the biggest sweet tooth. Seriously. Aaron, my husband, can just turn down a bowl of ice cream because he doesn't feel like having it and I'm thinking "how can you not feel like ice cream?" I always feel like having ice cream. ALWAYS. I've "sort of" developed the will-power to turn down ice cream but it's never because I don't want it - it's because I know I shouldn't have it and usually that doesn't stop me.

My point is that I'm going to be extra careful this holiday season with the amount of goodies I consume. With a sweet tooth like mine sometimes I get that craving and if we have sugar cookies on the counter that our neighbor brought over to spread their holiday cheer, that combination couldn't be very dangerous. 

So I have these little guys that I find handy to fill that craving plus they're SUPER good as a pre-workout snack because they're filled with mucho protein. They're my peanut butter protein balls. (Plus they actually motivate me to workout, "Well, if I eat one of these they're technically a pre-workout snack, so I have to go work out now.")

Here's how you make them. 

PEANUT BUTTER PROTEIN BALLS

• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 scoop chocolate or vanilla whey protein powder
• 3 tablespoons ground flaxseed (that'll keep you regular)
• 3 tablespoons dark chocolate chips (I did a mix of milk and white chocolate chips. I know it's not as good for you as dark chocolate but hey, I do what I want.)

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Roll into 10 balls (about one heaping tablespoon per serving).

Refrigerate to firm up balls, overnight for best results. Makes 10 balls. I doubled the recipe to make about 20 balls.

Hope you enjoy this little not-so-guilty pleasure!

New Office Chair

Reposted from former blog, Just Add Sparkles.


Aaron and I sometimes don't see eye to eye when it comes to furnishing/decorating our house. The latest disagreement was about an office chair.

He's been studying for the GMAT (he takes it this week! eeek! wish him luck!) and he studies in the office and since we didn't have an office chair he would pull in one of the dining room chairs to sit on. They have no cushion and aren't very comfortable. So Aaron went to Walmart and bought a big ol' ugly black office chair.

I was not okay with that. The office is also my craft room where I want inspiration and creativity to flourish and that chair just totally ruined my vibe. It was ugly and bulky and did I mention it just looked bad? But it was practical and that was Aaron's argument. (Sadly, it was an argument that had merit.)

Luckily the chair didn't come with the hardware so he had to take it back. Whew. Here was my window of opportunity. I was determined to find practical and beautiful in a chair. (And cheap which was another stumbling block.) Something comfortable for him and good looking for me.

So look what I bought at the DI for $8.00 . . . .

So you're probably thinking, "What the heck Tayler? That thing is hideous!" But before you start singing "U-G-L-Y you aint got no alibi" hear me out. Look at the potential. Metal frame equals perfect for spray painting. Simple shapes of the back and seat of the chair equals an easy reupholster job - perfect for an amateur like me. And a total of 8 screws equals the ease to disassemble. 

Cha-ching.

So I unscrewed the cushions from the metal frame. Wiped down the frame and gave it a few coats of spray paint.

Next I tackled the reupholster part. The best way to do this is to follow what the old fabric did. I ripped off the old fabric but noticed where they sewed and used a staple gun and followed suit. I improvised in some areas to make my job easier. And this is what I ended up with . . .

A million times better, right?

Hey look, it's me in the reflection. 

• • • 

As William Morris said (a leader of the Arts & Crafts movement in the 1860's)

(image cred.)

And I'm pretty proud that this chair accomplished both!

Enjoy!

Tayler

Chocolate Mummy Bars

Reposted from former blog, Just Add Sparkles.

I made these last Halloween and they were a hit! Since it's the season of candy and costumes -  this is the perfect gift for neighbors or friends. 

Here's what you'll need to get started:

Step One: Try to refrain from eating all the chocolate before they get mummified. (I struggled with that one.)

First tape the end flaps on the wrapper to the back of the bar. 

Next take your roll of streamer and start to fold it in half (hot dog style). This makes the wrap thicker, gives you more flexibility while you wrap and it just looks better. 

Then start the mummification process by taping the end of your streamer on the back of the bar. Tape it so when you wrap it around the front of the bar the streamer is right underneath the "R" - see what I mean below?

You'll want your googly eyes right about where the "R" is. But don't put those on yet. Start to wrap your streamer around the chocolate, keeping a small space for the eyes. The key is to keep it random. Don't continue to loop around the same way each time, make sure the streamer gets criss-crossed.

Here's mine all wrapped. See where I left the hole for the eyes? It could be even smaller than that because you want the appearance of the eyes peering through. 

Just simply pull back the streamer a little bit to place the eyes on the wrapper (using your tape or glue dots.)

And then your little mummy is complete! 

Enjoy!