Carnival Tent Display

Three elementary schools, one from the city of Huntsville, one from the city of Madison, and one from Madison County teamed up with The United Way to hold summer reading carnivals this past week. I signed up to volunteer at the public library's table at the county school, and I also volunteered to create a display for the story time area.

I went straight to Pinterest for ideas, and I created quite a Pinterest board dedicated to all things carnival. I can't wait to throw Luke a carnival-inspired birthday party! This backdrop from a wedding was my main inspiration:

This image and other pictures from the wedding can be found on the  Style Me Pretty blog.

I said I would never make these paper fans again after making them for a bridal shower this spring, but I gave in and made them anyway.  I used needle and thread to hold them together last time, but this time I used a hot glue gun, which made the work a lot easier and quicker.  I don't know which caused me more injuries, though--the needle or the hot glue. I am dangerous with both.  There are many tutorials out there on making these fans. Here is one from Crafty After All.

I had an old copy of Heidi that was a hand-me-down given to me when I was young.  It was falling apart, so I decided since this was a summer reading carnival, using pages from a children's book seemed appropriate.

I had plain red printer paper to use, and the other papers are digital scrapbook papers that I printed from my computer.

The draping of the display, which was not perfect and drove me crazy, was done with plastic tablecloths from the dollar store.  I cut each tablecloth in half lengthwise, and then I folded the cut halves in half lengthwise so there would not be as much transparency.  The wind was against me the day of the installation, and I was completely by myself setting it up.  With that said, I guess I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

I was very impressed with the tape I used to attach the display to the brick.  I will purchase Scotch Tough Duct Tape again for similar projects.  It held the display securely all day on brick in full sun, and it came off easily and did not leave residue.

The font I used for the "READ" sign is a free font aptly called Carnival and available from Dafont.

Here is a list of the scrapbook papers I used for my fans:

The solid blue paper (with great texture, I must add) is from the Sending You a Papyrus kit from Scrapyrus Designs.

The red and white chevron paper is from the Shining on Me kit from AH Designs.

The yellow polka dot paper is from Mommyish, and was part of a Pixels and Company Collaboration titled More or Less.

The blue polka dot paper was created by Captivated Visions for the Everyone Has a Story Kit.

Shutterfly Album in the Making

 If I get this done and place my order before next Wednesday, I can get half off a 12x12 album. At least this time I have almost a week. I just love how Shutterfly sends me notifications about a sale that is ending on the day I get the e-mail. But thank you Shutterfly, I love your coupons and free photo book campaigns.

I really love the outfit Luke is wearing in these photos, and I love how the colors we all wore worked so well together. We had a lovely afternoon that day exploring downtown Huntsville before, during, and after the photo shoot. Luke found some rocks, we all enjoyed people and animal watching at Big Spring Park, and we had a delicious dinner at 3 Skillets. I ate quail for the first time. It wasn't my favorite meat. Perhaps it was a bit too gamey for me, but it was stuffed with chorizo and served on top of a waffle and drizzled with honey. A delicious apple slaw accompanied it. Yum, yum.

 I am using kits and elements from several different designers to make this album, but here are a few I have used thus far for the cover (top photo) and the Rock Collector page:

Valorie Brown Designs
Designs by Megan Turnidge
Lie Fhung of Ztampf 
Sahlin Studio

The Rock Collector page was created using a free template I got from Sahlin Studio. I am going to feature little banner pieces throughout the album.

Pregnancy: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Found a post I started not long before Luke arrived, so I thought I'd finish it up and share:

The Good

Yes, as much as I have whined and complained, there have been several good things about being pregnant besides the obvious reward I will receive at the end.

No Depression.

This has been the best benefit of pregnancy. It has been years since I have been completely depression- and anxiety-free. It has been absolutely wonderful. I wish this side effect of pregnancy would stick around indefinitely.  I feel like a whole person again.


Beauty.

Great skin and hair for months and loads of complements on how great I look. Regardless of whether the complements were completely genuine or just nice words to make this pregnant lady feel good, I have felt more beautiful than ever. I have been glowing inside and out. Thanks to the extra estrogen I've also been feeling more girly and spending more time on my makeup (actually wearing some most days) and wearing jewelry and making more of an effort with my wardrobe.


Food.

Eating richer foods without the guilt and calorie counting...priceless :) I actually did make an effort not to overdo it in this department, but here at the end I'm eating whatever I want. My appetite has actually slowed down here lately, so I make the most of my meals when I eat them and have to make myself eat some snacks during the day even though I may not feel hungry. I can eat a really large meal and not feel miserably full for long because little bit seems to drain the food (along with all of the nutrients like iron) right out of me. To date, I think I have gained about 40 pounds, but I'm not stressing about it, because like I mentioned above, I feel beautiful. Hoping I am able to breastfeed so the weight will come off quicker and I can continue with the nice guilt-free eating for several more months.

I have to say that I love my baby bump (a very large bump these days). It sure beats the rolls of fat that caused my stomach to poke out before getting pregnant. I have displayed my bump with pride during my whole pregnancy.

The Bad

Uncomfortable.

The closer to Luke's due date I get and the larger I get, the more uncomfortable I become. I usually fall asleep on my stomach, but that has been a no-no for some time now. I have tried propping up pillows and even bought a special body pillow, but nothing seems to work. I waddle around uncomfortably and can't seem to get comfortable even sitting now. I can still manage to hoist my feet up on the bathroom counter to paint my toenails, though.  The kicking Luke is doing in there is quite painful at times too. And the indigestion has settled in recently. At least I didn't deal with that the whole time.

Worry.

I worry quite a lot. I worry about the baby, and I worry about me.  I worry about labor and delivery, and I worry about what to do with this baby when I bring him home with me. I guess something would be wrong if I wasn't worried.

The Ugly

The. "Morning." Sickness. More like twenty-four hour sickness.  Ugh, I hate feeling nauseated. Mine lasted a little into my second trimester.  I actually did not vomit that many times, but the constant feelings that I needed to were awful. I think I could have handled the nausea a little better if I had not also been so dizzy and out of sorts due to the withdrawals I was having from my depression medicine.  I slowly weaned off of them months before trying to conceive, but the withdrawals lasted for about eight months and made my life terrible.

So, my pregnancy was rather good to me.

The Baby Came! He's 18 Months Old Already

Blog, meet Luke. I can't believe he is a year and a half old already. These photos were done by Chasing Daylight Photography. Amanda does awesome work. I'll have to do some back-blogging and post some of Luke's earlier pictures very soon. Life with a little one doesn't leave much time for blogging, especially when the mom is also in school. I have been taking one or two classes each semester, but I'm attempting three in the fall. I have the summer off right now, so I'm hoping to do some blogging, crafting, and creating in general.













Hopefully I'll be back soon with some stories, including Luke's birth story, and some more pictures...not of the birth, mind you ;)