ohbrooke

Bittersweet. Final ohbrooke Post

I started this blog 3 and a half years ago not really knowing where it would go. The greatest impact I think it’s had is on myself. I remember being in 8th grade and teachers telling us that we’ll find out “who we are” in high school. While high school was definitely a test of strength, confidence and will power, it definitely didn’t shape who I am. In retrospect, this blog has shaped me more than any institution has. My mother and father are both creative, and my siblings equally so. As the youngest child, I never knew where my creativity fit in and I think I found it in this blog. In high school my creativity was red hair and a tongue ring. At least it was honed on party planning and the perfect couch this go-around.

Last year I had a baby and my life changed, my daily routine changed, my blog changed. Until then, I had the luxury of time to take before, after, and during-the-process photos and keep a myriad of projects going at once. Now my focus leads me to my babe {my ever-supportive husband}, my baby {my adorable little energy-sucker} and my web design business {my proverbial baby}. While I will forever be doing too many things at once, updating this blog keeps slipping down the list of things I need to do. I’m sad to stop writing it, but for now I think I need to.

So it’s bittersweet. I loved keeping this blog up, but I don’t want another thing to come between me and my three “babies”.

For now, I’ll continue to post photos {sans photo-editing and quippy write-ups} on my Facebook page.

Thank You!

You were key in my creative “coming-of-age”. I only hope to get bolder and better with age!

A look back into my favorite posts:

FYI – I loved writing this “What I Know Now” series and would love to write it into a book. Have your agent call me.

Favorite Things Party

You know you’re itching to throw a party… this one was a TOTAL success!

Some friends of mine told me about this Oprah’s Favorite Things party idea, with the premise that we all get ideas for great products from our girlfriends. So the three of us threw a party to do just that. We each invited four people and told each guest to bring a friend {my favorite way to get a good mix of people at a party}. One of the hosts, Kim, told me about Paperlesspost.com for the invitations which proved to be super convenient and adorable; all sorts of digital stationary, fonts and colors to use, as well as reporting of which guests are attending and which guests are bringing friends.

Each guest brought their favorite thing x3. For example, one guest works in the sun and shared her ultimate favorite sunscreen for the smell and shimmer. She brought three bottles of the sunscreen to share. As each guest arrived, they received a number that would ultimately be the order in which they got to pick their favorite thing. We went through the numbers three times, each guest picking one item each time through. We had reusable bags lined up for each guest to pick so they could take home their favorite things in style!

Here’s a list of the things everyone brought. It was definitely a good mix of gifts and everyone was excited to try something new!

Homemade Necklaces
Orgins “Piece of Mind” serum
“European Wax Center” Gift Certificate
Donna Karen Cashmere Mist Deodorant
Nalgene bottles w/ Luna Bars & Crystal Light
Jillian Michaels Workout DVD
Benefit Blush: Benetint
Eucerin Moisturizer & Lindt Chocolate
L’occitane Hand Lotion
Pinkies Nail Salon Gift Certificate
The best Tupperware “Rubber Maid Premier”
Real Simple Magazine
Paul Mitchell Hairspray
Hawaiian Tropical Sunscreen: Shimmer Effect
Forever 21 Jewelry
“East of Eden” Book
Nalgene bottles & she recommends the attachment

For this party, I used real dishes because it was a ladie’s-night-out “heels required” party. Seemed only right to have some fabulous dinnerware. The crystal plates were my mom’s from when she was younger and they are the perfect party plates. The silverware is both from my kitchen as well as some very cool pieces picked up at the Goodwill for 15 cents each. The goblets were mostly found at garage sales, with a few borrowed mixed in. I spent no more than $4 on the purchased goblets, which is easily how much I could have spent on throw-aways, but now I have dishes for the next party too!

Nutella-swirled cupcakes-in-a-jar were a hit. Vacuum sealed cupcakes in quilted jelly jars were the perfect compliment to the food. Recipe found here.

Sad Chair / Happy Chair

Sad Toddler Rocking Chair:

Happy Toddler Shark Chair:

With the hand-painted details and appropriate sanding for a vintage look:

with imperfections and personality:

A tip for painting something like this that has lots of nooks, crannies, and joints: use spray paint. It’s nearly impossible to hide brush strokes, and it’ll cut your painting time by over half.

A tip for achieving a vintage look: use desaturated colors, and use a different base color if you plan on doing some sanding. It’ll make those “wear marks” look more authentic.

$1 Toy Box Makeover

I couldn’t pass it up: a toybox crying for help. Somehow I was able to take this great little toybox home for a dollar.

I girl’d it up for someone special that has her first birthday coming up. My favorite spray paint, 1/2 yard of this great fabric, grossgrain ribbon trim and lots of Mod Podge created this:

Hope she likes it!
{and sidenote, after fabric and mod podge is dry, you can easily remove the fabric and it won’t damage the wood.}

Easter Picture Winner

Boy, not many people like to work for a giveaway these days, do they! I had fun with your captions for Owen’s silly Easter picture.

I laughed out loud to Shanna’s “wewease da secwet weapon” that my husband was caught saying as a toddler. Funny!

The winner was chosen randomly via random.org: CORY! Congrats! $30 Amazon Gift Card coming your way!

Mother’s Day Gift Card Contest

It’s not often your offspring remind you of Smeagol. At least it shouldn’t be. We had a lovely Easter weekend, and yet, this is the picture that came back to me {captured by my friend April}.

I’m proud to be this little river-creature’s mother and couldn’t pass up the chance to hold a contest for the best caption. Leave a comment with a suggested caption for this picture, and enter to win a $30 Amazon Gift Card. And no, you don’t need to mention it, I’m already sending off the picture to AFP.

{click to enlarge photo for better inspiration}

Comments will close on Wed. May 11 2011. Winner announced the following day.

Growth Chart

As they say, “It happens so fast!”

I bought this adorable growth chart from “KimsSister” on Etsy, and the quality has far surpassed my expectations. It’s super cute and goes great with Owen’s nursery. You can buy one here.

Why Can’t I Have Cute Ankle Jeans?

Because I don’t like trying on jeans. Sorry for the terrible iPhone photos, I was too lazy to charge my camera, and now you are all paying the price.

So, here’s a pair of jeans that I’ve had for a few years, but they offensively roll over at the bottom.

So gross – even with a cute outfit, I look like a chimney-sweeper.

… throw the jeans on your twin sister inside-out and pin back the flare to make them straight-legged…

sew them on your bathroom counter, three rooms away from your sleeping baby…

…fold cuff over, double hem, and chase your unhappy toddler around the patio for that perfect amount of fray…

Bring photos in Photoshop and stretch the photo length-wise juuuuuuust enough so flat shoes don’t make you look like a hobbit, and readers are none-the-wiser.

And because sometimes great minds think alike, Centstational Girl did an awesome jeans revamp today also…

Giveaway Winners

Congrats! If you’re a winner, you’ll receive an email from me today – You’ve won a stack of Waverly’s new “Modern Essentials” fabrics!

Free Downloads: Easter Goodie Bags

A quick trip to the store for Easter candies and a few pieces of cardstock later {regular paper works well too}, I came up with an easy-but-cute favor idea. Click the links to get free downloadable PDFs for the bag tags, prints 6 to a letter-sized sheet of paper. {bunny artwork from here, chick artwork from here}

Free Download {PDF}

Bunny Poop {used with Whoppers}
Bunny Babies {used with marshmallow bunnies}
Bunny Tails {used with cotton candy or marshmallows}
Chick-a-dees {used with Easter grass and peanut butter Easter M&M’s}

If you’re not a designer

When creating favors or labels or anything from scratch… think simple. Simple makes a statement, even with the irreverant “{bunny} poop” favors. Simple goes a long way.

Easter Favor Ideas

Easter always sneaks up on me. With the little one, a friend of ours has put together a mini Easter Egg Hunt, mostly for 2 years and under. I’m trying to come up with an Easter treat, and I’ve got it whittled down to these DOABLE, don’t-need-too-much-patience ideas {click image for links}:

What I Know Now: 1 Year Old

It was a year ago today that I gave birth to Owen. In retrospect, I don’t remember it being all that much work. How messed up is that? Both that I don’t remember how great it was, and that I don’t remember the pain involved.
Being pregnant for nine months felt longer than having a baby for a year. Time goes too fast in between feedings and naps to even realize a week has passed.
After a 27-year great track record, I’m now officially late to everything. Forget trying to schedule things with other friends who have babies.
Some things I never saw myself doing: holding a baby on my lap while in an airplane bathroom, wearing a shirt that got peed on because I was too tired to change, scooping poop out of the tub, Googling “Who Plays Baby Bop”?
While I don’t seem to have the time or means to work out regularly, my upper body stays toned thanks to a fat toddler. They should try it on “The Biggest Loser,” put a chunky baby on your hip and bend down after the twelve things he’s dropped. Lift him into his car seat without slamming his head into the roof of the car, wrestle him to change his diaper. Boom. 10 lbs. lost.
As the at-home parent, it’s my job to tell my husband all the progress Owen is making. I always tell him the things he does and says that make me proud or make me laugh. I tell him what a great talker he is: Bubble is “Ma-ma”. Banana is “Ma-ma”. Car is “Ma-ma”. See what I mean? He’s definitely advanced.
Hubby says if Owen is half as smart as I think he is, then he’s a genius.
I never knew when I was teaching him to throw a ball that I was actually teaching him how to throw his food on the ground. Teaching him to feed himself turned into teaching him how to find leaves on the ground {or worse} and put it in his mouth. And teaching him how to talk, was teaching him to say “Neh neh neh neh” {his version of no} anytime he was unhappy with what I was doing.
I’m here to debunk the myth that parents don’t know when their baby is ugly. Most of the time Owen is cute, adorable, ready to sign a modeling contract. But I know he can be funny-looking. Mostly in the moments where he looks like my in-laws. {KIDDING!}
I think it took a full year to adjust to the new-mom life. As I see it, here’s how the roles have evolved;
Mom: Works from home, cooks, cleans, does the laundry, pays the bills, does the grocery shopping, feeds the baby, gets up with the baby, bathes and dresses the baby.
Dad: Goes to work and plays with the baby.
In a pinch, we’ve had to order food for Owen at a restaurant when I wasn’t prepared {heaven forbid}. Now this is a slippery slope. This means I get what I ordered AND Mac ‘N Cheese? Heaven.
I used to think people were crazy for having so many toys. I’m deeply sorry: I get it now. Toys are how I survive the day. Toys are how I make deadlines and do dishes. If I don’t have toys, Owen helps with the dishes by taking every dish I put on the rack and putting it on the floor.
At one year old, Owen knows how to turn the iPhone and iPad on. How far away am I from teaching him how to put on a movie and grab some cereal while mommy sleeps in?
While I know I absolutely want to have more kids, the thought of playing this year over in ADDITION to having a toddler sounds so bonkers, I can feel wrinkles deepening in my face. Am I really cut out for this?
Growing up, I wasn’t allowed to say “fart”. My family replaced the noun with “bean” and the verb with “beaning”. My friends find this endlessly funny. I haven’t decided which word will be acceptable for Owen to say, but when he “beans” I think it is the funniest thing. So freely and unabashedly passing gas, without a second thought. It cracks me up. My favorite, the “snart” is crazy funny.
I have laughed out loud at least a dozen times today. I think this age is so fun. He thinks he’s bigger than he is and is so independent. I can’t believe this is the same boy. What happened to the colic-ridden infant who wanted to be snuggled and fed during the night? He’s gone, and replaced with an energetic, busy, charming boy. Surely my life before Owen was easier {and I mean WAY easier}, but life with Owen is much more fun. Kudos, Owen! We both survived!

Brand New Waverly Fabric GIVEAWAY!

Waverly Fabric just came out with a brand new line of beautiful fabrics called ‘Modern Essentials’ which will be sold in Joann’s stores starting next week. Here’s a little bit about the new design:

Waverly takes a new direction with Modern Essentials, a unique variety of classic motifs designed for 21st century style. The collection offers three distinct looks – a playful, ethnic group, a spa inspired group and a take on the more traditional florals with Asian aesthetic and tone. The color palette ranges from earthenware and saturated jewel tones to crisper, warmer fruit punch tones and serene, aquatic colors. All are on cotton sateen with a nice calendar finish.

I love that these patterns range from bright and colorful to subtle and sophisticated! Such great colors! I already used two of their great fabrics listed below, ‘Sweet Spot’ and ‘Ring Toss’ to spruce up my baby gate, and I have plans for several more of these fabrics.

Waverly is giving away 1 random stack to FIVE READERS! Lucky YOU!

Leave a comment here, and if you feel like it, ‘like’ their Waverly Home Facebook page. Comments will close on Wednesday April 20, and 5 winners will be announced on the following day. Good luck!

Baby Gate Makeover

I have a stack of beautiful new Waverly fabric that I wanted to put to use. Just a few inches from my stack of fabric is my baby gate I’ve told you all about. Then it occurred to me that it wouldn’t be *too* terribly obnoxious to spruce up my baby gate, would it?

Here’s the before:

And here’s the after:

The width of the fabric was the perfect for the height of the gate. I cut 1″ notches along the width of the fabric and ripped strips off, then wove them through the gate with a little knot at the top and bottom. Other ideas I had along the way include spray painting the gate something a little more vibrant using spray paint for plastic, or hanging baby toys on it. I know you’re not supposed to help the gate stand out, but, HELLO?! How can you not see it already?

Fabric used: “Sweet Spot” and “Ring Toss” brand new fabrics from Waverly.

Owen’s First Tattoo

It was clear from the beginning that Owen is a ‘bad boy’. Sleeping all day and partying at night, over consumption of anything and everything and a blatant disregard for rules. It seemed only fitting as his first birthday fast approaches, that we help him blossom into who he is: A Rebel. Bad to the bone. So, we took him to our local tattoo shop and had him branded with his favorite “she thinks she knows what she’s talking about” website. I’m sure there are more to come.