Posts Tagged ‘Baby’

How To: Paint Dipped Baby Food Jar Vases

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I paint dipped some baby food jars for a article we wrote about How to Host a Sip & See Party and am now obsessed with the technique. Baby food jars make darling bud vases for any baby related celebration. Dipped in a thick layer of latex paint they look elegant and sophisticated, like grown up vases. Below is a step by step “How To” tutorial should anyone want to try this at home.

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 Use a strong cleaner to get the labels and glue off the jars. Wash and dry well.

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 Place your chosen color of latex paint in a shallow disposable container.

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 Dip the base of the clean jar in the paint and start swirling it around.

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 I like them to look a little uneven so I made some sides higher, you can easily go for a uniform look.

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 Place the jars upside down on a paper towel and allow to dry for 24-36 hours (this much paint takes awhile to dry.)

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 The finished product! I love the drips and imperfections.

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 Repeat with any other colors. For the mint green I added some water to the paint to get more coverage on the jars. A little water goes a long way so be careful to add a teaspoon at a time.

photo by Beth Liebetrau

Once totally dry, fill the jars with water and a few simple blooms.

photo by Beth Liebetrau

Simple white flowers looked fresh in the mint and gold jars.

Photo by Beth Liebetrau

I can’t get over how pretty they look all lined up (credit goes to Beth Liebetrau for the excellent pictures.)

photo by Beth Liebetrau

The only problem with latex paint is it will come off if washed in warm water so be very careful not to get the outsides of the jars wet! I learned that lesson the hard way…

 

xo,

Lydia

 

Baby Names

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Oscar the Grouch baby image via

 

We’ve had our girl names chosen for as long as we’ve been married, so it was a total relief to learn we’d be having a girl. (Boy names are still a point of contention.)

Still…the crazy moments come when when I worry that she’ll hate her name. That she’ll hate me for picking it. That it isn’t really her name. That because we’ve felt so sure for so long, we somehow missed stumbling upon the magic name that could only be hers and hers alone.

But then I think, really, it’s only a name. It’s not a crazy name. We’re pretty normal and we love it. And she’s going to hate me for other things anyway, right?

Then I read articles like these and around we go again.

So, here’s what I’d love to know. Do you like your name? Why or why not?

For the record, I’m not letting fear-generating articles get the better of me. Her name options remain the same- we have two- and one will be hers. I can’t wait to tell you which one.

xx Sarah

 

Focusing Inward

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Popping out of my chef’s coat at 8-1/2 months

Here’s what I plan to do beginning today, my first full day of maternity leave. I’m going to focus on what’s been happening right in front of me these past 9 months. If you think it’d be hard to ignore this roly-poly chickadee, you’re right. But knowing a baby is there isn’t the same as focusing on her. My intention for the next month- if she allows me the time- is to practice being present for her. I’ll put down the phone, slow the email response time, and listen to what she’s telling me.

Details need attending. I’ve a nursery to finish, food to make and freeze, and relaxation techniques to practice. That will all either get done or it won’t, depending on her schedule. What it comes down to this. To do anything well, to enjoy anything deeply, you must commit to following the process wherever it takes you. And this is the one chance I have to do this very special thing.

I so appreciate you coming along for the ride.

xoxoSarah

Image courtesy La Femme Epicure

Nursery Decisions

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Now that my little chubster is making her presence known via little elbows, feet and fists, it’s time to get serious about a nursery.  Her room is painted a soft gray with a sky blue ceiling and I’ve found two very different plays on that color scheme.  The first, above, is super sweet…

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…while this one is more surfer girl glam.  And features a soft, shaggy rug perfect for rolling in diapers.  Fluffy poms versus a fluffy rug.  A difficult choice.

Which do you prefer?

xx

Sarah

Lay Baby Lay

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Presenting my newest obsession, Lay Baby Lay.  Designer Joni Lay creates themed inspiration boards for nurseries that are every bit as charming and fun as we’d like our big girl rooms to be.  She mixes real (i.e., adult) pieces from stores like West Elm and Crate & Barrel with vintage finds and etsy discoveries to create sophisticated nurseries that last well beyond babyhood.

Joni also suggests paint colors.  A woman after my own heart!

When I was convinced I was having a boy, I loved this nautical theme with the rope lamp and oversized whale.

What do you think? Is Joni making nursery inspiration the natural follow up to wedding planning for the pinterest set?

xx Sarah

Pictures from Santa Fe

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Cafe Pasqual's

You all were such a huge help to me in planning my trip to Santa Fe!  We had the best time and ate some delicious food.  Here are a few of our pix.

We stayed at the Hotel St. Francis where whitewashed walls are covered in religious iconography.  Our little room was in the corner of the Jesus hallway. We definitely felt like we were being watched when we came in at night!  The beds are fluffy and fresh with beautiful linens and a little dove pillow.  Heaven!

Don’t you love the blue window trim? And the light!  The best part of Santa Fe.

A happy husband.

A blue lady enchilada with mole and the best tomatillo salsa in the world, at Pasqual’s.

Counter Culture Cafe is famous for their cinnamon rolls, but they’re only available on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  If they are better than Counter Culture’s cinnamon sour cream coffee cake than they are too good for me.

Did I tell you we also went to Sedona? Here’s the view of Cathedral Rock from our balcony.  We conquered that beast a few hours later.

The best part of our trip was that two days in my beautiful niece, Ruby Serafina, was born in San Francisco.  To say I’m in love is the understatement of the century.  I can’t stop looking at photos and watching a video of her in which she fights off sleep, breaths her little baby breaths, and then wakes herself up with a baby cough.  Oscar-worthy.

I’m on my way to meet her now.  Do you think she’ll like her new ballet slippers?

Any other first-time aunties out there?  Are you as obsessed as I am?

xxSarah