Baptism Brunch + Welding Text with Silhouette Software

This past Sunday was my daughter's baptism and we decided to throw a little brunch party at our house for our families and Lyla's godparents afterwards. I wanted a simple celebration but I also wanted it to look pretty.  I decided to go with burlap, lace, and vintage elements for my decor.  Of course I am generally obsessed with those things anyway but I was inspired by Lyla's baptism gown made by her father's grandmother that her father wore when he was baptized.  

For the decor I borrowed two lace tablecloths from my mom and covered the table and part of our kitchen counter with them.  I made a "God Bless Lyla" center piece out of cardstock with my Silhouette Portrait which I will get to later in this post.  I found burlap and lace ribbon at Hobby Lobby and Michaels and used it to decorate jars that I had on hand.  I put baby's breath and pink roses in the jars. I found a cute thing at Michael's for the plates and napkins and I put the spoons for the yogurt in the creamer portion of a vintage silver tea service.  I also used a vintage teacup to hold the chocolate chips in the yogurt bar.  The decor was really simple but it looked so pretty.

I decided to go with brunch food because so many things can be made ahead of time. Here is what I served:

Baptism Brunch Menu

•  Orange Juice Punch
• Sausage Biscuit Egg Bake-I made two but in the second one I subbed mushrooms for the sausage
• Pioneer Woman's Baked French Toast 
• A Yogurt Parfait Bar
• Cherry Almond Vanilla Cupcakes

I love a cute make-your-own bar idea like my hot chocolate bar at our New Year's Eve Party so I thought a yogurt parfait bar would be a fun and easy addition to the brunch.

I bought some plastic cups for the yogurt and three large containers of vanilla yogurt.  For the add-ins for the parfaits I had blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, almonds, walnuts, mini chocolate chips and three types of granola which I picked up in the bulk foods section at the grocery store.  I made some cute signs for the granola as well as a "yogurt parfait bar" sign with the Silhouette Design software and made it into a print and cut design.  If you missed my last post on making print and cut custom wine labels with the Silhouette Portrait then click here to see it.

I arranged the cupcakes into a cross shape.  I loved this recipe because the frosting was a lovely pink shade from the 3 tablespoons of maraschino cherry juice in the recipe.

Also the cupcakes were so delicious.  It is some of the best frosting that I have ever had and I am not a big frosting person.

Alright, now on to the tutorial portion of this post.  The weld option in the Silhouette software is a very useful tool especially when cutting script text.  I wanted to make a centerpiece for the table that said "God Bless Lyla" using glitter card stock and I wanted it to be all one piece.

I started by finding a font I wanted.  I used the font Lavanderia which was a free font that I downloaded. After typing my text (I made sure the words were 3 separate objects) I selected the word.

I needed the capital letters to touch the lowercase letters otherwise they wouldn't be welded together. In order to do this I had to ungroup the letters.

Once I ungrouped them I was able to move the capital "G" so that it was just slightly overlapping the "o."

After selecting all 3 letters in the word, I went to the object menu, then modify and clicked weld from the modify window.

Now you can see that the letters are all connected.

I did the same thing with the other two words.  Once they were welded, I put the 3 words together so that they were overlapping in at least one place and then welded the words together.  

I now had one connected piece.

Next I rotated the words 90 degrees and enlarged them to fill almost the entire area.

I cut the design out on glitter card stock.  I find it easier to cut out designs on the glitter card stock when I have the non-glittered side facing up on the Silhouette mat.  Because of this I had to mirror the design vertically.

Now the design was ready to cut.

To finish of the centerpiece I glued two wooden skewers to the back of the card stock.  Then I put some floral foam surrounded by moss into two jars and stuck the wooden skewers into the floral foam.  I glued pieces of the burlap and lace ribbon around the jars.  

It was such a fun little celebration of a big moment in our daughter's life.  I loved how everything fit so well with the vision that I had in my head for the day.  I still have more posts for you during this lovely month of October including my daughter's adorable diy Halloween costume so please visit my blog again to check it out.  

Custom Wine Labels Using Silhouette Print and Cut

Today I have a post that is, *gasp*, not about my child.  I know shocker right.  This also happens to be my 100th post!  I cannot believe that I have completed so many projects over the last 3 years.  A few weeks ago, a friend of mine asked me to help her make some custom wine labels and I knew that it would be a breeze with my Silhouette Portrait.  I made 3 wine labels to show different uses for this project but there are so many other possibilities as well.

I started by making a rectangle that was roughly 3.75" by 4.5".

I then designed my labels using different shapes, clip art, and text.  The first step to making the text or shapes filled for a print and cut design is to highlight the shape and open the fill color window. Then you can select the color from the basic options or make your own color using the advanced options.

Next open up the line color window and select the "no line" box.  You could leave that line there, it won't print on your printer, but it is easier to visualize the finished product without it.

After finishing my designs, I opened up the registration marks window and selected "type 1" to add the registration marks.  I could only fit two labels per sheet.  I then sent the design to my printer.

Once they printed I put them on the mat and loaded the mat into the machine.  I selected my media, set my blade, and made sure to select "cut edge."  If you don't select "cut edge" the machine will cut out every individual letter and shape.

Then all that is left is to put the labels on the wine bottles or in this case sparkling cider bottles.  We didn't have any wine at home and I didn't want to take the baby in the liquor store with me.  I also had an ulterior motive to make sparkling cider floats with cinnamon ice cream.  Mmm apple pie float. You could also make smaller labels for soda bottles with this project.  Let me know what you think of this project and your ideas for how to use these labels.  I have so many posts and projects bubbling in my head so check back frequently this month because I will have lots more for you!

How I Cloth Diaper

One of the reasons that I started blogging was to give others inspiration for projects just like I gain inspiration from other blogs.  While this is not a diy or craft project ,I thought I would share it since I thought it might inspire someone else to try cloth diapering.  I spent a lot of time researching cloth diapering before our daughter was born and I will post some links to the most helpful resources for me at the end of this post.  

I started cloth diapers with Lyla about 3 weeks ago.  I could of started earlier because she fit in them around 4 weeks but the first 6 weeks were a little overwhelming to me so I had to wait until I felt like I had everything else in control.  Cloth diapering, as it turns out is really quite easy and the transition from disposable to cloth has been a breeze.

Type of Diapers

I decided to go with Bumgenius diapers for several reasons.  First of all, they get good reviews overall and they look and feel like they are well-made.  Secondly, they are easy to find and several places in town sale them.  About half of our stash came from Amazon and the rest came from a local baby boutique and Buy Buy Baby. 

There are several types of Bumgenius.  We decided to buy the one size diapers in the 4.0 pocket diapers and Freetimes.  The pocket ones are my favorite so far.  One size diapers are nice because they have a series of snaps so that you can adjust the size of the diaper as your child grows.  They are too big for most newborns so that is why we didn't start with them right away.  They also make one size diapers with velcro but I imagine that the snaps will last a lot longer.

As you can see the pocket diaper consists of an insert and a cover with a pocket for the insert.

This is a Freetime, which is an AIO (all-in-one) diaper so the absorbent pieces are actually sewn to the cover.  I also have one Elemental AIO which is very similar to the Freetime but the absorbent material is organic cotton instead of microfiber.  They are much trimmer but take long time to dry.

I currently have 25 diapers in my stash.  Since I like the pocket style the best, I have 18 of those.

The Diapering Process

Changing diapers with cloth is pretty much the same as changing disposable diapers at this point. Breastfed baby poop is water soluble so everything goes right in the diaper pail and straight into the wash from there.  With the pocket diapers you also have to remove the pocket before you throw it in the diaper pail.  That may seem like a gross task but I have a cool product that makes it a little less gross.

The are called diaper dawgs and they are little silicone things that slip over your fingers so you don't have to actually touch the insert.  Everything goes in a stainless steel trash can that is lined with a waterproof liner.

Planet Wise Reusable Diaper Pail Liner

You can also see in the picture above the cloth wipes that I made which I detailed in this post. I put about 12 wipes in a wipe warmer at a time and then put about a cup of water with a few drops of tea tree oil over the wipes to moisten them.  The tea tree oil helps to keep the wipes fresh.

My daughter hasn't had much of a problem with diaper rash since I started using cloth diapers but it is important to note that most diaper rash creams should not be used with cloth diapers since they will interfere with the absorbency of the diapers.  There are cloth diaper safe diaper rash solutions and this is the one I use:

Motherlove Diaper Rash and Thrush

Laundering the Diapers

Laundering the diapers was the part of the cloth diapering process that I was most apprehensive about but it turns out that until she starts eating solid foods it is really a piece of cake.  When the diaper pail is full, which is about every 3rd day, I take the liner out of the pail and dump the diapers in the washer and then throw in the liner as well (I have 2 of them).  I throw in two scoops of this detergent:

Rockin' Green Classic Rock Unscented

I then run a cold rinse cycle followed by a full cycle with hot water and a cold rinse at the end.  I hang dry the covers of the pocket diapers and the cloth wipes, diaper pail liner, and pocket diaper inserts go in the dryer.  The Freetimes have to be hung to dry and take longer to dry since the absorbent part is attached to the diaper.  I live in North Dakota where it is often too cold to line dry things outside so this is my solution for drying the diaper covers:

Whitmor Clip and Drip Hanger

I usually start this process in the evening so that the covers can hang dry overnight and then in the morning I stuff the inserts in the covers and put them back on the shelf.  It seems intensive but the actual time I spend in the basement next to the washer and dryer is minimal at this point.

Above is a lovely staged picture of me stuffing a diaper.  I actually have my nails painted for once. So this is completely off topic, but Essie Gel Setter Top Coat is my new favorite top coat.  You can't tell from the picture but my nails are super shiny.  I have done many activities since painting them which normally cause me to end up with chipped nails and there are no chips!  But I digress, back to cloth diapering.

Other Miscellaneous Things

I carry one diaper with me in the diaper bag in case I need to change a diaper when we are out and about.  When I plan to go somewhere where I know I'll be changing a diaper, I tend to put her in a Freetime because then I don't have to worry about unstuffing a diaper while we are out.  I have this wet bag in my diaper bag for the diapers:

Planet Wise Wet Diaper Bag

I am ashamed to admit this but I know this thing works well because I once left a dirty disposable diaper in there for a week and I couldn't smell it at all in the diaper bag.

For out of town trips, we just use disposable diapers.  When I go back to work in November, I will only be cloth diapering part time until summer since her daycare will only do disposable diapers.

The 4.0 pocket diapers came with newborn inserts as well as adjustable inserts.  For nights I use a pocket diaper with a regular insert and one newborn insert since I don't change her diaper at all overnight.  She doesn't sleep through the night yet but I try as hard as I can not to wake her up too much during her late night (well really early morning) feeding and changing her diaper would wake he up completely.  

So far I have only had one leak over with cloth diapers and no blowouts.  With disposables we usually had 1 to 2 blowouts a week so this has been nice so far.  

Resources That I Found Helpful

1. Young House Love: Using Cloth Diapers
2. McBaby Bump: Cloth Diapering-My System

3. The Healthy Honeys: 10 Ways to Ruin Your Cloth Diapers
4. Life's a Jornie with the Joneses: Modern Cloth Diapering-A Complete Guide
5. View Along the Way: Cloth Diapering 101
6. And finally this e-book: Confessions of a Cloth Diaper Convert

Headband Holder

Part of the fun of having a little girl is being able to dress her up.  My little one has already accumulated quite the collection of headbands. I was storing them in a tray in one of the drawers of her dresser but since it was filling up quickly I decided to find a new storage solution.  I love to find fun ways to store accessories as evidenced by previous blog posts.

Scarf and Necklace Storage

Earring Display

Bracelet Holder

This project is very similar to the bracelet holder that I made a little over a year ago. For the bracelet holder I used a cardboard tube from the vinyl for my Silhouette Portrait and for this project I used a cardboard oat container

I used wood pieces from Hobby Lobby for the base and top. I decided to cover the oat container in burlap.  I decided to add a stenciled design with coral paint which was inspired by this project:

Stenciled Storage Boxes

I used the flower stencil (burlap storage box above) which I made using a transparency sheet for an overhead projector and my Silhouette Portrait.  You can find out how I made the stencils in this blog post.

I was a little bit concerned that it would look weird because the design isn't symmetrical so when I moved the stencil I couldn't line up the flowers perfectly but I think it turned out just fine.

I sprayed the fabric with spray adhesive and then attached it to the oat container. I tucked the extra fabric on the top and bottom inside the container.  

I then glued my wood pieces together with liquid nails.  For the base I used two round plaques with a candle holder sandwiched between.  For the top I use another round plaque and a finial on top.  I got the idea for this from this post from the blog The Good Life.

Then I painted the base and the top with a vintage white craft paint.  Next I attached the base and the top to the oat container with liquid nails.  One thing that I wish I would of done is to put something inside the oat container to weigh it down a little bit before attaching the top,  The holder is a little light even with the wood base and top.

Finally, I glued some lace ribbon at the top and bottom of the oat container to add a little more decoration to the holder.

Well that's all there was to it.  It was a very cheap project as I already had many of the supplies on hand.  I think I completed it for under $10.