Pops of Pinwheels...

I've had spring on my mind lately... can't wait to start seeing the buds on the trees, the grass turn green again, and not have to lug around a heavy coat (I dislike coats IMMENSELY). Around here, there isn't a lot of color during the winter months. It's pretty drab and dreary. So seeing these lovelies in Shey B's shop... and these lovelies from Paper Polaroid's etsy shop... I was inspired to create my own.

Recently one of my sweet blogging friends, Kim, from "Oh Sweet Joy" created a fun tutorial on how to make paper pinwheels... so for those in need of a great instructional, step by step... you can view here.

A few days ago, I tried to create the same "look" of a paper pinwheel, but with fabric... since I have a TON of scraps I'm still trying to get rid of... and because I'm trying to add "fun" elements to our "soon-to-be" child's room. This is what I came up with:

They sky is the limit with what you can do with these lovelies... but I decided to take down my origami bird friends, and replace them with the pinwheels instead. I made 4, so the last one is going to be glued to the outside of a photo frame.

For those that might ask... I used 2 different fabric selections for each pinwheel, as well as some heavy stabilizer material. They would look cute mounted to sticks as well, like a typical pinwheel, and would stand straight, because of that stabilizer. I let the edges go "frayed" because I think they look more fun that way... but I'm sure if you wanted to spend more time, you could actually sew them up differently, or serge the ends.

Taming the "Untamable"...

Does anyone else have "untamable" hair? Or am I the only one? It seems as though whatever I try and do with it, it doesn't cooperate... and it ends up doing whatever it pleases. Well, I decided that if I was "nice" to my hair (treat it to some adorable accessories) maybe, it would be "nice" back to me. It took me awhile, but I FINALLY decided on purchasing from these two shops: "Oh, Sweet Joy" and "Josiah's Nest"... and these lovely packages arrived in the mail this past week (and might I add theattention to detail on the wrapping)... More importantly, I think I can get away with "untamable" hair, by sporting one of these lovelies!

Josiah's Nest's "Rose headband" -made out of felt rosettes, you can customize your headband (how many rosettes and colors)

Oh Sweet Joy's " Trio Rose headband "- I think Runyan LOVES it, because it matches him...

Now the hard part will be choosing which one to wear each day... what's a girl to do?

**Pardon my grey hairs... it's definitely my husband's doing...

Cuddly and Bright...

Those two words describe this sweet little number I created for the shop. I started it many a moons ago...but never finished it. I took care of that last night, and now it's ready for a home.

*Will reimburse shipping, if an APO address purchases!

DIY: Birdie Garland Tutorial

I spent most of last night, folding up tiny bits of square shaped paper to make tons of these beauties. Origami "nearly" got the best of me... Lets just say my fingers are feeling numb today... I made 14 total for an idea I had to spruce up one of the windows in our "soon to be" little one 's room. I mean, what else is a gal to do, when faced with a rental house, an extremely bare window (minus the roll up shade), not wanting to drill holes in the wall (to hang up curtains), and beautiful window molding that cannot be covered by curtains? Not to mention a flock of birds? That's right... create a birdie garland!

First things first... start folding! You can find directions on how to make these lovelies here. There are also youtube videos, for those that need a little more help, like I did. There's especially one part of the folding process that's a toughy...but don't let it defeat you!

Find some twine/string you have lying around the house, some pushpins, a darning needle, and have the glue gun on "standby"...

Thread your big darning needle with some twine, or any string you have lying around the house... and start threading the birds on the twine... from the neck, through the body, out the tail...

Uh-Oh... do you have Kamikaze birds that like to take a nose dive like mine? Then the hot glue gun will be your best friend.

Just add a "dollop" of hot glue to the string, and to the "under flap" of the bird's wing (to weigh it down) and it should help them "fly"... (It's okay to let some of them "dive"... gives a fun look to the garland.. and personally, I think I would be one of the birds in the flock to fly upside down, just 'cause)...

Watching them take flight makes the hours of paper folding totally worth it!

Another idea... is to just display them. Have fun placing them on a shelf, or even clipping them to open backed frame.

Please send some photos over my way if you make a lovely birdie garland... I'd LOVE to see: kdaviscreates@yahoo.com

Thank you Mr. President...

... for giving my husband a day off from work today! We took full advantage of the US Holiday today, and headed into Seoul, specifically the section known as "Insa-dong". I think this part of Seoul was made for ME! I can't believe it's taken me over a year of living here in Korea to FINALLY make it to a part of Seoul that was filled with artsy fartsy people/beautiful handmade creations. I tried to take a bunch of photos...but I'll be honest, it was hard concentrating on that task while taking in everything. There were tons of shops, yummy smelling street food, coffee shops galore, antique shops, and even the "mall" area allowed people to draw/graffiti all the walls on it for fun. When it comes to cute/eclectic things... Koreans have that "down".

I think "Michael" was my favorite from the day...

Yummy Dinner-Yucko 'Stache...

Last night, the hubby and I went out to dinner with a bunch of friends for some Korean BBQ. It was yuuuuummmmmmy! What wasn't yummy, was dining with a hubby who decided to keep his facial hair growing (from vacation) as his 'stache, for a jump start on "Mustache March"... Dear friends, this is my LEAST favorite time of the year, all thanks to my hubby's dedication to this morale building event... YUCK! It's really hard for me to see past his 'stache... but that handsome man is there...somewhere, I promise.

Taking Flight...

Well, only a few weeks left until our dossier is submitted into Ukraine. What's a dossier you ask? Well, it's a fancy shmancy term for LOTS OF PAPERWORK. I've been running around like crazy (before our childmoon-vacation) and since we've been back. It's amazing how many documents need to be included in this stack of paperwork, but more so, how those documents need to be notarized, and then apostilled. I know I know... I'm throwing out a ton of terms that you probably haven't heard, and trust me, I certainly had no idea what an apostille was before this process. Basically all this paperwork needs to be "authenticated" by a notary, and then sent to the Secretary of State (depending on what state the document was notarized in!) for an "official" certificate of authentication over the regular authentication-aka an apostille!

Wheewww, you still with me? Yes, this paperwork is totally making my eye twitch from all the stress... yes, I still have a couple more weeks of the twitching until the documents are "out of my hands"... but the big YES, is that God is totally and completely in CONTROL! I need to let it all go, and give it up to the GIVER OF ALL GOOD THINGS (thank you friend for reminding me of that-you know who you are!)

So, to help alleviate some of the stress... I've taken up paper folding (origami!) and have been creating a whole flock of these lovelies. They're going to be used for something fun, so stay tuned... they're going to take flight!

Card Exchange Outcome

A couple of weeks ago, I created and sent out some handmade cards for a "Card Exchange" that a dear blogger, Ashley set up for us to participate in... you can read more about the details here. I received two in the mail so far, and have LOVED reading some sweet little notes from the special ladies that I've been paired up with! Thank you so much ladies (you know who you are!)

My card exchange pal, Rachael, had me at "washi tape"...and what a beautiful quote she wrote on the outside of the card: "To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart." - Phylilis Theroux

Is this magnetic bookmark from Pattie not adorable? I'm a "pagecornerturner" so this is going to be SO helpful at preserving my "left off spot" without damaging any more pages.

Yes, those sprinkles on the last photo might be evidence of me eating some of the treats that Rachael stuck in her Valentine's Day package to me, as I read Pattie's card...

ME...

While in Boracay, I begged allowed my hubby to take my camera out of my fingers and snap some photos of the lady who's usually "behind" the lens. You see, whenever we go over photos from a trip, or an outing, or a holiday, etc... there are never any pictures of ME. So FINALLY you get to see me a little. While walking back to our bungalow one afternoon, I spotted this colorful wall and KNEW I needed my photos in front of it. I'm pretty shy in front of the camera, but having the hubby "snap" away, made it easier... I might have handed him the camera with all the manual setting ready to go, and might have directed him a bit but, I think he did a phenomenal job playing "photographer" for a few minutes.

Dressing for warm weather is my favorite! dress: Roxy, sandals: Old Navy... pardon my "rat's nest" my hair DESPISED Boracay.