October Calendar

I'm a few days behind, but I finally flipped my handmade calendar.  Yay, October!  this is a fun little print with some orange pastel.  

As you can see there isn't much going on in October.  So far we only have one planned engagement on the 20th.  We are going to a Zombie Party!  I look forward to this party pretty much all year round.  It's my favorite party of the year.  Though I haven't figured out what kind of zombies Aaron and I will be yet.  I should get on that.  :)  

Happy DIYing, chris!

August/September Days

At the beginning of the year I made a monthly calendar by hand, and each month I've been adding stamps and drawings for the big events that happen.

Here is August, a butterfly made out of different scraps of fancy paper.  For June, July, and August I went with a Hungry Caterpillar theme.  June was the caterpillar, July was the cocoon, and August was the butterfly.  

In the beginning of the month we went up to New York for our friend Derick's bachelor party.  My mom's sister Lynn had a birthday, and I totally failed to call her to wish her a happy birthday. Boo me!!!  I hope she had a lovely day!  

When I flipped over to September I was really pleased.  I forgot what I had drawn, and it's way cooler than what we've been staring at for the last month.  I'm beyond over the butterfly I made for August.  

This month is going to be another busy one.  We have two weddings to go to.  The first one is Aaron's cousin's wedding, and we'll be traveling down to D.C. for the day to celebrate with his family.  At the end of the month we have Aaron's best buddy Derick's wedding.  Aaron is in this wedding, and it's all the way at the tippy top of Vermont, so it will be a long weekend of celebrating.  We can't wait!  :)  

I was busy all day with the house, and getting ready for tomorrow's festivities, and I'm beat!  Hope ya'll have a great day, and happy DIYing, chris!  

July Wrap-Up

I know I say this every month, but I can't believe it's the end of July!  This has been a super busy month.  I started it off with a nice overnight trip to Long Beach Island to visit my college buddy, Mamie, and her family, and new roommate, Hannah.  I had a ton of fun with them, and it was a great way to start this hectic month.  

On the ninth (which also happens to be my sister-in-law's birthday, Happy Birthday Michelle!) Aaron and I became homeowners!  Yay us!

We've been super busy working on the house.  It needs a ton of work, and the list is never ending.  So far the kitchen is the closest to livable.  

My DIY projects have been hyper focused on getting the house ready, so the only crafty thing I did this month was stamp my handmade calendar for June and July.  They came out super cute.  I need to think about what's happening in August, and get that together!  

I've been most happy with my Thirsty Thursday series this month.  So many yummy fruity creations!  I'm having a hard time picking a favorite.  It's a tie between the Plum Kiwi Pineapple Cocktail and the Tropical Creamsicle.  They are both good in a fruity way, but for completely different reasons.  

I've also continued on with my self-indulgent series, This Is Me.  I like that this series gives me back a bit of my weekends, while still pushing me to think creatively.  I want to think about making more  imaginative self portraits in the future.  

We also celebrated my brother, Chris' engagement.  We went out to dinner with his fiance, Jamie's family and got to know them.  We had a lovely time!  They are awesome people.  I wore this cute little number to the fabulous Half Moon, where we wine & dined.  

I've loved everything I've cooked for Nom Nom Monday, but my favorite this month is my Fresh Tomato & Bell Pepper Pasta Salad.  It could be because I grew the tomatoes, peppers, and basil in it.  Or because I had it for dinner last night, and I also ate it for lunch, AND as an after-work snack.  I definitely liked this dish.  :)  

Speaking of our garden, haven't these little paper pulp seedlings come a long way?  Look at one of our many fruitful harvests! Just as yummy as it looks.  

I hope you had a good July too, and happy DIYing, chris!  

Calendar Talk

I know it's July 8th, and I shouldn't have anymore June things to post about, BUT here is my handmade calendar from June, and my July calendar.  

I really like June's calendar.  I think that might have played a big role in my procrastinating.  I want June to stick around a little longer, please.  

We managed to jam a whole lot into this month.  We started it off in Bennington, Vermont watching Peter Dinklage talk, and checking out local tourist attractions.  Then right into my niece's baptism.  Next, the week of birthdays, beginning with my cousin's, then my uncle's, finishing off with my Grandmom's birthday, she turned 82!!!  Aaron & I went to our first rodeo in Cowtown, NJ.  We traveled up to the Adirondack's, and celebrated our friends' bridal shower.  Sadly, only to return to a beyond sick pup, and we had to say goodbye to Moose.  The month ended with our six year anniversary of being a couple, but we didn't do anything.  

July is supposed to look like a cocoon.  Ya know?  Like the very hungry caterpillar from June ate just the right amount, and is now hiding out while it transforms.  July is a good time for reflection, shedding old ways, and finding new beginnings.  

Today we went to an ice cream festival.  It was crazy hot outside, so we didn't stay long, but we did listen to some live music, and eat some creamy vanilla ice creams.  Plus, we got to try some pasta from this new restaurant we've been wanting to try out.  All the vendors were local creameries, eateries, crafts people, and brewers.  I wish I had a bottomless pit for a stomach, so I could have tried more than one ice cream! 

Tomorrow is my sister-in-law's birthday, and Friday is my cousin's birthday!  Then on the 21st we'll be celebrating my brother's engagement.  I can tell this month is going to get just as busy as June.  

Well I hope ya'll are staying out of the heat, and happy DIYing, chris.  

Happy Birthday, Aaron!!!

Wow, May really snuck up on me.  Since yesterday was Monday I didn't do an April wrap-up, and I'm going to skip it again, because ... today is Aaron's BIRTHDAY! Yay, Aaron!  I love him bunches!  I'm happy to be with him for another birthday, and I look forward to many more in the years to come!  

Aaron's mom makes a fantastic cake, any kind - she can bake it.  So of course Aaron has a favorite cake recipe, and it's yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  It's mostly about the frosting, Melinda (my mother-in-law) has the most amazing frosting recipe.  While we lived with them out in California (where Aaron's from) she taught me how to make a sheet cake with her fantastic frosting.  For the first time, I attempted to make a layered cake.

I think I did pretty dang good for my first time.  I also attempted those cute 'happy birthday' banners too.  I've been seeing them around the internet a lot, and they were easy to make.  Plus we only had one candle, but I did have all the stuff to make the bunting.  

I've made cake from scratch before, but usually red velvet, so the yellow cake from scratch was another first.  My mom told me I should enter a contest with my cake, but she usually likes everything having to do with chocolate.  :)  Everyone agreed it was good.  I thought it was a nice creamy flavor, and very moist.  Definitely different from my usual Duncan Hines box mix.  Another baking tip Melinda taught me, Duncan is the best box mix, and I totally agree.  

On a similar topic I also worked on my May calendar today.

As usually with my LARGE family there are a lot of birthdays. Happy B-day Aaron, Happy Birthday Chris Helmerson (my brother on the 9th), Happy B-day Regina (my cousin on the 16th, and Happy Birthday Michael (another cousin on the 18th)!!!!  Plus we can celebrate Cinco de Mayo and Mother's Day.  I like how Cinco de Mayo's day turned out.  

Here is the top of my May calendar. 

Until tomorrow, Happy DIYing, chris. 

December

For the last month of the year, December, I decided to freehand a Christmas tree with glitter glue. Then I wrote out 'December' at the bottom.  Tomorrow I'll put the finishing touches on whole calendar.  

Hope you've enjoyed!  Happy DIYing!