From our Shelf: I Want My Hat Back

I found I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen on Amazon a while back and decided to buy it based on its cover. It also had a lot of stars. The story turned out to be just as simple as the artwork, which made it perfect for my one year old. He really likes it. Maybe it's because I make funny voices when I read it. Or maybe, it's because he has good taste and this book is simply pleasant to look at. And, yeah, I don't really think he gets what happened to the individual that stole the hat.

Images via here.

Ice Cream Birthday

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated Owen's 5th birthday. We did an ice cream themed party, and I believe it was the most fun birthday party we have thrown so far.

I started by doing this ice cream birthday invitation inspired by ice cream packaging.

 I found a lot of great ideas for the party on Pinterest. Like the very easy to make cone cupcakes. Owen was even able to help decorate them. I also found some neat details online. I purchased these ice cream cups on Amazon, and these awesome ice cream wooden spoons on Etsy. 

Our friend Adam made the awesome custom screen printed banner for the party. 

As the kids came in, they each got an apron and a label to write down their name and favorite ice cream flavor. I bought some of the aprons here and some at our local Joann. 

Another inspiring thing I saw on Pinterest was a party where they had laid canvases across the fence. So, we got some wood panels from Lowes and used rolled drawing paper sold at Ikea. My husband Will drew ice cream cones on all of them, that the kids got to paint. At the end of the party all of them got to take their artwork and apron home.

I got a lot of compliments on both the invite and the party. I know that everyone had a blast, and, surprisingly the house wasn't as covered in ice cream and paint as everyone thought it would be! 

First Haircut at the Magic Kingdom

We took our 1 year old to get his first haircut last weekend. They really do a great job with kids at the Harmony Barber Shop in the Magic Kingdom. A combination of a sticker trick, toys, and a lot of patience make this a stress free enjoyable experience. Plus they get a little Mickey Ear hat that says First Haricut, and a certificate. The cost for the First Haircut is $18 (tips are cash only) 

Passport Photo Attempt

It's been taking me days to get a good shot of this one year old crazy monkey for his passport. I tried at home first, and couldn't get him to sit. I took him to CVS, and after we waited 15 minutes for the clerk to become available, she said he was too short. I stood him up on a really tall stool, he made a really weird face biting his bottom lip, she shot one picture, and her little point and shoot camera ran out of batteries. So back home we went. I set the camera on the tripod and just stood him up in front of the white wall. I clicked as many times as I could as he tried to run up to the camera. Now, the passport photo guidelines state "With a neutral facial expression..." mmm, yeah... that's not gonna happen.  

I'll let you know if the smiley face gets the approval seal!

Update on Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 12:25PM by Zig & Zag

Yep! The smiley face got approved. Now we are going to have to book some sort of international travel. Kid friendly international suggestions welcome.

Casa Feliz

Casa Feliz is a historic home museum in Winter Park. We first discovered it when we were trying to find a spot for our wedding reception. Last weekend we took the kids there during their public open house time (Sundays 12-3) The weather was awesome so we were able to play outside for a while. We brought our picnic blanket and a ball and the kids had a blast running around on the bocce ball lawn.

I've always had a thing for brick walls, so I'm hoping to go back soon and take some more pictures of the house.

From our Shelf: Sad Santa

I just ordered this cute book, Sad Santa by Tad Carpenter for my boys. The little video totally sold me on it. (My boys made me play it about 10 times each - beware!)

Images and video via here

Christmas Gift Guide - Made in Orlando

1. Henry the Fox - Walnut Animal Society  $98

2. Laptop Tray - Tembo  $65

3. Screen Printed Poster - Lure Design Inc. $30

4. Farm Ruck Sack - MAKR  $160

5. Horizon Three Wallet - MAKR  $90

6. Heirloom Recipe Card Box - Rifle Paper Co.  $135

7. Handcrafted Marshmallows - Wondermade  $7.50

* Wondermere Image via Paste

Happy Halloween!

X-Wing Fighter Pilot Luke and R2D2.

These were such fun costumes! Of course, Owen wanted to have a Star Wars costume. I bought the X-Wing Fighter Pilot one, but I didn't really like the baby R2D2 costume they had available. So, I ended up buying the R2D2 hat on Etsy, and made the onesie myself. I just drew a template in Illustrator, printed it out, glued the paper pieces to the correct color felt using photo spray mount, and cut them out. The paper comes off easily. Then, I just used Elmer's glue to stick it to the onesie and sewed a few points for reenforcement (just because I thought Kellan would try to pull them off and eat them)

Also, these are the first photos I edited after taking the Photo Workflow class through Nicole's Classes. I used Adobe Bridge and Adobe Raw for the first time. I'm not an expert yet, but the process was a lot easier and I got better results than with my old process - iPhoto and Photoshop - which was very time consuming.

If you want to make a baby R2D2 costume yourself here's the template I drew. You can download it and use it yourself.

Star Wars Exhibit at the Science Center

They had a special viewing of the Star Wars Exhibit at the Orlando Science Center the other day for members only. So, instead of the default Star Wars companion – Dad – I got to take Owen. I'm not really into Star Wars, just exposed to it from the fans in my household, but I have to say, I was really impressed with this exhibit. They have a lot of the original models from the movies, among other stuff. The amount of detail was just astonishing to me. We had a lot of fun building and programming a little R2 unit too. Oh, and if you're still looking for some Halloween inspiration, they have a lot of the original costumes also.

Weekend Happenings

I haven't done this in a while, but here are some things going on this weekend around Orlando. Click on the titles to link to their respective web sites.

1. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party Select nights - Sep 11 - Nov 2.

2. Central Florida Veg Fest Saturday 10AM - 6PM at the Orlando Festival Park, near Downtown. Free admission. Food preparation demonstrations, a veggie kids zone, a humane education area, an animal haven, an artist corner, music on an acoustic stage and on a band stage, and many veg-friendly vendors.

3. Star Wars Exhibit For a limited time at the Orlando Science Center. A truly incredible exhibit where the real spaceship models are on display. I'll need to post some pics I took while we were there.

Image for #2 via the Veg Fest website.

Design Camp Sans S'mores

The awesome guys I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time with - Jason Kernevich, Eric Madsen, Simon Collison, Will Gay (my husband of course), and Dustin Summers.

On the left - Ben from Studio on Fire, The Heads of State, and Tom Wixo. On the right - Doug Powell, AIGA President (just so you see this was a serious conference)

I'm just getting back from a fun little break. Normally a design conference would fall more under the "work" category, however, since I stay home with the boys, and that usually involves really intense work, I'm gonna call this a break. Luckily though I got to take Will with me. Well, actually it was more the other way around.

A few months ago Will got invited to conduct a series of workshops at AIGA Minnesota's Design Camp, which is basically a design conference in a camp setting. Me, having attended Design Camp in the past, decided in less than 0.2 seconds I was to accompany my husband in this endeavor, you know, for support. Ok, and for the s'mores. S'mores are, in my opinion, not only delicious, but extremely fun to make. Maybe it's just something I missed out on as a child that I'm now trying to make up for. After all, my first experience with s'mores was just 6 years ago – at Deign Camp. 

So this year I go up there very focused to make sure I get my s'mores. The first night we were too cold and too tired, so we go back to our cabin. The last night Will discovers he's lost his wedding ring right as we are ready to walk to the bonfire. RRRrrr. So, we spend a long time looking for it and by the time we make it to the fire the s'mores are all gone. Yes, he did find the ring, but I should still be mad at him right? I tried, but I really can't. Despite of it being a sans s'mores experience I have nothing but great things to say about my time at Design Camp. 

Even though I absolutely do value the fact that I'm able to stay home with the boys, I find it very exhausting, both physically and mentally. I didn't choose a career in graphic design for the money. Yeah, I don't think anybody would do that. But I did very much enjoy my work. Now, I get maybe 1-2 hours on some days to work and to be honest I miss it. I'm not ready to go back to working outside of the house just yet, but I am trying to balance things a little better. Going to Design Camp for a few days was so refreshing to me. I got to hang out with my husband and I also met a lot of wonderful people. The whole experience confirmed that I need to dedicate a little more time to my career. Designing makes me happy, and a happy mom is simply a better mom.

So thank you Will for "making the cut" and allowing me to tag along. And, thank you to the amazing AIGA Minnesota team that put this event together.

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If you're interested in learning more about what went on during Design Camp this year Ben did a really good job with his reports on the Neenah Paper Blog. And there's a picture of Will and I on "day 0"

Confettis on Instagram

I recently found this mom leaving in Sweden and taking awesome pictures on Instagram. Looking at her shots just makes me happy. A beautiful house, children and amazing light, and colors. If you want to see more, search for @confettis on Instagram.