pbk hack: wooden ruler growth chart

i love this growth chart from pbk.

what i don't love is that it is really hard to find {and i know myself well enough to know that even if i could get a hold of one i wouldn't like the price!}, so i made my own!

i had jay pick up a big pretty board at the hardware store for me. that sweet guy even sanded and stained a clear coat on the board for me! then i laid out a measuring tape and marked lines for the inches and feet. i didn't want my little guy to outgrow his growth chart {so hard to believe that someday he will be that tall!} but my board is 1' x 5' so i started my markings at 1 ft 1 inch ended the board at 6 ft 1 inch.

i really wanted the numbers to duplicate an old wooden ruler as much as possible. i even consulted my all-font-knowing sister... but alpha fonts are her forte & she wasn't sure about the numerals. i finally settled on using century font, sized at 150. i didn't trust myself to freehand the numbers so i just printed off #'s 2-6, cut them apart and took to the board with some tracing paper & a pencil.

the last step was to fill in the numbers using the same paint pen i used for my inch marks.

i love that this growth chart will blend well in owen's room no matter what the theme. and i love being able to have a touch of pbk style in his room for so much less!

miss piggy {tails}

owen says, "can you please take those out so she is a baby?"

guess she looks too much like a big girl to big brother. :)

♥ those baby blues

call me crazy...

part of my efforts to get organized in twenty ten:

compiling all of my coupons into a spreadsheet to print for my grocery shopping trips. this first input is a doozy but after this i am going to be organized-- shopping knowing what i have and finally using my coupons before they expire!

meeting santa.

looking at these pictures you would think that i drug him up there by his ear to sit on santa's lap. but i didn't. his thinking was that if he didn't tell santa his christmas wishes that santa won't know what he wants and won't bring him any presents for christmas.

it's not owen's personality to sit on santa's lap so the night before he practiced what he would say with daddy pretending to be santa. owen had fun playing at crown center's crayola christmas land and would even snatch a glance at santa every once in awhile. he cried his way up to santa's lap. santa was very sweet and just kept saying, "don't cry. santa loves you." finally owen calmed down enough to tell him his name & his wish list but he never did look at santa. :) he told santa that he wants a "motorcycle and a game" (a crayola 3D glow dome). thanks to my friend kim for snapping some shots of the tearful event!

a cupcake party

i saw this super cute idea for a cupcake party (also for a little girl named kate) and knew that that should be the theme for my little kate's party! i found a fabulous roll of black & white damask wrapping paper in the christmas gift wrap section of hobby lobby. i paired the b/w damask with splashes of hot pink and glitter for a fun girly first birthday party.

invite: with envelope made from wrapping paper.(totally copied the wording from the other kate's birthday invites. it was just too cute.)

high chair banner: letters cut from a sheet of pink glittered foam & hot glued to black felt triangles. strung on hot pink cording.

picture banner: pictures of kate from 1 day to 12 months hung on hot pink beaded garland (found in target's christmas section).

smash cake: a large chocolate cupcake frosted with hot pink icing {using a 1M cake tip} on a gorgeous little silver dish i found in my grandma's things earlier in the day. it made a perfect little cupcake stand.

cake table: the birthday cake was made from wilton's giant cupcake pan using this recipe for the frosting (my favorite- tastes great & pipes beautifully!) and this technique for the base of the cake. the cupcake pops are via bakerella (this time i used a oreo/cream cheese mixture instead of cake/frosting) displayed in cute little buckets i found at hobby lobby. somehow i missed getting a picture of the finished table but at party time the punch bowl was filled with a raspberry sherbet & sprite for a pink drink. in the very corner of the picture you can catch a glimpse of the hot pink dinner plates & damask cake plates.

here are some more pictures of our day. it was a sweet little celebration of our sweet baby kate!

 

 

 

 

one.

our sweet baby kate is one today

   

she is joy and light and promise and surprise and laughter and love.

we adore God for choosing us to love and care for her during our time on earth.

happy birthday kate!

one year ago.

a year ago today was our last day as a family of 3.
our home was filled with the sweet excitement of meeting our new baby girl.

a panda & a dinosaur

halloween 2009.

a dinosaur in the making...

trying out the scare factor on baby sister.

taking a little sewing break for a bedtime story.

costume time!

at faulkner's ranch for daddy's work party.

corn cannon

gourmet s'mores

it was a happy halloween!