Babies and Football

I have often been asked "How in the world do ya'll take Grayson so many places??". It helps that she's a good baby. She is calm, easily entertained, and enjoys lots of activity. Where is a better place to see TONS of activity than a football game!?

I thought I would put together a little post about how we plan for a day out with Gray. We've gotten pretty good at packing with all of the home games we've been having lately. This will be called...

Baby Essentials- Football Edition

Always, ALWAYS pack your game-day diapers. All of Gray's purple and orange diapers make it into the bag. The "diaper bag" stays in the car. Only a small bag goes into the games.

Pack your little tailgater their own little chair. How cute is this thing??

If you don't have a tiny chair, a big one will do...but expect climbing!

Don't overload yourself with toys. Let nature provide the entertainment...like this pinecone!

Once you are in the game, have multipurpose toys available....PomPoms are key!

Visit all of the local wildlife. While this may not be real wildlife, it was pretty cool, and Gray loved it. They have matching shirts!

Sometimes all of the fun and excitement is just too much....

Here is our checklist for each homegame...or outing:

Small backpack

Travel Wetbag

2 diapers

Small wipes case

Pack of snacks

Cup of water

Sunscreen

PomPoms

That's just for Gray. We can also fit in this little bag:

Camera

Cell Phone

Wallet

2 Hats

Ponchos

2 frozen bottles of water

I know this sounds like I'm carrying a Mary Poppins bag...but it's actually a very small sling-style backpack that takes up almost no room and is very lightweight. Packing light and compact is key to making your outing more fun! You'll have everything you need without lugging around a HUGE pile of stuff that so often comes with bringing babies along on a trip.



Gary

I felt that it was time to dedicate a post entirely to one of Gray's best friends.... Gary.

There's a long, long story behind how Gary came to live with us. I'll just shorten it by saying that Gary was a gift from my brother to Grayson before she was born, and the name "Gary" was used because it was "Gray" jumbled up.

Gray met Gary the day after she was born, when little brother brought him to sleep in her bassinet. It was love at first sight.

She loves Gary....

Here she is with Gary and Aunt Kaileigh.

Uncle Adam tried to take Gary...you can see she didn't like that.

Gary went to the beach with us when Gray was 2 months old.

On a shopping trip, we didn't have Gary with us. But we found a "Mini-Gary"...and it had to be hers!

Gary's smiling face is just too cute, and she looooves it! She loves it so much that she is going to be a giraffe for Halloween this year. Of course, I am working on making her costume.

Marigold over at Hideous, Dreadful, Stinky has invited me to share a tutorial on how to make your own little giraffe custume for her Halloween Series. I'll let you know as soon as she starts posting...there's going to be some great stuff!

Stay Tuned.....

Lemonade

Now I've gone and done it....I've jumped on the "Yellow and Gray" bandwagon. I didn't love this combination at first, but now I LOVE it! It's bright but not too over the top, and is very sophisticated.

I've been working on my submission for Purse Week at A Lemon Squeezy Home.

Here is some yellow and gray goodness that I have found on Pinterest that helped inspire my bag....
 

Source: tchochkes.com via Jenilyn on Pinterest

Source: laylagrayce.com via Jenilyn on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Jenilyn on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Jenilyn on Pinterest

Source: craftstylish.com via Jenilyn on Pinterest

 And here is my bag!! I've named it "Lemonade"....not really sure why but I like it!
  The front and back is pleated at the top for a fun design. It's fully lined and has interior pockets.
 It's made from my original Carolina Breeze Pattern. I needed a more "wintery" bag, so the usual burlap of the Carolina Breeze had to go. I used Duck fabric this time and it worked wonderfully!



I have my fingers crossed that the bag does well in the Purse Week judging, but if not...I still have a super cute and functional bag to use! Voting for Purse Week starts October 1st, so check back in and see all of the wonderful bags.

Crafty Days of Halloween

I am soooo excited to have been invited to be a guest blogger for the 10 Crafty Days of Halloween over at The Crafty Nest .



This will be 10 days of crafters and bloggers sharing Halloween goodness! I have a serious love for pumpkins....so my submission will definitely involve those little guys. You may also see a little appearance from three of my other favorite things.....Argyle....Polka Dots....and Monograms!!

Stay tuned!



T-I-G-E-RRRRR-S

For those of you who pronounced the title of this post correctly...you are true Tiger Fans!! It has been a wonderful two weekends of football! Grayson went to her first real game last weekend, and this weekend our Tigers BEAT Auburn!! It was an amazing game between two great teams, but I'm so glad Clemson pulled out a good win.

Here are some pictures from the last two weeks:

Clemson vs Wofford

Gray is starting to walk

A tiny tailgating chair just for her...

There's always time for a sweet tea break from Chick-Fil-A

I love this little girl!

Too. Much. Tailgating.

Gray and Daddy ready to go to the game!

Family Picture...I Never get in these!

Clemson vs Auburn

A little family picture...

Gray with Nana and Papa

Pom Poms ready!

Bless her heart! Asleep at the game holding her Coke.

38-24...what a win!

One more home game then we get a little bit of a break. I love football, but 4 homegames in a row is exhausting!

Who else has been watching College Football?? Who are you pulling for?

Halloween Wreath Tutorial

I know, I know...it's only September. But I am sooo excited for holidays and decorating now that Gray is here. We don't usually care too much about Halloween, but I wanted to do something a little festive, and a wreath is always a good way to go! I wanted to share my wreath with you and a little about how I put it together...It won't officially go on the door until the first of October.

Fun and Funky Halloween Wreath

This is a basic way to make ANY wreath for any occasion or holiday. Just change out the ribbon colors, ornaments, letters, and other embellishments.

Materials:

1 undecorated wreath- can be sticks, straw, or wire if you want.

Tulle

Ribbon (wired works best)

Ornaments

Floral wire

Wooden letters

Paint

Start by making your embellishments. I made several ribbon "tails" by first cutting two or three lengths of ribbon.

Pinch the center of each ribbon

Gather them together with the centers pinched.

Use floral wire to hold the ribbons together. Wrap the wire around the ribbons a couple of times and twist at the back. Leave a few inches of wire on the back to attach it to your wreath.

Make some tulle "flares" by cutting several lengths of tulle and gathering in the middle.

Twist wire around the center and poof the tulle upward as you tighten it.

Make some tulle "poofs"  by wrapping tulle around your hand 3-4 times, then gathering in the center with wire. Fluff the loops of tulle to make a "poof"

Admire your pile of embellishments

I made one BIG bow for the middle of my wreath.

Now it's time to assemble....

Use the floral wire on the back of your "poofs", "flares" and "tails" to attach them to your wreath. You could use a hot glue gun, but it's soooo much easier to move things around with just using the wires.

I added my flares first to stick out the sides of the wreath.

Add your other embellishments wherever you think they look best. You can pile them on, or just have a few....it's totally up to you!

I liked where all of mine were, so it's time for the next step.

I found some cute little orange and black ornaments and knew where they had to go! Use floral wire in the loops of the ornaments to attach them to your wreath.

I made bunches of two or three to make them show up better.

If you want to add words or letter, maybe even a monogram, paint your wooden letters. Glue floral wire to the backs, or just hot glue the letters right onto the wreath.

And voila!! A funky and festive Halloween Wreath!

I can't wait to decorate and carve a few pumpkins, throw out some hay and get our house looking Oh-So-Fall gorgeous!

Happy Crafting!