LiAARGHm

I know, I know. Really lame title. But that's the best I've got. 

(Wasn't quite sure if we were trick-or-treating or Easter egg hunting - minus the eggs -, so he helped himself to some acorns.)

As far as pirates go, I think Liam and his eye patch take the cake. He's currently obsessed with the Disney Jr. show "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" which is where the costume inspiration stemmed from. I couldn't find anything pre-made that was up to my pirate standards, so I whipped this bad boy up myself. I used the vest and pant pattern and tutorials from HERE and adjusted the sizes for both. Saturday evening we went trick or treating in our little town square with some friends. It was very small-town fun going door to door at each little shop. Even though I couldn't get Liam to actually say "trick or treat," he was adorable enough just standing there that he ended up with quite the candy haul. 

Liam says, "Ahoy mateys! Have a HAARGHppy Halloween!" 

Ok, I'm done. 

Quick Fall Crafts!

As much as I would love to somedays, I just don't have time to sit and craft for hours. BUT I still need to scratch that creative itch every now and then. Here are some ideas for quick little projects that can be done during naptime (or less!) to help make your house feel more festive and still give you time to do the laundry. 

Theme out a plate

I bought this plate over a year ago, and it has been sitting in my china cabinet collecting dust ever since. I finally drug it out, slapped some vinyl letters on it, and BOOM, a holiday display! What I love about vinyl is that it's easily removable so I can keep the plate out and just change out the saying. I'm already thinking up phrases to use for Christmas, Easter, etc. 

Now I used my Cricut to cut these out which makes it even quicker, but you could easily still trace and cut the letters out yourself. Especially if you keep the phrase short. OR you could try sticker letters from a craft store, but those are much harder to remove than vinyl. 

Dollar Store trays turned chalkboards

I think I saw this originally on Pinterest using Goodwill trays. If you want a big tray you will probably have to go to a few resale shops to find one, but if you don't mind a smaller scale, check out your local dollar store. I found both of these at the Dollar Tree and I love their shape. It took 15 minutes to spray them with a few coats of chalkboard paint and that's it! In all honesty, they could use a few more layers, but I decided to just "try them out" and haven't taken the time to redo them because they look fine from a distance. Right now I have one on my mantle and one that floats around the house. I used it yesterday for a Halloween playdate in the picture below. 

Quick burlap banner

I bought a roll of burlap from Hobby Lobby, and again it sat in my craft drawer for well over a month. Finally one day I free-handed a few triangles, slapped on some vinyl letters, and taped them to some fun gold ribbon I had left over from another project. If you have less "holey" burlap, you could paint the letters on with a stencil and it will probably last a lot longer. That still wouldn't take long at all to do. I just wanted something cute and quick for our entry and wanted to only use materials on hand. Do you ever buy stuff at the store (especially if it's on sale) without knowing what you're going to use it for? Is it just me?? If you do, you should go "shopping" in your house and see what you come up with. You might be surprised! 

Footprint Halloween canvas

I actually started this craft LAST YEAR and never finished it. I'm so glad I saved it though because I'm such a sucker for keepsakes. I found sweet 7 month old Liam's "ghost" footprint in the bottom of my craft bin earlier this month and it looked so sad. Even though it was a year later, I knew I had to finally finish it. I wasn't sure what to do and I asked some Instagram friends for their thoughts. I got a lot of great ideas and decided to go with Natalie's. I added a green "goblin" footprint next to the ghost and created this fun ghosts and goblins canvas, and I'm going to add the years underneath each foot. Can you believe the difference one year makes? No wonder he has so many shoes! (And not because of my baby clothes shopping addiction.)

This one is quick because slapping some paint on the bottom of your baby's foot and stamping it onto a canvas doesn't take long. At least it doesn't with my child because he's so squirmy that if I don't hurry there will be paint all over him, me, the floors, the walls, and probably not the canvas. So we get it done fast and I touch up as needed. Then I used some white ink and alphabet stamps from Anthropologie to write the saying. I love stamps because even if the letters are not evenly spaced or perfectly in line, it looks like it was meant to be that way! I will be honest and say I was disappointed that I couldn't keep the edges off the canvas and part of me really wants to paint over the whole thing (minus the feet) and start over. We'll see. But even if I do change it up it won't take long which is the whole point! :) 

Enjoy & Happy (Quick) Crafting!

Liam's Time Capsule

Liam's First Birthday Time Capsule

For Liam's first birthday party, one of my favorite things we had was a time capsule. All the guests wrote notes with advice, predictions for his future, Bible verses, etc. that they put inside throughout the party. We also included a photo book, his birthday cards, keepsakes and decor from his party, savings account deposits from his grandparents and great-grandparents, and a special little monetary surprise from Mom and Dad to open when he turns 18.

 It took me a few months to find an actual capsule for his items since a glass jar isn't very secretive! I originally wanted a metal box, but I couldn't find anything I liked. Finally, I stumbled upon the perfect box at Target. It's cardboard, but it's fine because we are not actually going to bury it. 

It was originally a file box with hanging dividers that I removed. The top has a small area perfect for all his cards and notes, and the bottom is very deep for all the decor and larger items like his party hat and a couple books. And how cute is the chevron pattern on the inside??! 

  

I designed fun labels in photoshop in his birthday colors and printed them on sticker paper. I stuck them on all the sides of the capsule just to make sure he can't claim he didn't seem them later when he wants to sneak a peak! 

I love the way it turned out. Now I just wish I would have bought more to save for future children! 

Pumpkin Cookie HEAVEN.

This is all over Pinterest, so I decided to try out the two-ingredient pumpkin spice recipe last night. I've seen it in all forms and decided to go with the cookies. Good choice, me. :)

All you need is a box of spice cake mix and a can of pureed pumpkin. Mix them together and bake at 350* for 10 minutes. I used this blog's recipe, but it's pretty much the same everywhere you look. I didn't use her cream cheese recipe, mine's just straight from the jar. They are SO SO good and SO SO easy! 

This is optional, but having a cute little helper in the kitchen doesn't hurt!

Today I'm loving...

a day at the pumpkin patch with my boy! 

Climbing, climbing, climbing.

Yay! Made it to the top! 

Liam and Miss Katie had a great time throwing hay!

~Happy Wednesday~

Linking up with Jamie!

This & That.

Just a random collection of goings-on with the Lofland family!

Last week one of my best friends from college came to visit us! She SPOILS Liam, and this time brought him two bags full of toys and clothes. She shouldn't have, but she loves him and he just adores her! We call her Auntie Natty :) 

Also last week Will was out of town one night. He didn't get home the next night until late so Liam and I decided to wait up until 10 to see him! I guess Liam was getting a little sleepy because he kept hugging and snuggling Rowdy, haha.

When we went to Louisiana the other weekend, my Aunt Sue had this holiday book that I was looking through. She was so sweet, and she tied a ribbon around it and stuck it in my car when we left! It somehow got hidden underneath one of Liam's coats, and I didn't find it for a week! It was a fun surprise! 

I took apple nachos to MOPS last week. They were all eaten fast! The recipe can be found HERE. 

This is Liam's new favorite hand gesture. He goes around mumbling something that sounds like "Where did it go?" and throws his hands up all.day.long. It's pretty adorable. 

My parents went to a Greek festival this weekend and brought Liam back a shirt and this cute little hat. I couldn't get him to sit still for a picture, but trust me, it looks adorable on him! I have to teach him to say, "OPA!" now! 

We took the furbabies to the dog park this weekend, and I'm not sure who had the most fun, Liam or the dogs! 

This is his, "Please stop taking my picture and pick me up." face. That I took a picture of. Mom of the year. I promise I picked him up after this :) 

The other day I just had to put Liam in suspenders. No reason. We just went to Target, but it was necessary. They are from H&M.

Ok, so what do you think? I think Liam's eyes are turning green. 

These are a little bit more noticeable because they match his shirt exactly. (Especially if you click on them and make them bigger. It's freaky.)

My mom has green eyes, so I guess it was always a possibility. Somedays they look a lot lighter and are more blue/green, but it really depends on what he wears and the lighting. Lately though they have been more consistently green.

 If you look closely (and can get him to sit still long enough to do so) they are kind of a blue/gray around the edges and yellow in the middle. 

So maybe the green is just an illusion? Yes, I stalk my child's eyes. Somedays I swear they change by the hour! 

Maybe this should have been it's own post. 

It's getting a little out of hand, I know. 

Can someone just let me know what color my child's eyes are? 

K great, thanks! :)

This is what 99% of my pictures look like lately - blurry. But they are always the ones that represent his personality the most! He is so happy and on the go! 

Liam with a pony. Will HATES when I do this and I'm well aware, but sometimes those bangs just get in the way of playing. And playing is the most important thing! So up it goes. 

We went a got a haircut slight trim later that afternoon. It looks cute, but every time I cut it I say it's going to be the last time because I miss the long locks immediately after. I hope Liam doesn't get my indecisiveness!

We went to my parents house last Friday, and my mom and I repurposed an old wreath form she had. 

Isn't it fabulous?! And we added a small "M" the the bottom cluster which was the perfect finishing touch. 

We went shopping and stopped at this cute gazebo for some pictures. 

Also on Friday Liam and I met up with my friend Leslie and her little boy Griffin for some fun at the pumpkin patch. I use the term fun loosely here because it was actually miserably hot and the babies were NOT into it, but the company was nice! 

How most of the pictures turned out! 

How cute are they in their overalls?! 

Liam wore his cute new fall outfit to church. He's actually wearing it again today, and I will hopefully be back with some adorable pictures from the arboretum. You can see last year's pictures HERE. Here's to hoping he cooperates for mommy! :)

Linking up with Carissa!

P.S. Take a minute and check out the silent auction going on today for Julee and Preslee Turner. Here's the link to one blog joining in, and from there you can find the others. Don't bid on the camera strap cover, that one's mine! :) Just kidding...bid away!