Kloth Holiday Card Photos {baking}

Rick and I just got our holiday cards out (yeah a few days late...what did you expect?!) so I can finally share the fun images the fabulous Kortnee {of the famous Kortnee Kate Photography...yeah that's right. we're cool blessed like that} took. I thought it would be funny to do a kitchen shoot showing who we really are...

Me - baking.
Rick - watching me bake with a drink in hand. 

Yep. That's us in a nutshell.
annnnd this is us in pictures. :)

 

 

 

  {this is seriously my favorite picture. ever.}

 Happy Holidays from the Kloths :)

Ri's LaLaLoopsey Birthday Party!

Wait...I'm posting on the same day as a party!! Whoa....

The niece turns 5 on Wednesday so we celebrated today with a birthday party with her friends. She picked LaLaLoopsey as her theme which was super cute. However, since it's a newer doll there wasn't a lot of pre-made LLL stuff sooooo Aunt Kristen had to get creative!

Let's dive right into the pictures! 

Mmmmmm desserts...

Since I love to bake and I always make a ton of desserts for parties I thought I would turn our living room into "Riley's Sweet Shop". I told hubs that I needed him to make me an awning and I must admit - he did a pretty darn good job! {even though he was grumbling the whole time!} Once it was up I did a little happy dance. I love it!

Our Life-Sized Jewels Sparkles

 White chocolate spoons or as Ri says "a spoon full of sugar" 

Button Oatmeal Cream Pies {SO GOOD!}

Button Chocolate Dipped Oreos

Sugar Cookie Buttons 

Sugar Cookie Lollipops 

Hazelnut cupcakes and Rice Krispie Treats 

Since we had several kids I thought it would be best to keep those 5 year olds occupied. We had a DIY hair barrette station and a 'create your own cupcake' table. I'll share more about these in another post. But here's the cupcake setup!

I'll post more very soon! Until then I'll leave you with these gems...

No Sew DIY Pillow

That kinda rhymes, huh?

No Sew,

DIY Pillow.

::i kill myself::

anywho, remember my new fabulous pillows? 

I thought I'd share how they came about. Cause this is what I do on Sunday afternoons after hubs works for almost 2 days straight....

Materials:

• old pillow or pillow form
• fabric 
• iron-on adhesive 
• pins
• scissors 
• iron(s) * keep reading it will make sense...

So before I started this I had no clue how I was going to put them together. My mom kept asking me if I was for real going to make my own covers like, for real. And I said 'yup, sure am. Don't know how but I will!' Mom's an interior designer and has her workroom to deal with such silly things. She kept telling me to use her people but what can I say? I love a challenge. And proving her wrong. hehe. 

OK let's do this!

1. Get a glass of wine 

1. Lay out the fabric and stare at it confidently. 

2. Continue to stare until you get an idea on how to move forward...

3. Keep staring...

4. Cut the fabric so it can be folded over your pillow

5. Resume staring...

6. Finally realize you'll need to at least hem the unfinished sides before you really get started. Damn. 

7. Fold over raw edges and pin them down {this was a pain in the ass}

8. Fold over the edges and iron on the adhesive to close the edges

9. Remove the back of the adhesive to expose the sticky side

10. Realize if you fold the sides in you can make a pocket! YES! So fold both sides in and iron over the adhesive strips to make it stick.

11. Fold the bottom half of the fabric up to form the pocket that you can slide the pillow in! Yessssss!

12. Fold the top over and tuck it into your pocket

14.  Add adhesive strips where the side seams meet and use the iron to close them up!

What? The iron won't let you get that close? Yes, I had that problem as well. 

But I'm a genius and figured out that my flat iron would be perfect for this part. 

and it was:

Booya. You've got a covered pillow. 

15. Smile smug-ly at your mama. That's right, I figured it out all.by.myself. 

16. Hang your head in shame when you realize you made a mess out of your kitchen. :::sigh::::

It's totally safe, mom. What are you talking about???

Living Room {DIY} Makeover!

Confession: I cannot stand my living room. Like it bothers me on a day-to-day basis and I'm not really sure why. It felt cold and just, unfriendly.

Sure it has come a faaaar way from when we first moved in...

{You can read more about that remodel here} 

 and here's where we've been for about 2 years now

but with these pillows and black storage ottoman. 

{sorry, best pic I had!}

and I've haaaated it pretty much since we remodeled it. I desperately wanted to paint the walls and get a new rug. Hubs refused to paint {he's completely in love with the color. It's tropical nut. He still remembers the name. Nevermind that he can't remember anything I say...}

BUT I did win the rug debate so mom and I went off to find a new rug and we ended up redecorating the whole room. Mom's a former interior designer so that helps.

and here we are:

I love it. 

and the best part? The whole redo cost me around $150 which includes the $70 rug. Gotta love that!

You see those pillows? Aren't they uber fab? Yeah, I made those! The black/white pattern and the solid gold covers are made from curtains and the smaller blue ones are valances. 

BTW, I cannot sew. Not will not but can not. Me + needles does not equal anything good. So I covered these by using the adhesive strips that you iron on. Easy peasy. and they're exactly what I wanted. Plus I get to say 'oh yeah, I made those'. Sa-weet!

Here's some other shots from around the room.

{the large picture is of and signed by, Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr. It's very cool}

{this is just scrap booking paper. score!}

{pic of me and hubs at our senior prom, pic of me and seister when were little}

That lamp is a $3 find from the thrift store. I didn't think it would work but mom instisted. 

So glad she did...

Since we did this last Friday I've re-painted all of the kitchen trim and did a little accent wall with a chevron pattern. I've been a busy bee over here!

I finally don't hate my living room. 

Amazing.