Cheers in a Box - DIY.

Since I'm pregnant my New Year's Eve will consist of the following:

Sparkling Cider

A date with the sofa

A huge pile of pillows to keep my feet up

Watching the various NYE television specials

& if I can manage to stay awake watching the ball drop in Times Square...

Anywho, I have sparkling cider on the brain  & I just stumbled upon this 

lil' party in a box DIY via Dandee Designs, fell in love & wanted to share... 

Isn't it just darling?

For the full tutorial head on over to Dandee Designs.

It may be a bit late to do it for New Years but I think it would 

be a cute just because or Birthday package to receive!

xoxo

Tootles 2010.

Well 2010 was definitely an eventful year for us!

We endured some of the biggest snow storms the Philadelphia area has ever seen 

& have lots of photographs to prove it- here, here, here & here

We searched & searched for a home & officially bought our first place...

We re-painted & remodeled our new place & have lots of before & after posts to go along...

{The bathroom: before & after}  {The living room: before & after}   {The kitchen: before & after}

We discovered we were expecting our first baby & we prepared for Baby Fry by painting the nursery...

We celebrated our second wedding anniversary...

I turned 26 & The Husband turned 28...

Whew! 

What a year & a very good one you were 2010, if I must say!

So thank you & cheers 2010 & welcome 2011...

 I'm very excited to see what you have in store for us 

but mostly I'm excited that ringing you in means Baby Fry 

is only a little more than a month away!

Yay!

xoxo

2011 Mini Calendar.

Umm how ridiculously cute is this mini calendar by Kitty Rogers?

Oh, I just love, love, LOVE it!

I've been looking for a great 2011 calendar 

or two, this is going on the list for sure.

For more from Kitty Rogers 

be sure to check out her shop.
(I also really love her vintage love set)

xoxo

Snow Baby Bump.

Chances are unless you live under a rock, you've heard we 

got a lot of snow here in the northeast yesterday & today.

So here is my baby bump in the snow- out of focus & in focus...

I guess we can technically count this as Baby Fry's first blizzard?

I just hope & pray there is no funny business with weather conditions like this when 

Baby Fry decides to make her entrance in to the world in roughly 60 days...

Perhaps I do really need to convince The Husband to buy a 

sled just incase he'd have to drag me to the hospital on it? 

Tee hee hee

xoxo

Married Two Years.

Today we are celebrating our second anniversary... Huzzah!

It is so crazy to think that two years ago we were saying

 "I do", kissing, dancing & preparing for a deployment. 

(Have I ever mentioned how blessed & grateful I am that he made it home in one piece!?)

All I can say is, I absolutely love this man 

& I am so privileged to be his & to call him mine...

Oh & just in case you couldn't tell, he is, hands down, my favorite person in the entire world!

Happy Anniversary, Lovie! 

xoxo

{ Photographs courtesy of Isabel March Photography }

Merry Christmas!

Piper Dog says,

"Is it time to open gifts now? Or eat cookies?

 I'm not picky just tell me which I can do... Preferably both!"

Merry Christmas 

from our house to yours!

xoxo

Peppermint Mocha - DIY.

This year I knew I wanted our Christmas gifts 

& cards to have more of a handmade feel. 

(see our Christmas Postcard) 

I'm also kind of a weirdo & I save every empty spaghetti jar in the hopes that I will use 

them for something at some point. Thus the idea to gift homemade hot chocolate mix was born...

I searched & searched for a good recipe & decided on this one because of the peppermint element.

Pssst - If you've ever had a peppermint mocha at Starbucks it tastes very similar - yum, yum!

After a few taste tests, I whipped up the hot chocolate mix, created some tags with directions on how to prepare it for the recipients, bought some new lids for my recycled jars & ta-da... 

Homemade Peppermint Mocha Hot Chocolate!

It is really yummy if I must say... 

I'm definitely whipping up an extra batch or so to have on hand.

Oh & If you want to give it a try or have any questions,

 please feel free to email me, I'd love to help you out!

How bout you? 

What are you giving this year?

xoxo

Somebody is 28.

The Husband turns the big 2-8 today! 

There was no way I was attempting 28 candles so there are 2 white & 8 colored - tee hee hee. 

I don't know what is more crazy... the fact that he is almost 30 

or the fact that we've known each other for over 10 years.

 (we're high school sweeties)

I love you, lovie!

 Happy, Happy Birthday!

xoxo

Our Lil' Brick House Christmas.

Yesterday I snapped a few photographs of our Christmas decor to give you 

an idea of what Christmas at our lil' brick house is like...

It is kinda tacky but the nativity scene is one of my fave ornaments... I've had it since I was a kiddo. 

I love the way the mantel turned out with all the silver, candlelight 

& berries- exactly as I envisioned it, actually!

 I really love the lil' reindeer silhouettes ornaments I picked up at Ikea too... 

They made their way all over the house in various parts of our decor.

The Gingerbread man has been caught! 

Oh & the mosaic hurricanes were our wedding centerpieces...

 I smile every time I light them. 

If I could invite you all over for a cookie swap & tea party this is where 

we'd have it & we'd use my miniature Spode tea set too...

What does Christmas look like at your house?

Do you have a theme or a color scheme for your tree? 

Whatever it is, I hope you are enjoying your decor.

Merry Christmas!

xoxo

Christmas Postcards - DIY.

It took me a pretty decent amount of time to figure out Christmas cards this year. 

You see getting a family photograph of all three of us, is pretty darn difficult round here. 

So I figured that option was out...

 Messing around one day I snapped a fairly decent photograph of Piper Dog 

& while everyone else may not love & appreciate her as much as we do, 

I figured using her as a representative of The Fry family this year was better than nothing! 

Enter Amy Moss over at Eat Drink Chic. 

Amy designed these super cute downloadable holiday tags this year. 

I fell in love with the "Love & Whimsy" version & knew I had to

 incorporate it into our Christmas card design someway, somehow... 

At first I just figured I'd do Christmas photo-cards with Amy's tags as the label at the bottom. 

I had the blank cards printed & picked up the paper & craft paper tapes at the local craft store. 

Then, I thought of doing a postcard because (a) they are a lil' something different & (b) they'd save on postage. 

While waiting for my photos to be printed I lucked out & Amy came up with yet another

DIY/Free printable that just so happened to be a postcard. Lucky me, right?!

It took a lot of cutting, gluing, taping & patience but when all was said 

& done I have to say I am pretty pleased with the results... 

I love the decorative tape & kraft paper... I feel like both really add to the homemade look

 which was just what I was going for. I just hope they make it to all their recipients. 

That is the only problem with postcards, no room for a return address!

xoxo