Window Safety: The Neighborhood

Two The Neighborhood posts in a row!? Yep, you got it! I am all about safety this week, and who can blame me? A paranoid mamma has to do her part! Today on The Neighborhood I am a "Chatty Kathy" (or "Chatty Alix" if you will) about windows and window wells. Did you know that thousands of children are injured from window falls every year? Window safety is super important y'all! Plus I am talking about one of my favorite movies ever (bonus!).

Every time I hear the words “window safety” I imagine a scene from Just Married where Bags, the bulldog, is tugging on Ashton Kutcher’s pant leg and begging for his ball to be thrown. Kutcher, without paying attention, throws the ball over his shoulder and out the second story window and Bags chases it right out...Read More...

aaannd...For more on The Neighborhood follow them on Twitter @letsneighbor or you can search the hashtag #letsneighbor

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Playing it Safe: The Neighborhood

Oh hello dear friends and happy Monday. Well it took 2 hours, but Liam is finally down for a nap. He is a stubborn fellow, which I blame completely on Clint. I, on the other hand, am so not stubborn that I fought with a 1-year-old for two hours over a nap. Hmmm.

Anyways, I am happy to bring you a post all about playing safe in the neighborhood. Now, my little critter doesn't really play out and about in the hood yet, but he will some day. This post, however, comes straight to you from the words of my well-informed neighbors and several trusted websites about stranger danger and such. Man I am so glad to have such good neighbors!

We all want our neighborhood to be a safe neighborhood. We want to protect our homes, cars, and most of all our families. But keeping your kids safe in the neighborhood may require some proactive parenting and supervising. And let’s face it; keeping kids safe is always a proactive job!...Read more...

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4 on Friday: Blog Crush Style!

Can we just talk about my school-girl crush on the inter-web. I mean, not to sound all 1995 or anything, but the internet is seriously a huge source of creative yummyness. Don't get me wrong, I love me some old fashioned print magazines and interior design books, but there is something completely magical about seeing the creations of other creators all over the world-and in relatively real-time! You guy...there are so many talented people out there...and think about it-20 years ago it would have been nearly impossible to see all their creations and wonder! Heck, just 10 years ago I thought I was the only one trying to upstage my teachers with hand-made pop-up book reports and miniature 100-lb replicas of a Korean house and garden. Turns out there were other 6 graders making 3D Caterpillar posters and dressing up like cowgirls for class presentations! And now they are out there blogging and inspiring me! Oh I am really quite in love with the blogging community and their visual grandeur. And on this lovely Friday morning I want to share with you a few bloggers who I just love to pin the crap out of their blogs. And while I'm talking about it ;) ... you can follow me on Pinterest HERE! (and I'll keep sharing the good stuff)!

So...the all-star bloggers...

1| Emily Henderson

Emily won HGTV Design Star a couple seasons ago and the interior design inspiration is literally through the roof with this gal. I also met her in person and she is as lovely as the spaces she creates!

2| Kelly at Studio DIY

Kelly is seriously inspired and absolutely a doll. I check in on her blog daily to see not only her brilliant creations, but the latest DIY trends. And I never met a gal as dedicated to the blogging community as Kelly!

3| Design Love Fest

This may be one of the greatest blogs of all time! (a little too dramatic?) Well it's one of my favorites because Bri's slogan says it all: Design Love Fest is "where type and images totally make out". And they do. Hard core.

4| A Subtle Revelry

What I adore about A Subtle Revelry is the accessibility of Victoria's crafts (did you know a craft could be accessible? It can.) The crafts are simple and witty and almost anyone can recreate them. Which I love!

Don't forget to check out more stuff from these ladies HERE!

Happy Friday!

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Chatting about The Neighborhood

In case you haven't noticed, I have been blogging about safety lately over at Vivint's blog The Neighborhood. Vivint is a home security system company, but they are more than that. Recently they not only launched their blog, but also have started a campaign called Let's Neighbor-both in a effort to improve neighborhoods world-wide! And no matter what your neighborhood looks like, you can be a part of neighboring. I think this is such a good idea. Check that...I think it is a GREAT idea. I'm all about the neighboring, which is why I love being a part of The Neighborhood. So please check out my posts (for they are my little way of Neighboring) and enjoy some safety tips from a paranoid momma bear.

My latest post is all about preventing kid injuries...which is perfect for spring weather and outdoor play!

So neighbor on!

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Photo Wall DIY

I am such a fan of the photo wall. I mean, whats not to love? It makes for a great photo backdrop, it livens up a party, and (best part) it makes guests express their silly side! Which is great...because nothing is more awkward than an awkward party silence. Am I right? I kinda think photo wall backdrops are brilliant because they are so super easy and affordable...easy and cheap are craft crowd-pleasers for sure.

PS...enjoy my feet in these photos. I swear they were clean and I swear to wear shoes in posts from now on.

1| The first of, well 2 steps is to cut your design out of craft paper and apply tape to the back. Liam's birthday party was orange, gold, and triangle theme so my color and shape selections were such. I'm brainstorming a couple other photo wall shape and color ideas so stay tuned.

2| I began taping the triangles to the wall near the ceiling and worked my way down. My goal for the pattern was to not be exact, but to be symmetrical. If you are an exact pattern kind of person, I wont judge :).

As you can see, my pattern was pretty balanced and provided great visual interest for party guest photos.
Best part...the guests loved it! Photo walls make parties a hit!

If you make a party photo wall send me some photos or a link! I wanna see it!

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Our spring trip to the zoo!

There are some things in life that make me sublimely happy. I mean really really happy. Being around Clint and Liam together is one of those thing. It's happiness in a bottle when Liam hears Clint come through the door. He perks up his chubby little head and yells, lungs full of air, "UHH!" Which I am quite positive means "HEY" in baby. Then he toddles to the door as fast as his two feet can carry him (that's right! Did I mention he's walking all the time now?! Oh do slow down). Clint scoops him up and I feel like the observer of a Hallmark commercial. They really do belong together, Clint and Liam. 

Oh and by the way, happy Earth Day earthlings! We celebrated this beautiful planet at the zoo, and it may be of interest to know that the zoo in Utah in spring is kinda brown and kinda muddy. That didn't bother me much, though. Most of my time was spent watching my two dudes. Yep, I was a bit of a third wheel, but happily so.

You know how they say that sheep have their lambs in the spring? (Who is "they" really? Sheep herders?) Well zoo animals are on the sheep track because their were little nugget animals all over and oh man, I was obsessed something fierce. I loved how this little giraffe was so intent on nursing right then and there. I think the mom was looking at me like "You know how I feel don't you."

And by the way, baby elephants are HUGE (well duh). On a side note, for one of my birthing classes we watched a pregnant elephant give birth and all I have to say is WOW. and lots of fluid. lots and lots. Okay that's all I have to say about that.

 

Then I asked Clint to snap a couple pictures of me and Liam, and he immediately snapped this tasteful picture of my boob:

Happy Earth Day! Be good to her would ya?

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DIY Painted Pillow: And Then We Saved

Today seems like a great day for a Do It Yourself right? It's Saturday, it's spring, it's DIY time. What is it about spring and Saturdays that makes me want to break out the glue gun and go all hog-wild with some craft paint? I mean, on a Saturday, hot glue burns don't hurt as bad, craft papers look brighter, and twine holds tighter. And when mother nature gets a bit of a facelift in spring, it seems unfair to not bring spring inside with bright colors and a creativity.

So let's get to the DIY part already shall we? I am very excited to be talking DIY pillows today on And Then We Saved. These little bright beauties are super easy to make and super cheap too! Check them out!

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4 on Friday: Plants!

I'm not much of a green thumb you see, but there's this eclectic pile of pots in my garage that have been flirting with me since the first day of Spring, and I should be a little more polite and explain to them my intentions. I intend to wipe them down with a rag, fill them with fresh cool soil, plant some delicious succulents and flowers and bushy-type plants in them, water them, and make a peace offering to the gardening gods. You see, I have good intentions, but I just need a little more inspiration help I think.

All images via Pinterest.

And some link love for ya!...

A fabulous fireplace roundup.

Love me some globe lights galore!

I need to follow this insightful and courageous advice.

Splatter paint cupcake toppers. Duh.

The cutest flower gift I seen.

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Serious Easter Re-cap (P.S. I talk about blogging too)

I'm not sure how you do Easter, but apparently we do Easter with a lot of sass. This past Easter was not Liam's first, but it was the first one he could participate in and let's just say, he had some mixed feelings about the whole Easter egg thing. I love in the photo above he's like, "here mom...you can have this one". And check out the attitude in the photo below, I mean this kid is seriously a crack-up.

This is our football star pose. He has nearly perfected the stiff-arm.

And why yes, that is my Nugget fishing jelly beans out of the gravel and shoving them into his mouth.

 

Blogging does funny things to your children, I am now realizing. Like, whenever someone holds up a phone or a camera, blogger's kids just seem to know it's time for the cheese and the smiles and the poses. Part of this may be that we live in an age of technology where viewing photos is at your fingertips, so we take a ton more pictures. All I know is that Liam is 13 months and I have over 4,000 photos of him on my hard drive. Perhaps it's time to slow the clicking down!

But I must say, I am really grateful for the images I get to capture. I feel so lucky that, while he will grow and change, I have a relic of what he used to look like and how little he used to be. I'm also feeling pretty lucky to be blogging. My blog is nowhere near the blog I hope it to be, but this learning experience has been so revealing. A blog is like sending your life out there in a letter to friends and strangers and hoping they right back or at least find it interesting. Which has turned out to be a great way for me to examine what I think of myself, what I like about myself, and what I want to work on. Indeed, blogging has made me want to be a better and more creative person every day. It has also taught me to prioritize and some days a blog post is not the priority. To continue with the mushiness, I just want to say thank you for following along with A Ruffled Life. I'm pretty freaking excited about what the future holds for this little blog, but I wouldn't do it if it weren't for you great readers and friends!

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Glitter Envelope DIY!

Happy Tuesday friends! And happy Spring! Is it Spring where you are? Because it look suspiciously like November outside my window today. Oh Utah...you are a bipolar state, you. And while my instincts are telling me to pull on the sweats and close the curtains, we are determined to pretend like it is Spring anyways. Yesterday we wore bright colors, went on a (freezing) hike, and shopped for Spring shirts. My wallet and exercising will singlehandedly will Spring upon us.
But just in case you are experiencing a similar case of the Spring-time-blues...this simple little crafty may be just the thing to brighten your day!
Introducing....my simple tutorial on glitter business card envelopes!

Supplies

  

-1 strip of pre-glittered paper cut to 1/4 inch larger than the height of your card by 2 times the width of your card. Meaning my card was 3.5" X 4.5" so I cut my paper to 4" X 9".

- Embellishments...I picked up some teal twine and pink poms!

1| Fold you glitter paper strip in half, hamburger style.

2| Sew one side of the folded envelope. I stared at the folded seam and sewed to the end.

3| Duplicate the seam on the other side, leaving an opening opposite of the folded side.

4| This little opening will hold your cards (or letter, or love note...whatever you fancy).

5| Embellish! I strung a pink pom on some twine and wrapped it around my envelope a couple times. 

What will you embellish your glitter envelopes with?

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Why I have gone missing...and a little thank you

Hello all readers! Well this is kind of embarrassing, but I have been missing for about a week now, and I kind of feel bad about it! I mean, you come around and read about my life and leave heartfelt comments, so I just wanted to say thank you! Thank you for being such great readers and friends!

Also, I thought I ought to update you on what I am working on behind the scenes here at A Ruffled Life.

First...We are redesigning! Wa-who! I am soooo excited for the new look! So keep an eye out for our relaunch in a bit. Some stuff may look funny here and there so I appreciate your patience dear friends! And we'll do our best to give you a bigger and better A Ruffled Life.

Second...We've been feeling a little under the weather, but I think it may be allergies so I am currently testing that hypothesis with allergy meds so...pending diagnosis.

Third...This little Nugget has needed LOTS AND LOTS of extra loving this week. I mean, he has been a limb on my body. So we have cuddled and played and giggled and cried a lot together this week.

And I think he may be a red head... :)

Fourth...I added some stuff to my life list at Go Mighty!

and I have been loving these reads lately! Check out my link love:

This is what my motherhood has looked like lately...

Splatter paint on balloons! What the cute?!

This post about blogging has really hit home for me...time to slow down and step up the quality!

 I really want to make these at the moment...because they look soooo good.

And I want to buy this and frame it something fierce!

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