Hair Tutorial: Braided Bun

So, I've seen many versions of this braided bun on the web.... and, I thought I'd give it a try! Of course... I'm not a hair stylist and really don't know what the hay I'm doing... BUT, I do love having my hair up and pretty! So, here goes.... 

How I created my version of the Braided Bun...
- I did a "french braid" from the left side... to the right side.... (I honestly don't know how to french braid... I just guessed... very hard to do myself ;D). 
- I braided all the way from the left side to the end of my hair on the right side.
- Taking the braid I folded it back from the left... back to the right.
- Tucking in the end of my braid... I pinned my braid to the nape of my neck. Any fly-aways I pinned down... :)
- That's it! Hopefully I can get it a little more neat next time. Super easy though!

And, if you all get a moment.... 

I'd LOVE a vote! :D

♡ Chelsey


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Messy Side Pony

I thought I'd try my hand at another hairstyle from A Cup of Jo. It's the Messy Side Pony. It's very simple to do. Check out the link to see more detailed directions. I realized after I had finished that it's not really a "side pony". They left the pony in the center of the neck and just moved it to the side a teeny bit. Oh well. Next time. :D

If you try it out, share it with me! I'd love to see. It's nice to do something nice for yourself every once and a while. :) Take a shower (well... this hair-do calls for day old hair :D), put some makeup on, and put your hair up! :D

If you have a moment, I'd LOVE to get 

a couple votes from you!

❤ Chelsey

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Wordless{ish} Wednesday: DIY wedding tips...

{Just wanted to share a few DIY wedding tips with you all. This weeks Vloggin' Vednesday was a 'How To' video... but, I took it in a different direction. DIY and money saving tips... some in my video and some below...}

{My sister and I doing the Arrested Development chicken dance.}

❤ {Skip the bridal shop: skip the marked up bridal shops. Buy your dress online from Ebay or from a thrift shop... or... try somewhere that doesn't specifically sell bridal dresses. I believe the word "bride" or "wedding" attached to anything really kicks up the price! For my wedding: I bought mine on Ebay for $160 (shipping included): April Bridal.}

❤ {Buy handmade: What can you buy for the wedding that's handmade? From Etsy? I purchased my vintage earrings for $10 on Etsy. I still wear them ALL the time.}

❤ {Borrow: What can you borrow? For my wedding: I couldn't get myself to buy an expensive veil... so, my friend that had been married two months earlier said I could borrow hers! I just LOVED it!}

❤ {Forget the favors: Lets be very honest.... who really needs a candle shaped like a bride or wedding cake? I certainly don't... and, I'm sure many other people don't need them either. These items end up in the garbage or shipped off to Goodwill.}

{Favors can be VERY spendy. I found the average price, when I was planning my wedding, was about $3/favor. If I ordered 150 favors for 150 people... wow: $450 for something most people wont take or will throw away. For my wedding: I ended up taking $200 dollars and adopting 4 different animals under "Chelsey and Mike's wedding guests" from the World Wildlife Fund. I printed up little certificates to hand out thanking my guests for adopting these animals.}

❤ {Get crafty: There are so many tutorials and inspirations online that you can find to help you create something awesome! Instead of buying! For my wedding: We made the hair clips the bridemaids wore... and little flags to wave instead of throwing rice.}

❤ {Save your bridemaids some money: Of course... I completely understand wanting all of your bridemaids to match... but, if you really don't care... just let your friends choose their own dresses! For my wedding: I let all my friends choose their own dresses. I gave them each a brown fabric sample to sort of go by to find a brown cocktail dress and said find gold shoes. All of them bought a dress they loved and at a price they wanted! One person borrowed her dress... and another only spent $10 on her's! They all looked beautiful.}

❤ {Buy wholesale: I had paper umbrella's and a TON of string lights. I bought them wholesale online... saving a ton of money! For my wedding: I got my wedding craft supplies from here.}

❤ {Skip the site that requires you to choose from a list of caterers: You are pretty much guaranteed to spend more that way. So many times I was given a list of caterers to choose from... and it would have been (the lowest) at least $35 a person. No way am I spending that. For my wedding: Mike and I actually had the pizza company that was in the same building cater our wedding! We spent about $900 for food. We also skipped cake and went with cupcakes.}

❤ {Reconsider some of the things you "think" you need to rent: So, I personally didn't want a sit down dinner... so, I saved a ton and just skipped all the tables! Well... I still had a few tiny cocktail tables. I still got about 50 chairs. And really... They weren't all used.}

❤ {Get your flowers locally: Why not see if there's a u-pick flower spot somewhere near you? For my wedding: My sister and I went to a tiny little you-pick Dahlia farm (the day before the wedding) we've passed for years! It was $4 for a dozen flowers. I spent $40 on ALL of my flowers... My sister put together a sweet little red bouquet. It was perfect. All of my bridesdmaids we're already carrying $3 paper umbrellas... so, they didn't need flowers. :) }

❤ {Ask your friends and family for help: My cousin was so kind to sort of take over the wedding extras and sort of run things for me. I gave her a $50 gift certificate for her help. And, most of my family set up and took down the wedding decor. Only problem: Now I know I'll have to do it for their kids... ha! Just kidding! ;D}

❤ {What is most important for your wedding: So... yeah.. the most important thing about your wedding is celebrating your love and sharing it with your friends and family... blah blah blah... but really... think about what's REALLY important for you to have at your wedding. For me: it was the photography. I went and got my favorite local photographer and didn't care what the price was. And, I'm so happy I did. My photographer: Craig Mitchelldyer.}

❤ {Check out the non-typical wedding locations: I got married on top of a building in the city of Portland. I NEVER pictured that would be where I would get married. I had been looking at millions of vineyards... but, I just didn't fall in love... What's really surprising is there are a TON of spaces that would love to throw a large "party" for you. We have this really cool space in an industrial area in Portland that I found out rents out for small weddings: Produce Row. How cool?}

{via}

{Really... I encourage you to think outside of the box for your wedding. It's one day... and if you worry too much about it... spend to much money on it... you might regret it later. That money could go towards a home... or a car... or whatever.}

{If you have a Wordless{ish} Wednesday, please feel free to link it up below. BY the way: Shawntae from A Little King and I now share our Wednesday Linky's. :D. And, feel free to link up to these blogs too... 5 Minutes For Mom, Parenting by Dummies, A Beautiful Mess, Supermom, and Live and Love Outloud.}

{If you thought all my tips were awesome... 

can I get a vote for my blog? :D}

❤ Chelsey



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Wordless{ish} Wednesday: Bacon of hearts.

{What do you do for your sweetheart when you're on a budget for Valentine's Day... and, you are not a chef and only sort of know how to work the oven? How about Valentine's bacon? Yes! Need a recipe? Ok!}

{Bacon of Hearts
- 12 slices of bacon
- ... that's it!
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Cut your bacon slices in half. Using two pieces of the cut in half bacon... shape them into a heart on a sheet pan (make sure this pan has sides so the grease doesn't get all over your oven!). Bake for 18 - 25 minutes (or until done). Serve on a fancy plate or a pretty box and share with your loved one. Extra credit if you dip the bacon in chocolate! Yum! :D}

{Above is what I had waiting for Mike when he got home from work... a glass of wine, a card from Ruari, a smelly candle, some cheap chocolate and an amazing bacon heart! Ha ha. Mike made VERY yummy steak with blue cheese, rice, and salad (topped with a bacon heart) for me for Valentine's day... along with some ice cream sandwiches. Valentine's on a budget! Perfect. I hope you all enjoyed your day! Whether you celebrate Valentine's or not. :)}

{One more thing: thank you to everyone that has been voting for my blog on Top Baby Blogs! I love it! You are more than welcome to vote each and every day. Just a click to VOTE HERE (or, the button below) and click on the "click here to vote". And, you're done! Thanks!}

{If you have a Wordless{ish} Wednesday, please feel free to link it up below. BY the way: Shawntae from A Little King and I now share our Wednesday Linky's. :D. And, feel free to link up to these blogs too... (Wordless Wednesday HQ, 5 Minutes For Mom, Parenting by Dummies, A Beautiful Mess, Go Graham Go, Supermom, Live and Love Outloud, and My Wee View.). Happy Wednesday to all of you! Don't forget to check the announcements above the posts. Giveaways and the photo challenges!}

❤ Chelsey


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The First Birthday.

One year ago Saturday, December 18th, Laureli Lynn came into this world at 1 pm.

{Listening to your birthday song.}

{You were looking around the room during Happy Birthday looking at everyone like they're crazy!!! Funny.}

Laureli,
On Saturday you turned one! I wouldn't say the year flew by fast.... (lack of: sleep, showers, make-up, etc.) BUT, it's been good. Since you turned 7 months: your personality REALLY started to appear. You weren't just a baby anymore... you were a human. My little human. :D My little girl.

{Your FIRST taste of cake/sugar ever!}

{Ok, you like it!}

What have you been doing for the last month? Well...

- You are silly. REALLY silly. I'm afraid you have my sense of humor...
- Playing peekaboo is awesome. The way you play peekaboo: you turn your head away from me... then whip it around fast and wait for me to say, "Peekaboo!".
- You LOVE LOVE LOVE books. You will sit and "read" a book for a good 20 minutes all on your own! Babbling and pointing at the words and pictures.

 
- The other day you asked me a question (in babble-talk). You sat there waiting for me to respond! When I did, you seemed pleased and went back to what you were doing.
- Every time we see a dog or a kitty on TV or in a picture you get VERY excited and point and babble!
- You talk SO much! We call it Aiden-ese (Aiden is our friends baby that would carry on babble conversations with anyone around). Talk talk talk.

- You like to dance.
- You've been cuddling.... sometimes. BUT, I just love it. It's the best.
- You sort of want me to hold you 24/7... You cry when I walk away from you.
- Your new favorite toy: a stuffed Bernese Mountain dog that your grandma gave you for your birthday. You LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Cuddle it. Hug it. Rub your face on it. Pet it. We've named him Bernie.

- You absolutely LOVE to chew on my hair that his fallen out... Yeah, I'm still losing a lot of hair.... I find much hair in your poop.
- Speaking of poop: your poo is nasty! It's no longer baby poop. Yuck.
- When I open the front door you get VERY excited. That's the door your daddy comes home through and the door we leave the house through!
- Bath time is awesome.

- You think you're pretty funny.
- You've started hiding things behind you back when I go to grab them! How did you learn that?
- If you put something in your mouth (suck as dirt) and I go to grab it... you crawl away FAST and clamp your mouth shut!
- Stick your finger in your nose and laugh.
- What you're saying: Doggie (dah-geh), Angus (An-duh), Mama, Dada, Hi (also comes out as: heh), and I'm sure there are others that I just haven't caught.

 - You wave at anything and everything.
- I think you weigh about 22 pounds.
- You love to eat: bananas, baby crackers, turkey in a jar (you like savory), sweet potato, satsuma mandarins, strawberries, avocado, and cake. Yeah, you thought cake was the best ever... don't get used to it... you wont be eating much of that. :D
- Bad food: Oatmeal (allergic reaction), applesauce, pear, carrots, and peas.
- Wearing size 5 diapers!
- Crawling like a maniac.
- You pull up on everything.
- You can stand without holding on to anything... but, you don't think you're quite ready yet.
- I swear you'll be walking soon. You hold on to just a finger and walk (and fall).
- You have 6 teeth. 2 on the bottom and 4 on top!
- You are a little shy, but warm up with time.
- Your eyes are DEFINITELY blue.

- You share kisses (or you lick our faces, but we still love it).
- Raspberry blowing, fake coughing, high-pitch screaming... all sounds you love. :D
- Still addicted to your pacifier... that's ok. We currently use your pacifier to keep you from eating absolutely EVERYTHING you touch.
- You HATE getting your clothes changed. That includes your diaper.

The birthday party:

I made the paper banners. VERY simple to do. Would you guys like a tutorial? The lollipops are photos that I printed out and glued on sticks. You can buy the photo in my shop for $5 for your birthday party/wedding here!

The little ribbon banner tutorial can be found here.

{Mama made this birthday cake for you, with the help of Grammy.}

{Mmmm! Cake!}

I got the idea for this rainbow cake after I read Lacey's (Our Life) rainbow cupcake post.

{Rainbow cake!}

{Gumdrop tutorial here.}

{Opening the birthday presents! See, there's Bernie: new favorite toy!}

Look who showed up for Ruari's birthday: Amy and Parker from A Good Life! I'm SO happy they showed up! She's so sweet. If you haven't seen their blog yet, you probably should go check it out right now!

Look, it's my dried up and dead Christmas tree! It's completely dead. Well... I guess that's what we get for buying a tree from a grocery store. :)

Happy birthday baby girl!!!

Would anyone be interested in a giveaway of the birthday decorations? Such as the banners and lollipops.

Ruari would LOVE a vote for her birthday!

Would ya could ya? Vote for me?