2015 Wrap Up

Hi everyone! I am checking in at the midway point of my trip to Germany. If you've been following along on instagram, you've seen a ton of posts on some of the awesome sights that we have visited. By the way, you don't need to have an instagram account to see the pictures, so do go on and check them out!

Whether you've been following along with me for the last *almost* 4 years or have jumped in just recently, fret not - in the new year I'll be sure to "re-introduce" myself as it's been a long time since I've really done it officially. A lot changes when you start a blog in the month before you expect your first child, when 4 years later you find yourself with two daughters that are pre-school and toddler age. And a blog that has grown and maintained over that whole time and all you really needed was somewhere to write out your thoughts in a somewhat coherent manner! Anyways, I digress. Back to 2015.

Here's a round up of my 9 most popular posts of 2015 from Instagram -

1. I finally made Monte Cristo waffles. So good, but fair warning - the raspberry preserves are not easy (read: impossible) to clean off your waffle iron. Lesson learned. 2. Though I've been a babywearing mama from the beginning with Penny, just a few months ago I dove into the world of woven wraps. My dear friend That Mama Gretchen and I took a mama's night out and took MommyCon Seattle by storm. I fell in love with Cassiope Wovens and was positive that one way or another, I would be leaving MommyCon with a wrap. I took a chance, entered in Cassiope Woven's giveaway and I was the extremely lucky winner of a limited edition MommyCon exclusive wrap. Woo hoo! That's what you heard if you were at the announcement of the giveaway - I wooped with careless abandon. So here you see my Ruby and I in our first wrap job. 3. Here is an old fashioned, no calories spared pound cake made from no less than 10 eggs from my own chickens. I started keeping a small flock of backyard chickens right before Ruby's birth in 2014 and have been so in love with the delicious eggs these girls provide. This photo reminds me that not only should I make this again, and that I need to share this recipe with you, but also that I should at some point make a post about how my flock of 5 increased to a flock of 9 over the summer. Ooops. 4.  2015 was a year of a ton of work travel for my husband, and one time while he was out of town I treated myself to an avocado mask after I *thought* the girls were asleep. I heard Penny call for me, so I came up to comfort her. I forgot about the mask and she FREAKED out. She had no idea who I was, and I had to convince her that I am mama and not some random person. 5. This is the view from Zugspitze, the tallest peak in Germany. More pictures are on instagram, but I do promise you that I will give you the full details once we come home.  6. I have so much love for my husband, but there is very little more that tugs on my heart strings than when I see him wear our girls. One of our family traditions (which has been a tradition from his family of origin) is visiting family bible camp in the Okanagan mountains in British Columbia. This picture is from family camp this year while agate hunting.  7. Cloth diaper reviews & giveaways are still going strong on the blog! 8. Another babywearing daddy shot! 9. Sharing recipes is another favorite on the blog, and this past summer I shared my ever favorite summer recipe - lime cilantro chicken tacos.

And finally, if you need any more reading beyond what I've shared above, here's a few of my favorite blog posts this year too.

• Love salmon? I do too. Here's two ways that I absolutely love to cook it. 
• Visiting zoos and aquariums is kind of my thing. We did quite a bit of travel in 2015 and I absolutely loved the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. 
• Babywearing takes me everywhere - even the pool!
• I got a little crafty this year and did a bit of a Pinterest copy. Do you have a child in your life that loves model cars? This model car photo frame is so easy!
• With a team of friends, I sewed over 160 cloth menstrual pads for girls in developing countries. 
• On that same thread - why are cloth menstrual pads awesome?

Thanks for sticking along with me this year!

Don't miss out on the chance to win $20 PayPal from me as a New Year gift!

Car Model Photo Frame Tutorial

I made this photo frame for my nephew's 4th birthday last week. It was very easy to make and ended up being a total hit! All it takes is a few items that can be easily found at home, your local thrift store or by asking friends who might be done with model toy cars (my local Buy Nothing Group is amazing for that!).

What you'll need:

Photo frame - it's best if the frame is as flat as possible to ensure easy contact points
Model cars
Hot glue gun and extra sticks.
Metallic spray paint

Directions:
1. Clean the photo frame of any dust or debris (like sticker residue). Remove the backing and glass from the picture frame. Do the same for the model cars. Make sure that everything is truly clean and dry before continuing.

2. Arrange your model cars along the picture frame so that you can get a good sense of how they are best arranged.
3. Turn on your hot glue gun and let it fully heat up.
4. Turn each car over and "lock up" the wheels with a couple dots of glue inside the wheel wells. You'll be using the tires as contact points for the frame and it'll add more stability if the wheels can't rotate. Allow them to set.
5. One car at a time, tack glue dots on each of the four wheels and gently press onto the picture frame where the car will set. Repeat for each of the cars until your frame is full!

6. Once the glue has completely set, gently test each car's connection by seeing it if will wiggle. If it does, tack on some extra glue at the contact points.
7. Clean up those hot glue strings! They will show up in the finished product!
8. In a well ventilated space, prepare your spray painting station. I went outside in our gravel driveway and used a piece of cardboard to angle the picture frame for best coverage without having to touch it.

9. Light coats work best. Give it a few minutes to dry between coats. I gave it a day to fully cure before I handled it to see which nooks and crannies I missed. Then spot spray as needed.
10. Add a fun photo and you're done!

This little boy was super excited and in love with his custom picture frame, filled with a photo of him and his cousins.