Balance

Do you struggle with this? 

I definitely do!

Eliza at Baby Bound just had her baby boy (you’ve got to check out precious Mr Cruze) and I’m guest posting while she is away on maternity leave.

I’m talking about balance and how I keep my priorities in order.*  Hop over to Baby Bound and check out how I attempt to keep things balance, and don’t forget to leave Eliza some love!

You may be asking yourself “how is she keeping ‘in balance’ guest posting for someone else, yet filling her own with guest posts while she is away.  How does that work?!”  Well I wrote the post for Eliza several months ago when she was preparing for her leave.  Don’t worry, I have not ditched my own blog; I love you guys way to much to do that!  I promise I’ll be back soon, and I’ve got some great things to share with you!

MIA- Embrace the Journey

Morning y’all!  Blog world has transformed me in so many ways, but one of the best things that has happened to me is meeting Danie from Embrace the Journey.  She is truly my identical twin on so many levels, but I will save that fabulous story for another day.  The last time Danie was here at LWTH she shared her love story (see here), but since then her family has changed a bit and today she has some new crafts to share with you.

Thank you Darby for having me as a guest poster, I'm so delighted! My husband and I are expecting our first child in April and I've been a busy little mama trying to get the nursery ready for our little man before I absolutely don't feel like doing anything (I'm getting closer to that point already)!  You're about to get mostly a picture overload of the things that I have made myself.  I am so pleased with how things have turned out and it is looking just like I had pictured.  We still have some finishing touches, but we are pretty much finished with the major things.  I hope it inspires others out there to be creative; don't just go along with the "norm"!

I found this lamp for such a bargain at Goodwill...$2!  I wanted to do something with the shade to spruce it up a little, but nothing that required too much of a commitment, in case I want to change it up again sometime.  This is what I came up with:

Before

After

I bought different 'boy' looking ribbon and tied them onto the shade.  Easy peasy.  I actually got the idea from Pinterest!  I love how it adds just that little something, without being too much.

These are some picture frames that I picked up at Goodwill.  I'm telling you---do NOT buy new frames!  I got all of these for .59-.99 cents a piece!  I don't know if you've noticed how much picture frames cost these days. The first set of 3, I crackled white.  One comes up with green underneath and the other two are blue underneath.  (The finished product picture doesn't do it much justice).

How ugly are these!

Of course, they still need pictures, but that's for when Liam arrives!

This next frame I picked up and immediately saw the shape of an animal of some kind.  After pondering a minute, my momma piped up "I see an owl!"  So....

An owl is what I did!

Another frame I painted and crackled.  The "L" is actually an ornament left over after Christmas that my momma found at Hobby Lobby for practically nothing.  Since I didn't have anything else to do with it, I decided to make some use out of it this way.

This is another Pinterest inspiration project.  My momma had this frame that she hadn't used at all and she also had the fabric laying around.  I stuck the polka dot fabric on some cross stitch sticky board she also had.  I freehanded the puppy on some fuzzy fabric and cut him out...glued him on and there you have it.

These are a couple of puzzles that were handed down to me, out of a stack of many.  I had a blank spot on the wall and I thought they were too cute to put up just to wait for him to play with them, so I mod podged them and glued ribbon to the back.

This is a Where the Wild Things are inspired shelf project I made.  It was my husband's favorite book growing up, so I knew I wanted to include it in the room.  The shelf I had on hand and the quote board, I painted on wood.  I got the monsters off of Amazon and let my husband pick them out.

Yet another Pinterest inspiration: fabric hoops!  I'm sure you've seen these things floating around on there.  My mom had every thing I needed to make them and she helped me put them together.  I just love how they are all unique, but come together as a whole so well.

This is a shutter project I did.  I had the shutter already, along with the wooden plaques, and my mom found the initials for about $1 at Hobby Lobby.

This is a cabinet/corner shelf (one of many) that my daddy built way back when.  It was just the color of the wood before, then Nick and I put one white wash coat on it and we loved how it turned out so old looking.

Finally... this is our changing cabinet that we revamped!  We bought it at a local flea market for $50.  It's solid oak and will probably out live us all.  I was so happy to find this steal, because it amazes me how much stores take advantage of parents by charging you out the wazoo for "nursery furniture."  I had planned on putting some trim on the doors to give it a little extra something else, but I have a busy daddy and he hasn't gotten a chance to cut the wood for me yet.  I think it's beautiful though and I'm so proud of it!

Before....

After!

Lighting is totally off in this picture, sorry.

So, that is Mr. Liam's nursery... and I absolutely can't wait to have our little man in it!  I hope I've inspired the crafty side in you!

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Aren’t you in love with all of Danie’s great ideas for Liam’s nursery?!  Make sure you hop over to Embrace the Journey and let Danie now how creative she is!!

What I’m Lovin’ Wednesday: My First Vlog

To be honest, I’m not completely convinced that I’m “lovin” this vlog, but I wanted to share it with you none-the-less.  Yep, this is my very first vlog at LWTH.  I shared a video with you last year that was a tour of our master bedroom renovations (found here), but this is the first video where it’s just me chit-chatting with you. 

Since you get to read about what’s going on in the Hawley house all the time, I thought I would do a vlog so that you could hear how I speak.  Do I have an accent?!

And yes, thanks Youtube for picking such a flattering thumbnail

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

I’m not sure if this is going to become a regular thing on LWTH, but I am definitely interested in your feedback.  Do you like vlogs?  What questions would you like me to answer in a vlog if I did them more often?  What are things that I could do better with a vlog?

Ok that’s it!  Thanks for stopping by and have a great Wednesday!

Attention LWTH Readers {Following Updates}

If you’ve been following us here at LWTH via Google Friend Connect, I just wanted to let you know that this option is not available for non-Blogger blogs anymore.  If you have a blog via Blogger you will be fine for a now, but this will be ending altogether soon. Since my blog baby is with Blogger I’m trying to get ahead of the times and start switching over now, because I don’t want to miss any of the posts from the blogs I read and I want to keep in touch with you :-)  If you don’t have a blog, but you do follow blogs, I would truly encourage you to switch over how you follow blogs, so that you don’t miss any posts.

Google Friend Connect is what I have been using for followers on the right panel (looks like this but will be going bye-bye very soon)

LWTH is switching over to Linky Followers, which is very similar to GFC, but better. 

Can be found right above GFC on the right panel –>

If you’ve been following me via GFC, or are new to LWTH, I encourage you to switch over now so you don’t miss any posts and we don’t lose our connection!!! :-)  This is also a great system to help you organize your blogs, so I think you’re going to enjoy the new system; I know that I have so far :-) All is takes is a simple click of ::Follow Me:: on the right panel.  Please switch over, and let me know that you’re following me so that I can follow you back!

Have a great Tuesday!!!

MIA- One Artsy Mama

Hello all!!!! This morning Amy from One Artsy Mama is visiting.  I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Amy and I love her blog!  She is SO creative! I think you’re really going to like the craft she has for you today, especially all of the LWTH mommy readers :-)

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Hey there, Darby's friends and followers!

I'm Amy, aka One Artsy Mama, and you and I have something in common; we both think Darby's fantastic!

When she offered me the opportunity to do a guest post here at Life With the Hawleys, I jumped at it.

As for me, I'm a lover of all things crafty.  I'm passionate about Jesus, my family, dancing, and Ravens football, and I'm totally addicted to Starbucks.  I'm happiest when I'm creating something, especially if I get to do it with the help of my 3 year old "Little Crafter."

Today, I thought I'd show you one of our latest creative endeavors together.  A good friend of mine is due with her third baby in April and a few of us are throwing her a little shower with the theme "The Very Hungry Caterpillar!"

We love that book in the Artsy House, so Little Crafter was beyond excited to help me make these cute little favors.

He helped me glue the pom-poms onto each clothespin, then add two eyes and a magnet to each one.  We have a whole herd of them...{what do you call a big ol' army of caterpillars, anyway? a pack?  a gaggle?  a flock?}

Anyway, as I'd been scouring Pinterest for Hungry Caterpillar crafts and ideas, I came upon one where they used a child's handprints to make the caterpillar...which, of course, LC thought he needed to do as soon as he saw it!  The best part was that it was totally his idea to put it on a shirt instead of canvas or paper!

Here's how to make your own:

Materials -

white t-shirt

fabric paint {brown, green, red, yellow, purple}

paintbrushes

cute little hands!

STEP 1: Place a paper bag or cardstock inside the shirt so the paint doesn't go through.  Turn it upside down so the neck of the shirt is closest to the child.

STEP 2: Use a paintbrush to paint the child's right hand with fabric paint; green on the palm and brown on the fingers.  You have to work quickly; it dries kind of fast.

STEP 3: Have child press his or her hand down on the shirt.  Repeat two more times to form caterpillar body.

STEP 4:  Use a paintbrush to fill in areas where the paint didn’t transfer.  Then, paint a red circle for the caterpillar’s head.

STEP 5: Use paintbrush in fabric paint to add antennae, eyes, and nose.

Let it dry for 24 hours, and then it's ready to wear!

Of course, he wanted to wear it the very next day, and before the day was over he'd already spilled grape juice on it...sigh.  Thank goodness for stain stick!

Hope you enjoyed the projects as much as we did!

Thanks, Darby, for having me here today!

I'd love for you all to stop by and visit me at One Artsy Mama sometime; I blog about DIY crafts, kids' crafts, and jewelry making, and I co-host a fun party each Friday where you can come to gain and share inspiration.  I'm also getting ready to celebrate my one year blog-i-versary on the 17th!  I'm doing a special "Grow Your Blog" series from the 1-8th, and I'll be hosting 19 awesome giveaways the entire week of the 11th-17th!  Hope to see you there!

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This is such a wonderful shower theme! I love it!  Amy has so many wonderful events going on at her blog this month, I highly recommend you go check her out and leave her some love :-)

MIA- Southern Lovely

Today marks the first day of the MIA Series.  I am finishing up my PhD, and I am beyond swamped.  It’s a very exciting time, as I’m completing a 5 year project (prayers are invited and encouraged lol), but also very busy.  So while I’m gone I wanted to take the opportunity to share some of my best bloggy friends with you.  They have volunteered to help me out so I down drown from the pressure and I’m so grateful.  I know you’re going to love each and every woman who shares over the next few weeks.  Get excited!!!! First up, Lindsay from Southern Lovely is visiting.  She is phenomenal!

Hello friends of Darby's lovely blog, I am really excited to be here today! I'm Lindsay, and I blog over at Southern Lovely. I love creating beautiful things for less. Which means I am usually deep into a DIY, sewing project, painting project, anything that I can be creative with. I am also a busy mom of three little ones--who limit my crafting time quite a bit. Late nights is usually when I do my best work. :)

One day as I was checking out a local thrift store I came across this lovely little Cloche. I was shocked when I saw the price tag of $3, I knew I had to take it home. Since it was only the top, I knew I had to come up with something to place it on. I tried a few things at my house, but they weren't big enough. Then I saw a little pizza tray that I had bought from the Dollar Tree, and it was a perfect fit. I started with a small candlestick, but it just didn't give it enough support, so I had to move on to the larger one, which was also purchased from the Dollar Tree. And guess what, it worked! I hot glued the candlestick to the pizza tray, painted it white, & then I had a great new Cloche, all for $5! I added the green apples, which I purchased from Michaels. So, what do you think?? I'm pretty happy with my $3 find. :) Any fun thrift store finds that you all have come across? I bought a few other things that day, they will be next on my list. :) Thanks for letting me post here today! And please feel free to stop by & say hi, I love meeting new friends!

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See! Lindsay really IS amazing!  This is such a gorgeous cloche!  Make sure you stop by Southern Lovely and leave her some bloggy love and check out some of her other fabulous projects!  Have a great weekend!

What I’m Lovin’ Wednesday: Tomlin!

In case you haven't noticed, I absolutely love Tomlin.  To be honest, I’m probably obsessed with her. 

Today is a special day.  Tomlin turns one!

I can’t believe that she is already one; she is growing so fast! We have loved having her as a part of our family for the past 7 months.  She is such a happy puppy and always has us cracking up.  To celebrate today (yes, of course, we are celebrating her special day!), Tomlin will be getting some extra special treats and some new toys.

Over the past 7 months, I’ve taken an embarrassing amount of pictures of Tomlin, but I love looking back and watching her grow :-)

**Beware proud puppy-mama is about to overload you with pictures!
The day we adopted Tomlin

Refusing to let Aunt Kellyn leave (here).

First trip to the beach"Helping” Phil grill

Tomlin’s Halloween costumes (here)

These are the pictures I took for her 1-year birthday.  Phil laughed at me because he said she looks like she is going to a tea party…….my response? “Oooooo good idea Phil!”  What is he going to do with me?!?!

Can you see my difficulty in narrowing down the pictures??!?!?!? She is just too cute!  Happy Birthday Miss Tomlin!!!