Sweet Saturday V.7

Happy Friday friends! Are you ready? Do you have plans? 

I will be cuddling a certain sweet baby girl tonight and taking my boys to meet her for the first time. I am a little nervous. I think my 10 year old will love his new baby cousin and he is excited to hold her. While my 4 year has already told me he doesn't want to kiss or hold her at all. Dylan said he would buy her a baby doll but that's it, don't expect anything else. Dylan {WAS} the baby of the family, so it should be interesting to see him react to grandma and pappy melting over a new baby. I have a feeling I will be having a few heart to hearts with Dylan, maybe even a time out. For real. ha!
Wish me luck, any advice?

Let's get this party started, I can't wait to see what YOU did!

Here are a few features from last week:
Carmel Apples
By: Lady Behind the Curtain

Cross Stitch Button Rainbow

By: Lines Across My Face

Pumpkin Cupcakes

By: Southern Lovely

Fall Magazine Tree 

By: One Artsy Mama

If you were featured feel free to grab a button from the right hand column!
Congrats!

HERE IS THE 411:
*Please link up your post, not your blog address
*It would be great if you could include the button from the sidebar or link back to gingerbread
* Comment on other friends' post, comments are sweet!

Every week I will highlight a few projects from the previous week, so you can check back next week to see if you were featured!

Ok, let's see what you have to share!

april

xoxo

every morning

april
xoxo

because V.6

1. Because I really want a pair of Toms. At this point I don't even care what color they are, as long as they are on my size 7 feet. This picture was taken on Balboa Island in a cute little shop and all those shoes were whispering to me to buy them. I {barely} made it out of there alive.

2. Because Monday was also my 8th wedding anniversary. Yes, along with Blog Sugar and my niece being born it was also my anniversary weekend. I thinks it's so cute that Alanah was born on her Godparents anniversary! This poem was the screen saver my husband snuck on my laptop. awwww.

3. I am in love with these pull bracelets with a cross on them. I now have two and aspire to own one in every color.

4. Because this tea kettle had to come home with me. We use it for coffee every morning.

5. Because I bought these lovely $7 sunnies at a random store last weekend and they cover my big eyes perfectly.

6. Because I woke up to these flowers on my anniversary.

7. Because this little 3 day old lady is still making me so happy.

8. Because it must be Fall, I bought candy corn!

9. Because I received this hand knitted photo prop in the mail yesterday. I will post more pictures next week.

Yikes that was a lot of Because! I have had a busy week. I can't wait to relax this weekend with the family! 

Sweet Saturday will be up tomorrow night and you only have a few more days to sign up for my journal exchange!

Are you in?

make it a good one. just because...

april

xoxo

yo-yo headband tutorial

Yesterday I posted {this} yo-yo headband I made for my newborn God-daughter Alanah. I am going to the hospital again tonight and I thought I would sew up another headband for her. I was surprised how easy and simple they were to make, and I thought I would share the tutorial. 

You will need:

* headband {I bought a multipack of plain cotton headbands at Walmart}

* fabric squares

* buttons 

* needle and thread

Just sew your yo-yo flowers to the headband and you are done. I may make a few more for her in other colors, I have to admit they are super fun.
Happy headband making friends!
april
xoxo

Have you signed up for my one year anniversary journal exchange? You can find out more here!

so good.

Finally.
After induction,
30 hours of labor,
Two epidurals,
A swollen cervix,
and finally a C-Section.
My sister in law is obviously super-mom already.

SHE IS HERE!
I got to see Alanah Ramona today for the first time. I did all the necessary newborn activities like changing her diaper, making sure her hands were covered with those sleeve caps to prevent her from scratching herself, and swaddling her like a burrito. Which, might I add all came back to me in one fail swoop. I was sitting with her looking into her little brown eyes when it happened, I totally fell into the baby trance. You know, where you loose all track of time, the world stands still and everything is fantastic.
Truly right and good.
I haven't felt that way in a while, and I didn't even realize how long it had been until I was right in the middle of it.
She is wonderful, beautiful and I fell totally in love with her today.

I feel so blessed, happy and relieved that everyone is healthy. Her being so darn cute is just the icing on the cake.
I'm gonna just sit with this happy love for awhile, because it feels so good.
april
xoxo

ONE Year Anniversary : Journal Exchange 2011

Do you have a journal? I have a torn, beat up journal that I keep in my purse. I use {my} journal for bloggy ideas and inspiration. My brain moves at 100 miles a minute, and some of my best thoughts come to me at the most random times. I may be picking my boys up from school or laying in bed just about to fall asleep when I imagine the best way to edit a picture, or a great topic for a post. In moments like that I literally run downstairs and grab my journal. I have totally mastered writing in the dark. ha!

 It's kind of crazy important that way!

October is the one year anniversary of gingerbread, YAY! I wanted to celebrate by doing something I have never done before, like an exchange. What better item to exchange than a journal? 

I was thinking it could be any type of journal, handmade or store bought. Maybe you could buy one and be creative, a personal touch would make it so sweet!

Here is my inspiration:

Source: daintylittledreamer.tumblr.com via April on Pinterest

Source: thecolorfullivingproject.blogspot.com via April on Pinterest

Source: ohdeedoh.com via April on Pinterest

Source: thecreativeplace.blogspot.com via Angela on Pinterest

Are you excited?

If you want to participate {and I hope you will} send me an email and I will pair you with another blogger. I will take emails until October 3rd, then I will email everyone their exchange partner by October 7th.
 I will post a link at the end of October so we can all see our sweet journals!

You can post this button on your blog right now to spread the word.

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This year has been so fantastic! I can't wait to see what the next year holds.
april
xoxo

email me at:

gingerbreadgirlblog@yahoo.com

heavy heart

Good morning and happy Monday! I hope you all have a great restful and fun weekend. I have a few things that are weighing heavy on my heart this morning. I will start with these pretty girls in the picture below. 

Well as I'm sure many of you have seen in the blogosphere this weekend was Blog Sugar in Southern California. I had my ticket and bags were packed, and for Pete's sake I live an hour away from the event. So needless to say I was excited. I met these lovely ladies at Balboa Island for a day of shopping and meeting new friends, because really, I didn't "know" any of them. 

With all the stress of directions, packing, cooking for my 2 days away and my own anxiety about meeting new people I pretty much beat down my own immune system, which is silly because I already have an autoimmune disease. Have you ever done that? Try to make things so perfect that along the way you totally end up sabotaging yourself? Well that's what I did. We were walking around the island and I started feeling weak and sick, and at that instant I knew what I had done to myself. 

I generally suffer in silence and when I should communicate how I feel I try to cover it up and act like everyone else. Not the best plan....

This past weekend was also heavy on my heart because my sister in law is pregnant and past her due date. For some reason my God-daughter just doesn't want to come out. So long story short, I came home, took some medicine and tried to be a supportive sister in law. 

I am writing this post from the hospital, praying that the induction works and she doesn't have a C-section. It's been a long few days, and your prayers would be appreciated. 

These ladies were so sweet and friendly, I only wish I could have spent more time with them. I recommend you visit all of their blogs, they are inspirational and fantastic!

Shauna

Jami

Leslie

Aly

Mindy

Sarah

Tomorrow I will have new baby pictures, complete with a headband I sewed in the hospital waiting room.

Blog Sugar will come again next year, and I will be there for sure!

april

xoxo

Did you win?

The winner of the vintage fabric banner is:

Congrats! Email me with your address and I will send out your lovely!

april

xoxo

Sweet Saturday V.6

Wow. That's all I have to say. This week has flown by and I can't believe it's already the weekend. I am packing for this event and cooking like crazy. I always feel better about leaving the boys overnight if I know their is food in the fridge. I am full of nervous jitters about all of the new people I will meet. Yikes! Let's just hope I don't rip my skirt or fall on my face, cause you know I have done both of those before.

Nonetheless I am here to share a few of last weeks sweet projects and see what awesome things you have been up to this week!

Here are a few features from last week:

Yarn Pumpkins

By: Everything Under the Sun

Child of God {FREE} Printable

By: Junk in Their Trunk

Pumpkin Spice Cake

By: The Real Housewives of Riverton

If you were featured feel free to grab a button from the right hand column!
Congrats!

HERE IS THE 411:
*Please link up your post, not your blog address
*It would be great if you could include the button from the sidebar or link back to gingerbread
* Comment on other friends' post, comments are sweet!

Every week I will highlight a few projects from the previous week, so you can check back next week to see if you were featured!

Ok, let's see what you have to share!

april

xoxo

your ad here->

You can find prices and sizes HERE.

april

xoxo

DIY : Fall Coffee Filter Banner

With Fall upon us I decided to do a craft with the kids. Dylan really loved that it involved markers and the spray bottle, two of his favorite things.

You will need:

* White coffee filters

* Washable markers

* A spray bottle

* Yarn or string

* Scissors

* Glue

First you flatten out the coffee filters and color using with washable markers. We drew Halloween pictures like ghosts, Frankenstein and bats. It's best if you color the entire coffee filter because some of the color will drip off when you spray them. 

Then clip them someplace where you wont mind the marker dripping off onto the ground. Maybe if you spray them in the bathtub that would work as well, just rinse your tub out after they dry.

 Then spray the coffee filters with water and let dry. They dry really fast, maybe 5 minutes!

 After they are dry fold the filters in half and glue to your string.

Then string your lovely where ever you choose! Yay!

Happy almost Fall! 2011 is zooming by way too fast!

I'm off to pack for Blog Sugar. More to come on that next week!

Don't forget that Sweet Saturday will be up tomorrow night and there is only a few shorts days left to enter THIS giftaway!

Happy happys.

april

xoxo

Guest Post : Lindsay from Southern Lovely

Hello there! I'm Lindsay, from Southern Lovely, and I am so honored to be guest blogging here today!

I am a very busy mom of three young children--5 years, 3 years & 7 months. But whenever I get a free minute to myself, I love to create. It's really therapy to me. :)


If you check out my blog, you'll find some inexpensive ways to decorate your house. Here's one of my favorites--

DIY storage bins


We needed more storage in our baby boy's room, but had to be creative where to put it. Right under the crib became the perfect place for something, just had to figure out what to use. I looked at different bins to purchase, but they all seemed a bit much, especially when buying multiple ones. I figured I could surely make something less expensive, and I that's just what I did.


Started with three $1 buckets from the Dollar Tree

Spray painted them--you have to do multiple coats to get it just right. There is a spray paint for plastic, which I tried, I just didn't love the color (there's not much selection). I ended up using my favorite green--Valspar New Avocado.

Add some fabric--found mine at Walmart.
I started by gluing the outer brim of the bucket with the fabric, then worked my way in. It took a lot of glue & cutting to get it to look pretty good. I cut a circle piece for the center of the bucket, then glued it down. It helped to make everything look smooth & more complete.

Lastly, added the vinyl numbers to each bucket, because I just love labeling things. :)

I am really happy with how these little inexpensive buckets turned out!

And here are just a few others that you might enjoy--

Board & Batten

Thrift-store box

Lima bean wreath

Yellow dresser makeover

Thanks for having me! I hope some of your lovely readers will hop on over to my blog sometime!

Happy crafting friends!

april

xoxo

FYI-I have a giveaway going on!

Did you wanna win a pennant banner? 

You can enter here.