The Giggling Bunny Goes on Vacation

Tonight, I'm blogging from beautiful Pensacola Beach. It not only boasts white sand and blue water - it also is a great "secret" because it's not as well-known as Destin - which is where most people go. We get better deals on accommodations and less crowds - both are win-win to me! Not to mention history, culture and less commercialization. So sshhhhh, don't tell anyone ;-)

Pinterest

I recently discovered a great site to keep track of tutorials, links, blogs, inspiration - basically anything you would normally bookmark on your browser. It's called Pinterest! It's a virtual "pin board." You select or "pin" photos that are either inspiration or can link to websites, tutorials or products.

You can also search for pins posted by others. I found things that normally would have been difficult to find through a Google search. Think of it as an improved Google search - especially if you are looking for creative ideas. I'm warning you now though - it's very addicting!!

Google Web Fonts

As a web developer, I'm always on the look-out for the latest and greatest. CSS-based websites are my passion and specialty. Give me a good design (I used to do designs but don't anymore) and I'll sit down and code a site for you. Before kids came along, I would put on headphones with my favorite music, surround myself with junk food and code for hours. I love it!

I'm so excited about Google Web Fonts. Clients almost always go for the glitziest of web designs. But in the web world - accessibility is everything. Fun fonts are a nice touch to websites but could only be done in graphic form so we were limited to using them in mastheads, web buttons and images. Now, with Google Web Fonts, we can use them in the actual text and content of websites.

How far web development has come! I'm excited to see what comes out next.

Strawberry and Mixed Green Salad - Foodie Friday

Every Friday I'm going to try to post something about food - whether it be a recipe, a favorite snack, or a restaurant review. So here's my first Foodie Friday... Strawberry and Mixed Green Salad!

I first tried this salad when my mom made it for a get together. The ingredients sounds strange but it is really good! My husband loves salad but wasn't a fan of this recipe because of the fruit in it. On the other hand, I'm kind of "eh" on salad in general, but I love this salad!

Strawberry and Mixed Green Salad

Ingredients:
1 bag of mixed greens
chopped strawberries
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 apple, chopped
nuts (optional, I dislike nuts in salad so I left them out.)
shredded carrot (optional)
shredded cheese (optional, my mom puts cheese in hers but I leave it out.)

And if you can find it - Brianna's Blush Wine Vinagerette Dressing - it is amazing with this salad!

Toss everything together and enjoy! The fruit adds enough sweetness and flavor so you don't absolutely need dressing.

Yup, that would be my Caffeine-free Coke! At least I'm eating salad, right? ;-)

Car Seat Cover - Etsy Love

I ordered a car seat cover on Etsy (also known as the.best.site.ever) a couple of months ago in anticipation of my youngest moving from her infant carrier to our Britax Marathon. She still fits in her carrier (Which is convenient for me, especially when she is sleeping!) so we're holding off on moving her into the Britax.

The slipcover is from FattyMamaDesigns. It goes right over the old Britax cover so it has some nice cushion to it. My husband still needs to feed the straps through. It is very well-made and fits the seat perfectly. I love pink and brown together - girly and not too busy so we can live with it for a few years.

I moved my oldest into a Graco Nautilus because her head was higher than her Marathon and she wanted to  have a headrest. I did a lot of research and went back and forth about getting another Marathon. The great thing about the Nautilus is that it will convert into a high-back booster and later into a backless booster. It actually has more padding than the Britax so she seems to be comfier. And it is pink, so of course she likes it better than her Britax :-)

Bird Applique

I decided to try machine applique on a shirt. I have done burp cloths for A (cute and fun to do) but not a shirt and definitely not knit. T-shirts intimidate me because they are knit and because they are layered so you have to be so careful not to sew it together!!

There are a ton of great applique tutorials online. I really like this one by Sew Like My Mom. She has great pictures and clear instructions. I did not use fusible interfacing for this project because I was lazy. I used an old white shirt of L's because I wasn't sure how it would turn out. I drew the bird free-handed and used scrap fabric for the body and beak (I didn't have yellow and settled on orange.). I did a Google image search for pictures to give me ideas on how to do the beak and legs. I decided it would be the least amount of work to just make the legs straight. I used a contrasting pink button for the eye and hand-sewed it in place. I decided that I am not a fan of hand-sewing buttons :-)

Some tips when you machine applique on knit:

• Do not pull at the fabric when you are stitching. Because it is knit it will pucker when you pull. I learned this the hard way! You can kind of see on my bird's belly where the t-shirt puckers. 
• Use Wonder Under or some sort of fusible interfacing. It helps keep your edges in place. Again, I was lazy this time around and just pinned my bird in place.
• Test out your stitches on scrap fabric until you find what you like best. I played around until I decided on a zig zag stitch that was closer together but not completely close together like a satin stitch (the kind you see on the embroidered shirts done completely by machine).
• Be very careful while you sew. Pull up the back of the shirt so you don't sew it together. I go very slowly, a few stitches at a time, turning to the shape of the bird as a I go. I keep my needle down so I can just turn it bit by bit and keep it all in place. 

This is is what it looks like while sewing - a big, bunched up mess!

Yes, that's a big water spot... See how the birdie puckers (not laying completely flat)? That's because I pulled while sewing.

L's class animal for next year is a seal so I'm planning on doing a seal shirt for her to wear on the first day of school. I'm trying to start thinking about it now and not procrastinate like I usually do!

L wanted to model her bird right away. She insisted on posing with her hula hoop complete with wet hair from the pool. Oh, the life of a 4 year-old!

Personalized Waterproof Labels - Etsy Love

I love Etsy! It's a great place to find unique and handmade items. Here is my latest Etsy Love - Waterproof Vinyl Labels! They are from mytwobabes for L when she goes back to preschool this year. They are super duper cute and waterproof, so hopefully they will hold up.

I compared many labels and for the price and the style (can't beat the cute scalloped edges for that girly touch!) - these were the best deal. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist and I notified the seller the colored ovals are *slightly* off center. She responded that it could not be helped but thanked me for letting her know. There is a code on her Facebook for 10% off. I also ordered a set for A when she eventually goes to preschool! The same color and same style, of course :-) Have to be equal with two girls!