These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things... the birthday edition

I turned 29 last week. Ivy is now 2 years old. When she was in my tummy, I felt her kick for the first time on my birthday. How awesome is that?! I'll admit it, the first two birthdays after having her were a little hard to swallow. I didn't get much of a break on either of them. Last year we went to The Melting Pot. Warning: do not take an 18 month old to The Melting Pot. Boiling oil... melted chocolates. Wasn't super. But this year, things were a lot better. Especially because Ivy is at an age where she can jump into the celebration and know what's going on. 

A few people gave me gifts for my birthday, and let me tell you. 

They were awesome gifts! Some of my new favorite things! 

#1--

The first gift was from my husband-- a trip to Molokini on my birthday and an underwater digital camera. Unfortunately I can't share any photos from my birthday trip to Molokini because the camera broke on the trip!! :( Can you believe it? I know so many people with the exact same camera and no one has had problems... so I returned it and am on the lookout for another one... It's still one of my favorite things, though. I just don't have it in my possession at the moment. 

#2--

An Urban Outfitters gift card from my brother and his wife. 

If you read this blog, then I needn't say more. Golden.

#3--

These awesome bracelets from my friend, Katie. They're from Collections in Makawao. I was so busy on my birthday and the day after and the day after that, that these bracelets sat in my purse, still in the packages for 2 days!! Special shout-out to my captain at work, Kaitlen, for putting them on my while I was driving us to the Studios. 

Aren't they gorgeous?!

#4--

I bought this top for myself from Mahina. It was 50% off. I am not allowed to wear strapless (trust me, I've had waaaayyyy too many malfunctions!!!!! while dancing, on planes... the list goes on...) so I sewed on these black straps. They criss-cross in the back. The butterflies are so cute. Mahina is a super-cute boutique. Check it out. 

  

#5--

A few months ago I realized Jack Johnson was having a concert on my birthday! I bought Kit and I tickets. Jack hasn't been to Maui in a few years, but used to always come for Kokua Fest right around my birthday back in 2005-2006. So I'm convinced he puts these concerts on just for my birthday. 

Take note of the plant on the fence in the background: it's lilikoi. Couple that with the fact that this concert also featured Paual Fuga!!! Destiny.

#6--

At the concert, Kit bought me a shirt, to replace my old one from 6 years ago. I love it. Isn't it sooooo awesome?! What a great design.

Here's my old one... eek. And what I did to my old one... :).

 (You can see my tutorial of it in this post). 

#7--

My cousin and her husband met up with us at the concert. She brought me a way cool present from Haiku Style in the Haiku Marketplace. They're two long strands of beads, with shells on the ends... to be worn around the neck, scarf-style (see photo above), or around the waist like this:

#8--

I got to work on Saturday, and one of my students, (shout out to Larissa and Elizabeth), bought me the CD from the concert for my birthday!!!

#9--

Another self-gift: I bought myself a new Volcom swimsuit. These things aren't cheap. I usually by myself a new suit every birthday or so. 

#10--

A few days before my birthday, I got flowers from Kit. :) He said it was the start of "birthday week." Ivy got me a balloon that said "Love You Mom," and I was just about to take a photo of it, but she literally popped it while I was writing #9 of this post!!

#11--

I came home from work the other day, and our friends from Australia brought me a birthday bottle of wine! 

#12--

I may be blogging from a new computer soon! I've been saving up, and my parents gave me some spare change to contribute to the purchase. But I can't seem to make the commitment... Of course, it will be a Mac (i never use anything but). Just trying to get the guts up to make the big purchase. 

And those are a few of my favorite things... the birthday edition.

Aloha, 

Becca

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Tutorial: Kids Chair Cushion

Here's what I did on my day off: Kids chair cushions! 4 of them. 

Here's the adorable fabric up close:

Here's the chair I started with (see previous post here):

Those chairs (and the matching table) got a huge makeover. More on that in another post. 

Here's my template. Yes, that's Sonya Tayeh. No, I don't think she's a genius, (I know, disagree all you want), she was just on the back of my magazine which I used to make my "pattern." I just traced half of my chair seat, a little larger than the actual seat. The top edge is actually the "fold" of the fabric. You need two folded pieces to make the cushion. 

Here's what one cushion looks like (sideways) cut out. I used XL rick-rack (one of my favorite things right now) as the cushion holders. 

Place the two fabric pieces together (wrong side out).

Sew 3 of the four sides together. Don't sew the side where the cushion holders are going to go.

Because the rick rack was the huge kind, I needed 4 yards of it. Each cushion used two 18" pieces. 

I love these two colors. I couldn't choose just one... so I didn't.

I set the cushion on the chair and put the rick rack right where I wanted it on the chair. I put it inside, then sewed almost the whole side together, leaving a 4" section open so I could turn it inside out. 

Here's what it looked like:

Then I stitched a cross in the center to give it depth when I put the filling in. 

Filled it up...

I sewed the whole side together, not just the section that was open. Then I also sewed the rick rack together because I felt like it pulled the cushion to close to the back of the chair the way it was. 

Ivy's dressed it up with her Easter necklaces. :)

And those are the cushions. :) Details on the painting of the chairs will come later. 

Aloha, Rebecca

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These are a few of my favorite things... the Forever 21 edition

Forever 21. I've had mixed feelings about this shop for the last few years. Once you've passed age 21, can you still shop there and feel okay about it? Do the clothes even fit you after age 21? Is it okay that the clothes are cheap, and the clothes are, well, cheap? 

Regardless of how I've felt about F21 in the last 8 years since turning 21, lately, they've been introducing some new things, priced really cheaply, and I'm a little bit hooked.

First up: their tank tops. $4.80. Can't beat that, not even at Wal-Mart. Their long camisoles are an even better deal. $2.80. Every couple of weeks I go in and re-stock my inventory, especially since they have soooo many different colors!

 These earrings were $1.90. 'Nuff said.

Now, I'm not sure if I bought this mirror for me, or for my 2-year-old daughter... either way, I smile every time I see it. Turquoise. Heavy-duty. Uber cute. $1.90 or something like that.

 This is my second batch of these adorable rosette bobby pins. These ones were on sale for $1.99. I wear them to work to pull back my side-bangs almost daily. 

In the checkout line I spotted a lint roller for $1.00. That's nuts. I've been wanting one for sewing projects to gather up all the loose strings. Never thought I'd find one at F21.

I have a weekend full of shows coming up for work. $1.00 eyelashes?!! I couldn't believe it! It's like they knew I needed them! Just wish they came with glue.

I can't remember it now, but the name on this ring was what caught my attention and made me fall in love with it. It was something along the lines of "Hot Pink Vine." $3.90. I am in love with this ring. 

You can see a little speck of aqua paint on my hand... that's a great segue into tomorrow's post... I spent allllllllll day painting. (That's why I don't have my wedding ring on... don't paint wearing your wedding ring). Here's a sneak peak of what you'll see tomorrow:

See you tomorrow!

Aloha, Becca

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Jed and Ivy's first blog party... anything goes! Help make it a success!

Welcome to Jed and Ivy's first blog party! I'm sure Jed and Ivy have no idea what's going on, seeing that Jed is not even 2 years old, and Ivy is not even 3. Oh well, more fun for us adults. Here's the rules for our first party:

1. Link up anything. Everything. As many projects, blog posts, etsy shops, facebook pages, ANYTHING. This is our first party and the goal is just to get people partying, not overwhelm anyone with rules!

2. Please follow our blog! Via email, or the follow button up above.

3. Please grab our new blog button below and put it on your blog, either in the post or on the sidebar.

4. Spread the word! Tell your friends about this party!

<div align="center"><a href="http://jedandivy.blogspot.com/" title="Jed and Ivy"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f275/gerry100/jedandivysquare-small.jpg" alt="Jed and Ivy" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

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Our new blog button!

Here's our very first blog button. Still some kinks to work out, but I'm working on it...

<div align="center"><a href="http://jedandivy.blogspot.com/" title="Jed and Ivy"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f275/gerry100/jedandivysquare-small.jpg" alt="Jed and Ivy" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

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This table... when will it be done?!!

 I'm desperately trying to finish the Kids Pottery Barn table and chairs...

I want it to be adorable and cute and FINISHED.

My original posts about this adorable set... (yes, posts is plural, because it's taking me forever!) are here and here.

Yesterday I worked on it. I'm proud to say that everything has a coat of paint on it. One coat. Two of the four chairs are completely FINISHED. 

But first, I had to do this to the table:

Thanks mom for lending me your garage sale find: liquid sandpaper.

I kept Ivy busy with a little bit of orange and purple paint, a box, and a paintbrush... well, the dog bowl ended up orange. Her slippers ended up purple. I asked her to look and smile for a photo, but she was too concentrated on her painting. 

Hopefully this never-ending (but enjoyable!!) project will be done by the end of the month so I can finally post my "after" at Shine Your Light blog's before and after party!

Aloha, Becca

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