5x7 Folded Card

Swirl Heart 5x7 folded card

Quick and easy: Christmas photo card creation at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Taking Fab Baby Photos

If you've ever seen my daughter's tumblr site (first blog post) you know that I've had a lot of experience photographing Emmalin.  We usually get some pretty awesome pictures whenever we stage an at home photo shoot. 

Tip 1: Find some cute props. (I found this hat on sale at Children's Place. The blanket was a gift from a friend.)
Tip2: Find a soft fabric for a back drop. This particular backdrop is a fleece blanket. Textures can make a big difference in your photo so the softer the better. You can use anything around the house to hold the back drop up just as long as it's free from creases and wrinkles.

Tip 3: Get on the same level as your little one.

Tip 4:  Good lighting. I find the best time to take pictures is in indirect morning sunlight. I've found that when the flash is on it gives Emmalin a funny color.

Tip 5: Take tons of pictures! You'll surely get at least one good one.

Tip 6: Play around with your camera. "Auto" isn't always the best setting.

Tip 7: Crop your photos! A little touch up goes a long way.

It doesn't always have to be this formal. Just by using tips 3-5 you'll get some great snapshots.

Happy Shooting!

Favorite things: Cannon PowerShot SD780 IS

Not so extreme couponing

Long time no blog.  It has been quite busy in the Sosby household. Brandon went to Canada for a couple of weeks for work, Emmi has perfected growling and Brandon and I have taken up fishing.  While those excuses are pretty good, the truth is I've grown to be a big fan of couponing. It can be quite time consuming but we all have an hour or so that we spend in front of our laptops browsing the web for some form of entertainment. Why not save money doing it?  I'm not quite to the "Extreme Couponing" level nor do I think I ever will, but it is possible to save a lot of money just buy using a few coupons at the check out counter. Here are a few tips and tricks that I've learned:

• You don't have to buy the Sunday paper each week for great coupons. Actually, spending $3 a week on coupons that you probably wont use can get quite expensive. I recommend finding a good coupon clipping service and ordering just the coupons that you'll use. I recommend http://www.couponsthingsbydede.com/. 
• A good way to start couponing is to check a coupon database to see if there are any coupons for the products on your grocery list.
• There are great printable coupons online. If you really like a certain brand of something, check their website. Also, Facebook is a breeding ground for free samples and coupons. I recommend setting up a junk email address and register for all of the coupons and samples you want. 
• Find a good couponing blog. My favorites are hip2save.com and mydallasmommy.com.
• My favorite store to coupon at is Target. Target has great Target coupons on their website. Special trick... you can use one Target coupon and one Manufacturer's coupon for each purchase.  
• Some coupon lingo: 
• "Limit 1 coupon per purchase. Limit 4 like coupons" Translation- you can use 1 coupon for each product that you are purchasing but you can't use more that 4 of the same coupon no matter how many products you buy.
• "Limit 1 per transaction"- You can only use one coupon per checkout
• "Do not double" this is a note to the cashier. Some coupons at some stores will double in value depending on the stores coupon policy.
• Look at store ads for great weekly deals.
• Clothing and craft stores usually have good coupons good for one item or a percentage off your entire purchase. Check the store's website before going shopping.
• Lastly, several of my friends have said "I feel weird about handing a chunk of coupons to the cashier. I'd feel cheap and frumpy."   My suggestion- get cute and go shopping. You'll feel a lot more confident handing over a chunk of coupons if your hair and make up are done.

I used to think coupons were only good for crap I didn't need, but since I've started couponing I never paid more than $4.50 for a jumbo pack of diapers, 57cents for liquid Similac formula AND I've scored some great steam in the bag vegetables for 4 cents each. 

Until next week!

Favorite thing this week: Singer Sewing Machine

Shower Gifts

Being a new mom, I constantly get asked "My friend is about to have a baby. What would be a good shower gift?"  Usually I'm caught off guard by the question and can only think to say "Diapers."  So, here's a list of great shower gifts I wish I would have remembered to say.

1.) Safety 1st Diaper Pail -  It's cheap. Great at containing the used diaper smell AND unlike the Diaper Genie, you can use any regular trash bag.
2)  Olivia the Owl-  Emmalin loves this toy.
3) Graco Snugride Infant Car Seat-Zoey-  I love this car seat. It's fairly light, super cute and it's very easy to find the additional matching black base (if you need a second one). The fabric comes off too for those unfortunate moments that require a good washing afterward.
4) JJ Cole Mode Tote- I get a lot of compliments on this bag. It's a great size and easy to wipe off. There's a lot of different styles too if you don't necessarily want pink.
5) Summer Infant Slumbersack - Emmalin decided she didn't like to be swaddled at about 3 weeks old. After reading all of the new SIDS research, I was scared to death to put blankets in the bassinet so I was really glad to find this sleep sack.
6) Boppy - I've used this thing everyday for 3 months. There are super cute covers for it too.

There are so many baby products out there so it's nice to have some insight before you buy. There are additional products listed at the bottom of my previous posts if you need more shower ideas.
Please leave me comments. I'd love to know what my reader's favorite products are.

Until next week!

I'm a terrible blogger :(

Ok so my goal of blogging every Monday didn't quite work out this week.  BUT now you'll have TWO blogs only three days apart.
Emmalin has been working on getting her first tooth this week, so needless to say it hasn't exactly been the most pleasant of weeks. In addition, I've found myself strangely addicted to reruns of Dr. Who and The Ghost Whisperer. (Side note... if I were ever a ghost on that show and Jennifer Love Hewitt paraphrased my last words to my loved ones before I disappeared into the light... I'd probably come back and haunt her again until she repeated me word for word.)  I did start a couple of projects this week though. They're still in the works so I don't have pictures for you yet, but  I do have pictures of a play-mat I worked on a couple of weeks ago. In the mean time I've decided to open a store on etsy.com, so if you really like an item on my blog maybe you'll find it in stock.

My husband has recently started a new eating plan and seems to be shrinking out of his jeans faster than I can buy them. A few of his older jeans were pretty worn at the bottom and not exactly prime candidates for  ebay resale.  SO I chopped off the legs and cut the denim into squares and stitched them together. You'll need enough squares of denim to make 2' x 3' quilt. ( I used a dark pair and a light pair of jeans for the contrast. ) I used a soft velvety fabric for the reverse side and a thin bit of padding.

For the pillow and toys I used a 2 inch foam and scrap fabric. (Notice the owl from the last project?)

Until next time!

Favorite Thing: Platex Drop-ins bottles

Nursery Bedding

Hello again!  My new goal is to blog every Monday so check back weekly to make sure I'm not slacking on the job. :)
As far as nursery bedding goes, they do have some really cute ones in the store but they all looked alike for the most part. Girl bedding was super girlie and super expensive for the most part. I wanted something girlie but not so girlie that Brandon would feel awkward in Emmi's room. To save money and get bedding that actually matched my owl theme I decided to make it.

I found some great owl fabric  and the coordinating pink and chartreuse at Joann's (check their website for a 40% off coupon). After stitching together the front panels I stitched on the brown and white owl outline and stitched on some felt wings and facial features. Finally, I added some quilt batting and a pink backing.

Favorite thing: Bright Starts Swing

Until next Monday!

Nursery Organization

Hello again!

I'm currently working on some other projects, but while those are in limbo I wanted to post a nursery organization tip. This is super easy and cheap. Buy a canvas shoe rack and add some labels and you're done. The shoe rack can easily be hung on the wall or on the closet door if you're cramped for space. Either way... its amazing  when you can send your husband to the nursery to get something and he can actually find it and bring it to you. You can do your labels anyway you like. I found some clip art, printed mine on regular paper, cut them into squares, laminated them with easy self stick laminate and stapled the labels to each pocket. here are a couple of examples:

. there ya go! simple organizing for under $20!

Favorite item today: Graco Pack N Play with mobile. (Emmi loves it!)