Mini's Mama

DIY modern, framed silhouette photos

Posted on September 1, 2015

Here is a super quick, easy and best of all CHEAP diy project for ya. About a year ago I became obsessed with portrait silhouettes. I love the way they capture children’s profiles and I knew I wanted to have them made for my kids. After doing a bunch of research, I found out that you can have these hand cut in Disney’s Magic Kingdom while you are there. And it is only $8!! Say what??? I couldn’t believe it. But it is true. There is actually a small kiosk on main street (down a side street off of main street) and you can have them done there. In literally 5 minutes. It is truly the greatest souvenir I have ever gotten at Disney.

Normally you see these framed in small, black, oval frames. It is the classic way to showcase them. Yeah, that was not going to happen here. We needed bigger. Bolder. Dare I say..snazzier?

I had the idea to frame them in black frames with a big white mat. I got the frames at Ikea and loved the size of them. There was a large gap though since the silhouettes I got from Disney are not that large. To make up the space I decided to grab some scrapbook paper and layer it. I chose gold glitter because I just loved it. But honestly. Every time I am in the craft store I see another paper that I think would look so gorgeous layered in this frame.

It was super easy to create this look. I had to cut down the scrapbook paper just a little. I used double stick tape to adhere the silhouette to the paper and then made sure it was centered in the frame. Taped the scrapbook paper to the mat and then sealed it all up. I used command strips to hang them, so if I do decide to change out the paper it will be very easy.

I ended up hanging the frames on the wall in the kids hallway. Between their rooms and their shared bathroom. I love that I can see Joey’s little picture poking out while I am working in the kitchen. I am super pleased with how this project came out. It was cheap (total cost for both was just about $40.00) and really simple. I love the modern twist on the classic old silhouette photos.

Oh and just to add, even if you don’t have a trip to Disney planned in the future, there are different ways to get the silhouettes created for you. I have seen many DIY projects on pinterest and many cities have artists that specialize in this. Good luck! Let me know if you make one!

XO Danielle

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The Life

An open letter to my husband

Posted on August 17, 2015

To my husband,

You don’t deserve what I’m about to throw at you. You left this morning kissing good-bye a cheery wife and kids who were still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. You worked your full day and are completely unsuspecting of what is about to hit you when you walk through the door.

Let me start from the beginning. Moments after your car turned the corner leaving for a busy day at work your 4 year old decided she was never eating breakfast again. Complete with a tantrum thrown in the pantry as she shouted the day old question.. Why oh why can’t I have m&ms for breakfast??

Because I said so.

Crying continues. Your son took his cup of Cheerios and quietly marked a trail leading from the toy box to his bedroom and back again. In case Indiana Jones gets lost after his nap I’m sure the cereal will lead him back to his favorite soccer ball. That is if the ants don’t carry the trail off first. Oh who am I kidding. He would never nap that long.

After playing (trashing) the playroom and once again refusing to clean up a single toy {I’m too hot and dizzy and tired to clean now. I really just need to relax} I began to lose my cool.

You see, breakfast tantrums I can handle. Even the craziest of kids can be calmed with a cup full of cereal, netflix and the promise of a treat later. Mother of the year, I know. The Cheerio trail was swept up more easily than the precision it was placed down with. But looking at the toys thrown all over the playroom had me ticking. As I threw toys into their designated baskets I explained to your daughter that I would not be going back in there to play with her. Ever. Dramatic I know, but I too was hot and tired from cleaning up. Cue the tears once again.

I wiped smushed peanut butter and jelly off of faces, fingers, high chair trays and our bedroom carpet. Please don’t ask. The day was quickly spiraling out of control.

We painted and play-dohed. We colored and glued. By the time the baby woke from his nap she had created more artwork than a kid at a 12 week long summer camp and then declared she was bored.

After waking your son created 6 milk puddles from flipping his sippy cup. Leak proof I think not. Someone really should complain about that. I would have, but I got sidetracked mopping the milk finger painting drawing off of the wood floor.

The day continued as usual. I said stop. They went. I said don’t touch. The touched. Don’t go. Out the door they wandered. Dinner and bath time were as equally appealing as a root canal. Complete with your daughter refusing to eat, putting on dance shows and then shoving the entire plate of food down her throat so she could have a special treat. It’s amazing what that m&m is capable of. Bath time was the usual splash fest ending with pajama wrestling the baby into his footie pajamas while he practiced his latest move for cirque de soile. And I didn’t even know he got the call back.

Kisses were doled out, the last of the tears wiped from their faces and I have since retreated to our dark bedroom with my glass of wine. Glass… Bottle… Tomato…tom-ah-to. Same difference. So go ahead. Ask me how my day was. I’d love to tell you all about it.

Love always, Your loving wife who wouldn’t trade it for the world just sometimes needs to really bitch about it.

XO Danielle

I love to connect with my readers on social media, so feel free to share this with a friend, and find me on Instagram and Facebook.

The Life

a new chapter

Posted on August 10, 2015

This past week was an interesting one for us over here. It was the first week I have been officially a stay – at – home mom. Say what?! I know. I am still trying to wrap my head around it too. If you didn’t know, I have been working for a medical supply/distribution company since graduating college. For the past couple of years I have been working for one company specifically. I really did have a dream job. I did have a 40 hour a week position. And yes, it was ridiculously hard to keep up with work + the kids. It was a struggle most days, but I found ways to make it work easier for me. It may have been stressful but I loved it.

I could go on and on about how I made it work. Waking up before the kids, working long after they went to bed. Stressing over emails as I raced to preschool pickup. But none of that really matters anymore. 2 weeks ago my company announced that they were going out of business. Bankrupt. I cannot tell you how shocked I was. My last day was just a few days after that. One minute I was working and the next my passwords were invalid and my user had been disabled. One by one they let over 1000 people go. And to tell you the truth, it makes me really sad.

I know I have always dreamed about being a stay at home mom. But I wanted to do it when I was ready. I wasn’t ready to stop working yet. Sure, my days are a ton less stressful. I am not racing to put breakfast down so I can go log in and check emails. But my days also feel a little empty. Or as I complained to Mike, “everyday feels like Saturday”.

I had a number of mixed feelings in the days following the layoff. I was sad, then angry. If you know me at all you know that I thrive on chaos. I perform best under stressful situations. I liked my busy, crazy life. As the days went on I felt almost depressed about the whole situation and then I realized why I was feeling so emotional. Working at that job was the only link I had left from before I was a wife and a mom. I got that job when Mike and I were only dating. I had that job when I got engaged, married, pregnant. When Mike got promoted and we moved to Naples, the job came with me. Then we had Joey. And I still had that job. That piece of me. That job followed me to Birmingham. I have had to adjust and readjust my work life to fit my family life so many times. I always made it work. I always kept a great balance. And now it’s gone. Completely out of my control. And it was one of the few things I had left from my previous life. (You know, life before I went on and made my little family).

Then in swooped Mike. To remind me that I always wanted more time to write. To grow my small business. To work on blogging. To do the 1008 projects I have half started. To be able to take my kiddos to the museum on a Tuesday morning. To go to the park and not check my emails every 3 minutes. And I took a deep breath. I waited a long time for this. And I probably would have never decided to make this choice on my own, so in a sense it’s ok that it was made for me.

So I got laid off. And just like that I will start a new chapter. I am still sad to see change in the parts of me that I wanted to keep the same forever, but I am so excited for what this chapter will bring. I guess this is all a part of the master plan. Time to stop fighting and just roll with it. If you’re looking for me, I will be spending every “work” day soaking up the sun watching my sweet little fish swim out the last of these hot summer days. And I will be enjoying every second of it.

Danielle

The Life

why you should LOVE instagram

Posted on August 4, 2015

Chances are if you are reading this, you partake in some sort of social media activity. Maybe you are a facebook-er. Always scrolling through your feed. Reading news, looking at photos, stalking your high school ex-boyfriend. I don’t know what people do on there all day. There are videos to watch, photo albums to scroll through, happy birthday’s to be wished. Maybe you have a private message. Or an invite to a Origami Owl party. Your ex-neighbors cousin’s sister’s 3rd kid just started pre-k. How stinking cute. Don’t forget to LIKE it.

Do you Twitter? Tweet, tweet. That’s the only thing I think of when I think of twitter. Little tweeting birds, with nothing to say. That’s my problem with Twitter. I have too much to say. They cut me off, and I don’t go for that. I would literally have to tweet 30 times to just tell a story. I don’t have time for all that tweeting. I do however, appreciate Twitter for the one-liners. Some people can really get a lot across in a sentence. Unfortunately I am not one of them. I need a journal. Double bound, college spaced, monogrammed cover. (I live in Alabama now, the more I monogram, the more I fit in). So Twitter, just really isn’t my cup of tea.

And then there is Instagram. Oh Instagram with your hashtags and fancy filters. Instagram made it to the top of my list. I’ll tell you why…

1.) Filters. Need I say more. I used to be able to completely filter out my wrinkled forehead. It is getting harder as I get older, but the filters help. Stuck in cold weather? No problem. Filter a suntan on your pale face. No risk of skin disease there. Black and white filters are the best. My children always look so angelic in black and white. It filters out all colors, sounds of whining, and hides peanut butter smears on their cheeks. Total perfection.

2.) A glimpse. That’s all Instagram is. It is a glimpse into your day, meal, event. It is the story’s cover photo. The picture bloggers use to draw you in. The best of the best. You can take 50 pictures and it is the one that makes the cut. The good one. Filtered of course.

3.) The beauty. There are so many amazing photographers on Instagram. Posting gorgeous photos of the sun rise, ocean views, pregnant woman, children laughing with popsicle stained fingers. Photos that resemble art. Art that I didn’t have to take my fuzzy socks off to view. Can’t beat that.

4.) The inspiration. I have been motivated to be a better mother, wife, dreamer, blogger, business owner and writer all through scrolling IG feeds. People talk about God and grace and giving and how to be a better person. They lay it all out there. Right under their picture. Raw and full of emotion. For you to drink it all in. To relate and connect.

5.) Research. Ok, let me explain this one. When I first started Baby Led Weaning with Joey I didn’t have a whole lot of resources. I mean, yes, Google is my friend. But that can be so overwhelming and be full with tons of unnecessary information. I knew I wanted to feed Joey with this method, I just needed ideas to help get me going. Insert hashtags here. I would just go to the explore page. Search hashtags #BLW #BABYLEDWEANING #6MONTHS #BABYFOOD etc. Suddenly I would be flooded with photos and ideas of what to feed Joey and how to do it. It has proven to be a great resource for ideas for me. Granted, you still have to do your own actual “research”. I wouldn’t feed my baby honey at 5 months just because someone on Instagram did. That’s just common sense.

6.) Exploring. Take my last point for example. You can use that same concept in so many ways. Need a recipe to use up 3 lbs of asparagus? Try searching #asparagus and see how people have used it. Want to check out the quaint beach town you are thinking of visiting? Search it on IG. Chances are you will get a glimpse into the town and see where the good spots to go are, just by seeing what other people posted.

7.) I know I already talked about inspiration, but there is so much weight loss/clean eating/healthy being inspiration on Instagram. Just check out hashtags like #transformationtuesday #fitfam #whole30 #cleaneats. All of these hashtags are going to be full of people that are interested in the same things as you. Maybe you are a mommy blogger. Check out hashtags like #momlife #mommyblogger #blogger #ontheblog. It’s a great way to connect with people who have the same interests as you and motivate yourself to do more of what you are doing.

Instagram takes my social media cake. I love looking back at my own feed and seeing all my little snippets of life. I see one picture but my memory takes me back to the day. The place, the food, the people. If you’re on Instagram, you can follow me @minismama. If you aren’t an Instagrammer yet, you should definitely sign up. It’s like getting to read a tiny piece of someone’s diary and the best part is you get to decide if you want to read more just by hitting the FOLLOW button.

30 things to know before turning 30

Posted on July 25, 2015

I am having a hard time believing that I am turning 30 this weekend. I have to admit, I am actually kind of excited. Looking back on the past 10 years there is so much I would say to myself at 20. So much I wish I would have known. Well actually I did know. I’m pretty sure everything about to be discussed was already told to me by my mother. Too bad I didn’t start listening to her sooner. Maybe not too bad. Maybe I had to learn all these life lessons for a reason. Maybe I wouldn’t be the same “me” if I had known sooner…

30. Wear sunscreen. Tan skin looks great in your teens and 20’s. The older you get the more you start to resemble a raisin. Tan wrinkles aren’t as cute. Start the sunscreen young.

29. Did I mention the soft skin parts? If you aren’t going to listen to my advice about applying sunscreen everywhere at least put it on your neck, chest and cleavage. Those areas take the sun the worst and there is nothing sexy about a sunburned turkey neck. So trust me on this one. Wear the sunscreen.

28. Do not. I repeat. Do not eat fast food. Yes, the fries are delish. So delicious the cellulite that has now started to appear on the front of your legs thinks you should go back and get some more. Don’t listen. Don’t eat the fast food.

27. Don’t beg. For a job. For a boyfriend. For friends. Just don’t do it. Be yourself and all those things will come find you. Know your worth. If you know it and believe in yourself, so will others. No one likes a beggar.

26. Stop over drinking. You don’t even realize you are over drinking at 22 years old because at that age you can drink 4 margaritas and wake up like a pretty shiny penny, grab a Starbucks and be on time for your 8am chemistry class. At 28 if you drink 4 margaritas you will wake up half dressed on the couch thinking you are the 7th dimension of hell with Satan himself stabbing you before you realize you are in fact in your home being poked by your toddler with a pen that rolled out of your purse when you flung it on the floor the night before. Stop over drinking.

27. Don’t curse. It wasn’t attractive when you cursed as a teenager and it’s less attractive now. It’s least attractive when your child drops something in Target and shouts “oh shit”.

26. Marry the family man. You will date lots of guys. They will all be a little different. Marry the one that has the same family goals as you do. Trust me. You don’t want to get married and then have to convince your husband to start a family. If you aren’t on the same page from the start you likely won’t ever be. Luckily enough. I was smart enough to know this 🙂

25. Keep your car clean. (I’m working on this). It’s normal to have a messy car in high school. Littered with textbooks and magazines. Diet coke cans in all the cup holders. It is not normal to pull up to a valet at a nice restaurant in your late 20’s, open the car door and have an entire garbage bags worth of crap fall out onto the pavement.

24. Eat vegetables. Seriously. They are good for you and they are likely the cure for cancer growing right in our own backyards. Lets not underestimate the power of spinach. Less pizza. More spinach. Got it?

23. Be spontaneous. Take a road trip. Book a flight to Europe. Drive 3 hours to see famous lighthouse just because you feel like it. One day you will have babies and while you can still do all of those things, spontaneity becomes a thing of the past. Unless you are cool with snatching your kids from their beds in the middle of the night and packing all 7,890,204 things they need for one overnight trip to go somewhere on a whim. If so, more power to ya!

22. Go to college. I didn’t want to. Trust me. At 19 I had a billion better things to do. But I did it, (thanks for the push Ma) and I am proud of it. You will never regret getting an education.

21. Spend frivolous money. Do it while you are young and careless. Not too frivolous, but just enough. You will eventually grow up and know better. So buy the shoes and enjoy them.

20. Sleep in. On your days off. When you want to. On a Tuesday just because you can. Do it while your young, because the older you get it gets harder to do. Also the fact that every time you sleep past 8 when you are older people assume that you are either 1) ill or 2) you drank too much.

19. Be a good friend. It is an amazing feeling to get to look back and have the same friends since early childhood. Be a friend and you will always have friends.

18. Do favors for people. Lend them your car. Bring them a meal when they are sick. People will remember the nice way you treated them and in return will do nice things for you. You get more bees with honey.

17. Be a good hostess. Always make guests feel welcome in your home. You are going to be 30. Not 18. Offer them a drink. Don’t just sit down and expect them to help themselves.

16. Appreciate every single thing you have. Not everyone has the luxury of an education. Nice home. Family. Don’t take anything for granted.

15. Throw away all the tiny, sequin dresses. Do it before you go to try one on and have to sob uncontrollably into a bottle of vodka. You will eventually outgrow them. If not by size, hopefully by level of maturity. Toss them. All of them. Even the one in the back with the tags that you swear will fit one day.

14. Dance. Even if you don’t think your very good. Even if everyone is watching. Just dance.

13. Be kind. Karma is only a bitch if you are. Be nice to people. All people. And in return people will be nice to you. Trust me, it goes full circle.

12. Believe in yourself. If you aren’t going to, why should anyone else?

11. Pay your bills on time. One day you will want to buy a car, or a house, or rent an apartment and they will find out that you buried all those bills under the seat in your car. That won’t end well.

10. Stop worrying. It causes wrinkles and anxiety. Neither of which are fun. Whatever will be will be. So just buckle up and enjoy the ride.

9. Stop caring what people think. Be you, for you. At the end of the day if you are happy with yourself that is all that matters.

8. Do not gossip. I repeat. Do not gossip. It will come back to bite you in the ass. He said/she said is an ugly business and if you get caught in the middle of it you will not win.

7. Don’t be friends with gossipers. Be friends with people who have dreams, ideas, goals. People who inspire you and share feelings with you. Do not give in to people who only want to talk down about other people. You are better then that.

6. Eat the birthday cake. The calories will not make or break whatever fad diet you are on. Enjoy the celebration and eat the cake.

5. Wear high heels. Wear them a lot because the older you get the harder it is to walk around in them. Wear them high while you can.

4. Save money. For a rainy day. For a new car. For a vacation. For whatever you may want.

3. Always find the silver lining. Even in the darkest of times there is good to be found. Sometimes it’s harder to find than others but it is always there. Find it.

2. Listen to your mother. She has likely been through everything you are going through and has wise advice to pass down. Listen to it.

1. Trust your path. Know that where you are is exactly where you are supposed to be. Every thing happens for a reason.

Cheers to 30! I am so excited for the next decade!
XO
Danielle

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