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Less Stress, More Fun Holiday Picture Tips
Photography

Less Stress, More Fun Holiday Picture Tips

by Jill
written by Jill

Sometimes the stress of getting card-worthy family pictures is enough to make us want to draw stick figures in Paint, I know. But before you make such a desperate (genius?) move, check out these tips on how to get holiday pictures without crying and sweating (too much).

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1. Take the focus off your family. Literally put the focus of your camera on something else in the foreground of the picture, and have your family in the background.

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You’d never know that my son was whining in this shot, and that my toddler was not cooperating, either. I didn’t have to stress about smiles, hair, or other small details. I simply focused my camera on the jingle bell ornaments in front.

I shot this with my DSLR, so I could control the settings more. I think this was shot around a 2.0 aperture, with my focal point directed at the jingle bells.

But if you don’t have a “fancy” camera, you could still try to achieve the same look, though it might not be as pronounced. Try using the “macro” setting on your point and shoot (usually an icon of a flower), and be sure your family is really far back from the object you’re focusing on.

2. Put on your PJs and jump into bed.

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No need to stress about what to wear. Bust out those holiday PJs now, jump into a well-lit bed, and promise the kids you’ll let them jump around after they sit still for a few shots.

I posted this picture in a post I did recently on good holiday PJ deals. A few people wanted to know my settings and how I lit this. Nothing fancy. This was in my son’s room, and the window was to our right. The light was streaming directly into the room and onto the bed in front of us. I took his white duvet out of the cover, and it acted as a natural reflector.

Technically, part of the duvet and my hand are blown out, but our faces are well lit, and that’s all I was hoping for.

Here’s the shot straight out of the camera.

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Settings: f/4.0, 160ss, 1600 ISO, shot with my 50 1.4 lens on a Canon MK II.

I cropped it, and adjusted brightness and white balance in Lightroom.

3. Embrace real life.

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Courtney from Click It Up A Notch has a great tutorial on how to make your Christmas photos look like more than snapshots.

Embrace the mess and activities this time of year. Let friends and family see a little slice of real life instead of making everyone smile in front of the fireplace.

Don’t stress about not getting everyone in the picture. Utilize cards that offer collage layouts. I love Minted.com’s photo holiday cards, and they have a ton of designs that work for more than one picture, and their platform makes it super easy to customize everything.

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Love this Signed & Sealed design. It would work great with lifestyle shots.

So snap one of the kids doing something together, but also don’t forget to get mom and dad in there, too! Pass off the camera if you’re the family photographer. Get in the action!

4. Don’t tell them to smile at the camera!

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That’s half the battle with kids, right? They never want to smile and look at the camera. And if they do, they smile those creepy, forced smiles and give each other bunny ears. Don’t out yourself. Don’t even let them know you’re taking pictures. Just do so quietly. Be a documentarian. Capture them in their natural habitat.

If you’re attempting a remote shot with the whole family, just interact naturally and fire off some shots from your remote without telling them. See what comes of it.

5. Turn off your flash. Yup, even at night.

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I love this tutorial from Click It Up A Notch on how to take this picture, and can’t wait to try it out this year with my kids. Courtney does a great job explaining how to use the light that’s already coming from your tree to light up your subjects.

Morning, noon, or night, you do not need that flash on your camera. During the day, let as much light in as possible. Open all the windows and blinds. Be aware of where the light is coming from in your house. At night, let the tree and holiday lights in your home help dramatically light your subjects. The result is sure to make your photo card stand out in the stack of mail.

I presented all of these tips this week on The Broadcast. You can check out the segment below.

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Crafty!Dallas/Ft. Worth

Repurposed Burlap Wreath Tutorial

by Jill
written by Jill

Hey! If you caught me on The Broadcast on KTXD this morning, you might be here looking for a link to this tutorial. I re-made a burlap wreath that I created last year for Christmas, repurposing it for Thanksgiving by switching out the accent fabric.

Here’s a link to the original tutorial, featured in Emma Magazine last fall.

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And if you didn’t catch the segment, you can check it out here.

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Last Minute Pumpkin Decor Ideas
Crafty!

Last Minute Pumpkin Decor Ideas

by Jill
written by Jill

I can’t let myself freak out that Halloween is about a week away. No, really. DON’T FREAK OUT. I just have an entire Skylanders costume to make for one very, very excited little boy. No pressure.

So instead I’m going to show you, my fellow procrastinators (or you super early birds already planning for next year), some super easy last-minute decorating ideas using everyone’s favorite gourd.

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This first one was inspired by my friend Chelsey at ThePaperMama.com (swoon all over her beautiful creations!). She crafted a very adult-like Spooky Halloween Terrarium that inspired me to turn this idea into a kids craft.

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We followed her tutorial, but filled the inside of ours with stuff from the kids section of the craft store.

Instead of the floral foam, we used some Model Magic. We used paper shreds (used for gift packaging) in place of the moss. Then we got some lollipop sticks (you can find them in the cake baking section), and stuck them to the back of adhesive foam shapes and stuck them in our Model Magic. We also hung some adhesive bats with jewelry wire from the top of the pumpkin.

We added a safe pumpkin light and a mini pumpkin for some pumpkin cannibal action. It’s a pumpkin eating a pumpkin! Ahhh! (The kids found that joke hilarious. Many laughs.)

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The next few come together with the help of mini-pumpkins. They are cheap! I found a bag of 4 of them for less than $3 at most big-box stores. These crafts came together with $24 in pumpkins.

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First, I love this tall vase full of pumpkins and white lights. I got the vase with a 50% off coupon at Michaels, making it about $11. We just fetched the lights from the box of Christmas stuff. I can’t take any credit for this idea. I found it floating around Pinterest in various forms, and haven’t been able to track down an original source. If that’s you, let me know! Happy to link back.

I love this idea for those who want to forgo a traditional carved pumpkin on their front porch.

Also, think of other containers you already have that you can fill with mini pumpkins. What about a cake dome filled with pumpkins as an easy centerpiece?

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These chalkboard pumpkins can say anything you want them to. Just pick up a can of chalkboard spray paint, put them on some cardboard outside, and give them a good coat.

It’s helpful if, after the paint dries, you first coat the entire pumpkin in a layer of chalk, then wipe it off. That will prime the chalkboard surface. It will be easier to write on the pumpkins after that, and will give them a great dusty look.

They go perfect with our Bixby the Black Cat Wreath!

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This last idea is super fun. Once again, the creative cans of spray paint can do amazing things. This can of glow-in-the-dark spray paint really works! All I did here was spray a couple pairs of pumpkins, then freehand some eyes on them with Sharpie.

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How fun is that?! We have them resting inside of windowsills. They would be great sitting inside bushes and on tree branches, too.

I was on The Broadcast last week showing off these ideas. Click through to check out the segments! 

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Crafty!Dallas/Ft. Worth

Crazy Easy Last Minute Flag Shirt

by Jill
written by Jill

If you’re into that thing where you make cutesy matchy holiday shirts for your kids, this is for you.

If you’re into crafts that take next to zero effort, and make you look like Pinterest Royalty, this is for you.

If you’re into doing crafts WITH your kids, you’re my hero, and you can totally rock this.

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That is Leyna’s “Show me your shirt! Say ‘TaDa!” pose. She does her best to humor me.

Okay, so all you need to make this is:

a t-shirt (or tank top, or whatever you want to put a flag on)
a sponge (the really big ones are awesome for bigger shirts)
red, white, and blue fabric paint
paint brushes
Sharpie
a magazine or cardboard- just something to put inside the shirt to keep the paint from bleeding through

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Draw your flag onto the sponge, but remember to do this backwards. And don’t get too caught up in perfection. No need to have exactly 13 stripes. This is an artistic interpretation.

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Next, paint your sponge. You don’t want to completely saturate it, but you do need a nice thick layer of paint on it. It helps if the sponge is just the tiniest bit damp so it doesn’t absorb all the paint. But only a very tiny bit.

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Place the magazine or cardboard into your shirt, behind where you plan to place the sponge.

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Flip the sponge over and place it paint down where you want it to print on the shirt. MAKE SURE you have it right side up before doing this! After pressing down firmly on the sponge for a couple minutes, making sure to apply pressure to the center and all four sides, carefully remove it. TaDa!

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To add stars, you can dip the handle of a paintbrush in your white paint for dots. Or, if you want to involve the kids some more, have them dip their pinky fingers in the white paint and add stars that way.

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I used the paintbrush method because I’m NOT the type who likes to do crafts WITH the kids. Especially while pregnant and unable to drink half a bottle of wine.

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I kid. Sorta. It was their bedtime.

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Let it dry overnight, and you’re ready to go.

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You can watch me demo this project and some easy, peasy “firecrackers” on D: The Broadcast in all my nearly 37 week pregnant glory in the video below!

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Dye-Free Ways To Decorate Easter Eggs
Crafty!

Dye-Free Ways To Decorate Easter Eggs

by Jill
written by Jill

I pretty much despise dying Easter eggs. It never goes well for me, especially now that my kids are old enough to insist on actually doing it themselves and not watch me do it for them.

Related:

Don’t feel too bad for them, though, because their father is some sort of super dad who loves doing stuff like that with them… when I’m not around.

Doesn’t mean I can’t have fun decorating eggs with them, though! Here are some dye-free ways to decorate Easter eggs.

First, STICKERS. Kids love stickers. I’m betting you have a ton of them hanging around, and there are loads of cute Easter themed stickers out right now. Check out the scrapbooking section of your craft store for dimensional stickers, but don’t be afraid to use up non-seasonal ones you have hanging around and even yard sale dot stickers!

While decoupage is nearly as messy as dye, I’ll admit, it won’t stain your fingers, and your clothes, and your counters, and… everything else. I don’t know about you, but I seem to hoard used tissue paper from gifts given to us. Half the time it’s too wrinkled or torn to use again, but it makes a great craft supply. Just tear it into little pieces and apply with a paint brush and a little Mod Podge. Let your imagination run wild, and combine colors and patterns.

Glitter. Okay, it’s messy. Okay, it’s slightly harder to clean up than decoupage. BUT, it’s… glittery! And this method keeps the mess to a minimum because there’s no glue required. Just apply some double sided tape or double sided dots to your egg, then roll it in some glitter until the sticky sides up are all covered.

Check out my post on Non-Candy Easter Egg Stuffer Ideas

Something about kids and tape… it’s like you’ve given them the key to the office supply closet. They get to play with tape? COOL! You used to only be able to find these colorful, patterned tapes at fancy paper stores, but now they’re in the office supply aisle of Target. Pick up a few colorful rolls and let the kids go crazy.

Finally… OMG. I love this last one. So, tattoos work on eggs. You just put them on like any regular tattoo. They look beautiful on them, too. You can use any kind of temporary tattoo you can find, BUT I am in LOVE with these little mustaches I found at Michael’s this week. They’re meant to go on your finger, but they are the perfect size for an egg! I simply used the fine end of a Sharpie to draw on the eyes and other features for these, but if I had more time, I would have gone wild with sticky googly eyes and yarn for hair.

I was on D Living today, showing off these dye-free egg decorating ideas. It’s really worth a watch if only to see the host’s face when I call glitter the “herpes of craft supplies” on live TV.

Also, thanks to Better Homes and Gardens. I got quite a few of these ideas from this post of theirs.

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Non-Candy Easter Egg Stuffer Ideas
Crafty!

Non-Candy Easter Egg Stuffer Ideas

by Jill
written by Jill

I’m prepping for a weekend of my kids on crack. And by crack, of course, I mean sugar. It’s really beyond my control. We’re going to be around a lot of family, and visiting homes that will have an abundance of candy, cookies and cakes out for the taking. What I can control, though, is what goes in the Easter eggs.

Here are some non-candy egg stuffer ideas.

For Leyna’s 2nd Easter, the first one she could really walk around and collect eggs, we stuffed all her eggs with alphabet magnets. One $5 bag was more than enough for all the eggs she could carry.

Don’t miss my post on Dye-Free Ways To Decorate Easter Eggs

If you have older kids, I love this idea of printing off coupons for them. Not only are they a non-candy idea, but they’re free! I got the printable from MakingLifeWhimsical.com

Along those same lines, I love the idea of printing off a picture of something big, or something that you couldn’t put in an Easter basket, turning it into a puzzle and putting each piece in an egg. Then having the kids put the pieces together to figure out what it is. Take, for example, a family trip to Great Wolf Lodge! Because sometimes the very last thing we all need is more stuff, big or small.

And don’t overlook how fun it is to skip right past the traditional Easter basket, and let the container help you set the tone for the goodies. Have a budding fashionista in the family? Were you a child of the 80s and 90s? Did you know Caboodles are back? Oh yes, yes they are. Perfect containers for eggs stuffed with jewelry, hair clips, socks and – of course- Lip Smackers.

If you have any LEGO lovers in the house, fill the eggs with the bricks, and get one of these cool LEGO head containers instead of a basket. I got ours from the Container Store.

Finally, a watering can is a great alternative to a basket for collecting eggs stuffed with seeds. Put a trowel, garden shovel and some garden gloves in there, and your budding little green-thumb will be all set.

I got to show all these ideas off on D Living this morning. Check out the video below!

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BabiesReviews

Making Baby Food Easy- For Home And On The Go

by Jill
written by Jill

It’s a few minutes out until today’s D Living episode airs. I was in the studio on Wednesday, and recorded a couple segments with Kim on how to make your own baby food. There’s still time to tune in and catch me on KTXD if you live in the DFW area!

If you already watched it and are heading here to get links to all the products and recipes I used, here you go:

The first recipe I showed was the Sweet Potato Coconut Puree. This is a recipe from the Weelicious site, by Catherine McCord. Head here to check it out. 

I also talked about how much I love Catherine’s book Weelicious! You can order it on Amazon here.

Those handy little glass cubes we put the puree in to store it? They’re by Wean Green. And let me just say, I plan to buy a bunch more of these in the near future. Not only will they come in handy for baby food this next time around, but I can pack my kids’ lunches in them! Check out their website here.

The second recipe I (tried to) show you all was a simple banana & avocado mash. Remember, this is something you can really only make right before you serve it because both bananas and avocados brown with time and don’t freeze all too well.

Simply smash half a ripe banana and half a ripe avocado with the back of your fork for a chunk consistency. If you want it to be smoother, throw it in a small food processor. You can always add a little breastmilk or formula to thin it out, too. My kids’ first foods have always been bananas and avocados! They’re super easy to prepare, and so great for little growing bodies. If you’re practicing baby-led weaning, they are great for this too! You can read more about baby-led weaning here.

Dr. Greene’s book Feeding Baby Green is also an excellent resource for figuring out how to start your baby on solids. I highly recommend it!

Finally, I showed off these AWESOME new pouches by Squooshi. They are refillable and reusable. I don’t know about you, but at our house we can go through a box of squeezable apple sauce in 2 days. It’s expensive! And I don’t have much control over what’s inside them. We’ve had these pouches for about a week now, and it’s awesome being able to fill all 12 bags at once with organic applesauce or even greek yogurt and some honey, then leave them in the fridge for the kids. They’re BIG fans.

You can’t put these in the dishwasher, but they are seriously easy to just rinse out and set on a drying rack before using again.

You can check out Squooshi here.

The recipe I used to fill these, the one that sneaks in some spinach, can be found on their website here.

And those beautiful lunch sacks that I had on set? The ones in all the cute patterns, that are lined and insulated with a freezable gel all the way around? Those are the fantastic Packits. I’ve been in love with this line of products for months now, and their new colors and designs make them even better. The smallest mini-cooler is the perfect size for a few Wean Green cubes, a spoon and a small sippy cup. Making baby food on the go SO super easy. Just fill it up and toss it in your diaper bag. You’ll be good to go all day.

Check out Packit’s entire line here.

For those who missed the segment, you can watch part of it here!

I’m so excited I had the chance to show just how easy it is to make, store and take your baby food with you wherever you go.

 

 

 

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Green Living

Going Green For Baby

by Jill
written by Jill

Today I was on Texas Living on KTXD in Dallas/Fort Worth, showing off a few ways you can go “green” when it comes to baby care.

There are several ways to green your care for baby, but I focused on just a few categories- diapering, feeding, sun protection, and bath and body.

Here’s the video of my segment, and a more detailed list is below.

Diapering

If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you know I’m a huge cloth diaper advocate. You can check out all my posts on the cloth diapering here. Cloth diapering isn’t what it was for our parents or grandparents. There are SO many options on the market, and they seem to get easier and easier. It may not be an option for everyone, but even busy working parents may be able to squeeze in time to cloth diaper at home.

Traditional disposable diapers can take up to 500 years to decompose in a landfill! So every one you can keep out of the landfill makes a big difference.

On today’s show, I’m showing off one my favorite cloth diapers – bumGenius 4.0 pocket diapers and all in ones.

If cloth diapering isn’t for you, there are great disposable diaper options out there, too. Disposable diapers from The Honest Company are biodegradable/plant-based, and made free of chlorine, phthalates, PVC, perfumes and other nasty chemicals found in big brand disposable diapers.

You can order a monthly diaper bundle, delivered to your door, for $80 a month.

And no matter if you use cloth diapers full time, part time or not at all, it’s always good to have a natural (and cloth diaper friendly) diaper cream on hand. On today’s show, I’ll have some Balm Baby with me. It’s organic, vegan, and packaged in a recyclable glass container. I’ve also enjoyed using Burts Bees in the past.

Feeding

The easiest way to control what your baby eats, and to be sure they are getting unprocessed, whole, healthy food is to make it yourself.  And while making baby food may not conjure up images of anything “easy,” I assure you it’s not rocket science, whether it’s baby led weaning or purees.

If you choose to offer purees, it doesn’t take an expensive baby-food-making system. If you already have a food processor, you’re good to go. The only other things you’ll need are a steaming basket and some containers to store your food in.

On the show, I’ll have some glass and polypropylene containers by Green Sprouts. I’ve also had luck with freezing purees in ice cube trays and storing the cubes in freezer storage in the past.

Of course, we don’t always have time to make our baby’s food. I used a lot of Plum Organics and Ella’s Kitchen food pouches with Leyna, and I loved the convenience! These are our go-to options for dining out with baby.

And nothing beats the ease of tossing a banana in your diaper bag, and letting baby nom on it at your destination.

Sun Protection

With the warm months ahead of us, the time our kids spend in the sun is only going to increase. It’s so important to keep sun protection on them, but many of the sunscreens on the market are full of toxins.

My favorite resource for learning more about the sunscreen you’re using on your family is the EWG’s Skin Deep Sunscreen Guide. Type in the name of any sunscreen and find out the Hazard Score, which rates the ingredients in each and how toxic they are.

I’m super excited to show off a new product on the show by Goddess Garden. It’s a continuous spray sunscreen, made from a formula with an EWG hazard score of 1 for very low. And those of us with mobile kiddos who are itching to jump into pools and sprinklers know how great the ease of continuous spray sunscreens can be!

This product will be available at Whole Foods and Walgreens.com in March of this year.

Of course, never overlook the importance of keeping your kids covered with hats and even rash guards (swim shirts). You can find many of these with built in SPF.

Bath and Body

What we put on our babies’ bodies is just as important as what we put in it.  I’ll have a line from Dolphin Organics with me today on the show, which contains no artificial ingredients, and it’s labeling makes it very clear for parents to see exactly what they are exposing their children to, be it an organic or natural ingredient.

This line is also free of parabens, chemicals used as a preservative in many cosmetics which have been shown to link to breast cancer and to mimic estrogen.

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Going green never has to be an all or nothing ordeal. Take as many steps as you can to limit the toxins your baby is exposed to and do what feels right for you and your family. These are just a few suggestions of how and where to start.

Another fantastic resource is HealthyChild.org.

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Crafty!Dallas/Ft. Worth

Mr. Monster Wreath Makes His TV Debut

by Jill
written by Jill

Little did I know that night I stayed up late tying tulle and pinning eyeballs onto a foam wreath that my Monster Wreath would blossom into such a popular fella.

I’m thrilled so many of you are making your very own monsters to decorate your doors this Halloween season! I’ve loved seeing all the variations of colors and personalities they’re taking on.

Today I got to demonstrate how to make a Monster Wreath on Texas Living (KTXD). A total blast! I hope to be back again soon with more crafts to share.


Mr. Monster right before we went on. He was looking a little nervous, but I assured him he’d be a hit.

If you live in the DFW area, you should check out Texas Living on KTXD at 11 a.m. on weekdays. It’s a great lifestyle show, packed with guests of all varieties. Today I shared the show with 2 penguins, a chef, a snake, and some entrepreneurs.

Also, a huge thanks to those of you who sent me your Monster Wreath photos to use!

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