new favorite app.

a new app for the iPhone was released this week.

it's for your pictures {but really for instagram!}

check it out.

it's from the cutest bloggers over at a beautiful mess. 

so much fun. i've been spending WAY too much time messing with it this week. 

try it out & see how you like it! lots of different ways to play!!

happy thursday, ya'll. 

 oh!!! and don't miss it!

over on instagram, little branches will be having our first ever insta-sale!!!

head on over, follow the directions under this picture and then YOU could win this cutie pie 12" x 12" hand painted sign! woot!! how fun would that be? 

{you're also eligible for a 10% discount on any purchase you make during the instasale!!!}

the online shop will be stocked a few days after the sale - this is just a fun preview of what's to come. mostly restocking the spring line, but there will be some new items too!!! 

top five: project life inspiration!

hello friends!

i hope you checked out my project life update yesterday!! i am so excited to get back into this wonderful project & it has spurred me on in so many ways. 

it didn't take long to get my groove back - and it won't take you long either! so pick it up - now! let's catch up together.

as i was trying to gain motivation to catch up {it seems super daunting at times!} - i looked to other project lifers for inspiration. today i'm going to share with you my five favorite places to get some project life inspiration.

1. becky higgins. the mothership of project life.

her & her creative team share their versions of project life once a month. when i saw this post i was immediately ready to get back together with project life. 

2. ali edwards. this wonderful lady is why i even knew about project life in the first place. is awesome about posting once a week & is GREAT about journaling and keeping snipits from her week. she's all about making it work for you which i love.

3. elise. i've been reading her blog for a long time now and just in the last year she became a part of project life. and now a part of their creative team. she's a big paper crafter & i know you'll be inspired by all of her project. i love her version of project life because she doesn't have littles {yet} and she still documents her & her hubby. i LOVE that. so inspiring. plus: she's adorable too. 

4. kelly purkey from it's me, kp. she's doing a mini-kit. she mixes in non project life stuff {which i actually think everyone does} and i'm SO jealous. i want to do a mini-kit. next time. i think these would be great for vacays. 

5. rebecca cooper from as simple as that. this is a recent find of mine, but she's on the PL creative team as well. look at this darling instagram collage templates she made. yay! this is so cute & i just might have to buy these for myself. i can't wait to stick these into my next week. IG is going to be blowing up with my new pics!

and there you have it! i think i gave you plenty of pretties to look at this morning!

i SO hope that you will all try to catch up along with me. i am trying to gain momentum and stay on top of this inspiration to get all the way caught up. it's so much easier when you're current. 

have a happy monday!!!

top five: new to me music. {and a winner!}

***scroll down to see winner of kiwi crate giveaway!!***

today i'm "introducing" you to my new favorite music! i am a huge fan of mumford, john mayer, taylor swift & the civil wars.... so i guess you could say i like a wide range of music. does that make me unsophisticated? hmmm... maybe?

 i love the singer/songwriter stuff {which is why i like taylor swift so much!} and a folksy sound does me in. {have you heard that cute folksy couple on nashville? if you haven't - you should! love them!!}

so i'm always on the hunt for new {to me} music. here's what i've found more recently that sits well with me! i hope you find something new to enjoy too!

 1. the lumineers. i think i was introduced to them last summer by my brother in law. LOVE. i could listen to them all day.

2. jillian edwards. i don't even know how i found this little lady. but her music makes me happy. reminds me of falling in love with my hubby. it makes me want to bop around on a sunny day and daydream all day long. ahhhh.... love. 

3. the head & the heart. i put a notice out on ig a few weeks ago that i was on the hunt for new music & this was one of the suggestions. i have to say that i was put of by the album cover... as in i thought i might have nightmares. BUT, it's GOOOOD. promise. i landed on an older album because their newer stuff sounded a bet more techno-y? i could totally be wrong but that's what it sounded like at first listen & that's not really "my sound".

4. the paper kites. i checked these lovelies out after seeing it posted on beth's ig.  i think we would be friends. i have listened to these short little albums on repeat on my trips to austin. happy music.

5. of monsters & men. i MUST tell you that they're probably gaining in popularity by the day. i had heard a few of their songs before & not even realized it. you need to check them out. really good music. relaxing. good to work to - kind of cathartic, in my opinion!

 

OH. and i have a giveaway to cash in on, huh??? who's the lucky winner??? NUMBER 17.

 

eeek! stephanie, it's you!!! email me & let me know if you want me to wait and send it on your new adventure! :) hope this brightens your monday!

kiwi crate. {a giveaway!}

 

for christmas, nana got us a subscription to kiwi crate. 

i originally saw it on meg's blog and thought that it would be such a fun idea for my kids but didn't want to pay a subscription at $20 for a month for crafting supplies. 

but - y'all - it's SUCH a good deal. there's SO much in each box AND it is so fun to open it up and see what fun goodies come each month!

and if you order through this link, you'll get $10 off!

the first month we got a cute pair of scissors, pastels, watercolors, four postcards to paint & a game of penguin bowling. the littles thought that was SO much fun. 

each month seems to have a theme and the last box we opened was family game night. it included two games {and we haven't even done the board game yet!} it's such a good rainy day thing to have on hand. my kids seem to be bickering a lot lately {c. has learned that she doesn't necessarily have to do everything her brother tells her} and sometimes it's nice to open up our kiwi crate & have a slight break from the fighting. {until they both want the red marker!}   

i have been super impressed with kiwi crate, to say the least. you get so much packed in the little box and they always have a little pamphlet that has even more ideas for crafts, games & activities that go along with that theme! we will definitely be continuing our subscription when it runs out. it is such a fun idea!

so - today - i'm giving away a THREE MONTH SUBSCRIPTION to kiwi crate!!! {not a sponsored post - i just want you to see how great it is!}. i just know that you, too, will LOVE it as much as i do! i can't wait for you to see!

***********there are three chances to win:*********

for your first entry - leave a comment HERE telling me when you'd pull out the kiwi crate! right when you get it? a rainy day? when you're trying to cook dinner??

for your second entry - share this giveaway on ANY social media! facebook, instagram, your blog! {you can share on all three, but it only counts once!!} make sure to leave a comment HERE telling me you did this!

for your third entry - like my page on facebook & leave a comment HERE telling me that you're a fan on facebook!

GOOD LUCK! the giveaway will close on sunday night at 5 and i'll announce the winners here on monday morning!!!

have a great wednesday! i'm off to find my third cup of coffee!!

****remember, this is NOT sponsored by kiwi crate! i just wanted to share with you! all of us mommies can use a good rainy day supply of goodies, right???****

if you want to go ahead & order a kiwi crate - use this link & we will BOTH get $10 off!!!

happy monday {the giveaway version.}

i love creating something out of nothing. it's how my brain works. it's how i relax. it's how everything seems right in the world to me. for some people it's organizing or cleaning. for some it's cooking. {and i do love cooking...} but for me it's creating. whatever that might be look like the day.

anyway. 

all that said.... after the last few weeks, i do have a surplus, if you will, of projects. so i thought i might give away one of my most fun and favorite completed projects from the last month.

if you know me at all, you know that i'm a huge fan of meg. i've long since followed her blog religiously and i think we would be best friends if we met in real life. i love her heart for Jesus and her love of all things creative and how she tries to instill that in her five precious children.

so... naturally, i love her craft weekends. i'm on the list, but i'm realistic about the fact that 5,000 other people are on the list too... and if i get picked, it will probably come at the most inconvenient time for me to getaway for a weekend.... but i would most certainly move heaven & hell before i missed it!

but one of my most favorite things they make at craft weekend are their aprons! love! they're so happy and fun.... what couldn't be fun with a fun apron?

so........... i made one! 

and i thought that maybe perhaps one of you all would like it? maybe even to give it as a gift? i think it's pretty happy and might make one of YOU happy to have it?! i sure hope so!!

just leave a comment below with your FAVORITE thing about summer and i'll put you in the virtual drawing! yay! have a very very happy monday!

friday fun.

friday we went over to a friend's house for some gingerbread house making!

we did it last year and it was messy but super fun. and last year we had BABIES. and they just slept in the other room. it was greatness.

 

this year - not so much.

but the 'big kids' were a little more focused and attentive on their gingerbread houses.

ashley had hot glued our gingerbread houses together before we got there {we learned last year!} and then it was "hop to it" after our paparazzi moment. ugh.

 

it's NOT fun trying to get all of these kids together. on the couch. big kids and small kids. girls and boys. :) hehe.

we love it. 

i was super proud of b's gingerbread house. it new EXACTLY what to do. he covered every inch. i LOVED it!!! i couldn't have been more proud, as a momma who loves that kinda stuff herself. 

 {b & anna, i see you eating your candy!!!}

after all that sugar, we fed the kids lunch. and had a little picnic in front of the elf on the shelf movie! yay for christmas movies!

{and just for fun - here's a pic of last year}

and the non-gingerbread party of 2009

balloon festival.

we went to the plano balloon festival.

so fun. kind of chaotic, yes. but fun. it was beautiful weather which made it even more crowded!

so glad we got to go.... we hadn't been since b was a baby.

cake.

friday afternoon the hubbs called me from work with a little 'challenge'.

one of his coworkers challenged me to a cake contest. 

what? totally random. i have no idea how this even came up... especially since i'm not exactly the BEST baker... although i love to do it.... 

he sent me a picture and i said, 'absolutely!'

it was a nice break from the serious conversations taking place around here.

sunday night i got to baking. {just like me to put it off until the last minute, too...}

i made the melted ice cream cake from the cake mix doctor. 

it has given me success before... so i went with what i knew.

for the ice cream, i chose ben & jerry's half baked ice cream. {not the yogurt version}. 

yummo. i was lucky to get the whole pint in the cake before i ate it!

the recipe calls to make it a bundt cake... but i just split it up in two 9-inch pans. let it cool real good... and then went to town with the classic white icing. 

mini m&m's in the middle.

then i carefully placed the m&m's on top. i had a strategy. the hubbs kept trying to help... but he wasn't doing it carefully enough. so he took pictures. 

then i put the kit kats on the outside. they were a bit of a problem because they were slightly soft {despite being in our house for two days...} and not broken exactly straight. {ahem....}

but it worked out fine. 

j added some m&m's next to each of the kit kats on the edge. {can you tell that HE did it? he didn't pay attention to varying the colors.... and that drove me NUTS!!!} 

anyway.

it was yummy. or so i'm told!

the hubbs wisked it off to work before we cut into it. probably a good thing... or at least that's what i keep telling myself.

{PS. i "won". not that everyone voted. but everyone ate it. i'm not trying to keep score or anything... but right now it's me-1/stewart-0}