February instagrams (photography).

February was a busy month for us. My mom and step-dad were out to visit, we had our baby shower, we found out the gender of the baby (on Valentine's day!), and we both had birthdays. Whew! That's a lot to pack into a short month. Next month Matt's brother and sister-in-law will be in SoCal, and we are looking forward to seeing them! You can follow me on Instagram at MdoubleMcrafts

Even though the weather was a little grey and cool (compared to what we're used to), it was much warmer and sunnier than upstate NY at this time of year, so my mom and step-dad wanted to spend as much time as possible outside. We took a wonderful afternoon hike at Torey Pines through the trails, and then down to the beach.

On Saturday, our friends Adriane and Rhys threw a small baby shower for us (it was early for a shower, but we wanted to do it while my parents were out here). One of the activities involved tying all of our wrists together with a long piece of string; then we cut the string between our wrists, so that everyone has a small string bracelet that they keep on. Whenever anyone notices the bracelet, they send positive thoughts to the baby.

Matt's mom stayed in San Diego after the baby shower, and the next day we all went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The cool weather meant the animals were all quite active. It did start raining at the very end of our visit, but we were all ready to head home at that point anyways. There was a sweet little baby elephant who kept nuzzling in underneath his mom.

On Valentine's Day we finally got to see our baby on the ultrasound. I can't think of a better way to spend Valentine's! We are expecting a precious little baby boy on July 19th. That evening we went out for a delicious dinner, and I talked Matt into ordering the lobster so that I could sneak a few bites of it. I got him to wear the bib too, so that he could be sure to get the full experience.

Later in the month we had some beautiful warm (almost hot) weather and blue skies. I have to get at least one picture of the beach in every month. These stunning white flowers are blooming on trees all over the city. After a quick google search, I believe it is an evergreen pear.

Matt brought me these beautiful tulips to surprise me one day. Tulips are such cheerful harbingers of spring.

This sweet puppy belongs to the family I nanny for; he is an 18 month old weimaraner who thinks he's another one of the kids. The seagulls were staring us down while we had a little picnic by the ocean. I love the way the sun halos the adult one.

  I link up to these parties.

Hearts and roses, oh my (treasury Tuesday).

I just adore these two sweet treasuries that Ilona Busch (from Nonoluna) curated last week. With Mother's day coming up (May 13th this year), there is a lot of great gift inspiration collected here. Click on the title under each picture to go to Etsy where you can buy all of these pieces. Enjoy!

Happy Hearts

Gather Ye Rosebuds

Eucalyptus heart wreath.

Remember the paper flower I showed you how to make last week? Here is what I did with mine! I made this wreath out of eucalyptus branches from the gully by our house, but this is a great way to decorate any wreath for Valentine's day.

Honestly, I really had no clue what I was doing when I was making the wreath, and I am sure there is a much better way of going about it, so I'm not going to post a full tutorial.

For those who are curious however, here's a quick rundown: I made the frame by cutting the hook part off of a wire coat hanger & wrangling it into a heart shape. I then twisted several branches around the wire (starting at the bottom of the heart, & allowing the extra leaves to dangle into the heart at the top). I wrapped floral wire around the whole thing to secure it, and then I tucked individual leaves in to fill out the wreath & hide the wire. I used wire to attach the ribbon for hanging, and I glued the flower on using E6000.

I'm not thrilled with the way it came out, but since it's only going to be up for a few weeks it's good enough that I'm not going to redo it. I love the smell of the eucalyptus, and I'm already brainstorming how to use it in my spring decorations. Let me know if you have any ideas!

Ombre water lily paper flower (tutorial).

These flowers are so much fun to make, and they come out so pretty! I'm planning on incorporating these into my Valentine's day decorations this year  ❤ They also make adorable gift toppers in place of a traditional bow.

Supplies: card stock in 3 colors, glass gem, glue, stapler, scissors

Start by cutting out two flower shapes for each color (print and trace the template at the bottom of this post). Don't worry - this is the slowest, hardest part of making these.

Use your fingers to gently curl the petals upward so that all of your flower shapes look like the one above. 

Stack the bottom five flower shapes together, and arrange to your liking. Staple the layers together using two staples in an X shape (this will ensure the flower stays stable and secure).

Glue the final flower shape into the middle of the flower to cover the staples (I use Elmer's glue for this). Let dry. Glue the glass gem into the center of the flower (I use either super glue or E6000). Adjust the petals if needed. Now take a step back and admire your work!

Flower template - print out to be approximately 4" across