Quiet Book Page

A few other moms and myself decided to make Quiet Books for our children who are all very close in age.  I chose to make a mailbox and letters.  We each decided to make 13 of the same page and then swap so that each child will have a complete book.  For various reasons the project was delayed a bit and to be honest I was dreading making my page when it came time to put it together.  But once I got going it was quite fun.  I haven't gotten any other pages yet but as soon as I do I will share the finished project.  Lil Cinnamon is obsessed with books and I don't really let her play with the interactive ones (pop up ones or paper) at this point as she's still a bit little and doesn't understand to not rip them.  But these are made of felt and are sewn on.  They are pretty much destruction proof!  And if for some reason she does manage to rip something off I can easily sew it back together. 

 



 

 

 

 

Letters from Grandmom and Grandpop waiting to be opened.

 

 

 

As I was making these I couldn't help but think that our children will be a generation who sees the mail be a thing of the past.  With email/Skype/Facebook etc taking over letters are few and far between.  Lil Cinnamon's grandparents send her postcards weekly so as she gets older it will be fun to see her await the mail delivery.  Ahh, to receive something other than bills!

Cheers!
Cinnamon Sangria

Easy paper project

Mr. Sangria and I had a lunch date last week and walked into Paper Source.  Lil Cinnamon is 16 months old and I'm embarassed to say that her room is still not completely decorated.  While walking around we decided to get some wrapping paper sheets and frame them.  We have a map of Paris,  NYC, and the London Underground (subway or Tube as they call it). 
We love to travel so it seemed appropriate.  Good thing is that each piece of paper was ridiciously cheap so if I want to redecorate next week, no biggie. 

In my roamings of the store I came across these paper flowers.  They were inexpensive and seemed easy enough.  A quick project to full my DIY cravings as of late. 

 

Would I prefer to have fresh flowers?  Yes.  Will these do for the meantime?  Yes!  And plus these won't die.  Score!  I put them in my Lenox vase that I adore and I'm happy with the look although I may go buy another kit to really fill up the vase which I think will look better.  Perhaps after Valentines day these may go in Lil Cinnamons room on her dresser.

Cheers!
Cinnamon Sangria

**I was not contacted by Paper Source for this blog post.  All purchases were made by me and all opinions are solely mine.**

OT: Being prepared

This is a completely off topic post but thought I'd share anyway.  Seeing the pictures of Hurricane Sandy on the news has been heart wrenching and has reminded me to make sure my emergency kit is ready and prepared.

I live in Southern California.  Home to many an earthquake.  In my 13 years out here I've been in a few but nothing too major, thankfully!  But I'm terrified of them.  TERRIFIED!  One would ask why I live in an earthquake zone if I'm so scared of them.  I had originally planned on moving out here for a few years to "live it up in the big city" after college but then I met my husband and his work keeps us out here so I guess I'm staying put for a while.  I've made it very clear that we are moving the day he retires but since we have a few years for that I might as well get comfortable.

I never had an earthquake kit until last year when the big earthquake/tsunami hit Japan.  Seeing all that devastation hit me like a ton of bricks.  At the time I was pregnant and I guess I realized it could have been us.  That week I ran out and stocked up on water and essentials, or so I thought. 

I was reading this blog post this morning and it got me thinking. Would I be prepared for an emergency given what I have in my home at this moment?  The answer is no. I have water, I have a flashlight, food, first aid kit, baby food, but somehow I forgot diapers and a change of cloths and shoes. And I'm sure there are a few other things I've forgotten. Which is why I'm signing up for this 8 week course. I think it will be very beneficial. If you want to sign up as well please do so.

Topics included will be:

Emergency Preparedness – “Emergency Survival Station”

• Week #1 – STORAGE (Shelving, Backpacks, and Bins)
• Week #2 – BASIC NEEDS (Food & Water)
• Week #3 – MEDICAL (First Aid Kit & Medicine)
• Week #4 – EMERGENCY BINDER & CASH (Important documents & a cash stash)
• Week #5 – SUPPLIES
• Week #6 – PET & HYGIENE KIT
• Week #7 – COMFORT (Clothing, Toys, Games)
• Week #8 – MY SURVIVAL STATION REVEAL & LINK PARTY

 

 





Happy Halloween

Greetings.  Halloween is right around the corner and Lil Cinnamon would like to share her costume that we made.  And by we I mean me.  I used this tutorial and it worked perfectly.  I did use a different poodle and I'm sorry to say I can't remember where I got it but you can google oodles of poodles easily (Dr. Seuss anyone?).
I was perfectly content on buying her costume this year and in fact had a costume that was given as a gift late last year but it was too small.  I went to exchange it but the store would only give me $1.67 credit for the costume.  It was the exact same costume from last year to this year but the tag gave it away that it was from last year.  I decided not to give into the corporate greed and kept the costume and gave it to a friend who has a baby a few days younger that Lil C but is much smaller. 
Mr. Sangria didn't like the costume anyway so I decided I'd whip up this costume.  I had all intentions of us all dressing up and was going to make mine as well but at the end of the day I'm tired and I didn't finish mine in time.  I may get a burst of energy and finish it in the next day or so but that's doubtful.  But in the meantime Lil Cinnamon had an early Halloween party yesterday so we got to get dressed up and it was so much fun. 

On a side note, we have family in NYC and Connecticut.  Hoping everyone is safe and sound.  Please keep us updated.

Cheers!

Necklace Holder

I love necklaces.  Well I did before Miss Cinnamon decided to grab anything and everything that I wear.  But I have quite a bit of necklaces and never know where to put them so I can clearly see them and where they won't get tangled.  Currently I have them in shoe boxes, in my jewelry box, in the box the necklace came in, in paper bags (not sure why), and also in organza bags around the hangers of some outfits they go with -the problem with that is I forget to wear the necklace with other outfits.

I saw this idea somewhere floating around the internet so I can't take credit for it but I thought it was pretty clever.

1.  Take a wooden coat hanger and some hooks.  I used Hillman 7/8" White Cup Hooks - purchased at Lowe's.

 2.  If you have a hanger without the bottom that's better but if you only have pant hangers like I do, then just take the bottom portion off. 

 3. Drill evenly spaced holes where the cup hooks will be.  Mr. Sangria did this part.  I would have done it but we don't have a clamp to hold the hanger and I was afraid of it slipping and then I'd drill my leg or something.  I told him if he slipped and had to go to the ER he would have to drive himself as I wasn't waking Lil Cinnamon to take him.  Honestly I was a bit afraid.  Sadly not in a loving way but more of a "I know he's going to slip, this is the kind of sh!t that happens to us" kind of way. 

4.  Done!  I think one day I may paint it white so it looks better but for now this will do. 
5.  Please forgive the messy closet.

6.  I'm happy to report there was no loss of blood for this project.

We're moving and random pictures

We as in the Sangria household.  With the arrival of Lil Cinnamon we have outgrown our current home.  If you are a personal friend and reading this we are only moving about 5 minutes away, not across the country as some have already asked.  And because of this move it has left very little time for creating.  Mostly just purging of things.  Right now I'm purging my kitchen of food that I want to use up and not move and I'm also using this time to just play around with my new (3 months old now) camera.  This past summer I went a little nuts buying berries and freezing them for winter use.  So I made a lemon and blueberry loaf cake courtesy of Martha Stewart.  

Umm, whoopsie?  haha.  I guess I didn't use enough flour on the bottom.  Good thing it was just for Mr. Sangria and myself.  Depite the look it tasted wonderful.  But I don't think I'll make this again anytime soon.  There were just too many steps in this recipe and lately I'm more of an instant gratification kind of girl.

I also made some brownies for a Super Bowl party that we attended.  I have some hard core NY Giants fan friends.  It's always fun going to Super Bowl parties when people are legit fans, not just "well I choose this team just because" type of fans.  They go nuts.  We have an amazing group of friends and they are pretty much split between former New Yorkers and former Boston residents.  Sadly we cannot mix these friends during Super Bowl games.  Mr. Sangria is an Eagles fan as he grew up in Philly but since the in laws live in NY now we got to attend the NY fan screening.  But back to the brownies, another thing to remove from the kitchen.  I'm not sure how the box got into my kitchen as I'm pretty crazy about not using boxed brownies.  Oh well.  With the large amounts of alchol consumed no one noticed.  Who am I kidding, no one cared.

Have you heard about Pinterst?  Of course you have.  Well I stumbled across this pin and decided to take on this challenge.  I'm not going to bore you with every picture this month but just because I think it's fun here are a few.

10am (as well as 8am and usually 3pm)

Dinner - pepperchini tortellini salad.

Cheers,

Cinnamon Sangria

This past Sunday I ran the Tinkerbell 1/2 Marathon at Disneyland.  It was a lot of fun.  My first race post Lil Cinnamon.  30 friends ran for a friends 30th birthday.  Most of them dressed up as Tinkerbell.  We all had a blast.  It wasn't anywhere close to my best time but considering we stopped to have many pictures taken and I've only been back in the running game for a month now I'm happy.  And I have new bling to add to my collection.  Tinkerbell spins - it's more fun than it looks.

Next race is the Hollywood Half Marathon in April.

Cheers!