last minute easter gifts: DIY mugs

Who needs some last minute easter gifts?! I've been a bit obsessed with the diy ceramic mugs lately {thanks to pinterest of course}. And since I needed a few small easter fillers I decided to do some doodling last night. It's kind of like the adult version of coloring easter eggs :) These are the perfect little gift to give to maybe your mom, mother in law, sisters, girlfriends, yourself, whomever! All you need is a sharpie oil based paint pen (s), ceramic mug (s), rubbing alcohol and an oven. Oh and stencil is optional.

Now grab yourself your fav drink, turn some music on and begin crafting in this order:
1. wipe the rubbing alcohol on the side of the mug you want to decorate (to clean the surface). Dry completely. *And note that you want the design to be facing out when the mug is being sipped from.
2. draw or write whatever your heart desires with your paint pen. This does not have to be perfect. Just look at mine :)
3. place the finished mug in the oven and bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Make sure to put the mug in the oven before it starts preheating. Once the 30 minutes is up leave the mug in the oven until it cools.

Now smile because you are done! Congratulations on completing a diy project. So simple right?!

A few more tips I have heard but not sure they are a must do:
-obviously hand-washing will probably make the life span of your art last longer
-the cheaper the mug the better, due to the inexpensive glaze used
-it's best to let your design sit for 24 hours before baking it

here are the ones I made last night ....

happy holidays

With the weather in the 70's {in December!} there was no reason not to have a beach day. So last Friday off we went to get our feet sandy...me, my two littles, a mini christmas tree and my slr camera. Yes, some think I am crazy...but I love challenging myself :) I wanted to keep things simple, and knowing that B wouldn't want to sit and smile at the camera I just gave them both a snack and snapped some pics of them "chillin" on the beach. I would definitely recommend this type of shot if you have multiple kids and want a quick and easy pic! Long story short- happy holidays from my littles!

We stayed and played and I got to capture B in his {silly} element. Oh and those awesome suspenders are from H&M along with his $7 clearance "tie" sweater...

Thankful for family

I love family. I love food. I am thankful for many things, especially Thanksgiving. Luckily for us, we have both our parents living in the same city (10 minutes a part). So what does that mean? It means that I will hopefully never have to cook a turkey or prepare a holiday meal for a very very very long time :)! I think my husband is especially thankful for this too!  Oh ya and it also means we get to see both our families every holiday and eat a ton and ton of really delicious food! I love family- so getting to see them all the time is what I am extremely thankful for.

As usual we started off at my parents house for brunch, then a couple hours later went to my in-laws for a late lunch and then later back to my parents house at night for dessert and seconds. I think Braeden loves the holidays because of this. He is obsessed with his cousins, so seeing all 5 of them in one day makes for an incredibly happy and then an incredibly tired child :)!

I cannot tell you how much time these boys spend on this scooter every time they are together. As you can see in their faces, they love it and each other :)

This is my great grandpas old moped that we use to ride as kids. My dad thought it would be fun for the grandkids and us kids to ride :)

baby girl and her daddy (movember)...

My babes :) B refused to look at the camera but Everly sure didn't mind!

Papa taking the grandkids for a "nature" walk :)

 The youngest and oldest of the cousins....

It is never a holiday at the Quinns without some soccer .....and wine of course :) 

 Can you believe these lights have been up since our rehearsal dinner 4 1/2 years ago!

fall {pumpkin patch} fun

Like many of you, I lOVE fall. For me, October marks the beginning of a crazy, fun, chaotic rest of the year full of family, holidays and get togethers! The first of many gatherings and family outings is usually "the patch." I took the kiddos earlier in the week to a small pumpkin patch down the street from our house. Braeden loved the corn maze as he felt in complete control of each turn and path we would take. Lately he has a fetish with doing everything himself, since he is a "big boy." Everly just chilled and went with the flow.

On Saturday we went as a whole family to Peltzer farm in Temecula. This is the real deal of pumpkin patches. Pig races, pony/tractor rides, corn maze, old trucks, pumpkins and more. We met our friends there too just as we did last year (the Coughlins & the Kings)....making this a halloween tradition for sure. Our kiddos are all buds and they had such a blast running around the place. Seriously watching three toddlers laughing, running, falling, and smiling with each other couldn't make for a better evening. Pure happiness.

This is B and his girlfriend Raelyn. Born only 12 days a part and seriously the cutest littles to take pictures of together...

Love this pic of my baby girl and sexy husband...

the mamas

The Quinns- party of four :)

everly + her girlfriend kennedy

pony ride!

an egg-celent weekend :: easter

This past weekend was easter, and I love this holiday just as much as any other. Spending time with family is what matters to me the most, and that is exactly what we did. From hanging out at lake poway, to playing spin to win at my parents house, we thoroughly enjoyed our first easter with Everly and second easter with B. You may be wondering- spin to win? Lets just say my parents are awesome and love getting creative and very into every holiday. And yes, we also went to my in-laws too- just didn't take any pics :(

btw- here is a close up of Everly's cute bunny dress from gap- it was the perfect fit for her first easter

Told you we had a spin to win :) Braeden + his cousins loved it (ok so did the adults :)

My beautiful mama + Everly

Love these eggs my sister and her boys made

egg hunting

My beautiful sisters + Everly

The boys wrestling uncle David

St. Patrick's Day

Yesterday we had a wonderful St. patrick's day! My husband is 100% Irish (hence the last name Quinn) so we definitely partake in this green day. My in laws, who were both born and raised in Ireland, bought the kiddos little outfits to wear. They were perfect for the occasion and also made for some cute pics to remember Everly's first St. patrick's day...

day of love :: & cutie pies

Happy Valentine's day! I love this day for so many reasons. It's a fun excuse to eat chocolate, wear pink/red, make something heart shaped yet edible, be creative, spark romance/have a date night (eating california burritos while watching your favorite tv show with your hubby counts), and most importantly take ridiculously cute photos of your little ones. Thought I would share the later with you...

Oh and for those of you who like e-cards and want to personalize them with a photo, Red Stamp is an awesome     (& extremely easy) free app that I recommend you check out. I used it with a photo below of the girls.

Don't worry I didn't forget about my precious B on my blog. Here are a few pics of Braeden and his stud of a friend Carter. I couldn't decide which pic I liked best :) These boys are just too cute....

my little man...

Here is a pic of sweet Everly that I printed for my amazing husband and also posted on facebook of course. I took the pic and then added the text onto her onesie after...

Of course Everly and her beautiful girlfriend Matea had to dress up and make their own adorable card  (using red stamp) to wish all a happy heart day (love them):