In case you haven’t guessed, Halloween is tied with Christmas for my favorite holiday! One of my very favorite parts is coming up with Halloween Costumes every year.
So I was absolutely thrilled when Sophie decided she wanted to be Glinda the Good Witch. I set out to make this costume on a budget using some things we already had around the house – the actual dress is an upcycled Old Navy tutu dress.
Halloween is my jam… I love to dress up, I love to decorate…it’s just so much fun! I think I went trick or treating in full costume until I was 16, I just loved it so much ❤
This year I wanted to turn some of my super easy and affordable costume ideas into videos for my YouTube channel and thus create a fun backdrop to film them in front of!
So here is my very simple and affordable Halloween Backdrop DIY video:
Leave me a comment if you like this video!
If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you know that I just got back from Colorado and while it didn’t go exactly as planned, we had an amazing time!
So without further ado, here are my top 5 things to do in Estes Park!
#1 Visit RMNP – this is a no brainer and was actually the purpose of our whole trip. After several trips to Colorado in the past, we were stoked to finally get to see Rocky Mountain National Park. We were looking forward to camping and hiking inside the park for the long weekend.
We chose to stay at Moraine Park Campground which is easily the prettiest campground I have ever stayed at. The sites are really spread out which is wonderful. When you are making reservations on rec.gov you can actually see a little photo of the campsite which is great. Sites come with bear locker, picnic table and fire pit!
Hikes: We hiked to Dream Lake and Emerald Lake, a super easy hike from the parking lot. And for our more difficult hike, we headed up to Fern Lake from the trailhead just below Moraine Park Campground. This hike was beautiful but due to snowy conditions, I considered this a pretty hard hike with a large altitude gain.
#2 YMCA of the Rockies – when we couldn’t handle the cold any longer, we ended up sleeping here! The grounds are absolutely spectacular and the view of the Rockies is unbeatable. A family vacation dream! They have horseback riding, archery, zip lining, rock climbing, fishing, mini golf… We decided immediately that we would have to come back with Sophie ASAP.
#3 Stanley Hotel – Not only is this beautiful and historic hotel a landmark of Estes Park, movie buffs will probably recognize this hotel from the Stephen King movie The Shining. The gorgeous hotel built in 1909 gained the reputation of being haunted after Stephen Kings novels popularity.
Now if you are in the Rockies for a little adventure, these last 2 activities are for you!
#4 Estes Park ATV – one of Steffen’s favorite things to do is ride ATV’s, so I thought what better way to celebrate our anniversary trip than by riding in the mountains of Colorado. What I absolutely love about this company is that they set they give you the safety lesson, tell you the rules, explain the routes (and difficulty levels) and then let you go for it! It was great to have different routes for the more experienced drivers. This was an absolute highlight for us!
#5 Rapid Transit Rafting – on our final day, we opted to go river rafting. I do have to note that the actual rafting took place in the Cache La Poudre river about an hour from Estes Park (near Ft. collins). They provide transportation or you can opt to follow the bus with your own vehicle. I have to admit that I was pretty scared but once we got to the rafts and I saw the little footholds, I was just excited. The 44 degree water just added to the fun of the experience!
I hope you enjoy these recommendations- please enjoy this video with plenty of footage from our trip!
I had seen so many of these fun amazon designer dues videos floating around on YouTube that I was totally inspired to purchase some of my own to try out!
I picked very different items to try out and surprisingly, they are all fantastic! I am going to link everything below, please let me know if any of the link stop working and I will do my best to find new ones!
Louis Inspired Watch Band: https://amzn.to/31lPS8P
Gold Bangle: https://amzn.to/31p7aC1
Tote Bag: https://amzn.to/2KnNDwl
Mini Dress: https://amzn.to/2yHLl4a
Leopard Sneaker:
https://amzn.to/2YOfeP1
Red Mules:
https://amzn.to/31lQgnN
https://amzn.to/31mMM4l
https://amzn.to/2GTRZsC
Hi Friends! I’m happy to be sharing this DIY on how to make giant standing paper flowers! I created these 2 years ago for a whimsical children’s photo shoot that I had planned and as you can see, they have held up so well. Since I knew these would be for a photo shoot, I needed to make sure that they traveled well – which they do! These are fantastic for any photo shoot or an event where you want to add some whimsy.
Here is a list of supplies you will need:
For the Flowers:
Crepe Paper: https://amzn.to/2XBAkRa
Pipe Cleaners: https://amzn.to/2XuxCN7
Dixie Plates: https://amzn.to/2LFN5Tj
Faux Grass Rug: https://amzn.to/2JsTNJG (optional)
Here is the in depth tutorial for the flowers: https://www.smilemercantile.com/blogs/tutorials/giant-paper-flower-for-a-diy-wedding-backdrop-craft-tutorial
I go step by step in the below video and please feel free to leave me a comment if you have any questions!
Hello Friends! Today I am going to share with you a video that I have been working on for quite some time and that’s the first part of my Houston Guide. Since this is the city where I was raised and now live in again, I wanted to be sure and do it justice. There was no way to get all my favorites in one video, so I’ll be splitting this up in to multiple parts.
First Stop: Sam’s Fried Chicken and Donuts
Located in the Heights (601 HEIGHTS BLVD, HOUSTON, TX 77007) this little restaurant has the best donuts with the best flavors. My favorites being Mexican chocolate and Blueberry. But if you are going for the first time you definitely have to get the double donut chicken sandwich.
2: Allen Parkway
Allen Parkway is a gem that I somehow just recently discovered – mainly because I don’t live in town, but I love it. Such a fun place to have a picnic with a gorgeous view of downtown, great if you have kids because the have tons of room to run around and explore. Be sure to check out the video to get a better idea of what the different parts of the trails look like! Shout out to my husband for the beautiful drone footage from the video.
3: Houston Murals
From the feedback that I have gotten, I will make a more in depth video on this in the future but one of my other favorite things to do in Houston is to drive around and look at the murals. Winter Street studios was a really great one stop shop for tons of different little murals and colors. Great for taking those instagram pictures or having a photo shoot if you are a photographer. I’m also a big fan of the Houston/ Texas ones that just popped up on McKinney Street (right by Discovery Green).
Thanks for checking out this blog – stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon!
For today’s post I wanted to share with you some of the family photos we just had taken by the super talented Renee at Domus Aurea Portraits. I though it would be fun for y’all to see what goes into an in home family session from the view point of a photographer. There are lots of little tricks you can use to make your home look amazing (fresh flowers, hiding cords, etc.).
So for the day of the shoot I took my camera to pick up a few last minute things I needed and then walk you through how I rearranged the parts of my home that I knew we would be shooting in.
When picking outfits for our photos I knew I wanted something colorful because our house is pretty neutral in color, so my bright pink dress actually acted as a pop of color! But if you are ever struggling with what to wear for photos, you can never go wrong with jeans and a white shirt. Looks casual and put together AND timeless which is important if you don’t have pictures taken too often.
I hope you all enjoy my video and seeing some behind the scenes. Please leave me a comment below and let me know which outfit you like best!
