Preciously Paired

Valentines Outfit Inspiration with DIY Graphic Tee

posted in color block party skirts, crafts, diy, holidays, inspiration, women's fashion by Hanna on February 10, 2015

As we get further into the new year, the more “crafty” I seem to get after taking a long break over the holidays. So why not jump back on the bandwagon with some easy diy shirts just in time for Valentines day? If you haven’t noticed yet, graphic tees are all the rage…meaning I don’t have one. Funny enough, I always seem to be the last one on the fashion trend compared to Sara; not necessarily because I’m trying to “stick it to the man” or in this case “fashionistas”, but because I have to see something enough times and on enough people before I’ll get brave and do it myself. That’s right, I’m a fashion follower, not starter and I’m definitely ok with that. Anyway, I’m slowly getting on the graphic tee trend, and have even gone as far as whipping up a few different styles that you can make yourself. They are both ridiculously easy and absolutely possible to make before Valentines Day. The best part about these Valentine inspired tees is that it is a style you can continue on wearing all year long!

Today I’m sharing our women’s Valentines outfit inspiration featuring both one of the diy graphic tees I made, and our classic Color Block Party skirt. But first, here is a quick tutorial on the shirt.

Supplies:

-Shirt

-Cardstock

-X-acto knife

– Fabric Paint and foam brush

– Adhesive Spray

To start, I grabbed a long sleeves tee from Old Navy for $5. I love Old Navy! It was either the best thing or the worst thing I ever did to get an Old Navy card. Next, I decided I wanted to do something a little different than your average “Love” tee so I did the next best thing and did the same word in a different langue; “l’amour which is French for “love”. I just typed the word on a blank document on the computer using a font called “Lainie Day”. I printed that out on cardstock and cut the word out with an x-acto knife to use as my stencil. Once that was done I sprayed the back of the stencil with adhesive spray and placed it on my shirt that was laid out flat with a piece of cardboard placed inside the shirt. Last step is to fill in your word stencil with a couple coats of fabric paint, and once that is dry peel off the paper and you’ll officially be ready to join the fashion club of graphic tees.

Along with getting my craft on, I’ve also started taking more pictures again which has always been a hobby of mine. So doing this shoot with our best friend Ashly, who agreed to be my last minute model, was nothing less than fun! We just love this girl; from her gorgeous face, to her caring personality, and everything in between!

For some Valentines Day outfit inspiration, scroll down to see some different ways this easy diy graphic tee can be styled.

Get this full look by ordering your very own Color Block Party Skirt, which is currently on sale in our shop! Also, make sure to check back later this week for a look at the other graphic tee I did for my daughter that I paired with our Color Block Party skirt for girls!

For more Valentines Inspiration check out some of our other blog post:

6 DIY Projects and Printables That Are a MUST This Valentines Day

Introducing our Valentines Prints and Custom Wedding Illustrations

Kid Approved Valentines Party

Friday Finds Valentines Day Gift Ideas

6 DIY Projects and Printables That Are A MUST This Valentine’s Day

posted in crafts, diy, food, holidays, printable by Sara on February 2, 2015

We’ve compiled the perfect list of cute and budget-friendly ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year that are sure to show your sweethearts just how much you love them! What we love most about all of these Valentine’s Day ideas is that they are things the whole family can enjoy, even kids!

1. DIY Heart Sweater | by A Beautiful Mess. We love this easy DIY heart sweater made by A Beautiful Mess. It’s literally as easy as cutting out a fabric heart and sewing it to a sweater. If you don’t sew, you could use iron on paper or fabric glue. Either way, in minutes you will be celebrating Valentine’s Day is style!

2. You Warm My Heart Free Printable | by Confetti Sunshine. How cute would it be to deliver your valentine their favorite hot drink with this adorable printable, created by Confetti Sunshine, wrapped around it?! Just a simple way to let your valentine know you’re thinking of them. My most favorite heart-warming drink is a hazelnut steamer, what’s yours?

3. DIY Conversation Heart Pinatas | by Studio DIY. Neither of us are ones to get super crafty on Valentine’s Day, but these DIY conversation heart pinatas made by Kelly over at Studio DIY are just too fun! Plus, Kelly provides an easy, step-by-step tutorial on her blog on how to make these cute Valentine pinatas. I can already picture the fun our kids (and hubbys) would have breaking into one of these!

4. Scratch-off Valentine Printable | by Better Homes and Garden. Nothing like a fun scratch-off Valentine card to intrigue your sweetheart. You can download this FREE printable on Better Homes and Garden’s website, and they even provide a great video on how to make the scratch-off solution. There is even an option for you to customize and download your own scratch-off Valentine printable!

5. La La Love You: French Toast | by Grilled Cheese Social. Nothing speaks love to us better than food! And this french toast recipe by MacKenzie at Grilled Cheese Social, topped with mascarpone cheese, nutella, and fresh strawberries sound like it would definitely do the trick! Plus, it is something the whole family would enjoy!

6. Valentine’s Day Tumble Game | by Tried and True. Vanessa from Tried and True created this fun Valentine’s Day game out of a mini Jenga game she found at Dollar Tree! We LOVE this idea as it is inexpensive, easy to make, and completely customizable! Perfect for a romantic night with your sweetheart or a fun game night with the whole family!

We hope you found some inspiration with this Valentine’s Day round-up! If you have any fun Valentine’s Day projects, please share them with us in the comment section below!

XOXO, Sara

Introducing our Valentines Prints and Custom Wedding Illustrations

posted in decor, holidays, printable, shop by Hanna on January 30, 2015

I’ve mentioned this a couple times on the blog, but I have a hard time figuring out what to do for these smaller holidays to make them memorable and fun. As sad as it is to say, Valentines is usually an after thought now that we have kids and after just getting past the bigger holidays like Christmas and New Years. I think I get stuck on doing something that is going to be so useful and meaningful that I end up taking too long and not doing anything. Yes, there have been a few Valentines where I haven’t done anything for my husband! It’s pretty sad. That’s why I get really excited about what we do when holidays come up where you want to give something that special with a personal touch.

With our custom illustrations it’s a fun spin on the average gift of a simple picture and yet is still personal. Sara and I thought it was so sweet of a husband that took the initiative and ordered a custom, wedding illustration for his newly married wife as a gift for this Valentines Day. So after making one for myself, we wanted to share the love and offer this idea for those out there along with any other custom, illustration for 20% off!

Also to add to the fun of Valentines Day we added some illustrated, Valentines prints and cards to our shop that would be an equally fun and inexpensive gift to give. These are also on sale for 20%! So hop over to our shop and order your own personalized Valentines gift! The sale will last until Monday night.

Monthly Photo Challenge | Preciously Paired

My Monthly Photo Challenge of 2014

posted in family, holidays, inspiration, lifestyle, New Years by Hanna on January 7, 2015

Happy New Year everyone! We are happy to be back with some new changes and goals for our blog and business. Perhaps we’ll even decide to fill you in a little bit on what some of those things are in the near future! Stay tuned!

We spent the holidays doing lots of custom illustrated portraits and Christmas cards which we loved being able to do! Thank you so much to those who have supported us and our creative work! It has been SO crazy how far we’ve come since joining up together last year. We also got to spend the holidays together…like for 2+ weeks! It was fabulous and crazy as usual and I didn’t even take one picture! I actually hosted Christmas at my house for my family. For about 5 days we had anywhere from 11-15 people at our house at any given time. Like I said, crazy! But, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I know we won’t always be able to get together so easily and for such a long amount of time so I took deep breathes and enjoyed the time we all had together.

Although the holidays were fun I’m excited to get back into a routine, get my house back together and start this year fresh with some new resolutions. I decided to be more realistic on myself this year and I made only 2 resolutions, one of which is to become a basketball fan and even more namely a BYU basketball fan. I’m sure that seems like a very strange resolutions but if you knew me and then my husband you would totally understand. Aside from my resolutions I’m starting this 8 week challenge of eating good and exercising. After not consistently exercising for almost 3 years it’s going to be an interesting start. Wish me luck!

Now that we’re semi caught up without me writing a complete saga of the last couple of months of my life we can move onto what this post is actually about. Last year I saw this post on Pinterest where someone took a picture of their kids once a month for a year. Since we just moved into our house at the beginning of last year I thought it would be a fun way to not only see my girls growth throughout the year but to see the progression of the seasons in our first, very own yard as well. Surprisingly I stuck too it with the help of my husband and bribes that involved candy. I only missed one month…July was a busy month! I’m so glad I decided to do this and love see our first year in our house in review.

Color Block Party Skirts for Girls: Holiday Edition

Get in the Christmas Spirit with Our Color Block Party Skirts for Girls

posted in color block party skirts, diy, holidays, shop by Hanna on December 3, 2014

Sara and I decided to try something new and try making some video’s to show off our Color Block Party skirts. We love the idea of you being able to see our skirts in action and getting to see and know us a little more too!

I love doing fun and creative projects with my girls that help inspire pretend play so for this first video I decided to share a fun idea that does just that while also helping get the kids in the Christmas spirit. Using things from our our house my girls and I made Santa’s sleigh with reindeer. It’s super easy and my girls had a fun time imagining that they were delivering presents to all the kids on Christmas.

Also featured in this holiday video are these beyond adorable, Rudolph masks from Opposite by Far. If you haven’t visited this shop yet its a must! Jessica, the creator of these cute masks, has a huge variety to choose from and they are a great gift for the kids! While your at it make sure to also check our shop! We’re going to be having some great sale’s on our skirts so now is your chance to get one!

What are some fun activities or projects you like to do with your kids during the holidays?

Custom Illustrated Holiday Cards | Preciously Paired

5 Steps to Getting Creative and Unique Holiday Cards

posted in holidays, shop by Hanna on November 10, 2014

Before blogs, Facebook. and Instagram, sending holidays cards was a way of updating all our distant friends and family about the past year. Now that it’s easy to stay in touch with those living far away online, we think that holiday cards can be a chance to wish those we care about a Merry Christmas in a creative and fun way.

So this year, chose to do something a little different and let Preciously Paired illustrate and design your holiday cards with these 5 easy steps!

If you’re interested in giving us the honor of illustrating and designing your holiday cards, head over to our shop and put in your order! The holiday’s are fast approaching so we would recommend getting your order in as soon as possible to allow us time to design your print, and for you to get them printed. We can’t wait to work with you!

DIY felt Halloween costumes | Preciously Paired

My DIY Halloween

posted in crafts, diy, fall, family, holidays, kids by Hanna on October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween! I think I’ve mentioned this before, but Sara and I didn’t grow up with Halloween being much of a big deal in our house. However, now that I’m a mother of young kids I’ve been trying to be more excited about it. To be honest though, I’m still not super into it to the point where I plan full family costumes, but I’m realizing that I do enjoy creating things for my girls to dress up in and doing Halloween activities that they would enjoy throughout the month.

This year I got really ambitious and decided to make both of the girl’s costumes from scratch! It took Mia forever to just decide on one thing she wanted to be, and she only finally chose a mermaid because that is what her cousin said she was going to be. Whatever the reason, I decided to roll with it. While recently organizing my craft space, I found some green felt and red yarn. I figured I would challenge myself to try and make Mia’s costume from what I had on hand. In the end, I ended up spending less then $5 on her entire costume! I got the pattern for her Arial hair/wig HERE. It totally made the outfit and was pretty easy to make.

Livy’s costume is a little bit of an inside joke. Growing up in Nevada we didn’t just celebrate Halloween but we celebrated Nevada Day as well; the day Nevada became a state. Since marrying my husband, October 31st has really been more about celebrating Nevada Day than Halloween. Before having kids we’d go to my parents house every year to celebrate. My husband is always teasing about our obsession with Nevada Day over Halloween so I thought it only fitting that one of my kids should represent a fun family tradition; not to mention it’s the 150th year of Nevada being a state!

After spending several nights making my girl’s their costumes, and as fate would have it, it just so happens that we all have been sick and Mia has had to miss most of her Halloween activities during the week. Luckily Mia is much better and Livy is almost there so we’re hoping to get out tonight for a little trick-or-treating, or at the very least sing a few rounds of “Home Means Nevada”.

Anyone else make their kid’s Halloween costumes or have any fun Halloween traditions? We’d love to hear about them!