I don’t have a FAQ page on YAMF because the fact is, I don’t get asked questions all the much. I guess I haven’t done a good enough job making my life seem fascinating enough that people wonder or care. Or I blab too much. Either way, I do get asked this one question at least a couple times a week. And it has actually nothing to do with me.

A couple years ago I posted photos of some hanging fabric flower decorations from this wedding photographed by Lizelle Lotter. I put the source of the photos in the post and do not even hint that I made them or have anything to do with them. Yet, I keep getting asked how I made them. Moral of the story: people are dumb. The end. Wait, there’s actually a little more to the story. It’s called the long awaited tutorial and I’m delivering it to you today.

To make your own you’ll need:
- cotton fabric (I used broad cloth because I liked the price and color range, 1/4 yard will yield 25 flowers)
- fabric scissors
- hot glue gun
- twine
- needle

Step One: Cut your fabric into ovals. They don’t have to be exact, just a general circular shape will do. I cut 25 of each color.

Step Two: Take one oval and fold it in half then dab some hot glue near the middle on the folded edge. It’s essential that you use a mini glue gun with lots of crap stuck to it.

I should mention I started at the sewing machine stitching the top together but then realized I hate that blasted machine and that a glue gun would be quicker and accompanied with less stress eating.

Step Three: Fold your oval in half the other direction and pinch the top so the two sides adhere to form a flower shape.

Step Four: Repeat steps two and three until you’ve got a nice, color coded pile going on.

Step Five: Thread a needle with twine and string the flowers vertically. I found it’s the easiest to go through the bottom to the top. Make sure to knot the twine at the bottom so the flowers don’t fall off. It’s up to you how many flowers you want on each strand and how long you want each strand to be. I wasn’t exact because I liked the staggered look.

Step Six: Lay out a long piece of twine horizontally and attach the vertical strands by tying them at the top to hang.

You got what you asked for Internet. Appreciate me.

I’m not sure why it took me so long to discover the gem of a shop that is Whack Pinateria but it’s making my party supply loving heart happy today. Shop owner and pinata artist, Aracely, is a downright fringe and  paper mache genius. The burger and fries are my fave.

I felt like we worked on putting together our house for so long that the minute I deemed it presentable, I threw in the decorating towel. Now that it’s been a few months, I’m gradually easing back into making (very) small updates and I forgot that it’s actually enjoyable. A zebra is now in our entry (it just seemed to fit). I made my most blogger (and adult feeling) purchase of a fiddle leaf fig tree. The mirror has been spruced up (and a hole covered) with paper flowers. And the inspiration held up by the ticket holder is constantly changing. Spring has hit our house, hooray.

A few more posts I wrote this week:
- 10 lifestyle blogs you should be reading
- Swimsuit shopping is so much more fun for little girls than yourself
- Best diy of the week (the origami lamp is spectacular)

Have a happy one!

For the next party I throw I really want to do a breakfast for dinner theme. Wouldn’t it be cute to have a breakfast carb bar with your choice of waffles, french toast, crepes or flapjacks and all the toppings you can dream of? I think housing the crepes in patterned paper cones and having strawberry skewers to accompany it would earn you valuable presentation points. You could pass them out like a roaming vendor at a baseball game.

Apparently Lisa Vanderpump is a fan of breakfast for dinner too. You can find the recipe she mentions in the video and more right here.

This is a sponsored post. Thank you for being supportive of You Are My Fave and my sponsors.

Today I’m happy to announce that Amelia, the creator of the oh so popular wind-up paper butterflies, will be stopping by yamf once a month to share her talents. 

Is it officially Spring where you live yet? Here in Wisconsin the temps are still hovering near the freezing mark. I’ve been obsessed with filling my home with fresh flowers to make up for the fact that it’s April and there are still little piles of snow in my backyard. In fact, there have been so many flower arrangements in my house lately, my husband joked that it’s starting to look a little funeral home-ish. And he’s not wrong. I’m having the best time picking out blooms, arranging them until they’re just ever so, and placing them in a sunny spot to admire– that is, until they begin to droop and wither and turn the vase water into murky green muck. Tossing all those pretty flowers into the trash is a total bummer, so I dreamed up this little project in an effort to keep them around longer than a few days. It’s inexpensive, ridiculously easy, and makes the trash tossing a little less painful. All you need is a vase of fresh flowers, a camera, some natural light, and an empty frame.

The first step is to get your flowers ready for their close-up. I’m no florist, but I’ve learned that keeping the flowers loose and natural-looking will create a beautiful bouquet. And don’t skip the greenery!

My goal was to capture the feeling of a still life painting for my flowers, so I set them on a table near a window, and played around with different props and backgrounds. A kitchen towel and a black chalkboard worked nicely, and so did a simple white wall and wooden table. You don’t need a fancy camera to get the shot, either. As long as there’s an abundance of natural light, even the camera on your phone will do just fine.

When you think you’ve got the shot, transfer your photo(s) to a flash drive. I took mine to the FedEx shop near my house and had them printed out onto 15x20in sheets of paper. The whole thing took about 5 minutes, and each print cost less than $2.

Now just pop that photo into a frame (I used an old, thrifted one, but a few of my Ikea frames worked great too) and find the perfect spot to keep your pretty little floral portrait.

See more from Amelia on The Homebook

In May 2011 I shared that my husband and I were experiencing infertility (all the thoughtful comments were unfortunately deleted when my site was hacked a while later). At that point we had been hoping for a baby for eighteen months with no resulting pregnancies and had been diagnosed with the specific issue that was causing our infertility just a month prior. I was 25 and my husband was 28.

I made the decision to start writing about our experience in the hopes that it would strengthen those going through similar obstacles and to create awareness of a topic that is often not discussed openly. Here are some of my posts from that time:

- The lonely battle
- Things to avoid saying to those dealing with infertility
- What to say to those dealing with infertility
- How to respond when people ask if you’re going to have kids
- What to know before seeing a specialist
- Infertility is not a solitary struggle
- IUI 101
- The hardest part of infertility for me
- What I know for sure about infertility
- Letting go of the plan
- The point where I gave up
- The point where the IUI was successful

I also shared stories from real women going through infertility that were very insightful:
- Alicia’s story of adoption
- Victoria’s IVF journey
- Brenda shares about enduring multiple miscarriages
- Lisa shares, “Going to the doctor was the best decision I ever made.”
- Jules goes through IVF and has triplets
- Kelly shares about the long wait after a miscarriage
- Sarah writes, “I don’t know what better preparation for parenthood than to to have our hearts both filled and broken and then filled again with our experience of infertility.”

Other posts and sites dealing with infertility that are helpful:
- The R House: Understanding and Supporting Pregnancy Loss “Don’t rank tragedy, every loss is a loss.”
- One More Mushroom: Our Journey With Infertility  “I know I’ve gained more than I’ve lost.”
- A Blog About Love  (Mara’s optimistic attitude is contagious.)
- Resolve: The National Infertility Association

In July 2011, I was successfully able to get pregnant through an IUI procedure. It was the fourth one we had tried and was going to be our last attempt before we took a break and considered IVF. In April 2012, our son Beck was born and is the light of our lives.

I know our journey to a baby (2 1/2 years) wasn’t nearly as long as what so many others go through. But I don’t see our journey with infertility as being over. Unfortunately with our specific diagnosis, the chances of us ever conceiving naturally are very slim and it’s nothing that can be medically fixed. We will most likely have to see a specialist every time we wish to have a child and even then it’s not guaranteed to work for us again.

My main words of advice to those currently experiencing infertility are:
- Be proactive. If you sense something is wrong, seek help. To me it was always better to try and find out what was wrong than to be left in the dark wondering. A very small percentage of cases actually lead to intensive procedures like IVF, there is a lot that can be resolved before that point is reached. Of course seeking medical help is a decision that you and your spouse need to feel comfortable with and make together.
- Find a supportive listener to talk to about infertility. Whether that’s a family member, friend or a support group – it helps! Infertility can be so lonely but if you feel like you have someone you can share your struggles with, it makes it less so.
- Pray for understanding. Patience. Hope. Comfort.

Though my infertility looks different than anybody else’s and I am lucky enough to have a child, it’s still the most difficult thing I’ve ever experienced. But I’m grateful for the empathy it has granted me. Please remember, we need to support each other no matter what stage we’re in.

photo credit: Jennifer Little

As useless as candy buttons are as an actual candy (hardened cough syrup), they sure make a happy backdrop for a photo booth. I posted the one step tutorial right here on Julep.

And a few links for your weekend:
- If you haven’t dyed your eggs yet, here are 10 ideas
- Best DIY Projects of the Week (the accordion style lamp is brilliant)
- 7 of the best (looking) ways to print your Instagram photos
- Fave wooden block sets (I want them all)

Have a terrific Easter!

I know, Easter is three days away and you’ve already got the ham in the oven. But if you tend to do things last minute like me, you might be interested in busting out one of these simple, fabric covered baskets. They’ll only take you about 15 minutes each and trump the plastic woven variety.

To make your own you’ll need:
- paper mache box (I found these at Hobby Lobby)
- fabric (1/4 yard is plenty)
- Mod Podge
- paint brush
- scissors
- handles from paper bag (I used some from a Nordstrom bag but felt, ribbon or cording would work too)
- paper flowers (the ones I used are from West Elm) or ribbon

Step one: Cover outside of box with Mod Podge then wrap the fabric around to adhere. Smooth out any bubbles and add extra coat of clue on the outside if needed (it dries clear).

Step two: Fold excess fabric on top into open box and trim the fabric on the bottom then fold and glue it to the bottom of the box. Let dry.

Step three: Use hot glue to adhere the handle in the inside of the box then add embellishments and fillings (anything besides black and purple jelly beans).

Yes, the ears are eaten off of the bunny in the last photo. I needed some mid blog project nourishment.

Today’s post is from sweet Joy, the gal behind Frock Files

Over the past six months, we’ve turned our second bedroom from a storage space to my office. Now that it’s finally cleared out I have lots and lots of wall space to fill, so I decided to create some of my own artwork. Gold dipped feathers seemed like the perfect thing to conjure magic when I’m feeling uninspired — and, in total, this project costs less than, say, a poster from Ikea.

To make your own you’ll need:
- 5 white turkey feathers
- Gold craft paint
- A jar or small cup
- An ice cube tray
- Gold glitter
- 1 spool embroidery floss
- 1 pants hanger
- White floral tape

1. Pour some gold paint into a cup or jar. Dip the end of a feather into the paint, then immediately cover in glitter. Rest on an ice cube tray or, really, anything that will allow the feather to balance while it dries. Repeat for four remaining feathers. Allow to dry.

2. Take the end of a feather and hold a piece of embroidery floss up against it. Secure the feather and floss together using floral tape. Continue with four remaining feathers, making each piece of embroidery floss a slightly different length.

3. Tie each feather to the pants hanger.

4. Hang somewhere visible. Have all house guests marvel at your artistic talents.

See more from Joy on Frock Files

I put this boxed breakfast together as a simple way to treat the adults who are corralling the Easter egg hunt participants this weekend and who surely didn’t have time for breakfast since they were too busy fussing with the bow ties and saddle shoes.

To make your own you’ll need:
- a small, sturdy box
- acrylic paints (I honestly don’t think you can beat the colors from the Martha Stewart line)
- stencil (I used a Martha Stewart Crafts adhesive stencil since freehand painting is not my forte)
- paint brush
- weck jars
- glassine bag
- breakfast food items (bagel, orange juice, granola, yogurt, fruit)

Step one: paint the outside of the box in pattern of your choosing and let dry. You can also make an easy juice label by stamping a circle onto a piece of paper to create an orange. Very little art skill required.

Step two: Prepare food items. Package bagel in glassine bag and seal with tape or a label. Tape juice label onto bottle. Layer yogurt and granola in one weck jar and berries in the other. Fit nicely into box.

Step three: Hand out and enjoy while watching the kids stuff their cheeks full of jelly beans.

This project is part of 12 Months of Martha, one craft a month using products from  the Martha Stewart Craft line.