diy tealight pumpkins

Reposting is not something I commonly do, in fact this is the first time I've ever done a repost, but I love this lil pumpkin craft so much and it is so festive & fitting right now with the cooler weather & change of season. I posted this about a year ago, so if you never saw this or weren't following the blog back then, enjoy! & if you've already seen this, I apologize, just needing a bit of a break this month!

Looking for some cute autumn diy home decor? Carve out the tops of mini pumpkins and replace with tealight candles for a warm, festive holiday glow :) These little pumpks super easy and quick to make. We already had the mini pumpkins and tealights so didn't even make a trip to the store. You could also use slightly larger pumpkins with votives depending on your preference or what you have at home. All you'll need are the pumpkins, candles, and a knife. 

How You Do It:

Step 1: Use the tealight to mark your carving on the top of the pumpkin.

Step 2: Carve out the top. (Be conservative in carving - you can always make a smaller hole bigger but you can't make a bigger hole smaller).
Step 3: Insert the candle, light, & enjoy! 

I think they look great in groups of odd numbers, I like the three here for our round kitchen table, but if you have a longer table or coffee table you can do more, perhaps different colors (white or spray painted gold would look beautiful) and/or different sized pumpkins lined all along the center.

Sidenote - This all started when I saw these pumpkin tealight candle holders in the Crate & Barrel catalog. But I definitely like our real pumpkin candle holders way better :)  Happy fall decorating!

Today

cinnamon swirl butter sandwich, leaving the playground in his trike, after some little kid just asked him if he was a baby ninja. #content

pictures of recently enjoyed things

if you follow me on instagram you've probably already seen all these, & if not, follow me @lisab3 :)

the children's zoo @ lincoln park

 diy painted mason jars (instructions here)

First Cub's game

last beach day

my niece emma

entertaining myself with his bath toys

"ni ni" <3

a wedding

First, I just want to express a sincere thank you for all the condolences, kind words and prayers in response to my last post. Since sharing the news I've received so many touching emails, facebook messages, phone calls, voicemails, and text messages from good friends, acquaintances, and from people I've never even met before.  I really, truly appreciate everyone who has reached out to me to let me know their heartfelt prayers and love have been with me. It has definitely been a very painful experience but it has helped beyond measure to talk to other women who have been through this before, to share in the experience, and to know that I have had the love and support of family and friends and even complete strangers. It just started passing through (naturally) this morning which I am happy about. I'm definitely doing a lot better, especially as of today, and I'm very hopeful that my body and mind will continue to heal and we will be back to making more babies in no time. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you. 

In other news, we went to a friend's beautiful downtown wedding on Saturday and I actually managed to take some pictures. I had never been to the Adler Planetarium before, but it made for an absolutely gorgeous wedding venue. The weather was perfect for an outdoor ceremony and cocktail hour right on Lake Michigan, complete with a gorgeous sunset. We continued the celebration inside for the reception with all open windows for a breathtaking view of the skyline right from our tables. We had such a wonderful evening filled with good friends, endless wine, a delicious dinner, and probably the best dessert bar I've ever tasted. Congrats again Dyan & Matt :)

Edit:

I got a lot of inquiries on my dress & necklace -- necklace ($14), etsy and dress ($34), h&m. [Dress I got recently but for some reason I can't find it online but similar here & here.]

the best laid plans of mice & men ..

As previously mentioned, a lot has been going on around here lately and I feel like we're living in a constant whirlwind. The move has kind of thrown off our schedules and it's getting increasingly more difficult to plan appointments and who has the car on what day. The move was fairly smooth but there is so much work to do on our new home so in between diaper changes, feeding, playing, and taking care of Landon, I've been trying to put the house together. My stress levels have been pretty high and amidst all this we've been dealing with some pretty awful news..
We found out last week that I am miscarrying. I am still completely heartbroken and I am continuing to grieve and cope with this completely unexpected news. My hormone levels are still that of 2 months pregnant which probably doesn't help. We found out we were pregnant the beginning of August and were pumped. Really, really, over-the-moon, thrilled. We told a handful of people just because we couldn't keep it in, and I naively assumed that everything was going to be perfectly fine. We found out we were going to have a little Aries baby with a due date of April 15. Little Landon and new baby boy or girl bauman would have been just over 2 1/2 years apart. I was thrilled to have finally planned this out and be 100% ready for #2 and to grow our little threesome into a family of four. The lesson I keep learning over and over again? You can't plan. That's it, we just can't plan these things, and there's another greater plan out there that totally trumps mine. When will this finally sink in?
I'm still waiting for the baby to hopefully pass through naturally...and if not by another week at my 10 week mark we will have to have a D&C....and really hoping we don't have to go that route. Although I can see why a lot of women just go ahead with the D&C....the emotional state right now of knowing your dead baby with a failed heartbeat is still inside of you is extremely difficult to live with, each moment of every day. I have constant bursts of uncontrollable sadness and tears. I have awful nightmares about the miscarriage and crazy vivid, first trimester pregnancy dreams that haunt me every night. But still for me, having any procedure is a last resort.
It still totally sucks right now but I know there is a reason for everything and I am trying to finally relinguish control over planning out our family and children's ages perfectly. I am putting my faith and trust in God that He has the most perfect, best laid plans ahead for our family. I am learning not to be so naive about health complications and how 'easy' pregnancy is. I am thankful that I have already been blessed with a beautiful, healthy little boy. I am thankful for an amazing, supportive husband who makes this 10 times easier to go through with. And I am hopeful that as soon as my body gets back to normal and the required amount of time has passed...that there will be a new light at the end of this dark tunnel.