This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

Barbie now comes in more than one shape! I grew up with lots of Barbies, but we choose not to give our girls Barbies. With what Ben does, we are slightly more sensitive to these types of things, so we don’t let the girls have one. We do like that Mattel is finally acknowledging and celebrating diversity.

I want to sew a dress in a cut like this, and sew a top like this (or turn it into a dress).

Love this pretty indigo bag.

If your waist is 32″, these vintage bell bottoms are only $5.99!

Someone please get this vintage tapestry-like caftan. It would be so cute with some clogs or lace up sandals.

I miss Filipino food. Adobo and bistek, get in my tummy now!

Darling red dress is perfect for a little one on Valentine’s Day. Lots of cool vintage items for kids on Vinyl Kids Vintage, see these plaid pants as proof.

I want Beci Orpin’s newest book, Make and Do.

The girls would love to make these party headbands.

God’s really been showing me how I need to grow in marriage. Ben and I usually agree on everything, but there’s something we’ve been disagreeing about, so we’ve been learning how to listen and love each other well through it. I’ve been more emotional lately because of it, but I know this a trial for my good and God’s glory. I’ve been praying for God to change my hard heart.

With what I mentioned above, I listened to this sermon to help guide my heart towards where it ought to be.

I love the article, “When Scruffy Hospitality Creates Space for Friendship.” Hospitality is part of being the hands and feet of Jesus; it’s such a tangible way to love and serve others. You have to eat, so might as well do it with friends. My mom is the queen of hospitality, and really knows how to show love to others through serving them a meal. While I don’t have her natural giftedness, I’m willing to learn and grow in this area, and the only way to do it is to keep inviting people over.

I’m getting ready to speak at Hope Spoken. I’m so nervous! I wanted to say no because of fear, but that wasn’t a good enough reason to say no, so I said yes. Eek! Any of you going? I don’t know anyone, so please say hi, and let’s be friends! 🙂

Happy weekending!!!

My sister and I teamed up together to try our hand at some videos for the blog. Here is the little sneak peek of what’s to come… we hope you like it! We share the first official craft on Monday, so don’t forget to check back. We have some quirky Valentine’s Day projects to share with you!

Follow Cakies on YouTube here.
See other photos and videos by Christian and Reinna here.

Ben turned 41 in December. His only request was that we go to the citrus fruit tasting in Central California at UC Lindcove, so we planned a mini road trip! This was his first hotel birthday celebration. Morning of, we served him breakfast in bed at home. I used to make him fancy omelets for his birthday, but the past few years all he’s wanted is the same thing he eats every morning … 1 cup oatmeal, covered with skim milk, 22 almonds, 1 chopped fruit, and a scoop of protein. The only difference is that on his birthday I make it for him, and he makes it himself all other days.

Since we were about to embark on a road trip to a citrus tasting, we did a little spin on oranges for our gifts for him. The girls made lots of little cards with orange looking characters, and they were all filled with orange jokes.

“Knock, knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“Orange who?”
“Orange you glad I didn’t say banana.”

You get the gist. To make their orange characters, each of them used their thumbprint on some white card stock, and then drew funny faces on them. We also wrote out 41 reasons why we love him and wrapped them up in a nice little orange for him to unravel (like this and this). Funny thing is that he didn’t want to ruin the orange ball, so he’s never unraveled it to find out all the things we love about him. Oye! I told him I would gladly wrap it all back up, but he still hasn’t done it.

That guy is so sentimental. Back when we were dating, and he would get sick, I’d bring him orange juice. Well, he’s saved all of the containers, and there in a box sitting in our closet, along with a million other things that he saved from when we were dating. My Benny is too sweet.

Our first stop on our road trip was for lunch in Pasadena. We took him to Spinfish, which is a poke bowl place. Sushi is Ben’s jam, so I knew he was going to love this place. In fact, we all loved it! The girls get theirs without any raw fish, but with imitation crab meat instead. We haven’t introduced them to raw fish yet, but I have a feeling that once they get a taste, especially the middle two, they will love it and won’t even give California rolls a second look.

After lunch, we were all happy and satisfied, and ready to hit the road. We love doing little getaway trips like this to celebrate a birthday. Another post to come to share all about the citrus tasting.

Espadrilles in the winter is totally doable here. In fact, you go to the grocery store and many people are still wearing their flip flops or sandals! At the same time, people are wearing puffy jackets to go grocery shopping too.

My favorite part of an outfit are always the shoes, but my daily outfits don’t revolve around which shoe I want to wear. I wear what I feel like, and then pick a shoe that goes with that. Lately, it’s been a whole lot of jeans wearing (this specifically), but dresses have been back in the rotation since we’ve had a few warmer days. What’s your favorite part of an outfit?

Ever since making this basket in December, I’ve really wanted to experiment with making rope baskets in different shapes. I didn’t do a step-by-step because this was kind of experimental, but I loved the result, and want to make more. I want to try a few other ideas, but how many rope baskets does this girl really need?!

I really loved this basket by Muzungu Sisters, and was stalking one on eBay over the holidays, but ended up losing. One thing that intrigues me about those baskets is the artists who make it. Apparently, it’s a dying art in Italy and takes about 3 days to make. I eventually want to DIY a similar one, but thought it was good inspiration for my rope basket. Funny thing, it took me 3 days to make my tote too!

I do love that I can throw this in the wash if it gets dirty. I tried with this little one I carry around, and it washed nicely and stayed intact. I’m thinking my second one will have bolder fringe colors and maybe something asymmetrical. Guess it sounds like I do indeed need more than one rope basket!

Make a yarn wrapped “I love you” sign. We still have it hanging today (see here)!

Sweetheart felt clips are perfect to give your little ones or for their friends!

Just takes a pack of pipe cleaners and a few minutes, and you’ve got yourself a lovely heart chain garland.

My girls love crowns … flower crowns, star crowns, princess ones, etc. Make this crepe paper heart crown to show them they rule your heart.

This project takes a bit more time, and little bit of sewing, but the kids love yelling, “Tic-tac-toe, three hearts in a row!”

We’ve got a few new ones to share with you in the coming weeks, but these should keep you busy until then. If you make any, just tag it #cakiescrafts, so I can check it out and share it with others.

Happy Monday friends!