A Few of my Recent Favorites

I feel like I've been running around like a crazy person the last couple weeks.  Everything just started all at once: school, work, more work, house keeping...lame.  I've compiled a few things that made me pause and smile these past weeks.  I hope you enjoy them too!

1. I'm a sucker for beautiful photography and I instantly fell in love with these shots that Nick Brandt took at the shoreline of Lake Natron in Tanzania.
2. I'm a CrossFit addict.  I've joined the ranks of the CrossFit cult...I practically live at our local box, mainly because I work there, but that's another story!  If you follow health related media at all I'm sure you would have seen the controversy over the pregnant mom who CrossFits.
3. Ever since I first saw this beautiful Photographer's Tripod Floor Lamp from Pottery Barn I knew I needed it in my life.  Unfortunately I could never justify that price tag.  Luckily, I ran across this the other day - a DIY spotlight tutorial!  Yay!
4. With Halloween around the corner, and all those cute costumes on Pinterest, I was quickly reminded of the horrors of Halloweens past with these photos.
5. Jamie Moore is in incredible photographer, and an even cooler mom.  Check out these portraits she made of her daughter.

Tutorial: How to Create a Transparent Photo in Word

I originally saw this on Pinterest, but when I went back to give credit I couldn't find the original post.  If I do find it, I will certainly link.

As part of my bridesmaid package, I decided to create something special and unique for each girl.  At some point I saw a tutorial on Pinterest for making a photo transparent in Microsoft Word.  I thought that was an absolutely brilliant way to specialize each card to the girl!

This is how I did it.

Step 1:
Open up your document in Word.  Here I have already created the front and back of my 'Will You Be My Bridesmaid?' card.

Step 2:
Now you want to insert your photo into the word document.

Step 3:
When you insert your photo it will likely push your writing (if you have any) onto another page.

Step 4:
While your photo is selected, you want to change how the photo interacts with the text.  You need to be under the 'Format Picture' tab (highlighted in purple on the top) and then select the 'Wrap Text' box (which is the one with the dog and lines behind it).  Select 'Behind Text' - this will bring your text on top of your photo.

Step 5:
Now you can make your photo transparent.  To the left of the 'Wrap Text' box is the Transparency scale.  As you drag the triangle to the right or left your photo will become more or less transparent.  Play around with it until you find the transparency you want.

Step 6:
Voila, you are done!