2016 ALBUM: OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER!

Can I just say I'm a little impressed with myself for completing my 2016 album a week into 2017? High five to me. This is a bit of a picture heavy post, but it also kinda has to be since it's covering three months and I didn't really want to break it up into more than one blog post. I also haven't done the journaling yet in these photos (I prefer adding that after sharing my album with everyone and their dog), so that's why you'll see a couple journaling cards thrown around that look a bit blank and unfinished. Oh, and if you'd like to see the whole album, you can do that here.

So! October was pretty outdoorsy, with walks in the woods, a hike to the Pulpit Rock and trips to the cabin. We also went to Berlin for Graeme's 30th, a surprise gift from me to him, and we celebrated Oscar's first halloween which included pumpkin carving and him dressed as an ewok.

November didn't have the greatest weather, so it was all about being cozy indoors. It included lots of knitting (I knitted my first ever sweater! Which I'm actually currently wearing as I type!), and in general just enjoying my maternity leave and hanging out with Oscar.

The past couple of years I've made whole albums just about December (you can see the first one here and the second one here), but since I was already making this album I felt it wasn't really necessary. We decorated our tree, made a gingerbread house village, and spend as much time as we possibly could just enjoying the holidays. For some reason though, I basically didn't take any photos during our actual Christmas celebration! D'oh!

I feel like I say this in every post, but this has been such a smooth project to finish. Since I was using instagram photos and a mini album with square pockets, all I really had to do was print out my photos and add whatever embellishments I wanted. But am I making a 2017 album like this one? Yes and no. I am making a 2017 album (I've already kinda started it!), but it will be a photo book rather than a scrap book. I do however have a ton of scrapbooking supplies right now, so no doubt I'll start another project soon!

I really want to focus on having more people in my album though, as this album basically just consists of me, Graeme and Oscar. I'm terrible at remembering to take photos when I'm hanging out with friends and family, so hoping to improve on that for 2017!

BEST OF 2016 POSTS

Hey there 2017! Anyone else feel like 2016 has just zoomed past? I honestly don't know where it's gone. I swear just the other day I was sitting there, wondering what 2016 would have in store. Here's a look at my favorite and most read posts this past year.

Pretty much all of these blog posts were DIY ones, starting off with the simple ombre baby blanket I made for Oscar back in January. It's been used tons, puked on and peed on, and washed about a million times. But it's still looking like new and still getting used pretty much on a daily basis!


























This DIY stuffed whale toy has also been a favorite. It was so much fun to make, and I'm so happy with the result.



























The cheater's quilt has also gotten tons of use! It basically serves as Oscar's play blanket and is pretty much permanently out in our living room floor. I've also been using it as a background when taking these month-by-month pictures of Oscar.






This Douglas Adams inspired baby mobile is also a favorite, and Oscar's a huge fan. It's been hanging over his crib in his room, and he loves lying there and looking at it spin.


Finally and obviously, there's Oscar's birth announcement. This guy has been the highlight of my 2016 for sure.

Hope you guys have all had an awesome 2016 as well (certain political events aside)! I've had a bit of a break from blogging the past month to just enjoy the holidays and my last month of maternity leave with my little family, but I have a few projects to share in 2017 so you'll probably hear from me soon! Stay tuned! :)

2016 ALBUM: AUGUST & SEPTEMBER

Making progress with my 2016 album! For those who are new, I've been making an album out of my instagram photos this year. Seeing as the photos more or less fit perfectly in a square mini album, it's probably one of the easiest photo album projects I've ever done. Here's a recap of my August and September chapters!

The main event in August was our trip to Athens. It was Oscar's first time on a plane, and our first holiday as a family of three. We weren't really sure what to expect, but we had a great time and were happy to learn that travelling with the little one really wasn't as challenging as you'd maybe think.

September eased us into Autumn, with cozy days spent at home and the changing leaves outside. It's not my favorite season by any means, but there's just something about it that makes me want to stay home and cook and bake and spend time in the kitchen. 

Also, can anyone explain to me how this year has flown by so quickly? We're almost in December and I can't understand how that's happened!

You can see the rest of my album by clicking on the "2016 album" label at the bottom of this post, and as always, you can follow me on instagram, my username is @hildeandhercamera.

DIY BABY EWOK COSTUME

Hey guys! Hope everyone had a fun Halloween! Halloween isn't really a big deal here in Norway, but every year people celebrate it a little bit more, which I'm quite excited about with my Americanized third culture kid upbringing. I still remember my first Halloween in Houston about 2 decades ago--the decorations, the costumes, the masses of candy! In a few years when Oscar is a bit older, I'd love to go visit some American friends so he can experience a proper Halloween. Plus, any excuse to dress up and have some fun during this dark and cold season is a big fat yes in my book. 

And now that we have a kid and we have every excuse to partake in the Halloween festivities (like we needed an excuse before, Bo is no stranger to dress up...), I thought I'd share how we made Oscar's ewok costume. It was really simple to throw together with stuff we already had around the house, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. 

The outfit is basically made up of three components; the bear suit, the hood and the spear. The bear suit was a hand me down from some friends, but I'm pretty sure you can buy similar suits all over the place. H&M sell them for sure. The hood was made out of one of Graeme's old brown t-shirts, where I just added two "bone style" buttons on the top and some leather strips around (Wicket was my inspo). Graeme made the spear out of a bamboo stick, some string, and a piece of wood he whittled to the shape of a stone and spray painted grey. He glued it all together with a glue gun. While the wooden spear is obviously more baby appropriate than a stone one, the spray paint wasn't exactly edible, so Oscar was under pretty strict observation while he was playing with it. Everything he touches ends up in his mouth these days. 

Yub nub!

DIANA F+ // COPENHAGEN

The most awful thing happened last week. I was taking out the film of our Olympus OM10 to get the photos from our recent trip to Athens developed, when it became apparent that THERE WAS NO FILM IN THE CAMERA. That's right. I "took" a whole roll of film, only to discover there was never any film in the camera in the first place. Devastated doesn't cover it! In fact, I was so upset that I ended up organizing part of the basement, just to get my mind off it. (Sidenote: how organized would my house be if I forgot to put film in my cameras more often?)

So instead of posting photos of ancient runes and sunshine, here's some photos I took in Copenhagen last year. Two of Graeme's friends were running a marathon, so Graeme and I jumped on the ferry and met up with them (no running for us though, walking all over town trying  to keep up with the runners was enough for us!). These were shot with my trusty Diana F+. which I actually haven't used in a while, on black and white Ilford XP2 super 400 120 film. 

We're headed to the cabin for a couple of days today, maybe I should bring this camera with me? Regardless of which camera I'm taking though, I'll definitely make sure there's actually film in it this time!