A Lil Bird told me...

Mama Style

2012-12-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

Hi, remember me? Yeah, I have been really bad about blogging, but I managed to get a post done for my cute friend Livia's Mama Style series. Check it out HERE.

2012-12-01T16:54:00.000-07:00

Family Picture Editing

It's been ages since I posted, but I wanted to share my family photos for 2012. I really LOVE how they turned out, and my dear friend Brandee did an amazing job as our photographer. I don't have photoshop, but I wanted to share a little secret of mine. I did all the photo editing MYSELF!! There's an amazing photo editing website I use. Right now, many of the premium features are FREE. So get your Holiday pictures taken, and upload them to Picmonkey, and see how GORGEOUS you can be.

BEFORE:

AFTER: (eyebrightening, spray-tanning, cloning, and cropping)

Stocking stuffer ideas for babies and toddlers.

2012-11-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

I bought these stockings years and years ago, when I was single. Why I bought such a random number, 3, I dunno. I have to get some new ones this year, since we are now a family of 4!

When it comes to holiday shopping, I spread mine out for a couple months, and then I like to be completely done by black friday weekend. I like to be done, so that during the Christmas season, I can sit back, relax, serve others, and enjoy the season. This also means I have *most* of my stocking stuffer presents already done too. I have to pick up little clementines right before the holiday, so they obviously don't go bad. This year since I have a baby and a toddler I started thinking of fun things for Santa to put in their stockings. Once I started thinking, I got a pretty good list going, so I thought I would share it. Obviously, I am not going to put all of these things in them, that would be some big stockings!

Since I have a boy and a girl, these are specific to them, but some of these items you could find for either gender.

Toddler Boy:
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Bubblebath
Travel size loofah (I have found these are perfect for babies and toddlers!)
Character Bandaids
Matchbox car
Disney movie (Cars, Incredibles, etc.)
Mini Magna Doodle
Kids tape measure (My son LOVES playing with Daddy's.)
Glow sticks for bath time
Roll of pennies (He will love putting them in his piggy bank one by one!)
Camelbak water bottle
Bath Boats
Mini boxes of raisins
Small bag of pistachios (Weird, but my 2 1/2 year old LOVES them.)
Clementines

Baby Girl:
Toothbrush
Travel size loofah
Baby Bee wash
Piggy Paint Nail Polish (I like to paint her toes!)
Soft headband
Mermaid rattle (they have pirates too!)
Sili squeeze or baby food pack (I really like the sili squeeze my sister in law gave me!!)
Fisher Price Disney Princesses
Camelbak water bottle (I found out my 5 month old can drink out of it when she grabbed mine!)
Teether
Disney movie (I know she is way too young, but better start the collection now!)
Tights
Trumpette Socks (These actually stay on!)
Board Book
Sinucleanse kids mist

What are your favorite stocking stuffers for babies or toddlers??

Bloggers' Beauty Night Out

2012-11-12T14:31:00.001-07:00

Hi, it's me, SueAnn. I have been such a bad blogger this year. We moved AGAIN, and with adding the baby and having my son in the terrible two's, there is not a whole lot getting done around here.

On Saturday night my friend Liv invited me to go with her to a Bloggers' Beauty Night Out, hosted by Gentri Lee. The event was held at the al a mode salon in Draper, Utah. (580 east 12300 south)

I must admit, I totally felt old and frumpy in the midst of all these cute 20 year old fashion bloggers, but they were all so sweet and it was a super fun night, just the break I needed! Treats, hot cocoa on a snowy night, and great prizes from AMAZING sponsors!

Thank goodness for Liv and her camera, mine was in my diaper bag, and I enjoyed not taking that huge thing, and having just a tiny little purse!

Gentri had such fun sponsors. Cheerfully Charmed, VioletHill Boutique, (kno)name, Perfectly Posh (c/o Tiffany Lundin), and her Mom's Jewelry Pixie Pie Jewelry.

I was lucky enough to go home with 2 fun prizes, beautiful earrings from Pixie Pie, and I LOVE my new watch from (kno)name. It is a mirror and a watch all in one, how perfect is that?

Gentri is working her aesthetician magic at al a mode, she did make up on me and made me feel amazing! If you are in the area be sure to check out her salon! It was a great night and we had so much fun meeting new friends! Thanks for hosting Gentri!!

Be sure to check out all the wonderful blogs from all these amazing bloggers!!

cecilia: http://www.dearestlou.com/

kate: http://www.studentswife.com/

sarah: http://www.sittinprettyblog.com/

amanda: http://www.littlemissfearless.com/

kirsten: http://kirstenandryanwiemer.blogspot.com/

elsha: http://whenminebecameours.blogspot.com/

kallee: http://kalleemae.blogspot.com/

danica: http://dbudge.blogspot.com/

jessi: http://haircutandgeneralattitude.blogspot.com/

brooke: http://liningthecloudswithsilver.blogspot.com/

bri: http://breezydaysblog.blogspot.com/

kelsey: http://storiesofkel.blogspot.com/

kyla: http://ford-ology.blogspot.com/

kat: http://prettyfiend.com/

livia: http://www.livwrites.com/

alycia: http://crowleyparty.blogspot.com/

diana: http://www.livylove.com/

jenny: http://www.modernmodestbeauty.com/

jenna: http://thelifeofthewife.blogspot.com/

kelsey: http://www.kelseybang.com/

One Dollar Wednesday...mini rubber band organization.

2012-09-19T13:26:00.000-06:00

I have three little girls. They have lots of hair...lots of hair means lots of hair accessories. I always buy the rainbow colored, mini rubber bands for my two youngest. I have always stored them in a plastic sandwich bag. Why? I have mo idea...ghetto..yes. It worked for us though. I finally decided, one chaotic morning, that i was tired of digging through the bag to find the right color of band. I knew a trip to The Dollar Tree would give some ideas to organize these little guys.

This pillbox, was just what I needed, though I didn't care for the days of the week on top. I swiped them with a cotton ball dipped in acetone fingernail polish remover, and off came the days of the week.

Before:

During:

After:

So easy, and so organized!!

Money Saving Monday

2012-09-10T15:56:00.000-06:00

We've all seen them...the FABULOUS posts about making your own laundry detergent, and saving "LOADS" of money. I fully support that type of thing! Unfortunately, my time manager, does not. This little money saving trick took me mere minutes to complete... and that, my friends, is all the time I have for "projects" these days. I gathered my supplies: My "DELIGHTFUL~touch of softness~ detergent" that I LOVE!! My cheap-o, store brand detergent, and a large empty container.

I just mixed them up together (2 cheapo scoops, per one lovely scoop).

I printed out a cute label... though I wanted color...our ink is out.

Adhered my label to my plastic container, and ended up with this...

Not too shabby for 5-10 minutes of work. It still smells like lovely lavender, but I have twice as much!!

Thrifty Thursday

2012-09-06T16:35:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to share a little project that I completed recently.

I got this coffee table at my local thrift store. I loved the lines of it, and thought it had great potential. The finish HAD to go though...

I topped it with a quick coat of primer, and followed up with a couple coats of "oops" paint that I found at the Home Depot. I sanded it a little, for a distressed look.

Then finished the whole thing off with a couple coats of poly. I LOVED the original hardware, so I just gave it a quick coat of black spray paint...

What do you think...do you like how it turned out? If you're in Arizona and are interested in purchasing this table, leave a comment and I can work out a GREAT deal for you!!

Meal Planning Ideas

2012-08-10T15:48:00.000-06:00

I have been talking to a lot of friends about meal planning lately. In life I am a big time planner, and I love to meal plan. It saves money and it is healthier. I wish I could tell you this post will "give you 30 days of meals for $200 a month", but that is not the case. Though I meal plan, I still spend $300-400 dollars a month on food. I buy A LOT of produce and that is usually where the bulk of my grocery bill goes, that and fish. I just thought I would share how I meal plan and hopefully someone can get something out of it.

I start off by printing off a calendar and going through my recipe book. My recipe book is super ghetto, it is just a large binder filled with plastic pages and plastic 4x6 photo card pages. A few years ago my Mom gave me the best Christmas present, she typed up her recipes and put them in a binder, that was the start of my recipe book. Since then I print off a lot of recipes and slip them in plastic pages or jot them down on a recipe card and stick them in. If you want some cute free printable recipe cards, check out these and these.

When planning, I plan a month at a time. I then transfer it over onto my weekly menu board each week, and make a grocery list from there. I also have a grocery list hanging on the side of the fridge at all time, so that if I run out of something while cooking or baking, I can jot it down so I don't forget.

When planning I find it key to have an organized fridge, freezer, and pantry. These were scary photos to take and post, but my fridge and freezer usually look like this. I forgot to take one of the pantry, oh well.

I generally buy my beef and chicken at Costco, divide it up into portions, and organize it in the freezer with Tupperware. One thing of chicken or ground beef usually lasts me about 3 months, I have found this the most cost effective method for my family. When I go to the store weekly, I will browse what meat is on sale and if it is a good deal I will buy a bunch and freeze it. A few months ago Smith's had a killer sale on small steaks, I can't remember the cut or the price, but it was a good deal and they are tasty. Don't mind all the Cool Whip, I am making an eclair cake for my Father-in-law's birthday.

I buy half of my produce at Costco as well. I usually freeze half and we eat the rest fresh.

When I sit down to actually plan my weeks usually look like this: 1 meatless day, 1 chicken day, 1 beef day, 1 fish day, and 1 "sale meat" day (meaning whatever other meat I have in my freezer, ie the steaks), 2 leftover days. For me the 2 leftover days are key to keeping a cleaned out fridge and ensuring no food goes bad, and there is just no way I could plan 7 days worth of meals. Both myself and my husband enjoy cooking, we like trying out new recipes, and I have found Pinterest to be an amazing resource. We also make our son eat what we eat. He doesn't get a special meal, I think it has really helped him to not be as picky, and he likes most of the recipes we make.

Another thing I try to do when planning to make the most out of my grocery list is I try to plan multiple meals in the month using the same ingredients. For example if I buy cilantro, I will make Lime and Coconut Chicken week 1, Taquitos week 2, and Honey Lime Chicken Skewers week 3, that way I am using all my cilantro and it is not going bad. Another example would be buying corn tortillas, they come in a large bag, so I make Fish Tacos week 1, Taquitos week 2, and enchilada casserole week 3.

Meal planning takes a little time, but I think it actually saves time, because once you have done it for the month, you're done! No standing in front of the fridge thinking "what should we have for dinner tonight?" and no extra trips to the grocery store (which saves money!)

As far as snack items go, we buy a few things like dried fruit and nuts at Costco, and then keep them portioned out in the pantry. I try to make a lot of items that are expensive, like granola bars. I have found some great recipes on Pinterest for things like home made granola bars, muffins, mason jar salads, and smoothies. The great thing about making your own is they are less expensive and more healthy!

I have found this is what works for my family and am always on the lookout for tips and tricks to implement that will save time and money. Feel free to check out my board "Recipes I've Made and Yum!" If you have any advice or ideas, please share!

Collage Wall

2012-06-26T13:55:00.002-06:00

What a crazy year 2012 has been so far! We have moved, my husband graduated, we had a baby, all in 5 months! Since we moved, we have a long to do list, but because of the other things, ya know school and a baby, there isn't much crossed off that list. We FINALLY finished our collage wall, which has been nice, it actually makes his house feel more like our home. Funny how simple things like hanging photos will do that.

Here are a couple photos of the finished product. Please excuse my very poor photography skills. I had been collecting various things over the years that all came together nicely on this wall. I already had most of the frames, the majority of which were from IKEA, and decided to paint the middle one blue for some extra color on a white wall. I promise they are all hung straight, I swear when I look at these photos, half of them look crooked to me. The 987 is our anniversary date, everyone asks "what is 987?" when they come over, LOL.

I really love how it all turned out, it helps that I have super cute kiddos too!

Sources:
Brazil free printable
Button Monogram
SLC Temple Print
Family Proclamation made by a friend
Joesph and Emma print given to me by my sister
987 DIY

A Very Hungry Birthday!

2012-05-01T14:04:00.002-06:00

Saturday was my son's second birthday party and he had a blast! I must admit throwing a party while 36 weeks pregnant wore me right out! Even though we just invited family, my husband and I have very large families, so there were quite a bit of people there. We pretty much DIY'd everything and it all turned out great!

For the food we ate the same things the caterpillar did in the book, sausages (lil' smokies), a leaf (spinach salad), strawberries, watermelon, apples, swiss cheese, salami, and pickles. Sounds kind of like a weird combo, but it was really good. We had lemon water also.

I used Photoshop to make up food cards.

My husband and I tag teamed the cake. He is the artistic one, so he did all the sculpting and the fondant. One of his co-workers made the fondant for another cake and gave us her extra, super nice! I made home made funfetti cupcakes using this recipe. SO GOOD.

I used my Grandma's home made butter cream frosting recipe for the icing, I think it turned out cute!

A friend had given me a caterpillar cupcake stand, he was fun!

A few months back at Target they were clearancing out Very Hungry Caterpillar plates, napkins, and cups, I think they were like $.50-$.75 per pack, score!

I made a fun banner using my Silhouette.

We made a balloon caterpillar, all the kids got a kick out of it!

We made fringey streamers for decor, cheap and cute! I also used this fun washi tape to hang them.

As the kids arrived we had them color a large caterpillar mural. My husband printed it off at work, and we used washable crayons of course! Here is the before.....

And the after....

We had everyone make caterpillar bookmarks. I got the idea from this cute blog.

I was trying to think of 2 year old friendly games to play and came up with this "Feed The Very Hungry Caterpillar" game. We bought a giant poster board and used our projector to draw the images onto it. We colored it in with markers. I used some of our play food that he ate in the book to "feed him". My son LOVED it, and so did the other kids.

For the favors I was out of ideas, when I saw this cute idea on Pinterest for Butterfly snack packs. (My Pinterest link doesn't have the original source, sorry!) My son's favorite treat is Marshmallows, I thought the fruit ones would be nice and colorful and had forgot how yummy they are! I also did Goldfish crackers for the younger kids. I paired them up with some Very Hungry Caterpillar stickers that were also on clearance at Target.

Though I was absolutely exhausted by the end, it was worth it. My cute boy has been saying "Happy Birthday Party" ever since!

A Very Hungry Birthday!---Invitations

2012-04-25T16:02:00.001-06:00

Hi, remember me, SueAnn, yes I am still alive! I know I haven't posted in ages, but this pregnancy has been really rough on me. Just 4 short weeks and she'll be here, I can't believe it! I do have lots of projects for my husband to do and me to post, HA!

Tomorrow is my son's SECOND birthday. I really cannot believe he is 2! Since I knew I would be throwing his party so pregnant, I have done a little at a time, during naps and at night (before 10pm), and I think it is going to turn out cute! I think this party has been easier to plan than the last, maybe because I did break it up so much, instead of doing a ton at the end. It was low cost too!

One of his favorite books currently is The Very Hungry Caterpillar, so I thought that would be the perfect theme. A friend of mine threw her son's first birthday 6 months ago and also did The Very Hungry Caterpillar theme. The invitations she did we so cute, I asked if she would mind if I stole her idea! She gave me the go ahead and told me she had originally seen the idea at Pottery Barn.

The invitations are small Mason jars, with a caterpillar and a leaf inside. I did multi colored paper on the tops and wrote the kids names. I mainly just invited family, since I knew I would be too tired to invite too many people.

I wanted to type up the invites on the leaves, but they ended up being too small, so I hand wrote them. On one side I wrote "You're Invited...", then wrote all the details on the other side. I used my Silhouette to cut the leaves and the eyes of the caterpillar. They were really quick to put together, a dozen only took me about an hour. I just hot glued the pom poms together and then threw everything into the jar. Each invitation cost less than $1.00. My son's cousins thought they were great and have loved playing with the caterpillar. My son isn't the most gentle, he ripped the eyes off of his. :)

The party is this Saturday, I am super excited, I think he will just love it! I will post all the details next week, stay tuned!

Show Your Personality By Customizing Your Bible Cover

2012-04-18T14:22:00.002-06:00

You want to look your Sunday best when you attend church, but your Bible has seen better days. Passed down from generation to generation in your family, the cover has begun to show a bit of a weathered look to it. The edges have creased and the leather has begun to crack and fade.

Since the Bible is a family heirloom, you don't want to replace it with a new one, but you also want to protect it so that future generations of your family can use it. You're stumped on what to do.

Why not use a Bible cover?

Bible covers are great to keep your religious text clean and dry. Many religious stores carry them, or you can find a used Bible cover at a yard sale or a church donation event. If you can’t find any in stores, you can purchase Bible covers online by doing a simple search.

A Bible cover can be as simple as a plain book jacket or a nicer carrying tote. Whatever look you decide, you can give the cover a bit of your personality by decorating or writing down your favorite verses on the cover. You can even make it an entertaining craft project for the entire family.

Clean Your Bible Cover Before Decorating

The surface of the Bible cover should be clean before placing on any decorations. For leather Bible covers, use a dry cloth to wipe away any dust. If the cover is dirty, lightly moisten the cloth to clean the dirt away, then immediately dry off the leather so wet spots don't form. Even if you'll be covering over the entire leather with decorations, it's still a good idea to work on a clean surface so dirt doesn't accidently get on your decorations.

For an ordinary paper cover, simply wipe with a dry, clean cloth. Make sure the paper cover is thick enough to support the weight of any decorations or glue added to it. If you're afraid ink may seep through the paper and set into the Bible's surface over time, attach a piece of clean, flexible cardboard between the paper and the Bible.

Decorating a Paper Cover

The sky’s the limit when it comes to decorating a paper cover. Have the kids draw pictures of what they learned during Bible classes. Glue on buttons and sewn decorations using craft glue. Use stickers or write down your favorite inspirational quotes or poems with colored markers.

The great thing about using paper covers is that you can make several of them and switch to a different cover whenever you want. You can even make seasonal Bible covers such as an Easter cover and a Christmas cover.

Decorating a Leather Cover

Decorating a leather cover can be a little trickier. Sometimes markers can smear and glued decorations can fall off eventually. Your best option is to sew on decorations. Add a bit of lace and decorative yarn to the edges of the bag. You can even sew on a quilt cover that has sentimental value to you.

If you have an old quilt, lay your leather cover open on the material and trace out the pattern with fabric chalk. You'll want to have an extra inch to 2 inches of material along the top, bottom and sides.

Cut out the pattern. Lay the leather cover on the quilt and fold up the extra material along the edges as you pin it in place. Then sew on the quilt cover by hand or use your sewing machine.

Let Your Personality Shine On The Bible Cover

However you want to decorate the cover, always let your personality show. Let it tell people you're truly inspired by the verses and words found in your Bible. Let this become a family project everyone can enjoy. Whether you're adding a few decorations or changing the entire bible cover, having your entire family involved as you share inspirational moments and stories creates lasting memories for a lifetime.

Danielle, who blogs on behalf of Sears and other prestigious brands, enjoys spoiling her niece with homemade goodies. Danielle is particularly fond of needlepoint, working with pipe cleaners and the smell of a fresh box of crayons. Read her work at eatbreatheblog.com

One Dollar Wednesday...Easter Wreath (revisited)

2012-03-28T14:26:00.000-06:00

For some reason whenever I visit the Dollar Store, I can't help but pick up a couple bunches of the fake flowers they sell there. I am a sucker for flowers, and it has led to a rather large collection of random blooms. I finally decided to use some of them.

I found this simple wreath, also at Dollar Tree, and a cute Easter card in the Target Dollar Spot.

The colors of the card were my inspiration, and I sent my wreath out to The Spray paint place for a quick coat. It's beautiful and sunny here, so it dried really quickly.

I painted this little Dollar Tree frame a nice "spring green" color.

I framed my card, arranged my flowers, and glued it all together.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2012-03-17T09:21:00.006-06:00

It's been a long week. Here in Arizona, Spring Break always falls around St. Patrick's Day. We've been "Spring Breaking" all week long, and my Hubby took off for scout camp last night. So basically it's been non-stop kids for me all week. Phew! There hasn't been a lot of time to craft, but I wanted to put something together for the kiddos to commemorate this green holiday.

I picked up some...

for my rainbow.

Some....

for my treasure.

Then I typed up a quick label that said: You are my TREASURE at the end of the rainbow. I put my goodies in plastic bags, and topped them with the labels.

Super easy! What do you do to celebrate St. Patty's day?

Tidy Tips: Storing and Organizing Play Food

2012-03-08T08:36:00.000-07:00

I have been a neglectful blogger lately, but in my defense we moved and I am 7 months pregnant, so yeah.... I have lots of great things coming, slowly, but surely, I have to get my husband graduated this April though!

My son has been way into birthdays lately. Lots of family members have had birthdays and he really digs the birthday song and blowing out the candles. I am glad he is into it since he will be 2 at the end of April. Where did the time go!?

The other day while shopping at IKEA, I saw their play food and HAD to get the birthday cake. Then the other food was way too cute to resist, so we ended up getting it all and he has been having so much fun with it! We have a daily birthday party now, it is too cute.

Once I got the food home, I wasn't sure how to organize it. We don't have a play kitchen (yet...I am having a girl, I am sure we will soon enough!), and I didn't like this....

I started thinking what the best way to organize play food would be. I had 2 thoughts. First, how do I store real food? Second, I have an over abundance of Tupperware and you know how I love to use it for other things, here and here.

The solution was simple. Here is the result.....

Before....

After....

So much nicer! All neatly put away in its home.

How do you store play food?

One dollar Wednesday...Shamrock hair clip~ tutorial

2012-03-07T11:16:00.010-07:00

Well, February was here and gone before I knew it! We're already a week into March, and I haven't done any St. Patrick's Day crafts. I thought I make up for that today, with my One Dollar Wednesday project.

I googled "shamrock hair clip" and found tons of examples, but this is all I needed to do my clips!

I started by covering my clip, with the polka-dot side of my ribbon not showing.

I put a tiny dot of glue on my ribbon, and pinched it together.

Then, I brought the ends together, overlapping them, and secured with a dot of hot glue. Then I trimmed the excess off the ends. I did this three times, making 3 hearts~~ or shamrock leaves.

With the two side leaves, I put a tiny bit of glue in the "v" of the leaf, and secured the center point.

I glued the "top" of my shamrock on the clip, and then "stacked" the side leaves on top of that. Then I secured the point of my top leaf with a dot of glue on the end of my clip.

I added a little "lucky" bling, and this is what I ended up with...

Upcycle old sweaters by felting them in the washing machine

2012-03-01T21:14:00.000-07:00

Frugal crafters have found a new use for old garments to create a versatile fabric for hats, mittens, electronics cases and many other projects. Felting is the process of turning knitted wool fabric into a dense, solid piece that's easy to craft without the danger of edges unraveling. While you can felt any wool garment, the easiest method is to use sweaters found in thrift stores or your own dresser drawers. Turn wool sweaters in solid colors or intricate patterns into attractive felt pieces, using a simple method with your washing machine.

Things you'll need:

100% wool sweaters
Sharp scissors
Old pillowcase
Washing machine and dryer
Laundry detergent

The process:

Turn the sweater inside out. Cut off all the seams from the body of the sweater. Seams and other pieces will felt, but not at the same rate as basic knitted fabric. Felting is a process of shrinking, so uneven shrinking can result in unattractive felted fabric.

Remove all the ribbing from around the bottom of the sweater, the end of the sleeves and around the neckline.

Cut off any decorative pieces that may be on the sweater, such as appliqued flowers, stitched-on bows, buttons, zippers or pockets.

Put all the pieces of knitted fabric into a pillowcase. If you want to experiment with felting the seam fabric and ribbing for decorative pieces, put them in the pillowcase along with the sweater fabric. Knot the pillowcase to keep all the pieces contained.

Place the pillowcase in the washing machine. Add half the amount of detergent you would normally use for a load of laundry. Wash the pillowcase with sweater pieces on hot for the longest time setting available.

Remove the pillowcase from the washer when the cycle is finished and inspect the fabric inside. If it is felted enough for your design plans, lay the fabric out flat and allow it to air dry. If you would like the fabric to felt further, making it tighter and thicker, place it back into the pillowcase, tie the case shut and place it in the dryer. Dry the fabric on a medium-heat setting.

If your fabric is still not felted to your liking, repeat the entire washing and drying process to create super thick and sturdy felted fabric.

Many crafters felt their fabrics by simply washing them in the washing machine and drying them. While this method works perfectly well, the process of felting creates a large amount of lint which can clog up your washer hoses and dryer vents. Place the pieces into the pillowcase and the large clumps of lint will accumulate at the bottom of the case.

Use your new felted fabric to create applique flowers to decorate outerwear, to make hats and mittens or to craft soft and protective pouches for cellphones, eBook readers, MP3 players and other personal electronic gear. Felt is soft, tough and easy to work with. Attractive handmade felt may become your favorite new fabric for crafting!

Danielle, who blogs on behalf of Sears and other prestigious brands, appreciates a good wool sweater on a cold, winter afternoon- even more so when it’s one she’s made on her own. Read her work ateatbreathblog.com.

Blueberry Oatmeal cookies

2012-02-20T10:02:00.009-07:00

Happy President's Day! I LOVE Monday Holidays, don't you? One more day to sleep-in, and enjoy the kiddos being home. When my kids are out of school, we usually bake something fun. Unfortunately, I haven't been to the grocery store all week, so we needed to bake something with the ingredients we had on hand.

Cue...Oatmeal Cookie Recipe...

1 Cup Shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour, scooped and leveled
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. hot water
1 1/2 Cups quick rolled oats ( I substituted blueberry flavor oats here)

Directions:
Cream shortening, add sugars and cream until fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla:

Add flour and salt, then add soda that's been dissolved in hot water; blend. Stir in (blueberry)rolled oats:

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheet/ungreased cookie sheet about 1.5 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes or until barely browned and still a little puffy.

Remove to wire rack to cool.

These cookies were so simple to make, and yummy! Crispy-ish on the outside, chewy on the inside.

Easy cupcake flowers...TUTORIAL

2012-02-14T08:13:00.010-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope everyone gets to spend lots of time with loved ones. I woke up this morning to gobs of CHOCOLATE, and a gift card to a nail salon...loving cute, pedicured toes for SUMMER. What a WONDERFUL husband I have!!!

I wanted to share this great idea, my mom shared with me, for putting flowers on cupcakes.

You start with mini marshmallows and a pair of scissors. (Please wash your scissors BEFORE and AFTER) Cut your marshmallows in half~ corner to corner.

Next,gently push the sticky end of the marshmallow onto some pretty, colored sugar.

This is how the marshies look, when covered with the sugar.

Arrange them in a "flower" pattern on a frosted cupcake...

and, lastly, add a gumdrop to the center.

This was super easy, and we decorated 30+ cupcakes in less than an hour.

What do you think? Will you give it a try?

One Dollar Wednesday... Valentine's Day Tree

2012-02-08T10:51:00.012-07:00

I found this fun Valentine vase at the Dollar Store a couple weeks ago...

As soon as I saw it, I knew just what to do with it!

I gathered some old branches from my yard.

and sent them out to Spray Paint Place for a quick coat of white.

I arranged them in the little vase,

and cut out oodles of scrapbook paper hearts.

I used my large hearts as "ornaments" and sandwiched a piece of ribbon (also from the dollar store)between the layers.

I added my small hearts at random spots on the branches using my glue gun to attach them.

This is what I ended up with...(CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE)

I LOVE the whimsy it adds to this corner! (CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE)

One Dollar Wednesday...framed card

2012-02-01T08:41:00.003-07:00

This was, by far, my easiest One Dollar Wednesday project. I love it when I can find simple, inexpensive, little crafts to add to my home.

This one started with these darling Valentine's Day cards that I found at the Target Dollar Spot~~LOVE that place!

(please forgive this picture...every time I loaded it blogspot flipped it...but you get the gist)

I picked up a couple matching frames at The Dollar Tree, but knew their color had to be changed.

Out to Spray Paint place for a coat of primer....

and a couple coats of Fire Engine Red!

I framed up my cute cards, and ended up with this...

and this...

What do ya think? Easy, quick, and cute...can't ask for more than that!

One Dollar Wednesday...a weathered Valentine

2012-01-25T09:04:00.010-07:00

I was so excited when I found these heart "cut-outs" at my local Dollar Store. They have all the colors of my home in them, so I knew I would want to incorporate them into my Valentine decor.

I went to my hubby's scrap wood pile, and pulled a piece of lovely weathered plywood.
I measured around my hearts, and marked where I wanted to cut.

Then I pulled out the POWER TOOL! This was a little intimidating for me, but it cut like a charm.

I sent the pieces out to Spray Paint Place for a quick coat. I didn't prime them, because I really wanted to keep a weathered look.

Time for some Mod Podge magic....

Before I top-coated this one with Mod Podge, I decided to stamp the word "love" onto it.

I topped it off with Mod Podge, and a couple hours later, I was able to add these pieces to the hutch in my entry.

Here are a couple close-ups. I just love how the turned out!!!

Tidy Tips: Protecting Your Sofa

2012-01-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

Having a toddler is doing major damage to my sofa. I finally decided to be brave and throw the cushion covers into the washing machine on the cold, extra delicate cycle. I let them hang dry and it took all the spots out, HOORAY! The only problem was that nakie baby in the background, we didn't want him ruining the cushion in the interim of the washing and hang drying process. My husband had a brilliant idea.......

He grabbed one of our extra crib sheets and it fit perfectly over the cushions. I loved the idea so much, I almost want one on there all the time, LOL! The sheet is from IKEA and it measures 52"x28". As for the spots on the sofa that I can't throw in the washer, I saw this post on Pinterest, great idea!

One Dollar Wednesday... it's all about FAMILY

2012-01-18T06:32:00.001-07:00

I have said it before, and I'll say it again... I have a plethora of picture frames. Yes, they are random as can be. Different colors, different shapes, and different styles. For today's project, I'm focusing on some that I picked up recently at the dollar store/thrift stores.

See~~random...

but, a quick trip out to Spray Paint Place, and they're starting to look a bit more uniform!

I selected some fun scrapbook paper (from my VAST COLLECTION), and proceeded to print out the word FAMILY. Each letter, on it's own piece of paper, and in it's own FONT.

I framed them up lickety split...

and laid them out on the floor, as I wanted them on the wall.

Here's the final product...adding a little color to this quiet corner of my kitchen!

One Dollar Wednesday...after Christmas sales!

2012-01-11T13:01:00.008-07:00

Wow~~it's great to be back after a LONG break! I think my last post was in April or May...wowzers. I had a wonderful Winter Break. I loved having my kiddos home with me.(I think 2 weeks is PERFECT...ask me again in the summer, when we can't spend any time outside, and I'll have a different answer for you.)

I have been busy trying to get all my Christmas stuff boxed up, but the "After Christmas" sales, keep pulling me away from my housework. See what I mean...This was taken just today :)

The problem is, I LOVE Christmas! I LOVE my Christmas decorations, and I hate boxing them away. I have made a wee bit of progress though, look at our bare tree... so sad!

Like I said, I have been enjoying the sales this month. I picked up 2 sets of this cute dinner wear for $1.00, which the kiddos can use through the end of the month. (Even though we don't get snow down here, this makes us feel a lil wintry)

Don't think I haven't indulged a bit for myself with Winter Clearance... I'm LOVING my new plush throw that I picked up for just $6.00. It has all the colors of my family room in it, and it's super cozy!

I love wrapping up in it while I'm reading this DARLING book... Vintage and Christmas two of my MOST favorite things~~Thanks Mom!

Have you gotten all of your Christmas boxed away? Any great sales still out there? Let me know, I love to hear from ya!