Easter tulips

I found this idea from here. I thought it was really cute and easy and I knew I couldn't kill these flowers oh and I had all the supplies at my house.

I found some matching spring scrapbook paper in my stash, traced the template and cut out the flowers. Glued them on to my skewers (I wrapped mine with floral tape) I bought these metal baskets last year from Tai Pan, so I stuck some styrofoam in the bottom and arranged my tulips. I had planned on putting some green Easter grass inside but can't find where I put it- so that will be added later.

Oh look who found a home finally, my Easter mickey antenna ball!
(our cars antenna is too big so I try and find different places to put them) I think he'll stay here for a while

Now I'm off to find the green grass- I hate when the Easter bunny shops early!!!

Minnie t-shirts

We just returned from a family trip to Disneyland. We LOVE Disney (a lot)! My nieces hadn't been in a few years so I thought I would do something special for them and my daughter to wear to the park. It was so simple, and they got a ton of compliments (and a TON cheaper than buying shirts in the park)

I found some coordinating fabrics (thanks to Walmart), cut a mickey head shape out of each fabric then ironed it on to some wonder under (fusible fabric). Then ironed them on to the t-shirts. Made a simple bow and hand stitched them on to the shirts and added a button in the middle. I think each shirt might have cost me $6.00 each to make!!

Look how HAPPY and CUTE they are wearing their shirts!

Simple wall decor

I saw this idea months ago, on several blogs.
I decided it was perfect for one of my many empty walls.

I found a font that I liked, printed the letter H as my template, cut the fabric and done!
So easy.




P.S. As a side note... the blog will probably be a 'work in progress' for some time. It's proving to be very difficult to work through the html code while juggling the kiddos.
Someday it will be done... someday. ;)

C-A-K-E-S

I was going through pictures on my computer and saw a lot of cakes I have made that never made it on here. Here's some cakes I have made in the past year.

The most recent were these football cupcakes we had for Super Bowl Sunday, I found the picks at the Target dollar section and knew I had to have them and these cupcakes were perfect.

My nieces 1st birthday cake, a VERY easy butterfly cake. With Valentine m&m's, upside down Hershey kisses, and twizzler antenna's
This next one is a picture of Claire's 2ND birthday cake from her birthday party in California
(bought from Albertsons) So I took the pieces home and made it for her actual birthday 2 weeks later and it turned out like.... this.....

My nieces 8TH birthday cake, my favorite part were these candles. I saw them in a magazine a few months ago (can't remember which one, sorry) The 'recipe' says to use the froot loop straws which come in different colors, but we could not find them anywhere. So we settled for golden oreo straws. And gum drops shaped to be the flame. Then frosting drips for the candle wax.

My sister's wedding cake. The top cake was my first homemade fondant experiment. It turned out well until the very end where it ripped in 2 places, so I used 2 bands of the brown ribbon to cover it up.

Basketball cupcakes because my husband is a March Madness freak!!

And this one was such an easy and fun idea. It was for my cousin Josh's wedding, his then fiance told me about the idea and I loved it. I love the top view!

And here's the final product with 200 cupcakes!!

Kalua Pig

This recipe is my sister, Jodi's.
It is FABULOUS! (and super easy!) And it's my husband's favorite!
So tender and moist... you're gonna love it!

Kalua Pig

1 Boneless Pork Roast

Stab roast with large fork or knife, making holes all over the roast.

Rub:
1 1/2 t. liquid smoke
2 1/4 t. sea salt

Rub all over roast. Wrap roast in 3 layers of foil. Do NOT wrap the roasts tightly like you would a baked potato. DO wrap it more tented like you would a foil dinner. Make sure the foil is sealed tightly at the edges.

Place roast in a crock pot and cook on low for about 8 hours. Use a meat thermometer to make sure the eat is cooked all the way.

When the roast is done, empty the roast and all the drippings into the crock pot, removing the aluminum foil. Shred the meat and add 1/2 c. of water.

Leave the meat in the crock pot on a 'warm' setting until it is time to serve.

Serve over rice.

Fire Truck Birthday Party

My baby just turned 1. (where does the time go?!)
We had a fire truck themed party.

I made this banner in Photoshop, printed it out on card stock,
strung it together with thread, and taped it onto candy sucker sticks.
I love how it turned out!

The cupcake toppers were created in Photoshop, printed on card stock and taped onto candy sucker sticks. So easy and a perfect way to dress up a cupcake.

Quick Valentine Craft

This craft came from Martha Stewart...


So easy and you probably have the paper already!
Heart template can be found here.

Children's Song Book

I made 2 books for my son today.

The first one is a combination Quiet Book & Song Book...

The cover page just has his name on it with velcro letters that he can take off and put back on.

I only have 2 songs in this book so far... I'll add to it later.
I altered clipart that I found, laminated everything and stuck some velcro on it.

The other song in the book is a song that he is learning in Primary this month.
(This is a great flip chart for the song as well)

The next book that I made is just for songs that he will be
learning throughout the year in Primary.I found the pages here and here.
Then I shrunk them in Photoshop so they would fit two on a page.
Laminated them, cut them and bound them with ribbon.
So easy!

Super Easy Scarf

I'm posting this one for my Crafty Mom...

She bought this blanket from IKEA.
It has a cute decorative edge and was only $3.49.

Cut the blanket length wise into about 5-6 inch strips.
Then cut a slit into one side of it like this:

Then you can put it around your neck and slide one end through the slit and voila! a fun scarf!
She was able to get several scarfs out of the $3.49 blanket...
no sewing involved!

Love it!
So creative Mom!

My Crafty Frames!

Tada they are done!

Here is the grouping I finally decided on, hung up on my wall. I am so not good at mathmatics and trying to get this perfectly straight. (that's my moms job, but we just moved away from her so I had to do this on my own) So I just measured the middle three over the center of our bed and the rest I just went for it and hoped it would look ok when I took a step back to look at it. It's not perfect but I am pleased.

My 2 year old thinks it all looks straight, so I am going with her opinion!! Here's the whole wall with my sconces (bought on clearance years ago from Michaels) and my IKEA candles with a newly tied ribbon around it to tie in the accent color- green.
I think I LOVE it!

Chocolate covered caramel pretzels

These are easy and yummy to make. I made them for Christmas but they can be adjusted to any holiday.

You'll need:

pretzel rods

melting chocolate

caramel

sprinkles

I use that brick of caramel you can find at most baking supply stores. Wet your hands and take a piece and roll it into a 'snake' then wrap it around the pretzel rod like shown.

Melt your chocolate (in microwave or on the stove) and dip your pretzel. I also use a spoon to help cover the entire pretzel.
Lay on some foil or waxed paper and add your sprinkles, let dry

I actually went and bought the pretzel bags and tied them with a ribbon to give to some friends.

Enjoy!

It really is a tasty treat.

Crafty frames... hopefully

I have had the same things hanging over my bed for the past 5 years, so I think it's time for a change. With this beautiful stack of black and white papers (given to me by my mom) and these $7.00 worth of frames I picked up at DI, I really hope it turns out.

(The image in my head is so pretty!) Look for another post hopefully by Friday.... keep your fingers crossed

Sneaky treats!

I have a son who is a super picky eater. The only vegtable he will eat is raw carrots. I found this recipe from the book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfield -
knowing that he likes Chocolate - I decided to give it a try.
It was a HUGE success!!

Chocolate Fondue

1 T. trans-fat-free margarine spread (I just used butter)

1/2 c. Avacado Puree

1/4 c. Carrot Puree

1 c. confectioners' sugar

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 t. pure vanilla extract

Sliced fruits, whole berries, or cherries for dipping

Melt the margarine over low heat in a medium saucepan. Add the avacado and carrot purees, sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla, and whisk well until smooth. Serve warm, with fruit.

**A trick I learned while experimenting with sneaky nutrition is that for things like "carrot puree" I just use a jar of carrot baby food - it saves a lot of time.

Baby shower invite idea

I received this cute baby shower inviation today in the mail.

It says:

Willow is about to POP!

So POP on over and help her get ready to welcome her new baby boy!

Just blow up this balloon, use the pin to POP it,

and find your invitation inside!

I thought it was a really fun idea. My boys were really excited to blow up the balloon and pop it to find the inviation.

Latest project- COMPLETE!

So I finished it sooner than I thought and I really like it! Although my camera had a hard time capturing it right. I just painted it black but I took 3 pictures and one turned out brown looking, the next turned out grey and the final one turned out light black!

the drawers are painted black to unlike the picture that look like they are grey. I had to go buy 2 more knobs since I forgot there was 4 for the top 2 drawers. So for about $25.00 I have a new entertainment center, where I was looking online for a new one I wanted and was going to spend $200!!! I just need to drill a hole in the back for all the electronic wires.
I bought these door knobs probably 7+ years ago and finally found a good place to use them. (we are a Disney family so I am way excited to finally have them out of the junk drawer)

P.S. If I ever fall ownership to a power saw I would love to cut out the inside of the doors and staple fabric up instead--- well also if I ever decide on a color scheme for my living room. I can dream about that one!

My latest project

I have seen so many blogs with people finding great deals at Good Will or yard sales. So before we moved I passed by a yard sale and saw this beauty out of the corner of my eye, and I thought to myself if it's still there when I get back I'm gonna get it. Well as you can see it was and I got it for $15.00. It was a changing table but my Uncle cut off the top for me (you can see the lighter outline on top of where the boards were)

And it was also missing a leg in the back, so he created one for me.
(thanks so much)

Since Christmas is over I can get working on this- hopefully I will be posting the finished product soon. It's on my porch waiting to be sanded and painted. It's not going to be perfect but I will have a new entertainment center for only $15.00 (+ a few bucks for spray paint)

Homemade Kitchen Playset

My son loves to play with the toy kitchen set every time we walk through IKEA.
But let's face it, he's not going to play with it enough to justify the cost of actually buying him one. So I made him one today.

I took an old moving box and taped it up. Covered it with white butcher paper (doesn't have to be covered with anything... it is pretend after all)
I drew 2 stove burners and 2 knobs on one side of it.


On another side, I drew an oven door, with a knob and a window.
(with yellow for the lighted window...
to which my 3 year old says, "Mom, I can't see through your window"
... pretend dear, pretend)

I flipped the box over one more time and cut out a rectangle to place a small pan into. This is his pretend sink.

He loves it! And it was made in about 30 minutes.

I'm sure it won't last long... but sure beats forking over the cash during the holidays for a toy that he'll ignore in a day or two. ;)

IKEA recall solution

If you had IKEA Roman Shades hanging in your house (like I did), you were probably very sad to see this recall.

I love my Roman Shades. So, I created a solution for them.

First, I removed all of the dangerous strings and ropes from the shade. (so it was just a big piece of fabric hanging from my window) Then, I stitched several loops of ribbon to the back of the shades. I put 2 on each side of mine. The top 2 loops are shorter than the bottom 2. So it will hang more like a Roman Shade is suppose to. Then I attached buttons on the front side to make it look nice.

Next I screwed 2 hooks into the wall. Now the loops can hang up on the hooks. It isn't quite as easy to use as a true Roman Shade... but I didn't have to buy a new window treatment!

Halloween costume

We never do family themed Halloween costumes. In fact, we usually just dress the boys up. But this year my 3 year old wanted to be a pirate. So bought him a costume from Old Navy.
It is darling. He loves it and wants to wear it everywhere.
Then he wanted Daddy to be a pirate too... and it just spiraled from there.

So what to do for the 9 month old??

Yes, he's my little treasure map!

With brown pants - he's good to go!
Love easy costumes.

Now the task of making my pirate costume less skanky... I bought it at Target, but have to make some serious alterations. Hopefully I'll post pictures of the finished product soon.