Party Planning!

Baby O is going to be 1 this August and I'm trying to get some ideas around for his birthday party! Just a little bit in advance... Haha

For my now 3 year olds first birthday, we did Dr. Seuss! It was very well thought out party and was so cute if I may say so myself ;).

So-- for my baby boy-- any suggestions?? 

Thanks all! :)

Pillowcase dresses

So i decided the other day that I wanted to make pillowcase dresses. Two to be exact. One of my good friends has two little girls who love to dress up And wear dresses. AND I have two beautiful pillowcases that have been in my fabric bin because  I don't think I would ever use them on my bed... I promised myself I would never have a floral/flowery comforter set for my husbands sake. Haha. So.... I opted for paisley instead! Not girly at all huh!! :)

So anyway i have these pillowcases and have been wanting to make dresses. You know, to try my hand at them!..........

So I bought this really pretty pink satin ruffle ribbon for the straps. If it turns out, it will be really really cute!! Note the "if"...

Has anyone out there made these before?? Any tips?? Suggestions?? Warnings??

Getting close!

We are 2 weeks out from Owen's due date! Trying to get the last few details wrapped up before he comes. You know, like packing a hospital bag... Nothing like last minute :) Excited to have my mom, sister, and in-laws coming up in a few weeks too! I've also been in a 'freeze things' mood. Cookies, dinners, etc. Cookies however, is on the top of the priority list. Very important.

I don't know if it's because this time around because of having a 2 year old, or because it's summer, but I find myself WAY more exhausted and emotional! Tearing up about everything! Hormones...goodness... Thankful each day it gets closer to our due date so I can get back to 'normal' in any rare-ness that that is going to happen. I know it will be a new normal, but I've got to at least go through fewer tissues!

Well happy Sunday, everyone! I hope this finds you well.

Inconsistent. That's what this blog is and that's how I feel sometimes! Instead of catching everyone up on the past year, I'll just dive in to where I am today. How's that for an intro? :)

I am due with our 2nd child, Owen Michael, on August 22, 2013. Just 5 short weeks away! We are beyond thrilled and making to-do lists like crazy. I'll have to take a picture of mine...it's pretty insane.

Carter will be 27 months (2...) when Owen gets here. I am quite excited to see how he will react to having a new little person around the house!

It has been ranging in the 90's here in upstate New York. So... Carter and I have been basking in the...air conditioning. Most of the time. Except those times that I get brave enough to go to the pool. We are enjoying summer and it's nice to have something (er...someone) to look forward to at the end of a fun, busy season.

DIY projects I'm working on currently: (or should start soon)

• Nursing cover. I had an AWESOME one given to me when I had Carter but I have exhausted it. So I'm going to use that one as a pattern and re-do it for new baby. "Should be" pretty easy...
• Crib bumper. Same story, except it's not exactly worn out. Just doesn't go with the room anymore. We are doing a cars 'theme'. (in all reality, we will have 2 boys, the oldest of which is obsessed with cars, so we have an overabundance and decided to call it a 'theme'. Whatever works.) So I'm looking for coordinating colors to go with the room.
• Garden! I'm attempting my first raised bed salsa garden! We've had so much rain, that I haven't had to water much! PLUS! But, my tomatoes are pretty small because of all the rain and not much sun. Not plus. However- I am super thrilled to harvest all my goodies at the end of the season! 
• powder Laundry detergent. I made a batch a while back (actually my 2nd batch) But am running low and with a new baby coming....I'll need more. 

We are definitely keeping busy! Mark is busy at work and also has been taking on some graphic design jobs on the side for clients. Nice extra income=late hours...  

I hope all of you are enjoying your summer! Keep hydrated and don't stress if the dishes are still in the sink. (I'm talking to myself here... ;) )

Happy July!

Swimsuit giveaway!

Hello friends!! Spring is here but before you know it, summer will be her in full swim. I mean swing. Hm. Well, since we're on the subject of swimming!!! Fabulous Finds has teamed up with Pink Desert LLC on Facebook to giveaway one fabulous swimsuit!!! They are known for their modest swimsuits. How refreshing :) I entered to win. You can too! The contest ends tonight. Check out all the details here!

Good luck!!

Chili Cook off

I love food. (you probably didn't know that)
I love all kinds of food.
I LOVE making food!
All kinds of food.
My favorite is desserts.
Bread, pizza, pasta and soup are close.
And chili is soup.
Just thicker.
And more......thick.
Do you ever wonder why it's called 'chili'.
It's hot. Not chilled.
Chilled chili would be SO nasty. Am I right?!
So why?!? Why is it called chili???
Suggestions cheerfully accepted. :)

There will be four warm thick soup like dishes at this cook off.
I am making my white chicken chili.
 I have made this quite a few times, each time it's different, and each time I LOVE it.
I'm hoping my small group does as well!
I doubled the recipe today and it filled my entire crockpot!!!

Well- wish me luck.
I'll take have my hubby take pictures.

Happy Thursday Everyone!

DIY Stationary Organizer from an Oatmeal Cereal Box

Hello all! I hope you had a fantastic weekend! It was snowy, cold, snowy, windy, snowy and...snowy here. My Florida friends (you know who you are) keep telling (and showing, via skype) how lovely and warm and beautiful it is down there... Cruel.

There's my rant for the evening. BUT! THIS.... is me RAVING about how I now can't wait to buy oatmeal cereal for my 8 month old. Yep! I'm really anxious. Want to know why??? Well... Because you can turn THIS...

into.... THIS!

 

 Yes!!! It really is one oatmeal cereal box!!! You don't believe me do you...

Nope... you don't.

 How about now???
 TADA!

You better believe it! Isn't it amazing!? I'm going to put my incoming and outgoing mail/bills to pay in it. It will be awesome. 

I can't take credit for this amazing idea, though. I got it from Pinterest (LOVE Pinterest). 

And Pinterest got it from Katydid and Kid. <-- click for tutorial.

You will see that I tweaked it a little to fit what I had and my style, but she has an awesome tutorial to get the gist of it. Customize away! When you join my site (which I know you will... teehee), Follow Katydid and Kid as well! 

Hope you get inspired!

Amy

DIY Dining room chair re-do

My chairs have been needing to be revived. Our dining room table is a GORGEOUS dark red wood with 4 chairs with cushions that my husband's grandma made herself. They were pretty, but outdated and did not really go with my 'future kitchen' ideas. :)

One day I was blessed to be able to look through about 12 or 15 TUBS of FABRIC!!!!!! Mostly upholstery! Ahh! I was so excited.... I picked out this GORGEOUS green and ivory pattered fabric that I knew immediately would be the one I would use for my chairs.

It took a couple months to get started...I had to pull out all of the million staples in the old fabric, connecting it to the seat itself. That was fun.

Then measuring the new fabric, cutting, finding a staple gun, and setting aside a time that I could have help doing it! (It is a 2 person job....for sure...)

My good friend Kathy offered to let me use her staple gun (she's also the one I got the fabric from :) ) and staples AND helped me hold the cushions so they could be re-done!!! Thank you so much Kathy!!!

So here are a couple of pictures of my new lovely chairs. (I didn't take any pictures of the old fabric, or the steps in doing it, because my camera died. So- in a few months when I have to re-do them again, (I have an 8 month old...) I will post detailed pictures :)

Enjoy!

I love them :) Not perfect, but I love them.

A close up of the fabric. Isn't it pretty? :)

My friend, Jillian.

So I have this friend. Her name is Jillian.
She is pretty nice. Until you get to know her.
She makes you do what she wants. She pushes you.
She yells at you. She has all of her friends push you too.
She tells you to work harder.
She tells you not to take a break.

I guess... she's not a very good friend...
But she's an amazing workout instructor ;)

Doing the 6 weeks to a 6 pack... yeah... we'll see how it goes.
I about died today. Thank you, Jillian.

DIY Button Photo frame

I have fallen in love. with CRAFTS! I take an interest in every type and style of craft. This is awesome because I am learning a TON of new things!! Also dangerous... I should have bought stock in Joanns or Lowes...

The next few posts will all revolve around things that I have been working on over the last few months. This first one being a photo frame. Hope you enjoy!

Things you will need:
A photo frame (make sure it has somewhat of a actual FRAME, not too thin, so the buttons stay on)
Buttons
Hot glue gun and extra glue

I recently 'inherited' an enormous amount of buttons! I mean a TON of buttons!! My husbands grandmother has been saving buttons off of every piece of clothing, furniture etc.. since way before I existed... Probably 60-70 years or so... So she had about every kind and color imaginable! I was anxious to do something with them, so this is what I decided on.

It's really simple actually, all I did was place the buttons on in an order (or lack thereof) that I liked and then hot glued them in place. An easy project for you all you new crafters! :)

I kind of did a layered bunch of buttons in the bottom right hand corner to kind of 'anchor' it. I like how it gave it some weight.

Not the greatest pictures, but this is what it looked like finished. :)

I put it on the piano to see how it looked.

Follow me on Pinterest by clicking the button! :)

I'm Back!

After a LONG 5 months, I finally have "enough time" to begin posting again.

Come back soon to see what I've been up to!

I'll post baby pics, cooking pics, crafty pics, misc. pics, and other random fun-ness.

Ahh. So excited!

Twine jars!

So I always seem to find these great ideas for decorating/crafts late at night. But, instead of putting them on my to do list, I get out all of my stuff and do it right then.... Crazy, I know... SO- last night, I found these SUPER cute ideas on how to recycle glass jars old and new!

Find the inspiration to this project and a TON more good stuff here . I love her stuff!

So, go get your jars (or start saving those spaghetti sauce, jams, jellys and pickle jars) and join in!

These jars sit in my bathroom on the back of the toilet. Boring? Yes. But now, I love looking at my toilet. Ha.

 

 

BEFORE. See? Boring!

So to jazz them up a bit, all I did was take some binding twine (or jute) put a dab of hot glue on the bottom of the lip of the jar and started winding around. The downside of doing super awesome crafty things late at night is that....sometimes I forget to take pictures... Sorry! Sooo... This is how it looks after the winding.

Put another dab of hot glue to hold the end in place.

After the initial binding is done, I wanted to add a little something to pull it all together. I swirled a piece of twine together and made this 'rosette'.

.

Glue it in place over the seam of where the twine ends were on the lip of the jar.

I didn't really like how you ended up with this ugly hole in the middle and could see the glue. Solution? Knot! Just tie a small knot into a separate piece of twine, cut to size, put a dab of glue in the center of your swirl and place knot!

So that's it! So super easy! I love these jars now! (And so does my husband!) What's greater, is that it didn't cost me a thing. I had all of those things at home already. If you don't have twine, try ribbon, yarn or some sort of recycled clothing item. t shirts?? Let me know what you do!

AFTER. Not boring!! Yay!

Happy Crafting!

Homemade Granola!

So- a couple weeks ago, I realized that I didn't want to have to buy much of anything anymore. 

Especially if I could make it myself! Example: jewelry, food, clothes, accessories, decorations... you get the point... 

My favorite breakfast cereal was no exception, so I started searching and found this GREAT recipe! 

Thank you to my friend Tracy for letting me re-post her amazing creation!! 

So here we go. Homemade Granola. (No High Fructose Corn Syrup- Bleck!)

Ingredients: 

• 4 cups Quick cooking oats
• 1/4 cup Flax seed (ground, OR you can grind the whole seeds yourself with a hammer. Just kidding- use a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. :) 
• 1/2 cup Sliced Almonds
• 1/2 cup Pecans (chopped) I used store bought pieces.
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (I used shredded)
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• pinch of Salt

• 1/4 cup Honey
• 1/3 cup Vegetable or Canola Oil 
• 1/2 cup Brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

*Next time I make this, I am going to add dried fruit.

Put all the dry ingredients (first section) in a large bowl and mix it really well.

Put all the 'wet' ingredients (second section) into a small pot, except for the vanilla. 

Stir while you bring to a boil. 

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. 

Pour mixture over the dry ingredients and Stir like crazy!

(keep it in the bowl, but I mean stir it really well...) 

Try not to eat yet. :)

Cover a pan (I used a cookie sheet with edges) with parchment paper.

Bake @325 F for 20-25 minutes. I stirred mine about halfway through baking to make sure it didn't burn. After it is cooled on the pan, store in an air tight container in refrigerator. 

I like mine just like cereal- in a bowl with milk, and topped with fresh fruit. 

(Raspberries, bananas or strawberries are good) 

 Mark likes his on top of vanilla yogurt- parfait style. :) 

Either way, ENJOY!

Beading

These are some of the earrings I've done recently. I got hooked on beading last summer and I love it! I love being able to create a look based on something I see potential in!

33- Week Maternity Photo Shoot

 Photos courtesy of my amazingly talented husband!

The Adventure of 'Firsts'

Seeing as though this is my first post on the new blog, I figured it is rather fitting to observe other 'firsts' also. 'Firsts' can sometimes be intimidating, exciting, exhilarating, nerve wracking, mind blowing, etc... I'm sure every one of you could come up with a word that describes a 'first' best for you. What's the first word that comes to your mind when you think of 'firsts'?

My word is adventure.

The top 3 definitions of "adventure" as found on dictionary.com are as follows:

ad·ven·ture  /ædˈvɛntʃər/ Show Spelled 

(noun)

1.an exciting or very unusual experience.

2.participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises: the spirit of adventure.

3.a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.

As you can see, adventure can bring along a variety of different emotions.

Here are some firsts that I have experienced over the past couple of years or so... Enjoy :)

On December 21, 2008, I was proposed to for the first time. (and last =) )

On August 29, 2009, I married that boy that proposed. He was the first and only boy I dated.

On August 31, 2009, I made my first meal for my husband. I don't remember what it was. But it doesn't matter. =)

On September 9th (or so), 2009, my now husband and I moved away to New York. That marked the first time ever living outside of Michigan.

Also in September, we wrote out our first ever rent check, I got my first waitressing job,went to my first Bible school class, and decorated my first apartment.

On October 2, 2009 Mark (my wonderful husband) celebrated his birthday for the first time being married! I made spaghetti, Mark's favorite meal. =)

On Thanksgiving Day, 2009 we celebrated with some other couples (mostly newlywed). This was the first time being away from our families on a major holiday. Also in November, I turned 20. For the first time. ha. =)

On December 11th, 2009 Mark and I set up our first Christmas tree, complete with our first ornaments. =) (Last week, we found the tape that we had recorded it on and watched it for the first time. So many memories)

2010 is kind of vague in parts... But in summary...

I hosted Mark and my parents in OUR home for the first time. Hosted my first birthday party. Made my first semi-decent birthday cake. (I am hooked now) Went to New York City for the first time. Evangelized on the streets. Went to Martha's Dandee Creme! (best. soft serve. ever!) Worked at a summer camp. Taught 4 and 5 year olds. Loved it =). Celebrated our first wedding anniversary! Went on my first road trip just with Mark. Flew home for the weekend to go to some really good friends' wedding! Found out we are expecting our first child (May 2011)!!! Had my first ultrasound. Made my first homemade dinner rolls. Played my first Settlers of Catan game. (also hooked in this area...) Hit our first deer. Got PAID to hit the deer... long story... Decided our first baby's name will be Carter Mark after his daddy. =) Went to Babies R Us for the first time for myself. Started a regular exercise program.

There are so many more things.

See? If you really stop and think about it, you've done at least this extensive of a list of firsts. Quite possibly- MORE!

Experiencing firsts give us an opportunity. An opportunity to take each first with a positive attitude, view it as a challenge, and pray that God will guide and direct throughout. Which He will. He always does.

I view firsts as an adventure because for me, they've never occurred before! The biggest first for Mark and I most recently is expecting our first child. This is about the biggest adventure ever, only 2nd to getting married! I find myself experiencing all types of emotions quite often. Fear, Anxiousness, Joy, Relief, Worry, Trust, Trepidation, Love etc...

But no matter the emotions I feel, I know that someone even bigger than me has a clear mind and the ability to lead and guide my emotional being to be a great wife and mom. God is the one in whom I trust daily for constant leading.

My purpose in creating this blog is just to share my life with you. It's not always exciting, but it's always an adventure.