Happy Halloween

Here are some of our Halloween "Happies" around the house.

Banner template found {HERE} I printed the letters on craft paper, glued to cardstock and cut each of them out. Then I made burlap pennant shapes and sewed them onto a black ribbon. I made black tissue streamer "flowers" basically just scrunching the streamer into a circular form and hot glued them to each pennant and topping with the craft cardstock letters. This puppy is durable and will definitely be re-used each year!

Our sidewalk MONSTERS!

And this is another treat for Toddling M's preschool- I'd signed up to bring fruit cups and wanted to do something with the Halloween theme. So simple, right?

And I hosted Supper Club this month {Long Live Supper Club...going 7 years STRONG!} and made these fun pudding cup desserts. I may have drawn an extra dozen of the Frankenstein cups just for fun...

Happy Fall Y'all

And since I promised to share some of my Pinterest projects, here's a shot of Toddling M's re-vamped room. I spy 8 projects on this wall

Baby DK

Wow, I’ve really neglected my blogging since Baby Duh-kah’s birth {HERE}, and while it may have been quiet over here for some time, let me assure you it’s been quite loud and hoppin’ over at our house! Toddling M has been such a joyful big brother welcoming Baby Duh-kah, whom he’s now calling “Kay Kate”. I think I may just resolve to refer to her as Baby DK for now.

Meet our smallest little-

Dakota Kate

born May 9, 2011 at 8lbs, 1oz

What a JOY and little blessing!

Oh Baby Girl- Felt Flower Tutorial

With 10 weeks until Baby Du-kah's due date, it's definitely time for us to start getting things in gear to prepare for her arrival! If I look at the progress I'd made at this point in my first pregnancy, I'm fairly embarassed to say we haven't done much at all for poor Baby D. I suppose it just means it's time for me to get things in order and start actually doing things rather than just planning.

I've seen the infant flower headbands everywhere but last night I started off with trying some felt flowers. I'll have rolled fabric flowers and curled polyester flowers to try next...

Pompom Mums:

Rosettes:

Here's a photo tutorial {click on the photo for a larger view}:

1. All you need is felt, elastic, glue gun/glue stick, scissors, pinking shears
2. I cut an 11" strip using pinking shears {about 3/4" wide}
3. Then I used my regular scissors to create a fringe along this strip using the "points" from the pinking shears as my guide for the width
4. Begin at one end and roll using a thin strip of hot glue to help adhere your roll
5. This makes an easy peasy Mum!
6. Now take your elastic and measure {I used this handy guide HERE to determine length}, you could hot glue or for mine I sewed it together for that extra measure
7. Cut another felt circle for your flower backing and if you're adding "leaves" then cut and assemble now
8. Turn your flower upside-down, glue your "leaf", then add your elastic headband, finish the headband off now with your last piece of the felt circle.
9. Et Voila!- A cute and easy felt flower headband!

And for the rosette variations {click HERE for the Purl Bee's pattern}

Toddling M's 2nd Birthday Party

We had a blast last weekend with Toddling M's 2nd birthday party...Mickey Mouse style! Click {HERE} to see many more photos.

Thanks so much to Haley for her gorgeous photos above =) I spread party tasks over 2 month's time so the preparations, homemade decor and crafts, and details were fun to make and even more enjoyable come celebration time!

Party Tutorials:

• Mouse Ears {HERE} (I used black headbands that didn't need to be recovered & black foam for the ears)
• Felt Hands & Mickey Pinata {HERE}

Edit: Here's a photo of the party favors each guest brought home. I found little black tote bags at Hobby Lobby and filled them with Mickey stickers, favor sacks with Mickey-shaped Oreo faces inside, bubbles with personalized "Thank You" tags, kaleidescope, Mickey headband, and of course the personalized sugar cookie for Cookie Queen of Alabama.

Toddling M Turns TWO!

I can hardly believe he's now 2-years old! My baby is growing up so quickly. We've had a banner day today and I think he's enjoyed every bit of it.

While the day in photos are {HERE}, I did want to point out some of the birthday crafts and things I had fun with in preparation for our little day celebration.

The birthday plate was customized and purchased last year {sorry I can't remember the source but will keep searching in my e-mail archives}, so I went with the pool blue/green theme and made a cupcake stand for his little brownie cake. It's easy peasey too! I found the tutorial {HERE}. Instead of doing cupcakes though, I took a wine glass and cut out 2 brownie circles and stacked them just like a 2-tier cake. I think it turned out great =)I had this fabric pennant on-hand from before M was born. I used Martha Stewart's free printable banner letters {HERE} and then simply taped them to the pennant banner. SUPER EASY!

And then of course I had to leave a message for the Birthday Boy on our new refrigerator chalkboard. More on this craft tomorrow...

My Loves

“I concluded…that all those virtuous human emotion need not be freely given. Respect is commanded or demanded. Admiration is won sometimes against the will. It is impossible to admire someone we dislike. Loyalty and trust we entice or win from others. A sense of awe or adoration for God descends upon us from realisation. Certainly all these emotions may be present in love but they are not love itself. Love is freely given. It is a matter of choice. Love is wanting what is best for the other person, even if what is best for them is not going to suit the lover. Love is totally selfless and it is an act, not an emotion. We often mistake it for emotion because it is usually contained in strong emotions. But love is not an emotion…love is creative action. It is the most creative act in the universe”.

from “Ordinary Insanity” by Emma Pierce

Within the next few days my "Love Celebrating" will be overflowing. I suppose it's fitting as Valentine's Day is quickly approaching:

Friday my firstborn turns 2 years old!

Saturday my husband is treating me on an Ikea shopping spree! We'll make a day of it too, so I'm hoping the weather will cooperate for our trip. This is only the 2nd time for me to go to an Ikea...I can hardly wait. The first time I was with Dear Friend and just not in the mood to go shopping. But this time I'm pumped!

Sunday is my sister BeeBee's birthday! I can hardly believe my "little" sister will be 26. Sheesh I'm OLD!

Monday is Valentine's Day and a time to celebrate Love. Even though my husband says it's an overcommercialized "holiday" that he's disliked since he was Toddling M's age, last night I seriously suggested starting the tradition to make it sentimental and not purchase anything---something like a nice love note would do. Ha! Apparently my darling husband must have something else in mind because he nixed that idea and said we could do "a little something." Uh-ohhh...sounds like I need to put on my Creativity Cap and come up with something more than a card! Any ideas?

Year of the Rabbit

Alright, alright, alright...

I'm not going to even pretend I know much at all about the Chinese New Year, but I can kind of claim to by virtue of my ethnicity {right?}. Ha!

Toddling M received 2 special red envelopes in the mail from Aunt BeeBee {who is Korean} and another from her Vietnamese friend.

For those billions who celebrate it...Happy New Year!

Oreo Truffle Kisses- Valentine's Treat

I found a sweet treasure in Bakerella's archives!

Check out her Oreo Truffle Kisses {HERE}.

They're very easy to make too:

• 1 pkg Oreos {crushed to a fine consistency}
• 1 pkg Cream Cheese {set out to room temp}
• 1 pkg Chocolate Bark

Mix the Oreos & Cream Cheese. Form them into small balls {I ended up making 28...well that is after eating 1 little one!}. Shape them into Kisses {note: set them in the freezer if they start becoming too mushy on you-I had to do it once during this process}

They look like doo-doo piles here, but I swear they're yummy goodness!

Set your Kisses in the freezer while you melt your chocolate bark in a microwaveable bowl.



Dunk your kisses one at a time in the chocolate, use a spoon to cover the entire kiss & let them slide off back onto your cookie sheet {covered in wax paper}.

See not-so-much like doo-doo here.

Print out your Kisses' messages and cut foil pieces to cover each kiss.

Mine don't look as pretty as Bakerella's, but you get the picture!

{See Gigi...there's even some in there for you & Grandadder. We even ate them in your honor!}

These were an early Valentine's treat. We'll be working on some other things leading up to the celebration.

Happy Valentine's Day!

One Month From Today

...Toddling M will turn TWO YEARS OLD

Ahhh, I can hardly believe it! In the meantime, I've been mapping out a plan of action which includes research {aka browsing dozens of party blogs}, list-making, and designing a party board to get this party started. We'll have a lower-key celebration this year than last, but it certainly doesn't mean any less thought and planning will go into everything! I've designed the invitations already and have "pre-booked" the Cookie Queen for party favors, but really other than planning on paper, I haven't actually done much else to actually get things together.

I have plans for several homemade crafts and decor. {some of which include dusting off the old sewing machine and also using my new laminator HERE} I better start actually completing my list now.

See Ya Real Soon!

{if you have a little one who watches Mickey, you might get that reference...sheesh, I'm one of THOSE Mommies now!}

Happy 2011!

Wishing You a Happy New Year!!!

Hope yours is off to a great start. I anticipate many great things in store for this new year!The above adorable cookies were made by the talented Cookie Queen of Alabama. Make sure to check out her Facebook page {HERE}

All Things New

Hope your Holidays are Bright and Joyous!

We had a lovely first Christmas as a family! After nursing a severe headache for 3 days straight, I'm finally getting relief med-free but still have yet to edit the Christmas pictures.

In the meantime, did you catch Skip to My Lou's FREE Printable Calendars Roundup yesterday? Well if not, you should skip on over to see the lovely offerings {HERE}. These are my top 3 faves:

1. Mibo Studio's 2011 Planner

2. Anna and Blue Paperie's Calendar {sized for a CD case...fun!}

3. Switcheroom's Month-by-Month Full Page Calendar

What a wonderful FREE find too- lovely and they don't cost a thing!

Since I've done absolutely nothing the past 3 days while recovering, I guess it's now time to print these up and try to get a head start by planning things out for 2011.

To Dos:

1. Put away Christmas decor *sniff sniff* The house will seem so boring now
2. Plan Toddling M's Party...he turns TWO in 6 weeks!
3. Nest in our home, of which I've done nothing on the To Do List {HERE}
4. Design Baby D's Nursery...she arrives in 4 months!

From Our Family to Yours...

Tis the Season

Well, while Toddling M and I have been doing some crafting together {HERE}...

I found some other really cool printables and ideas to tackle myself. Like this paper Santa Claus with free downloadable {HERE}. We surprised Scott last night and put it in his computer office. I thought the little guy was fun and quirky!

And I just put up our Merry Christmas banner in the living room...framing our lovely huge TV above the fireplace {yeah. not a fan of exposed electronics...hide them if you can!}.

I first saw the "Believe" banner featured on I Am Momma Hear Me Roar {HERE} and then there's the "Merry Christmas Banner" directly {HERE}.
And we went about a week without a tree topper, so I wanted to try my hand at one of the oversized boutiquey bows. But when I went to a local shop to buy the big ribbon, they had some already-made ones on sale for less than the original cost of the ribbon. SOLD! They also have some pink ribbon too, so I'll probably make one of these for when Baby D arrives too.It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The Old, The New, Some Shopping, Bye Bye Blue

Well yesterday we found out that Baby #2 is a GIRL!

THE OLD

After a 14-wk ultrasound, the tech had me thinking this baby was likely a boy. She "saw a nub" and while she strongly advised to not buy anything gender-specific, Scott and I prepared ourselves for a little boy. So originally I'd dreamed up a more modern nursery with slimline Ikea furniture...

...and an Ugly Doll theme with these critters scattered on wall shelves throughout the nursery

...some fun, funky touches like this

...paired with a green, yellow, and hints of blue throughout the room {walls were going to be very wide horizontal stripes of green/yellow}.

So imagine our surprise when the sweet baby girl was finally detected {after about an hour she cooperated!}.

We're elated!

First of all we wanted a healthy baby, but if you twisted my arm I would have admitted I secretly wanted a little girl so that we'd have one of each. Scott won't admit this, but he wanted one too. I warned him that if Baby #2 was a little boy that we'd have to keep trying for a girl and I think this had him petrified were this baby a boy {this pregnancy hasn't been the cheery one I had with Baby M}. And Baby M will definitely be a fantastic big brother to his little sister!

THE NEW

So we're going Team Pink now. And that means all new preparations: new clothes, new accessories, new mindset, and back to the nursery drawing board. Oh and we're still not certain about plans for the nursery since technically all rooms are being used in the house. Design Challenge: ACCEPTED!

And I'm holding off going crazy on shopping for Baby D. While I want to go wild, we obviously can't do it financially and there are other priorities before her May arrival.

TO DOs:

1. CHRISTMAS- all presents purchased, but must make/bake Christmas treats & finish planned crafts for Toddling M {by the way, since he's no longer a Baby, I suppose Toddling M fits him better}
2. TODDLING M'S BIRTHDAY- must find a cheap venue, preferably indoors because it seems to be particularly cold this year and I'm not going to trust that mid-February will be warm enough for an outdoor event...although our new backyard would have been perfect. At least I've decided on a theme: Mickey Mouse, since his absolute mostest favoritest show is Mickey Mouse Playhouse. Every. Single. Day.
3. ALL THINGS GIRLIE for BABY D- I'm going to try and DIY as much as possible for Baby D. I'd like to make a lot of her nursery decor, clothes, hairbows etc. to try and save money.

SOME SHOPPING

But for those of you who haven't yet exhausted your Christmas shopping list and/or you just enjoy shopping in general, did you know that this Friday, December 17th is Free Shipping Day? Omigoodness...I'd take advantage of it like crazy if I could =)

But thought I could at least pass this along {HERE}BYE BYE BLUE!

Nesting Challenge

Alright, alright, alright. I know I've completely slacked on this blog, but it's been with good reason.

To catch you up, in the past couple of months I...

1. got married
2. moved me & Baby M into Hubby's house
3. put both houses on the market & have kept them both "show ready"
4. held my first yard sale
5. oh & PS, we're expecting in May!

I posted some pics on Baby M's blog, but today I pre-dated the Wedding details over {HERE}

While we definitely want to sell both homes, my house is a bit larger & very nested already. Our strategy for the move was that one would sell faster & Hubby's almost-empty garden home was in dire need to be staged.

Now here's the challenge I'm starting to tackle after moving into Hubby's house:

With the tiniest of a budget {as in $ZERO if possible}, make this house a home to live-in until it sells AND decorate, but not overdecorate so that it's "show friendly."

I'm almost embarassed to share this, but we currently have no curtains, minimal furniture and decor. There's been some debate with Hubby as to painting the walls; they're in dire need of a new coat, but he says builder's grade and I say warm & friendly. So thus far, they've been left untouched.

For the Christmas season, I've tried to add little sprinkles of holiday decor to warm things up.

Mistletoe in the entryway...

Little vignettes on the shelving...
Tabletop decor...

And who needs curtains if you deck wreaths on the windows? {joking...no, we really NEED curtains/window treatments to warm things up}

And then stockings hung by the chimney with care... {thanks to Gigi for Baby M & our pug's stockings in the center}
Nesting To Do List:

• Paint Walls-arrrrrggggghh, pretty please dearest Hubby?
• Make curtains
• Create wall art
• Headboard for Master Bedroom? {am really loving these temp options HERE}
• Sew pillows

And then of course, we'll soon have to tackle the bigger challenge of making room for Baby Deuce. Right now the 3rd bedroom/closet is Hubby's necessary workspace.

*SIGH* But I suppose these are the types of challenges that allow our creativity to thrive...