Yum! Stuffed Bell Peppers

Now that I've put work on the back burner for awhile, I've been trying to take on more around the house. Including cooking. For the most part, my best recipe is mac'n'cheese... from a box... So I'm trying to broaden my horizons a bit and release my inner Martha Stewart. Or, at least, put something on the table that isn't from a box or a fast-food restaurant.

I found this awesome stuffed bell pepper recipe on Pinterest, and the hubs LOVED it. I made a few modifications, including using lean ground beef, substituting powdered garlic, and eliminating the sour cream, spinach and avocado. I also cooked them for 10 minutes (vs seven).

And, there was enough of the meat / rice mixture left to save for tacos tomorrow night -- score! :)

Love Frame

For my parents for Valentine's, I tried to find a cute picture frame for them to add to their collection of a million baby photos. I was going to get one that said something about "grandparents", so I bundled up baby and went to Target. All of the grandparent frames were a little too modern or gaudy, and all of the Valentine's were -- of course -- hot pink and red. I wanted something they could display year round, so I decided to make my own. Had I planned it out a little better, I would have gone to Hobby Lobby and bought a plain DIY wooden one. But I didn't, so I picked up a hot pink one to paint.

Using paints I had on hand, I painted the back brown...

...and the front / sides an airy blue. {We have horrible lighting upstairs, and the flash was too bright.}

I then went around all the edges with a distressing ink pad to give it a more worn look.

I'm thinking the ink is more for paper because it took forever to dry. I ended up using a hairdryer to help speed things up a bit. While I was waiting, I tried Googling quotes about grandparents, but couldn't find any I liked {though I found a million after I was done!}.

So, I decided to keep it simple -- I painted some white letter stickers brown to spell "love"...

...added a key...

...and a lock at the top.

I thought it turned out SO pretty.

And, I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the final product!! I ended up making a copy of baby's footprint heart keepsake in black & white, then cut around the heart and glued it to some vintage-y looking scrapbook paper with the same blue. It looked soo cool, I want to make one for myself! Maybe I'll sneak a photo next time I'm at my parents' house :).

Linking up to:

www.craftytexasgirls.com

Footprint Heart Keepsake

My extremely creative friend Brit put together a Valentine's craft at our last playdate. She painted each of the babies' feet, and stamped them on scrapbook paper in the shape of a heart.

We started decorating but the kiddos started getting fussy for naptime so we took them home to finish. I did manage to cut the heart shape and glue to another piece of scrapbook paper.

I was originally going to turn it into a Valentine's card for J, but he saw it before I could finish it. So, I decided on a keepsake for baby's room (and, later, his baby book). I dug out all of my craft stuff and finished it off with stuff I already had, like adding the ribbon to the bottom, bronze brads in each corner, and a sticker quote.

I also marked the occasion on the top of the heart, with his name, first V Day and age. Of course, I'll be confused later in life when I look back at this, since he was 6 months when he did the heart, but he turned seven months last Saturday. Ohwell!

I then attached ribbon to the back...

...and was going to hang it in his room. But, to spare another nail hole in his wall, I hung it on his door instead.

Cute, huh? Happy Valentine's Day!

Linking up to this fabulous party:

25 Random Things

Thought it might be fun to link up to the "25 Random Things" linky party at Perfectly Imperfect. Here we go...

1. My favorite food is queso. I love it with chips, flour tortillas, on tacos, burgers, hotdogs, french fries, baked potatoes, even salad.
2. I think my baby is a ball of awesome.
3. I was born and raised in Texas. I really didn't think I'd still be living here at 31...
4. I used to be a hockey nut. I think I personally got every Dallas Stars' autograph from the early seasons.
5. I once saw Luke Wilson while dining in LA. Swoon.
6. My all-time favorite movies are Legends of the Fall, Shawshank Redemption, The Departed, and Beauty & The Beast.
7. I still wear crazy socks. You know, the kind with little animals and flowers on them.
8. My calves are too big to fit into Hunter wellies. Booo.
9. I hate ketchup, mustard, mayo, sour cream, and salad dressing.
10. The first time I played softball, I hit myself in the head with the bat. I was 29.
11. I eat Chick-fil-a about three times a week.
12. I don't think I've ever eaten a banana. But I think I hate them, too.
13. I'm an indecisive perfectionist... so nothing ever gets done...
14. I don't mind wasps or bees or most worms. I begin to tremble and sweat at the mere thought of a roach.
15. I was always a mountain person growing up. But, the older I get, the more of a beach person I become.
16. I took four years of Latin in highschool, and four years of Spanish in college. I think I can say hello, bye, and where's the bathroom?
17. I've only been outside of the U.S. three times -- Canada, Mexico (like for two hours) and Puerto Rico. Hoping to add to the list soon!
18. I love to fish (catch & release).
19. I don't dress anything like the styles I love on Pinterest. Thinking I need to overhaul my closet...
20. Pets I've had: turtles, guinea pig, ferret, fish, cat, dogs, and a rabbit.
21. I'm less self-conscious at the beach than I am anywhere else. Which seems backwards, right?
22. I support both PETA and the right to hunt (for food, not sport).
23. I had a yellow moped in college.
24. I'm running out of thoughts...
25. I can't believe my baby boy is 7 months old.

Whew! There ya go!

Baby Room Letters

Finally getting around to a project post!!! These letters have driven me insane for awhile. Simply because I wanted them finished before baby E was born in July... and it's now February... better late than never, right?

So I had the idea of making letters for E's room, thinking it would be a quick project. But I got caught up in work, baby and everything else and these got put on the back burner for awhile. Now that I have work off my plate, I finally got them finished. Did they turn out exactly as I pictured? Not quite. Am I super excited they're done? Definitely!

I started with plain white letters I got on sale at a craft store (can't remember if it was Hobby Lobby or Michaels).

I thought they might look small on the wall, so I wanted to attach each to a canvas.

Using baby's bedding as inspiration...

...I drew out an idea of how I wanted to paint each canvas.

And then I started painting...

And then I took a few months hiatus, where they sat in this spot on a table up until a few weeks ago. After finishing the canvases, I painted the edges of the letters before attaching them with non-toxic craft glue. I also used a few adhesive stickies on the backs just to make sure they didn't fall off.

I am soo glad to see them done and finally up on the wall!

I think they look small in the picture, but it does take up a nice chunk of wall space. And I think the colors turned out great -- for some reason, the A is my favorite.

I think for the next kid, we're going with a vinyl wall decal ;).

Linking up to this fabulous party: