New Blog!

Hi all! Well, I've made a move to a new blog. I've loved sharing craft ideas and such; however, I wanted to also share more of everyday life too, and wasn't sure about meshing the two here. So, I started over and you can now find me at Life on Lily Lane.

Hope you'll join me!

"Snow" Sensory Bin

A month or so ago, we got a tooon of winter ice ~ and not the fun kind you can go out and play in, either. If it had just been me, I probably would have ventured out at least once, even if nothing was open. But with my toddler? Totally not worth the risk. Sooo we were stuck indoors for several days. Several looong days.

My little ball of energy was reeling for something new, I was reeling for some kind of "quiet" activity. And it hit me ~ a sensory bin! I dug out an old baking pan, filled it with salt to act as snow, a small blue container lid to act as a water hole for his plastic whales, added his arctic bulldozer and let him go.

I cannot tell you how excited he was to play with this! He literally sat for over an hour, quietly playing. Paving roads, feeding the whales, adding other construction vehicles, tracing his fingers in it. I pretty much just let him play however he wanted as long as he kept it on the tile and off the carpet.

It's something I just keep stored in the cabinet as is, so that he can play with it whenever he wants ~ which is usually about every couple of days or so. Love watching his imagination take over!

Just Jammin'

So a friend of mine invited me to an online Jamberry party. I had no idea I was getting sucked into a world of nail cuteness! I have extremely short nails (umm, maybe I'm a nail biter...) so I don't even bother to paint them anymore. But these nail wraps? Last way longer, and you can't even think about biting your nails with them on (could I finally be cured?!). With soo many prints & patterns to choose from, the possibilities are endless!

{Sorry, there's just no cute way of photographing your own hand, ha!} Mine lasted for about eight days before the tips started peeling. My friend said they last longer and are even cuter on toes. One thing I wasn't told ~ and it's probably not advertised ~ is that if you do have short nails, you can actually make your sheet of Jams go even further by cutting each row in half. Hard to picture but if you've worn them before then you probably know what I'm talking about. Just a way to get more bang for your buck!

And no, I wasn't given any incentive for this post ~ I paid for these myself and just love how polished it made me feel no matter what I was wearing!

Simple Shoe Organization

I am on a mission to get this house #organized. Or, at least, clear some of the chaos so that it doesn't look like an episode of "Hoarders" in here. I was going to wait and do one big post of organization projects, but two things came to mind: (1) It would be about 50 pages long; (2) It would take ten years before I got everything done and actually got around to posting it. 

So, I thought I'd post small projects & ideas as I go along. Pinterest is such an amazing tool for this kind of stuff, too. There is an idea for just about everything, and I always seem to wonder why the heck I never thought of it. 

I have some amazingly organized friends as well. This idea for shoe storage came from one of them as I was drooling over her pristine closet. Another "why didn't I think of that?" moment for sure! The Container Store has amazing shoe boxes for less than two bucks each, and maybe IKEA even has some cheaper. But they are awesome none the less! They stack easily yet still allow you to see what's in them: 

Unfortunately I don't have a before picture, but imagine every shoe in these containers on the floor. Seriously. 

I also bought boot boxes that stack up nicely, though I do still keep my "every day" shoes within easy slip-on access on the floor. I also love how the boxes keep them from getting dusty or scuffed, and I'm never without a matching shoe. {Am I the only one who has these issues?} 

Pretty simple, huh? 

2014, whoop whoop!

2014. Another year. Another chance to live life to the fullest, to live life how it's meant to be lived: willfully, intentionally, optimistically. Every year I seem to make a laundry list of "me" specific resolutions. By mid-year, I've forgotten what they were or given up because they were too lofty or time consuming. Or maybe because I was just lazy.

But this year I wanted it to be different. I wanted to go into the year not with an attitude of "this is the year everything's going to change and I'll become perfect." I wanted to be, if anything, more realistic. I wanted to think about how I can help shape myself to become a better person in the long-run, not just short-term. The start of a lifestyle change, not just a done-and-check-it-off-the-list thing. And I wanted J, my hubs, to join the journey with me so we could create a stronger life together ~ for us as individuals, as husband and wife, and as parents to our toddler.

So we chatted about it one night, and it was surprisingly easy to prioritize what was important to us. We narrowed it down to four:

1. Church
2. Budget
3. Monthly Date Nights
4. Clean Eating

I figured writing them on our bathroom mirror was a great way to keep them in plain sight. I like the idea of holding each other accountable without a ton of pressure or deadlines to do certain actions. It's all about creating a ripple that will hopefully lead to a better way of life for all of us, and something we can continue to build on year after year.

In fact, looking at these each morning has been quite calming for me. It helps me to see that J and I are on the same path, despite the chaos that sometimes is our daily life. And I can already see how these four things will flow into other areas of our lives as well.

Wishing you the best for this coming year, too!

Recipe: Baked Penne with Deer Meat

I never thought I'd get to the point where I enjoyed eating deer meat. I am by no means a vegetarian, yet I cringe at the thought of something dying so I can eat. I just think I've become so disconnected from the animal and the actual food on my plate that it makes it easier to gorge on beef in all it's yumminess. I think society, as a whole, has too.

Thanks to PETA and the million books, videos and blogs out there exposing the meat industry and all it's disgusting cruelty, I've turned to appreciating deer season. Do I love that the hubs leaves before the owls have gone to bed and is dog tired in the afternoon when he gets home? No. Do I love the washer being full of wet camo but I can't touch it because it's been unscented? No. Do I love all our money going to Cabela's and Academy? Um, heck no. 

But I do like the freezer being full of free-range deer meat. And I appreciate my husband's true dedication to hunting properly and with respect to each animal, taking only as much as we'll eat during the year and leaving the best animals to produce for the herd. And honestly, when ground deer is added to recipes in place of beef, I can't even tell the difference. And my toddler? Loves it. For awhile, it was actually the only meat he would eat!

Here's one of my favorite dishes for cooking ground deer. It's adapted from an old Weight Watchers ground turkey recipe and tweaked by some Pinterest ideas and, ultimately, just became something I make without too much measuring (and using whatever I have on hand). I also use organic cheese when I can find it, and always BPA-free canned tomatoes.

{I usually let it melt longer and the cheese almost brown before pulling it out, but we were hungry!}

Baked Penne with Deer

• 1lb ground deer meat
• 1 large can organic tomato puree
• 1 small can organic diced tomatoes
• 1 small onion, diced (optional)
• 1 bag Italian cheese mix
• 1 bag part-skim mozzarella
• 1 box whole grain noodles (I prefer penne but ziti also works)
• Salt, pepper, garlic and oregano to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
• 9x13 casserole dish

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Boil noodles according to package directions.
3. Meanwhile, brown deer meat in a skillet using your oil preference. I add a dash of salt and pepper. Add the onion here if you want (my toddler hates onion so we omit it now).  
4. Once meat is browned, drain the fat. Add in the tomato puree and the diced tomatoes. Add a dash of garlic and oregano. Stir, cover and simmer on low until noodles are ready.
5. Drain noodles.
6. Now it's time to layer your ingredients in the casserole dish. There's no real exact science to this, and you might have some of the noodles and cheese leftover. Start with a really thin layer of your meat sauce on the bottom. Next, add a layer of noodles. Add a layer of meat sauce. Sprinkle generously with the cheeses, mixing the Italian and mozzarella. Sprinkle with oregano. Repeat! Add a nice layer of noodles, meat sauce, cheese, repeat until your dish is full. Sometimes I get two layers, sometimes three. 
7. Make sure your final layer of cheese is a good one! Sprinkle with oregano.
8. Bake in the oven on 350 for 20-30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. I like mine almost browned on the edges :).
9. Once done, let sit for 10 minutes or so, otherwise it'll fall apart when cut.
10. Serve and enjoy!

I usually serve it with a salad or steamed broccoli, and we always have plenty of leftovers for dinner the next day (and sometimes lunch, too). 

Each time I make it, I do something a bit different and it always turns out yummy. Like I said, my kiddo hates onions so we don't use it now, but they are super tasty if added. Sometimes I'll find a can of italian spiced tomato puree and that's awesome, too. You could even add fresh minced garlic at the meat-browning stage.

If you're skeptical about ground deer, this is the perfect recipe to try it. Or, you could always substitute the deer for beef, just be sure to drain all the excess fat.

Happy weekend!

October Unprocessed: Meal Plan 2

Welp, we're one week into the October Unprocessed Challenge, yahoo! J (the hubs) and I are down 4lbs each, feeling more energetic and getting into this whole "homemade" business. Sadly, though, I am soo tired of cleaning pans ~ where the heck is the dish fairy?!

This past week hasn't been without it's struggles, though. I hit a wall Saturday evening with all-over spastic muscle aches and feeling like I was going to pass out. From what others have said, it sounds like my body was going through a detox phase, which supposedly happens in the first week. All I know is that I felt like human crap. A pounding head and an energetic toddler do not mix well!

But today? Today I feel amazing. All day I've been thinking how wonderful to finally feel like my head isn't in a fog like usual. Hubs said the same thing at dinner tonight. And I thought I would miss my daily Diet Dr. Pepper, but I haven't... yet.  Starting to think it was more habit than something I actually enjoyed drinking.

The hardest part of the day is definitely breakfast. I've found if I don't plan well enough ahead ~ or get going early enough ~ then it's a scramble in the mornings between J trying to eat breakfast before work and me trying to get munchkin fed while fixing my own. I think baking homemade pancakes and stuff beforehand and freezing is going to be the best bet. Or making homemade granola on Sundays and eating during the week. Just not there quite yet!

Here's my plan for the week:

Again, I'll probably tweak it as we go along, but this is what I'm shooting for anyway. This challenge is definitely made easier with all of the Facebook support, Pinterest and the awesome whole food blogs out there. I have some recipes that I'll share too, some from my own mind and some from cookbooks I already had.

Happy Week 2!

Because We Need More Channels

The hubs has been wanting to add an outdoor sports package to our cable for awhile now, but I hated the idea of paying for more channels when we don't watch most of the ones we have. So last night, when I wasn't feeling well and went to bed early, he added it. He told me this morning and, before I could protest, he says: "But you were incoherent or I would have asked."

Well played, my friend.

October Unprocessed: Meal Plan 1

Yesterday was the official first day of the October Unprocessed Challenge. Because I didn't make it to the store until after lunch, we didn't really start until dinner. But that's okay, baby steps!

Sat down yesterday and started our meal plans for the month. They'll definitely need some tweaking as we go along and get better with this whole unprocessed concept, but it's a great start. I pulled inspiration from many sources, including various Pinterest pins, 100DaysofRealFood, friends and others. If there's a recipe, it's pinned to my Pinterest board.

As I said before, we were already working toward eating cleaner at home, so I had the right baking goods, oatmeal, and some other things at home already. Made it soo much easier (and cheaper) when I went to Sprouts yesterday to stock up for the week. Interestingly, it only cost me less than $60 to get everything I needed! But we didn't need any meat or paper products, so that helps a ton. And, I bought from the bulk bins where I could, and it's soo much cheaper than buying prepackaged.

I did get a major headache at the store, though, trying to find everything I needed and reading every label for packaged stuff. I usually shop at Target, but figured I'd stay away from all the beautiful temptations this time around and focus on my list. If I couldn't find organic, I tried to at least buy local.

And the hubs is a total meateater, but didn't freak out too much at the veggie fajitas. I thought I'd wait to get meat until I can do a little research on the best kinds or get out to our farmer's market. Will be a fun outing for the toddler, too :)

Maybe this challenge isn't as crazy as it sounds after all!

October Unprocessed Challenge!

So tomorrow starts the big challenge, eating unprocessed throughout the month of October. {Want to join the pledge? Check out Andrew at EatingRules!}

As excited as I am, I'm feeling a bit over-whelmed... or maybe confused... in some areas. After my son was born two years ago, and reading more info on food and preservatives than I ever thought possible, I slowly started the journey to better eating. In the last year, we've tried to cook "clean" at the house using more whole foods (eating out, however, is a completely different story!). And I read just about every label at the grocery store now. So I thought this challenge would just be going another layer deeper with what we're already been doing and provide some much-needed recipe ideas.

But, somehow, I feel like maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew. Homemade tortillas? Making our own almond milk? Pasta from scratch?! Oh my. I know you can use your own discretion when it comes to certain items, but I whole-heartedly want to give it my best shot.  I mean, if I have to give up Rosa's, then I'll be darned if I cheat with something as simple as store-bought bread.

At least my hubs is on board. He's huge into healthy eating... or, at least, was up until he married me, ha!... but his support will truly be helpful. And my toddler, age two, will hopefully adjust with minimal effort. Thank goodness for homemade cheesy cracker recipes!

I won't blog about our journey everyday, but I will post our meal plans, favorite recipes, etc. You can also follow my board on Pinterest. Did you pledge? Would love to follow you, too!

Countdown to tomorrow begins now... guess I better chug one last Dr. Pepper!

Finding Balance

Balance is an interesting thing. What, exactly, are we trying to balance? Our own expectations? Expectations of others? And everything in between?

I like to think of "balance" as that wide ledge between everything slipping between your fingers and udder boredom. And I say wide ledge because, well, I guess falling off either way is not really a surprise, right? I mean, you can always feel it coming: a sense of overwhelming anxiety when things move too fast to count, or that numbing feeling of wasting life away by choosing to remove yourself from daily life. 

I always tend to over-compensate for one or the other. Life moving too fast? I shutdown the computer, the laundry, and the stove. I resort to fast food over cooking, Pinterest over blogging, mind-numbing TV over running. No fuss, no effort. Just ho-hum.

Life moving to slow? I dial up old friends, take on work projects, house projects, craft projects and me projects. Dust baseboards, over-fix my hair, host playdate after playdate, all while sampling life's zestiness in any way possible while running a hundred miles a minute. 

It's exhausting. 

And confusing.

But if I had a wine cup in my hand right now, I'd toast to fine-tuning balance. Because the ledge? Is fun and interesting, and where carpe diem lives. 

Or so I hope.

Cool Tub

Love this tub. Would look amazing in my beach house... if I, uh, had a beach house...

{via The Water Monopoly}

Hello

I'm not going to call this a comeback. I won't even say that I'm back. Ha! But I hope that I am. Life seems to be humming along nicely. Maybe I actually have time... wait. I guess I always had time. But maybe now I'll spend less time being lazy and procrastinating. In between scraping squished raisins off the floor (compliments of my 19-month old) and catching up on my shows (thanks Hulu), maybe I'll squeeze in a post or three. Probably more about toddlerhood and less about crafting, but a post nonetheless.

Catch ya on the flip side!

"Be the Good"

I need this in my house.

So often I find myself getting discouraged by things seen on the news, overheard from conversations amongst friends, actions amongst strangers. I do believe there is good, yet I always need to remember ~ and a lesson I want to teach baby E ~ is that sometimes it's not just enough to believe. Sometimes we have to tune out the negative and be the positive we wish the world to be. It just might be the poke that tips the line of dominos, causing an irreversible chain reaction in the right direction.

DIY Towel / Hat Hanger

Another project from the early baby days. I wanted a cute towel and hat hanger for baby E's room, but couldn't find one that either (a) matched his room or (b) didn't cost more than the towels / hats themselves. So I thought I'd make one.

I found a white wood piece on sale at Michael's. My initial thought was to paint it to match his bedding and other room decor... but, decided on using good ol' Mod Podge and scrapbook paper instead.

I measured out the pieces of paper, cut, and started Mod Podgin'. It took a LOT of coats to get the corners to stay down and seal the cracks. If I do it again, I'll probably use tissue-style paper.

I then screwed in three silver hooks (Target), and had the hubs hang it in baby's bathroom ~ perfect size for baby's towels! It also doubles nicely as a hat hanger for now -- a real one is my next project!

Baby Room Wall Art

I can NOT believe that I never got around to posting the cute wall art I hung in baby E's room! He's only, like, 14 months now. Think I need to do a post on finding balance here soon...

Anyway, my dear friend Brit made the cutest wall art for her son's room using her Cricut. I just HAD to have some for E's room, so I picked a cow, hippo, fox and frog to match some of the things we already had for his room.

She did such an amazing job!!

I knew I wanted white frames, so I found some chunky ones on sale at Michael's, along with four corresponding pieces of scrapbook paper.

I simply used sticky tabs on the animals (incase I ever wanted to use them elsewhere) and framed them without the glass.

I had the hubs hang them in baby's room -- one on each side of the window, and one on each side of the door.

Now E's old enough to recognize the animals, so it's become a morning ritual to say hello to each one. Love 'em!

Super Easy Gift Bag Re-Do

Yeah... so, that was about as good of a comeback as, say, New Kids on the Block.  Ohwell.  Take #357!

I'll just cut to the chase with this one. I have a closet full of gift bags. Yet somehow, I needed -- and couldn't find in my stash -- two gift bags for two little girls' birthday gifts.  To keep the hubs from saying "I TOLD you we needed gift bags while at Target," I decided to just re-do a couple that I had on hand. And it took less than 10 minutes, using stuff I already had.

I grabbed two bags, paper flowers and rhinestones that I had from an unfinished project.

I only needed to cover up an old tag that I couldn't get to peel off, otherwise the bags were in great shape.

Since my craft glue was dried up (of course), I simply stapled the flowers on...

Then added a rhinestone to the center of each flower to cover up the staples.

Not too shabby, huh?  Then I did the same for bag #2.

I made individual tags by cutting out each girl's initial using scrapbook paper, then tying to each bag.

Definitely a pretty way to save a few bucks!  And, hopefully it won't be another month before I post again ;)

The Big One

My sweet baby turned the big O-N-E today! It's SO hard to believe a year has come and gone so quickly. We celebrated with a trip to the aquarium today, and his party with the rest of the family's on Saturday. Needless to say I'll be scrambling over the next few days to get the house clean... or at least look clean...


Also been busy making decorations (including the super easy pennant banner below), so will share those over the next week. It's amazing how easy it is to get caught up in the decorating side of things, especially since there's really no "baby friendly" birthday activities. If they can't really do anything, guess the house should look pretty, right? ;)

Hello Again!

So, I've decided to blog again. I feel like I've finally gotten all of my ducks in a row, even if it's a messy one. I cannot believe my sweet baby is just days away from turning one -- it has been such an awesome ride thus far!

I've missed blogging -- when I start to wonder why I stopped, I'm reminded of the many unchecked boxes on my "to do" list, I look around and see the mess that is my house, I'm interrupted by the hubs, I hear the baby stirring, I'm just plain tired. I also had tried to separate creative stuff from life and, well, these days there's no separating anything anymore. It's one big puddle -- so, you might see more general life posts, some crafty stuff, ramblings, just about anything that's in my head and needs to get out.

I also enjoy browsing Pinterest, so if you're on there let me know -- would love to follow!

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! :)