"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! :)