A Hidden Talent

A couple of weeks ago we went to Utah to go visit Justin's family. While we were there I learned something new about my husband. We have been married 5 1/2 years and I never knew that he was an Etch A Sketch artist. Seriously. Check out the work he did.

The Dragon Scene

The Underwater Scene

There you have it, my Husband is amazing (if you didn't already know).

The Wants

Last night I had a bad case of "the wants".

If you ever have "the wants" don't combine it will blog hopping.

It just makes it worse.

I grabbed an Ensign to distract me.

I found this article about gratitude.

I need to work on being more grateful for all the many things I have been blessed with, instead of what I don't have.

Sorry, no picture.

Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

Can someone please tell me where

February went and how it is already March 11????

I am feeling like a ticking time bomb. Officially 5 weeks until this baby is due to arrive and there is so much I want/need to do before its arrival. I reduced the days I am going to preschool so that I can have more time to get things done and more importantly go fun places like Sea World, the zoo and the beach. I think it is time to start crafting and blogging again. I don't know what I have been doing but it hasn't been crafting or blogging.

I signed up for a Betty Crocker coupon book. It came in the mail and it was filled with delicious pictures of food and desserts. I about died when I saw these brownies. I made them that night. Justin and I agreed that they tasted better the second day and straight out of the fridge.

(picture from here)

You can find the recipe HERE. Thank you Betty Crocker.

A Girl Can Dream

Can you tell that my life goes in cycles. Some weeks I am super woman, my house is clean, we do lot of fun things, I somehow find time to craft and blog about it all.

Other weeks I struggle to keep my house remotely clean, keep my sanity and I can't even manage to get dinner on the table. During those weeks once the kids are in bed all I can think about is taking a HOT shower and going to bed myself.

Life has been busy. As I get closer to my due date (April) the time goes faster and the to do list gets longer. Our family has been living at the doctor's office the last couple of months. I have driven to the doctors at least 2 times a week for the past 2 months and we are not even sick (okay, maybe a little off the norm)! OB's, Pediatricians, Neurologist, extra Ultrasounds, and the Gastroenterologist. Luckily we have good insurance and are all looking healthy.

But on the crafty side I saw this and I want it. BAD!

I love, love, love it!

Here is the link to V and Co and her tutorial at moda bake shop. I don't think I have it in me to make it or even put it on my to do list. So if anyone wants to make it for me, please do. I will be watching the mail. I want that exact fabric, even if I have a boy.

A girl can dream.

Polka Dot Heart Pillow

I am just loving this polka dot fabric. Especially for Valentine's Day. This pillow was very simple to make.

*** I have had this ready to post for almost a week. This week has been much busier than anticipated. If you want directions on how I made this pillow let me know. I typed it out but when I saved it the format got messed up so I deleted it. I am hoping life will slow down next week.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Lily's LOVE Shirt

I found this turtleneck at Target for $2. There was a huge rack of them. I guess San Diegans don't want white turtlenecks. I appliqued LOVE on it for Valentine's Day. Super Easy!

My Crazy Heart (repost)

I made this heart two years ago for Valentine's Day. The only problem is I can't find it. I need to go dig around in my storage. Yuck! I posted it on my family blog (2 years ago) so go HERE to check out all the info on it. I said I didn't think I would do this kind of thing again but I am starting to warm up to the idea.

It is a la Martha.

Rainbow Cupcakes

I have seen these rainbow cupcakes all over the Internet. I decided it was my turn. So here they are. To find directions you can go here or here, just to name a couple.

Birthday Crown

I have been wanting to make this birthday crown for over a year. I was going to make it for Lily's first birthday but ran out of time. I finally got around to making it just in time for her second birthday. I used the tutorial over at Juicy bits.

To tell you the truth, after making it, I am not a fan. It looked cute in the pictures but I really don't love it. I told Justin my only goal for this crown is for Lily to wear it for 3 seconds so I can get a picture. That has yet to happen. I think I will just toss it in her dress up box and try to forget it ever happened.

Valentine Wreath

**I don't know why this picture is turning fuzzy. I keep reposting it. It looks great for a day or two and then gets fuzzy again. I don't know how to fix it for good.

Yesterday morning I saw this wreath on my friend Chelsea's crafty blog It's Good for the Heart.

I wanted to make one and I did in ONE DAY!!! I never finish projects in one day. I would like to thank both of my kids for taking 3 hour naps (that NEVER happens!), and a husband who doesn't mind if I craft during a movie.

I used the tutorial from The Idea Room.

She got the idea from Design*Sponge.

Who was inspired by this pillow.

And now you have seen it here. So now you go make one.

Diapers, Anyone?

Did you know that I know Super Woman? Well, I do. She goes by the name of Misty. She started up a website kind of like the grocery game that tracks stores' deals and helps you match coupons so that you don't have to do all the work. Oh and did I mention at the time she had toddler twin boys AND a baby girl. Well, it got kind of busy for her (can you imagine doing all the work for a website and 3 kiddies under 2) and she asked if a couple of us (9, I think) to split up the work so we can still get all the amazing deals. Only people who contribute get access to the deals but now Misty has a blog, Frugalicious, that lets you know when you can get things for great deals. Awesome Deals.

Now you are wondering what does this have to do with Diapers. Well, check this deal out. For details on how to do it make sure you scroll down to "Diapers for less than $0.02 each!" Diapers less than $0.02!?! Now that is Amazing. And that is why Misty is Amazing.

Baby Boys

I made up some onesies and burp cloths for two of my friend's baby boys. Everyone I know is having a boy right now.

This scooter was cut out of some baby flannel I had.

When I make these onesies I use a double stick fusible web to attach the fabric. To secure the fabric I hand stitched around the design. I was worried about the inside stitching and knots being too rough on the newborn's skin so I covered it up by attaching a white piece of fabric using the fusible webbing.

Above is the inside of the onesie, showing off my messy stitching. Below is showing it covered up with the white piece of fabric to protect the baby's skin. (Do you like how huge these pictures are? Oh well.)

In my opinion (and my husband's) cloth diapers are by far the BEST burp cloths. They are absorbent, soft and have minimal runoff. I dressed some up with a strip of baby flannel.

Reversible Baby Hat

In December I checked Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby from my local library. Due to the busy Christmas season I didn't get the time I wanted with the book but asked Santa for my very own copy. Lucky for me I got two sewing books Simple Sewing for Baby and InStitches by Amy Butler.

Nothing in Simple Sewing for Baby is super unique or hard. They are just a bunch of simple projects for baby. This book is for someone like me who is just getting into sewing and likes to have a pattern, even for small projects.

This Baby hat was the first thing to catch my eye, where I thought, "I have to make one of those." I made one and was so happy about how fast and easy it was that I made another. One side is a cute pink flannel and the other is a cream fleece material.

4 Giveaways down, 1 to Go. It has almost been an entire year. yikes!

P.S. If you are one of my friends and are wondering why you didn't get a Christmas gift (mentioned here) this year. It is because I ran out of time, got too stressed and am saving all my grand plans for next year. So sorry, no presents this year, except that I survived Christmas, that should be present enough (maybe).

Lily's Kitchen

Last Summer we picked up this Pottery Barn Kids Kitchen at DownEast Home. It needed a little bit of love so it sat in Lily's closet for the last couple of months as a shoe/ toy rack. For Christmas, Santa's elves fixed it up. Justin did all the handy work and I did all the sewing.

Before: No Doors, Loose Knobs, No Curtains, No Accessories

After: Fold down oven door, Cabinet Door, Curtains, Hot Pads, Pots and Pans (Ikea) and tight knobs.

Smoother Transition

In the LDS church when kids turn 18 months they go to Nursery (a room full of toys, lesson, and snack) during the last two hours of church. When kids are 3 on the New Year they go to Primary (for kids 3-11). My son, Tanner, started Primary this past Sunday. I figured that this would be a hard transition. You know, one week you go to a room full of toys the next you are expected to sit quietly and participate (Don't get me wrong Primary is fun).

To help him get excited we told him how now he is a big boy and got him his own scripture case and hardback Book of Mormon. Tanner was so proud of his new scriptures and I think it helped make him feel like he belonged in Primary.

Disclaimer: I know this is a simple thing but I wanted to share our little family tradition here.

Let it Snow!

... in San Diego.

Christmas is not the same without snow. Even my 3 year old keeps saying, "It is not Christmas because it is not snowing." We are in trouble tomorrow when it doesn't really snow. Hopefully he will be distracted by what Santa brings him.It has taken me the whole month to make these snowflake. Not that they are that complicated, just a lack of time and fear of getting glitter out with 2 small kids. But I love them. It is all Martha. I used cereal boxes for the cardboard (they are flimsier than I would like but easier to cut). I painted them white before I added the glitter. I painted them with Elmer's glue to hold on the glitter. And my whole house now sparkles with glitter. It is EVERYWHERE!

Merry Christmas Eve

I made these a couple of weeks ago at a Church Fabulous Friday. The people in charge ordered the vinyl and provided the boards. All I had to do was paint the wood and put the vinyl on. This was my first time using vinyl and I loved it. I will definitely use vinyl again. I put these in the kids room and I love that I don't have to worry about them getting ruined.

Homemade Oreo Cookies with a Peppermint Twist

Every time I make cookies for an event I make Homemade Oreos. Not only are they fast to make but super delicious. And more importantly they have never let me down (meaning they turn out the same every time). I offered to bring the dessert to book group but then realized I should probably make some kind of Christmas dessert (because we read a Christmas book). Limited on time I decided to make a Christmas Oreo Cookie or Peppermint Oreo Cookie.

Cookie:

1 Devil's Food Cake mix

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

Mix, roll into small balls, and bake 350 degrees for 8 minutes or until they begin to crack. Frost with cream cheese frosting and top with another cookie. Crush candy canes and roll edge of cookie in crushed candy canes. (The frosting was not picking up the candy canes crumbs like I wanted so I ended up pushing the peppermint into the frosting.)

Frosting:

1-1.5 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

1-2 drops of Peppermint extract

In a bowl, beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar beating well until right consistency. I mixed in the peppermint extract last.

Chistmas Gifts

Do you need an idea for Christmas gifts this year? I did this one last year for some of my close friends. I got the idea from NieNie (It took me exactly five years to find that exact link. Geez, I must have read her whole blog last year after the accident. I had to catch up.) I used Lily's baby formula cans. They were perfect with gold lids (Costco). I wrapped the cans in some of my wrapping paper. I used Microsoft Word to make the labels for the top. I bought the plastic bags at Michael's to put the cookies in. Very inexpensive, but in my opinion cute.I can't wait to show you what I am doing this year. If I ever get them finished, or started. December is flying by too quick.

No Pattern Apron

A couple of weeks ago I dreamt up this apron in my head. I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like. I used my William Sonoma apron to estimate the measurements and went to work. I actually finished it in one day. Which is a miracle for me. It usually takes me weeks to do a project like this. There are a couple of things I might change for next time, but not too bad for not having a pattern.
My friend Kim was kind enough to be my model. When I tried it on me it looked all wrong with my baby bump hitting it in the wrong spot.