Coffee Cups And Crafts

WooHoo! A Check Just Came In The Mail!! :D

2012-01-05T16:28:00.000-08:00

Okay, Ladies. I am now a BIG Ebates fan!! I just got my first check in the mail from them!! I LOVE getting cash back for things I was going to purchase anyway!! I'm gushing, I know. But being a thrifty, coupon-clipping kinda gal, this was quite exciting. :D They just sent me money for buying return address labels through Vistaprint and dog collars and treats from Petco!

If you haven't signed up yet, I highly recommend that you check them out. They have thousands of online retailers and it's another small way to save around an extra 5%+ on purchases you would be making for your home and family anyway.

Let me know what you think!

My Own Little Spot In the Etsy World

2011-12-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

I finally did it! Coffee Cups And Crafts now officially has an Etsy shop! :D

I hope to add lots more in the future, but for now I'm making baby and toddler leggings.

Aren't my little nieces so cute modeling theirs?

Please check out the link HERE and let me know what you think.

While you're browsing, feel free to do a little holiday shopping for all those little girls on your list! Use the code BlogFollower to receive a 10% discount! :)

(Offer valid 12/6/11-12/13/11)

The "I Told You So" Shelf

2011-12-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

This project has been awhile in the making. I actually picked up this laminate board from the wet grass one morning while pacing the neighborhood trying to get my son (already a week late) to decide he'd actually like to come into this world. He's now over a year old.

Yeah. It took me that long.

(Beautiful, isn't it? LOL.)

Long story short, the rest of that walk my husband did his dead-level best to convince me to put that piece of wood down. It was wet. It was dirty. It was junk. It wasn't even "real" wood. I would never do anything with it. Etc. etc. his reasons went on and on. The remainder of that walk was exhausting and I'm not even talking about hauling around that week overdue baby boy on swollen ankles. Lol. I kept telling my husband about all the potential projects I saw and he wasn't buying it.

I've heard about this shelf more than once since that walk. I can't say that I blame my husband much. Afterall, it did take me more than a year to get around to this little project. Sometimes I'm just a slow mover. :)

However, a couple of weeks ago my husband and I were organizing a bit in our little guy's room trying to make some space for the little sister who will be arriving before we know it. We needed a spot for all the Baby Einstein CDs and that's when it came to me! A little white paint left over from this project, a quick trip to Lowes for the metal shelf holder "thingies" and, VOILA! The perfect little shelf for our son's room. :)

The best part of the whole thing....

My husband loves it and has commented on how perfect it is more than once. He's even gone so far as to tell me to keep my eye out for more scraps like that when I'm out and about. Now THAT makes for one sweet shelf! :)

Since I Was Away....

2011-12-04T16:51:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I haven't posted since September!! That is downright AWFUL!! How does one do all the things one wants?? Sigh. I really want to know. :) We've been crazy busy and will be even busier come March when our second little one comes along. We're super excited and super stressed. Lol. :) We have career changes, moves and another baby all scheduled to happen around the same timeframe. It's gonna be interesting to say the least. :) Now if I could just master the "duck technique" where I look calm, serene and totally in control while paddling like crazy beneath the surface. My "paddling" tends to show most days. :)

Here are a few things that have happened since I last posted (ages ago):

We FINALLY came home from Mammoth Lakes! WooHoo!! This gal was so happy to get back and plug in with her girlfriends. :) We were home for 24 hours and promptly left for Santa Monica for a little family outing.

Dan felt it imperative that he show our little guy his first arcade while we were there. :)

Before coming home, we went to the beach in Malibu and had lunch together at Neptune's Net, the little cafe from the movie Point Break.

Our little guy was totally fascinated by all the sand. :) Back to the ocean, sitting in one big sandbox.

About a week after getting home from this trip, we left for the east coast and went to Washington DC and Richmond, VA. Our little guy got to meet his cousin for the very first time....

I think it's safe to say he liked her. :)

Grandma flew to see us in California the same day that the little guy and I flew back home. We had two days to plan his birthday party. Instead of The Very Hungry Caterpillar theme I'd been planning for MONTHS, we went to Party City and picked out a theme and ready-made party. What's a girl to do when she's under the gun and has so little time?! Sigh. I now have a container up in the closet entitled "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." That will be our 2nd year birthday party apparently. :D

Here's the little birthday boy with Grandma.

With Mom and Dad

I think his impressions of his first birthday party can be summed up with this...

He liked the cake....

But he LOVED the girls. :)

In other news....

Our little guy experienced his first trip to a pumpkin patch,

was a Dalmation for Halloween

and joined Gymboree classes, which he LOVES.

That is just a little bit that has gone on since I last posted. I could ramble on and on, but I figure if I'd wanted to ramble that much, I should have blogged more. :) I'll do my best not to be such a stranger. I miss blogging and I miss reading blogs. Must try to stay awake after my little guys finally crashes at the end of the day to fit in these things. :)

Curried Chicken Salad

2011-09-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Yikes! I've been gone awhile. So sorry. Life gets busy at times. :)
Today I want to share one of my husband's all-time favorite recipes. He requests it all the time and has told me more than once that I can make it once a week if I want to. LOL. If you like curry and you eat chicken, you'll love this recipe.

Ingredients you'll need:

3 cups cooked and cubed chicken breasts

1 medium apple, finely chopped

1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted

2 T. golden raisins

2 T. dried cranberries

1/2 fat-free plain Greek yogurt

1/4 cup apricot preserves

2 T. curry powder

1 T. Dijon mustard

1/2 t. salt

1/4 to 1/2 t. pepper

lettuce leaves OR rice (whichever one you'd like to serve the curried salad on)

Directions and Ramblings:

In a small bowl, combine the first five ingredients.

(This particular day, I was getting lunch ready early and in stages around my little guy's play time, nap time, etc. I put the ingredients together, covered the container and stuck it in the fridge til later. I saved the apple to chop just shortly before I was ready for the final prep so that it wouldn't turn brown.)

While my little guy was sleeping, I pre-mixed the spices and set out the non-refrigerated items I would need.

After the little guy's nap and shortly before the bigger guys got home from their workout, I finally got around to mixing those first five ingredients. :) Everything happens in short increments these days. LOL. Any other moms out there relating to this?

Add the yogurt, preserves, curry mustard, salt and pepper; toss to coat.

Serve on lettuce leaves or rice.

One of these days, if I ever get to my own home again (sigh), I'm going to have to re-take all these final pictures so they look prettier. The rented condo dishes just aren't doing it for me. :)

Hope you like the recipe! It's so fast and easy to make and so, so tasty! This recipe serves 4. However, I normally double it because it makes awesome leftovers and my husband goes through it so fast. :)

Let me know how you like it if you try it!

Friday Feature: Naptime Crafters Does It Again! :)

2011-09-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness! Have you seen this little dream kitchen for a little girl over at Naptime Crafters??

You have to check out her post for all the details. This little kitchen even has running water!! This makes me kinda hope this baby-on-the-way is a girl just so we can do something like this! :) Of course...if my boys show an interest in being a little chef, we could always do a manly kitchen. :D

Hope you have a great Labor Day weekend! I'll be back on Monday. :D

A Beautiful Walk and The Day of the Mammoth Lakes Bears

2011-08-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

On Monday my little guy and I walked up at Lake Mary while my husband went for his run. We did a little over four miles and, while my little guy napped at least half of the way, I enjoyed the gorgeous scenery.

Part of the walk is really wooded.

There are a couple of little streams along the way.

Sign that made me smile.

Isn't the lake gorgeous?

Ironically, as I was walking along pushing the little guy in his stroller, I thought about the fact that this was probably the first spring or summer that I had been to Mammoth and NOT seen bears. There have been years where I've seen lots of them. This year, I hadn't seen a single one.

About 15 or 20 minutes later, a momma and two cubs crossed the street right in front of me. So what did I do?? I pulled out the camera, of course. :D

See the second cub lagging behind? :) The one right behind the momma was brown. The one lagging was black and was exploring and getting into EVERYTHING. It was so cute.

That same night around one in the morning, I heard a bear in the dumpster outside our condo. My pictures didn't turn out so well, but Brian (the runner we're sharing the condo with) went outside and got some great ones!

This bear was B-I-G.

It hit the jackpot too. He was at this for a good hour.

Check out the white markings on its chest. So pretty....from a distance.

This one is my favorite. It shows you how big this guy was.

I thought it was funny how the very day I'm musing about the fact that this is my first spring or summer trip out to Mammoth that I haven't seen any bears....I ended up seeing four. :)

Meet Courtney from Life These Days

2011-08-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to introduce you to my friend Courtney this morning. She and I met years ago when we were both foot-loose, fancy-free gals living on the east coast. We've both moved, married and started little families since that time. The wonderful thing about blogger is that you're able to still keep in touch with each other's lives.

I was so excited when she agreed to be Coffee Cups and Crafts very first guest blogger. She has an amazing tutorial to share with you this morning that I'm sure you're going to love! :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My name is Courtney & I stay home with my 2 year old son, Berkley and I work part-time for a ministry called Passport. I have a blog about Berkley, a blog of easy & quick recipes, and a blog about my own life (including any fun crafts I've run across)! All of my blogs can be accessed from my original blog.

One of my favorite crafts to make is a ribbon wreath, and I was thrilled when Cristan asked me to post a guest blog with instructions on how to make this simple, yet versatile craft!

Notes Before You Begin:

Buy more ribbon than you think you'll need. It takes a lot of ribbon. I'd say to plan on about 10-12 spools of ribbons (including at least 4-5 spools of the widest ribbon).

It's possible to do this by sewing, but since I can't sew, I use hot glue.

What You Need:

* Styrofoam wreath form (the larger the form, the more ribbon you'll need) I've discovered that I like a wreath form that is flat on the front versus a complete cylinder. It's just a bit easier to work with, but any type will work.

* One spool of wide ribbon for wrapping the wreath form

* 10+ spools of grosgrain ribbon for decorating

* Hot glue gun & lots of glue

* Scissors

* Ruler

* Pencil

Instructions:

Wrap the wreath form in wide ribbon. This doesn't have to look good since it will mostly be covered by the other ribbons. But, it makes for a good platform for the glue & ribbons and covers up any stray styrofoam.

I simply wrapped the ribbon and then secured it with a couple of pins at the end (I'm sure hot glue would work just as well.)

Cut ribbons into 4.5-5 inch strips. I measured the first few of each spool of ribbon and then eye-balled the rest. They definitely don't have to be exact.

Place a bit of hot glue on one end of each strip- leaving about 1/2 inch at the bottom. (I found that I could put glue across 3 or 4 strips and still have time to deal with them before the glue got cold.)

Fold each strip over onto itself, creating a loop of ribbon.

Do this with every spool of ribbon until you have piles of ribbon loops.

Now the fun begins! Spread open the bottom of each loop. Put a little glue on that part and stick it down on the wreath form!

I started with the wider ribbons and made my way around the wreath. That way, I could fill in later with smaller ribbons.

On the inside and outside of the wreath forms, just glue down the loops along the sides.

If you look closely you can see that I glued the bulk of the ribbon facing in one direction.

Then I added some more of the smaller ribbons going all different directions. And I also glued some of the smaller ribbons on the inside and outside of the wreath. I've discovered that the more ribbon I used, the better the wreath looks.

I made the above wreath for a baby shower, and the wreath below for my son's 2nd birthday. I plan on making these for all major events/holidays in corresponding colors!

So, pick a few colors you like, buy a bunch of ribbon and have fun crafting!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are those wreaths not AMAZING!!!

Thanks so much, Courtney, for sharing this tutorial. I want to make a jillion of these! :D

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

2011-08-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

I got a text message from my cousin in Texas yesterday saying that she had tried the Curried Egg Salad with homemade wheat bread (YUM) and that she and her husband had loved it! It's one of my husband's favorites as well. He's told me in the past, "Honey, you can make this one once a week." :D

I love sharing recipes with friends and family. It's one of those little things that helps to span the miles when you live so far apart. :)

I made the following enchiladas for the guys this past week and thought they were pretty good. However, my husband let it be known that these are NOT his favorite. (Yes. He's shy like that. :) He prefers the sour cream enchiladas that I normally make for him. These have a cream cheese base and he wasn't a fan. You'll have to try them out and let me know what you think. My husband feels very strongly that cream cheese does not equal Mexican food. :) So, while I thought they were pretty tasty, this recipe is not going to make it into the "Husband Approved" category. :D

For those of you still willing to experiment on your own friends or family, THIS IS A GREAT MAKE AHEAD AND FREEZE FOR THE FUTURE RECIPE! (Who doesn't need some of those?! :)

You'll need the following ingredients:

2 T. butter

1 sliced onion

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded

2 T. diced green chilies

3 ounces diced cream cheese

salt to taste

1 c. (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack

3 T. vegetable oil

4 large flour tortillas

1/2 c. whipping cream

SERVES:4

(You'll notice in the pictures that I doubled the above ingredients. I'm cooking for two hungry runners and a pregnant gal. We can eat in this house!)

Directions:

Melt butter in a large skillet over low heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent.

Remove skillet from heat and add the chicken, chilies and cream cheese. Mix lightly and add salt to taste.

(NOTE: If you're making this ahead, put in a 1-quart freezer bag, label and freeze. Put the Monterey Jack cheese in a sandwich bag and tape to the front of the larger bag. To serve, thaw the filling and Jack cheese and continue on with the remainder of this recipe.)

Heat the oil in the skillet. Dip the tortillas one at a time into the oil and fry for several seconds until they begin to blister and become limp. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Spoon about 1/3 cup of the filling down the center of each tortilla.

Roll and set, seam side down, in a 13x9-inch baking dish that has been greased.

Moisten by pouring the whipping cream over the enchiladas.

Sprinkle with the cheese.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

YUM!

(Well, at least I thought so. :)

Linking up to some of these great parties.

This Week's Little Lonely Post :)

2011-08-26T14:18:00.000-07:00

I can't believe this entire week has gone by and I haven't posted a single thing. So sorry for being a slacker but I promise I've been keeping very busy with my little guy. We've been reading, singing, learning to put the right shape in the corresponding hole in his little wooden toy, rolling the ball back and forth and wherever else it might go, etc. etc. etc.

He's stood without holding on to anything a couple of times now. The first time he stood for about 20 seconds and then started clapping for himself. It was too cute for words. Today after a very short 30 minute nap, the little guy joined me in the kitchen to "help me" finish getting lunch together. His help includes holding on to my leg and hollering or opening every cupboard and drawer available. I was in the midst of whipping up a yummy chicken curry salad (I'll share the recipe next week) when I realized he was not holding on to my leg anymore and I hadn't felt him slide down to sit. I turned to find him balancing in the middle of the kitchen floor! My little guy is growing up. (I don't know whether I want to smile or tear up after that last sentence.)

Moving on....

Both my boys and my two little furbabies are sound asleep and now is my chance to get in a little blogging. :) A moment ago I heard thunder in the distance. The wind blowing through the open window is carrying the smell of rain. That is one of my all-time favorite smells. Everything seems very peaceful and I'm feeling quite content at the moment. :)

Today marks 12 weeks pregnant with our second little one! I can hardly believe it! After a scare early on, things have been going really well. I would post a picture, but I'm about twice the size I was at this stage of my first pregnancy, so I think I'll refrain. :) We're praying for a healthy and happy little one to be a friend and sibling for our little guy. Our little family is growing. We were just slow starters, but we're making up for lost time now! :D

I'll do my best to be a better blogger next week. In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend and squeeze in some time for a nice cup of coffee. :)

Blogger Woes

2011-08-20T16:58:00.000-07:00

Google apparently hates me lately. Yesterday morning I noticed that my "Follow Me" button was missing along with all my followers. When I visited other blogs, I couldn't follow them or view their "Follow Me" button. I reported all this to the blogger "help." Last evening my followers were back and my background was missing. Now BOTH have disappeared. Sigh. Please bare with me as I try to work out the kinks. I've already tried to reload the background several times as I realize the text is difficult to read at present. Know I'm working on the problem.

I'm hoping to wake up in the morning and find that my little blog has miraculously righted itself. :)

Has anyone else experienced this type of problem with their blog or is it personal? :)

Hope your weekend is off to a great start and you're experiencing none of the technical difficulties afore mentioned.

I Think I'm In Love....

2011-08-19T05:48:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness!! I ADORE this chevron ruffle pillow by Crazy Wonderful! How gorgeous is this?!! The best part is she gives a tutorial so that we can try to make one too!! This pillow just satisfies deep inner longings, doesn't it? :)

Lil Luna shares how to make this "Count Your Blessings" board. She even did hers in my all-time favorite colors. :)

Another feature that will make you happy just looking at it is this adorable craft space by Craft-O-Maniac. You have to check out her post for a closer look at all the bright and happy cuteness. I know I'm gushing today. It's just my mood. :)

These are just a couple of things I've come across this past week that made me smile and inspired me. Hope they've put a smile on your face as well! :D

Happy Friday! Enjoy your weekend and Count Your Blessings!

My Little Helper and Toasted Almond Chicken

2011-08-18T05:54:00.000-07:00

I love motherhood. Granted, I think it's by far the most exhausted I've ever been, but oh my goodness! The rewards are beyond measure. My little guy is my constant companion. He's cracking me up right now as he crawls all over the place with one of his daddy's powerbars in each fist. He's been looking quite proud of himself ever since he snatched them out of his dad's bag. :)

Below are a couple of pics of me and my little helper.

Walking the dogs...

Vacuuming the floors...

(for those of you new to this blog, we are up in Mammoth Lakes, CA in a rented condo for a couple of months. Please do NOT think this is my decor, etc. LOL :)

Making the recipe I'm about to share with you....

I consider this Southern Living recipe one of my favorite comfort foods. I've changed it up a bit over time. The guys like it and the leftovers always go fast. As I've mentioned before, this family likes rice. Have you seen the size bag we buy?? This is another dish that I serve over rice. You can also serve it over toast points if you prefer.

This recipe takes about 45 minutes to make and serves about six.

You will need the following ingredients:

6 skinned and boned chicken breast halves

1/8 t. salt

1/8 t. pepper

3 T. butter, divided

3 cups whipping cream

4 T. orange marmalade

2 T. Dijon mustard

1/4 t. ground red pepper

1 (2.25-ounce) pkg. sliced almonds, toasted

Kind of a different combination, huh?

About 20 minutes before dinner I start my rice.

The original recipe calls for you to flatten your chicken breasts to a 1/4 inch thickness. However, my family prefers to have it in pieces in the size pictured below. Either way works.

Sprinkle your chicken with salt and pepper.

Melt 1 1/2 T. butter in a large skillet over a medium-high heat.

Add half your chicken and cook on each side until golden.

Sadly, I got my chicken a little too golden the evening my little helper and I made this. :)

Remove chicken from skillet. Repeat procedure with remaining butter and chicken.

Reduce your heat to medium; add whipping cream and next three ingredients to skillet, stirring well.

Add chicken; sprinkle with almonds, and cook until sauce thickens.

Serve over rice. :)

Note: If this is a bit too fattening for your taste, the original recipe calls for only 1/2 of the sauce that I listed. However, my husband and I found it to be rather dry that way and we like having extra sauce to spoon over the rice. :)

Linking up to some of these great parties!

Upcycled Jars=Birthday Happy For a Friend

2011-08-16T05:44:00.000-07:00

Shortly before returning to Mammoth Lakes I got to celebrate a sweet friend's 30th birthday. I had some jars at home that I had removed the labels from, washed and saved for "something." I did a little sleuthing and, with the help of my friend's husband, found out some of her favorite candies.

A little ribbon, a little hot glue, some scrapbook paper and mod podge and I had some fun little gift jars of candy to tuck in with a few other "birthday happies."

Starbursts, Skittles and Peanut Butter Cups. YUM! :D

I apologize for the horrible quality of these pictures. My husband was in Brazil at the time and he had taken our only camera. I took these using the camera on my computer. However, you get the general idea of how they turned out. :)

(I realize this is an exceptionally bad photo, but I was trying to get my son to his Gammy and get out the door for the party. I did, however, want to try to show you the scrapbook paper mod podged to the top. :)

Here's the birthday girl...

and the whole crew...

Girlfriends are such a blessing! :) I can't wait to get back home and see these gals in person. :)

Linking up to some of these great parties.

Maple Sausage Skillet

2011-08-15T05:10:00.000-07:00

I made this recipe this past week for the boys. Even my little guy loved trying bits of it. The original recipe is from Taste of Home, however, I've changed it up a bit to fit my family's ~~pickiness~~ culinary preferences. I'll make a note at the end in case you want the original ingredients.

Here's what you'll need (though the amounts are vague because I change it up every time I make it, depending on what's in the fridge):

1 lb. fully cooked Kielbasa or Polish sausage, sliced
1 t. canola oil
1 medium green pepper, thinly sliced
2 medium red peppers, thinly sliced
1 red onion, halved and sliced
2 or 3 celery ribs, sliced
sliced carrots
maple syrup
black pepper

and.....hot cooked rice.
Ummm.....we really like rice in this family. I think our bag of rice is bigger than our child at present. :)

I chop all my veggies.

In a large skillet, cook sausage in oil for 3-4 minutes or until lightly browned.

Add vegetables; stir-fry 3-4 minutes longer or until crisp-tender.
(It's been a little tricky here in Mammoth, I miss my stir-fry skillet from home. The veggies were overflowing the skillet.)

Stir in the syrup and pepper.

Heat through.

Serve with rice.

The original recipe calls for just 1/2 lb. of sausage, 1 t. canola oil, 1 med. green pepper, 1 small onion, 1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms (my husband won't eat those:( sigh), 1 celery rib, 2 T. maple syrup (I ALWAYS use more than that :), 1/4 t. pepper.

BON APPETITE!

Linking up to some of my favorite link parties.

Check Out This Giveaway!

2011-08-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

Christina over at Christina's Adventures is hosting a fun giveaway spotlighting an etsy shop with such cute and affordable jewelry, you won't be able to resist shopping! I couldn't. I just purchased these from Simple Serendipity...

Aren't they just so cute! Nothing in her shop is over $5.00!! Can we say, "Time to stock up on stocking stuffers??" :D You can check out Christina's giveaway HERE.

Hope you're all having a great weekend. Be sure to check back tomorrow for a favorite family recipe that is so easy and almost all the way healthy. :D

All Things Coffee

2011-08-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

Due to the fact that it is Feature Friday and in honor of all things coffee, I thought I'd share some etsy love and show you a few things that have caught my coffee lovin' eye.

This particular little number by Doodling A Smile could be my life's motto at the moment...especially in blog land. :)

Check out this adorable "Know Your Coffees" print from the etsy shop Blimp Cat.

For the paper lovin' folks in the house, here are some of my favorite tags that I've come across. I adore these coffee-stained tags by September Faire.

I thought these coffee-stained tags by Zero Names Left were cute as well.

I found this simple stamp by NoraJane that I now think I probably need. Sigh.

You'll know when I get it. I'll be using it on every note, letter and gift card. :D

I love the smell of coffee. I love the taste of coffee (except perhaps when pregnant). What could be better than BATHING in coffee?? :D I ask you?
Check out this coffee scrub by Wicked Scentuals.

and this coffee body butter by Whitney's Lotions and Potions.

This "Good Morning Handsome" coffee spoon by Sycamore Hill would make a great gift for your coffee-lovin' sweetheart. I may have to purchase this one for my man. Afterall, he did bring me roses on Monday. :)

For me personally, I'd choose a coffee spoon that said, "No Coffee, No Workee." That could be another life motto for me. :D

If anyone in my family is needing a gift idea for me....

hint.hint.hint.

I'm just sayin'.... :D

Hope you all have enjoyed these fun little etsy finds as much as I have. :) Any other coffee kindred spirits in the house?

So I Have A Little Announcement To Make... :D

2011-08-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

It looks like our little guy is going to be a big brother! :D

I'm still a little bit in shock, but oh so excited at the same time. Our little guy and the newest little addition will be just 14 months apart. I told my husband that we'll just be very happy, very exhausted people for the next several years and then we'll be golden. :) It would probably be a bit easier if I were about 10 years younger (LOL), but I'm so incredibly happy that after such a long journey to have just one child, we're suddenly blessed with the expectation of a second. :) We had an ultrasound this morning and it was so incredible to see the baby (the size of a peanut right now) waving it's little arm and leg buds around like crazy. The doctor was cracking up because the little thing wasn't gonna sit still for anything.

Now you know the secondary reason for my sporadic blogging. I have been SO INCREDIBLY TIRED, like almost unable to hold my eyes open kind of tired. I didn't really have that with the first pregnancy, but I wasn't chasing around a 10 month old then either. :) He's keeping me so busy that by the time he takes a nap, I fall asleep right along with him. :) The condo up here in Mammoth isn't all that clean right now and the meals aren't all that gourmet. I'm just trying to keep my head above water and stay awake most days. :)

I'm going to try to start blogging on my fitness blog again this coming week so that I can try to stay active and accountable through this pregnancy. I'll be starting my little walking program. Please feel free to come over and join me there as well. :) I need all the company I can get in that arena. We're up in Mammoth Lakes and it's hard for me to be away from my girlfriends. As busy as I am here, it's also lonely. I'm looking forward to going home for a couple of weeks in October as well as heading to the east coast to visit my sister and new little niece!

Aren't they just so cute!

If any of you wonderfully creative women would be interested in doing a guest blog, please contact me with the project or recipe you'd like to share. I'd love to feature some of you while I'm away from home and most of my supplies, etc. Blogging is about community, right? :) Heaven knows I'm missing that up here. :)

Just wanted to share our exciting news with you. I couldn't hold it in any longer. :)

Hope you're all having a great Thursday!

Curried Egg Salad

2011-08-09T05:20:00.000-07:00

I am usually NOT an egg salad fan. As a matter of fact, it wasn't until the last year or so that I would even eat eggs unless they were baked into something yummy. However, I love curry and so does my husband. One winter when we were up in Mammoth Lakes and the snow was piling higher than I cared to venture out in, I was desperate for a recipe that I could throw together quickly for my husband and his coach and not have to get out in the weather for ingredients. I found a recipe for curried egg salad and thought I'd give it a whirl. Turns out it was so tasty that it even made its way into my little recipe book that I talk about here.

If you like curry and even just kinda like eggs, you're gonna love this. This recipe is so simple and one of our very favorites for a quick lunch or light dinner. I like to double the recipe so that we have leftovers. After the flavors have gelled, this is almost even better the next day and my husband always cleans it out in short order. Here's what you'll need:

1/2 c. mayo

1/2 t. honey

1/2 t. ground curry

Dash ground ginger

6 hard-cooked eggs, coarsely chopped

3 green onions, chopped

6 slices whole wheat bread

sliced tomato (optional)

In a bowl, blend mayonnaise, honey, curry and ginger.

Stir in eggs and green onions.

(Let me insert my favorite way to hard-cook eggs, just in case you're like me and were always peeling away half the egg along with the shell. I start timing the eggs for 10 minutes after the water reaches a boil. After they've boiled for a good 10 minutes, I turn off the burner and cover the eggs with a lid to sit for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, I pour the water out and immediately fill the pan with very cold water. After the eggs are completely cool, I drain the water and shake the pan around to crack the shells. The eggshells then peel away without any problems and I actually have presentable eggs. It doesn't really matter with this recipe, but it's nice for deviled eggs, Southwest Cobb Salad, etc. )

Okay, back to today's recipe. :)

Here's my messy bowl after I've finished mixing. I wish I'd made it pretty for you guys, but this is real and it's my quick, gotta have something on the table within 30 minutes, recipe. :)

My favorite way to serve this is on toasted bread with sliced tomatoes and grapes as a side dish.

So Yummy!

If you try it, let me know what you think. :)

Check out some of my favorite blog parties!

Black and White Monday

2011-08-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

Hello, Faithful Friends! :) Happy Monday to you! My little guy and I are up in Mammoth Lakes, CA

(again) and going just a little nuts. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful here. The mountains, the lakes... it's all breathtaking. But I'm a city girl. I like the mountains for a week or two. But several months and I'm going bonkers.

Lately, I'm a really homesick city girl. I'm not talking homesick for our home in SoCal. I'm not talking homesick for our home in Oregon. Sigh. I'm talking, this Southern gal is MAJORLY homesick for her FAMILY and for TEXAS. I'm so ready to go home to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and put down roots near my sweet grandmother and my sister and my awesome extended family. Something about having my little guy makes me want to go home and raise him where I'm the happiest and where he can get to know his cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. If I had my way, I'd be buying a house in Frisco about right now. I don't even care that they've had over 30 days straight of weather over 100 degrees. It'd be worth just being around my folks. :)

I know I'm rambling and even whining just a bit...but a girl has got to vent every now and then. Thanks for putting up with me. :) But enough of that. On to today's little blog post.

This morning my little guy woke up way before the sun came up. So... in an effort to get out of the house and do something relatively fun, I packed him up, pjs and all and he and I went out for a little breakfast date. I wish I'd taken the camera with me. He had his first bits of pancake with the tiniest smidge of syrup and he was lovin' it. Folks in the booth nearby were crackin' up. His hands started waving and his feet started kicking and his smile was a mile-wide. Apparently he likes that a bit more than the standard carrots and peas he's been accustomed to. It was too cute. :D Totally made me smile.

After breakfast we made a productive early morning trip to the grocery store and then it was back to the condo (sigh) where he's currently taking a nap - giving me a chance to peruse some favorite blogs and even discover a couple of new ones. I know it's not Friday, but I'm doing some features anyway. There were several projects and posts that stood out to me this morning and, when I realized they were all black and white, I figured it was a sign and I had to blog about them. :)

Random Picture: Here I am with the little guy I'm head over heels in love with. I can't even believe he'll be 10 months this week! The time is flying. He's crawling all over the place, pulling himself up on any and everything, stable or otherwise, and keeping me incredibly busy. Thus the sporadic blogging. :)

Check out this adorable owl art over at Till Death Do Us Part. I so want to do these! I need more rooms in my house to decorate! :D

Meg over at A Little Knick Knack made these Easy Envelope Pillows. It was one of the first blogs I checked out this morning and the beginning of the black and white theme for the day. :) Thanks, Meg, for sharing. It almost makes me willing to brave the Ikea craziness to try to find this cute fabric! :D

These adorable First Day of School Survival Kits were made over at Sassy Sites for just under $1 apiece! That's hard to beat! Such a cute and thoughtful way to start the school year.

This is my newest blog discovery. I'm looking forward to exploring it more. Randee over at How About Them Apples looks like a kindred teacher spirit. She's currently teaching kindergarten (brave soul) and is celebrating reaching over 100 followers by hosting this adorable giveaway! Be sure to check it out. It runs through the 12th of August and would make such a cute gift for your favorite teacher or for yourself. :)

Hope your week is off to a great start. My little man is now enjoying a snack of grapes cut into tiny pieces, graham crackers, vanilla yogurt and rice cereal. Fun times. My husband walked in a moment ago with a dozen beautiful roses. Such a surprise!! He must have known his wife needed a pick-me-up today. :D I don't even remember the last time he brought me roses. His timing today was perfect. :)

Thank you, Honey.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

2011-07-05T15:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my girlfriend Susan for sharing this recipe with me. It has become one of our family favorites and is always a hit with guests. I took the following pictures when I made this dish at Easter and had meant to publish it then. Sigh. Well, better late than never, right? Just pretend that my little memo board reads, "Happy July 4th!" :D I did, afterall, make it this past week for the holiday per my husband's special request. :)

You will need the following ingredients:

2 cups crushed pretzels

3/4 cup butter, melted

3 T. white sugar

1 (8 ounce) pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

2 (3 ounce) pkgs. strawberry flavored gelatin

2 cups boiling water

2 (10 ounce) pkgs. frozen strawberries

~Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Stir together crushed pretzels, melted butter and 3 T. sugar.

Mix well and press mixture into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Bake 8-10 minutes until set. Set aside and cool.

In a large mixing bowl cream together cream cheese and 1 cup sugar. If you forget to soften your cream cheese (as I did in this particular instance) and you're lucky enough to have a sunny day *~~sigh~~* you can try this desperate strategy.

Fold in the whipped topping and spread the mixture onto your cooled crust.

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir in still frozen strawberries.

*Sidenote* Learn from my mistakes. Add the dissolved gelatin to the frozen strawberries and not the other way around. Yes. Yes, I did.

When mixture is about the consistency of eggwhites, pour and spread over the cream cheese layer. Refrigerate until set.

Again, pretend the memo board reads, "Happy 4th!" Sometimes the pictures and the post get a bit separated. :)

Friday Features

2011-07-01T05:23:00.000-07:00

In honor of July 4th weekend, here are a few of my favorite patriotic projects and decor I've come across this week. I was so absorbed in looking at all the wonderful blogs that I TOTALLY DID NOT hear the kitchen timer go off indicating that the cookies were done. I TOTALLY DID NOT smell the burning going on just a few feet away and I TOTALLY FORGOT that I was even in the middle of baking anything. It wasn't until my husband came in from the other room to inspect the smell that I was jerked out of my happy exploring. I'm telling you, I burned those babies BLACK!

Anyway, due to my little absent-minded mishap, I'll be a little thinner than I would have been and you'll have a few more cute patriotic projects and new blogs to peruse. :D

Check out this Burlap and Denim Ruffled Patriotic Wreath by The Scrap Shoppe Blog. I think I have a wreath obsession, but I seriously think this is one of my all-time favorites.

I tend to love all things ruffly or burlap. You'll see the trend in today's features. I loved this USA Banner by 504 Main and she gives a great tutorial on how to make your own.

This Ruffle Pillow by This Little Project is sooo cute! Check out her blog for a great tutorial on this as well as adorable patriotic headbands for those of you who have little girls. :)

And for a fun and easy snack, check out the Patriotic Pretzels over at Bouffe e Bambini.

So cute and so simple. :)

Hope you all have a wonderful July 4th weekend! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Girlfriend Inspirations In Portland

2011-06-30T05:37:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, our family went out of town this past week. We used to live in Portland and it was good to go back and see family and friends while we were there.

I had brunch with a couple of girlfriends one morning and we had so much fun! We all used to teach 2nd grade together and I have missed these girls so much since moving away.

I don't miss the Portland weather, but certainly miss these Portland girlfriends! :)

My girlfriend Shauna was the hostess and she made everything so cute!

She had the most adorable straws I've ever seen. I can't remember exactly where she ordered hers from, but I did find them along with alot of other fun things over at The Sugar Diva.

My girlfriend Stephanie is the cutest pregnant girl ever. We were loving our sugar-rimmed glasses. It made our OJ taste oh-so fancy. :)

Check out this adorable play area Shauna and her husband put together for their little girl! The teacher in me is "all kinds of lovin' this!" :D My little guy loved the little mirror that was just his height.

I even got inspiration in the guest bathroom! I LOVED these pictures and knew immediately that I wanted to try to make some for my little guy. What great gifts these would make! Just a bit of wood, paint, mod podge and scrapbook paper and you can go to town! I think I know what I want to do for my nieces next year! :)

The nursery was adorable. Shauna had decorated quite a bit with Pottery Barn Kids as inspiration. Check out the butterflys. Don't they just make you happy? Shauna gave me two that she had leftover to use as a template. I can't wait to try it! If I still had a classroom, these would totally be going up on the walls every spring! :) She got the idea for the dollhouse shelving from PB Kids. She showed her husband the picture and he built it! I SO wish I had that kind of skill! The things you could do!

The PB Kids mobile was adorable. I took a picture so I could store it away for a future project. I really liked the simplicity of it. So perfect for a little girl's room.

I loved the different letters she used to spell out Emerson's name....

Let me know if you try any of these projects! Hope you've been as inspired by Shauna's place as much as I was! :)

Baked French Toast Casserole

2011-06-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

I was going to post this recipe this past weekend, but due to two different family emergencies, my husband and I had to make a quick and crazy trip out of town and we've just returned. (Sorry, Tori!) :( My husband's father had to have an unexpected surgery and his grandmother took a turn for the worse. We drove 750+ miles but were able to make it back in time for my husband to see his 93 year-old grandmother before she passed. We were able to take our little man up to the hospital to see his grandpa and make him smile. Lots of travel. Lots of stress. However, I'm so glad we got there when we did.

This past Easter, we celebrated the day with some wonderful friends.

My girlfriend Michelle made this french toast casserole and OH MY GOODNESS!! It is so good! I've lost track of how many times I've made this since Easter. It's a Paula Deen recipe, so you know it's good. Just plan a trip to the gym shortly before or after you make this one. :)

Okay...so enough rambling. Here's what you'll need. :)

1 loaf of French bread

8 large eggs

2 c. 1/2 & 1/2

1 c. milk

2 T. sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. nutmeg

dash of salt

*Praline Topping (recipe below)

*Praline Topping Ingredients and Directions*

1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter

1 c. packed light brown sugar

1 c. chopped pecans

2 T. light corn syrup

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

For praline topping: Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well.

Begin preparing the casserole by slicing your French bread into 1-inch slices. Arrange the slices in two rows in a buttered 9x13 baking dish. Be sure to overlap the slices.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, 1/2&1/2, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Beat with a rotary beater or whisk until well-blended, but don't make it too bubbly.

Pour mixture evenly over the bread slices. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread praline topping over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden.

Just a couple of side notes....

The original recipe calls for you to serve this dish with maple syrup. However, I think it is PLENTY sweet without.

I usually put all the ingredients for the praline topping into a bowl the night before and just cover with clear plastic wrap or a lid. I don't mix it until I'm ready to spread it over the casserole the next morning. It's nice to have it out and all ready to go when I get up though. :D

Place a cookie sheet covered with foil below your casserole while baking. Believe me! It's worth it. I've had to clean the oven several times because I failed to do this. :)

Try serving COLD slices with coffee at a brunch. My husband loves this dish cold. He says it tastes just like bread pudding.

I usually serve this dish with bacon. So yummy! :)

Paula Deen's French Toast Casserole = Sweet Treat for Hungry Runners - Just Don't Tell the Coach. :D

Hope you enjoy! If you try it, let me know what you think!

THANK YOU, MS. PAULA DEEN!!! :D

Check out these link parties!

So Much Cuteness!

2011-06-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been ages since I had the chance to sit and look at some of my all-time favorite blogs and explore some new ones. The other night the baby was sleeping and my husband was in the other room watching a movie with a friend. Perfect time for me to slip out and do what I love!

As I mentioned the other day, I have ZERO crafting supplies here with me in Mammoth. The nearest craft store is down in Bishop. I may have to make a trip pretty soon. However, between cooking, keeping up with my little guy, running errands and trying to fit in a little fitness, I'm content to take a brief project respite and look through the blogosphere to admire the many amazingly creative women and their projects. Here are a couple I've come across that I thought were so cute and are totally going in my, "Do This Someday" file. :)

Tales of a Trophy Wife (how cute is that title?) made this adorable pinwheel wreath. So perfect for summer and this coming July 4th!

Speaking of cute pinwheel decor, check out this adorable wall art Make It Perfect did for her kids' room! I HEART this project!

Make It Perfect recently used pinwheels to top birthday cupcakes as well. I may have to store this idea away for the future.

What an easy way to add color and even a little take-home toy for guests.

Love Sweet Love made this cute Qtip jar.

Qtips make me smile nowadays. They remind me of this picture of my little sisters who happen to be twins.

Don't they look like little matching Qtips? :) LOL.

Grey Luster Girl gives a great tutorial on how to make this thread holder. I love it and totally want to make one for my little craft corner!

So many cute projects, so few hours in a day......

The Blogging Dilemma

2011-06-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

So you probably thought I was dead. Sigh. I've been gone SINCE EASTER!! That's craziness! I'm working really hard to keep all my priorities in the right order and, as much as I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all things crafty and creative...It's number 4 on my priority list.

I decided back several months ago that the new order of things in my life would be this...

FAITH

FAMILY

FITNESS

FRIENDS

(Blogging falls under the "friends" category 'cause that's what I consider you :)

If the truth be told, I'm doing a really, really good job at only one of the top four priorities right now. Which one, you might ask...

Well, it's this one.

My little man is growing so fast, I don't want to miss a second. We're up in a condo in Mammoth Lakes, CA. How do you like that make-shift toy box? :) He ignored all the familiar toys and went right for the cardboard box. Awesome. :)

It's June here and we got snowed on the last days in May. It was our little man's first time to see the snow. Happy Summer.

The only way I'm getting some blogging in now is that my two little men are napping. :)

Mammoth Lakes mornings go something like this. :) My little guy watches Baby Einstein on mommy's laptop while I have a cup of coffee and try to gear up for a busy day. :)

My husband and a friend of ours are both up here to train at altitude. They're gearing up for the marathon olympic trials that will be taking place in Houston this coming January. My husband has had an incredible running career and I'm so proud of him. He's persevered through so many obstacles and injuries. This is his last big push as an athlete before we transition over to the coaching side of this sport. I'm up here taking care of our little man and cooking like a crazy woman. You try feeding two elite runners who are training like mad twice a day. These boys can eat! If you have easy, healthy and make-ahead meals in your kitchen arsenal, please do a girl a favor and share your recipes!! :D If I make 'em and the boys like 'em...I'll feature it here with your permission! :D

I won't have my crafting supplies up here until later this summer, so this blog may be leaning more toward the family news and family meals for the next month or so. My goal is just to show up here several times a week and keep in touch. :)

Please bear with me and my incredibly sporadic blogging. I WILL get more consistent....after my little man goes to school. :) My goal is to still fit in a run and a devotion today. It's 2:45pm and it's raining outside. Hmmm....what are the chances??? :D

What are your secrets for keeping life in balance? I'd love to hear from you. :)

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T09:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter From Our Family to Yours

Hope you have a wonderfully blessed day.

He is Risen!

Creamy Chicken Casserole aka "Chicken on the Ritz"

2011-04-21T05:59:00.000-07:00

This is one of my Southern Living recipes that we love. My husband has renamed this "Chicken on the Ritz." This is an EASY recipe. So fast to make and so yummy! All you need are 6 simple ingredients.

6 cups cooked, chopped chicken breasts

2 cans cream of chicken soup

8 ounces sour cream

2 T. poppy seeds

2 pkgs. buttery crackers (I use Ritz)

1/2 cup butter

Mix together the first four ingredients and spoon into a 9x13 baking dish . Crumble the crackers over the top and spoon the melted butter over the crackers. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

How easy is that? Perfect for a busy day when you really don't have time to "cook."

Check out these link parties! :)

Southwest Dressing and Cobb Salad

2011-04-20T05:05:00.000-07:00

Remember the dressing that I referenced here? It's a favorite in the house and I've got to start doubling this recipe because my husband goes through it so fast I can't keep up. We use it for not only this and other salads, but as a veggie dip as well. I got this dressing recipe from my Pampered Chef Casual Cooking Cookbook. Here's what you need...

1/4 cup milk

1/3 cup mayo

1/3 cup sour cream

1 T. lime juice

1 T. Southwestern Seasoning

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and voila!

For the cobb salad, I cook 3 or 4 chicken breasts seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper in a little bit of oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Chop romaine lettuce and keep in a separate bowl.

Here are the toppings for the salad:

Hard-boiled eggs

Avocado

Red Bell Pepper

Black Beans, rinsed and drained

Red onion wedges

Bacon

Cherry or Grape Tomatoes

Pretty Salad and Happy Husband :)

Check out these link parties!

Southwest Seasoning

2011-04-19T05:52:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite salad dressings (and my husband's VERY FAVORITE) is a Pampered Chef recipe that calls for their Southwest Seasoning. I didn't have their brand seasoning and I couldn't find it in my local store, so.... I turned to Google.

I tried this recipe and it was great. I've actually copied it into the recipe book that I travel with so that we won't be without it. :)

2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon dried oregano

Directions

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

As you can see, I'm starting to get a little low. Just about time to mix up a new batch!

Check out these link parties!

Let's Talk About Food!

2011-04-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd dedicate this week to a couple of my family's go-to recipes. These are some of my husband's favorites that tend to make regular appearances around here.

My husband runs for a living, so the man can eat! When his runner friends come and stay with us for a day or two, you wouldn't believe the amount of food they can go through. We had one get in yesterday actually. We'll be plowing through the fridge and the pantry in short order, I'll wager. :)

I've started copying down some of our favorite recipes into this nifty little notebook.

We travel ALOT - whether it be to races, training camps or to see family. This way, I have some of our favs on hand and don't have to travel to a two month training camp with ten of my cookbooks, etc. I can just grab this one and maybe one or two others that I want to try out.

We'll be heading to a training camp here in the near future and I'll be cooking up a storm for my husband and one other runner. That, along with taking care of our little dude and trying to fit in a little exercise for myself, is going to be keeping me pretty busy!

So get ready for a week of food! Some recipes are healthy (I'll post these to my fitness blog as well) and some, not so much (we'll NOT be posting those over there, :D LOL). Let me know if you try any of them out and tell me what you think!

Front Door and Porch - Before and After :)

2011-04-17T06:33:00.000-07:00

Well we finally did! I've been NOT lovin' my porch for quite some time. It was just so very.....

P-L-A-I-N

See what I mean?

We finally got our slow as molasses HOA people to approve our new paint color for the door and shutters. Yea!!

Then yesterday, we stopped by an awesome plant sale in Coronado (I DO love Coronado). Check out my smiling husband bringing it to the car...

And this is how we fit it into my little Honda mobil. :)

My little man thought it was hilarious.

He could see all the leaves in the mirror in front of him and seemed to think it was pretty funny.

We added this to the very empty corner of our porch...

and when it was all said and done, here's the finished product.

Much warmer and more welcoming, don't ya think?

Linking up to some of these great parties.

Because I'm A Coffee-Crazed Woman...

2011-04-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist sharing this post from Kassandra over at Coffee and Their Kisses.

Check out her project! So cute. :)

Consistency Wanna-Be

2011-04-15T21:36:00.000-07:00

I so want to blog everyday and share incredible projects that I've worked on while my sweet little man has been napping. The problem is, he doesn't really nap. I'm not kidding. This little dude can sleep 20 minutes twice a day and he's good. He's still waking up three to four times a night to have a little snack. This momma can't even remember what a full night of sleep feels like, much less two+ hours to call her very own. By the time he actually crashes in the evening, I'm doing good to get my kitchen cleaned up from dinner (oftenwhich was prepared while wearing him out front in the bijorn) and drag myself upstairs to maybe catch a snippet of news before falling asleep. I'm trying, ladies. :) Thank you for bearing with me. I have so many great projects swirling around in my head and piling up in my "to do" file. Just you wait til I can carve out a little time for myself and I'll be amazingly consistent. :)

For those who have just recently joined me, I'm so happy you're here! Thanks for sharing my little piece of the blogosphere. Please jump right in and let me here from you. Here are a couple of pictures of our life the last week or so...

Our little guy sitting in the grass for the very first time

Our baby and furbabies chillin' together

First time in the pool! :)

Lots of home life goin' on around here. I'm loving every minute of it. :)

This coming week I'm going to share the story and the recipe behind these two pictures...

Lovely.

Leggings for the Birthday Girl

2011-04-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

My friend over at MonkeyMomma's Crafts now has a two year-old and she is downright adorable. For a little birthday "happy," I made a couple of pairs of leggings for her.

Here she is modeling one of them for you in an "action shot." :)

And here's a close-up...

I'm playing with the idea of someday opening an etsy shop and selling these. Do you think there would be much interest???? What do you think?

Linking up to some of these great parties.

LoveStitched Giveaway Winner

2011-04-08T21:35:00.000-07:00

The winner of the LoveStitched $5 Gift Certificate is:

Kristen said...

i'd get some of the little lou hair clips for my little girl!

April 2, 2011 12:55 PM

CONGRATULATIONS, Kristen! Please send me your email address so that your gift certificate can be emailed to you! Now you CAN get those hair clips. :D Enjoy!!

Thank you to all those who participated in the giveaway! I hope to have another one soon. :)

Notice that I DID finally figure out how to post the results correctly. I won't even tell you how long I've spent today trying to figure out what turned out to be a pretty simple and painless process. If you have a blog and are new to hosting giveaways (as I am), let me save you a TON of time....

Check out this helpful post over at Resourceful Mommy to find out how to post a picture of the random.org results.

And The Pendant Winner Is...

2011-04-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

Comment #3: Corrie

Congratulations! Please email me at: cristanleigh@gmail.com and let me know what ribbon color you would like (brown or cream).

Thanks to all of you who participated in the giveaway! I hope it's the first of many. :) I'm sorry I've been MIA from the blog this week. It's been unintentional and so, so busy. I promise to play catch up soon and fill you on on what's been going on here.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a $5 gift certificate at the LoveStitched etsy shop! The drawing is tomorrow. Good luck!

(I used the random number generator to choose a winner from the 11 eligible comments. However, I can't figure out how to post it to my blog without readers being able to change it and generate new numbers??? I would love some help if you know how to do that! :)

Friday Feature: LoveStitched and a Giveaway:)

2011-04-02T05:37:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't already discovered her, I wanted to introduce you to Brittany over at LoveStitched.

She has such a fun blog with lots of great and helpful tutorials. For example, I'm one of those gals who found this tutorial on how to hem jeans, quite useful!

Check out the adorable laundry room sign she shares how to make.

One of my personal favorites is this burlap pom Christmas ornament. So cute. Can't you just picture your tree covered in these?

Brittany also has an etsy shop that is one of my favorites and guess what?!?! She's been kind enough to offer a $5 giftcard to her shop for one lucky Coffee Cups and Crafts follower. Yea!! She's also offerring a 20% discount through April 8th that you're sure to want to take advantage of. Just use the code: lovely20 at checkout! You can check out the LoveStitched etsy shop here.

She has things like this beautiful Ashley Lynn mustard yellow and cream rosette bib necklace. I heart this necklace and have been eying it for some time now. My birthday is in December. hint. hint. hint. :)

Beautiful rosette hair pins...

Two of the headbands I've personally purchased are pictured below. How cute are they?! :)

I've also ordered these chrysanthemum necklaces and I wear them all the time! I get so many complements on them when I wear them. I think I need one in every color. :)

Here's the little guy and I about to leave to pick Grandma up from the airport last week. I'm modeling one of my LoveStitched necklaces. :)

So...you wanna win a giftcard to the LoveStitched etsy shop???

Here's how.

First Entry (mandatory): Become a public follower of CoffeeCupsAndCrafts and leave me a comment letting me know.

Second Entry: Head on over to the LoveStitched etsy shop and take a look around. Come back here and let me know what you would use your giftcard towards if you won.

Third Entry: Blog, facebook or tweet about this giveaway and come back and leave a comment letting me know you've shared the giveaway with your friends. One comment for each of those! :)

Fourth Entry: Buy anything from the LoveStitched etsy shop (don't forget to use your coupon code) and get 5 additional entries!! Just leave me 5 different comments letting me know what you purchased!

That adds up to 10 possible entries!!!!

Good Luck! The contest runs through Friday, April 8th and the winner will be announced Saturday!

What I've Really Been Up To

2011-03-31T09:12:00.000-07:00

This isn't a post about coffee....or cups...or crafts. I'm sneaking this one in because I wanted to share what I've really been up to this past week while my MIL was visiting.

I've been running. That's right, people. I've been running and I've been blogging. I'm trying so hard to get back into ~~my jeans~~ fitness. There have got to be lots more "mes" out there. Mid-30s, baby or two, busy schedules, etc. etc. I'm a great starter and oftentimes, an even greater stopper. This new blog is an effort to hijack my tendancy to stop after barely getting started. :) How can I possibly let myself stop if there are people out there who would know that I quit??? I'm trying to corner myself into doing a good job. Lol.

If you'd like to join me on my journey, or cheer me on so I get up the next day and do it again, or if you'd just like to see what I've been up to, check out My Run of the Mill Life right HERE.

I'd love some company! :)

Be sure to check back for a fun feature, discount and another giveaway coming tomorrow and don't forget to enter the giveaway for this pendant here.

The 10% discount over at Haley's etsy shop is good until April 3rd! Be sure to take advantage of it! You can get the details here.

55 Followers! Let's Celebrate!! :)

2011-03-30T20:41:00.000-07:00

I haven't meant to be so M.I.A. this week. I've had my mother-in-law here visiting and we've had a wonderful time. Here she is with the little guy in front of the Hotel del Coronado .

We had a great time and I love that he got to spend so much great time with his Grandma.

While I was MIA, my blog reached 50+ followers!!! Yea!! Thank you so much for your support. It's so motivating and I appreciate you so much. I think we should celebrate with a giveaway! How about a pendant like this on a brown or cream ribbon (your choice! :)

Pendants were one of my first projects on this little blog, so that seemed an appropriate celebratory prize.

(Check back Friday for a great feature and another fun prize!)

For one entry, leave a comment letting me know that you're a follower of this blog.

For a second entry, share my button on your blog (it's on the left :), and come back and let me know.

For a third entry, blog or facebook about this giveaway.

Leave a comment for each separate entry-that's 3 chances to win!! :D

This giveaway is available for U.S. shipping only.

Winner will be drawn by a random generator and announced next Thursday, April 7th! GOOD LUCK!!

Bits of Easter

2011-03-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

These are just a few pictures of some of the Easter decor here and there around the house. I love to get things for 75% off after the holidays are long over and then store them away for the following year. This girl loves a good deal!

Feature Friday: Haley Davis from The Autocrat & a DISCOUNT!!

2011-03-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite bloggers is Haley Davis over at The Autocrat. Maybe it's that she's another Texas girl, or maybe it's her sense of humor when she's blogging, or the fact that she's a dog person, or maybe it's all her

A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E projects!

It's probably a combination of it all, but I love reading her blog and seeing all the great things she comes up with. On her blog you'll find things like this way too cute bulletin board made from a ceiling tile.

Cute party decor and goodies - like these marshmellow pops

Gift bags that any gal would love, the cutest pin cushions ever....and so much more

Haley now has her own etsy shop that you really should check out.

GREAT NEWS: She's offering a 10% discount to any of my readers to use on any item in her shop!! Just use the code: COFFEE

This offer is good through April 3rd, so head on over and take a look!

In her shop, you'll find things like this fancy little camera strap

or these burp cloth gift sets that I love so much.

Haley makes the cutest banners. How cute is this Queen Bee banner! I'd do a birthday theme around this banner alone! :)

Check out Haley's etsy shop here.

Have a Happy Friday!

Year-Round Blocks * I LOVE 'EM!

2011-03-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

In one of my perusals of the blogoshpere, I came across this adorable blog and this post which in turn led me HERE to WhimsiKel. I knew as soon as I saw it that this was a "have to do it" project. This week I finally made a set.

Here's what you'll need to make one set:

10 wooden blocks (I had mine cut at Home Depot)

white paint

black vinyl letters, black cardstock and modpodge or black paint and letter stencils (3 options there)

distress ink (optional)

So here goes! On with the project!

I LOVE SoCal and the beautiful weather! I couldn't wait to get outside and be in the sun and it's only March! :) Life is good.

Check out my cute little helpers. No dull moments in this house, no sir.

I painted my blocks (took two coats to get the look I wanted) and then sanded the corners a bit to give them a worn look. I added distress ink to the edges. It's the first time I've used it and I really love the look it gives the blocks. I cut the letters using the cricut and then modpodged them to the blocks.

I followed the Lanier Creations directions and placed the letters on the blocks like so:

Block One: H Y E D

Block Two: A C R S

Block Three: R P E T

Block Four: V N L O

Block Five: E O M D

Block Six: S M K I

Block Seven: T F B W

Block Eight: U A G L

Block Nine: P J I H

Block Ten: F P S C

Here is the finished project....

all ten blocks

I accessorized a couple of blocks not currently being used.

What do you think?

Check out all the words you can make!!

America

Autumn

Blessed

Birthday

Bloom

Christ

Cuddle

Dance

Dream

Easter

Faith

Fairy

Fairies

Fall

Family

Father

Flag

Flakes

Flowers

Freedom

Friends

Fright

Frosty

Ghost

Glory

Happy

Harvest

Hearts

Home

Hope

Irish

Jesus

Jewels

Jolly

Leaf

Love

Lucky

Merry

Monster

Mother

Party

Pillow

Pool

Pumpkin

Santa

School

Smile

Snow

Spooky

Spring

Summer

Sun

Swim

Thanks

Treats

Turkey

Romance

Vampire

Welcome

Winter

Wishes

Wonder

If you make this project and discover new words, let me know! :)

Linking up to these fab parties! :)

Bottle Caps and Magnets

2011-03-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

One day while playing around with my pendants, I got an idea....

What if I put magnets on the back of the glass pendant so that you could pop it in and out of a bottle cap necklace??? My little sister is a teenager who is a great skater/rip-boarder. Maybe she'd like some funky little magnets she could pick from for the same necklace as a stocking stuffer?? So I gave it a whirl and then totally forgot to take pictures. :) My little sister lives overseas, so I skyped her this past week and asked her to take some pictures and send them to me.

She sent me pictures this morning and here they are:

A fun and easy way to switch out your jewelry!

Check out these link parties!

I FINALLY Did It! :)

2011-03-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

Look what was delivered to my front porch yesterday!!!!

I finally ordered the Cricut Expression and I can hardly wait to start on a jillion projects! I've wanted one for AGES!! My sweet husband is in a bit of shock right now because I NEVER spend that much money - especially on one item. However, not only did I get my Cricut Expression but I ordered NINE - count them - NINE- cartridges. WooHoo! Can we say projects galore!! :)

Last night my husband said, "Well, Honey, you are now in a very broke place."

My response: "Yes. But I have so much to keep me busy while I'm there."

Bunco Cuteness

2011-03-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

So last night I hosted a bunco party with about 12 girls. It was such a fun night. :) The other day when I borrowed my girlfriend Jackie's cricut, I cut out some letters and made this sign for the door. :D

The green ribbon was in honor of St. Patrick's Day. :)

My little man and I were both in green for the day.

Treats at every table. I know the tablecloth is waaaay wrinkled. I'm a tired new mom. Don't judge. :)

Green.

Time to play!

Friday Feature: Monkey Mommas Crafts and Giveaway!

2011-03-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend Jackie over at Monkey Mommas Crafts is celebrating reaching over 50 followers on her adorable blog with a giveaway!

Check out this cute tutu with a matching headband that she's giving away to one lucky follower!

Some of my favorite items in her etsy shop are below.

This cute little blueberry hat is probably one of my very favorites. I think I need it for my niece! :)

She makes these hats for kids and adults alike. One girlfriend had matching hats made for her and her daughter. So fun.

And how cute are these??

Head on over to Monkey Mommas Crafts and show her some blogger love and maybe even win the tutu! :) Be sure to let her know you're visiting from Coffee Cups and Crafts! :)

Fleur de Lis Coasters

2011-03-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

This project has been on my mental to-do list for ages and I'm proud to say that I've finally gotten started. Whew! It's about time! A while back (a loooong while back) I saw this post on Blueprint Crafts. I thought they were so cute.

You'll need a couple of things:

I recently borrowed a friend's cricut - I SOOO NEED ONE OF THOSE - and cut out some fleur de lis shapes. I'm a sucker for all things fleur de lis.

I used my handy-dandy mod podge to coat the tiles and adhere the fleur de lis.

I used my hard coat mod podge because I feel like last spring I read somewhere that it handles heat better?? This will be my experimental round.

I put felt on the four bottom corners to keep them from scratching up the furniture and I still need to coat the top of the coasters with a varnish (that I don't yet own), but here is how they're turning out so far.

I'm going to let them cure for a month and then see how they handle a hot coffee cup. :) I love them and think they'll make excellent little gifts for girlfriends and sisters! Can't you just picture a set of four, tied with a cute little ribbon and name tag? :D

Check out these link up parties!

A Rockin' Baby Shower and Diaper Wreath 2

2011-02-25T09:51:00.000-08:00

One of the girls in the neighborhood is having a girl next month. Several other girls and I all pitched in and threw her a baby shower last week. The theme was Rock n' Roll. Below are a couple of pictures.

I got this diaper wreath idea from my girlfriend Kristen. I blogged about it here. This was the first one I've made and I loved how it turned out! :)

I'm sharing it on a couple o LINK PARTIES! Check them out!

We set up a candy bar for guests to take treats home with them after the party.

One gal made a couple of banners. Didn't they turn out so cute! I think she should have her own etsy shop.

Lots of pink goin' on in here! A friend of the mom-to-be made this FABULOUS cake and another made the cupcakes. So cute.

Here's a closer look at both.

I ordered some iron-on appliques from a couple of etsy shops. The one that had a quality product and I would recommend to a friend was DIYAPPLIQUES. I put the appliques onto onesies and we hung them from the staircase using ribbon and zebra print clothespins.

We had an area on the gift table where guests could write little notes to the baby.

Here's the guest of honor. Hope she had an amazing morning and felt incredibly loved.

ADORABLE!!

2011-02-23T07:47:00.000-08:00

This morning, Dan took the baby for a few minutes after bringing me a hot cup of coffee - I do LOVE that man. I took the treasured time to do a bit of blog hopping and check out a couple of my all time favorites. I was NOT disappointed. For those of you who have a bit more time than me or have figured out how to craft and blog while taking care of a home, a husband and a baby...let me share with you some of the latest projects of some of my "craft idols." :)

Brown Paper Packages made these awesome sewn books! I SO want to make some!!!

I think I'm going to have to hire a babysitter once a week just to get my craft fix in. :D

Amy from The Idea Room made this AWESOME headboard and bedframe for her daughter's room!

These women never cease to amaze me. I LOVE their blogs. Now I just need more hours in a day with two hands free! :D One day my baby will have scheduled naptimes and then....craft room here I come!

Creamy Pumpkin Dip With Ginger Snaps

2010-11-16T05:07:00.000-08:00

This is one of my all-time favorite Southern Living fall recipes. I just made it night before last since we were hosting our church small group. It's so quick and easy to make and is perfect for entertaining.

You only need 5 ingredients and it makes plenty to share with friends and family for the holidays!

You will need the following:

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 (16-ounce) package powdered sugar, sifted

1 (16-ounce) can pumpkin

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Stir in pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Serve immediately, or cover and chill. Serve dip with gingersnaps.

ENJOY!

Life After Baby

2010-11-15T10:44:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been quite some time since I've done anything of a "craftsy" nature, but we do have a NEW ADDITION to our little family! Our son is 5 weeks old today and his dad and I couldn't be more thrilled or proud. I haven't yet figured out when to work on my little craft projects, etc. so my posts may be a bit sporadic for awhile. Please don't give up on me though! We'll be up and running with a routine soon enough!

Life after baby is awesome and busy and exhausting, but I wouldn't have it any other way. :) I can't wait to get to know our little man and watch him grow and explore and learn. It's hilarious the things that are becoming common-place around here. I get peed on, pooped on and spit up on daily and nothing really prepared me for the amount of laundry that comes with a baby! It's quite impressive the number of outfits this little guy can ruin in a single 24 hour period. I think our current record is six or seven. Glad to know he's getting plenty of milk. :)

Our little furbabies have adjusted fairly well considering the fact that their entire world changed in a day. Lexi has even snuggled up and napped with our little guy.

How sweet are these two?! :D

Hopefully, we'll be posting regularly in the not-to-distant future. I have lots of projects and recipes I'm looking forward to sharing soon!

Keeping Baby's Dressers Organized :)

2010-10-09T06:42:00.000-07:00

I have the baby clothes for our little guy divided into two little white dressers. With my husband, two grandmas, friends and aunts who will be coming and going once he arrives, not to mention my absent-minded pregnancy brain, I thought it would be helpful if I had a bit of a guide available for reference. The elementary school teacher in me likes the idea of keeping organized. :)

One of the dressers is located in the little guy's closet where the colors are bright blue and green. The other matches the room it's in. Wouldn't want you to think I was clashing THAT badly. :D

English Toffee, Anyone?

2010-10-08T05:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm going to warn you from the very beginning of this blog...this is one dangerous recipe! It is delicious!

A few weeks ago I got it in my head that I wanted to make English Toffee for the labor and delivery nurses and staff as well as the staff in postpartum. My mother-in-law sent me this recipe and, when she arrived in San Diego a week or so later, we sat to work making several batches. It was far yummier than I'd imagined and we had to make a few extra batches since there was no way I could make something this good and then not have any for friends and family and...well...me too. :D

With that said, here's the recipe. Try at your own risk. :)

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

2 sticks butter (must be butter)

5 T. water

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans (Note: I used far more :)

2 cups pecan halves

Hershey bars

Directions:

Grease a large sheet of foil with butter and arrange 2 cups of pecan halves in a circle on the buttered foil.

Cook the first three ingredients to the Hard Crack stage on a candy thermometer (302 degrees).

Pour over the pecan halves immediately.

Crumble the Hershey bars over the hot mixture.

After a few minutes, you can spread the chocolate to cover everything.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans on top.

Allow to cool and then break into pieces.

Now, four days past our due date, we have the gifts for the nurses and staff all ready to go. We're just waiting on baby. :)

Check out some awesome link parties here or on my sidebar!

Lamp Remodel

2010-10-07T09:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we're 4 days past our due date and into overtime waiting for this baby. While I've been waiting, I've been working on projects here and there. One of my projects was this lamp. I really hate this lamp...always have. It's one my husband had before we were married. We Craigs Listed it, along with the matching floor lamp, several years ago. To my chagrin, the people who responded only wanted the floor lamp and not the pair. So......

Here's my attempt at making it a little more my style.

One afternoon while blog hopping, I came across a cute little blog entitled On My Side of the Room. Kendra created an adorable little ribbon lamp which you can check out HERE. When I saw her post, I knew immediately what I wanted to do. I adapted her idea a bit to fit the supplies I already had.

Below are the "BEFORE" pictures of my "ugly lamp."

I went to the garage and dug out some fabric that I had used years ago for curtains in my little basement apartment in Richmond, VA. I LOVE it when I can recycle something that I've been holding on to for ages thinking, "I'll need this for something one day." :D Well, "one day" finally arrived for this fabric!

My mom (who is visiting and waiting for baby's arrival too) and I went to work tearing it into different width strips. I was going for a very shabby chic look. Pictured below are two of the many, many strips we tore.

All I did was tie the strips directly around the lampshade, having the bows fall in different spots. Some strips I just knotted on the back so I wouldn't end up with too many bows and have major overkill.

Below are the "AFTER" pictures.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I'm not sure if I'm finished or not. I still may want to do something with the base, but it's far more my style now than it was. :D YEA for recycled fabric/Richmond, VA curtains. :D

Here's a shot of the room it's in, just for kicks.

Now we're back to just waiting for baby. :D

Check out some awesome link-up parties here or on my sidebar. :)

Here and There Halloween Decor

2010-09-29T06:52:00.000-07:00

Once an elementary school teacher, always an elementary school teacher. I love holidays and I love decorating for them.

Just little bits of holiday around the house... :D

Ready for Baby*Ready for Fall! :D

2010-09-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

Well, we're in the last stretch before our baby boy arrives. Less than one week to go before my due date and I can hardly wait! While I'm waiting for our "little man" I've been nesting like a crazy woman. The other day my mother-in-law and I picked up some pumpkins at Trader Joes and now I feel like my porch says, "Fall."

Now we're just waiting for our little fall arrival. :)

Diaper Wreath

2010-09-27T16:27:00.000-07:00

Check out this ADORABLE diaper wreath one of my girlfriends made for me! I thought it was SO cute and creative! I'd never seen one of these before!

It's going to be so hard for me to ever dismantle it and actually use the diapers! It's just too cute. I'm thinking maybe I'll hang it on the door when our little man arrives??

Here's what it looks like on the door.

Cute, huh? :)

I'm DEFINITELY storing this idea away for future use. It would be just perfect for a baby shower and makes such a fun and unique gift.

Thanks, Kristen!! :D

I Highly Recommend....

2010-09-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Rocks In Your Guest Bathroom Sink! :D

I saw this in one of my girlfriend's guest bathrooms and thought it was awesome. Of course, she had this really cool bronze faucet that looks like an old-timey water spout. It was just perfect. However, these are still is dressing up my little sink a bit. I think it gives the room a bit more personality, don't you? I had never seen it before, but apparently others have. My friend and neighbor around the corner has some rocks in her guest bathroom sink as well!

I'm playing catch-up apparently. :)

A New Etsy Supply Shop Discovery!

2010-09-17T05:37:00.000-07:00

This summer I discovered a great little etsy shop with lots of fun goodies. I recently got a shipment from AR Creations and just look at all the wonderful things I have to "play with" now! :)

(You can always click on the pictures to make them larger.)

So many pretty and fun things! I've already used some of the supplies today to make a gift tag for a friend's baby gift. :)

The seller is a WONDERFUL communicator and responds quickly to any and all correspondence. As a matter of fact, I owe HER an email right now! :D Check out all the fun finds at Annie's shop HERE.

A Remodel for My Craftin' Corner

2010-09-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

The other day my husband and I were working to clean out a little more of our overly-crowded and cluttered garage. As we were going through one box, I found this.

Immediately I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do with it and what I wanted to use it for. It took a little convincing to get my husband to let me have it. ~~His mother~~ He had decorated in quite a bit of the Americana style before we got married. I like it, but it's not really how I decorate. So....after much conversation and an agreement that the flag would be saved, he let me loose! :)

He was TOTALLY wonderful and even did the spray painting for me since I'm still pregnant and still not supposed to do it myself. What a trooper! :) Thanks, Honey.

I don't have a picture of it, but I had gone to Lowe's earlier and gotten some thin sheet metal. However, they would not cut it for me there. :( I thought they did everything, but apparently, they don't do this. Sooooo......

I went and purchased my very own pair of these.

I think they're called tin cutters. I don't really remember. My husband says it's usually the man who always hears his spouse complaining about the "buying of tools." In this family, it's turning the other way around. I told him that I only wished they could have been pink and black. Then I really would have loved them. :)

They worked "ok." They weren't the easiest things to use. However, they did the job and cut the sheet metal to the size I needed.

Here is the finished product.

I LOVE IT!! It's exactly how I wanted it to turn out. It's the perfect place to hang pendants that I'm working on, store supplies and keep the bottle cap magnets, etc. :D

Another "Southern Living at Home" purchase from the past.....

now being used to shelve some of my craft supplies.

A $25 shelf from Walmart and one of my favorite signs I already had were just perfect for the space and....

VOILA!

my very own little crafting corner!

I'm just thrilled to pieces! :D I still have some work to do, but it's a start! What do you think?

Check out THESE link parties!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake Success!

2010-09-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE "Southern Living at Home" decor. The company has now been renamed "Willow House", but I've been an addict for many years. I love beautiful dishes and I love to entertain, so it was a natural fit. I actually became a consultant for the sole purpose of being able to somewhat afford my addiction. My poor husband did not fully comprehend my affinity for the products until he'd already committed "to death do us part." :D It's okay though... he has his own vices that I had been blissfully unaware of as well. So....we'll call it even. :D Anyway, on with the blog.

One of my most recent Willow House purchases was this beautiful cake plate and cover.

Don't you just LOVE the ruffle around the edge??

I had borrowed a girlfriend's cake plate for the last two years for my husband's birthday cake, so I decided it was high-time I got my own. The problem....my cabinets are so jam packed with other dishes, that this little beauty has to stay on the countertop for the time-being. Well it can't sit there empty, so I looked for something "pretty" to put in it.

This is one of my favorite cookbooks - a wedding gift from one of my sweet neighbors when we lived in Oregon. I found a recipe for Sour Cream Coffee Cake and thought it sounded tasty and would look pretty. :) It was both! The recipe is below the following pictures if you would like to try it out!

Cooling on the stovetop.

Sitting on the ruffly cake stand I just adore :)

Mission Accomplished! No empty cake plates in this house, no maam!

Hmmm.....this could be a problem. Chronic baking could lead to a chronic growing out of my clothes....

Gonna have to really try hard to either exercise a TON of will power and let my husband gain the majority of the weight....or I'm gonna HAVE to make some room in those cupboards! :)

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Prep: 30 min; Bake: 1 hour; Cool: 30 min *16 servings

Brown Sugar Filling (Recipe Below)

3 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1 1/2 t. baking soda

3/4 t. salt

1 1/2 c. sugar

3/4 c. butter or stick margarine, softened

1 1/2 t. vanilla

3 large eggs

1 1/2 c. sour cream

Vanilla Glaze (Recipe Below)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and side of angel food cake pan (tube pan), 10x4 inches,

12-cup bundt cake pan or 2 loaf pans, 9x5x3 inches, with shortening.

Make Brown Sugar Filling (see recipe below); set aside. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

Beat sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat about one-fourth of the flour mixture and sour cream at a time alternately into sugar mixture on low speed until blended.

For angel food or bundt cake pan, spread 1/3 of the batter (about 2 cups) in pan, then sprinkle with 1/3 of the filling; repeat twice. For loaf pans, spread 1/4 of the batter (about 1 1/2 cups) in each pan, then sprinkle each with 1/4 of the filling; repeat once.

Bake angel food or bundt cake pan about 1 hour, loaf pans about 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan(s) on wire rack. Remove from pan(s) to wire rack. Cool 20 minutes. Drizzle with Vanilla Glaze (see recipe below). Serve warm or cool.

Brown Sugar Filling

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. finely chopped nuts (I used pecans)

1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

~~~~~~

Mix all ingredients.

Vanilla Glaze

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/4 t. vanilla

2 to 3 t. milk

~~~~~~

Mix all ingredients until smooth and thin enough to drizzle.

Check out THESE link parties! :)

I'm NOT Dead....REALLY! :D

2010-09-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

I've just been a crazy nesting woman trying to get ready for our first baby who is due to arrive in less than three weeks. We were out of town for almost two months, so you can just imagine how crazy behind I am and how much of a panic I've been in to get things as close to perfect as possible. I have managed a few projects and recipes in the in-between moments as of late and will be posting those over the coming days provided our little man doesn't make a surprise early appearance. I've worked on carving out a little crafting space for myself and LOVE how it has turned out. It's not roomy, but it's cute. I've made my first coffee cake ever and it was so YUM! I've got an "organizing for baby" project to show you and I've discovered a fun etsy shop with lots of goodies! That's the teaser....now I need to download all my pictures and get to blogging! Don't give up on me, girls! :D I'm a sporadic new crafter wanna-be who will find my groove soon enough. :)

Recycle and Give a Gift!

2010-08-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

A few posts back, I showed you a tutorial I had found that solves the dilemma of having all those shopping bags pile up. Today, I'm showing you a tutorial I found on how to make your own gift bags with something you probably throw out on a regular basis. :D

While blog-browsing the other day, I found this idea over at Not So Idle Hands. It's an older post and she had Stephanie from Somewhat Simple as a guest blogger. I thought it was a cute idea and, since I actually had the materials up here in Mammoth Lakes, I gave it a try this morning.

Here are the supplies that you will need:

A Cereal or Snack Box

Mod Podge

Sponge Brush

Scissors or X-acto Knife

Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks

Wrapping Paper or Scrapbook Paper

Embellishments of Your Choice

Cut the top tabs off of your box.

Measure the length and width of your box and cut your paper to fit. I used scrapbook paper because that's all I had while up in the mountains for 7 weeks. However, after trying this project, I think the wrapping paper might be a little easier to work with.

Use your sponge brush to cover your box with Mod Podge and adhere the paper to your box. Smooth out any bubbles or creases.

Make a crease on the sides of your box. Hopefully, your crease turns out being a little more centered than my crease did. :D

With your scissors or x-acto knife, cut handles out on both sides.

Now....this is the part where I need you to use your imagination. :D

Imagine the bag with yellow tissue paper sticking out and the cute blue raffia tied at the top. :D I don't have embellishments here, so that "cutsifying" will have to happen at a later date. That's what the glue gun is for though. Use rhinestones, ribbon or whatever your heart desires to make it pretty. :D I'm planning to put my little college sister's birthday gift in this. I figure she can use the "bag" for nail polish or manicure/pedicure supplies.

I think this is such a cute idea and would be something fun to do with kids. It could also come in handy when you're in a bind and need a gift bag ASAP!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a side-note, I had some leftover scrapbook paper and a brainchild. I have to wait til I get home and can get to my supplies before I can implement my idea though. Darn it!

In a future post, see what I make with these! :D

Any guesses?

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Check It Out! :D

2010-08-21T13:44:00.001-07:00

Kenzie over at 9 O'Clock Dance of Joy is celebrating reaching 300 followers by hosting this fantastic giveaway! Check out this adorable monogrammed frame!

Sign up to follow her blog and you can enter too! While you're over there, check out some of her great projects. You'll be inspired! :D

Baby Leggings At Last!

2010-08-19T16:41:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to try my hand at making little baby leggings for my adorable little niece for awhile now. The only problem.....I had no clue how to even work the sewing machine. My husband and I are spending about a month and a half in Mammoth Lakes, CA. I figured there would be a no better time to work on my sewing-knowledge deficiency than when I was holed up in the mountains.

My mother-in-law sent me the following:

However, this was still looking rather intimidating....

and this was looking even more intimidating. Sadly, I'm not joking...I had no idea what I was doing.

Thankfully, I brought this along. :)

You can tell that my two little fur-babies were incredibly impressed with my efforts.

My first successfully threaded bobbin. I know I'm being silly here, but I felt it should be documented for posterity's sake.

I found a baby-legging tutorial HERE at Calico that looked like a good first project.

I started with these.

Cut off the feet...

and did a tight zig-zag stitch around the bottom.

(Sorry for the side-ways picture. Cock your head to the left. :)

Here are the cute little leggings for my niece who is just learning to crawl. :) I can't wait to see how they look on her!

I did this with the part that was left over...I'm calling them footies. :) I think they're perfect little house socks or for putting on after the pedicure is dry. :) Maybe I'll put these in my little sister's stocking this Christmas.

I had so much fun that I just kept going...

And that, folks, is the story of my first sewing project! I loved it and can't wait to learn more! There's a whole new world out there now! :D

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Shopping Bag Wall Art

2010-08-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

So I was doing a little blog-hopping this afternoon and ended up finding this ADORABLE post over at In My Own Style. How many of you have a ton of shopping bags that you don't know what to do with, but don't want to toss out?

How about a little wall art? What a cute idea!

Click HERE to see the details of she did it.

I think my sisters Corrie and Caylen should start saving up their shopping bags for me so that I can make them one of these. :D

Mice Cream

2010-08-16T13:44:00.000-07:00

How is this for a fun end-of-summer treat for the kids? I found the idea in one of my cookbooks for kids and have made it for elementary and high school kids...it was a hit with both! :D

I adjusted the recipe a bit and just used what I had on hand.

You just need the following:

Vanilla Ice Cream for the mouse "body"

Three Chocolate-Covered Raisins for the eyes and nose

Two Round Mint Paddies for the ears

6 Chocolate Sprinkles for the whiskers

I didn't have any strands of licorice, but if I had it would have been the tail! :)

Cute, Cold and Fun

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We're In Mammoth Lakes, CA....

2010-08-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

and have been for about a month and a half. Thus, not much crafting has been done since I ran out of most of my supplies. I have, however, been ordering supplies online like a crazy woman and am excited about getting back down to the business of crafting when I get home. I've made lots and lots of pendants though! Below are a couple of my favorites(I won't bore you with showing them all).

I have all my birthday gifts and stocking stuffers ready to go. I figure I'd better get things done now before Baby Browne arrives this fall!

My mother-in-law is being a dear and, along with a few maternity items, is shipping me a rotary cutter and mat. Thus, this coming week, I'll begin my journey of trying to figure out how to work my simple little beginner's sewing machine and how to make baby leggings for my niece. She won't quite be a one year-old at Christmas and I really don't think she'd appreciate jewelry quite yet.

I'll keep you posted as to how the sewing goes. I'm wishing I had my mom or MIL here with me to give me a crash course and I'm WISHING, WISHING, WISHING that I had learned to sew years ago. I'd be so much further ahead right now! :D

Meanwhile, until my package arrives tomorrow or Tuesday, here are a few pictures of me and my little family enjoying our time in Mammoth.

My Husband

His Bike, Not Mine :D

Our Two Little Wet Fur-babies Loving the Lake

Going to Dinner - Not too many dates left before baby arrives! :)

Cute Clothespins and More Pendants

2010-07-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

As promised earlier today, here is a picture of a few of the things I've been working on. I tried my hand at the cute clothespins I saw over at Brown Paper Packages and, as you can see, I got a little carried away. They were so fun and easy to make.

Here are a couple of my favorites...

A few ideas for these: Magnet Clips for the Fridge, Photo/Christmas Card Holders, A Jillion Different Uses in the Office or Classroom..... What other uses can you think of? Let me know!!!

Below are some glass pendants that I've been working on the last couple of days as well. I blogged about these here.

MIA For Way Too Long!

2010-07-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

So sorry to have disappeared for such a ridiculously long time. Lots of crazy busyness going on as of late...birthday, holiday, brunches, traveling, getting ready for baby, etc. etc. However, I have fit in a little bit of crafting here and there. I've been making glass tile pendants and magnets for Christmas and birthday gifts. They're turning out so cute. I'll take a picture and post it this afternoon!

For now, let me share a really cute idea that I found over at one of my favorite sites, Brown Paper Packages. :D Click HERE to see this adorable and easy project.

I'm trying my hand at making some today and will post the results this evening! :D

Chore Chart from Brown Paper Packages

2010-06-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

Check out this adorable chore chart from Brown Paper Packages HERE. What a great idea! For all my teacher friends, wouldn't this be cute adapted to classroom jobs! I can think of a ton of things to do with those cute clothespins alone! Love it!

How CUTE are These Burp Rags???

2010-06-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

I've recently discovered this adorable blog, The Autocrat. Check out the burp rags that she makes HERE. I am IN LOVE with them!!!! Check out the brown and cream line! Don't you think our little guy needs some of these?? :D

So, So Cute!!!

Home Project On Father's Day

2010-06-20T18:16:00.000-07:00

We have had pictures that we've been meaning to hang since we moved in....about 9 months ago. Finally this morning we got around to it! These are Southern Living at Home prints that I bought when they went on liquidation. I got the frames at Michaels on clearance and just added cardboard to the back and taped it down with packing tape. Not fancy, I know. But really...who sees the back? We're on a budget and going for great decor without spending lots of $$$. :D The hooks are some of my all time favorites from Ballard Designs that I asked for for Christmas several years ago. Here is the before and after. :D

BEFORE

AFTER

So much better than a blank wall! :D

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A Desk Makeover I LOVE!

2010-06-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was out garage-saling, looking for baby clothes for my little man. There was a garage sale right down the street from me that was a God-send - literally! I found a friend AND an adorable desk! :D The new friend has a cute 5 month-old little boy and I found a few outfits for my little guy. She also had a desk sitting there with $15 on it. I knew as soon as I saw it exactly what I wanted to do. However, I wasn't quite ready to pay $15+the cost of the makeover. I gave her my email address and phone number and asked her to call me if the desk didn't sell. That evening I got a message from her letting me know that she still had the desk and that, if I wanted it, I COULD JUST HAVE IT FOR FREE!!! :D Whoo Hoo!!! What an unexpected blessing. I love it when little "happies" just fall into your lap like that!

Below is the story of my little desk makeover....

Here is the "Before" picture of the desk

The baby's crib had just been delivered, so conveniently, we had alot of cardboard to lay out on our pavement for the painting project. We removed the drawers and got out our WHITE Rust-Oleum spray paint. It's my favorite because you can hold it at just about any angle and it doesn't clog up on you. I also used this same type of spray paint for my bathroom cabinet makeover.

Because I'm not supposed to be around paint fumes while I'm pregnant, my wonderful husband painted the desk for me while I watched behind the closed glass door. Our little fur-baby Lexi was trying her very best to be his little helper. :D

What a good man! :D

Below is the desk after one light coat of paint. We still had another coat to go.

After the 2nd coat of paint, Dan and I headed down to my ALL-TIME FAVORITE STORE, Anthropologie, and found some adorable knobs. This evening we put them on and the desk looks exactly like what I had pictured in my head when I saw it sitting out at the garage sale!! I had a chair with a black and white toile cushion that I had purchased via Craig's List several years ago.....and here is the completed project! :D

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!! :D

What is even better though is the fact that I've also made a new friend who is just as cute as she can be! She was just over this past weekend for a lady's brunch and I snapped a quick photo for the blog. :)

Thank you, Charisa, for the desk donation! It's a perfect little spot for me to learn to sew and to work on my little craft projects! :D