A Rockin' Baby Shower and Diaper Wreath 2

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!!

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

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

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 :)

 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?

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

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

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

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

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....

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!

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.