5 Dollar Challenge

Linday, from Living With Lindsay, is having a 5 dollar challenge! Click here to read all the rules. Basically, our challenge was to find something at a Dollar store, spend no more than 5 dollars, and make something cute! A winner will be chosen at random from all the participants. That's good for me, because I'm sure there will be people who create something a whole lot cuter than me! Anyway, here's what I made.

Thinking back on it, I should have taken before pics, but I didn't. Here's what I did. I bought the flowers (they were on long stems - see this post) and a decorative broomstick at Dollar Tree. I cut up the broomstick, gathered the pieces into chunks, tied them together with ribbon that I had in my ribbon stash and spray painted it white (with the very, very last drops of my spray paint). Then I tied pretty ribbons from my stash around each section and hot glued the blooms to the top. I used some more ribbon I already had to hang it on my door. And that's that! I only spent $4 and used supplies I already had at home.

I can't wait to see everyone else's ideas! I have a feeling I'm going to be spending a lot of $ at Dollar Tree after tomorrow!

Mmmm, Baby Powder!

There's just something about the smell of a baby, isn't there? When I pick up a baby, I instinctively smell its head. Am I weird? I love the smell of a baby's head. It's the smell of pure innocence.

However, there's nothing innocent about their poop. It's bad. Newborn all the way up to toddler - it stinks. I don't know about you, but no matter what I do, sometimes the smell lingers in the nursery. Even if I wrap the diaper in a bag and put it in the Diaper Champ. Even if I take it to the garage. If it was a bad one, I can still smell it. Well, I've found my solution.



Baby Powder candles! I found these oh, so sweet candles on etsy and ordered one last week. I love it! Even if there hasn't been a shooey incident, I still light it once a day just to make the room smell "babyish." And isn't it cute? It's decorative, too! Perched atop the armoire, it looks AND smells pretty!

Skyline Candle Company makes these little darlings (plus many more scents). Their candles are made with clean-burning, all-natural soy wax. The have an average 60 hour burn time. I didn't know this, but soy candles burn clean and are a healthy choice for your family! I should have known - soy is great for so many things! And of course, the most important detail - all candles have a cute ribbon tied around the neck!

Now do you want one for you? Go to this etsy shop and order one today!

Blog Design Giveaway!!!

Like my beeeeeeeautiful blog design? Well, you can win one for yourself for FREE just by commenting on Kristi's blog. She does awesome work, doesn't she??? Now go on over and give her a comment!

A Prayer for Today

Lord, help me be a person who speaks words that build up and not tear down. Help me to speak life into the situations and people around me, and not death. Fill my heart afresh each day with Your Holy Spirit, so that Your love and goodness overflow from my heart and my mouth. Help me to speak only about things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy. Keep my mouth from speaking any evil or anything that is not true. May every word I speak reflect Your purity and love.

Fill my heart with love, peace and joy so that it will flow from my mouth. Convict me when I complain or speak negatively. Help me not to speak too quickly or too much. Help me not to speak words that miscommunicate. I pray You would give me the words to say every time I speak. Show me when to speak and when not to.

Help me to be a woman who speaks wisely, graciously and clearly, never foolishly, rudely or insensitively. Give me words that speak of the hope that is within me so I can explain my faith in a persuasive and compelling way. May the words I speak bring others in to a fuller knowledge of You.


from The Power of a Praying Woman by Stormie Omartian

Toile Y'all!

I love toile. Love. It. I think I might have a slight obsession with it. After taking pictures of all the toile in my house, I think it's safe to say I have too much. What do you think? (Just so you know - even if you tell me I have too much, I'm not taking any away!!!)

I have to start with my FAVE toile pieces - my kitchen cabinet knobs and drawer pulls. Are they not the cutest things ever? (The pics aren't great - the toile is blue and white)














Next, the inside of my china cabinet/hutch/thingy is lined with toile wallpaper. Of course, I got this idea from The Nester.







My dining room chairs that were a hideous plaid, but I recovered in toile myself. Don't look too closely - you might see the plaid through the toile. I was too lazy to remove the original fabric. But hey - the beauty is in the imperfections, right?







My new little end table that had a glass inset that is now covered in the same wallpaper that lines the hutch. Wow - I don't think that sentence was grammatically correct!







Oh, these are another of my favorite things in my whole house - the toile lampshades on my flea market chandelier!



The bench I got at HobLob for like 75% off because it had dirt on it. Came right out with spot remover at home.

And of course, the toile curtains. Which I do realize I hung too low. I didn't have the energy to re-hang the rod that came with the house. I really need to do that.

I think that about covers it. I think I'm a little toile'd out - how about you? If you aren't, and you'd love to see how other people use toile in their homes, jump on over to Pretty Organized Palace for her Toile Party! It'll be fun!

Slow-cooker Monday - Crockpot Lasagna

So I missed last Monday - sorry! It totally slipped my mind because it was Spring Break and we had no dance class. I made this Shrimp Fried Rice with Edamame and it was so yummy!!! Thanks to my friend Kristi for posting it on her blog!

Anyway, we are back to dance class on Mondays, so here's tonight's crockpot meal. This is actually a Weight Watchers recipe and is really yummy!

Crockpot Lasagna

1 lb lean ground beef (95%/5%)
1/2 Medium Onion
1 jar Spaghetti Sauce
12 oz light cottage cheese (or low-fat ricotta)
12 oz Lasagna noodles (I used the whole wheat)
16 oz W/W's Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (or any other brand that is reduced fat)

Brown beef with onion. Add spaghetti sauce and cook until warm. Spoon a layer of meat sauce on the bottom of a sprayed crockpot. Add a double layer of uncooked noodles (break to fit) and top with the cheeses. Repeat with the sauce, noodles and cheeses until used up. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours - depending on your crockpot it could be done in less time, just check on it!

Serves 6-10

1/6 of the pot - 10 points
1/8 of the pot - 8 points
1/10 of the pot - 6 points

Treasure Box

Isn't this beautiful? I found this box at Tuesday Morning for $3.99.



I got 2 packs of these mini "tupperware" thingys at Dollar Tree, put them in the box and filled them with water. Now that I think about it, I totally could have used some of the 500 empty baby food containers that I have. Oops! At least if any of you want to do this, you can use those if you want!



Bought a few packs of flowers at Wal-Mart, trimmed the blooms off the stems, and VOILA!





A beautiful, different floral arrangement. I only wish I'd had this done in time for the Spring Fluffing party yesterday! By the way, Rhoda featured my Bradford Pear Egg Tree on her blog today as one of her favorite things from her fluffing party. Thanks Rhoda!

Fluffing for Spring!

One of my favorite bloggers, Rhoda, from Southern Hospitality, is hosting a linky party today. The theme? It's a Spring Fluffing Party! Woohoo! I'm so ready for Spring! And I love linky parties. It's so much fun to see what everyone has done. I always get tons of ideas!

The mission? To find a few areas in our homes and "fluff" them for Spring. Here's what I did.

This is the dining room. I clipped some branches off of my Bradford Pears in the back yard and stuck them in a vase. They are pretty just by themselves.



Or with Easter egg ornaments.









Some Gerbs I found at Dollar Tree. (I think the child proof edge around the hearth adds a nice touch, don't you?)



My SLAH Astoria Canisters



My entry table.



End table. I'm working on repainting the bird that came with this (got it at a garage sale.). I'll put it in or next to the cage when it's done.



Thoughts? Suggestions?

I can't wait to see everyone else's!!! Be sure to visit Rhoda's blog for all the links.

Sharing the Wealth!

I feel like it's not fair for me to keep all of these wonderful things I find all to myself! So on a regular basis, (I might even choose a day of the week!), I'm going to share some of my favorite new blogs or posts from my already well-loved blogs. My favorite one right now is this. The Pretty Organized Palace is one of the newest blogs I have found that I love. Ever since reading this post 2 days ago, that fairy has been saying, "touch it once," over and over in my head. You know what? It has worked! I'm not saying I'm a totally reformed woman who will never leave something out of place again. I'm just saying it has helped me (for 2 days at least) realize that is just not that hard to put something where it goes! For now, "touch it once," is my new mantra. Thanks Pretty Organizer!!!

Another blog that I love is Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. Jen has 5 kids and a husband - a family of 7. She has a $500/month grocery budget. She's awesome. She's great with coupons and freebies. What I really love, though, is how she "balances the mealtime mountain." This guest post she did on A Soft Place to Land was inspirational for me. I'm not great at meal planning. I'm not great at buying groceries for the week/s ahead of time. This wastes a lot of time and money. I'm taking baby steps here. What I plan to start doing is buy my meat in bulk and set aside intentional time to cook it and freeze it. Then, even if I haven't planned ahead well, I have meat already cooked and I can throw a decent meal together in very little time. I also plan to stock up on staples for the old standby dishes. Hopefully this can eliminate running to Wal-Mart at 4:30 in time to get dinner on the table!

One of the really crafty blogs I love to read is Imperfectly Beautiful. Maybe it's because her name is Amanda! While she does have a great name, she also has oodles of talent and creativity. Look at this tutorial. How fun and easy! I actually attempted this myself with a composition book I got at Dollar Tree. I happen to think this might just be the cutest scrapbook paper ever! Whadya think?



This is before I added the ribbon, but aren't the birdies so cute up close???


This is the inside of the cover. The paper was already made to look distressed like that. Too cute!


Enjoy browsing these great blogs - I know I sure do!

The Easiest Window Mistreatment EVER!!!

Seriously. I would totally have this hanging in my son's room right now. If I had a son. How cute is this???



My mom was at a friend's baby shower, and while taking a tour of the home, saw this and thought it was to die for! She whipped out her camera and took a pic. I'm so glad she did - what a FAB idea!!!

I could be totally behind here. I mean everyone in the blogoshpere has probably seen this done already like a million times. The Nester probably already has this on her blog. I sure think she'd love it!

What do you think?

Easter Applique

I have a TON of t-shirts and jeans that I bought on clearance a couple years ago when I was making these outfits.









When I had Miss Priss I sorta stopped making them and I'm a little burned out now. I still want to use those shirts and jeans, though, so I bought some cute fabric at Hobby Lobby and made this for the Big Girl yesterday.

I have pink, turquoise and lavender shirts and I bought coordinating fabric for all the colors. This is the only "Easter" print I bought. All the rest is just "springy." Here, I'll just show you! (just realized these pics came out really dark - oops!)





I'm thinking maybe a tulip instead of an Easter egg would be cute. Any other suggestions? The designs have to be pretty simple, though, because I am no applique expert!

So after I get these made, I'm going to have to find someone to buy them! If you know of anyone who might like one, send them my way will you? They will be a very reasonable price (I'm thinking maybe around $15???). Thanks a MILLION!

Slow-Cooker Monday

My friend Jennifer got a cookbook for her wedding titled "Recipes for the Slow-Cooker." She thought, "That's kinda rude! I may not be great, but I'm not slow!" Then she realized that "slow-cooker" was referring to a crock-pot, not inferring that she was not a good cook! So, I just thought I'd clarify my title. This is, in fact, a recipe for a crock-pot/slow-cooker.

Every Monday evening, my 3 year old has dance class from 6:00-6:45 pm. The one year old goes to bed at 7:00, so my husband either stays home with her or stops by the dance studio and picks her up to take her home. In order for the 3 year old to eat before dance and the hubby and baby to eat when they get home, I decided to make something in the crock-pot every Monday.

I'll be posting these recipes every Monday and if they are new I'll let you know how we rated them! This one is one of my personal faves. It makes 4 servings, and each serving is 8 Weight Watchers points. I usually serve it over rice (a few additional points) because it is a little soupy.

San Fransisco Chops

4 pork chops, 1 inch thick (with or without the bone - I've used both)
2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 C red wine (or chicken broth)
2 TBSP unpacked brown sugar
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 TBSP cornstarch
1 TBSP water

Heat oil in a skillet. Add pork chops and brown. Remove chops and place in slow-cooker. Using drippings, saute garlic just until aromatic. Add wine, sugar and pepper flakes. Cook until sugar is dissolved. Pour over chops. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. 30 minutes before serving remove chops. Mix cornstarch and water until dissolved. Mix into sauce in the slow-cooker. Add chops. (I usually break up the meat into small pieces at this point. It just falls apart and gets juicier this way.) Cook for 30 more minutes. Serve by itself or over rice.

I know recipes are always better with pictures, but I didn't get pictures taken this time. Try it, though, it's yummy!!!

And the winner is.....

ANNIE from The Young Life!!!

Thanks everyone for participating and getting the word out. I hope that you'll keep checking in for new posts and more giveaways!

I have to apologize for not getting the winner sooner. Since Thursday night I have had houseguests for 3 nights, hosted my daughter's first birthday party, had 2 photo shoots in my house, hosted a baby shower and had my church small group in my home. I've been a little bit overwhelmed!

I'd love to share some pics from the birthday party with you all! We had the party at our church in a "living room." It was great to not have to clean my house (um, I mean, the house was in pristine condition) and the kids got to run wild in the gym attached to it. It was a perfect place for the party.

The banner and tissue paper p0m poms I made.





The photo display.



The cake/cupcakes.





The birthday girl!!!

Does your cake pedestal need a boost?

So Miss Priss is about to have her 1st birthday and my friend Becky suggested I make her one of those cool fabric banners. Well, Becky's ideas are always great, so of course I made one! Turned out cute, dontcha think???

Anyway, I bought a little too much fabric and wanted to do something with the excess. There wasn't enough for a tablecloth. I thought about piecing together a table runner, but honestly didn't want to take the time to actually SEW something. Then I thought I could just "scrunch" up the fabric around the bottom of the cake pedestal. That would be cute - I guess. I just started messing around with the strips of fabric I already had cut. I was literally just making things up and had no clue what I was trying to make. I felt like Chandler in that Friends episode where he's supposed to make Monica's Valentines Day present. Anyway, here's what I came up with and I was really pleased with it!

Here's what I did:

Cut a longish strip of fabric to tie the pieces on.

Cut my fabric into random sized large pieces (approx. 7 "x20" give or take several inches) and arranged it in a random order that I liked.

Started tying.

Just minutes later I finished tying and squished all the knots close together.

Tied the ends of the long piece around the bottom of the pedestal.

Fluffed to my heart's content.

Took pics of the beautiful finished product!!!

Seriously took me about 10 minutes. My kind of project!
I think it's so cute that I might just make a blue one and a pink one and use them at the bajillion baby showers that I hostess!

Am I crazy or is it cute? What do you think? I can take it. Maybe. Just let me down gently. :-)

*****Don't forget to enter my fabulous GIVEAWAY*****