A Frozen Birthday Cake

With some help from a sweet friend, and some inspiration from pinterest,

I tried my hand at making a cake and using fondant.  

It was like using play-doh though it smelled and tasted much better ;)

This is the cake before placing the small Elsa and Anna dolls.

Poor Olaf got a little squished and fell into some rock candy
dust, then poor guys feet sank into the cake :D

Fondant flowers and more rock candy.

Edible star sprinkles.

Elsa and Anna on top of the cake.

My "baby" is 8, today!

I'm not really sure how it happened, but my baby girl is 8 today!

I can't imagine our lives without her.  She's feisty, head strong, believes she can do anything,

is tender toward those that need it, always has a hug and kiss for her parents, and loves her siblings fiercely, and it's all rolled up into a cute little package.  

Happy 8th Birthday, Ava!  I love you oodles!

Ava helped bake the cake, make icing from scratch, and then she deorated the cake too.
It was a delicious work of art :)

Laundry Room, more small updates.

Here's a small update to the laundry space.

After talking with my GENIUS friend I added some fun stuff to the tops
of the cabinets.
I've got a few more ideas, but need to complete a couple of steps

before placing them in there.

OH and I found yet ANOTHER hat laying around. 

I had no idea we were such hat collectors, lol.

Thanks to my GENIUS friend that suggested cowboy boots, I got to work.

I once again "shopped" my house and found an old, outgrown pair of

red cowgirl boots, stuffed them with grocery bags to keep their shape (wow, we have WAY

too many plastic grocery bags) and propped them onto an empty box.

The metal tub was a gift that I received over 6 years ago and rather

than keeping it sitting in my closet, I figured, hey why not.

I found a chalk pennant garland yesterday in the craft section of Target and 

knew I had to have it.  I bought a chalk marker while there and voila.  

The pack came with 12 pennant flags, some string to hang them on,

and 12 round chalk circles for another garland too.

I can't wait to get the rest of the laundry room done

and then I have to figure out how exactly I'm going to keep

it from being over taken by clutter and laundry.

The Mighty Laundry Room

With this house, I have a laundry ROOM.  It's the most amazing spacious laundry room I've ever had, and it's my favorite part of this house.  I know, nuts, but when you have 6 people living under one roof, the laundry never ever ever ends.  No seriously.  Ever.  It's the one room that gets filled to the brim with laundry and shoes and backpacks and mess because it also doubles as a "mudroom".  This room needs help.  It's boring.  I spend so much time in it that I feel I need to warm it up so that it's not just a "dump your stuff" and run room. Make sense?

So two days ago, I made a leap and pinned up some straw cowboy hats up on the wall, that had been laying around and not being worn.  .  I'm starting to think we have a "buy too many cowboy hats and never wear them" problem, lol.  I also "shopped" my house and placed some dark wicker type baskets on the shelf above the sink and the room instantly felt warmer and not so utilitarian.  The problem is, I'm stumped.  I want to put something on top of the cabinets right next to the hats.  

I've thought about a rug for the floor rather than tacking stuff up high, but with the dog's bowls in there, and it being a room where water could surprise me at any time, I'm opting to not worry about it.  So that leaves me with wall space.  

I'd love to hear some thoughts...Oh and colors.  I'm not opposed to just about anything, except maybe red since I've got those UT orange laundry machines, which I love love love too!

And here's the "mudroom" area of the space.  It's at the end of the room on the 

right hand side.  It sits at an angle across from the dryer and fridge.

Where did summer go?

I just realized that I haven't blogged since June.  Actually the last day of school in June, also known as the happiest day EVER, around here, lol.  However, today I'm finally back to blogging and it's already the 3rd day into a new school year.  Where did summer go?  Why did it have to take the sleeping in, care free, pool days with it?

I miss my kids.  Tremendously.  So does the dog.  The house feels too big when it's just me and the pup, and I find myself with time to do all that needs to get done, but yet I avoid it.  I really miss my kids, their over the top antics, constant chatter and laughter, and even the messes, well ok not the messes. No, I definitely don't miss the constant messes, lol.

Does anyone else feel like this and if you do, how do you cope with it until you fall into your new groove?

Last Day of School!

WOOOOOHOOOO!

It's going to be a SUPER day!

Ahoy! It's a Boy Baby Shower!

On Saturday, the 31st of May, I hosted another shower at my home.  While I love the decorating and froo froo stuff, I'm not great when it comes to the food, so I was THRILLED to have 2 co-hosts that were able to take care of that end of the party.  It was fantastic and the parents, who were blessed with a 29 weeker just two weeks before their party, looked so happy the entire time.  While their little one was being taken care of in the NICU we were taking care of them ;)  

Welcome!  Guests were greeted with this cheery diaper wreath.

The clothing line was a hit!  The onesie in the middle was personalized with
the baby boy's birth stats.  It was my favorite decoration of all.

The spread!  The sandwiches were catered and were ah-mazing!  Actually all of the food was
wonderful and there's no way I could have done it all alone.  Again, SUPER thankful for the help!

Have I mentioned how much I love making diaper cakes?  No?  Well, yeah, I do.  Just like a lot!

The dessert table, also known as the "I gain 20 lbs just by looking at it" table was
complete with gummy sharks and whales, swedish fish,  rainbow colored "fishing line" aka twizzlers,
some super cute baby boy mints, and some red white and blue twizzlers too! 

This cake not only looked wonderful, but it tasted even better than it looked.
The new parents were lucky enough to take a couple of slices home with them and
kind enough to leave the last 4 cupcakes for my kids.  Lucky ducks.

And finally a close up of the cake.  Seriously.  Look at how stinkin' cute it was.
We hated cutting into it...well, for about 5 seconds and then the powerful cravings for
cake kicked in and we totally caved.

I just love the attention to detail.

We had ordered 24...4 remained at the end of the night.  Those last 4 my kids devoured.  

So, that's it.  Baby Shower's are done and now I'm just counting down the

days until school's out for summer.  5 days.  I can't wait.

The kids can't wait.  More importantly, it means we'll actually just get to 

relax and spend time with one another.  No schedules to follow for an entire month...it's blissful.

July will bring the schedule's back, but until then, I'm going to savor every single peaceful moment!

Bumblebee Baby Shower...DONE!

The bumblebee baby shower was today and I think it turned out pretty well.  It was a potluck shower, so there was a ton of yummy food, the cake was delish, and the decorations added the festive touch.  I hope mom to "bee" liked it as much as I did planning it!

The clothing line turned out SO much cuter than I had imagined.  I was especially excited to see

that Burt's Bee's has a clothing line, and so much of it had bees on it.  Perfect for a gender

neutral theme, wouldn't you say?

Fresh flowers, and the cutest balloon I found at the grocery store.  Actually, I had found three and

used them all through out the party area.

I love love love making diaper cakes.  The mom to be loves purple so I incorporated it in.  I even

had a friend crochet a pair of purple booties and a darling little hat (forgot to get a photo) that I attached to the back.  

The beehive cake was made by a local lady and the little cupcakes were actually

bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes.  Everything was scrumptious and sadly 

there weren't any leftovers to have with my coffee tomorrow ;)

Last but not least, a close up of the bundt cakes and these so perfectly tiny and adorable

candy bees that I had found while wandering a grocery store aisle during a grocery trip.  It was

like they were there just for me.  They were a HUGE hit.  I think they were by Wilton?

So that's it.  Baby Shower #1 is done.

Next weekend, baby shower #2!

It's a nautical theme and I love the big bold colors.

Another Bumblebee party pic.

Tomorrow is baby shower day.  Can't wait!

Bumblebee Baby Shower

I'm hosting a baby shower this weekend and the theme is bumblebees.  Mom to be doesn't know the gender of the baby, so we're keeping it fairly neutral other than the pops of lilac throughout since purple is the mom's favorite color.  Right now I'm struggling with placement of the decorations, but the clothing line on my fireplace is my favorite.  I think we'll put the gifts on the hearth underneath it.  It's crazy how much there is still left to do and how little time.

Went walking...again!

This is almost becoming a habit ;)

1 hr 8 minutes

4.28 miles

Upped my pace from last week, and squeezed in an extra mile.  LOVE it!

Exercise.

Last week I walked twice, both times right at about 3 miles.  It felt AMAZING!
Despite the very long pause in my workouts, I wasn't sore, but rather energized.  I wanted to keep going, but knew an hour was about all I could do each day.  Fast forward to this week.
Trying to get motivated, but the threat of rain looms (YAY!!!!) and my motivation is non existent.
This couch is just too darn comfortable...

Dining room ooomph.

After living in the house for a few months, and getting things in their places, I realized our dining room was lacking some oomph, and that needed to be changed asap!

Here's what it started out as. 

A large table, that I love love love and 2 paintings that the hubby and I brought back from a trip to Paris 4 years ago.  Wow, 4 years.  It feels like yesterday.  Anyway, back to the issue at hand.

I dug around the house and found a brand new table runner I hadn't even unwrapped yet (can you tell I like blues yet?), and an old shallow bowl.  Easy.  Though it looked really weird empty, so while at Ikea one day I found these funky rattan like balls to put into it.  Simple and cute...and cheap!  I was content.  Finally, the room was done.  Simple, clean, and colors that make me happy.  

And that's when it happened.   Tidymom , posted this:  

Family Room Makeover

Remember how I said I was content?  Well, that flew right out the window!

I took one look at those glass shelves, and knew right away that  I needed one in my dining room.

I had an entire wall, just begging to be filled.  The metal frame, the glass, it would keep the room from feeling too "heavy" but it would finally get some oomph!

The next day, literally, I hopped into my car and got myself over to Ikea.  The 10 minute drive was almost too exciting to handle, yes 10 minutes!  I feel kind of lucky :D  I was on a mission.  I didn't bother going upstairs but made my way over to the warehouse, grabbed my giant box and headed home.

Now,  I don't have any before photos of the dining room without the shelf, or with the shelf completely empty, but I finally got it decorated the way I want.  I think.  Other than the photo frames needing photos, and the plants needing cute planters, I'm done.  Right?  

I have to admit, I'm a bit worried it's too busy, but I love all of the pieces on there,
so I'm not sure how to make it not so cluttered.  The painting, my daughter did, and she doesn't like it, lol.  Too bad for her, I do, and it matches my coral on the top shelf and the glass vase filled with sand and shells.

Oh and notice those AMAZING framed prints?  Those are from Gingiber and they are the perfect nautical addition.  All three are fun and unique, but that Narwhal.  Oh my!

My next task...clean/organize/decorate the study.  Yikes!

Entryway dresser update

Remember my little dresser from Craigslist?  Gee, I start a lot of posts with, "remember my"...I should work on changing that, huh?  Okay, back to my post :D

So I've been slowly finding things here and there for it, and it's starting to come together nicely.

As I'm sure you've noticed by now, I love the colors red and aqua, oh and yellow, and pink, and green, and...oh, but yeah really red and aqua.  It's in a lot of places around the downstairs and I'm sure it'll creep upstairs a little too once I start focusing on that part of the house.  A long, long, long time from now.

Okay, without more babble, here is the before, the before after, and the after :)

I still haven't found a chair that I absolutely must have, so the little shoe bench from our old house

is still sitting there.  It's working for us beautifully storage wise though, so I guess I'm not quite in a hurry to replace it just yet.

Oh right, back to the photos.  Here they are...

Ikea frames, LOVE them, especially the one in the back.

The little Dachshund statuette, from Hobby Lobby,  looks so much like our pup that I had to have it,

and the fake grass and red planter, thanks again Ikea!

The lamp is a temporary one, $10 on clearance at Target, is actually going into my son's room, though not that shade because it's oh so sparkly and I'm thinking he wouldn't be a fan, ha.  

An old mirror that my daughter's no longer had space for, some word art from Hobby Lobby ($10),

and a DIY letter W canvas/wood art.

And voila!  Now I just need a chair.

Oh and totally keeping it real, there's a backpack next to the dresser and about 7 pairs of shoes

shoved into that bench.  Two of which may or may not be mine :D

So there ya go.  I don't think I'm quite done though.  I think once I find a chair, this

small space will once again evolve.

Bedroom pillows, I can't stop!

After I made the new pillow covers I lived with them for a while.  Remember these?

I liked them, a lot.  But then, I brought in a painting that I hadn't unwrapped from the move, and the pillows just didn't...fit.  Too plain, too muted.  I needed red!

I began my hunt for that something special fabric and ended up at Hawthorne Threads and voila!  There it was!  An entire collection of the perfect colors, exactly what I had envisioned when I started my search.  Actually, no, even better than I had imagined.  

I tried to find them locally,  because delayed gratification isn't my strong suit, and managed to find a couple of the prints here, but not the two main ones that I absolutely HAD to have.  So I ordered my 2 fabrics and waited, not at all patiently.

They arrived last week, and today, on this very cold (for Texas) sleet filled day, I got to work.

Can I just say, that I am in LOVE?  

This pillow make over is spurring a deep urge to start looking for furniture for my room and to get it just the way I want. The only thing stopping me?  I just don't want to spend the money.  

Like, at all.

So, for now, my two little uber cheap Ikea side tables, my ooooolllldddd black chair, and the bed are it. Although, maybe a quick peek at craigslist...a dresser, some paint...oh the ideas!

From ugly duckling to...

I've still got some work to do on this cute little dresser, but for now, I've found it's spot in the house :)

Remember it started out like this?

One day there will be a cute comfy chair in place of that shoe bench, but for now, it works for our busy family.  I added some pillows with some covers that I made using the left over scraps from my other pillow covers, and voila, much more inviting, don't you think?

Please excuse the paper towels under the dresser, lol.
Need to remember to buy furniture pads for the feet!

I need a pillow cover intervention

So first I made pillow covers for the couch pillows and today, I made some for my bed.

The backs are "envelope" style rather than a zipper, and they aren't perfect by ANY means so don't look too closely :D

I haven't updated my bedroom in several years, and despite that we don't have furniture in our bedroom currently other than our bed, a black leather chair, and our tv stand, I wanted to spruce it up.  I'm sure once I buy something for the bedroom, furniture wise, I'll be making more changes :D

I started out with these, that I bought from Target a million years ago:

These are the covers from the original pillows.
I loved them when I bought them...at full price, GASP!

In an effort to "step outside of my box", I made a trip to Hobby Lobby and paired 5 different fabrics together.  This was panic inducing, yes, panic.  I know you're laughing, and that's ok.  I was laughing at myself too.  I mean, it's only fabric.  It isn't permanent, so what's the big deal right?  

Okay, so without further babbling, here is what my bed looks like now.  I'm not sure how I feel about all of the different patterns, but I'm going to live with it for a few days.

Now, pardon me, while I go rearrange the pillows...again.

Let the projects begin!

You know what happens when you visit the blogosphere?  

You start wanting to do all sorts of crafty projects, spending as little as possible, and then finding even more things to do after you've already compiled a huge list of things.  It's a viciously wonderful crazy circle :D  So.many.projects!

Here's my first one, well, the beginnings of one.  

I found a small, $20, chest of drawers on craigslist, that I knew needed to be mine.  I saw the paint color in my mind even before it was mine, and the perfect place for it in the house.

First things first...cleaning it up.  Lysol wipes were my friend during this process and a heavy duty vac to get the little webby things hanging around on the underside <shudder>.

Then, it was time to get rid of those darling little flowers that had been painted onto the dresser.  Cute, but so not for me or what I had in mind.  

I primed all of the drawers, the entire chest itself, and now I wait for the primer to dry.

Tomorrow, I apply the first coat of paint :D  

I.can't.wait!

Stay tuned for the finished project...