DIY: Grandma's Beautiful Bookcase

As you can see, there was a lot of things piled on this bookcase!

As you know, we lived in Mike's Grandma's Melissa's house when we were first married, and fortunately were able to take this little bookcase and a the chair I refinished last week. I do recall begging to have this (it was in pretty sad shape with scuffs, scratches, and dents) and so I do believe that is why we were able to bring this to our home now.

Why yes, I do love Twilight along with Harry Potter and the few other books we keep!

Who doesn't love a good read on a cold day, sitting under a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate?

I have wanted to do something with it for awhile, so that I could love it's look as well as knowing it is extra special from the love it was given for many years.

Please don't judge the dust! I am convinced it will ALWAYS be dusty!

Given the options of what to do with a piece of furniture that means a lot to our family (Grandma Melissa was one hilarious woman!! How many 93 year old women do you know that could sass with the best of them and still get themselves in and out of a floor-style bath tub? ) we decided it needed some good, ol' fashion loving TLC.

Wanted to show you a close up of the detail I love so much!

So I decided to sand it, paint it, and allow the dents and scratches to be an added bonus, to add to the style as well as show how this piece was loved for many years. Distressed furniture looks great with wanting to keep the dents and all that (although you could sand out the imperfections, some of which I did) but distressed pieces have a lot of personality. Distressing gives the furniture or item a loved and lived in look, is kid friendly, and is really just roughing it up and than staining over the distressed spots. So after sanding, I wiped the dust off (I use a slightly damp towel) and than painted two coats of blue. Let it set for half the day (this was stupidly done in one day, but I will get to that in a moment) and than I sanded and distressed the wood. I again wiped down the bookcase to get rid of the debris from sanding. I stained, and than did the finishing coat of polyurethane. I did make a mistake with trying to hurry the process, and ended up scratching the paint off because the polyurethane has to dry before you do anything. I tried to put the shelves back in to early and had to back step a bit. But it all worked out! I think it turned out great, but again, it goes perfectly with my style! So here is the finished product:I think that to fully appreciate the gorgeous shade of blue, you really have to see it in person. Now I need to figure out a look for the top of the bookcase, and maybe even look into a new lamp for the top. But really not stressing about that right now, as I am loving the blue!

My next project (which I have no idea when I will start) is the stand for under the T.V.
and I may even go bold and go yellow!!!

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

I love Etsy (who doesn't?) I love finding cute little quirky things. I love that you could look for pretty much whatever style (whether cute, chic, kinda freaky, and so on!) When we own our own home, I want to paint and style it in an open, fresh, beachy-chic style. So I am forever window-shopping for some beauties that will make our home more our home. There is an AMAZINGLY talented photographer/artist Tim Irving , and I would LOVE to own some of his work. But I will let you judge for yourself.


I mean doesn't this picture just make you want to run out to that gorgeous field of poppies and pick a gorgeous bouquet of red poppies, or maybe just take a nap under that beautiful blue sky?!?!

Or climb a tree or just take a walk through this gorgeous field?

Doesn't this picture just bring back the sweet nostalgia of being a kid again???


This picture reminds me of when Mike and first were dating, and we went to see the Notebook and vowed to pass away together, when our time came, in each other's arms.

And you guys know how much I love the beach!!!

I could not begin to choose between these gorgeous pictures of the rolling ocean and the big ol' blue. Don't you think they would fit just perfectly in my little cottage by the sea (but really I live in the dessert, so some serious irony there!!!) Someday, when I make my millions (or Mike will!) and I will have every one in his very talented collection!
* I am thinking about opening my own Etsy shop someday, and filling it with refinished items
sanded and painted/refinished by yours truly! Any takers???

Near and Dear to the Heart

Feeding our sweet princess.

When we found out that we were first pregnant with Lilly, it was such a shock. We were really excited and nervous (as most first time parents are!) At twenty weeks, when we went in for our 20 week ultrasound, we found out that Lilly was going to be born with Holoprosencephaly. There was nothing we had done, nothing that could have been done differently to change what had happened. Her brain just did not develop beyond her Cerebellum. We were given the option to abort. I am so glad that we ignored the doctors and went ahead with the pregnancy (a small note here: I carried Lilly to 37.5 weeks before I emotionally was a wreck with worry about never meeting our little princess alive, not to see here eyes open, so I was induced.) I feel that carrying Lilly to full term was inspired, that we would not have had the 5 wonderful weeks that we had with her had we chosen to end the pregnancy.


We worked with a wonderful hospice group, that dealt specifically with families going through what we were going through. They are amazing. Angel Watch (which happens to have a 5K called "Running With Angels" where all the proceeds benefit this amazing organization!) really makes the difference when you are going through the emotional Hell of having a child with a condition not compatible with life. Kaye and Carolyn kept me sane (they started Angel Watch.) They talked to me. They cried with me. They listened to me, helped me to make a birth plan. They having nursing and counseling experience (they even brought Lilly a birthday cake the day she was born!) So last year, Kaye called me about another family that had a little girl named Eva, and that she was living with Alobar Holoprosencephaly. I was elated for this cute family!!!

Look at this smiley little princess, she is just so cute!!!

We were going back and forth between St. George at the time, so I told her I would call and talk to Eva's amazing Mom Gabby when things stabilized a bit. When you are given the diagnosis of Alobar Holoprosencephaly, you are given a 1% chance of your child making it to be born alive. And than a mere 1% chance of making past a few hours!

She is just so stunning!

Now here we are, one year later, and guess what? Eva, a sweet little miracle and b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l little princess is turning one!!! This is a remarkable milestone. One that normally does not happen often without a lot of medical intervention. But she is simply just living, and giving her parents and those that are touched around her a reason to smile!

She is too cute! And even a little Cougar fan!!!!

(She reminds me a lot our Lilly btw!!!) So I am asking a favor. I want you to join me today in wishing cute little Eva a very Happy first birthday!!!!! I know I have a lot of really wonderful people, with kind hearts, that read this (still not sure why, as I ramble on, a lot!) but this seriously is a HUGE DEAL!!! So give send over a Happy Birthday, and see their amazing story by clicking here!
THANK-YOU IN ADVANCE FOR THIS !!!
It will mean a lot for such a special little Princess!!!
*And no spammers please!* :)

DIY: Birthday Party Ideas

Since this is our first of our three kids that we have been able to celebrate their first birthday with them physically there. So as you can imagine, this is a seriously big deal!!! We are still debating how to do the party (our decision changes day-to-day) but I have been planning the decorations, the cake, and the treats. The funny thing is, with the DIY mind-set I have, I realize that pretty much everything for the party can be done by me (and Mike of course!) and so I wanted to share some of the ideas I had.
The first is the cake. Now I was going to have a really good friend make Collin's cake, but I am realizing that this is probably something that I need to do for Collin. (I found a lot of the ideas for this post by visiting blogs and magazine sites to see the how-to! So at the end of the post, I will share the links for the how-to's.) When I was trying to figure out what kind of cake to do, I came upon two clear winners. I think this year we will do the second idea, and use the second option next year. So we decided to do a main cake, and than make cupcakes too.

The second cake just seems like a better option for a first birthday (but next year's birthday will be soo cute since he will be a little more excited and understanding of what is going on!)

So I am going with a sort of nautical theme for this year. I will use whites, blues, reds, and decorate with Chinese lanterns, tissue paper pom-poms, and streamers and of course balloons! The cake is from Martha Stewart, via an amazing blog called Imprintables.



So the next DIY for project for me is making the cute pom-poms that will be hung from the sealing. It is from Martha Stewart (of course) and has instructions for not only the suspended pom-poms, but also for super cute napkin rings.

How to Make the Pom-Poms
You'll need tissue paper and 24-gauge white cloth-covered floral wire.

Hanging Pom-Poms
1. Stack eight 20-by-30-inch sheets of tissue. Make 1 1/2-inchwide accordion folds, creasing with each fold.

2. Fold an 18-inch piece of floral wire in half, and slip over center of folded tissue; twist. With scissors, trim ends of tissue into rounded or pointy shapes.

3. Separate layers, pulling away from center one at a time.

4. Tie a length of monofilament to floral wire for hanging.

So cute, huh? I think I will make some for my SIL Lindsey's baby shower for cute Khloe!!! We will probably make them in white and red for Collin's birthday party, and than cute girly colors for Lindsey's baby shower!!!

Another darling idea I think I will also make a little DIY project with is a cute (and of course re-usable) fabric Happy Birthday banner.

So here's the DIY version, but of course you could use any fabric!
The DIY can be found at this fabulous blog, Brassy Apple, which has some really creative ideas!

So here's the pattern from Brassy Apple:
1. Create a Pattern Template - Choose any size of triangle that fits your occasion and space. For our template we took a 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and folded it down the middle lengthwise. Open it back and up and fold each side from the corner to the middle crease creating a triangle. Cut away the excess paper. (see illustration) If this size is too big, simply cut to desired size.
2. Options: Reversible or 1-sided

Reversible - If you want your triangle pieces to have more "weight" or a stiffer shape to them you can use interfacing between them or heat n' bond to adhere the two fabrics together. You can also use nothing in between them if desired.

1-sided - Again, to add more weight and shape to the triangle pieces we recommend using a fusible fleece on the back side of your fabrics. You can also create a banner without anything on the back of the fabrics.

(*We created a reversible banner. One side is for a girl's birthday and the other for a boys birthday)

3. Creating -

Layer your fabrics wrong sides together (if creating a reversible banner) and add any materials in between them that you'd like as mentioned above and follow the package instructions for use. Pin the fabrics together if necessary.

Position, trace and cut the triangle shapes with all the different fabrics. You will need (11 triangles for 3 yds of bias tape if using the same size of template). Sew around 2 sides of each triangle piece stitching ¼” inside of the pattern line.

Cut out the pieces using a rotary cutter, scissors or pinking shears. *think about cutting more than one triangle from the same fabric.

Once all the triangles are cut, it’s time start stringing them together! Starting about 8" in, place the triangles in between the two layers of the bias tape and pin in place. This allows enough space to have room to tie the banner if necessary.

Repeat until you reach the end the opposite end, again leaving about 8”. You can choose to create a pattern of colors or have no pattern at all! Your triangles can also be overlapped slightly, placed end to end, or have a bit of space in between. The design is up to you! (*for this project we place our triangles end to end)

Once all the triangles have been placed and pinned, sew down the entire length of the bias tape securing all the pieces in place.

You are finished! Find a fun container, fabric box, etc to store it in and we will be adding more to it! Then all of your fun party decor will neatly be stashed away in the one place.

Extra options: Add felt letters to spell out an event phrase (i.e. Happy Birthday!, Baby Shower, Go Team, Autumn, etc). The letters could be ironed or glued on. Another option is to stencil the letters on with paint. Get creative! Just be sure you have enough triangles for the letters you need. :)

If you want to make your banner longer, simply sew another strand of bias tape to one end and continue. If you want to make the banner shorter, cut the bias tape to the desired length.

My Mom borrowed my sewing machine, but as soon I get it back, I am going to be going to town on this super-cute banner (or at least something just like it!) I may even make a banner with velcro so that you can reuse and change the banner for anyone's birthday. Too many options!

This one is cute, and very nautical looking, so may do something close to this, but not exact!

Another cute idea for cheap, affordable, and fun decorations is to use glass vases, apothecary jars, or glass bowls, and fill them with candy. You than have the adults, oops, I mean the kids, scoop their very own blend of candy. You tie the bag and stick a cute tag on, and voila! You have a cute and easy treat bag. Because what is a birthday without a treat/goodie bag? This table above would be so much fun, and just add so much color to any party. There are even biodegradable cellophane bags that would be cute to use as the treat bags. So hopefully for your little one's next birthday (and maybe even your own) you can make a party that is cheap, easy, and fun!!!

links for projects are here:
Martha Stewart
Brassy Apple
The Pleated Poppy
Inprintables (an amazing party planner!)

Spammers

I am having a problem with spammers on my blog. They are annoying, obnoxious, and some are even perverted. So I am politely asking that whoever you are, to GET OFF THE BLOG!!! This is a family style blog, and although the readers do not have to read the comments (since they are being moderated) I do, and I am done. I do not want to go private, but the perverted comments NEED TO GO!!!! Whomever you are, read the comment at the top of the comment box " if you not have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!!!" If anyone has any tips about how to go about getting rid of certain readers, without going private. I love to read comments normally. But now, I take a deep breathe in before I look at the comments. I will keep on posting, but I really need this to change. So look forward to more posts, and I hopefully will look forward to reading some kind and wholesome comments. Thanks.

Lady's Weekend!!!

Since October, we have been planning an all-girl's trip for tow of my sisters, my Mom, and one of my cute SIL Amanda. I am so excited for this trip! We are headed to Las Vegas to see the show "Thunder From Down Under" (just kidding!) No, we actually are going to see "The Phantom of the Opera". We are staying at a really nice hotel on the strip, and it even has a kitchen we can cook and bake in. Now I love food. And food loves me. It even loves me so much that it hangs around WAY too long!!! So I told my sisters that I do not want to eat out every meal and that maybe we should look into cooking some of our meals (so as to not over-eat, and ahem, slow things down!) So we will be cooking a bit. Nothing amazing, as it is just that, a vacation, but I want to make this special breakfast for our first morning we are there. It looks amazing and I bet will taste amazing too!!And get this, it really is not that bad for you!!! Shocking, I know! So here you go!!!
I am so excited to try this out and have a nice weekend away!!!
*Promise I will miss you Mike and Collin!* XOXO

Raspberry Almond Chocolate Crepes

ingredients and directions:

For the crepes:

• 1½ cups flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2¼ cups lowfat milk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 large eggs
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Vegetable oil as needed

For the filling:

• 2 cups part skim ricotta cheese
• 1½ cups raspberries
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup toasted almonds
• Zest on orange

Chocolate sauce:

• ½ cup chopped Dove Dark Chocolate
• ¼ cup lowfat milk
• ½ cup raspberries
• 1/3 cup Raspberry Almond M&M’S® Brand Premium Chocolate Candies

Special utensils:

• 6-inch skillet
• 2 mixing bowls
• 6-inch non-stick sauté pan

• Yield: Makes 16 crepes
• Prep Time: 10 min.
• Difficulty: Easy

• Crepe batter:
• 1. Combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt.
• 2. In another bowl, 2 cups of milk, butter, eggs and vanilla until blended.
• 3. Combine butter and flour mixtures, whisking until smooth. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• 4. Cook crepes: Before cooking, whisk remaining ¼ cup of milk into crepe batter. Lightly brush skillet with oil and heat over medium high heat. Once pan is hot, remove from heat, pour in ¼ -cup of batter and swirl pan around allowing batter to evenly coat bottom. Return pan to heat and cook for 40 seconds. Flip crepe over and continue to cook an additional 20 seconds. Repeat process with remaining batter, stacking crepes. Set aside.
• Filling:
• 5. Combine ricotta cheese with raspberries, sugar and orange zest. 2. Spread crepes with filling to within ½-inch of the edge. Fold crepes into quarters and place two on each serving plate.
• Sauce:
• 6. Before serving, melt chocolate and milk together.
• 7. Drizzle sauce over crepes, garnish with raspberries and Raspberry Almond M&M’S Premiums.

Nutritional Information:

• Calories per serving 222
• Total Fat 8 g
• Saturated Fat 4 g
• Trans Fat 0 g
• Cholesterol 41 mg
• Sodium 78 mg
• Carbohydrates 25 g
• Dietary Fiber 3 g
• Sugars 11 g
• Protein 8 g
• Vitamin A 0%DV
• Vitamin C 0%DV
• Calcium 0%DV
• Iron 0%DV

Drooling

Since I have been under the weather for the last 2 1/2 days, I have spent a lot of time just relaxing and taking it easy (you know having your head and body ache just really does not give you the get-up-and-go type feeling!) I have been loving the DIY projects, and have loved finding some super cute blogs. The authors of these blogs are so talented, and so very inspiring (I am hoping by tomorrow to be feeling good enough to start another project! ) But anyways, a lot of these super-talented women do not have a ton of money to buy new furniture or lighting, so they use what they have, give it some good ol' TLC and it gives it a fresh new look!!! So, since we are trying to be good and save to buy a home this year, I have tried to simply change things up with a little paint and new hardware as needed. A lot of cute ideas that you see out there are usually pretty easy to shop around and find cheaper elsewhere. For example: I love this chandelier from Home Depot, and would love it in a bedroom/kitchen when we own our own home.

But the price in not amazing, where you will be paying close to 100 buck-a-roos. So I actually found one that could almost pass as a twin for this one, for less than half the price. I would have to so a little spray painting if I wanted the white color, but it looks cute in the silver finish too. It is from Ikea for 39 little dollars.

I am fortunate to live near an Ikea. Now Ikea and I have a love/hate relationship. I feel like when I go there, that I am there for days (not really days, but it seriously is not an in-and -out kind of store!) So if I do not have all day to shop, I head straight for their marketplace. They have fabrics of all sorts (I love canvas for pillows and refinishing seats since it is heavy duty and gives it more of a life.) Another store I love is Anthropologie. Now I also love Anthro, but hate their high prices. So to get more of their look for less-of-a-price, I simply window-shop and see what I can find comparatively out there with either a look-a-like or from E-Bay. I would splurge on some of their hardware though, because a lot of knobs are about the same there and at home depot.I personally would like a couple of these knobs for some future projects!




Sorry for all the pictures of the knobs, but I just simple love personality of them all. Another store (don't worry, I do not have any pictures!) that can give you the look for less is a little store called Tai Pan Trading, which we are fortunate enough to be close. They have great ideas at a lot cheaper of prices than a lot of stores will charge you.
I also love Pottery Barn. I wish I could afford their prices.



I especially love the look of this smocked curtain. But one panel will run you at the very least, 50 dollars!!!! So fortunately, I was taught to sow. So I will buy material for the curtains, and do the smocking myself. I will spend $3.50 versus the $50 to get the look. It will take more time, but it will be worth it in the end. So if you have some time, and want to get inspired for your own home, than visit the design blogs that I am going to link on the side of my page. No matter what your style (mine happens to be a blend of beachy-chic-vintage-light country-look) you will find some inspiring projects to get your home to what you want it to be!!!! And since we are on a budget, I will just keep-on refinishing projects and drool over my little wish lists!!! (Here's a few more from Anthro that I am looking for cheaper or maybe even to make myself!)

Could you just imagine going to your kitchen to make something yummy in the super cute apron, while getting eggs out of this holder, or maybe even enjoying a delicious cup of hot chocolate on a cold day???

Collin: 11 months

Bringing Collin home.

I cannot believe how quickly these last 11 months have flown by. I just look at Collin each day and am amazed at how much I love and adore him. This is what we brought home. He was such a cute-little hairy monkey! I see new babies at the hospital I work at and cannot even begin to remember Collin ever being that little!

Collin in the rear facing car seat one last time.

Collin graduated (and I know, it was a little early) from the rear facing car seat to a front facing. I know his age was a bit off (excuse the 4 weeks and don't judge) but it just works this way. He loves being able to see us. He loves to play games. His favorite game right now is Peek-a-Boo. He will sit in the back seat and we will look back, and he will pull the blanket up and than down, over and over, giggling every time we say boo! He also loves to go into a room and open and close the door. I will say "open" and he will open the door and than when I say "close", he closes the door. Collin loves bath time. I took some pictures (the non-child pornography, mind you) because he loves to take baths. He even sometimes throws fits when we get him out!

A lot of the time, we are the ones getting the bath from all the splashing from Collin!


Collin loves to cheese for the camera. It is so funny to see him get so excited when you pull the camera out. I have a funny picture of my nephew Tatum with Collin, and Collin is grinning ear-to-ear with Tatum just looking like, "what are you doing?" They are pretty cute playing together.
Collin also has taken up walking and standing all alone. This is a recent achievement. For the last two weeks, Collin has adored being able to walk with us. He just started standing all alone, not hanging on to anything. He acts like it is nothing big, like he has been doing it for the last 11 months. I was teary eyed just seeing him stand there. He has thinned out a ton. Here's picture to see how the cheeks were before he started crawling and getting around.

I miss those chubby cheeks, but love seeing this little cute and active boy get around and get into mischief. And mischief is something that Collin is so good at.

Collin loves our dog (or better his) dog Skip. Skip is not always such a big fan. But he is obliging in hit attentions and dealing with the pulling of hair, and kissing. Skip just usually moves away or licks Collin, which pretty much is gross and funny all at once!

Collin giving Skip the "back-kiss" which equals even more hair on the kid.

Collin loves to give kisses to his Mom and sometimes Dad. H e is becoming more and more independent and just loves people. I serve in our church's primary, teaching 4-5 year olds. He loves the kids, and lets other teachers hold him and care for him. He is always happy and smiling, and just in turn makes us so happy. I think we will be doing two birthday parties. It just overall works better that way with our smaller house and huge families. So happy 11 months Collin!!! We love you so much!