What I'm Loving Wednesday and Oh, How Pinteresting

Happy Leap Year!

Today I'm linking up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday and I'm also linking up with Michelle for Oh, How Pinteresting!

I'm loving that at this time next week we will be in Oklahoma looking for a house to buy! I'm so excited to start this process and hopefully become a homeowner (er...a mortgage owner)!

I'm loving that, again, this time next week I'll have met my new little nephew and loved on him! I can't wait to see the little guy!

I'm loving this:

You know I can't hardly stand Lady Gaga and all of her "Look at me! Give me some attention!" antics.

I'm loving my sweet girl! She makes me laugh every single day!

Link up here to play along with What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Today I am going to post some of the pins I have pinned as inspiration for my craft room. Ya'll know I desperately need to get off of the kitchen table and into a craft room!

I am going to try to use gray, lavender and white as the color palette. Although, if the carpet is tan (it is in a few of the homes we are considering) then I may have to rethink that. What do you think about mixing tan and gray?

Source: etsy.com via Lisa on Pinterest

My next choice would be the nice green in this picture.

Source: potterybarnkids.com via Lisa on Pinterest

We are eventually going to put a bed in there for guests (once we are able to get a new bed for ourselves) and I am loving this headboard! Isn't it perfect to go in a craft room!?

Source: bhg.com via Lisa on Pinterest

As far as decorating, I am loving this idea:

Source: Uploaded by user via Lisa on Pinterest

And this, but in one color and to say "CREATE."

Source: duitang.com via Lisa on Pinterest

And, last, I'm loving these organization ideas:

Source: bhg.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Source: 6thstreetdesignschool.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Source: rhgarza.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Link up here to share what you have been pinning!

I hope you all have a fantabulous day!

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And done. Finally.

I had such issues with getting the baby gift for the shower next week done. This is the reason I start planning and getting things early! You never know what is going to happen to mess you all up! I bought a package of cloth diapers to make burp rags with 3 weeks ago. The first package went to pot after I prewashed them. Our water is awful and it left brown spots on the fabric and it made the fabric inside twist to where I couldn't get it to lay straight. Those just went in the trash. So I went back and bought another package...that turned out to be flat folded which wouldn't have worked for this project. Enter trip three yesterday. I finally got what I needed and finished up 12 burp cloths. These six are for the shower next week.
I also made her 3 bows and bought coordinating head bands. I don't know if my friend even likes bows (I know they are not everybody's thing) so I just did very simple ones for her.
And I found these two outfits at Wal-Mart for $2.50 each and couldn't pass them up. For real, how cheap is that? And they are adorable!
These are the burp cloths I made for another friend who is having a baby in May.

I also finally found the ribbon to finish off the ribbon topiaries for the baby shower. Now all I need to do is get the punch ingredients and decorate. Everything else is done! I'm excited to see how it all comes together!

Rants

1. If a woman and a little girl are walking on the yellow stripes in a parking lot, that doesn't mean you should try to hit them. If you subsequently get a dirty look from the woman for the incident, you should feel ashamed. Don't give her a dirty look back when it was your stupidity that caused the problem in the first place!

2. If you are in a line that is clearly marked "Speedy Checkout, 10 items or less" and you have a full buggy, please know that I think you are rude and that you should have taken yourself and your full buggy to a non-speedy checkout line. It's common courtesy, people!

3. Dear Angelina Jolie, there are other colors in the world besides black, gray and dull.

4. As for you Brad Pitt, it's called shampoo. Use some. I know you know what I'm talking about because you did use it when you were with Jennifer Anniston. Just because you are now with Maleficent doesn't mean you have to be gross, too.

5. And Minnie Driver, no one cares who your baby daddy is.

I am done. Goodnight.

Diaper Cake Tutorial

I didn't take a bunch of pictures when I was making the diaper cake because I had never made one before so I wasn't planning to do a tutorial for it. I don't think it will take away from the instructions to not have pictures, though.

Supplies you will need:

Diapers (the number of diapers will depend on how big you want your cake to be. I used 2 50 count packages. Also, it would be better for the diapers to be plain white, but I bought the Wal-Mart brand (which used to be plain) and they weren't.)

Ribbon (I used a thick ribbon so it would cover all the strings and rubberbands)

Rubber bands

Some type of string or extra large rubber bands (I used crochet thread because it is what I had on hand)

Cardboard cake round (I buy these at Hobby Lobby in the cake decorating section.)

Silk flowers

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

3 sizes of round cake pans (this is optional, but it really helped me)

I started with the bottom tier of the cake and used my biggest cake pan for this. I rolled up each diaper and put a rubber band around the middle of it. I then just put the rolled up diapers upright in the cake pan until it was full. While the diapers were still in the cake pan, I wound my crochet thread around the center of the outside diapers and tied it. I tied it tight enough so that I could move the tier without all the diapers in the middle falling out. Do the next two tiers the same way with the cake pans.

After securing all the diapers and tying them together, take your ribbon and wrap it around the tiers, covering the thread and rubber bands. I just folded over the end of the ribbon a little and hot glued it to the other ribbon end. Make sure you don't get any glue on the diapers. They won't be usable if you do.

I covered the cardboard cake round in fabric at this point. I just hot glued the fabric on the bottom of the cardboard.

Set the cake tiers on the cardboard cake round.

Embellish with the silk flowers.
This process was so simple. The rolling of the diapers did take a while, but I just watched some TV while I did it. I, personally, like more simple designs, but you can embellish with all kinds of things like pacifiers, bottles, socks, shoes, travel sized baby lotions and shampoos, etc. if you wanted to. Just play with it until it is what you want!

My Recipe Box: Chicken Pillows

Well, ya'll, I tried 2 new recipes this week and was very happy with both of them! I loved these chicken pillows and will definitely be making them again!

Chicken Pillows

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

salt and pepper (I never put salt or pepper in any of my dishes)

1 1/2 Tbsp dried chives

1 1/2 Tbsp fresh onion, minced (I usually use onion flakes because I hate chopping onions)

3 chicken breasts, cooked and diced (around 3 cups

2 cans (8 oz. each) crescent rolls

1/4 cup melted butter

Italian bread crumbs

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 pkg chicken gravy mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and sour cream until well combined. Stir in salt, pepper, chives, onion and chicken.

Using crescent rolls, take 2 triangles and push together at perforated seam to make a square. Make sure you seal the perforations well so your filling doesn't come out. Put about 3 Tbsp chicken mixture into center of square. Fold the corners over the top to make a pillow. Dip each pillow in melted butter and then roll in bread crumbs. Put chicken pillows on a cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Make gravy by mixing one pkg chicken gravy mix, cream of chicken soup and 3/4 cup water. Heat in a saucepan until warm. Serve chicken pillows with gravy poured on top.

Yum!

Taking advantage of the beautiful weather this week

Check!

First, up...I gave my blog a favicon! Yay! Unfortunately, I guess because I use Safari as my web browser, it doesn't show up for me. But, I looked my blog up on IE and it showed up there. Fun stuff!

On to the topic!

Yesterday I finished Chloe Jo's birthday outfit! Eek! It turned out so much cuter than I even imagined in my head! I am so excited about it and CJ loves it! She came into the kitchen when I was making the skirt...stopped really quickly and said "WOW! I yuv it!" and then ran over and gave it a huge hug. It. Was. Adorable. And totally worth the time it has taken to make the outfit! Without further mumbo jumbo, here is the unveiling of the birthday outfit!

I love bows and thoroughly enjoyed creating this Strawberry Shortcake one!

I then made this Strawberry-inspired shirt. If you haven't seen the modern Strawberry, google her and you'll understand this shirt. And remember I said "inspired."
And what is a 3 year old girls birthday party without a tutu??? Every princess needs a tutu (unless you don't like tutu's...or your princess doesn't like tutus...or tutus are just not yur thang...). Anywho...
And what is a Strawberry Shortcake inspired outfit without green and white striped tights? Not good enough I say! These tights are pretty loose on little skinny minny, but I'm going to just go with it.
And sparkly shoes to top the outfit of...er, bottom the outfit off? I tried to find pink sparkly shoes. I did find some. I just didn't want to pay the price for them. What can I say? I'm cheap. Silver is fun, too. I like them so much I would like a pair in my size!
And I think Chloe Jo loves her outfit. She keeps bringing it to me saying "Dis is for my paaaaaahtay!" She especially loved modeling it for me. Such a girly-girl!
And as a side-note, did you all see the ribbon topiaries in my last post? How cute are they? This poor one is bald right now. I have to go get more ribbon to fill in the very top, but I think they turned out cute!

And one last thing: A couple commenters asked for tutorials on making bows and on the diaper cake I made. I'll try to get to those soon!

Happy Thursday!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

It has been forever since I linked up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday! I think the last time was before Christmas!

I'm loving the weather! Yesterday Chloe Jo and I went to the library and, on a whim, went to the park to play afterward. Today is so beautiful out we may have to go to the park again!

I'm loving family game night! Chloe Jo received $10 from Granny Tiger and Grand Pappy for Valentines Day and she used it to buy a Dora Dominoes game!

I'm loving this precious girl of mine! Chloe Jo brightens my days so much!

I'm loving trying new recipes! I haven't been trying new ones for the last few months, but this week and next week I'm trying 3 new ones! I made Chicken Pillows yesterday evening and they were so yummy! In fact, I'm going to have one for lunch in a few minutes. Stay tuned for that recipe.

I'm loving all the crafty things I've been doing lately! I hate that I have to completely take over the kitchen table to craft but it is what it is. When we buy our new house in Oklahoma I will have a craft room.

I just don't understand why Russ says I have a slight craft addiction...

This is a bow I made for Chloe Jo yesterday. It turned out soooooo good!

Chloe Jo's strawberry wreath for her Strawberry Shortcake party

Diaper carriage for the baby shower I am helping host

Diaper cake for the baby shower

I'm loving that we are moving in just a little over a month to Oklahoma! I am so ready to see my family and live close to them...and hug and smooch on my new baby nephew!

Link up {here} to tell us what you are loving on this gorgeous Wednesday!

Ribbon Wreath Tutorial

Since the ribbon wreaths I've made the last few days came out so great, I thought I would do a brief tutorial of how I made them.

This is the finished wreath for Chloe Jo's Strawberry Shortcake party. I love all the strawberry ribbon! I had to order it from eBay because I never did find any in stores.

Ribbon Wreath Tutorial

Supplies:

Styrofoam wreath form

Ribbon (I used a 12 inch wreath form and used about 20 yards of 1-inch ribbon)

Straight pins

Ruler

Scissors

The first thing to do is cut the ribbon up. I cut mine into 3-inch pieces. If you do longer pieces, it would be a little more floppy, but I wouldn't do shorter pieces. It just depends on how you want your wreath to look.

Make a loop with the ribbon and push a straight pin through the two ends.

Pin the loop onto the styrofoam wreath form.

Continue filling in the form until it is completely covered.

And that is all there is to it! It is super-duper simple! I used the same technique for the ribbon topiaries. I'll post a picture of them soon. They turned out really cute, too!

This weeks to-do list

Well, I got a lot done last week, but I have a big to-do this week, too. I'm trying to get everything ready for the baby shower and for Chloe Jo's party. Her party isn't until the middle of April, but I need to get things done this month because next month is going to be crazy insane with packing and moving!

Lately I have been really trying to get Chloe Jo to do things by herself. Not big things, but little things like picking out her own clothes and putting them on and going potty. She refuses to go potty if one of us isn't helping her. I don't really get it because she is definitely tall enough to get on there with the step stool now and she can get her own pants down. She has never wiped herself, though and will. not. do. it. under any circumstances. She'll just sit there until we finally come help her. Maybe I should be glad that she is not independent, but it would really be nice if she went potty by herself.

Also, I have started asking her to pick out her own clothes. This is what she came up with on Saturday.

At first she didn't have a shirt picked out and I made her go back in there and find one.

This is what she actually ended up wearing.

I don't think she is ready to pick out her own clothes yet! HA! She did find those red shoes in her bottom drawer (where I keep things that are for when she is bigger) and I realized that they do fit so we got them out.

I had to go find her some new pants and shoes on Saturday. She is up to a size 8 in shoes so I had to find a few pairs to replace her size 7's. She has been in desperate need of some new pants to finish out the season. She has really outgrown her size 3T's but I've been hesitant to go get any more because I knew they would be too big around the waist. I finally had to do it because way too much sock was beginning to show between her pants and shoes. And I was right. I'm going to have to take in all of the pants I bought her. At least they were on sale since the stores are getting their spring lines out now!

Sunday morning, I dressed her and got out a pair of brown shoes for her to wear to which she responded "No, no! I want to wear my wed shoos!" The red shoes did not match her outfit so I made sure she got to wear them for evening services.

Doesn't she look precious? I love her red shoes just as much as she does, I think!

I have so many things to do today, I better get back to it. I only got on blogger to procrastinate a bit!

This week I need to:

finish ribbon topiaries for baby shower

find and print a fun game for baby shower

find a good pink punch recipe for baby shower

make tissue paper pom poms for baby shower (although I might just wait to do those)

finish baby shower gifts

make Hello Kitty, Dora and Strawberry Shortcake hair bows for Chloe Jo

make strawberry garland for cake table for CJ's birthday party

make CJ's birthday party outfit

create the invitations for CJ's birthday party

finish strawberry wreath for birthday party

I better go get to it!

I hope you all have a great week!