Ins & Outs

This is more of an in...I finally used two of my remaning stashed giftcards over the past weekend and landed some really great home upgrades! I have been dragging my feet on selecting new towls for the bathroom, and I finally had the stars align for me when the perfect shade of buttery yellow towls showed up at Marshall's on the same day I remembered to bring my giftcard!

I don't believe I ever mentioned that we (meaning Cody!) repainted the bathroom to another shade of gray. This one is called 'Cement Gray' by Martha Stewart. It's really the perfect shade in here, the original one had a blue tint to it and was slowly driving me insane! Cody still wants to touch up all the white paint in here too  (ceiling, trim & shelves), plus we want to frame out the mirror, add some sort of window curtain and maybe a few more shelves next to the mirror as well.

And next up--a new area rug! This find was really the shocker, it was a set of three: 6x9 area rug, runner & doormat all in one! The set was originally $150 and marked down to $75 at Bed, Bath and Beyond. And then I had managed to bring a handy dandy 20% coupon AND THEN I also had a $30 giftcard! So for $35, here we have it!

I got immediate approval from Brandi, I could barely even get the area rug unrolled and she was rolling herself all over it, smelling it, completely overjoyed with her new 'bed'. And Tanner is quite pleased that he is no longer sharing his bed with her too!

One thing I am not sure if I can get behind is the rug just outside the bathroom door. The print on the rug + the striped shower curtain might be a little too much for me to handle. However, I do really like having a runner in the hallway!

The last little upgrade I made was purchasing this turquoise 8x10 frame at Marshall's for $5! This little score is actually months old, and just a few days ago I filled it with this free printable and hung it behind our front door. That space really needs something, crossing my fingers for some sort of coat rack/chalkboard organization center in the future.

So all-in-all $40 stretched really far in our little home! I love the thrill of 'hunting' deals and many, many times you come up empty handed. But then there are those days when it all falls into place and makes it all so very worth it!

Easiest Ever DIY Baby Blanket

Finished Luke's blanket last night and I am so excited about it! This triple crochet idea is the easiest thing ever. Well, to be honest my creation still didn't have perfect edges but I was able to crochet a border for camoflauge :)

I went a bit larger than the tutorial, I believe I stopped at 70 stitches for the first row and I used an "S" size crochet hook. The border is just two chain stitches looping back into the blanket every other row. And I went around the blanket in that fashion twice. The project took a little less than two skeins of three colors to complete. I am super excited about how soft and squishy it is though! It will certainly double as a tummy time mat for our little dude.

Nursery, Names & DIY!

We are in full swing planning and demo-ing for our little man's nursery! First and foremost, we've officially decided he will be named Luke! It's made such a huge difference to have a name for him now! Cody's family has a tradition of using the fathers name as the first son's middle name, Cody is Cody Stephen and Luke will be Luke Cody! I love naming traditions, but I also think its important for a child to have their 'own' name. The middle name is the perfect blend of both for us!

I've also started making a blanket, I figure I have plenty of time to unravel and re-stitch as needed so this one has even edges. I found the idea here and I love how thick the three strand crochet technique is!

We have also begun the nursery! It needs some messy work before all the fun stuff. Currently it looks like this:

Cody and my dad are working on replacing the window, the new window will be (double paned!) standard height of either 48" or 36" (not sure yet) instead of its current 52". Luke is also getting insulated walls. Lucky boy. We also have new trimwork for the door, closet, window & baseboard on the list. And maybe a new ceiling fan. Once the walls are done, I am almost certain we will be going with the below Behr paint color.

I couldn't really connect with any of the nursery 'themes' I looked at. And I looked at A LOT. So I decided to go more color based instead! I love a bold boys room. So we are keeping the walls neutral so things like a rug, bedding & wall art and be the attention getters in the room. Besides our son of course! A few of the items I have my sights on...

 

This handmade teddy bear.

This baby quilt.

This plush rug.

For a splash of green, I found these adorable prints too! I think I would swap the yellow snail for a gray background, luckily this Etsy shop allows any color swap you could ask for!

(Visit the shop)

And lastly, if I can find an affordable wagon, I would love to create in this shelving unit!

(found here)

I am a sucker for little red wagons right now. They're like cuter than puppies--don't tell my dogs I said that!

It's a B-O-Y!

Our family addition is a boy!! Out-numbered again :)

I am thinking of going bold for the nursery. Bold blue, red and some green. Baby blues just aren't grabbing me. Diving head first in registry research now and trying to keep things simple. There are literally gadgets for everything you think of. Call me a mean mom but I just cannot justify a wipe warmer...

Hopefully I am not eating my words on that one!

DIY: Vanilla Latte Sugar Scrub

The saga of sugar scrubs continues. Luckily my mom asks me every year if she is getting more of it, so it's safe to say she isn't sick of getting receiving it for Mother's Day! Although last year I did change it up for body  butter...Anyways this year I was in the mood for a real 'wake-me-up' concoction. Again, the amounts of ingredients are all pretty much eye-balled & done by smell!

Gather & combine: granulated sugar, fresh coffee grounds, vanilla extract & oil.

I wasn't particularily thrilled with the muddy color it took on (one ratio I tried to stick to is 1:3 part coffee to sugar). But it smelled & scrubbed fantasticly so I'm still calling this one a winner!

A 9-Part Photo Project

As most of you are already aware--Cody & I are growing our little family! I can't decide if we are two becoming three or four becoming five. Either way, the countdown is on for October 8th!

We are four months into what I'm affectionately calling an alien invasion (I swear I don't even recognize myself with the mood, enegry level & taste bud changes!). I am so happy to have Katy helping me document my growing baby belly!

I am not sure how consistently I will be around here posting, but I still want to keep this blog going! My usual desire to keep my hands busy with creating & cooking & whatever other project I can find has been replaced with a new found love for naps! Hope ya'll don't mind if I get a little baby crazy over here, being a mother is a path I have always desired. So much of this site will likely focus on little ones for a bit while I get it out of my system--I am going to be a mommy!!!

Cake-Cookie Easter Experiment

I have been wanting to work on my baking skills more lately. Since Cody loves soft sugar cookies, I figured that would be a good place to start! My idea was to use an egg shaped baking dish for egg shaped soft sugar cookies. I used this recipe ( --followed it to a T!) and with some baking tweaks-- I guess they turned out ok?

First, I wasn't prepared for the dough to rise so dramatically! The 'cookies' doubled in size during baking. This doesn't reconcile with my baking experience, but then again I wouldn't label myself a baker!  So with Cody's help trouble-shooting assistance, a well placed baking dish guaranteed a flat bottomed egg shaped baked treat. The texture of the cookies were more like a moist mini cake. Cody promised me they still tasted good, so they got to live on for a heavy coat of frosting on Easter Sunday!

They certainly weren't the prettiest thing I've made, but I can't be to hard on myself since there were many compliments received on the flavor!