Happy Valentine's Day!

My sweet husband has a big trial coming up and  he's been working long, hard days.  He asked if we could celebrate V-day early so we did it last night. I cooked some of he's favorite things (I didn't take pics...I forgot!) we had beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes or 'boats' as Craig and then girls call them, and fresh green beans (my mom's recipe!!) It was delicious!  I normally would have baked the dessert (I love baking and prefer it over cooking!) but the last minute notice and the fact that Sunday was going to filled with making 37 valentine treats for the girl's class....I bought for the first time! I bought a red velvet cupcake, it was yummy. I also bought a chocolate truffle cake, Craig and the kids liked it but i didn't care for it.  I'm not a fan of the HEB's cupcakes or cakes and they used the same cake base for this truffle.  Of well the fam liked it and it saved me several calories!!! :o)

The table was elegant meets shabby chic. I used my china (that stuff hasn't been used in 10 years!! CRAZY, we're using it at least once a week now! I mean what's the point?  All those lovely people spent a fortune giving us plates that sit in a china cabinet. I feel guilty just thinking about it, it ends now!) and nice stemware but then mixed it with my favorite natural twine place mats and cotton napkins. 

I also put out some of my favorite candlesticks. We actually ate by candle light!  Cheesy, right? Craig pointed out how quiet everybody was, even sweet Mille! WE might eat by candle light every night!!!  The girls loved the candles, Mac wanted to turn off ALL the lights. But I told her mom and dad might cut off a finger while cutting our steak if we did that.

There is the pretty (but not so yummy-sorry it wasn't very good) chocolate truffle cake and the huge red velvet cupcake.

I bought my favorite flowers, tulips and hydrangeas!  I just threw them in a white pitcher, nothing fancy or full of thought.  Simple and pretty.

This I had to add b/c it's so darn cute!  While I was finishing up with the cooking sweet thing fell asleep with my other baby, Granger!  She had a big day of playing with the neighbor outside, what a gorgeous day it was!  I had all the windows open while I was cooking.  My sweet baby is so precious when she sleeps. One day I need to do a collage of her sleeping in this chair, some are too funny. One she's sitting straight up and another she is asleep with her head on one arm of the chair and hers legs on the other, her torso is barely touching the cushion of the chair. So funny!!!  That girl can fall asleep fast and fall asleep anywhere!

My babies in their t-shirts that I made.  They were excited.  Sad side note, if Mille looks a little sad it's b/c 5 seconds before this pic her dad said all her allowance was taken away!  They start out each week with $5. If they don't complete chores they get .50 taken away. Well sweet thing was down to $3 (she'll get it one day, right?  Love her, but wow she's a hard egg to crack!) When Craig went to take out the trash he saw that she left her scooter on the front curb.  Oops! I think I would have taken $1 but....maybe she'll get it. My fingers are crossed!  

Craig laughed at the head bands but the girls thought they were cute, that's all that matters!

Sweet thing striking her pose! She still had $3 in this pic, they're out of order.  My poor baby, no pun intended!

Update the old!

I bought a couple of ottomans at Target a while back.  I liked the size and shape but the leather was just a little dark.  I actually had them in my bedroom but now they're in the front living room.  This fabric is awesome, I think I could cover my entire house with it!

Easy project, just unscrew the top and staple gun the new fabric on then screw it back in place.

I decided to put them in the newly redone living room.  I like the idea of extra seating, we'll see what Craig says. I never know with that man. :o)

Yipee, it's done!

Gum ball necklace

I had seen this precious idea on one of my favorite blogs (I don't remember which one-oops!) We at one time had enough gum balls for me to make 2 necklaces but...a certain little someone ate them with her friend. :o)  So I was only able to make one, they can always share.  It's very simple and very sassy!

Pick out the colors of gum balls you want and then get cute ribbon.  Then carefully (I actually hurried and stabbed myself- I don't recommend that!) use either a metal skewer  or a meat thermometer and poke a hole through the gum ball.  Pinch the gum ball and put it on the table, this will prevent breaking and sliding. You'll want to poke a hole on either side so it's nice and clean. Then get your ribbon and cut a point on the end. I even covered it with tape so it would slide through the hole easier.  After you slide it through the hole just tie a knot after each gum ball and finish it with a bow.

I know the girls will love this I can't wait to see what they think when they get home. I hope everybody stays warm, this weather is nuts!!!!

On my other model!  The funny thing is she even had on a tunic with gum balls on it! 

Sweet treats

The girls like to give candy to friends and I thought this was a cute idea.  I think I got the idea out of Family Fun magazine.  You just take any kind of candy that's in a roll and wrap scrapbook paper around it.  The message says "I like the way you roll!" Very simple and sweet. I think the girls want to make valentines too, so we'll probably make some handmade ones this weekend.  It's funny because before having kids I was never a huge Valentine's Day person, but now it's so fun. We love to make fun things together, so this is just another reason to do it. 

Valentine shirts for the girls

It's so hard to find cute shirts for the girls that aren't super expensive or lame in one form or another.  So I try and make them cute shirts for the holidays.  I usually go to my favorite store Target (I love Target!! I know the lay out better than the workers. It amazes and frightens Craig at the same time! It's one of my happy places!) and get t-shirts, this t-shirt was probably $8. Then I visit my other favorite store, Hobby Lobby (another happy place!) and pick up the accents. I envisioned doing 3 hearts and then I wanted to try sewing lots of beads on one because I thought it would look neat.  Here is the finished product, they turned out cute. 

This is Camille's t-shirt. At the last minute I put the "C" on it. I just used felt and cut it out free hand. Hopefully you can see the beaded heart. I love the result but seriously those things took way too long.  I made them while Craig was out of town, so I just sat in bed till wee hours in the night sewing on tiny beads.  I don't sleep well when he's gone anyway so this was a good project.

This is Miss Mac's t-shirt. With her beaded heart it was a little easier because I sewed all of the buttons and bigger beads on first then filled in with little beads.

My sweet Mille in her shirt.  I need to get one of Mac, she was at a party when we took this pic. 

Bottom line, the girls love their t-shirts and can't wait to wear them.  A mom success!!!!  All it took was fun felt, t-shirts, beads, buttons, needle, thread, and love. :o)

Mille's Valentine box

This box screams my sweet little Camille. She loves bright colors (green is her favorite!) and she loves zebra print. I had saved this awesome box from a pair of boots I bought the girls, perfect size for valentine cards. I decided to cover it with material because it never fails that my kids want to keep their boxes and they are always "so pretty!" ;o) So since her room is pink/black/& white I thought this would fit in just fine.

It's covered with material and then I used a zebra ribbon to accent the opening. This is one of those projects that I grabbed whatever I had in the craft closet, no planning involved! Those are the best sometimes. I used pink ribbon and sewed them into a cute bow and then added beads to "fancy it up!" The other accent is scrap material that I folded and did a running stitch down the middle and then pulled it tight to make it scrunch up . I'm sure there is some name for that but I don't sew so I just  try random stuff out. I think I had seen this done before on HGTV, who knows!

Pam (Mille's teacher) said to add a picture so it would be easy for kids to identify while passing out their cards. So there is my sweet Mille.  When Craig got home I showed him her box, all he could say was "WOW!" I assure you it isn't from the hard work and creativity I put in while making it, it was because he said, "it's SO loud!!!" But when I explained that it's for Camille he agreed that it was perfect, like he said...LOUD! Wouldn't have it any other way.

Valentine's Day Fun!!!

This next entry is going to show the odd way my mind works, so get ready! I was on one of my favorite blogs, Sweet Designs (blog.amyatlas.com - search snowman) and she had the cutest snowmen made out of milk bottles.  I fell in love with them right away, and I knew I had to make them at some point. The only problem was a lot of kids are allergic to milk and transporting these little guys to school would be a pain.  Well, several weeks went by and I kept thinking about those cute little snowmen, how was I going to make them work? So one day when the fam and I were at my in-laws farm my mother-in-law had these cute little water bottles. That is where you see how my strange mind works, who cares about water bottles? That would be me!! As soon as I saw them I knew they were going to be my version of the snowman! I went to one of my favorite stores (Hobby Lobby) and collected supplies. I bought styrofoam balls and some red fleece. I would have picked a fun ribbon but since it's  for boys and girls and for Valentine's Day I went with red. I used a melon baller to carve out a space for the lid of the water bottle and then I cut a black pipe cleaner into little pieces for the eyes. I didn't want to do that for the mouth so I just used a marker! Then the nose is a little orange bead.  I hope you think they are cute.  My plan is to put the water bottle, a little mini heart pizza, and heart shaped rice cake in a white bag for each child in the girl's class.  I figured it would be easy, fun, and cute!