Dear God, the last thing I have time to do today is blog.  Yet here I am.  I have a few things I want to share, and after today, The Big Dog is off for 5 days, it's family time, and I don't know when I'll get back to the computer for blogging purposes. I am super excited for the holidays this year!  But first, a few happenings here...

Last week I shared few peeks at some projects I was working on.  I can't wait to show final products!  We "sprinkled" my sister-in-law last weekend!  They've already given us a beautiful niece, and in January, we'll be adding another little boy, my first blood nephew!  I'm so excited for them to become parents of a little boy, since, obviously, I am partial to little boys!  So, she already has a lot of what she needs, so I wanted to do something I knew she didn't have!  I decided to make monthly onesies for him to have his picture taken in, so they can watch his growth, and also just to wear.  I found a link to a blog on Pinterest which led me to the free downloadable files for the months.  I printed them onto transfer paper.  I bought 3 onesies sized 0-3, 3 size 3-6, and 6 size 6-12 months.  I also got a cute basket that will match the trim in "Nugget"'s room.  Here are some pics of the process.  By the way, I have the onesies laying on an ironing board, but you have to do this on a hard surface, so I actually did them on the counter.  It took all day because I learned quickly that you have to iron the onesie, let it cool, iron on the paper, let it cool, then peel.  So, letting everything cool completely took a while.




 I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out.  I will post the link later when I can figure out exactly how to do that!  They also have links for colors that are better for girls.  Now I am totally obsessed with making things with transfer paper! 

The other project I was working on is not nearly as fun, yet it's something I've used daily since it's completion.  I had these extremely cheap picture frames and I wasn't really sure what to do with them.  So I grabbed my chalkboard paint and went to work.  Here's one of the things I made from the frame. I haven't ever had an actual calendar in our office.  I'm not sure why...isn't that something you really should have in an office?  So, I thought this would be great.  While it is a little difficult to write on,  it does serve it's purpose since I am pretty much constantly wondering what day it is!  So, I'm pretty happy!






The other frame is similar, but it's broken into a week so that I can write what we're having for dinner each night.  So far it hasn't really gotten a whole lot of use, but I think it's cute!  Total time for these chalkboard projects was about 5 minutes to paint them (I did two coats, letting the first one dry completely first) and then maybe about 5 minutes to draw on the month/week. 



Another project that we did in our house last week was our "Thankful for Our Family Turkey".  Once again, got the idea from Pinterest.  We had fun picking the colors of our turkey and tracing our hands.  Even the Big Dog didn't mind doing this!  Here's our turkey.

 I absolutely LOVE our turkey.  Here's my plan.  For Halloween this year, the boys made footprint ghosts and we used this same white frame (an old, ugly frame painted white) to display them.

.  'nuf said. 

This came from Cooks.com

• 2 pkgs of crescent rolls (I used the seamless dough sheet seen above!  Cause it's AWESOME!)
• 1/2-3/4 lb. of baked ham sliced thin
• 1/2-3/4 lb. sandwich pepperoni sliced thin
• 1/4-1/2 slice provolone (I found that 10 slices worked perfectly!)
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Grease 13 X 9 inch pan.  Beat eggs and stir in Parmesan cheese.  Layer 1 package of crescent rolls in pan.  Then layer 1/2 of ham, pepperoni, and cheese.  Pour 1/2 of egg mixture and spread it as best as possible.  Next, layer remaining ham, pepperoni, and cheese.  top with remaining egg mixture.  Put second package of crescent rolls on top.  Bake at 375 degrees for 35-45 min.

Snip with his Indian hat on after his program 

OK, mom's of girls...just HAVE to post this because I think it is TOO adorable.  I don't have girls, obviously, so I'd be interested in what you mommies of girls have to say.  First of all, here's the website:

www.lottydotty.com

It's these great shirts (they offer them to adults, too, but I think they're simply too adorable for little girls...can't see myself wearing one!)  that are almost like paper doll shirts!  Yes!  They have a character wearing a "bathing suit"?  and then you can buy interchangeable clothes for the her!!  Yes!  I only wish I had picked one of my older nieces for our kid gift exchange for Christmas this year.  OK.  Here are things I find ridiculously scrumptious about these shirts:

1) right now when you buy a T-shirt, you get an outfit free!
2) you can pick from 4 dolls on shirts that match the little girl you're buying for (or I guess just chose whatever you like)
3) the organization also raises money for Innocence in Danger (supporting sexually abused children and also against sex slavery)
4) the accessories are just to die for...little dresses, skirts, etc. that if I had a little girl I would totally dress her in!
5) I just know that ANY little girl would absolutely LOVE this!


Things that are not-so-great:

1) As a teacher, I could totally see this shirt being a big distraction in school...at least at first.
2) a little pricey (little girl T is $35, accessories range from $10-$30)
3) I'm sure it's easy to wash the shirt, not sure about accessories!

Anyway....I so do not have time to blog today, but I saw this and though of a few friends, and just thought "CHRISTMAS GIFT!!!!" for some of you!

Have a great weekend.....bye for now!

I love blogging.  I do, however, hate that I have so much to say and so many ideas of things to write about and no time to do it!  So, for now, here are some things I'm currently obsessed with! And I'm keeping a list of things to blog about later!

1.  the band "fun."  I am completely obsessed.  It started with the song "Some Nights".  I liked the song, it was catchy, I thought they sounded a bit like Queen.  Then I saw the video.  Liked them even more.  Then, Shazam-ed them to get the lyrics to "Some Nights" and it made me think of a good friend who is struggling a bit since he's been back from Iraq.  Loved them even more.  Decided to buy the album on Itunes, listened to it once, fell in love with every single song.  Snip, my little music guy, is loving them, too....Carry On is his favorite song.

2.  color.  Particularly mustard yellow, grey, Tiffany blue, salmon, and purple.  I don't know what has sparked this recent obsession.  My closet consisted mostly of black and grey before.  Now, the black section (yes my closet is organized like the rainbow) is getting smaller and the colors are getting bigger.

recently purchased this mustard cardigan and purple scarf...  <3

3.  mocha nut fudge k-cups.  Does this really need explanation?  I love my coffee, and this is a fantastic one.  I'm looking for ideas for "Christmas" flavors, but have been unsuccessful.  I may have to just go ahead and get my peppermint mocha creamer.



4.  keds slippers.  It's getting chillier and with lots of hardwoods, I need comfy slippers...I heart them.

Day 3       

Recently a friend messaged me on Facebook and asked me for some advice on organizing kid's toys.  What types of baskets did I use, etc.  I started messaging her back and realized how LONG my message was getting, and then I just thought...other's might like to see this, and this is way too long for a FB message!  Once again, I'm happy to share what works for MY family...and MY house.  This obviously won't work for every family, and my system isn't perfect.  There are things about our organization that I wish were different, but I haven't found that perfect solution yet.  When I do, I'll let you know!! 

Let me start by saying that we're fortunate in that we have a designated "playroom".  When we decided to have the Puppy, we knew we wanted to turn our FROG (Free Room Over Garage) into his bedroom and that meant giving up our playroom.  My husband convinced me to redo a room in our basement that was being used as an exercise/storage room.  I can't find any of the before pics, but it really was bare bones...unfinished, concrete floor, no carpeting, no real closet, mud sink, etc.  So, inspired by things I found on Pinterest, we created a beach-themed playroom for the boys.  We re-did this room in August of 2011, and the boys had been to the beach for the first time the July before, so it seemed appropriate as they were obsessed at the time.  I first made a list of things I had to have.  I wanted storage for books, baskets for little toys, shelves in a closet for board games and puzzles, a place to do "homework", a place to watch TV and movies, and soft carpet that they could be warm and comfortable on and feel comfortable falling asleep on to a movie on a wintery day.  Obviously I wanted blue walls and "sand" colored carpet.