DIY Ornaments

These are probably the easiest and fastest ornaments I have EVER made. 

Screw the salt dough ornaments on Pinterest. I found these online and they rock! 

INGREDIENTS

1/2 C Cornstarch

1 C Baking Soda

3/4 C Water 

IMPORTANT

Cookie Cutters

Straw (or some sort of hole maker)

Flour for the countertop

Roller (unless you're super kneader)

Oven

A creative toddler to help decorate when done!

PREP

1. Preheat oven to 175 Degrees

2. Mix ingredients in a medium sized pan, cook on medium heat. Stir the entire time until the consistency is like mashed potatoes (See photo).

Hint: If you stop stirring it all sticks to the bottom of the pan and it dries VERY fast

3. Cover the counter top, or you workspace with flour. Knead the dough and roll out to about 1/4" thickness. Then, get creative! Use your favorite cookie cutters to make the shapes you want. Lay them on a non-stick baking sheet when done. 

Hint: You can add food coloring to your dough before baking them if you want them to be colored. We didn't because we planned on painting them.

Hint- Use a little drop of water to go around the edge of the ornaments to make sure there are not any rough spots or cracks. It won't be easy to fix once they're baked!

Hint: I used a straw to punch a hole in the top of each shape (makes it easier to hang up when done!) 

4. Put on top rack in the oven for 1 hour but flip over at 30 min. Set a timer for 30 min. to remind you! 

5. When the hour is up, set ornaments on a cooling rack. They were a little soft still when I pulled them out so you can either bake longer or let them dry completely before painting or hanging! I actually put these back in the oven for another 45 minutes because they were not hardening properly... So, watch them and see what you need to do. After about 45 more mins they were perfect. I left them on the baking rack to cool and they were good to paint later tonight.

I'm super excited for Lennon to paint these and pass out as Christmas Gifts this year! So EASY! My favorite one - a round one I made with the bottom of a soup can and pressed our house key into. Our very first home ornament! Told you to be CREATIVE! Yay! Find some awesome things in the cupboards to use or just cookie ornaments work great, too.

L had so much fun painting them. She even picked out her favorite colors - yellow, green and orange. At least they turned out great and hey, look at the bright side family... They will make your Christmas tree look more like a Picasso piece. :) LOL. 

Have fun making these with your littles. :)

XO - K

Our New Home [Part One]

Well, it's been a long, anxious and agonizing wait for us this past month but the moment we have dreamed of is finally here. (No we aren't preggers...)! 

We are HOMEOWNERS! Whoop. 

We finally found a house we love and it's perfect for our little family,

and it is the perfect home. 

We packed, organized, threw away and donated a TON of crap. Literally, everything we haven't used in the two years we have been here, and things we didn't even know we had were tossed or donated. It's crazy how much crap and knick-knacks you accumulate when you live somewhere. 

So, ENJOY the photo tour of some parts of our new home.

Hope to see you and yours at the housewarming party! 

(Don't worry - we didn't send invites yet, we want new carpet first!)

So, I can finally say WELCOME 

to my new home.

The first official purchase that I made besides a shoe rack for the closet and 

cleaning supplies was this rug. 

I know, to some it's just a damn rug but to me it's 

THE FIRST DAMN RUG I BOUGHT FOR MY HOME.

My own home, that I FREAKIN' OWN.

Well, will own... 

In 30 freakin' years.

Anyway, I got a little emotional about this rug and for a good reason,

I think.

So make sure you stop by,

and see my new rug that welcomes YOU into MY new home.

I love this quote,

I tweaked it a bit when I found it to fit our family,

but all in all I love it.

I painted this to match a pillow that I bought during a rough time,

and it is the perfect addition to our home.

L loves her new playroom! 

This is the center of our living room! 

We moved in and that night I had my bookshelf DONE,

fireplace decorated and left the rest for the men to take care of.

I love feeling like I am HOME.

This was our bathroom the night we moved in.

Messy, crazy, but it's hugemongo and we all fit in it.

So, that makes me happy!

Here's that amazing pillow I mentioned. 

I love the saying, the meaning behind it and this pillow

is what began the color scheme for my living room.

Bright colors! Eeeeek!

Home is wherever YOU are

Lennons new bedroom!

Playroom

And, my fav. place in the house....

The kitchen! 

See that built in wine rack????

Yep, that's probably why this is my fav. room in the house!

...more kitchen & back fam. room.

Other side of the living room...

and this hideous carpet that needs to GO! 

Lennons bedroom had some pretty bare walls so we put her paintings up.

She loved it and loves to help create art for the house!

So, as soon as we unpacked I added one more project...

Painting the half bath! 

Dan picked the color and I painted away.

With wine in hand, of course! 

I also took off the hideous, old wood cabinet doors that were here and re-painted the existing cabinetry. It turned out great. I may be a pro at this painting thing soon.

Now all I need are some cute little trinkets to add to this.

Looking forward to Goodwill shopping or raiding great-grandmothers houses.

The bathroom is finally done! 

We received a housewarming gift from family and that gift card helped us purchase this mirror! 

I had my eye on this one day when I strolled down to BB&B and thought about it all day so I went back and got it! Love the mirror and the classy touch it adds to the bathroom.

Oh, and then once I get the half bath painted and DONE,

I add another project to my list.

THIS BENCH! 

Adds the perfect touch to my entry way though!

I LOVE IT! 

Oh, and... Once I get that bench done I added yet another project to my list...

(Hey, at least I am finishing them!!!)

CHALKBOARD WALL! 

This will quite possibly be another FAVORITE part in my house! 

I love art, I love chalkboards and I love my kitchen.

WIN-WIN-WIN!

...Part Two coming soon enough, friends! 

XOXO

DIY [No-Sew] Puppy Sweaters

The MOST adorable sweater EVER.

Seriously!

It's cold as crap outside and little Luke shivers while he's out so I needed to get him a sweater but as you know, they aren't cheap! I knew that I needed to make one... So, luckily my awesome Grandma gave me the idea to make a sweater for my pup out of an old sweater in our closet. (Thanks, Gram)!! I went to the ever so reliable Pinterest and found many blogs about it, so I picked my fav no-sew blog and grabbed my supplies!

I picked through my closet and hubs drawers for sweaters that we don't wear anymore. He's the lucky one and had the cutest out of the old sweaters we own (Imagine that). I have the most adorable and warm wool JCrew mustard yellow sweater that I would love to get one more season out of, but next year it will be a new sweater for Luke. I just can't part with it yet! Ha. I chose a sweater that is warm and cozy and literally made this thing in 5 minutes. No joke! (It would have taken like 2 minutes if Luke wouldn't have insisted on eating the sweater while I was cutting! 

You can do this too - Keep your fur-baby warm this winter!

You will need:

1. A puppy of course (hold the sleeve up to him/her to see what you need to cut for)

2. An old sweater (or new, whatev!)

3. Scissors (the sharper the better for cutting the fabric!)

Step 1

Cut the sleeves off! I cut the whole arm off so I had some wiggle room for the length at first. You can trim later.

Step 2

You're left with this. The end will be the part the puppies head goes into. Hold it up to your puppy and see where to make the hole for the front legs then cut small holes.

Step 3 

Try it on! I was so happy that this was my first try at a pup sweater and it fit him great!!!! :) I folded over the end to make the collar cuter. Then I had some trimming to do so when he wears it outside he can potty without getting it dirty.

4. So I trimmed it like so... and voila! A puppy sweater. SO EASY! 

Thanks Gram!!!!! :) 

Christmas Wish List Making!

Christmas is just around the corner... 

and I feel like getting in the spirit NOW!

The house will be organized and decorated this weekend (1 week earlier than normal but hey, why not?) and then we will be planning out our shopping for little L. She just got a puppy so it looks like it may be a small Christmas this year. But, I am making a list and checking the bank account twice before spending a dime. :)

For Lennon 

1. A TeePee! 

I am really OBSESSED with this one - www.Etsy.com

and I need to find a way to get this for her before Christmas!!!! 

2. Clothes & MORE clothes... I want to get her a Columbia Fleece like this one in PINK! - www.Columbia.com

3. Books. Lennon loves reading, loves grabbing books off her shelf and telling us about them. I want to get her some of my childhood faves like these ones:

-ChickaChickaBoomBoom (my all time FAV!!!!!)

- Where The Wild Things Are

- The Giving Tree

-Green Eggs and Ham

-Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day

-Love You Forever

-One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

-If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

For Me

1. A NYE dress I have had pinned for a while now.

Hubs and I LOVE NYE because its' the night we officially started dating...

so, it's always a fun night out! 

2. A Carhartt. I've wanted one for SO long. I want a hot pink one... Like this one! 

But, I cannot find it anywhere. So, I like this one in Plum - www.tractorsupply.com

3. A comfy, cozy cardigan! I am so obsessed with cardigans. 

You can NEVER have enough (No matter what your husband says!)

4. Comfy, cute tee's! LOVE these ones.

4. Hunter Boots

These are out of my budget this year but mayyyyybe next year?

I will keep them on my list for sure. :) Both colors, please!

For The Home

1. An Ikea Bar Cart! I have been wanting one for so long now.

I want one SO SO SO SO SO SO SO BAD.

Hello.... friends & family... SANTA?! Does ANYONE hear that? 

That's me crying over here for a damn bar cart. 

Someone buy this for us. PLEASE! 

(Pssssst, the teal matches our house!)

Here's the link :)

www.Ikea.com 

2. To go along with that bar cart and wine rack already in our kitchen,

we need wine glass charms for all those parties we are going to have 

to celebrate the fact that we have a bar cart and wine rack.

Yep. These are adorable! Oh, and if you buy us that bar cart you 

should stock it. SANTA, Please?

 3. We want an adorable wicker basket for next to the fireplace like this one! 

I want something to hold the wood in and look cute at the same time.

Adorable, right?

For the Hubs

1. Sweaters - Macy's has these adorable sweaters that are so SOFT and still manly.

LOVE this one! - www.macys.com

2. Jeans - my hubs is a simple man and doesn't care about his closet.

I do on the other hand and since I like my hubs butt to look nice in jeans, 

I think I will buy him some jeans. :)

3. Coffee - Dunkin' Donuts is his fav.

4. Anything elseeeee? Eh.

 For Fur-Baby Luke

1. Luke needs an adorable knit sweater for winter time. 

Who knows how to crochet & wants to make Lukey a little sweater?

(PS: He's about 2 lbs soaking wet, so it won't take much!)

2. Toys. Toys, LOTS of chew toys. 

Anything that looks like it could be Lennon's toy or a book... SERIOUSLY.

Luke has chewed up anything that could possibly make Lennon mad. 

So, he needs more toys. Off to Petsmart we go to get Luke a stocking! 

3. Treats. We found the Cesar's soft puppy chew treats at Meijer and since Luke is potty training we need to make sure that we give him lots of treats when he goes potty like a big boy! :)

I'm sure this list will grow but for now, we are sticking to this! We're on a budget this year. Mer.

Happy Christmas Shopping, friends!!!

Wacky Wednesday

It's been a rough week to say the least, and it's only half way over...

I've learned that I need to take it one day at a time and just take a deep breath,

or a Xanax. That usually does the trick.

Kidding.

But, I did go see my therapist this morning and I feel like a huge weight

has been lifted off my shoulders.

I can think, breathe, not take Xanax for all my anxiety,

and organize my life a little better now that I know what to do.

What would the world do without shrinks?

After moving into our new home this weekend it's been nothing but

cleaning, organizing, making to-do lists and prioritizing.

Main goal - get house ready for housewarming party BEFORE Christmas!

Let's keep our fingers crossed that will happen sooner than later.

So, to start our week off...

L stayed home with Dan on Monday due to not sleeping more than

FIVE FREAKIN' MINUTES Sunday night. 

No exaggeration there, literally five minutes all.night.long!

We were like walking zombies on Monday!

So, Tuesday morning I took her to daycare thinking that this no sleep,

and crankiness was from L teething her two year molars.

Little did I know that this was all thanks to the onset of HFM Virus.

HFM short for - Hand Food Mouth. 

Click here for more Hand Foot Mouth Info

So, I picked up L and we went to the doc Tuesday morning. 

Of course she was diagnosed with this nasty crap.

She is absolutely MISERABLE - all caps because it's just that bad. 

She's not sleeping well, she's irritable, can't eat much or drink much... 

Let's just say that it's not pleasant for the parents either.

We don't sleep, don't have much patience and are ready to throw in the towel.

So, today I am off work to hangout with the sickling and cuddle the crankies away. 

(Fingers crossed)! 

I took her out this morning to the Health Food Store in town and let me tell ya',

They have the NICEST people there that are so knowledgeable and organic freaks too - even better!

I got:

Coconut Oil

Peppermint Oil

Peppermint Tea

Lavendar Oil

Lemon Balm 

I am obsessed with reading about home remedies for this virus thanks to all of my organic loving friends,

and I found that coconut oil in the bath will soothe, peppermint tea will help the virus in her mouth heal faster and lessen the time she has the virus, lavender oil will help her relax and sleep better, 

and Lemon Balm Tea is also anti-viral to help with recovery of the viral infection. Let's pray that this helps!

So far she has drank some tea and I've used the lavender oil. She's calm, watching Mickey Mouse and has eaten a PBJ. Woot.

This poor baby has blisters the size of Mt. Rushmore on her tongue. No wonder she isn't sleeping well,

eating, or drinking. I just want this to go AWAY! PS - The only way she will show me her tongue is if I ask her to make me a funny face. HeHe! 

Since I am home I picked out a paint color for the half bath and am going to paint today.

IF and WHEN L naps I will start painting the cabinet in the half bath with a light grey I picked out. 

Dan picked out this awesome teal (Jamaican Blue on the top) for the walls. 

I can't wait until it's done and we can hang pictures on the walls!

If you know me well enough, 

you'll know I am OBSESSED with picture frames. 

I have decided to not be SO obsessed in the new house and hang minimal frames.

I want to hang two or three huge picture frames with black and white photos 

on my walls in the kitchen. Just for a focal point!

So Michael's in Saginaw has picture frames buy one get one FREE right now! 

Of course I caved and bought a 20x24" frame for $69.99 - but hey, 

I GOT ONE FREE! :)

When I took L out to get oils thats when we stopped at Home Depot to pick up my paint.

Do you want to hear the BEST ADVICE EVER...?

Give your little one two paint sticks and see what they do. 

More than likely they'll say something along the line of,

"MOM! SWORD FIGHT TIME!"

Grab those paint sticks and have a darn sword fight with your little one in the store.

It is literally the very BEST WAY to keep the little entertained,

and mayyyyyyybe draw attention from all the old folk in the store...

then they look at you like you're a bad mom.

Whoops.

Hey, it's FUN!

Next on the list...

-Get Lennon feeling better

-Don't get HFM virus

-Disinfect my entire house

-Paint half bath

-Get carpet installed

-Prepare for Housewarming partyyyy.

Soon friends, SOON!!!

xo