Baby Room Ideas and Hand Made Decorations

My husband and I are expecting our first child soon so I thought I would share my baby room ideas and all the hand made decorations I've crafted. I made so many things my husband joked he though the baby's room was going to look like Applebees or some other restuarant where the walls are completely covered with memoriblia. Pictured below are all my hand made decrations for the baby room. If you're a new parent check out my husband's newborn checklist for new parents. Our nursery is a circus theme with a bit of Disney Pixar's Up thrown in.

 

 

 

 

 

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It's Superbowl Sunday, what are we eating?

In celebration of Superbowl Sunday, here is a simple and yummy Crockpot recipe!

I call this Yummy salsa chicken
You will need:

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 cup of salsa
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 1 packet of taco seasoning 
• 1 cup of sour cream
• Whatever you would like to serve with--I used scoops chips and over brown rice

Put salsa, taco seasoning, and cream of chicken soup in  the bottom of the Crockpot and mix together, then sink your chicken breasts into the mixture. If you want you can add your sour cream too, I have waited to the end to add it, I don't see that it makes a huge difference.
Cook on low for about 5 hours, a little longer depending on the size of your chicken breasts.
Once your time is up shred chicken and add sour cream if you haven't already done so.
Viola!

 Every time I have made this I've had leftovers, I've used it in taco shells, mixed rice in with the chicken, I'm sure this would be good with potatoes too. I hope you all have a great Superbowl Sunday and enjoy some yummy snacks!

DIY hanging picture frames

This might be one of the easiest projects I have ever done, and maybe one of my favorites. I've made these frames several times, each time evolving it a little more and I think it is now perfected.
I used
6 unfinished frames (4x6)
1 spool Satin ribbon
1/2 yard fabric
Tacky glue
Sissors
Staple gun
Picture hangers of your choice
Foam brush


I started out by painting the entire front, sides and inside of the frame with tacky glue and then cut off the extra. I pulled the fabric over the frame tight, the glue drys fast on a unfinished frame because it soaks into the wood fast. Once you have the fabric in the right place, poke a hole in the center of the picture frame cut a 'X' to the inside edges --just where the picture would be. Add more glue if needed, and push the fabric flaps into the frame and cut off the access. Repeat for the rest of the frames.

Follow the purple lines to cut fabric to inside of the frame

I spaced my frames out, about 6" inches apart from each other on my ribbon and marked on the back with pencil where I wanted them. I used a staple gun, however I think hot glue would work just fine, to secure my frames. At the top I used a half-circle fastener as my hanger, but there are a tons of decorative options available of you would like something a little more fancy.

As you can see from the picture of the back, I did not use fancy or nice picture frames. I got mine from Ikea, 3 for $2. If you want to use finished wooden frames make sure to sand them first!
I'd love to see pictures of you try these!

Happy crafting!

DIY Valentine's day wreath

My free time has been a little lacking lately, so when I had a free day I went to the fabric store and picked up some supplies to make a valentines day wreath.

My supplies I used were:

1/4 yard red felt
1/4 yard light pink felt
White patterned quilt square
Pink patterned quilt square
Fabric stiffener
Pearl embellishments
Hot glue gun
Scissors
Wreath

I started by cutting my felt length wise in about a 2.5" strip. This did not cover my wreath completely, so I aded a red strip at the top to cover it and I liked the look. Depending on the size wreath you want you may need to cut more than one strip of each. I started wrapping my strips together and adding hot glue after every 2-3 times around--always at the back. Once I had my wreath covered cut a small skinny strip of each color, twisted, then hot glued to the back. If I had a third color, I think it would have looked cute braided.
The flowers were the most difficult and time consuming part of this project. I used my Cricut and the Flower Shoppe cartridge to cut them out. If you do not have a Cricut, there are tons of cute flowers available at craft stores, and you would not need the quilt squares or the Pearl embellishments.

I started out by applying  fabric stiffener to my fabric. I like to apply it then microwave it for 30-60 seconds to help it dry, I have also heard of people using a blow dryer to speed up the process. Once it is completely dry, I put it on my mat. Now if you are having problems making your fabric stick you can use masking tape or painters tape on the entire surface or the edges  to help it stay in place. Set your depth to 6, your speed to 1 and your pressure to 6. Cut away! You may need to cut parts that did not cut completely from the Cricut.  I alternated colors but my biggest flower is 3" and they decrease in size by .5" and stop at 1.5" at the center. I assembled my flowers with hot glue and added a pearl embellishment in the center.
I positioned my flowers where I wanted and hot glued them on and my wreath was finished!

DIY dog treats!

For those of you who know me know, I love my dog! You may also know that he has been sick for most of the last year and it has been hard on all of us. So any way I can give my pup a little extra love, I'm all for it. I found a dog treat recipe that was pretty basic, but also pretty vague. So I tried it and figured out some details that were left out and thought I would share it with my wonderful readers! 

My handsome little man, Conan

You will need:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients until soft dough forms, if needed add more flour or milk little at a time.  Roll dough out and cut shapes out with a cookie cutter or roll into 1 inch balls and flatten. Place onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes.
My dough was a bit sticky so I used cooking spray and they came up just fine.

Finished treats!

 

Conan waiting for his treats to cool

These were so simple to make, and with kitchen staples. Conan sat by the stove waiting for them to come out of the oven, he loves them! I know this isn't 'crafts' but it is a super easy and who doesn't love making something for their pup?

Happy baking!

Here is another simple treat recipe

 Peanut butter and oats dog treats

1/3 cup peanut butter, chunky or smooth 

1 cup rolled oats

2 cups flour

1 1/4 cups hot water

 Preheat oven to 350. Mix rolled oats and flout together in a large mixing bowl. Add peanut butter then water to the dry mix. If your dough is too sticky you can add flour a little at a time. Mix until a soft dough forms. Roll dough and cut with cookie cutters or into 1 inch balls and flatten. Bake for 40 minutes and let cool until hard. 

 

DIY baby onesie vest

I recently had oral surgery, so on my down time I've been practicing my sewing. My first project I did was a onesie vest and tie combo for a friends baby. As I've said before--I'm new to sewing so if I can do this, so can you! Although I will tell you, this was my most challenging project to date.
I found the tutorial from this website (Onsie vest tutorial.)

Mine is a little different, I wanted my vest to go all the way to the top of the onesie and I added a tie from ribbon.

I made the inside and outside of my vest from old men's shirts I found at a local Good Will (each $2.99)
The tie I folded into a point at the bottom and ran a stitch, and pinched at the top to create a ''tie" look. I then put a stitch in to hold the tie part and ran a stitch across the top.

As a beginner sewer, I will say that I had the hardest part with all the corners in the vest, if you are a regular sewer than this will be a breeze for you!

Happy sewing!

DIY: Boot Socks

I've been in search of boot knitted boot socks for a while now. I havent been able to find any that I liked so I decided to make my own. Now, I cannot knit or crochet so I did the next best thing. I went to the thrift store and bought a sweater for $1.99 and used that. I got a cable knit sweater, that is the style I was looking for, not necessarily what you need-- any sweater will do. I started by cutting off both sleeves, trying to cut along the seam for minimal sweater sheading.

  

I cuffed the sleeve and ran a stitch with my sewing machine along the  bottom of the sleeve (where your hand would come out. I then cut the other end down to size and folded it over and ran a stitch to prevent the sweater from coming unraveled. 

On the right is the cuffed semi-finished boot sock, left is the cut sleeve

 Once I finished both socks I picked what button I wanted and sewed it in place. I had no brown buttons so I painted large green buttons. I first sanded them down, painted, then applied a layer of mod podge.

Let me just say--I am a beginner sewer, if I can make these; anyone can make these! 

What you need:

1 sweater (mans or womans)

Needle and thread

2 (at least) buttons

Sewing machine (optional) 

Sissors

Happy crafting!