New names

 I got invited to a bridal shower this past weekend. It has been a LONG time since I went to a bridal shower. I am kind in the between stage of these invites....where you are the age where most people you know are married and don't have kids anywhere near the age of getting married. :) It was fun to go!

I debated on getting her something off her registry or making something. I decided to make her something and am glad I did. Her reaction was too cute. Squeals and kicking feet!

So glad she like her new sign with her soon-to-be last name and her and her fiance's names in front. I had thought of doing the word "Established" with the year of their marriage, but was honestly not sure if of the exact wedding date, so decided on first names.

 I had no idea on colors, so went with some neutral ones: black, cream, and white. I love the subtleness of the first names and color combination. Can go in any room this way! Anyway...love the way it came out. Might have to make one for my room! :)

Assembly Line

Need I say more? lol

This was last week. Have this much more to prob do again of these cute onesies too. Busy! Busy!

I made one on a size 2T shirt for my daughter recently too. I can't wait to take some pics of her on her Dad's car! :) I'll have to post them when I do.

Have a great weekend!

Sharing the love...

Wanted to give a little shout out to this cute new blog I found that featured my coordinated cuties in their easter outfits. I used to do so much more papercrafting, and she makes me want to pull it all out again!

Love the soft colors on this card! Would be perfect for Mother's Day too!

Such fun ideas and a great link party each week too! Thanks for the feature TitiCrafty!

FTTT Friday: Sew Fun Owl Bag!

This is a bit different of a FTTTF (From this to that Friday). I am taking one thing I make and making something else from the same design this week...if that makes sense?

I have seen some cute owl designs over the last year or so and have fun making my little wooden owls. Well, I have had this idea for months now, to take the same design as my little wooden owls and create a bag. I finally got to do it the other day and the girls LOVE it!

I went from this original design of mine:

to that original design of mine:

I just took fabric scraps I had that I knew she liked (if you saw her skirt, they might look familiar...and backed them with interfacing. Literally sketched out an owl on a paper with a crayon. Then cut it out of the fabric. Just winged it all...no measuring...no pattern and added the buttons. LOVE!

This smaller one likes it like a messenger bag and I think I need to make another one still for her. :) The older one wants a jean pocket purse. :)

 And then what happened? My 10 yr old son asked if he could sew a pillow. I taught him and his older brother to sew a couple years ago for Christmas presents they were making. I love that he wants to do it still.

 And this one has been asking to learn for awhile now too, so they were all psyched.

We made four quick pillows and the oldest still needs to do his, then I'll post a pic of them with all their new pillows. :)

Curb Appeal and Front Porch Charm

I am loving this cute new sign I have sitting on a little bistro table on my front porch! So fun. Can't decide if I will leave it here or actually hang it up next to our mailbox. (We have the old fashioned kind that hangs on our wall next to our door. (So we get to see our mailman up close and personal every day! lol He's great though!)

 The size of this would also fit right on your mailbox too though for the "Regular" kind of mailboxes. So fun and creates curb appeal and charm AND personalization! (Is that a word?!) :)

ANDDDDDDD...speaking of new vinyl projects, I never would have guess a newly turned 3 yr old could weed vinyl! She kept asking to help and I honestly just though she would mess them up, but she had been watching me closely apparently and did great! She even kept at it with me for awhile! :)

Love the concentration she has here (with the tongue!).

My toilet is famous!

I was featured AGAIN...well, my toilet was featured again! 

Now, that sounded weird! Ha!

LOVE Amy Redd designs though! She makes the cutest backgrounds and designs at Clippie Dips and Amy Redd Designs. Check them out!

LOVE this new chalkboard set she has:

and

She also does super cute invites! Thanks for the feature Clippie Dips!

Hit or Miss

Well, I fell off the bandwagon last week. Actually I got about 60 orders out and was trying to get some work done on my house too. I hate to do it/say it...but I think it may be a bit of hit or miss on the blog for a little while. We are trying to finish some things around the house and declutter to list the house in the next couple weeks and that along with life with 5 kids, and my etsy shop, are having to take priority over the blog for now. I can't do it all apparently. lol So, I WILL post on here at least once a week, hoping for at least twice a week, but it will be less than before.

Keep checking back with me though, bc I DO have some new projects in the works and new items that will be up for sale soon!!!

Happy Spring!

Measure up some Food Features!

For Measure it up! Monday today, I wanted to feature some more YUMMY links from the massive link party Ginger Snap Crafts hosted, so here you go!

Baked Banana Pudding Poppers from Bubbly Nature Creations

Coconut Oatmeal Cookies from Storybook Reality

Carrot Cake Pancakes by Teenage Cakeland

Roasted Garlic Chipotle Cheddar Sweet Potato Burgers with Avocado Ranch by Half Baked Harvest

 Easy Slow Cooker Sweet Pork at Butter with a side of Bread

and

Breakfast Flatbread by All About the Details

Hope you enjoy! Thanks for linking up ladies!

From this to that Friday: Chalkboards!

Remember this picture I showed you last month?

This was our kitchen before we gutted and remodeled it. We did, however, keep a LOT of the wood, we tore out. We have used it for various projects like shelves...but one thing my kids love that we did with the cupboard doors was made them each chalkboards!
Before:
 

After:

We cut them down to a size we liked, routered the edges and applied chalkboard paint. Then I cut each child's name out in vinyl as well as an image that they liked and applied the vinyl to add some cute personalized decoration to each one.

 We have made them as gifts for kids of all ages since. My kids love them in their rooms, whether to just draw on for the little ones, or to use for lists for the older ones.

This past fall when school started I even had each child grab theirs for their back-to-school pictures!

AND they are repurposed and cheap! What's not to love with this FTTTF!?

Featured Blog; Ella Claire

I wanted to feature another blog and one of her posts specifically today. 

Ella Claire!

life inspired.

I saw this pin on pinterest about how she washes and cuts her burlap and can get it to be soft! Burlap...soft!?? Yep, she does it. 

I LOVE burlap myself. Love the look. The texture it can add. And I have even wanted to add some burlap and eyelet ruffles to my daughters' pink gingham curtain. I was worried about how they would wash, but now...I need to do it!

Go check it out. It's great!

Definitely trying this. Thanks so much Ella Claire!

General Conference Tag!

So, twice a year leaders from my church speak to us as a worldwide church through satellite. It's called General Conference. We believe in a living prophet today, and have our church set up just like Christ had the church set up years ago. So I get excited to be able to hear guidance from our prophet and leaders each time General Conference comes....BUT my little ones don't always make it easy to listen. ha! Don't you love Pinterest!? It is full of ideas though...for everything! EVEN for keeping your kids listening and occupied during General Conference!

We have done BINGO games a lot and they work well, better than the activity books I have also tried, but I combined a few ideas this time and set up jars with snacks with words on them. I added some color and activity sheets if they wanted them and added pics for the ones who can't read.

We started out that when they heard the word, they got 1 thing from that jar. The constant up and down was driving me nuts though, so we ended up changing it to they kept tally marks and cashed in after every talk. It worked great!

 Between the two sessions, I changed the words up too.

 We all camp out in our kitchen, b/c we watch it on our computer and it's in the kitchen. lol

So, it's Tuesday and you're it! What kind of activities have you seen or have you done in the past for General Conference for your kids or just to keep your kids occupied other times in meetings?

Measure up some Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies!

 It's Monday Folks! Whether we want it to be or not! haha

I have been sick all weekend and am still only halfway here. So this will be short and quick! I just wanted to share this great cookie recipe! I have had these cookies since I was a kid. Banana Chocolate Chip cookies! They are soft and a more cake-like cookie. BUT I tweaked them to be GF and allergy freindly this past week and you could hardly tell the difference!

The pic is the allergy friendly ones. When you make them with the regular recipe, the coloring will be much lighter, almost white like. The coconut sugar I used in the ones above is a brown color though, thus the color change. 

I'll post the recipe as the regular version and then show the substitutions I made if you want it GF and/or allergy friendly too.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

2/3 cup shortening (I used palm expressed shortening)

2/3 cup sugar (I used Organic Coconut palm sugar)

2 eggs 

2 1/2 cup flour (I used GF flour in these kinds: 1/2 c potato starch, 1/2 c white rice flour, 1 c sweet sorghum flour, 1/2 c millet flour and 1 tsp xanthum gum)

2 tsp baking powder

2/3 cp bananas (about 2-3 ripe)

1/2 cup evap milk (I used almond milk)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

Blend shortening, sugar, and eggs. Add the bananas, milk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and bake for about 9 min at 375 degrees. 

We love them! And this was the first time I have used the coconut palm sugar and I loved it! Love the flavor so much more than stevia! And it didn't change the consistency of the batter like honey and agave nectar can.

And one more quick share...found these GF donuts in the freezer section of a local grocery store and they really are good! My hubby loves them! (Hard to find this stuff for him.)

Hope you have a great week and have fun in the kitchen!