Thankful

Yesterday was a tricky day for us.  Little J is normally a very laid back and happy baby, but it was clear he wasn't feeling well all day.  He's undoubtedly teething, but he also had a little bug on top of it... so we saw a tiny glimpse of Mr. Baby Hyde.  We got through the day, collapsed into bed and slept heavily (and dreamed strange, stress-induced dreams).

This morning J awoke as his normal Baby Jekyll self, smiling at us and petting Jared's beard while he drank his bottle.  I have to remind myself that we are so lucky and blessed to have such an amazingly easy boy.  I know partial credit needs to be paid to my kind, sensitive and gentle-hearted husband for our son's traits, but I also know that there's a little more to it than that... I don't typically share much in the way of spirituality, but I will disclose that I make time every day to say a prayer of gratitude for my healthy baby.  Because we are truly blessed.

Today I find it especially important to be thankful, as I remember two very special women in my life.  The last day of February has a particular significance for me and always offers the reminder to cherish our loved ones.  I hope to pass along the spirit of gratitude today, and every day.

Because the babe is so much more himself today, I was allowed a bit of time this morning to work on a project that I've had in mind for a while...  I will reemphasize that I don't naturally reveal much about my personal spirituality, but this is a little something from my childhood that I wish to share with my children:

Free Box of Blocks

We've had a rough day at the Buckley House today.  Our Little Peanut seems to be teething, which he's not enjoying (neither are we).  Not even a little.  I have a really hard time seeing him uncomfortable, because my nurturing instinct is to comfort him with a cuddle.  But he does NOT want to be snuggled.  He doesn't even want to be held most of the time, so I then feel the need to comfort myself with a cuddle (with the dog).

I want to fix his discomfort! I do...  But I can't.

Once Jared and I were having an argument about how much responsibility I can reasonably assume for accidentally tickling him when I was trying to get comfortable in bed.  "It's not my fault," I said, "I can't control everything." He so cleverly replied, "but you certainly try..."  ZING.  But he's right...

So because today has been a day full of tears, I wanted to make a little present for my babe.  Obviously, I didn't want to leave the house or spend any money.  Here is my solution:

I handed my sweet, sad baby some... trash?

No, no... these empty snack boxes aren't finished yet!  He clearly loves them already, but they aren't very durable (and really, I might be a little embarrassed if visitors walked in to see my child playing with the contents of our recycle bin).

So I made them durable - and a bit prettier.  I first taped the flaps shut for stability.  Then I found my favorite natural wrapping paper and began wrapping... with a little help.

told you he's teething!

And made some blocks!

I'm not saying my project made him feel any better, but it was at least a distraction and he played contently long enough for me to write this post!

Before

After

And the best part is, all these "blocks" fit nicely into a shoebox and slide into the cubby of our entertainment center.  J can reach them easily and they are light enough for him to pull out all by himself!

He can't resist them long enough for me to snap a photo!

A Simple Chandelier

I would like to introduce a quick tutorial!  This is a simple and inexpensive "chandelier" that can be customized to suit any room.  You've seen this one before on my nursery post, but here's another picture:

I chose to make this one using white card stock and a 2" circle punch. Depending on the room and my decorating vision, I could have used colored paper (or wax paper for a less opaque look) or even a different shaped punch.  Even though some steps to this project were tedious and time-consuming, it was quite easy.  Here's how I created it!

1. Punched my shapes: I didn't count my circles, but I'm estimating I needed roughly 150 for my design.

2. "Sewed" my circles together: I had to tie a pretty large knot in the bottom of my thread to prevent the circles from just falling off the bottom.  Once the first circle was secure, I strung the rest on by sewing my needle through both the bottom and the top of the circle (as seen below).  My longest strands had 10 circles, and I added shorter lengths as well for visual interest.

3. Secured my strands to the hoop:  Embroidery hoops are super inexpensive and have the natural wood look that I was going for.

example embroidery hoop

  I tied my thread strands around the whole perimeter until I achieved the balance I was happy with, then hung the whole thing with some jute (also giving off the "natural" vibe).

The circles spin gracefully with any air movement in the room, giving the chandelier an almost "wind chime" effect.  Little J lies mesmerized on his changing table, watching the movement of the paper.  Just what I was hoping for!

No Soliciting!

Every night before I fall asleep I carefully check that every door of our house is locked, and then I tuck my floral comforter tightly around my neck.  I joke with Jared that any limbs I may leave hanging out of the covers will be in danger when the "burglars" get in.  But in all seriousness, I am terrified of burglars.  Maybe I watch too much Law and Order: SVU, but home invasion tops my list of fears.  Knowing this, you will understand my hesitation to open my front door to any unexpected visitors (even the UPS guy). 

[This is where I would insert a painfully long story about what I thought was a burglar breaking into our backyard in the middle of the afternoon, only to discover a Santa lookalike from the home insurance company measuring our lot...]  The fact is, if I had opened the door when he rang the bell, I would have known what he was up to in the first place. I needed to be able to weed out the potential time-wasters and creepy magazine salespeople so that I would feel comfortable answering the door for the people who are knocking for legitimate reasons. And so, I succumbed to my Pat-Bashford-like sensibilities and scribbled a temporary "No Soliciting" sign.

Now I am replacing my little piece of scrapbook paper with a more permanent solution. The little plastic signs available for purchase remind me of bathroom placards and just really aren't my style.  Here is my homemade version:

I found a small unfinished wooden tray at Hobby Lobby that looked like the perfect size.  After painting the whole thing black, I carved my letters out with an exacto knife.  In order to protect my paint job from the elements, I sprayed the whole thing with a finishing gloss.  It's like a "take that!" to solicitors (in a polite way, of course. You know me).

Here it is hanging in position. 

Fancy Tarts

Several people have asked, so here it is... my Fancy Tart recipe!

What you'll need:

2 pie crusts (mine were store-bought)
1 package of cream cheese, softened
1/3 Cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (or almond) extract
1 can pie filling (I used cherry or blueberry, but any flavor would work)
a pinch of sugar

Assembly:

Preheat over to 400 degrees.  Roll out your pie dough (not too thin) and cut out your shapes.  I used a flower shaped cookie cutter, but you could use any shape - or an upside-down glass.  Arrange half of your shapes on a greased baking sheet. 

Mix together cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla, then spread a layer onto your cut-outs.  Leave about 1/2 inch on the edges for easy sealing.  Top cheesecake mixture with your pie filling.

Roll the other half of your cut-outs so they are slightly larger than the "bottom" pieces so that they will cover your filling mounds.  Seal the top and bottom together (I used a fork).  Cut a small vent in the top piece with a sharp knife. Sprinkle a dusting of granulated sugar over the tops.

Bake for 20 minutes.  *Optional: mix powdered sugar and milk to create a glaze for your tarts (about 1/4 Cup of sugar for each Tablespoon of milk, depending on how thick you like it)

I inevitably end up with leftover ingredients, which I like to pile into a baking dish (bake at 400 for about 30 minutes) and serve as a pie:

I made these yum-yums for our fancy Valentine's Day home-cooked Olive Garden take-out meal.  We scarfed them down, they were so good! Enjoy!

Babes love tissue paper

Babe's Nursery

Our Peanut's Nursery!

Here's what we did:

1. Paint!  This was our very first painting project after we moved in.  I was so in love with this color that I nearly painted it in every other room of the house.  Since we were novice painters, it took us forever to complete, and we had a few learning experiences along the way.  (And since I was nearly 8 months pregnant, I ruined several shirts with "belly smears"). 

2. Furnish:  The only actual purchase we made was the glider in the corner.  "You neeeeed to have a glider in your nursery," is what I recall to be the most adamant suggestion from other parents.  My opinion? It's nice to have (especially when I was getting up during the night to nurse the babe), but definitely not a necessity.  Little J isn't a huge fan of being rocked, so maybe this piece of furniture will be more useful for future babes.  We'll see. 

The rest of the furniture was a combo of hand-me-downs and gifts.  My favorite piece by far is the changing table, which my parents snagged at Goodwill for $15.

A couple coats of yellow paint we had on-hand, three sheets of contact paper, two baskets and... voila!  The best part?  It has a drawer :)

3. Organize: If I were to offer my best piece of unsolicited advice for new parents setting up their nursery, it would be to have your nursery organized well.  Keep things simple by designating each drawer or basket for a specific thing (just onesies, just diapers, just footwear, etc.) so you know where everything is at a moment's notice.  I can't count how many times we have RE-organized, but it's totally worth it.

4. Decorate!! My favorite part, of course.  I had a vision (think Father of the Bride: Part II over-the-top nursery suite) of warm tones and whimsical decor.  Jared's vision was slightly different - think more ESPN... so I compromised by scaling back on the whimsy (and I'll admit, femininity) of my nursery plan.

I included some artwork from my childhood room, the cross stitch my mom made when I was born, and some original artwork that I made while I was pregnant with J.

See that chandelier?  Check out the tutorial here!

 5. Enjoy: This may be my favorite room in our house.  I love adding custom, personal touches in my decorating.

And here is Little J enjoying his room (and practicing his crawl stance):

Super Salsa

I'm posting a recipe that I just created (yes, I made up a recipe! Something that I always assumed would be far beyond my level of cooking achievement). Honestly, I only made it because we ran out of jarred salsa the other day and haven't made it to the grocery store yet to buy more... and I just really wanted some salsa while we watched Battlestar Galactica!

This is a pretty simple tomato-based salsa using ingredients that I pulled out of my pantry, but would be just as easy and yummy with fresh ingredients.  I've made homemade salsa before, but NEVER had it taste this good (maybe I'm slightly biased due to such an intense hankering for salsa.  Hmmm...)

In a food processor, I mixed:

1 can of diced tomatoes, with juice
1/4-1/3 small can of diced jalapenos, depending on how spicy you want it to be
1/2 a small onion, chopped (sweet yellow are my fave)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
splash of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
chili powder to taste (I estimate I used a bit more than a teaspoon, but I love chili powder)
cumin to taste (probably less than a teaspoon)

If you give this a try, let me know what you think!
Update: Don't eat the whole batch in one sitting.  Trust me, your tummy will hurt.

*Coming Soon!*
I made these scrumptious pastries for Valentine's Day (and Jared gobbled them up like one hungry pup!)

Top Thrift Store Finds

I am a thriftaholic.  I love bringing home other people's unwanted items from thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales (sheesh, I'd dumpster dive if I wasn't so short).  Anything I can buy for cheap (or make myself - but that's a different post altogether) is totally worth it.  Here's a list of my favorite things to buy used and why:

1. Baby Clothes

Now, those of you who don't have babies in your lives can ignore this first one.  Just keep this in mind if ever you do have a baby to buy for.

Babies grow fast - Little J has brand new baby clothes that he never got a chance to wear before he outgrew them..  If we weren't saving all his clothes for future babes, they would be donated (or sold at a garage sale).  Brand New Clothes, people.  So I'm sure you see my point:  when you buy used baby clothes, they aren't even necessarily USED.

*Sometimes, the same can be true for maternity clothes.  I always give the maternity rack a look, because maternity clothes are expensive to buy new.*

Whole outfit - Goodwill for under $4.00

2. Picture Frames

Sometimes you have to dig through stacks and stacks of dated, gross or broken frames.  And sometimes, even if you find a nice one, it takes a bit of creativity to make it nice.  That's where spray paint, fabric, Mod Podge, and craft paper come in.  (If you are unfamiliar with Mod Podge, don't worry.  I'll familiarize you in a future post).

Identical frames - one full-price at Target, the other $1.99 at Goodwill

3. Unexpected Decorative Items

Baskets, boxes, trays, pitchers, wall hangings... I have found some of my most favorite decorating pieces at Goodwill.  I have to give myself a little credit on this one though... I shop often, and I'm not afraid to really dig through the junk.  Thoroughly. 

$.99 tray - I painted it and added a plastic liner

Basket and lamp are both Goodwill treasures

4. Holiday Decor

Garage sales are great for this.  People love to go through and purge their Halloween or Christmas decorations in the middle of summer - and they don't mind selling this stuff for a lower price because it's summer and these holidays are out of sight, out of mind.  I have also found some fun holiday stuff at Goodwill, but you have to be willing to [a] shop super early (we're talking weeks, long before you're ever thinking of actually putting out your holiday decorations) or [b] dig, dig, dig.

5. Jewelry

Goodwill is not the best for this.  I find it hard to shop for items in the "locked display" at any store.  I hate hunting down an employee to open it and wait impatiently while I decide on my purchase.  But garage sales... are the BEST.  Some of my favorite jewelry cost me less than a dollar.  Seriously, it's worth it on this one to dig through the junk.  Don't expect to find priceless jewelry underneath all the plastic pearls and macaroni necklaces, but don't expect to find nothing either.  Keep an eye open for interesting, unique pieces. 

Babe's Bathroom Makeover

When we moved into our house last year, it was a completely blank canvas.  Minimal paint on the walls, minimal carpeting, builder-grade fixtures... My mission has been to "pretty" up this place.  No more white walls.  No more boring fixtures.  It's slow going, but I'm getting there.

We started with the nursery, of course, because Little J was due in just a matter of weeks.  And when he arrived early, we were sure glad to have that project checked off of our to-do list. Don't worry... photos to come!

Across the hall from the beloved nursery is J's (and guest's) bathroom.  It was itty bitty, boring boring. Now it's not!

Unfortunately, I have no "before" pictures.  Sorry, but trust me... you're not missing anything.

The first update I made was replacing the knobs on the cabinet and framing the mirror.

This was a fairly simple project and creates a more custom look for very little cost.  We purchased a long length of wood trim from the hardware store (after careful measuring of the perimeter of the mirror, of course).  After more measuring and precise cutting, we adhered the corners together with liquid nails, let dry, then painted to match the rest of the trim.  We used our miracle liquid nails to attach the frame to the mirror as well (it had to be taped in place while drying). Easy Peasy!

There's that silly family in the mirror

Other improvements we made in this space: new paint, shelving, and replaced towel bar with hooks (someday the light fixture will have to go too). It has much more of a masculine feel than I was going for, but I guess I'm the only girl who uses this bathroom on a regular basis, so I'm outnumbered...

P.S. that top picture is baby Jared in the tub

"nobody loves me"

enjoying our new space

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!

My sweet baby boy is playing quietly on the floor, gently patting his train engine while it repeats the same upbeat tune over and over. Jared is absorbed in his video games. Their level of focus bewilders me.  This is my reason for blogging. I need something that is mine - somewhere for me to dedicate my focus. My grown-up mind is so muddled with the stresses and concerns that arrive along with motherhood (and home-ownership, and marriage, and bill-paying, and - need I go on?) that I relish any moments I can claim for myself.

When was my last shower?

How many of my meals this week have consisted of Pop Tarts?

Do I need to start dusting the exercise bike?

Nah... I need to start blogging! Here I can find an outlet, a place to share my ideas and accomplishments (and, let's face it... all the stunningly adorable things Little J does from day to day). So please, please enjoy my photos, projects, tutorials, poems, ideas, etc.  I pinky-promise to never pollute my blog with negativity, rudeness or cynicism.  There's already enough of that everywhere else.

Thanks!