Project Post 20: Toddler Pom Pom Toy

I've seen these floating around some blogs via Pinterest, specifically here and here. So me and my little companion stopped by the store one day while we were out and got the supplies to make some of these. 

I bought a value bag of assorted sizes of the pom poms - There's no way we will use them all for this but I am currently stringing them up to make some colorful garlands (we have a lot of birthdays to celebrate in February and March) . I made 3 containers, with different sized holes in each one for the 3 sizes of pom poms. Purely out of vanity (if we're being honest), I wanted something a little cuter than Rubbermaid Take-n-Toss - and I found these containers for 99 cents each around the corner from the pom  poms, so I snatched them up. They were made of heavier plastic so my box cutter wouldn't cut strait (cute) lines, but they work.

Here are our new little toys - believe it or not they keep him busy for minutes at a time :) 

Heirloom Bookshelf: Before & During

I love family heirlooms. I am big on them..and I have a very generous family who loves giving and sharing things. I have a LOT of things from relatives (past and present), and I treasure every one. I know that is cheesy but it is real. Being a girl, I am drawn to heirlooms and things for my home, but guys think differently. My husband has a shop full of tools that belonged to his dad and grandad that are very special to him, but the thought of having any other type of family heirloom never crosses his mind. When he was helping move some things at his grandparents' home last year before it was sold, he brought home this bookshelf. I love it - it's very tall which is great for our tall ceilings. It's very sturdy and a very unique shape, but the best part is that we didn't have anything from that side of the family - and now we have something from all 4 sets of our grandparents.

I am in the process of refinishing the bookshelf, and very eager to be done and enjoy it as a permanent living room fixture. It's taking a while (It has taken 5 coats of paint and I only work on it during naps and some at night - so it will take me a few days to finish it), but I will be done soon and share some after pictures. For now, here are some before and during snapshots. Some were taken at night and some in the morning, so that's why the lighting is crazy - that and the fact that I just say that to cover not being a very good photographer. I like to leave that to the professionals... :)

Project Post 19: More Wreath Fever

I showed you in this post the wreaths I made out of Pottery Barn garland we got as a wedding gift. After making these and loving them so much, I still had wreath fever :) I waited until grapevine wreath forms went 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby (which made them 50 cents each, for the smaller ones), and I stocked up on a few. My parents had a bunch of garland in their attic that we used for past decorating projects, but they haven't seen any love for several years, so I decided to give them some purpose (here ya go, Dad). I also had one more Pottery Barn Bay Leaf garland, so I made two more wreaths out of that last garland.

I love these little wreaths and am excited to find a home for them (I will take a couple to my parents' house - after all, they did fund a lot of the project...kind of). I almost bought a couple of miniature boxwood wreaths like this in Canton, (for $26 each) and so now I'm glad I didn't! Here's the project (It only took about an hour):


{Forms, garland, wire cutters, floral wire - these are made with that cheesy, rubbery boxwood garland you can buy for about $5 a strand}



{Some of the garland laid out on the floor}



{I just wrapped a piece of wire around it to hold it on the wreath form securely}



{Finished!}



{This little guy is my favorite - he's really cute}



{I gave the other bay leaf wreath to my mom - it looks nice right when you walk in the side door - hanging on a door in the kitchen}



Recent Snapshots {February}

I'm afraid my February posts are few and far between. A little boy around here has been sick for a couple of weeks, and so he's been getting my attention over everything else (including cooking and cleaning too, oops).

Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks. I will be back with more meaty posts soon :)


{Tyler had to go to a board meeting down south in the mountains, so he rented a cabin for a couple of nights so we could make a mini-weekend-vacation out of it (the 3 of us). It snowed the first night, and we spent 2 days just mainly inside by the fire and tv - it was great! This was our little cabin}



{In front of the cabin - I have about 20 things in the pouch of my sweatshirt (phone, pacifier, Levi's snacks) in case you were wondering if we just pigged out all weekend}

{Opening some of his presents on Valentine's Day}

{Valentine's Day}

Project Post 18: Pipe & Pallet Clothes Rack {Part II}

I forgot to mention in Monday's blog post that it was my 100th post. Woohoo! No one cares about that milestone but me, but I couldn't believe I was already there so I wanted to share:)

I showed you my early-Christmas-present clothes rack that Tyler made me back in this post, and we made a few more as Christmas presents. The pallet he used for the base of mine was the only pallet we had with wide wood planks that were already a great (old) color/finish. So, for the others, we had to get a little more creative to make them just as special. We knew Tyler's mom would love to have one, so we planned to make her one. I didn't think my mom would really like to have one (didn't think it was her thing), but when she saw mine, she said she wanted one. Fine with me! I love giving gifts that I know the recipient wants!


Tyler got the two bases made and brought them to me to finish. I decided to try staining the first one (it went to my mom) and I wanted to paint the other one (for Tyler's mom) - just to get some variety. I am completely happy with how each of them turned out. I won't show you pictures of my mom's because it looks a lot like mine that you've already seen. Here are some pictures of Tyler's mom's clothes rack (I will add better pictures later - I forgot to take final pictures before we gave it to her, and I didn't get good pictures of it at their house because it was at night and I just snapped them in a hallway).

The finish ended up really messy and I love it. I slapped on some mustard yellow/gold for the base and then just put a glaze over that. There you have it!

C o n g r a t u l a t i o n s Bro!

Over the last week, we celebrated my brother's last (regular-season) home basketball game and Senior Night (tear). We received word a few days before that he was chosen for a memorial scholarship in memory of a 1999 graduate from our high school, and this is the first year the scholarship has been given out. We all knew about it (our family) except for my brother - it was a total surprise to him. On Friday at practice, my brother's coach told him not to dress out at halftime of the girl's game (when he usually does), and to wear something nice. I guess he didn't ask any questions but he was incredibly nervous. To calm his fears (or maybe to greatly increase them?), my mom shrugged and said "maybe they just want you to lead a prayer." Wow, Mom! Poor guy. Anyway - his fan club was bigger than ever that night (we always have a lot of family there, but a lot more came this time) and it was really fun to watch. Congrats Thomas! We are proud!
Here are some pictures from the big night (and from the game the night before):

{Uncle T's youngest fan}

{Grandparents section}

{Proud Mom and Pops}

Have I mentioned that my brother has had a personal photographer during his season? My aunt Cindy and her huge paparazzi camera have come to all his games to shoot, and these photos are all courtesy of her. Thanks Aunt Cindy!

Chicken & Black Bean Burrito Wraps

Some call this a wrap and some call it a burrito - I've never made either (shame) so I'm calling them both :)
I got this recipe from HERE, and she got it from HERE. I love the Internet :)

No matter what you decide these are, they are good and make a nice little easy dinner. My husband might disagree because there was a lot of clean up since I may or may not have used about 20 bowls (that isn't necessary though - I was just feeling my way through a new recipe).

Ingredients:
1 C cooked rice (I used minute rice)
1 C cooked chicken, shredded
1 Can black beans, rinsed & drained
1/2 C fresh cilantro, chopped
Juice from 1 lime
1/2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt
2 C shredded cheese
6 large, burrito-size flour tortillas
Sour cream (optional)
Additional toppings of your choice

Instructions:
Mix chili powder, cumin, and garlic salt in with rice and stir to blend. Add remaining ingredients except sour cream and cheese. On each tortilla, spread a tiny dab of sour cream around the whole tortilla, then sprinkle cheese all over it. Spread a little of the chicken mixture in a line in the center of each tortilla, then wrap up each one into a burrito. Heat up a large skillet sprayed with cooking spray. Place 3 of the burritos in the preheated skillet and cook about a minute on each side (enough to brown the outside and make them a bit crispy). Do the other 3 the same way.

Serve with your choice of toppings. We had salsa, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, and cilantro :)