May 31, 2011

Sugar & Spice & All Things Nice

I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Memorial Day! I used some of my free time to make the rest of my little cousins headbands! I just love the baby pink, yellow and green combos for little girls! I hope all of my girlfriends have little girls so I can spoil them rotten with cute girly bows, headbands and other accessories!! :)
 (I actually wore it to work today, shhhh don't tell my little cousins hehe)
 This one is on a headband made out of a pantyhose type material. Very soft and perfect for a baby. It can also be doubled up and worn as a bracelet!


May 28, 2011

{Rosette Headbands}

DIY projects are just so much { FUN!! } I wish I could make crafts everyday. Those of you know know me personally know that I would too if I had the chance hehe!

These are my very first rosette headbands and I think they turned out pretty cute! Thinking of starting an Etsy shop now, whacha think?

I am super excited for tomorrow!! My life-long-childhood friend Lindsey, from the { Sweetly Yours } blog, is coming over to do crafts. We'll be making a bunch of these beauties!

The two below are for my little cousins. More cuties coming to you tomorrow!
 



May 25, 2011

{ Thankful }

It is sad to admit but sometimes it takes a disaster like all of these tornadoes, earthquakes and heatwaves to humble us.....Think about it, do you wake up EVERY day and say, "Thank you Lord for your abundant love. Thank you for all that you have provided me. Thank you for my good health. Thank you for my family and friends."? Speaking for myself, I know I don't thank God EVERY day and I know I should. My new goal is to wake up every day and say, "Thank you Lord" whether that be right when I wake up, on my drive to work, or when I close my eyes at night in bed. The Bible tells us, "16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I have so so much to be thankful for, and I am, I guess I just need to tell the man upstairs a little more often.

Another takeaway, in light of these natural disasters recently, is that I am thankful for the little things. Material possessions are nice but they don't make us truly happy nor do we take them with us when we leave this temporary home. The small things are what count like laughing with my husband till we cry remembering something funny, playing with our dog and knowing that it makes him happy, sharing a meal with family, or helping someone in need.

Okay, I'm done with my soap box...

Here is one of { The Small Things } that makes me smile!

Where I work we work in boring grey cubes. Don't get me wrong I LOVE having my own personal cube, but they are sooo drab and boring with their grey walls and grey carpet. If you know me then you know I spiffed mine up! Yes, I said spiffed. Coming to work is just that much more enjoyable with a little color and fun in your cube! All it takes is a little pop of colored fabric, a few cute accents and some nifty supplies! Yes, I also said nifty.

So without further adieu here is my new and improved cube!


 Cute butterfly accents and only a dollar each at Hobby Lobby!
 Cute little notebooks with scripture to remind me


And there you have it, one Happy non-boring cube! Now go "spiff" up something in your life and remember to say, "Thank you."

May 22, 2011

{ Happy Birthday Howdy! }

Okay, first off, Justin and I don't have kids yet so cut me a break....I am an animal lover among many other things, that is obvious. You could say Howdy is like my first son. Okay, he IS my first son and I spoil him rotten with love and treats. No we don't feed him from the table or dress him up....although I did put him in a pumpkin shirt for Halloween, but that's different! So, when my little boy had his first Birthday of course I got him a { Birthday Cake } and boy did he love it!
Isn't this the cutest little cake?! Perfect puppy size too! The cake consists of egg, peanut butter, cornflakes, and a few other things I forget and the icing is a type of yogurt icing!
 
{ All safe for puppies! } We finished Howdy's 1st Birthday with a little fun at the {puppy park}, Howdy's favorite place to go. I'm sure this little fella is going to sleep good tonight!


May 20, 2011

{ Friday & I'm Lovin' it }

It's { Friday } y'all & I'm lovin' it!

Starting a new tradition this Friday...and as we all know as Aggies after you do it once it becomes a tradition!
Here are some things I'm Lovin' today!
autumn leaves fall living room
I'm { lovin' } this beautiful living room! It's so simple with just a hint of color depending on the season. What a cute idea!
fall blossoms in pitcher
I can't wait for fall to try these great ideas!

fall vignette
Check out Centsational Girl  for the whole blog on this awesome decor 

Smores

Smores Brownies?....Yum!! Find this amazing recipe at 3 Four and Under

{ Precious! }
These polka dot flower magnets are super cute and really easy to make. Find out how to make them at the Crafty Sisters blog

It looks like I'm really diggin' things that remind me of fall and summer has hardly began here in Texas! Oh well, I'll bring you more summer {lovin'} in my next post!



May 18, 2011

Did someone say Cheese??

As many of you may or may not know I'm not a huge { Veggies } fan! But I do try new things every now and again....shocker right? Well, my husband loves tomatoes so I decided to cook goat cheese-basil stuffed and broiled tomatoes! Still not a huge fan of  Veggies but they were surprisingly good....although I didn't finish all of mine, Justin loved his! And that makes me happy, so I'll count this as a success!

Goat Cheese-Basil Broiled Tomatoes

Ingredients

2 ripe medium tomatoes
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 handful fresh basil, chopped
6 oz goat cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Preheat broiler to high.
Use a sharp knife to cut a 2" incision near the stem of the tomaotes, and cut in a circle, around the stem, coring the tomato. Use a teaspoon to scoop out some of the flesh, leaving about an inch on all sides of the tomato. Chop the scooped-out flesh, transfer it into a bowl and set it and the hollowed-out tomatoes aside.


Heat the olive oil in a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and Panko breadcrumbs and cook, until garlic is fragrant and breadcrumbs are toasted. Transfer mixture to a plate and let cool for 5 minutes.
Combine the tomato flesh, Panko-garlic mixture, basil, goat cheese, salt and pepper. Divide mixture between the hollowed-out tomatoes and arrange on a baking sheet. Broil for 3-4 minutes, on middle rack, or until tomatoes are puckered on the outside (but not mushy) and tops are golden-brown.
Voila! Your very own 
{ Goat Cheese-Basil Tomatoes } 
Bon Appétit !
The original recipe can found at { Exercise.com }


May 17, 2011

{ Welcome to My Kitchen }

I am on some kind of a cupcake kick and I stumbled across a recipe for these beauties! { Shirley Temple Cupcakes } I grew up drinking Shirley Temples. No matter where we went I had to have one! For those of you who don't know what a Shirley Temple is it's Sprite, grenadine & lime, easy peasy!

I modified the recipe a bit but I think they turned out awesome! 

Cupcakes
1 box moist yellow cake mix
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 1/4 c. Sprite (left out so it will go flat)
1/4 c. grenadine
30 maraschino cherries

Mix yellow cake mix as normally directed on the back of the box substituting the water with Sprite. Add the Sprite, grenadine and vanilla to your cake batter and mix well. Pour into cupcake liners. Place one maraschino cherry in the middle of each cupcake on top of the batter and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cherry will sink down during baking and be a nice little surprise at the bottom of each cupcake!

Maraschino Cherry Frosting
16 oz white frosting
1/4 cup pureed maraschino cherries
1 tsp grenadine
lime zest to taste

Whip butter white frosting with grenadine until fully mixed. Add in pureed cherries. Mix until blended well and pipe onto cupcakes. Garnish with a maraschino cherry and tiny lime wedge.
Voila! Your very own 
Shirley Temple Cupcakes 
Bon Appétit !