Whats better than FREE???

I got a very exciting e-mail today from Nuby! They are giving away 500 teethers and tubes of paci whipes, Adalyn loves her Nuby stuff so we are excited to participate...enter the giveaway below, and BEST OF LUCK!! :) If anyone wins from my blog, be sure to post a comment! :)

ENTER HERE: www.surveymonkey.com/s/teetherpacigiveaway  

Another post closer to Christmas!

 

My husband and I are very excited about Christmas this year, what a blessing to get to introduce Christmas to a child! She is only 6 months old, so I think this year the traditions are more for us...but she enjoys "eating" any pretty wraping paper she can get her hands on and looking at the lights. We came up with a few traditions we wanted to do as a family and the first one I am going to share is a coutdown to christmas with books...I did not come up with this idea, it is yet another one from pinterest.

We decided to wrap 24 christmas books, starting December first we will unwrap and read one book each night until Christmas! This is something that Adalyn will enjoy, she is still little but I have read to her since I was pregnant and now she loves it when we read to her! (Side note, studies show that when babies are read to in the womb they actually will recall the book when they are born, GOOGLE IT!) Our collection includes:

  Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer                               
 The Gingerbread Man
  A Charlie Brown Christmas                                         
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
 The Night Before Christmas                                          
The Polar Express
 10 Shiney Snowflakes                                                    
5 Christmas Penquins
 The littlest Elf                                                                
 Mouses first Christmas
 Tonight yoy are my Baby                                              
This is the Stable
 Snowbears 1st Christmas                                               
If you take a mouse to the movies
 Olive, the Other Reindeer                                             
  Little Critter's first Christmas
 The Gingerbread Baby                                                   
Humphreys first Christmas
 The mitten                                                                       
Snowmen at Christmas
 The Gingerbread Girl                                                     
Up on the housetop
 Llama Llama Holiday Drama                                         
Frosty the Snowman

We will read one each night, and on Christmas we will choose a few favorites to read. Each year I will wrap them again and they will be special all over again! Some are classics, some are new twists on old classics, some are ones I just thought were cute, some are board books that will get replaced as the kids get older...I am very excited to start this tradition!!

 

ARE THOSE GLUTEN FREE?? YES.

 

As most of you know, my husband has ciliac disease, so I do my best to cook things that taste like food rather than cardboard or sand. I often leave the kitchen in a huff and claim that I will "never do that again" only to end up in the kitchen with a mound of gluten free products a few days later. I love to bake but I often fight with the flours and such. Yesterday, the gluten free apple pie I made was just a gritty sand like gunk. Today, I made something wonderful. I spent the afternoon banging and clanging...mixing and mashing and emerged with something fabulously simple. When is good my husband husband tasted them he said..."Are sure this is gluten free?" Thats his stamp of approval!!

 

Gluten Free Whoopie Pies (busy mamma version)

COOKIES:
1 box gluten free cake mix (8x8 pan size)  (any flavor can be used)
1/2 tub cool whip
1 egg
1/3 cup veg. oil
splash of vanilla

mix em up, drop onto cookie sheet. bake at 350 for about 10 min.

FROSTING:
1/2 tub marshmallow creme
1 tub vanilla frosting

***The cookie recipie was supposed to be: 1/2 tub cool whip, 1 egg, 1 cake mix..but they were dry. You could use a yellow cake mix and add pumpkin, or any other flavor combinations you like! I make peanut butter cookies this way.

 



The turkey is cold, let the Christmas season...begin!!

I love crafting, scrapbooking and making things so I set out to make a few items for Christmas (I have more crafty things on my to-do list than I am will ever get to I am sure) but I did cross two off this week. The first I did was a "melted snowman ornament" I took a trip to a craft store on my birthday to get some supplies...I got a box of glass ornaments, (set of 6) diamond dust, clay (oarnge and black) and peppercorns.

I poured the diamond dust in first, added a few peppercorns, shaped a top hat and nose, and then I went outside for some small twigs. When they were finished I tied some country ribbon on them to match the rest of the decor on my tree and vola!  ** diamond dust is very sparkly and looks great, but it was pricey so I added table salt as well to fill the ornament as full as I wanted, but once it was mixed together you cant tell.

The second was a super quick project I did is for my dad (I got him a real gift as well) but It does not matter when or how many times I ask him what he wants for Christmas he ALWAYS says, "Nuthin'" so..when I saw this on Pinterest, I knew I had to make him one. I dug out a jar from the mound of "junk" I have saved, (just in case I find a craft project) typed and printed what I wanted it to say, cut it down to the right size and modge podged it on! I am gonna stick a bow on top and give it to him. My dad will find this just as clever as I do I am sure. ;)

 

Project: Adalyn's Room!

 

Our little princess is only four months old, but she has lots of books and lots of bows, they began to take over her room..her book basket was over flowing and her bow holder was not big enough so, the pinterest addict that I am figured I could DIY a solution. Project #1: Book Case, I went to Wal-Mart and bought a book case for 15.68, then went to a local fbric store and scored 2 yards of fabric for $2.00! :) I put the book case toegther and covered the cheap cardboard stuff with fabric so it would look cute in her room! I also moved my rocking chair from when I was little and a rug into that corner...now we have a special place to read books!!

 

Project #2: A bigger bow holder! A.C. Moore had poster frames for sale so I grabed one of those, the leftover fabric from the book case..I put the fabric in the frame like a picture so the glass covers it, added ribbon and VOLA! :) A place for all her bows....and room for MORE.

 



 





Mr. Snow Door

 

I LOVE Christmas time, I start bugging my husband to decorate mid October...He gave in this weekend and I am still working to get every nook and cranny of our house looking festive. I found this idea on pinterest and couldnt pass it up! It is just scrapbok paper and some wraping paper scraps, but it adds a lot to our living room. Best of all, it was cheap, and quick!

 

Pecan Pie!

 

Tonight after dinner my husband looked at me and asked "What's for dessert?" I gave him a few choices and he asked for pecan pie. I agreed...so here it is, Gluten-Free Pecan Pie. (worth every calorie!) (This recipie is from my Momma)

 

Preheat oven to 350, you can use a regular pie crust but we are Gluten-Free so I chose pamelas gluten free bread mix (1/2 bag and 2 sticks of butter)

 



After mixing this and the butter, I put it in my (greased) pie pan and begin to smooth it out. Like pizza dough, gluten free dough simply does NOT roll out. Save yourself the frustration and  pat it out! My rolling pin has not left the droor since my husband was diagnosed.

Once my pie dough is ready, I mix up the filling MAKE SURE AND PUT THE EGGS IN FIRST, beat them, THEN add your other ingedients other wise you will have chunks of scrambled egg in your pie..not yummy. I found this out the hard way.

FILLING:  4 eggs                              
                   1 1/2 cup dark corn syrup
                   1 cup sugar                 
                   2 1/2 tblsp. butter
                   1/8 tsp. salt                    
                   1 tsp. vanilla
                   1 cup pecans
Spread the pecans in the bottom of the unbaked pie shell, then pour th ecustard filling over them. Some will float to the top, so you will have pecans all through your pie.
Bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes. When you take it out, it will most likely still jiggle...stick a knife or toothpick 1/2 way between the center of the pie and the crust, if it comes out clean your pie is done. It may take up to an hour for the custard to set.

 

ENJOY! This is my husbands favorite dessert! He says it compares with his grandmothers...so it must be good!!

Today I went to my moms house and she had a treasure for me! When I was little my dad went to Arkansas to visit my "Pappy Gallagher" and he knew a guy that made rocking chairs. My dad went and had one made...just my size, then took it to another friend of my paps and had my name carved it in!  He brought it home for me and I loved it! It has many many miles on it from me rocking my baby dolls wishing to someday be a Momma. 

 Well, here I am...years later writing this blog with my precious baby girl on my lap. :)

 

The "adult size" rocking chair is from my mother-in-law. It was used by her to rock myhusband when he was a baby, his sister, and my niece..it has quite a few miles on it as well! 

Well today is friday...grocery day in our household. I consider myself to be somewhat organized in this department...I plan my meals and make a list. Take the list to the store and then I come home and struggle with what to make because I cant remeber what on earth I bought that chicken for! Well, today that ends!! I found this on Pinterest, adapted it to my personal needs and now..I will remember what that chicken was for!

This project was pretty cheap, the cookie sheet was $1.00 at the dollar tree, I got some magnets at walmart for $1.97 and the paper was only a few cents a sheet at a local craft store! :)

 

..one more thing in my life that pinterest has improved! 

 

I am a stay at home Mommy and was looking for a way to make a little extra spending money (my husband calls it my mad money) So, I was searching pinterest for genious ideas as usual and something caught my attention..TUTU'S!! I have a 3 month old daughter and I thought I will make her one...just to test it out. So I went to Wal-Mart and got some tulle, elastic and ribbon. I made my first tutu in about 45 minutes was pretty proud of myself! Within a few hours I had 3 people ask me to make them one! So, I made reasonable prices and a facebook page called Belly Buttons and Baby Bottoms and within just a couple days I had a booming business. I am certainly not getting rich...but I am able to buy myself a few things once in a while. :) Here are some examples of my work! :)

I enjoy making them LOVE seeing little girls in them..and, I get a little "mad money" :)

 

My first couple pinterest projects were for my husband, we bought the book "The 5 Love Languages" By: Gary Chapman, read through it and took the quiz in the back. I always assumed that my husband knew he was loved (and he does) but it turns out...I was loving him the "wrong" way. My love language is "quality time" so I would constantly be planning movie nights, dates and surprise him at work just to say hello. He apprciated these things but they werent what he NEEDED from me. His love lanquage is, "Words of Affirmation" so, he needs to be told how much I appriciate all the things he does for me. So, I set to work on a project that would keep on giving. The first, was fairy simple to make, its an 8x10 picture frame I used to put scrapbook paper and letters in that works as a dry erase board:

 

I keep a dry erase marker with it, and change it everyday so that he knows how much I apprciate the little things he does...without being mushy!

The second prject was also a pinterest treasure...this one took a deck of cards, address lables and modge podge and TAA DAA!! A little book of love. I made this as his birthday card and he had that little smirk (you know the one that says, "I love this, but I am a man and will not get emotional) as he fliped through it and read each one.

 

 Each card has a different reason that I love him, some are thoughtful, some are inside jokes, and some he probably didn't even know I noticed. But, they are all true. :)

 

Welcome! I am a mommy who is addicted to pinterest during naptime! This blog wil be dedictated to sharing my recipies (gluten free), crafts, and organizational projects (and whatever else I feel the need to post.) Enjoy!!