DIY LAMPS

I have been looking for DIY lamp ideas and found these that are absolutely awesome. I am thinking that I want to make #1 in two different sizes and in some green tones for my bedroom and #2 with a funky shaped bottle (preferably a turquoise one) for my Living room side table, and #3 a little larger and paint the cardboard yellow for lamps in my guest room.

1. Pickles' Whirl It Lamp Shade Tutorial2. Planet Green's Wine Bottle Lamp tutorial3. Madison Avenue Baby's Cardboard Tube Lampshade Tutorial

BIG PLANS, BIG CHANGES!

It seems that life is always throwing curve balls here and there, some you hit, some you miss and some you hit right out of the park. We are hoping that the many changes taking place in our life at this moment are definitely a Homer! My husband and I might be moving to the Dominican Republic, (its all up to God at this point) we are hoping to embark on an adventure of self-growth, new opportunities and stability (something hard to get on a military lifestyle).  My father in law was awesome enough to hook us up with a pretty great apartment over there, its all ours to do with it as we please, and I couldn't be any more excited. Its really gorgeous, but needs lots of little changes to make it our own. I was checking out Sherry over at Young House Love (love her blog) and saw her mood boards...they are AWESOME! so, i decided to work on one of my own for my new Living Room. Here it is, tell me what you think.  Ill post the other ones as i make them (for the kitchen, bedroom, nursery, etc) 

MY BABY BOY'S NURSERY

My little boy's nursery is something I had GIANT ideas for; I started on it, but this whole military life hasn't allowed me to quite get it all done. The uncertainty of moving in a few months, after only being here 4 months, has kept me from making my home pretty and taking the time to put the final touches on the baby's room. To me, my baby's nursery was right up there with dreaming of my wedding day...well, I had to cancel my wedding, (3 years later my dress is still hanging in the closet untouched) and ended up having a local judge marry us in Biloxi, MS under a 100 year old tree (SANS DRESS). Now, I have to hold of on my nursery too. (yes, I am pouting and stomping my feet) Nonetheless, I am hopeful. It appears that fate is inclining us to take a new direction, and we are listening to her...then we may very well stay in one place for longer than 2 years, and I will get to have my own place. Within my limitations, I have managed to do a few things for the nursery though...I painted that little bird over the lamp (RANDOM THOUGHT:  I am thinking of painting kids' pictures and selling them on etsy) I wanted to do a cute, colorful, animal-filled room that doesn't feel overwhelming or crowded. 
here are a few pictures of the things I have done with the nursery: 

 My little thrift store monkey hanging from the lamp

 I got these adorable farm animal bookends from a consignment sale

 These gorgeous little gators are from a thrift store

Cocalo Alphabet Soup bedding

These little wooden cutout animals are from walmart, they were .49cents each. I stuck them to the ends of the finials

Ikea Mobile

I got the rocking chair on Craigslist for $20...I love CL!

Dollar tree frames with dollar tree animals

HOMEMADE BABY FOOD

Making my own baby food is something I really enjoy, particularly watching his little face get all excited while eating it. I try and make 2 different meals at once (while I am making dinner, so i kill 2 birds with 1 stone), and enough to make 8 or 10 meals. Yesterday I got a little creative and made my own version of Pasta Primavera and a Fall Veggie Soup. Both YUMMY! I try and buy as many of the ingredients organic, after reading this article 16 fruits and veggies you should buy organic.  My son is six months old, but we started him on solids around 4 months, he sits up all by himself, crawls, and stands up while holding onto things.  (not bragging, just to clarify why I give him such advanced foods)  In addition to that, I am one of those people that feels that introducing a baby to flavorful foods, spices, and a diverse menu will ensure an appreciation for things outside of the French-fry and mac and cheese pool. well, at least I am hopeful. 
Here are the recipes and a few pictures:
Pasta Primavera1 cup of whole grain pasta (i use rotini)1-2 peeled roma tomatoes (peeled and seeded)1/4 cup red bell pepper (diced)1 spoonful of chopped red oniona few sprigs of cilantro or parsley1 clove of garlic-masheda little drizzle of olive oil (i know, people say no oil, but its healthy and flavorful)pinch of oreganoand about 1 cup of yellow and green zhuchinni ( peeled and sliced)
bring 1 qt of water to a boil, then add everything. cook until its all soft (not too long since overcooking depletes nutrients)... then blend gradually until you reach the consistency your baby likes (I use my electric kidco baby food mill). I freeze it in  kidco baby food freezer trays (they are great because they have a lid, otherwise you can use regular trays and wrap in a freezer bag), once they are frozen I remove the cubes from the trays, and place them in labeled freezer bags until i need it. To thaw it, I heat up a glass pot, then add the food in. mix, turn it off and it thaws perfectly.

 Cooked pasta in the food mill

 Pureed pasta in trays

 frozen and ready for bagging

Fall Veggie Soup1/2 of a large sweet potato-peeled and cubed1/2 a large Idaho potato-peeled and cubed1/4 cup green beans2 large carrots, peeled and sliced1 cup cubed butternut squash1 yellow and 1 green zucchini (peeled and sliced)2 stalks of organic celery-slicedsome parsleysome white onion*you can add a little spinach if you have (i forgot to add it) a handful of thin soup noodles
add all of the ingredients to 1 qt of boiling water, cook until all is tender. Then blend. (you can adjust the liquid as you see fit to reach your desired consistency) This yields about 5 cups, I prep for freezing in the trays, and pack like I did the pasta. ENJOY!  Thin soup noodlesall in the potIn the blender, ready to goPoured and set to freeze.  Have fun!

ONESIE EXTENDER TUTORIAL

Hi Everyone! 
If your kid is outgrowing his onesies way faster than you can make money to buy new ones? or, if the baby is too long and the onesie too short, but if you size up they swim in the thing? Then, this tutorial is for you. 
I put together a onesie extender tutorial after realizing that I am indeed NOT made of money. FYI, this is definitely not all fancy and cute, since it is going on my son's butt I figured it just needed to be easy and functional. :O)   Let me know if there is something you don't understand or need help with. Good luck! link back to me if you make some.  Took about 4-5 minutes from beginning to end to make 2, total costs: .50cents ( i got 2 carters onesies for .25cents each at my local thrift store..you may be thinking, "why make an extender if you can find them so cheap?" Because they hardly ever have the right size. 
Materials: 

 First, I cut out the area were the snappies are (about 3" high), crop it a little so its straight

 

 second, i attached one to the other with pins.. make sure that they are facing the right direction (look at the picture)

 Thirdly, i sewed about 1/4" in from the edge... i sewed it twice to reinforce it. 

 VOILA!

THAT'S IT! Here is my little man using his. (check out those cute thighs!)

DIAPERS.COM REVIEW

I am usually not someone that buys many things online, since my favorite part of shopping is the getting out of the house part. However, since my husband and I had to downgrade to one vehicle so that I can be a SAHM, sometimes leaving the house to do just about anything becomes a hassle. So, I decided to give diapers.com a try since they had a 15% off promo for new customers and free shipping on orders of 49$ or more. OH MY! what a GREAT EXPERIENCE!!! It was quick and easy to look for things and place my order, in addition to that the prices are comparable to Bj's for the super sized boxes of diapers and wipes. I purchased a soothie teething pacifier, some silicone nipples, munchkin teether, pampers wipes (720ct box), pampers baby dry diapers(176 count box), vicks vaporizer (since its flu season I figured I should be prepared) and an antimicrobial cartridge for the vaporizer all for $84.09. Their sister site soap.com shares a cart with them and has just about everything you would find in a pharmacy, and the cleaning aisle of the supermarket.

My package arrived via Fedex the next day, everything was perfect and I saved $14.84, and some of the things were already on sale. In the package they also sent me some pretty cool envelopes (see below) to enclose coupons and send them back (free of charge) they will then keep these in my account to be used on any of my future purchases on either diapers.com or soap.com (don't be fooled they sell everything on soap.com). In addition to that, i also received a 15% cash back code for all future diaper purchases for 6 months with a 25$ purchase on soap.com (and i got a 10% off coupon for that site too).

Overall, my experience was EXCELLENT! I really loved purchasing from them. HERE IS A DIAPERS.COM COUPON JUST FOR YOU!!! (as a thank you for reading my page, btw it can also be used on soap.com which is equally awesome)

A THRIFTING I SHALL GO

I really really love to thrift! Its like therapy for me. I make it a point to look for thrift stores whenever I move before anything else (i move a lot since my husband is in the military). From the ones I have been to so far in Washington, DC, Indian Head Hwy Thrift is my absolute favorite. They have color tag sales (50% off, and usually more than one color tag is on sale at any given time, particularly on Saturdays when up to 3 tags can be on sale) everyday. In addition, they offer 25% off to military with id. They have an awesome selection of just about everything, but so far I have done super well with toys, i mean top of the line expensive toys. I have bought Chicco, Fisher-Price, Vtech, melissa & Doug, , Leap frog, and a whole lot more, the most i have spent on a toy is 3$ on the Chicco farm (which was brand new in packaging). The area can be a little intimidating for some, but do not let your prejudices lead you wrong... the staff is AWESOME, and so is the community. I love that they have a HUGE parking lot, and if you take public transportation the bus leaves you like 100 yards up the street.

THESE ARE MY FINDS TODAY: (LOVE THEM!)

These are some K's kids cars they retail for 24.99 on Amazon.com, i got them for $1.20

I seriously love this Carter's Dots bumper (got it for my sister) retails for $29.99, and I got it for 5$ in new condition.

This IQ Baby puzzle is AWESOME! Cant even tell you how much it retails for since its sold out EVERYWHERE.. I got it, in its packaging for $1.25

Playskool Old MacDonald Farm Tractor got it for $1.00

and lastly, my favorite little animals EVER.. they are from the Animal alley collection at toysrus got them for .75cents each

IT WAS A GREAT SHOPPING DAY!!!!!!!!!

10 things about me not many people know

I found this game on Louandjane's blog (super cute btw) and thought it would be fun to play along.

10 things you may not know about me...

1. I am crazy about my son

2. I am OBSESSED with thrifting (its like therapy to me)

3. I love to cook, and eat just about ANYTHING...

4. I too believe that there is no greater calling in life than motherhood.

5. Crafting is my third favorite pastime.

6. I have a bachelor's degree, and was a total nerd in HS,

but I only dream of being a Stay at home mom.

7. I learned to swim at age 26.

8. I do not believe in religion, though i believe in God.

9. I have the heart of a hippie

10. I wish I could sew my own clothes.

Babies grow way too fast

My son is a big boy for his age... he is 6 months old, 21lbs(last time we checked) and 28 inches long...and already wears a very fitted size 12 months. He has gone through a gazillion onesies and PJs since he was born (I have two HUGE totes full of 'em to prove it), and quite frankly this whole onesie business is gonna break the bank. So, I heard something about a ONESIE EXTENDER... looked around the net, found some but I do not feel like spending 10$ on 3 of those things. So, i did a little research for a tutorial and cant find that either.(if anyone has one please send it my way) I have decided to make a tutorial myself... WEEKEND PROJECT COMING UP! I will definitely put up pictures and try to be as detailed as possible. I am currently working on the details...

now, onto the PJs... those footed pajamas are excellent, HOWEVER, my kid's feet are all squished inside of it. Many of them he technically still fits into except for the length (mainly because of the feet) and I wanted a tutorial for removing them and maybe adding something to them.. I think i might have to work on that one too. Well, check me out Sunday night... ill have my tutorial up by then.

IM BACK!

Well, its been a while since the last time I wrote. In the past year i had an absolutely PERFECT, GORGEOUS, HAPPY baby boy. He is 6 months now and just AMAZES me a little more each minute of each day. I whinned a lot a while back about needing adventures, travel, excitement... WELL PEOPLE, I GOT IT!! and, its MORE than i could have ever asked for. I have honestly never known love, until i met my son for the first time. He took my breath away. After 2 hours and 43 minutes of active labor (pushing) he was born, a perfect 8lbs 1oz. He is the happiest, silliest, FUn-loving kid EVER and he has helped me find who I am... a mommy.


I have been thrifting a LOT lately.. its like therapy for me! and of course, cant say enough about my dollar stores. :O) LOVE THEM!

I actually found this awesome tutorial over at dollarstorecrafts' blog.... for making hurricanes for 2$ (they look great!) I think thats a project for next weekend!

WEll, bloggers, ill be here! looking forward to writing for you.