Baby girl...

...no, not in this house.  My friend Lori just had Baby #4.  She asked me to help her decorate the nursery, hence the trip to Omaha over Christmas break.  While the kids played we trekked around town for thrift store finds, fabric, etc. and then holed up in the baby's room and got to work.  I love to do home projects, but this was especially fun since it was for a baby GIRL!  Here's what we came up with in two days' time, without spending tons of money.  We tried to go for something a little vintage, not too matchy, not too babyish, fun colors.  I couldn't share until now since Baby Stella's name was a secret.

Ruffles are popular...bedskirt is from Pottery Barn.  Polka dot sheets (everyone needs some polka dots) are from Land of Nod (matching changing cover).  

We found this little half bird cage on clearance at Hob Lob--it had an ugly bird and quote on the frame which we pulled off and covered with burlap instead. $6!

I'm a sucker for chalkboards and bunting!  We painted the board onto the wall and made our own frame  (complete with distressing) with some trim from Home Depot.  I hope she wrote the baby's name on the chalkboard.

This collage wall is above the changing table.  The most expensive thing was the $9.99 "S".  Everything else was practically free (thrift store finds).  I should have taken some before pictures of these once ghetto frames.

 Burlap lamp from Target.

 Can't pass up a fur pillow, also from Target.

Tissue and felt flowers, also cheap but super cute.  

Thanks Lori for letting me help you get ready for little Stella.  Can't wait to meet her in person.

Pinterest #41-50

#41--Saw this book pinned and knew it was a perfect gift (from us lovers of all things Apple) for Adam's cousin's new baby.

#42--Bought this dress (exactly) in Nashville after seeing it on Pinterest.

#43--Lindsay showed me how to make this scarf (crocheting).  I need to try it again with thinner yarn since mine "grew."

#44--Tried this "4 minute workout" that is supposed to be as good as a much longer workout...not sure I'm buying that, but it was fine.

#45--Tried several different circuit type workouts with 100 of this, 80 of that, etc.  I don't think there's anything really special about any of them, and have figured out that I don't need to keep pinning them when I can just make it up myself--and who am I kidding?  I'd rather be running :)

#46--...Although I did buy a kettle bell (after I used Kitra's this summer and saw this workout) at Dick's with some rewards coupons that I needed to use and couldn't find any clothes I wanted.

And I'll conclude with some of my favorite school things.  See if you "get them."

#47--Shannon, this one's for you.  Just kidding.  I didn't actually use this (felt too mean) but it is a mistake worthy of a poster!

#48--Offering pick up lines in math class...

#49--Fractions...

#50--New seating chart day... 

#51--And I'll save the last two for later...  

Pinterest #34-40

Before I write my new year's resolutions for 2013, I had to finish off the resolutions from 2012.  One of them was to make something every week from Pinterest.  While I'm certain I am waaaayyyy over 52 (some posts have more than one pin referenced and the school resources I've used in some way are too numerous to count), I still feel the need to see #52 in the heading so that I can mark it off my list :)

#34--Homemade payday bars:  HIT

Payday bars

I took these to school for a Friday lunch.  They were popular with everyone (unless you don't like marshmallows like me) and easy to make.  

#35--Tried this hairdo, cute but not as easy to create if your hair is thick or too long.

#36--Bought this nail polish straight off the Target shelf after noticing it on Pinterest.  

#37--Tried to publish blog using Blurb but it was going to be really ugly if I didn't do some customizing.  I was hoping for a "push to publish" button and it would arrive in the mail all nice and colorful.  Not going to happen with the effort I was willing to spend.  Maybe next year.

#38--Made fake canvases for the boys' rooms.  One of my favorite projects--cheap, fast, easy, big impact.  

#39--Made a lot of these bracelets for myself and others, including making some at a crafts and cocktails night.  Jeanne and Aimee even asked for some as gifts/favors. So fun!

#40--Figured out how to make these as well, but could never find just the right type of string and they were never quite right.  Who sells Chinese knotting thread???

Pinterest #33

This was the only Halloween pin I used this year.  Since we weren't assigned to help with the school parties, I made bags of this for the teachers in my hallway.  My family liked the white mix the best, but still chowed down and polished it off in a day's time.

Pinterest #32

I made a vegetarian meal for Shannon's family after she had Lennon this fall.  Here are a few recipes that got good reviews.

Jello Popcorn

The jello popcorn was good (I only made two flavors), and while it wasn't hard, there are lots of super easy popcorn recipes that I'd probably stick to.

Vegetarian Chickpea Sandwiches

I had made this before for my carnivore family and we really liked it.  Oddly enough, all three boys like garbanzo beans!

Dill Cucumbers

If you like cucumbers, I don't think you can go wrong with any vinegar/oil type dressing.  This is version I had not tried before.  

Pinterest #31

Need to catch up on my Pinterest trials if I'm going to accomplish my New Year's resolution to try (and document) something once a week.  Actually, I've far exceeded my once-a-week quota if you count all of the school resources I've used/adapted/passed on.  Anyway, let's start with a huge failure...

Strawberry Yogurt Pretzels

These look good (on her blog), and I thought my family would really like them.  If you read the recipe and comments you'll see it calls for lots of powdered sugar.  I kept adding more and more powdered sugar thinking the coating would thicken at some point.  Not so much.  They ended up gray and soggy, as though they'd been soaked in water.  Will stick to store bought yogurt-covered pretzels.

Party Popcorn

On the other hand, the popcorn was as easy and tasty as the recipe describes.  The kids devoured it.  I used microwave popcorn which was fine, but I'm sure it would be better with "real" popcorn.

Pinterest #30

Tasty.  Salty (which is probably why I liked it and the kids thought it was so-so).  Definitely fast and easy.  Threw the meat/mix/sauce together in less than three minutes before running out the door to school.

Crock Pot Sliders

Pinterest #29

Two thumbs up for each of these--fast, easy, tasty.  I'm not a big "make-your-own-granola" kind of person, but this was too easy to pass up (no weird powders or odd organic ingredients).  The kids and Adam loved it!

PB Granola

Taco Casserole

Pinterest #28

Very tasty!  And they actually looked like this too.  Graham asked for seconds.  Try these!

Roasted Mustard Potatoes

Pinterest #27

I could live on sandwiches and salads, so I like finding good variations on each.  If you follow the link for the wraps, she has a whole list of possible fillings.  Some sound awful, but most sound really good.  I chose the chicken and avocado...yum...wasn't sure about the sweet chili sauce since I found it in the Asian cooking section (not a fan of Chinese, Thai, etc. food), but it added just the right flavor mixed with the other things.  

 CHICKEN AND AVOCADO

Southwestern Chopped Chicken Salad

Great salad--fresh and light with a great flavor! Owen had three bowls!  I used the prepared grilled chicken, but would be even better with real grilled chicken.  The dressing was made with Greek yogurt which I had never bought.  It worked well in the dressing, although I'm not sure I'd eat it plain.  The kids even liked the dressing as a dip for vegetables/crackers.  

Pinterest #26

Hit and miss.... finally tried this crock pot pizza casserole.  It had similar ingredients as another pizza casserole we all really liked, so I was hoping that it would be as good.  Then we could replace the other casserole with this one since this is made without cooking the noodles first (red flag) and cooks in the crockpot.  Very dry, some crusty noodles mixed with a gummy mix of noodles/meat/sauce/cheese, not exactly the kind of leftovers you look forward to the next night.

 Crock Pot Pizza Casserole

On the other hand, this taco pizza was fabulous.  I'm always leery about crescent rolls for crusts since I've had experiences where it doesn't cook through and we end up eating dough.  I left the onions and olives off one half so I didn't have to hear, "Gross, what's that?"  Served it with lettuce and taco sauce, very good.

Taco Pizza

Pinterest #25

Two TASTY recipes...  Neither of these are my pictures, but my versions DID look just like these.  We all loved the casserole.  Owen ate three helpings!  Plus it made enough for two meals.

 Loaded Potato Buffalo Chicken Casserole

Can you really go wrong with cream cheese, dried beef and dill pickles?  Not in my world.

Pickle Dip

Pinterest #24

Tasty side dishes!  All five of us like cucumbers (strange for three boys to like cucumbers, isn't it?) so this was a nice way to make a cucumber into a pseudo-side dish.  Cucumbers, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and topped with chili powder.  

The kids don't care for "regular" potato salad, but everyone liked this one.  Adam grilled steaks and this side dish was the only other thing we needed.  I'd consider it a meal in itself, but the pigs in my house expect meat.  Mine wasn't quite this decorative, but very tasty... and of course, you guessed it... EASY!  Adam even said this was as good as my mom's potato salad (although if she made the same one it would probably be better :)

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

Pinterest #23

Sharla and I have continued our friendly exchanges.  Recently we both recreated something found on the other's Pinterest boards....  I think these are especially good projects!

Sharla had this jewelry organizer pinned.  Well, I just happened to have an old printer's drawer that I wasn't totally in love with anymore (at least how I was using it) and decided to give it new life.

Before and after:  I went for more turquoise/less aqua and also chose to distress it and leave the old hardware intact.  I didn't include the cheap looking dowel rod across the bottom, but did add some hooks for necklaces.  I don't have any earrings (maybe I should pierce my ears??) or rings (not my thing) so this wouldn't work as well for my million bracelets and necklaces.  I added a few things just to take a low quality "after" photo.  I think it does the same job as the $89 + tax and shipping version on Etsy!

I had pinned these mercury glass lamps, not necessarily for the lamps, but for the tutorial on "fake mercury."  Sharla made me this glass jar (also a candlestick, currently in hiding from Graham) using the Krylon looking glass paint.  Love it!

If I didn't teach, I'd look for a job whose description included:  "researching" and recreating ideas from blogs and Pinterest while your kids trash the house and ask how much longer until swimming/if they can have friends over/eat more snacks/use my phone/download something from iTunes.....

Pinterest #22

After some weak recipes last week, I was happy to find two good ones this week.  I made this casserole for our family and for a friend's family (welcoming a new baby).  Adam and I both really liked it.  The kids were on full alert for anything odd looking--they seem to be able to find the smallest green pepper that was in the 1/2 cup of salsa that was in this entire recipe.  They ate it, but didn't ask for seconds.  

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

I thought these looked interesting when I pinned them, so again I made some for the friend and then took the rest of them to Adam's office where I heard they were a hit.  The kids loved the "frosting"--on or off the cupcake.  The recipe made so much frosting that we still had a bowl left just to eat by itself.  My kids love dough, so this was perfect since there were no eggs in the dough.  I can't decide if they look really professional or like a pile of something else...

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cookie Dough "Frosting"

Father's Day/Pinterest #21

We spent a large part of Father's Day weekend at the baseball field, but still managed to find time for some (practical) gifts of underwear, swim shirt, and cutting boards.  I had good intentions of trying this pork tenderloin recipe, but I'd have to say it was a fail.  Maybe it was the cut/size of meat I chose, but it took much longer to cook and something just wasn't right...

Pork Tenderloin with Pan Sauce

My second fail of the weekend were these EASY cookies.  Mine looked just like this pre-baking.  However, when I took them out the bottom layer of the cookie was stuck to the pan.  It didn't call for a greased pan, but maybe that would have made the difference??  So, it was two "fails" in one weekend. Good thing Adam is not picky--he ate both.  I guess that's part of the reason we like him so much :)

Cake Cookies

Pinterest #20

Two good recipes this week...

Taco Salad

The taco salad was very tasty (minus the tomatoes, of course).  The whole family liked it, although Graham just had the meat and chips by themselves.

Mini Pizzas

These little cupcake pizzas were a total hit, especially with Miles who can take down some serious pizza.  Usually I prefer a detailed recipe with cooking times and temp, but only the ingredients were listed for this.  FYI--if you do make these, I think it helps to cook the "crusts" for a few minutes before adding the toppings.  I'll definitely be making these again soon!

Pinterest #19

I found this felt flower and thought it would be cute for a baby gift.  I made the hat below for one baby and the headband (again modeled by Miles) for another baby.  I also made a very cute gray/white/yellow one but don't have the right thing to put it on now.  Maybe for a fall baby :)  Okay, enough for now.  I'm only behind by 3 now.