My Crazzy weekend!!

You really think I would blog about those weekends? psh. haha  Im mostly poking fun at myself.. because I tackled another DIY project this weekend.. along with getting to spend some quality time with my dad and family.. so all in all it was a GREAT weekend! Not to mention, it was a 3 day weekend and I didnt have to work! Woohoo!

Anyways... 

A few months back we got a new(new to us) entertainment center from ksl.. we needed something to fit our 46 in tv, and one that would hide cords, and everything else.. Harper was getting very curious, and I could just see our big tv falling off our tiny tv stand.. she has already managed to tip over her grandpas tv. oops. haha  Lucky enough we found one that fit our tv, but we had to take the doors off... so here I was left with two wonderful entertainment doors screaming at me to do something with them.. So I decided to make a magnet board with one!! 

Before. 

 2 coats of paint. 

Stain and glaze mix. 

 I mixed wood stain and clear glaze mix, painted on then wiped off til i got the look i liked. 

I got the idea(distress/glaze technique) from this cute blog! 

 The covered sheet metal.. We used spray adhesive, but you could easily modge-podge the scrapboolk paper to the metal. I got the sheet metal from lowes, already cut.. so I didnt have to cut anything and have a raw edge. 

I also picked up some distressed looking nobs to add to it.. other than trying to fill the whole piece with metal. 

My dad.. helped me fasten the metal to the wood with this nifty tool, that used metal clasp like things. I of course forgot what its called. I have to give my dad credit for drilling all the holes and measuring for me.. he is quite the perfectionist, but this is what he is good at! I love that I can have him help me make my ideas come to life!! 

And here you have it! 

After. 

Im getting bad at taking better pictures.. but you get the idea.. Eventually it will be covered in cute pictures, magnets, and something other than the bare candle holder.. (which hangs from my  mini mirror/mantle originally).. will  be hanging  there. I of course couldn't wait to get it up and ended up screwing 4 different screws in the wall.. hopefully it stays with the one i managed to get in place.  :)

Im happy with it, and now have to find something to do with the other painted door! Until then.. 

Enjoy :)

DIY Cake stands.

First off.. please excuse my horrible cell phone pictures, and my messy table.. 

Soo I of course have to find some sort of craft to do.. I just love craft blogs, and how creative people are and it makes me want to try everything!! Anyways.. one of the things I wanted when I first was planning Harpers bday party was a cake and cupcake stand.. Michaels mom let me use one,  and then afterwards I found this great idea!! With a little trial and error tho.. I will probably try a few more.. I just went to the thrift store and picked up some glassware for under 5 bucks, and used some gorilla glue from my handy man.. aka my daddio. (he has everything!)

I picked out some glass cups/vases that looked like they would make a good base for the stand.. Ive seen most done with candle stick holders, but I couldn't find any. I washed them before hand to make sure I had a clean surface, put a generous amount of gorilla glue around the edge of the stand, and stacked some books on top to weigh it down while it dried. I just chose a pretty colored plate I liked for this one! 

The one on the right, would have been really cute.. the glass plate on top had words of different desserts... butt when the glue dried, The bottom of the glass between the plate and stand turned a frosty color, and even throughout the stand.. i dont know?? You can kid of see in the picture.. soo I experimented a little...

Still.. not perfect, but I used some spray paint, and modge-podged some scrap book paper to the top. 

I think it looks cute being used and a plant stand.. of course not every diy project turns out perfectly, but im happy with how they turned out and im excited to use the one... whenever that may be! haha 

I still want to try this one out!! How cute?!

Until next time.. 

Im making a magnet/peg board out of my entertainment center doors that are not being used!! Cant wait to show you all! 

:)

:)

Coupon Newb.

I gave in! I finally got the courage to round some coupons up and see what i could find and save.. After looking up and reading a few different coupon blogs, I even watched a video.. I decided to try out Walgreens. Now, Walgreens is considered a little more difficult when it comes to couponing.. You do need to know their coupon policy and it works better if you have in store coupons plus manufacture coupons(ones you would get in the paper)
Soo I got two papers today hoping to get some good coupons, But I only got one insert because I could not find the daily herald anywhere! BUT.. I used the Walgreens add, and matched up a few coupons I already had and headed out.. of course after i wrote everything down, and calculated things. Im legit. haha

I do think that some things might be priced up at walgreens versus your local grocery store, but they did have some good deals going on.

Heres What I got:
3(limit) Ajax Dish soap- .89 each with in store coupon
2 Colgate Sensitive tooth paste- 2/$7.00 in store plus $1 off coupon= 2/6.00  RECEIVED $3 REWARDS
3(limit) Aluminum Foil-.69 each with in store coupon
3(limit) Yardley soap .69 each with store coupon
2 air freshener .79 each with store coupon
2 Schick Hydro shaving cream (3.99) - B1G1 free plus I had a .75 off coupon
2 Ajax cleaner- B1G1 free (.99)
3 Hunts tomato sauce- 3 for 1.00

Listerine- 5.99 with $3 off in store coupon plus $1 off manufactures coupon. = $1.99!
Tone body wash- 3.99 RECEIVED $3 REWARDS= .99!
Cantu hair care leave in conditioner- 4.99 RECEIVED $4 REWARDS= .99!
Infusium shampoo- 5.99 plus $2 off Manufactures coupon= 3.99 RECEIVED $2 REWARDS= 1.99!
Scunci hair elastics- 2.00 RECEIVED $2 REWARDS= FREE
Carefree liners=.99! If I would have had the manufactures coupon they would have been free.

My Total before Coupons= $68.48
Savings with coupons= $28.09
Rewards= $14.00

If you include the rewards, (which I can use towards my next purchase like cash) with the coupon savings, I saved a total of $42.09! I think that is pretty good! It was fun too, and it gave me the little push to try and coupon more! Cant wait to stock up on more food items so I can see the savings grocery wise.
Im looking forward to getting a ridiculously good deal down the road.. haha I may be an amateure, but ill get there! :)

I forgot to mention..

HARPER IS OFF THE BOTTLE!! 

I stressed this.. I have no idea why, it was a lot easier then I imagined. 

I'm not one to really go by the "book" I like to think of myself as a care free, laid back kind of parent.. but in a good way! There are definitely things I do and don't want to do.. and things id definitely like to try.. but I'm kind of liking the see how it goes approach. Its worked out quite well for me.. well us I should say, we kind of just follow each others lead, or give each other suggestions. 

Harper just decided on day she didn't want her binkie.. which was fine by me, Ive heard horror stories of binkie lovin kids, and I didn't want to have a fighting match with her.. so she solved that one for me. 

The bottle, well I just started giving her more "sippys" (as we call them) throughout the day and only a bottle before bed, which I watered down, that way she wouldn't want it as much.. I of course got used to giving her one in her crib until she fell asleep.. don't judge me, it worked great! haha 

Don't worry.. she doesn't go to sleep with her sippy.. I wasn't going to follow that trend, that would have defeated the purpose! I then started only leaving a sippy cup with her at daycare, so she would get used to not having one there as well. All of a sudden a week went by and I had realized she had no bottle! It worked out better this way then just cutting her off cold turkey.. She has only had one bottle recently and that was because she was throwing a fit over her sippy with a straw, and we happen to be at Grandmas.. im mean old mom and want her to get used to the straw kind, but she still cant figure out that she doesn't have to tip it back to get a drink, and when I show her the motion on how to suck out of the straw, she just blows out. haha its cute, but she gets angry with me.. so we use that one occasionally. :)

She is growing up wayy to fast, but I'm enjoying watching her get her little personality and wanting to be independent... We cant get enough of her, she is constantly making us laugh and smile. 

♥

This year on Mom day...

For Mother's day this year Me and my sister took my mom out to breakfast at Cracker barrel, her favorite place! My brother joined us, along with Harper. We had good food, and got to browse the cute little store they have there!

Of Course we can never get a decent picture.

We then Visited my Grandma and exchanged cards, Harper enjoyed feeling like a big girl and walked all by herself up to grandmas door! She insists on walking EVERYWHERE! The minute we get out of the car, she is freaking out for me to set her down.

Harper is wearing her cute outfit she got from Grandma on Easter.. I swear every Holiday is an excuse to spoil this girl. I will have to do a delayed post on Easter... seems I forgot, of course!

Back to Mother's day.. After I spent some time with my mom and Grandma, I went home to Flowers and cards from Michael and Harper, along with a gift card to get my nails done! It was soo cute. Michael wrote a card from Harper with what she would probably say.. and his card to me said "to my lovely wife" haha how sweet! :)
Im so thankful for the friends and family who thought of me on this day, and wished me a happy Mother's day. Im still grateful for all the support, love, and compliments I get on being a mom. I would not change a thing. If it wasnt for my mom I dont think I would be able to do some of the things I do.. I still continue to ask for advice, and learn things from my mom and hope that Harper can learn and take in all the things I teach her, the tough love and advice. 

:)

Tomato cream sauce.

Last night I made this easy pasta sauce recipe.. it was so yum! So of course I have to share it! This is definitely going to be another favorite pasta in our house! Check out my other pasta recipe here.

This is Pasta with tomato cream sauce. I found the recipe here So feel free to check out the more in depth version. Her pictures are a lot prettier too. haha

What you will need:

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 2 cans (15 Ounce Each) Tomato Sauce Or Marinara Sauce
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• Dash Of Sugar (more To Taste)
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• Grated Parmesan Or Romano Cheese, To Taste
• Fresh Basil, Chopped
• 1-½ pound Fettuccine

Here are my few pictures along the way.

Saute onions and garlic with oil and butter.

Add tomato sauce, cook over low heat 25-30 minutes, stir occasionally.
remove from heat, add cream.

mmm.

Add your cheese, noodles, and basil.

I honestly did not follow the directions exactly.. besides the tomato sauce and cream. I added red pepper flakes, and parsley instead of basil.. mostly because I'm pretty sure at the time I thought it was basil. oops. Still tasted amazing tho! You can also add a little of the noodle water to thin out the pasta sauce if it is too thick, I only used a little.
I love easy pasta sauces.. You can alter them to your liking, without really messing them up! I only used maybe half the onion, and more garlic.
The Boyfriend does not like onions like I do, but he still ate it and loved it! I'm thinking next time I could substitute real onion with onion powder or onion flakes. I will try that next time!

Enjoy. :)

Tell the ones you love..

I just have to share this story, because as sad as it is.. it really just touches your heart and makes you hug the ones you love a little bit longer. I do not know this family personally, but I had a few friends sharing the link on facebook. I read it, and had to hold back the tears. Just makes you realize how important your loved ones are.

Cherish the moments.
♥

Happy Birthday....

To 2 of my bff's! (yes.. I have many, lucky me)

I know it is a little delayed.. but We had such a fun night celebrating, I needed to catch up on my zz's over the weekend. 

Sooo

Here's too Kiko and Kadie.. 2 of the greatest gals you will ever meet. Inappropriate bitchy women.. my kind of friends. haha But seriously! They are great, they would do anything for you.. so glad I can say that about ALL of my friends, even tho our lives are busy, filled with children, work, and all the duties that come along with that.. when we do see each other, we can start where we left off. 

quarrrrdaaallllayyy!! 

(if you know, then you know). 

Cute bday girls all dressed up! 

Ready to head out!
Love my friends. :) Missed the ones that couldn't make it!