Easter Greetings for your Front Door

I was inspired by Kimberly over at Mommy Savers to make an adorable Easter wreath from Peeps! Isn't it heavenly? It makes me smile everytime I come through the front door :).

This lovely wreath greets visitors who come to our house with some bright Easter cheer and fabulous, chocolate colored, satin ribbon (Doesn't that just sound luscious? You know I love me some satin ribbon...).

*Sigh* ... I do love that satin ribbon bow

Now I must warn you. I have had Peeps lovin' family members threaten to nibble at my wreath. So you may find that one of your bunny Peeps is missing an ear after assembling this wreath. I am not a Peeps lover, so I had no problem using them for my crafting purposes. But, I'm just sayin' . You may want to keep this out of reach of small, marshmallow-loving children :). What you will need to assemble a Peeps wreath:

12" foam wreath (I found one at Dollar Tree but you can find them at Michaels or Hobby Lobby)

brown satin ribbon

2 packs of peeps - about 22 peeps

glue gun

This wreath is very easy to assemble. Just start wrapping your satin ribbon around your wreath form and hot glue it in place. Then hot glue your Peeps around the wreath and finish it off with a big bow. I used 1" brown satin ribbon and it took about 12 yards, but if you used bigger ribbon it would take less. Kimberly at Mommy Savers said it only took her 5 yards of 2" ribbon to cover her wreath form. I hope you enjoy your Peeps wreath as much as we have! Happy crafting!

I couldn't resist the urge to spray paint...

Well, we are finally back in our house after the fire we had last month. Things are still not completely finished but we are getting there.

Unfortunately, my entire spray paint collection was destroyed in the fire and I have had this overwhelming desire to have some pretty colors of spray paint in my life again. I used this spray paint desire to make a change in our bathroom. We recently redid our bathroom (you can see the transformation HERE) and I found this lovely shower curtain at Target.com. It brightens the room, hides the hideous accordion shower doors that are currently there, and brings in some delicious color. I seriously love it. I will be taking the shower curtain with me when I move from my in-laws house because I love it that much.

Yes, I know. It's gorgeous (needs ironing...). But I needed some gorgeous bathroom accessories to compliment this new brightness. And my thrifty calendar art was not cutting it...

Thrifty, but not bright.

So I found this beauty at Kohls on clearance and with a coupon I paid $10.

I loved the look but not the color.

Took a little Krylon Ivy Leaf Spray Paint to it...

Now it simply pops off the wall and pulls out some of that bright green color from the shower curtain. (Like my can of Oust and roll of TP? Just keepin' it real.)

I love the impact a little spray paint can make!

More spray paint makeovers to come!

Dr. Seuss 1st Birthday

This past weekend, my sister had a Dr. Seuss birthday party in honor of her son's 1st birthday. It was adorably cute and I couldn't resist snapping a few pics to share with you. You can read more about the details of the party at her blog HERE. I think she even shares a quote from yours truly... but I'm not sure ;).

(Dollar Tree frames spray painted to match the red and turquoise theme.

Genius! You know I love me some Dollar Tree and spray paint.)

An Easter Craft

This is a project that I made last spring but never got the chance to blog about. I have never been one for Easter decorating. In fact, until last year I didn't own any Easter/spring decorating items. I am usually not one for pastel colors, cutsey ceramic bunnies, or decorating with eggs. Until last year. I was checking up on some of the blogs I follow and came across an Easter project that immediately grabbed my attention. Kimba from A Soft Place to Land stole my heart with her moss covered basket full of eggs. I am not sure what it was that I loved - maybe the earthy, naturalness of it? The subtle hint of Easter without the in-your-face pastels? I can't quite put my finger on it, but I was in love. In fact, I think I left for Hobby Lobby not long after reading through her tutorial to purchase the materials. You can see Kimba's full tutorial HERE. As for the materials I used: - 99 cent wicker basket from Goodwill - Sheet moss from Hobby Lobby - found in the dried flower section and purchased with a 40% off coupon. - I couldn't find twine that looked like Kimba's, but I purchased the rope on the handle from Hobby Lobby in the craft section. - 2 bags of eggs from Michael's purchased at 50% off. I really liked the muted, natural looking colors of these eggs but you could use any type of faux egg that you like. - Having a plate or platter to place under the basket is essential if you want to avoid having bits of moss flake off onto every surface! I found this plastic platter in the dollar section at Target and spray painted it heirloom white. This was an easy, thrifty craft that you still have plenty of time to recreate before Easter (Easter isn't until April 24!). I love the results! Do you decorate for Easter? I am slowly coming around :).

Don't trifle with dessert :)

Since we are living in a hotel, I have been missing the use of a full kitchen to make good food! You can be sure I will be back cooking and baking soon, but until then I had to get my fix by making this recipe.

This trifle recipe is one I pieced together from several other recipes. It is OH SO easy and involves no cooking/baking of any kind. It is a definite crowd pleaser! I think I could just eat a bowl of the cream filling by itself...

Trifles are such great dessert choices because they are easy to assemble but look like a million bucks. No worries if you don't have a trifle bowl! Just use a deep, clear bowl so that the different layers will show through. I have also used one of the deep, clear jars you can see HERE (as part of the cookie buffet) to make a trifle and it works just as well. You can also purchase a trifle bowl for under $10 at Walmart.

Strawberry Cream Trifle

1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced
1-1/2 cups cold milk
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups Cool Whip
1 loaf of Sara Lee frozen pound cake, thawed and cut into cubes

In a bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix together until smooth. Let stand for a few minutes until it is soft-set. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth; beat in the vanilla pudding. Fold in Cool Whip. Line the bottom of a trifle bowl or clear glass serving bowl with half of the cubed pound cake. Top with half of the strawberry slices and half the pudding mixture; repeat layers. Garnish with a strawberry fan and dollop of Cool Whip if desired.

In honor of ketchup...and free fries

Have you seen these new, super cute and completely practical Heinz ketchup packets from Chick-fil-a?

Be still my heart :) . I think I am in love.

I know it may sound pathetic but these new ketchup packets have made eating Chick-fil-a waffle fries a more delightful experience.

My father-in-law swears by Heinz ketchup. He says it is the only ketchup to use. I've never really felt like there was much difference between ketchup brands. Until now.

I had some waffle fries the other day and the combination of ketchup in a convenient dippable container with the waffle fries was delicious. I considered going back and getting another order of fries ;). Not to mention, these packets contain 3 times as much ketchup as the old ketchup packets. So you spend less time trying to squeeze the ketchup from a gazillion packets in order to get a nice amount to dip from. You can also squeeze the ketchup from these packets by opening it a different way if you prefer that method too dipping. So versatile!

And you are in luck! If you haven't had the chance to try the new ketchup, next Friday, March 4 from 2-4pm is your day. Chick-fil-a is giving away one medium order of waffle fries when you mention you're there to try the new Heinz Dip and Squeeze! It is a win-win situation: ketchup and FREE fries. Happy Friday!

I'M STILL HERE!

Wow! It sure has been awhile since I last posted! I just wanted all my blog readers to know that I am still here and I plan to start blogging regularly again very soon.

Life has been full of distractions over the past month. Between Jeremy, Spencer, and me we took turns being sick through mid-January. Something about having your face hurt from sinus pressure just takes the blogging energy right out of ya! Then I made a trip to Utah with my mom and sister to attend a women's conference and spend a little girl time together.

While I was out of town, Jeremy called me to say that there had been a fire at our house (we live with my in-laws currently)! I'll admit I didn't believe him at first. We were very lucky. The fire was contained to the sun room at the back of the house and we didn't lose much. Everyone got out of the house ok and the house mostly sustained smoke damage. It could have been MUCH worse and I continue to remind myself everyday that we are blessed. My family was certainly protected that night.

We have been living in a hotel while things are being cleaned up and repaired at our house. The hotel will be our home for several more weeks...I am trying to keep a positive attitude. Living in a hotel is not my favorite thing. But I am grateful :). Life will go on. We will be back in our house soon enough. And I will be blogging again someday soon...until then...here are just a few pictures my father-in-law took of the fire damage.

The door from the living room to the sun room

My whole spray paint collection was destroyed :(.
I did most of my spray painting in the sun room.
I'm sure having all those cans out there helped fuel some of the fire too...
ooops.

Spencer's picnic table completely melted over his water activity table