Centerpiece!

Somewhere in between cleaning house and destroying the dressing i was trying to make i found the time to make the centerpiece for the table!

Here we have a log I found outside that was part of the old fence in our backyard

A $3 roll of chalkboard paper from Tarjay

Chalk... also from Target

A few Tealight candles that I think I got from Walmart. I've had them forever so I'm not sure but you can find them anywhere!!!  

 

 First I measured the log and figured for many inches apart I wanted the candles

 I decided on every three inches and marked it with a marker

 Then using a 1 1/2 in spade drill bit, I drilled the holes to the depth of the candles! I took the candles out of their little metal holder before putting them in the hole because seriously I couldn't get them in the hole with it.

 There they are all in their holes!

Then I just unrolled the chalkboard paper down the middle of the table and put the log on top! Tomorrow I'm going to send the kiddos out in the yard to find some pretty little leaves and stuff to put around it. I think this would work well for Christmas as well. You could put your tree trimmings around it and possibly some Christmas ornaments! Maybe even those lights I bought for the wreath that I didn't use! Okay I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and gets to spend some well needed time with their families!!!

Super quick and easy Red Beans and Rice with Turkey Sausage

I am cleaning my house i promise! I was cleaning while this was cooking!

This is a super simple recipe and it takes just a few minuted to get ready and everyone in my house loves it! We start out with 2 cans of Red Beans, 1 can of Chicken Broth, 1 Package of Turkey Sausage(skinless), 1-2 cloves of garlic depending on how much garlic you like, a dash of Onion Powder, and salt and pepper to taste.

 First rinse one can of red beans 

 Then toss it in your blender with the can of Chicken Broth and the Clove of Garlic

Then Blend!!!!!!!

 While your bean concoction is blending chop up your Turkey Sausage

 And toss it in a skillet! 

 Here's the Rice going, I used brown rice but feel free to use whatever kind you want!

  After your sausage has browned pour your bean mixture over it

 And mix in your second can of beans (also drained)

Then throw it all in a bowl together and there you have it! This would have only taken about 15 minutes if I had used instant rice but all together it took about 45 (waiting on the dang brown rice!)

So there you go! A quick easy meal for when your super friggin busy! Its also pretty dang cheap and we usually have a little bit of leftovers! Okay now back to my cleaning and tomorrow I will post my Thanksgiving centerpiece!!!

Slight delay on the thanksgiving centerpiece!!!

Okay I know I said I would post another blog right after I posted the blog on the fall wreath buuuuuut I've been so extremely busy with trying to get my house in order for Thanksgiving since we're hosting it his year (which is going horrificly I'll add, being 8 months pregnant and chasing my two kiddos around is taking a toll) but I promise promise promise I will post it tomorrow!!! I'm seriously about to get off my butt and finish cleaning house so I have all day tomorrow to do the centerpiece!!! Alright I'm getting up right now and finishing my cleaning... After I make dinner.... Tootaloo!!!

This stinker is making my cleaning job hard!!!

DIY Fall Wreath

I was able to make a cute wreath for under $30. I purchased everything from Hobby Lobby and just about everything I got was on sale. All of the Fall decorations and craft supplies were 80% off! Okay lets jump into it and I'll show you how I made this pretty fall wreath!

Here is everything I used. I thought about using those lights but I decided against it. The lights are actually from Target's "dollar" section not Hobby Lobby. (I tried to find a link to the lights online but I'm guessing they don't put their dollar items online)

So here we have:

18" Wreath

Red and White Chevron Wired Ribbon

String of LED lights (That I didn't use)

White Paint (you can use any color you prefer)

Paintbrush

Hot Glue Gun

Scissors

Fall Flowers and Pumpkins

Letter M

(not pictured are some twisty ties)

First I started out by Painting my letter M. I figured I could work on some other details while it was drying

While it was drying I got started on the bow, which was probably the most difficult part of this project but still pretty dang simple.

 To be honest with you I didn't measure anything. I just held the ends of the ribbon together and kept adding more ribbon till I got to a bow size I liked. The top ribbon is going to be the "base" of the bow, the middle ribbon is going to be the "top" of the bow and the bottom ribbon will be the center of the bow.

 With the "base" ribbon i glued the ends together. I did this with the "top" ribbon as well.

 After they had dried I laid the "top" ribbon on top of the "base" ribbon, both with the glued sides facing the table. I tried to get it as centered as I could.

 Then for the center of the ribbon I folded it in thirds and glued it all together.

 Then I put it on top of the two ribbons right in the middle...

 Then i flipped it over (glued side up) and pulled it tight and glued! You want to make sure to pull that smaller ribbon tight and not just lay it on top or you wont get that "bow" look 

 Then i fluffed up mu ribbon. This is why its important to get the wired ribbon and not the regular ribbon because the wired will hold its shape.

 Then I cut two more lengths of ribbon (once again I didn't measure I just eyeballed it), Figured how big I wanted the bow to be and hot glued them!

 Here I just used some twisty ties where I had glued the ribbon and cinched it together to get a "bow" look.

 Then I hot glued it to the back!

and cut some tales on it!

 I pretty much knew where I wanted the bow and the flowers but I wasn't sure where to put the M or Pumpkins. The flowers and pumpkins already had pose-able stems on them so I just kinda shoved them through the wreath when I got them in a spot I liked. I used a twisty tie to connect the ribbon to the vine, and the letter M is just being held on by the pumpkins! You can hot glue anything down for extra hold but I'm thinking about reusing the vine for a Christmas wreath so I didn't want to do anything too permanent! I think this whole project took me 45 minutes, so It's definitely something that can be done in between housework or during commercials.

So there you go! A cheap and easy fall wreath! 

Real Quick Post!!!

I'm at work right now so I just wanted to do a real quick post. I plan on Posting a DIY fall/thanksgiving wreath this weekend or possibly Monday depending on how busy we are this weekend. I knows its really late to be making a fall wreath since its almost Christmas but we're having Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year and I want something festive on the door and I'm not about to pay $60+ for something I can easily make. I'll most likely be picking up everything from Hobby Lobby. I found these two pretties on Pinterest! I love the "H" on the first one and I love the simplicity of the second one so I'm going to combine the two and see what I come out with! 

I'm going to do a few more simple DIY decorations as well that I'll post the same day I post the wreath DIY so stay tuned!

Baby Room!

We have all of baby Lana's stuff put up! There's still a few things I would like to pick up (a glider being one) but we still have some time! I will post links to all the goodies under the corresponding pictures!

Here's her pretty little crib. I really wanted a grey crib but I also wanted grey walls. The striped wall was the solution!

CRIB RUG MOBILE BOPPY COVER CRIB SHEET GREY BLANKET PINK BLANKET (I couldn't find the exact one but here's a similar one)

I'm not sure if I'm going to leave this dresser a dresser or if I should toss a changing pad on top...

CHANGING CADDY  DIPER BAG CARSEAT

Pretty picture and this cool swing!

SWING PRAYER PICTURE

One of my favorite quotes

QUOTE PICTURE (I couldn't find the exact one but here's one for a similar price)

Baby Shower!

I had mentioned in my last blog that we had our baby shower! My best friend threw it the banquet room at a casino. I got a ton of cute things and am super thankful for everyone who was able to come and celebrate with us! 

Sign my Mother in law made for me!

How adorable are those cupcakes!

Pretty table! That blue teapot was made of white chocolate and has m&ms inside! It did turn all of our fingers blue though....

Sign I made, I wasn't allowed to help with anything so this was my contribution

Posing with Talon! Just a forewarning, I take horrible pictures

A little blurry but there's all of us!

Hubby with his frilly drink! He's such a manly man

Miss Jayden helping open what looks like some bedding

Kiddos helping opening gifts!

Yeaaaa the strained smile... I got in trouble for not smiling enough... I might have RBF

This diaper bag is adorable! It has Lana's initials embroidered on the front. its from Thirty One which is a really good business with a great message on empowering women. You can find the bag HERE. There's 5 more colors to choose from and tons of options with embroidery.

 

Another forced smile.

Popping balloons with mullah in them!

 

All of the ideas for this shower came from Pinterest surprise!