Wednesday, February 13, 2013

DIY Mustache Heart Shirt


With Valentine’s Day coming up, I have been planning on getting the kiddos some cute finds to wear on the day of love! As you see here, there are so many cute choices out there! I got Sienna this shirt from H&M and as of two days ago I still hadn't gotten anything for Daniel! Both of the kids have been battling the stomach bug this week and I really didn't have much time to shop so I decided to DIY it!

I was inspired by a guest post that one of my favorite blogs, Small Fry, did on the blog Honestly (the blog for Jessica Alba's line of natural and eco-friendly products, The Honest Company). They did DIY heart sweatshirts that allowed the kids to partake! I thought this would be perfect because Sienna loves to paint and it uses a stencil so she could easily help out! I changed it up a little bit and used a white tee since the weather has been in the mid 80's here every day! If you read one of my previous posts, you may have noticed that I have a little bit of a heart/mustache obsession so I was also inspired by the cute pajamas from Gap Kids. 

Here are the supplies you will need to create this: 
  • a plain t-shirt
  • scissors
  • two sheets of computer paper
  • red fabric paint
  • black fabric paint
  • white fabric paint
  • a sponge brush
  • clothes pins or tape to hold down the heart stencil
  • a mustache image to cut out or trace
  • small paint brushes for the mustache and eyes

 
I had everything except the white tee which I found at Target on clearance for $2.50...Score!!! I then got a piece of paper and cut a heart into it. Next I wrapped the shirt around a magazine so it would be centered and pinned it down with clothespins as well as pressed some double wrapped tape on the back. Then Sienna could start painting and boy did she love it!





Once the kids were in bed I traced a mustache image off the iPad...




 and then used this stencil to create the mustache on the shirt and voila!!




You can decorate it with some eyes or just leave it plain...either way it is super cute! And the best part of all is this whole project only took about 30 minutes in total and cost $2.50!! You can't beat that!! I think I definitely might start DIY'n holiday outfits for the kids! It’s fun for everyone and it comes from the heart :)




Monday, February 11, 2013

Strawberry Cake Mix Chocolate Chip Cookies



For quite some time now I've been sitting on a box of strawberry cake mix waiting to find the perfect recipe to use it for. I love baking from scratch, but these days anything semi-homemade makes me really happy! I have this new found fascination with using a box of cake mix to create other delectable treats besides the traditional cake or cupcake.

Anywho, I recently stumbled across this fabulous recipe on one of my new favorite blogs called Sally's Baking Addiction. As soon as I saw the recipe I knew it was love at first bite :-) This was the recipe I had been waiting for and what better time than Valentine's Day to try out these scrumptious pink cookies!

I followed her recipe up until the end where I split the batter in half and used mini semisweet chocolate chips in one half and white chocolate chips in the other! You can use whatever kind of morsels you prefer and even add more or less to your liking. These cookies are rather large so I only put 8 on each baking sheet!! The recipe calls for 10 minutes at 350°, but I kept them in for almost 14 minutes because they looked extremely gooey to me after 10 minutes-everyone's oven is different though.

These are some of the easiest and most amazing cookies you will ever put in your mouth!

You can find the original recipe here, but below I've put together my version that I adapted from it:

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Duncan Hines Strawberry Supreme Cake Mix (or any other Strawberry cake mix)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable/canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup white chocolate chips


Instructions:

Go ahead and preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and place them aside.

Next you will want to combine the entire box of cake mix with the baking powder in a medium to large bowl and put aside.

In a smaller bowl, combine the eggs, oil, and vanilla extract and whisk them all together.

Mix the cake mix mixture with the wet ingredients until fully incorporated.

Next place half of the batter in a separate bowl (I just eye-balled this) and gently fold the white chocolate chips into one bowl and the semi-sweet chocolate chips into the other bowl.

Roll the batter into balls equivalent to about two teaspoons making them more tall than wide.

Bake them anywhere from 10 to 14 minutes. You can insert a toothpick or fork and see if it comes out clean to test them.

You can let them cool on the pan or move them to a cooling rack after a couple of minutes.

                   
                                      I think they taste best a little warm! Enjoy!




Friday, February 8, 2013

Thank You Target Dollar Spot!



Today I had to make a minor pit stop to the beloved Target to pick up some Pedialyte because my entire family (except for me...fingers crossed) has been bit by the stomach bug! I've never experienced something like this before and hopefully never will anytime soon so I am definitely having one of those 'I'm done having kids' days :)

Anywho, while I was at Target I of course was dragged into the dollar area because of all the cute Valentine's Day items they had! I love finding little trinkets to make Sienna baskets for the holidays and any other useful useless things I can find. They actually had a big Dora Rocks section so I grabbed way more items than I needed and was on my way to find more trouble. 

Sienna has really shown me how these terrible twos are supposed to work lately. And when you add her not feeling well to the mix,  it just makes things much worse. So once I got home from Target she started having a little meltdown and I was trying to take care of Daniel who really wasn't feeling well. I was in mayday mode trying to figure out what I could pull out and knew I had to go into the Valentine's Day bag of items just purchased....and whatdoyaknow! She's a different person! She loves her mommy and is so excited about the  Dora markers and notepad her amazing mommy just gave her!



So thank you Target Dollar Spot! You've inspired me to purchase lots of little knick-knacks that I can use in these 'need help' moments and other times as well! There are so many fun things! These markers and notepad cost me a whopping $2!!! That $2 bought me three different tantrum turnarounds today...best $2 ever spent!

Oh and by the way, while I was roaming through Target I just had to stop in the storage section (which is probably how I forgot the detergent I also needed) and came across some fabulous finds for one of my 'Organize My Life' projects so please stay tuned :)

Monday, February 4, 2013

Cuckoo for Cookies

Occasionally you can catch me in the fabulous Land of La La dreaming about owning my own sweet shop filled with everything from chocolate truffles to cookies to chocolate dipped croissants! But when I go back to the real world you will find me in my kitchen covered in confectioner's sugar with my hand mixer, rushing through a batch of something or other while praying the kids can stay sleeping at the same time for just a tid bit longer...sigh...
I love to bake...I would rather spend that half hour I have alone baking fabulous Nutella-filled chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting than picking up the toys scattered all over my living room... after all no sooner than i pick them up, are they all across the floor again...
Just about a year ago I stumbled across a new hobby that I really really really love! Baking and decorating sugar cookies. I've made them for baby showers, holidays, birthday parties, and everything else in between, but most of these events took place before I had two babies. These cookies are extremely time consuming so making them now is a rare occasion, but you never know...maybe one day once the kids are in school I can focus and make my little hobby a fabulous business. Only time will tell :)

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Saturday, February 2, 2013

I Mustache You A Question...Will You Be my Valentine?

source
I love February :) There is so much love to go around this month and I need to get going with my Valentine's Day baking, crafts/valentines, and gift for the hubby and kids! I went ahead and started to browse through some cute outfits for the kiddos so i thought I would create some style boards. There are insane amounts of cute clothes out there for babies and toddlers that it can actually be a little dangerous. The good thing is, most of them can be worn year round whereas with the other holidays the cute outfits expire once the holiday is over...well at least in public :) How cute is this milk mustache shirt above?? It's from a cute shop, birthday couture, on Etsy! I will definitely be ordering something from there soon...
Here are some of the cute finds for baby boys...I am just loving all the mustache/Valentine's combos:
skull shoes // dr.love tee //i heart pjs // heart mustache pjs //heart throb tee
And these were some of my favorite pieces for the little girls! Sienna actually has the heart tee from H&M: 
heart jeans // headband // tulle skirt // wristlet // heart tee


Now I need to go dream up my mommy must-haves for Valentine's Day ;)