Friday, January 31, 2014

Be-You-Tiful Sign

Recently, we traded rooms with Rae so that we could have a bigger closet. This means there is a lot of redecorating to do in both rooms and much settling in left to do.

Rachel saw a sign that said "Be-YOU-tiful" at a craft show over the summer and she told me she wanted it. I decided to go ahead and make her one for her new room.

I bought a large wooden plaque at Hobby Lobby and painted it with some aqua chalk paint.

 After that, I gathered up some wooden letters I had laying around and painted them black. The bigger letters are for the word "YOU" and the rest of the word is in little letters, so the you is emphasized. I also used a couple of wooden stars that I painted black to break up the words. I attached all of the letters using hot glue. I love the way it turned out! And so does she! :)




Now if I could just get her to clean the rest of her room, it would all be great! ;)



Thursday, January 30, 2014

{Hungry Girl} SW BBQ Quesadilla

Two things that we love in this house are quesadillas and Hungry Girl recipes. This SW BBQ quesadilla recipe was yumtastic.



Recipe makes 1 serving.

1 tablespoon of BBQ sauce with 45 calories or less per 2-tablespoon serving
1 wedge of laughing cow light creamy swiss cheese
1 large high fiber tortilla with 110 calories or less
2 ounces cooked and shredded chicken breast
2 tablespoons shredded reduced fat Mexican blend cheese
1 tablespoon canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon frozen sweet corn kernels,thawed
1 tablespoon chopped scallions

In a bowl mix the BBQ with cheese wedge until blended. Lay tortilla flat and spread BBQ/Cheese mixture on one half. Top mixture with remaining ingredients.

Spray skillet with nonstick spray and bring to medium-high heat. Lay the half-loaded tortilla on the skillet and cook for 2 minutes.

Using a spatula, fold the bare half of the tortilla over the filling and press lightly to seal. Carefully flip and cook until crispy, about 3 minutes. Slice into wedges.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Tuna Noodle Casserole just seems to me like it should be a staple meal in any household. This is why I could not believe I didn't have a recipe sitting around.

I found one via Pinterest from this blog: http://www.whilehewasnapping.com/2010/11/tasty-tuesday-tuna-noodle-casserole.html#axzz1PPQsyS8f

I did change the recipe a little bit by baking it for 20 minutes. Delicious!



1 package of spiral egg noodles
1 can of tuna, drained
1 cup of frozen peas
1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the egg noodles according to the directions on the package. Drain. Mix in tuna, peas, and can of soup.Place mixture in 9 x 13 casserole dish. Bake for 20 minutes.



Monday, January 20, 2014

"EAT" Letters

If you have searched for kitchen decor on Pinterest, you have likely ran into a lot of pictures with the word "EAT" hanging on the wall. I had those letters sitting in my craft cabinet for quite a few months, but I never got around to hanging them up.

Last week I took them out and dusted them off, but I decided that having them painted flat black was just not going to do the trick, so I covered them in chevron scrapbook paper!

All I did was trace the letters onto the scrapbook paper, mod podge the paper in place and then seal the top with another layer of mod podge.



When Justin got home, I batted my eyelashes and had him hang the letters up for me. I love how they turned out! My kitchen sure is coming together! Hopefully I will have more updates soon! 


What projects are you currently working on?


Saturday, January 18, 2014

Distressed "Market" Sign

I have seen so many cute kitchen signs that say "Market" floating around on Pinterest.  I knew that was something I was going to have to make for my kitchen.

So, last week when I was home with a sick little girl I got to get some crafting done. This was one of my projects.

I got three pieces of balsa wood at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 a piece. They are each 2 inches wide by 36 inches long. Here's the link: http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/36-x-2-x-3/32-balsa-wood-sheets-402917/

First, I laid the three pieces out and painted them with white chalk paint. After they dried I laid the three pieces out and attached them together using popsicle sticks as a brace.  This worked out well since the pieces were so lightweight.





Next, I printed off what the word "Market". Sorry, I can't recall the font/size. But I did have to print it out across four separate pages.

I taped the pages together and laid them out across the boards. I traced the letters onto the board so that the letters were indented into the wood.

I then outlined the letters with a sharpie, and painted the letters in with black paint.



I only did one coat, since I knew I was going to distress the sign.



As soon as the paint was dried I used a sanding block to scuff it up.



Lastly, we hung it up above my kitchen sink using some heavy duty poster strips. I think this made my kitchen feel so much more homey!






Monday, January 13, 2014

Homemade Baked Macaroni and Cheese

One of the items on my 30 before 30 list was to find a great go to macaroni and cheese recipe. Mac and cheese is one of my favorite comfort foods, but I had a hard time finding a recipe that didn't come in a box.

So, the search began. And after at least 5 failed attempts I finally found one I love! I found this recipe over at: http://frugalanticsrecipes.com/2013/03/lizzys-macaroni-and-cheese/. The only thing I changed was mixing in the milk instead of pouring it over the top in the casserole dish.

This is definitely my new favorite. I served it with BBQ chicken breasts and peas.



Baked Macaroni and Cheese

1 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 lb sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
16 oz. elbow macaroni cheese, cooked
15 oz. jar alfredo sauce
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk


Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together cheese, sauce, eggs, milk and macaroni in a large bowl. Pour into a greased pan.

Bake for one hour. Salt and pepper to taste when serving.

DIY Body Wrap

Unless you have been living under a rock you may most likely heard of body wraps. I have purchased and tried a body wrap before, but I didn't see any results.

Before we headed out of town for our anniversary, I wanted to slim down a little for my sparkly new years dress.

I spent some time looking for some DIY options, and I ran into this link on Pinterest: http://www.iheartnaptime.net/diy-body-wrap-hello-summer/

So, I thought I would give it a try.

Sorry, no pics with this one. ;) But the original blog has some pics that are worth checking out!

I used some coco butter lotion that I had at home, slathered on to my stomach and around to my back and then wrapped myself in saran wrap.

The original blogger suggested to leave the wrap on over night, but that is not a commitment that I am willing to make. So, I just wore it for a couple of hours while doing some light cleaning around the house.

Once I got finished I didn't see any immediate results, so I was a little bit bummed. However, I did measure myself first thing the next morning and I found that I was down two inches!

Obviously, this in no way replaces diet and exercise.. but it is an option for when you need to temporarily slim down.. I will definitely do it again!

Monday, January 6, 2014

Oklahoma City Anniversary Trip

Last week Justin and I went to Oklahoma City to celebrate our 3rd anniversary. I must say, having an anniversary on New Years Eve does have it's perks! There is always something fun going on!

When we first arrived in Oklahoma City, we went straight to the Oklahoma City Memorial. It was super cold, but it was so worth seeing.  If you ever go to Oklahoma City, I strongly recommend that you visit the memorial. Here are the pictures we got:












After we got done at the memorial we headed to the Outlet Shoppes of Oklahoma City. The first store I hit was the Coach Outlet (of course). Since it was right after Christmas, the outlet was having a great sale. I got an Iphone case and an Ipad mini case for $20.00 total! I was so excited I was about ready to jump up and down in the store.





We also visited the Disney store, Rue 21, and Aeropostale. All in all I spent $50.00 at the outlet mall, so I think I did pretty fantastic!

After the outlet mall we ate at Olive Garden and spent the Hobby Lobby gift card that I got for Christmas.

Next, we went to check in to our hotel. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Norman. This was by far, the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in, and thanks to Expedia we got a great deal. The room was beautiful, the building was amazing, and I would stay there over and over again.







That evening we went to Red Lobster to stuff ourselves and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for our night out. I put on my sparkly dress from Old Navy, Justin put on some blacks and a button down, and we headed to downtown Oklahoma City.





As we got closer to downtown we were able to see crosses and a Happy New Year message on downtown buildings.  




The Arts Council in Oklahoma City hosts Opening Night in downtown OKC on New Years Eve. We bought tickets for a party held inside the Myriad Gardens. It was a little bit awkward because we didn't know ANYONE but it was warm, they had a dessert buffet and it was something fun to do together. And we got to watch the fireworks together at midnight. It was an awesome night.




The next day we headed back home after making a quick stop at Michael's. After making it home we spent the day relaxing with the kiddos. Everything about the trip was fantastic. We had such a great time together.

While my 30 before 30 list says that I want to take a weekend trip with the husband, I'm going to count this one as done. Do you have any fun weekend trips planned?






Anniversary Book

Before Justin and I got married I ran across an idea (probably on Pinterest) to take a picture every year on our anniversary and make a scrapbook page with that picture and a description of how we celebrated.

Here is our page from this year! The picture is from the New Years Eve party we attended.



Maybe one day I may redo the book cover, but this what I have for now:



Do you keep an anniversary book? Or anything similar?