Modern Baby

My friend Liz from high school married my friend Travis and they just had their first darling little baby boy.  I saw her nursery a few months ago and LOVE it!  She did a fabulous job and I wanted to share her great style...

The brick wall is just a product you can buy at Lowes!  It's three dimensional and Liz said applies fairly easy to the wall!  How awesome is that!  Also love the mobile.

 Liz refinished the dresser and I love the mod podge paper design!  What a cute and unique idea.

This was her focal point for the room...great rug from Anthropology.  They sure don't disappoint on unique starting points!

Travis served a mission in the Carribean and brought this home with him...what a fun addition to the room!  How nice would it be to have a hammock to relax in while soothing the baby! 

Also loved the lamp...he's a big fisherman and it's fun to add a family touch to the baby room.

Thanks for sharing your pictures and talent Liz!  You did a great job!  

Homework Board

I saw this darling board in the Pottery Barn catalog and it really would be fairly simple to make...

Photo courtesy of Pottery Barn Kids.com

Hobby Lobby sells all the supplies you'd need.  Their plain cork boards frequently go 50 percent off and if not you can usually find the 40 percent off coupon.  I think they normally run between $20 and $30 depending on the size.

In their scrapbooking aisles they sell silver label covers and paper clips that look just like the ones shown...they are with the embellishments.  They are usually about $4 a pack.  I'd use a stronger adhesive like gorilla glue for the ability to hang papers from the clips.

I love the "home work" design they created (notice the pencil as the tree branch?) 

I haven't had the time yet but have plans to make this and put it in our study corner we have in our basement...I'll share the finished product!

Fun find...crib rail protectors

Yes I'm obviously on a baby kick right now and I apologize to all the readers who are out of that phase.  So my first little boy chewed up the front and side rails of his crib when he was teething and it doesn't look so great anymore.  When we move the boys around into their new rooms I have plans to fix it up a little bit.  But my sister in law Wendi told me about a darling solution to this problem...

These darling crib rail protectors!  They can be found on Etsy and this particular one shown is sold by kimscherer.  Such a better solution than the dumb options they have at Babies R Us.  By the time I tried to find a solution Peyton was done with his chewing phase anyway but for the future I will be keeping these in mind instead!

Fried Chicken

I make delicious, moist fried chicken.  It is one of my favorite meals, and can be yours as well!

Start by dredging your chicken in egg.  Then coat with a flour mixture that consists of 1c flour, 1T ground mustard, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp onion salt, 1 tsp garlic salt, 1/2 tsp paprika.  Coat both sides.

 Melt 3-4T butter with 3-4T shortening over medium heat.  Place chicken in skillet and cook 10 mins. Then turn over.

 

Cook other side for 10 mins.  Cut fattest piece of breast to ensure doneness.

Remove and place on paper towels.  Serve immediately with mashed potatoes, gravy, etc.  Enjoy!

Dressing Up

My Porter loves to dress up.  He changes his clothes into different outfits at least three times a day.  Yesterday, he begged for me to make him a policeman shirt.  So we headed off to Hobby Lobby found iron-on stars and a badge.  After 30 seconds of heat from the iron, we had his

Policeman shirt!  They have quite the variety of iron-on appliques as well as letters of all shapes and sizes.  Glad I could spend $4, use an old church shirt to make my little guy happy!

Back to School

We have the perfect Back to School gift for your child's teacher: a personalized coat and backpack rack! 

To start, paint a coat of watered down brown paint on a 1x2x4. Add vinyl lettering (we chose the alphabet) to the top.

Add two pronged hooks (from Lowes) to the bottom, screwing them in every couple of inches in equal spacing.

When you are done, you will have the perfect place to hang students' items.  We sure hope that Bushel and a Peck preschool can make use of our gift to them this upcoming year!

Tufting Buttons

So I wanted to re-cover Khloe's rocking chair to sell.  I found great $9/yd fabric at Hobby Lobby, sewed slip covers for the cushions and needed something more.  Enter tufting buttons.  Kirkham's Upholstery in American Fork can make tufting buttons out of any fabric for $1.50 a button.  To begin, decide where you want the buttons and come through the back side of the fabric with your needle and quilting thread. 

 

Hook button onto thread and place needle back through pulling on the back side.

 

Pull tightly and secure by sewing a knot in the back. (Go down and up through the fabric creating a knot with the thread.)



This is a very easy update to any cushions or pillows around your home!