crafty! baby shower cards

up until about 2 weeks ago, i had 2 boxes full of old greeting cards i've received in the past. these went back to high school, and i hadn't looked through them in a very long time. once i got the nesting bug, i threw about 85% of them away, only keeping a few that mean a lot to me and i actually remember getting.

that said, i was a little anxious about what to do with the baby shower cards we've gotten/will get for ellie. i don't want to start up my hoarding tendencies again and keep them all, but i didn't really want to just throw them out either.

as usual, pinterest has a solution: make them into wall decor!

i saw this idea browsing around pinterest one day and it stuck with me as something i should do when we started getting cards. our shower this past weekend was the perfect opportunity to try it out!

here's what i did:

1. started with a blank frame. we made an ikea trip on sunday, and we both agreed on the below frame. we have lots of gray, white and pink in the nursery, but we've stuck with a light wood color with a touch of gray for the wall decorations which i really love. it makes the whole room look less matchy-matchy, which is a good thing in my opinion!

2. laid out all of my cards and started cutting away! i cut a random heart out of the back of one of the cards to use as my template so they'd all be about the same shape and size. i used almost all of the cards we got from the shower. the only one i kept was one from my brother which made me cry, so i couldn't bear to cut it up! i, of course, tried to cut hearts out of the cutest parts of the cards (see that pink dress? i had my eye on it from the get-go).

3. consulted my canine assistants, who were eager to help. kona offered silent moral support, while loki...

...just wanted to cuddle and step on the cards as much as possible.

4. arranged my hearts the way i wanted them, glued them to photo paper, and outlined them in gold glitter. voila!

this will be hung on the wall above ellie's crib, where we used to have a clock. i love that clock, but it doesn't feel right in the nursery, so we're replacing it for now. this picture was taken in our glider (which is amazing, by the way). hanging it is on michael's honey-please-do list this week. :)

my hearts are nowhere near perfect, and the whole project definitely looks crafty, but that's kind of why i love it. one day i'll be sure to tell ellie about that afternoon i sat on the floor with the dogs in her nursery slaving over cardboard hearts just so her walls would be decorated when she got here. memories!

time to peace out before the crying starts...

weekend/cinnamon roll pancakes

hey everyone!

we had such a great weekend and are still recovering from all of the excitement.

my best friend courtney and her husband harris (and their furbaby lucy) came to visit us for the weekend, and saturday we had our first baby shower! my wonderful friend kat hosted it at our house, and we invited all of our friends. it was the first baby shower for a lot of the guys there, which was fun to watch. we played games, ate a lot, and i had the best time opening ellie's gifts! we got some amazing things that were so fun to put away in the nursery. 

another big event happened this weekend-we discovered the goodness of cinnamon roll pancakes. i ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast pretty much every other day for much of my 2nd trimester, and i think i could still eat them daily if i let myself. i eventually realized the fat and sugar were not the greatest way to start my day, but i LOVE the taste of cinnamon rolls. i've always been a fan, but it's definitely intensified during pregnancy.

anyway, courtney is also pregnant (12 weeks-yay!), and has been a fan of sweet food so far, so i figured a sweet breakfast saturday morning would be a winner for both of us. i pinned a cinnamon roll pancakes recipe on pinterest awhile back and gave it a try.

y'all. it is ridiculously good.

you make a regular pancake batter, swirl in a cinnamon filling, and top it with a cream cheese glaze. the brown sugar in the filling gets all caramelized and crunchy when you cook it, and it is just to die for.

i obviously was not concerned with taking pictures during this process, so here's one from the original recipe source (life-in-the-lofthouse.com):

here's what you need:

• make it easy on yourself and use your favorite store-bought pancake mix. if you have to, or really prefer it, you can make them from scratch using whatever plain pancake recipe you can find. it really cut down on time to make these with my go-to krusteaz honey wheat mix!
• cinnamon filling:
• 1/2 cup butter, melted (treat yourself and use real butter....it's worth it)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• cream cheese glaze (aka heaven on earth):
• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 oz cream cheese
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

here's what you do:

1. prepare the cinnamon filling first. (generally i don't follow every recipe direction like this, but i'm glad i did in this case. the filling really does need time to "set"). mix butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon and scoop the filling into a small ziplock bag. set aside.

2. prepare pancake batter: if you're me, you add water and mix. if you want to be complicated, go right on ahead :)

3. prepare cream cheese glaze: heat butter and cream cheese in a microwave-safe bowl until melted. whisk together until smooth, then whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla. set aside.

4. heat griddle over medium heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. scoop pancake batter onto griddle as usual. snip a small corner of your baggie full of cinnamon goodness, and swirl it over the top of the pancake. flip over when ready, and cook until done.

5. spoon warmed cream cheese glaze on top of each pancake when serving.

if you like sweet breakfasts at all, please make these. they won't disappoint! enjoy!

busy weekend = sleepy monday

happy monday everyone!

we had an extremely eventful weekend, so we are equal parts tired and happy we got so much done.

saturday was my company's annual boat party. every year in july, we rent out a double-decker boat and have a day-long party on lake norman. needless to say, this year was a little different than usual given that my 3rd trimester actually started on saturday, but it was still really fun! it rained off and on, and was sort of chilly, so i didn't even have to break out the maternity bathing suit. it was a really relaxing and fun day. it's funny how sitting around and talking for 8 hours can wear you out though...michael and i left the boat at 5:00, got food on the way home, and were passed out on the couch at 7:30.

yesterday we went to church, went grocery shopping, and ate lunch out before we started some major work around the house. i cleaned, did laundry, and got stuff together for goodwill while michael mowed, pressure washed the house and fence, and put down new mulch around the house. then we pruned bushes, made a trip to lowe's and the auto parts store, and finally sat down to relax for dinner. i don't know where our huge burst of energy came from, but it was awesome! it wasn't the day of rest that we should have on a sunday, but it was a great day nonetheless.

[side note: i also discovered my new favorite outfit yesterday. i ordered some maternity leggings from old navy and just got them in the mail this weekend. those, plus a tshirt of michael's (since my lounging around shirts are officially too small) will be my standard outfit at home from now until october.]

now that the boat party is over, we have a lot of fun events coming up to look forward to! this weekend is our first baby shower, which will be at our house, and we're so excited to have our friends come over to celebrate ellie! courtney and harris are even coming in from norfolk for the weekend, which will be so much fun, especially given their recent baby news! i have a feeling there will be some serious dad-to-be conversations between our 2 dudes.

michael is wrapping up summer school and only has a couple of weeks left, so he will be getting a week off soon to relax and get ready for another full year! i'm so proud of him and how great of a student he is-hopefully ellie inherits his work ethic and math brain!

august is going to be really busy for us, in fun ways of course! we're taking maternity pictures in about 3 weeks, and we have several classes scheduled next month at the hospital where i'll deliver. we also have a baby shower at home and at work in august. we feel very blessed to be showered with so much love!

to wrap up this little life update, here's a picture of our youngest but biggest dog kona, who smiles all day long. this is a snapchat that michael sent last week. i think kona is going to make the best pony for ellie! anyone know where i can get a dog saddle?

diy crib mobile

happy hump day everyone!

if you follow me on instagram, you've already seen the final product of my diy crib mobile project. i'm really not a fan of any of the mobiles that i've found in stores or online. they're all just a little cartoony and kitschy for my taste, so i decided to make my own!

i had 2 inspiration pictures that i pinned on pinterest awhile back that i used as my guide:

from the glittered barn etsy shop

this one is from a blog that provided the instructions i used

making this mobile was SO easy! the hardest part was picking out the ribbons (as my bff can attest to, who thankfully was with me when i made the trip to hobby lobby for supplies).

all you need is:

• embroidery hoop (i used a 12" size)
• spray paint (if you want! you could also just keep the hoop its natural color)
• assorted ribbons, cut into varying lengths
• hot glue
• twine or some other hanging material

step 1: spray paint your embroidery hoop (if you choose to!). i used krylon's brushed metallic champagne nouveau with a valspar clear sealer top coat.

step 2: lay out your ribbons and figure out the pattern before you get started gluing. i actually ran out of a couple of types of ribbon and had to change up my pattern 3/4 of the way through, but thankfully you can't tell at all! try to have a plan, but if it doesn't work out it's no big deal.

step 3: start gluing! you want to separate your embroidery hoop and glue the ribbons to the inside of the large hoop. try to glue them so that there's no (or very little) excess sticking out on top.

step 4: once all of the ribbons are in place, put the small hoop back together with the large one and cut off any excess ribbon at the top. tie your twine in 3 places around the hoop for hanging. stand back and admire your super cute and easy diy mobile. :) then ask your handy husband how to hang it...

my favorite veggie side

main dishes get most of the recipe love on this blog, but there's one really simple side that we eat a lot, and we both really love: baked zucchini with mozzarella.

i think i originally got this idea from pinterest/another blog awhile back, but the recipe is from memory at this point!

you will need:

• zucchini (duh)...decide how much you want based on the size of the zucchini in your store and how many people are eating. usually i just get one for each of us.
• seasoning salt (we usually use lawry's or garlic salt. you could also just mix plain table salt with any seasoning you like!)
• shredded mozzarella

1. preheat your oven to 350.

2. wash and slice zucchini into rings, about 1/2" wide.

3. line a baking sheet with tin foil, and place the zucchini slices on it in a single layer.

4. sprinkle each zucchini with seasoning salt. 

5. bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

6. remove from the oven and sprinkle mozzarella on each zucchini. put back in the oven and bake until cheese is melted (about 5 more minutes). 

this recipe is simple, fast, and pretty healthy, so it makes its way into our rotation often. 

hope you enjoy!

salsa chicken tacos & mexican corn

we had such a great dinner a few days ago that was so easy i just had to share!

[actually michael cooked this whole dinner himself, but he vouched for how easy it was! i figure the meal planner/recipe finder can still take some credit, right??]

crockpot salsa chicken (original recipe from recipe-diaries.com)

3 frozen chicken breasts

1 16-oz jar salsa

1 package taco seasoning

1. dump everything in the crockpot and cook on low for 5-6 hours.

2. shred.

3. (yep, that's it!)

we then took the shredded chicken and put it in hard taco shells with some cheese and jalapenos to make some pretty awesome tacos!

picture courtesy of recipe-diaries.com

mexican corn (original recipe from iwashyoudry.com)

3 ears of corn, shucked and cleaned

1/2 tbsp. mayonnaise

1 tbsp. sour cream (we used greek yogurt instead)

1/4 cup shredded parmesan

1/2 tsp. chili powder

salt & pepper

1. heat grill over medium heat and spray rack with non-stick cooking spray.

2. grill corn, turning frequently, until slightly browned and heated through (roughly 10 minutes).

3. meanwhile, combine mayo and sour cream/greek yogurt in a small bowl.

4. in a separate bowl, combine chili powder, salt and pepper.

5. slather hot grilled corn with mayo mixture, then sprinkle on the chili powder mix. coat in parmesan cheese.

[you can top with cilantro if you like, but we're not huge fans!]

picture courtesy of iwashyoudry.com

enjoy!!