I'm a sewing machine

Get it? Ha! Yeah,I'm a dork. But I couldn't just put a lame title. Right?
Anyway...I think I'm doing pretty well on my to-do list. So far I have two things scratched off. But I have to say that those two things were pretty easy. Apparently I'm unintentionally saving the worst for last. Here is my project from this past weekend. It's an adorable changing pad with a pocket for diapers and wipes. Very cute and very practical.

I followed this awesome tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew I added a minor change in the way I placed my Velcro since I wanted mine to hold more diapers. I think I will make a few personal changes to my next one. Definitely a little wider and maybe a bit longer.

Tweet Tweet

No, I'm not updating Twitter...I came across these adorable prints by Amy Ruppel. This is her State Bird Series and there is one print for every state available for purchase. I can't help but think how cute some of these would look in a simple black frame in my kitchen.



Her website also has other prints for sale. The most adorable little birdies. I want them all!

I'm not a supermodel

A known fact about me is that I'm short. Yeah, Yeah. Blah Blah Blah. But the crazy thing is that I have long legs. Clothes shopping for me is a pretty easy task. Well, for the most part. Every now and then I'll come across a great pair of jeans in my size. My size except for the leg length. Now can someone please explain to me why clothing designers think that the average Joe walks around with legs like Hedi Klum. I just don't get it. I've hemmed quite a few pair of pants over time. But I just hate hemming jeans. Not because it's hard, because it turns out so ugly. It's always very obvious. So unnatural looking. Thanks to Create Everyday for posting the link to this great tutorial. I'm definitely gonna try this. Now I can hem at ease. :)

I'm a font!

So...along with my addiction to Photoshop and everything it entails, is an addiction to fonts. I typically find myself browsing through font sites and downloading many, MANY fonts. It's actually at the point now where I have so many that I can't make a decision when it comes to using one. The choices at the top of my list tend to be along the lines of handwriting and script ones. These are usually named after a particluar person. Having never looked into this, I've always assumed that these particular people were big shots at a design firm or had connections somewhere. WRONG! I came across this and now I'm that big shot. :) I'm a font! Well, my handwriting is a font. The steps to creating your handwriting font are super easy. All you have to do is fill in the provided template, scan, download and Voila! I'm not gonna tell you how many times I had to fill in the template (let's just say it was more than 10) but I will say that I am super happy with the results. It's like a took a pen to the computer screen and wrote the latter myself. See...

My darling...pincushion

Just thought I'd share my cute little creation with you.

My version of this.

And yes, I know my corners are terrible. It was quick and easy and I didn't take the time to poke those little suckers out. Sorry, next one will be better. :)

Oh Baby!

Before I know it, June 6 will be here and we will be celebrating Bubbie's first birthday. Wow, how time flies! Being the OCD, creative person that I am, I have already started planning his big day. (To be honest, I started a long time ago) Anyhow...I've been in a bit of a slump because I couldn't really come up with any creative details. I know what "theme" I want, but only to a certain extent. Well, thanks to Toni I now have wonderful ideas!

I can't wait to get started!!!

Is it Friday yet?

This weekend was the first of Spring and pretty amazing! Friday wasn't very entertaining. An early night in. But I did manage to sneak this into my schedule:

A nifty pin cushion/storage jar. Thanks to this creative mind.

Saturday started with an early (we had to beat the crowd) visit with the Easter bunny.

We then stopped by River Ranch to snap a few "Springy" pictures of Bubbie.

In the middle of our fun, we were greeted by a security guard who told us that if we didn't live there we couldn't take pictures. Now really?!?! How ridiculous. So me being the hot headed person that I am, proceeded to tell him that they should make it a gated community if they don't want to share the beautiful scenery. LOL

For those of you not from here, this is River Ranch:

It's an overpriced "community" with enormous houses that are so close together you can touch your neighbor through the window. Over half of the houses are being foreclosed, but everyone drives a Lexus, BMW, or Maserati. Now tell me if that makes any sense.

So anyway, we went on our merry way. But not without getting a picture of my all time favorite house:

Saturday night Mitchell and I went see "I Love You, Man". Pretty funny. It gave us a good laugh for the night. We headed to bed at a decent time b/c we knew we had a full day Sunday. We were off to find another location since I wasn't satisfied with our pictures. We stopped at the Alumni House on campus...

...and snapped some pretty good pictures.

We then went to my grandmothers to eat chicken pot pie. Mmmm! And went visit Eric and Allie afterwards.

It was a late night for Konner, but fun none the less. He was amused by Bree and had his first taste of Ice Cream.

Job Fair...unlike any other

Pole positions: Strip club holds job fair

‘Foxy Lady’ club in R.I. looks to fill openings in bad economy

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Here’s a job opportunity you won’t need to buy a new wardrobe for.
Hoping to take advantage of Rhode Island’s floundering economy, owners of the Foxy Lady strip club in Providence plan to hold a job fair on Saturday.
They say they’re looking to fill around 30 positions, from strippers and waitresses to disc jockeys and bartenders, at that club and two others in Massachusetts

Story continues here

Finally, something is done...

The dewy-eyed innocence of baby seals has prompted a rare burst of environmental activism in Russia that has moved Vladimir Putin to end their slaughter. The annual spring cull in the northern White Sea region has been scrapped after Mr Putin condemned the clubbing of baby seals for their fur as a “bloody trade”.
The Natural Resources and Ecology Ministry said that it was responding to public concern, but the Prime Minister’s words appeared to have been decisive.
Yuri Trutnev, the Natural Resources Minister, reacted swiftly, outlawing the cull of harp seals younger than one year old after Mr Putin told a Cabinet meeting that “it’s clear that it should have been banned long ago”.
The ministry said: “This is a serious step forward to protect Russia’s biological diversity. This decision was made largely thanks to public environmental organisations which took an active position on this issue.” Conservation groups have staged protests in 20 Russian cities this week, demanding an end to the slaughter. Activists accused Norwegian companies of encouraging the killing because seal hunting was no longer allowed in their own country.

Read the full article at The London Times Online

Spring has Sprung!

Today is the first official day of spring.

You know what that means...sunshine, beautiful flowers, warmer weather. Which also means...trips to the park, hanging out by the pool, and family vacation.


I'm so excited and can't wait to enjoy the warmer weather.
I'm planning another trip to the park this weekend with my boys.
Hoping to get some good pictures of K-dawg. :)

Oh Em Gee!

For our "date night" a couple of weekends ago, Mitchell and I went see Taken after dinner. Wow! I haven't seen a movie that good in a long time. I'm not much of a movie fanatic so it takes a lot to make me rant about a particular one. This was by far one of the best movies in years. It literally gave me the goosebumps. I was so nervous at some parts that I probably drilled my finger nails into Mitchell's arms. Go see it! You won't regret it. It's worth the $30 (outrageous) for tickets and popcorn. (Which we didn't need ,but had to have, since we just indulged ourselves at Zea)

A taste of HEAVEN...

Oreo Balls














2 hours preparation time (and it's all worth it)
Makes 25-35 walnut size balls


Ingredients:


1 package regular size Oreo Cookies, crushed
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 package white almond bark
1 package chocolate almond bark

1. Using a blender or hand held mixer, mix Oreos and cream cheese together.



2. Roll into walnut size balls.



3. Chill for an hour.



4. Melt approximately 3/4 package of white almond bark.



5. Stick a toothpick in an Oreo ball and dip it in the melted white almond bark.



6. Allow to harden on wax paper.



7. Repeat steps 5 and 6



8. Melt about 1/4 package of chocolate almond bark.



9. When Oreo balls are no longer sticky to the touch (takes about 15 minutes), decorate with drizzles of chocolate and white almond bark.
   
   

Feel free to experiment when making these. I personally prefer using regular or dark chocolate almond bark instead of white. Use your imagination. Add candy sprinkles, chopped nuts or any other edibles.

Mmmm Mmmm Good. And easy too!

Cheesy Potato Casserole

32 oz. bag hash browns, thawed

1 stick butter, melted

1 tbsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 (16 oz.) container sour cream

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cheddar cheese

1 med. onion, chopped

Mix above ingredients together and place in baking dish.

Topping:

2 cups cornflakes, crushed

1/2 stick butter, melted

Add topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 60 minutes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Easy Chicken Nuggets

1 lb. boneless chicken

6 oz. Ritz crackers

1/4 cup mayonnaise

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces and coat with mayonnaise. Grind crackers into fine crumbs and place in a large Ziploc bag. Add coated chicken and shake until all pieces are well coated. Put chicken into baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serves 4

ENJOY!

Filet 'o' Fish...Filet 'a' Fish

Thanks to them for this .

Luck of the Irish

Happy St. Patricks Day!

We need a little "Luck of the Irish". It's no secret that our economy is declining at an extremely fast pace. And it's no secret that many, many families are victims of this horrible recession. Well, we're no different. Mitchell received the horrible news yesterday. Yes, he got laid off. We're a young family with a nine month old and we're supposed to survive on one income? This country is in the slumps and something needs to be done. People cannot survive like this. Please keep us in your prayers. We're hoping that something good comes out of this.

Love and Luck,

Eryn

Awesome Giveaway!

Glam R Baby and Junk by Reese, two awesome boutiques, have teamed up for an awesome giveaway. This beautiful cross...

...handmade by Junk by Reese. Each person gets 15 total chances to enter. Here are the rules as stated by Glam R Baby:

Here are the specifics:
-ANYONE can enter this giveaway, you don't have to have a blog..it is available for ANYONE.
-Leave your FULL name and your favorite HOBBY in a comment: 1 entry
-Post giveaway on your blog & link to my blog & to JUNK BY REESE (let me know) : 2 entries
-Order and pay for a cross by Junk By Reese: 10 entries
-Tell a friend about the giveaway (make sure they let me know your name): 2 entries
Let's get this giveaway started!! Start commenting and GOOD LUCK!! THE GIVEAWAY WILL END on MARCH 22ND at MIDNIGHT!!

(Again...the rules listed above are directly from Glam R Baby's blog. The blog that you need to reference to enter is www.glamrbaby.blogspot.com. She has a complete description and rules posted.)

Ugh!

Two things are bothering me...

1. I want a custom blog layout. I've looked at a few but can't find any that I like. Something simple would be nice. I would also like to add a custom header to it. Guess I need to learn a bit more of the coding for this thing.

Update: I found a layout. Actually, I found a lot of layouts. :) Yay! And I also found out how to add my custom header. Woo Hoo! COMING SOON!

2. If only I could crochet...oh the things I could make. There's a ton of things that I would love to be able to make on my own, but I just don't know how and I'm not quite sure where to begin to learn.

Kitsune Noir

After a brief "surf" of the web, I came across these. Pretty nifty desktop backgrounds.

...from the Desktop Wallpaper Project presented by Kitsune Noir.

Check it out... http://kitsunenoir.com/blog/dwp/

Mullet Madness

I am not a fashion goddess, nor do I ever plan to be. But I know I have a pretty good vision about what looks good and what doesn't. Being from Louisiana, an everyday outing gives you quite a few glimpses at the "dont's". And this is by far one of the biggest dont's out there. This ranks up there with socks and flip flops.

The mullet...

The Redneck mullet

The Family Mullet

The Bleached Mullet

And yes...The Femme Mullet

This is just wrong!

Take a look and see. They're everywhere...

http://www.mulletjunky.com/

http://www.mulletmadness.com/

So Crafty...

One of my great Christmas gifts was a new sewing machine. I've wanted one for quite some time now, but never really pushed the issue since I had neither the time or the space for it. Now that I have one, I've collected quite a few supplies, patterns, fabrics and ideas. The problem is I haven't done anything with them. That is about to change. My new goal is to tackle one a month then hopefully build up from there. You know, gradually. Konner's a lot more independent now so maybe I can accomplish some of these. These are a few "projects" that I would like to complete:

Changing Pad and Wipes Holder

http://cluckclucksew.blogspot.com/2009/02/changing-pad-and-wipes-holder-tutorial.html

Diaper/Wipe Travel Case

http://www.sleepingbaby.net/jan/Baby/dipecase.html

Nap Mat

http://jennycrafts.vox.com/library/post/my-nap-mat-tutorial.html

Covered Wipe Case

http://angieasplund.blogspot.com/2008/10/covering-wipes-case-tutorial.html

Magnetic ABC's

http://angieasplund.blogspot.com/2009/01/magnetic-abcs-tutorial.html

Appliqued onesie/shirt

http://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/blog/applique_onesie.pdf

Freezer paper stenciling

http://angieasplund.blogspot.com/2009/03/freezer-paper-stenciling.html

Cloth Baby Shoes

http://stardustshoes.blogspot.com/2006/10/cloth-shoe-pattern.html

Baby Rings

http://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/Blog/baby_rings.pdf

Update: I've come to the conclusion that the rings shown above are too time consuming. I'm going to hold off on those for a while. :)

I know the list is long. But hey...it's possible. :)

All of these are linked to other blogs/tutorials. I'm hoping to come up wih my own version and share that with everyone. I'll update you with the progress.

Update: After a recent trip to Hobby Lobby and Jo-Ann's, I purchased awesome fabric for my projects. Hopefully I will "attack" some of these soon.

Little Miss Photographer

So...I guess my first post will be about my new "toy". My Canon Rebel XTI. My latest and best investment. I've wanted a "real" camera for quite sometime but didn't quite know where to start. After quite a bit of research I found the perfect camera for me. And I LOVE it! I continuously prance around taking pictures. Whether it's Konner or my Starbucks bottle. Anything amuses me right now. I'm in that new stage. Well, the "new and don't know what I'm doing" stage. But that will change soon. I will soon start a photography class at UL. Can't wait! Until then, I'll just keep prancing around taking loads of pictures that make me smile. :)



This is my camera...

This is what it does...