I'm 28 weeks!! {Rutabaga}

I'm now carrying a rutabaga?!? What the heck is that? I have no clue that's for sure! But I guess that is the size of baby now.

Since my last post about the baby we found out that we are NOT having a girl as we thought. I had a sono at 20 weeks and this baby is for sure a boy! I will admit that I was really REALLY sad at first. We really had our hopes up that we were finally getting our baby girl. But it is not up to us what we get. Heavenly Father sends us what we are supposed to have and I know that!

After crying for a day I got over it and I am so thankful just to have a healthy and strong child.

The only problem with having another boy is that we have no name. When Matt and I got married we picked out 2 girls names and 2 boys names. That was the plan of how our children were supposed to go. So we're working on finding the perfect name that feels and fits just right.

I started breaking out in hives at night while I sleep. That's just annoying! This happened with the other two pregnancies at the exact same time. I take 2 Benedryl pills every night so that I don't get these huge welts all over. Towards the very end of my pregnancy this allergy goes away. Strange! And it only happens while pregnant! My body is so weird!

I have been horrible at taking pictures along the way. It doesn't help when you have two other kids that you're chasing around. But here is a picture of me two weeks ago at around 26 weeks. We were in a hurry to leave before church so I'm sorry for the blurry pictures.

Laundry room quote

I have been busy working on the laundry room re-do. It looks like a totally different room for sure. While it's not the laundry room of my dreams it is 10 million times better than it was before. One of the little touches I put in there was this quote:



This quote is so true in our house! With two little boys and another on the way I am constantly doing laundry.

I made this in Microsoft Publisher and printed it out on regular paper. It took all of about 20 minutes to make.

If you would like this for yourself then leave your email address in the comments and I can send it to you.

Here are a few more with different backgrounds

Chicken Spaghetti {Yum!}

My husband is not a fan of chicken spaghetti. Except for this recipe. It's the only recipe that I have made in our 7 years of marriage. I figured if he likes it why do I need to find something different?!? I can't remember what magazine I ripped the page out of that I have in my recipe book so I won't take credit for this.

It's seriously that good! Enjoy!

Printable version

1 lb thin spaghetti
1 can (12 oz) canned chicken
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 ½ cups shredded Cheddar
1 small onion, finely diced (optional)
¼ cup finely diced green bell pepper, drained (optional)
1 jar (4 oz) diced pimientos, drained (optional)
1 tsp seasoned salt
black pepper to taste
⅛ to ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Boil spaghetti noodles until they are soft. Save 2 cups of the water used to boil the noodles. Place the cooked spaghetti in a sprayed 9 x 13 dish.

Add the cream of mushroom soup and 2 cups of the shredded Cheddar. Then add the onion, green pepper and pimiento if you are using those ingredients. Add the seasoned salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Take it easy on the cayenne if you can’t handle the heat.

Add the canned chicken and 2 cups of broth. Stir together well, then taste to check the seasonings.

Top with the remaining ½ cup of Cheddar. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if desired.

I do not add the onion, green bell pepper or pimientos and it still tastes so yummy! I also add 1/4 tsp of cayenne and the spaghetti isn't too hot for my 4 and 2 year old.

Ironing board storage

I'm so glad that the holidays are over. It's my favorite time of the year but after it's all said and done I'm just wiped out! We had a busy month between Matt and Levi's birthday, our 7th wedding anniversary and Christmas. In between it all I did have time to find a way to hang our ironing board in the laundry room.

I went to Pinterest and found my inspiration from The House of Smiths. She has a Silhouette but I don't.

If you aren't lucky enough to have the Silhouette vinyl machine then I'm going to show you how to make this the old fashioned way. Maybe someday I will buy a Silhouette!

I made this out of an old pallet that I grabbed on the curb. I had Matt pull off the pieces that I wanted to save for future projects. So here's what I started out with.


I read online to wipe the board down with bleach to kill any bacteria so I did just that.


Once the bleach was dry I filled in the cracks with white wood putty.


I let the wood putty sit for a few hours to dry really well and then I sanded it down to make it smooth. Here's the part that doesn't require a Silhouette. I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased the stick on letters for about $1.50. They have tons of choices so pick out what you like. I cut out each letter and placed it on the board to get an idea of where I wanted them to go. I did draw a line across the top in pencil to make sure I put the letters on level.

Once I had an idea of where I wanted the words to be I painted 2 coats of primer and then 2 coats of semi-gloss white paint. After the paint dried I carefully pealed my letters off and placed each one on.

*Tip* If you have a letter that starts to come up put a light coat of glue on the back of the letter and glue it down. Some of the corners of the letters started to peel up but after a little glue they're perfect again.


Before I show you the finished product I added picture hooks to the back of the board. But I didn't have any picture hooks so I used soda can tabs instead. I used pliers to bend the top of the tab out a bit and then put a huge glob of hot glue on top.


Here it is all finished. I purchased the two hooks from Walmart for $3 each. I did have Matt cut the extra wood off. This measures 18 inches long.

Now I just need to find an ironing board cover that I like and I will almost be done with the laundry room re-do.


Linking up to:
Craft-O-Maniac
Chic on a Shoestring
Beneath My Heart
Thrifty Decor Chick
Tutus & Tea Parties
Home Stories A to Z
House of Hepworths

Jute Christmas Trees {Tutorial}

Hello! Hello!

I hope your weekend was awesome. We had fun with our family this weekend. We celebrated Levi's and Matt's birthday. Tons of fun! The pictures will come soon.

Last week I posted pictures of my Christmas vignette. I showed you the picture of my Christmas trees that I made. They were pretty simple to make and I thought I would give you a tutorial on how I did it.

I wanted the look of the trees that you find now in Target or Pier 1 that are made of twigs. I couldn't find a picture of what I'm talking about but I know what I wanted in my head. Anyway, I wanted the look and texture of those trees but didn't want the cost.

I purchased 2 pieces of poster board from Dollar Tree for $1. I followed the instructions at The Creativity Exchange for making my cone.

Once I had my cone made it looked like this. The cone is about 23 inches tall.

You can click on each picture to see closer.


I purchased jute from Walmart in the hardware section. I think it cost about $1.50 for a roll. Depending on the size of tree you make you may need more than one roll. At 23 inches one tree took one whole roll of jute.


I poured glue in a bowl and used a paint brush to brush the glue on the tree. I only did a little section at a time because the glue will dry quickly.

Starting at the top of the cone I twisted the jute around the cone.


I didn't want the tree to look too perfect but I made sure to cover up as much of the poster board as possible. So I just worked my way down the cone.


Once I was finished wrapping the jute around the cone this is what it looked like.


I let the glue dry for a few hours before I did anything else to the trees. I didn't want to keep it this color so I spray painted it with gold spray paint I used on a different project.


I absolutely love the way they look on the buffet. They have the texture I was going for and it was super cheap to make. At a cost of around $3-$4 depending on the size of your tree it is a better option than spending $30-$40 on the same look.


This picture makes me smile! Have a good week!

A Christmas Vignette

When I bought my buffet off craigslist last year not only did I want it for more storage but I already envisioned a beautiful Christmas display on it. Since I wasn't finished with the buffet in time for Christmas last year I have been collecting items for this year.

I can't stop staring at it. It sparkles at night when the tree is on. When I walk by it during the day I can't help but smile! What can I say...sparkles make me happy!

You can click on each picture to see closer.


The green tree and presents are from Walmart and I paid $.50 each on the after Christmas clearance last year. These are ornaments and I just cut off the strings. Walmart has a huge selection of cheap and sparkly ornaments in several colors. The balls were clearance as well. I paid $5.00 total for 2 boxes of green and brown balls. The silver star was a miniature tree topper that I already had that I spray painted silver.


This is a look at the other side of the buffet. There is another Walmart $.50 tree and a silver snow flake I spray painted. The glass cover I found at Goodwill (of course) earlier this year for $3. The gold tree in the back I made. A tutorial for that will come soon.



I love the wine decanter that I found for $1 at...you guessed it...Goodwill! I put a strand of green beaded garland in there. Simple!



This is the whole buffet. I'm in love! This is exactly how I wanted everything to look. I love the green, gold, silver and brown all together.

Have a great weekend!

Linking up here:
Christina's Adventures
Just a Girl
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Remodelaholic

Christmas/winter wreath

About a month ago I went to Goodwill and I found the perfect sweater to use for a Christmas wreath. It is soft and had the right colors that I was looking for. For only $2.99 this pretty little thing was mine.

You can click each picture to see closer.


I needed a straw wreath so I went to Michaels and found one for 40% off. I rushed home and started working on the wreath even though it was still a little too early to put it out.

I cut up the sweater into big pieces. I cut along the seams and along the neck line. The neck line was thicker material that I wouldn't need.


I took my pieces and started hot gluing them around the wreath. Make sure you leave the plastic on the wreath. Because this material is so forgiving and the seams do not show through I didn't have to worry about everything looking perfect.


This is what the wreath looked like when I was finished gluing everything on. You can't tell where each piece is.


I knew I wanted a pretty bow to go on the wreath but I had no clue how to tie a bow or make them. Thanks to youtube and a video that wasn't in English I made my first bow! Pretty darn good for my first time! I already had the white berries and I added those after I had tied the bow.


This is the finished wreath on our door. We really need to paint our front door and I hate despise the screen door the previous owners installed. But that's a different story. For now I enjoy my pretty wreath. It's perfect for Christmas and to leave hanging during winter too.



My total time spent on the wreath was about 30 minutes plus the youtube watching time. It really is super easy to make. I love the end result!

Linking up to:
Beneath My Heart
Chic on a Shoetring Decorating
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Christinas Adventures
My Repurposed Life
House of Hepworths