As of this morning, I still had our Christmas tree up in the living room corner. I know, the horror! The shame! Well honey, that is NOTHING compared to three years ago when I left it up until my birthday. Which juuuust happens to be at the end of the month… of February.

This year, I am on the ball and I happen to be very proud of myself. Today, not only did I rip down the tree plus gazillion ornaments and shove them in boxes in under 30 minutes take down the tree and tenderly store away each and every delicate ornament with care, I managed to squeeze in a little craft and a little sprucing up of the apartment.

I saw this tutorial on one of my new favorite blogs, The Prudent Baby, and decided I needed to make one, all quick-like. I just bought this cute green/white fabric that will soon be covering my $15 Craigslist-purchased dining room chairs (freaking adorable and eeeeeeeeeeeeeee! so excited to have them finished!), and have plenty to spare, so a-crafting I went.

It’s blurry, yes… THANK YOU FOR POINTING OUT ALL MY FLAWS.

Here’s the after:

Now, it may look really quick and simple, and you may think you could make one yourself while watching an episode of How I Met Your Mother with your husband sitting patiently on the couch, waiting for you to join him. You may be all, “This will only take a few more minutes babe! It’s going to be sooooo cute, omg I die.” but then two hours later, you’ll be sweating profusely and telling your husband to SIMMER DOWN, I SAID I’M ALMOST DONE! while trying to trim the millions of tiny pieces of thread hanging off the edges because you’re OCD and silently cursing the woman who invented this project in the first place because she is a devil woman with super crafting skills that obviously exceed mine. I mean yours.

If you attempt this, be sure that if your last name starts with a G you PICK ANOTHER LETTER FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY. Justin, why did you have to have such a difficult first letter of your last name? Explain yourself.

This project was a little B (New Years Resolution: use better language — I’m doing remarkably well), but after rearranging some furniture and adding a few more things to the walls, I think it was worth two hours in my own personal corner of hell. It’s pretty freaking adorable.

FYI, I have a bunch of new posts lined up… I won’t be neglecting my blog for much longer, I promise!

I found these irresistible Amy Butler die cuts at Michael’s (of course), popped them in some white picture frames I had up in my closet and voila!

It had to be the quickest and easiest project ever, and they ended up being quite adorable.  I still have a nearly-full box of these little goodies, and I can’t wait to find other uses for them!

I also had quite a few of you ask where I bought the bird decals… an Etsy shop called The Cat Place had them a few months ago and they were super affordable, but I don’t see them in the shop anymore.  Sadness!  If you are dying to get your hands on them, it can’t hurt to ask the owner.  They are SO worth it!

Before:

Stains. Niiiiiiiiice.

After:

Ahh, much better.

A little black spray paint and a major case of trigger finger later (staple guns are serious business, man), I have a much prettier place to sit and put on my makeup.

And umm, I just have to say how incredibly addicting that fabric is.  I went back to the fabric store and bought another yard — okay, two yards – of it and covered some cork board (which you can see on the table in the picture), and have been trying to figure out something else to do with the rest because it is just SO DARN CUTE.  That was the longest sentence ever.  Anyway… Ideas?  :)

100 Points to the first person who can spot the nipple shield.

So much pink. And fluff. And OMG I am drooling.

Last week, Kerri posted about her 100 Things to do in 1001 Days, Sarah’s over here getting all painty (I’ve decided this is a word), and don’t even get me started on Alyssa’s Craft Challenge, which Steph has already completed… you non-procrastinator, you! :)

Oh yeah, then there’s this, this, and this, which I’ve managed to buy supplies for (anyone up for making a felt pomander?  Because I can safely say I’m the expert now. When will I ever need that skill, seriously?), have read a dozen tutorials on embroidery, started 2 cross-stitching projects, and somehow managed to keep my head from exploding.

Crafty blogs are off limits for the time being… at least until I wash all those onesies.

The other day, I stumbled upon a little shop called Nea that totally inspired me to pick up an old hobby I used to have — cross stitching. My mom and Grammy taught me the basics back in the day and I remember how much fun I used to have making little projects and gifts.  My mom actually still has something I made for her when I was 7 years old hanging in her kitchen. She must really love me or something, because that little stitched strawberry is a tad ghetto.

Anyway, my mom dug out a bunch of old floss she had and I bought some Aida fabric at Michael’s and decided to try my hand at it once again.  I whipped up this little bird on a branch while watching The Office last night (pattern found online at Martha Stewart).

In keeping with the whole semi-homemade gift giving concept, I’m thinking my Christmas gifts are going to get a little crafty this year.  I can’t wait to get started!

Mmm, rainbow chip frosting.

…and this morning’s breakfast.

If that’s not a sign that I’m pregnant, I don’t know what is.

I have found a few things that seem to help me out if I’m feeling a bit stressed.  Feel free to add your tricks to my list… especially now that you see I’m a total nutcase and need all the help I can get!

Things I do to Prevent a Melt-Down

• De-clutter…  Whether it be my desk at work, the random stuff that ends up on the kitchen table, or the pile of heels that I’ve kicked off in the entryway.
• Two words: Bubble bath.  I have my hubs to thank for this one, because every once in a while he’ll have one ready for me when I get home from work.  I never really think to take one, otherwise.
• To keep up with the housework on a daily basis, I set the egg timer for 15 minutes and do as much dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, and toilet scrubbing as I can in that amount of time.  When the timer goes off, I’m done.
• Lists, lists, lists.  If I see it on paper in my own handwriting, I feel like I have it under control.
• I have a pretty amazing grocery shopping system down right now, with the help of Simple Mom.
• When I’m getting ready to back out of something I’ve committed to (I know, I’m awful!), I remind myself of how much fun I had ‘last time’.
• Reading a little bit of the Bible each night before bed (or in the morning before going to work) is always uplifting and encouraging.
• Make time for the things I enjoy (read a good magazine, give myself a mani/pedi, do something crafty or go to coffee or tea with a friend).  When I do something for me, I’m less likely to flake out on you.  Haha.  No, but seriously…  I am.

The over-planner in me gets along fabulously with structure and organization (OCD, much?), so this is what I’ve been doing to keep myself on track:

Sunday: Something simple (homemade pizza, casseroles, salads, etc.)

Monday: Mexican (which is usually tacos or burritos because I’m so original)

Tuesday: Pasta

Wednesday: White Trash (see below)

Thursday: Crock Pot (my favorite!  SO EASY, it’s not even funny)

Friday: Leftovers/Mooch off parents/Yes it’s true, I have no shame

Saturday: Dine out

So, this past Wednesday, I decided to make something extremely healthy and non-artery clogging whatsoever for my White Trash meal.  I like to call this…

Heart Attack on a Plate, with a Steaming Hot Side of Cellulite

Tater Tot Casserole: The epitome of Gourmet Dining

"Sloppy Joe, Slop Sloppy Joe..."

Don’t lose faith in my cooking skills until you see what fancy concoction I have planned for this Sunday’s “Something Simple”.

Hint: It involves a spoon, some milk and a bowl of cereal.

I recently had the privilege of hosting a few events for my best friend who is a soon-to-be-Mrs., and let me tell you… what a rush of a weekend! Her bridal shower was held in our church’s banquet hall, where a full buffet style lunch and dessert was served. The guest list topped out at about 80 women, which, thankfully, was only half the amount that was invited!

The following afternoon, the bridesmaids and I threw a smaller, more intimate lingerie party for the bride, where my amazing friend Christa prepared the most delicious pinwheel sandwiches in the universe (I ate all the leftovers myself). The photo above shows the food table (we snapped this shot half-way through the serving, hence the slice of cherry cheesecake floating in the middle), where you can see the stacks of those addicting pinwheels, chocolate dipped strawberries and marshmallows, pasta salad, and a few other goodies. It’s not the most flattering angle, but just know it was cuter in person! :)

I found this great, online party store, Social Couture, and I am absolutely in love! They sell table settings and decorations for all sorts of parties and events (if you take a look at the Girl’s Night Out, you can see where I tried to recreate some ideas…and somewhat failed). What a perfect idea for a hostess! I have my eye on the Black Vine collection, and I’m trying to convince my husband that I’d get our money’s worth out of it if he ever decided to buy it for me (not likely). I’m such a sucker for anything remotely close to toile — I’d honestly be throwing a party every night if I owned those cute plates!