valentine banner

Lucy had been itching to get her paints out and I was longing for some Valentine decor so we came up with a plan for a little Valentine banner to hang in the sunroom. 

After everything was dry I glued on some hearts and strung it all up. Lucy looked so proud when she saw it. I'm so excited she's getting old enough to do little projects like this with me. 

Hope you have a fantastic Tuesday!

linking up to:
Dear Lillie

slow cooker buffalo chicken sandwiches

In honor of my hometown hosting the Super Bowl this year I thought I'd share with you a great game day recipe. I made these tasty buffalo chicken sandwiches for dinner the other night. This could quite possibly be the easiest and simplest recipe for the crock pot I've ever used. It only uses 3 ingredients people, THREE! And the best part is you can just throw the chicken in right out of the freezer. 

Ingredients:

1- 2.5 lb. bag of boneless skinless frozen chicken breast or chicken tenders

1- packet of Hidden Valley Ranch mix

1- 12 ounce bottle of Franks Hot Sauce

Empty your bag of frozen chicken breast into the crock pot and add the entire bottle of of hot sauce {3/4 of the bottle if you like it little less hot} and top with the packet of Hidden Valley Ranch mix. {no water needed} Set your crock pot to low and let it cook for 6-7 hours. After that using two forks separate and shred your chicken and place it back into the crock pot to simmer for another hour or so. Ta-da! It's done.

This recipe will make 6 generous sized sandwiches. I like to serve mine on french bread hoagies with shredded swiss cheese and a side of ranch for dipping. They're a big hit with my husband every time I make them!

linking up to:
my uncommon slice of suburbia

puddin'

It makes my toes curl under it's so stinkin' cute to watch a little girl "cook" pudding and then sit down with a bowl still wearing her tiny apron. The apron that she got for Christmas and refuses to take off some days because she loves wearing one just like her momma so much. 

 Sweet girl you make my heart so full it feels like it could burst some days.

Happy Friday! Here's to a beautiful weekend full of rest and happiness!

I'll see you next week with a yummy super bowl friendly recipe and a tour of our little mister's nursery!

light with dark

I've been really drawn to mostly light interiors with pops of dark and/or natural elements lately. There is just something about the little hits of warmth that make me able to justify such a light interior with out it feeling stark and cold.  

Have beautiful Thursday!

*all images via 

ruler growth chart

I had been really wanting to make one of these ruler growth charts for several months and we finally got around to it last weekend. I'm loving the way it turned out and it's the perfect addition to our hallway. 

I used my silhouette that I got for Christmas to cut out the numbers with card stock to use as stencils. The  lines and numbers are done with a sharpie which worked perfectly- no bleeding.

Finished and all hung up. We used the biggest anchors I've ever seen to secure it to the wall.

I transfered Lucy's height markings from the door frame in the playroom where we had been keeping track. I love the idea of if we ever move someday we can take it down and bring it with us. 

Special thanks to this guy for doing such a great job! 

Supplies we used:

1- 6 ft. board

walnut stain

sandpaper 

wall anchors and screws

package of fine point sharpies

tape measurer

level

ruler

drill

Message me if you have any questions on the specifics and I'd be happy to share them with you! 

Hope you have a beautiful day! How did we get to Thursday already?

linking up to:
french country cottage
my romantic home
the shabby nest
tatertots and jello
six sisters' stuff
i heart nap time
a simply klassic home
my uncommon slice of suburbia

ruffles abound

I feel a bit like Oprah lately walking around my house and informing inanimate objects "YOU GET A RUFFLE AND YOU GET A RUFFLE!!!"

I think I've got a serious case of the girlies... 

Always have though.

Can't help it. Luckily I married a guy who doesn't mind. 

Have a beautiful day!

hello dolly

Lucy's birthday is in a few weeks and I can't believe she's going to be two already. I knew I wanted to make her a little doll- one she'd hopefully hold on to forever and would become well loved and worn over time. It was quite and adventure seeing as how this was my first foray into the doll making world but I'm glad I made the effort. So here she is. I can't wait to give it to her.

I chose the pattern for it's sweet simplicity and timelessness. 

You can find the pattern I used {here.} Now we're looking for an antique or vintage doll cradle to fix up and include with the doll. The hunt is on, I love a good search and a new project.

the ruffled nest wreath

I started itching to make a new wreath for our entry over the weekend. I used a straw form to start and wrapped it in a linen blend fabric. Next I ripped a couple of strips of the same fabric and ruffled them using my sewing machine and then wrapped those around the wreath. 

After that I enlisted the help of my favorite apprentice to help me roll the wooden robin eggs in glitter.

Meanwhile while the eggs were drying and after putting Lucy down for her nap I ripped off a piece of moss and glued it to a notecard. {I wanted it to be removable in case I ever want to switch it out but you could glue it right on the the fabric if you want} Next I glued the little nest onto the moss and pinned the card onto the wreath. 

The scene unfolding looked something like this mess...

My eggs were dry and ready to be glued into the nest.

And that's it! It took way less time than I had anticipated which is always nice and was relatively inexpensive to create. I already had the wreath form, fabric, and moss. Everything else was purchased at Michaels. 

 I hope you have a beautiful Monday and a super inspiring week ahead!

linking up to:
my uncommon slice of suburbia
french country cottage
my romantic home
the shabby nest
tatertots and jello
six sisters' stuff
i heart nap time
a simply klassic home

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup- Yes, please!

I made this Tomato-Basil Parmesan Soup earlier in the week. Per the usual lately I found the recipe on Pinterest. I wonder if anyone has started a blog like "365 days of cooking on Pinterest" or something to that effect. I would read it. Lord knows it's pulled me out of my share of menu slumps since last summer. 

Anyway back to the soup. I will confess I had never made a "roux" before and was slightly intimidated by it's fancy sounding name but it wasn't a big deal. I served it with toasted french bread for dinner and it was plenty hearty even for the hubs. Best of all it was a crock pot meal! I will definitely be adding this to my list of go-to cold/rainy day meals. You can find the link to the recipe I used here. 

Happy Friday, I hope you have a beautiful weekend!

happy feet

There is something about tiny feet. 

Clean, dirty, chubby or slender I love them all. 

On this particular day I had a willing model happily indulging her momma.

happy, happy, happy feet

Have a beautiful Thursday, can you believe it's almost Friday already?! 

Still so much I'd like to get done this week...