Happy Birthday, Son!

My son, Cody, turned 25 yesterday. WOW! I have a 25 year old man for a son. Cody is a wonderful blessing to our family with strong values and family bonds. Cody is a head middle school baseball coach, coaches off-season travel baseball, works in a restaurant, writes three different blogs, including Braves101.com about the Atlanta Braves and is in a band. In all his busyness he also has a wonderful relationship with his girlfriend and sees his momma, me, almost every day. Oh yeah, he lives next door! ;) What more could a momma ask for?

Message/Photo Frame

I did it! Another Pinterest pin. I made my sister this photo/message frame. I was inspired by this link, http://theinspiredroom.net/diy/how-to-make-a-photo-frame/.

This is the finished project but now that I am looking at it, I believe I need to add at least one more string of twine near the top.

The Inspired Room, the blog my inspiration was from, built their frame from old picket fence pieces. I, on the other hand, went to Hobby Lobby and bought a premade frame in rustic, weathered wood. 

I purchased a roll of Natural Jute and measured across the frame. I allowed enough on each side for a knot and trimming. I then knotted the end and attached with upholstery tacks. I tapped the tacks in with a hammer and that was it. Easy peasy! A simple but really cute birthday gift for my sister, who had pinned the inspiration piece! It was a win-win for us both. 

Clean It Up!

There are so many recipes online for making your own household cleaners. Two of my favorite places to find recipes that actually work are Young House Love and her post on cleaning up your act naturally. 

photo from Young House Love blog

http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/10/clean-up-your-act-all-natural-homemade-cleaners/

Mini Manor has a post on homemade cleaners that is also excellent.

photo from Mini Manor Blog

http://www.maillardvillemanor.com/2011/09/homemade-cleaners-green-cleaning.html

I have found by making my own cleaning supplies that I save money and it is a much healthier option. The chemicals in most bought cleaners almost always irritate my asthma but using the recipes provided by the two blogs mentioned, I have had no adverse reactions, even when using the essential oils.  I have made and used the soft scrub, toilet cleaner, clothing spot remover, mold/mildew remover and tub and tile cleaner. I am planning to use Young House Love's recipe for liquid laundry detergent. Items are already purchased. I will let you know how I like it.


Do you have any homemade cleaning recipes or tips? I would love to hear from you.

Valentine Day Treats

Over at Cookies and Cups is a recipe for Strawberry Fudge using only two ingredients! How easy is that?

http://cookiesandcups.com/strawberry-2-ingredient-fudge/

Love from the Oven shares these yummy looking Pink Velvet Cupcakes and also a how to on making cake pops.

http://www.lovefromtheoven.com/2012/01/07/pink-velvet-cake-pops/

Polli shares this so scrumptious recipe for Red Velvet Whoopie Pies.

http://www.polliblog.com/2011/02/red-velvet-whoopie-pies.html

Annie's Eats has the recipe for these beautiful chocolate sugar cookies with Marble Royal icing. 

http://annies-eats.com/2011/02/09/chocolate-sugar-cookies-and-how-to-marble-royal-icing/

Valentine Day is such a fun day to celebrate the person you love. When my son was in college and not in a relationship, he celebrated it with a group of other singles by going out to dinner and called it Single Awareness Day. At least he had a great sense of humor. 

I hope these recipes get you in the mood for love! 

Decoupage F

A few weeks ago, I found a pin for homemade Modge Podge. Now, never having used the original, I can't say if it works better or the same, however it does work. Here is a link to the recipe I used: 

http://babblingsandmore.blogspot.com/2011/10/homemade-mod-podge.html

Basically, it is an Elmer's glue and water combo. 

I love monogram's on anything in lots of different varieties of items and styles. In fact, I love them so much I have Pinterest board that is called, Letters, Numbers and Names, Oh My. On that board, I have pinned many different tutorial but the one I chose for the above F letter follows.

http://www.craftsandsutch.com/2011/02/love-song-love-letters-with-printables.html

I followed her instructions for the decoupage exactly. Before starting I painted the edges with a dark brown, then laid the letter upside down on the scrapbook paper, traced, cut out and was ready to begin. I wasn't sure exactly how it would dry out. It seemed to have a couple of bubbles that I could not smooth out while wet. However, once it dried, it dried smoothly. For a first timer, I think it turned out pretty snappy! 

And for those who might be interested, I purchased my letter at Hobby Lobby for .99 cents.

Framed Fabric

As mentioned in my last post, I am a huge Pinterest fan. I pinned a while back the above post, framing fabric or scrapbook paper. The post can be found at http://yourdecoratinghotline.com/easy-exciting-exclusive/.

Unfortunately, I did not take a before or during photo of my project but I do have a snapshot of my own finished project. I took an old frame that was very gold and painted it black. I removed the old floral print, cleaned the glass, glued the fabric, that I had washed and ironed smooth, on to the cardboard backing and finished the project  with closing off the back. The fabric is a vintage-style of a woman doing laundry, ironing, etc. A perfect fabric to hang in my laundry area.

I am sorry for the picture not being hung. We have all the walls bare of nails as we prepare to paint this weekend. So, what do you think? I love it!

Pina Colada Cupcakes

I found this recipe on Pinterest. Since I am a fan of both pineapple and coconut

and it seemed to be an easy recipe, I gave them a try this weekend. They were 

a huge hit at the Bahama's Dinner Party we attended on Saturday night. They are

moist and delicious and even better, low-fat. 

I have quickly become addicted to Pinterest. I love all the crafty and decorating

ideas and the abundance of recipes. I have a new board on my Pinterest account,

Pins I have actually tried. I would love for you to follow me here and on Pinterest 

as I cook, craft, decorate and sew my way through all the wonderful ideas. 

Go to http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/04/pina-colada-cupcakes.html for the wonderful

recipe.