Shop Reopened!!!

I reopened my shop!

I am so excited!

Check it out.

I plan to add more soon.

I just wanted to go ahead and get some stuff out there for now.

 

Insta Friday

Happy Friday!!! 

It was a full week.

Since last 

Insta Friday...Insta-Friday...InstaFriday

(what is the correct way to type it?)

I know there is a hyphen on the button, but is that because it it broken up onto two lines?

Whatev.

We've been busy.

Last Friday I rocked my lacy cuff leggings, grabbed a caramel mocha frappuccino, and went to Joann's with girlfriend and Brody while AJ was in school.  I took some of this fabulous zebra print home with no specific project in mind.  We also ran about five thousand other errands that day.  

Okay, so it was really only 3 other errands, but it felt like five thousand with two kids.

I had an amazing dinner with two amazing people.

Butternut Squash Lasagna Rolls

Wow.  I need to learn how to make these lasagna rolls of deliciousness!

I made dessert for us...kinda.

I discovered Plants vs. Zombies.

Seriously addictive.

I drank some Sangria and made a Cinnamon Roll Ice Cream Cake.

We had dinner with family and Brody got to hang out with his adorable second cousin.

I bought these three dresses.

I'll return the ones that don't work for pictures.

(not really, but I'll pretend like that was my intention)

I really wanted dress number 3 that everyone voted on, but it was no longer available in white.

I made my bed one day this week.

We played in the sandbox.

I cooked with a princess.

I made Strawberry Cream Cupcakes in a jar.

I wore yellow.

We played at the park with good friends.

We made it to Sonic's happy hour.

I got a killer sunburn.

We put together the big floor map of the U.S. and talked about all our summer trips.

I enjoyed a new magazine.

I got some tea towels for some upcoming projects.

I became obsessively addicted to Words With Friends.

(I'm a little competitive.)

And I fell in love with this boy about a hundred times a day.

Cupcakes In Mason Jars

I signed up to make dessert for the teacher appreciation lunch at the kiddos' school.

I love cupcakes and mason jars and have been wanting an excuse to combine the two.

I gathered all my supplies

and went to town making strawberry cream cupcakes...

while the kids destroyed the house.

I ate like half that bag of pretzels during this process.

And may have added more whipped cream than was necessary.

I pulled some fabulous strawberry paper out of my neglected scrapbooking stash for the lids.

There is just something awesome about eating a cupcake out of a mason jar.

AJ asked if I could make his entire lunch in a jar for school from now on.  

A boy after my own heart.

Not sure a school lunch in a mason jar is going to work out though.

Sorry kid.

 

Insta Friday

TGIF
I have big plans this weekend.

Kickin' off tonight with dinner with friends and a book discussion.
Good food. Good company. No kids. Cupcakes.

Some sewing time with my BFF.

Some garden and yard work.

Dinner with some out of town family Sunday night
and snuggle loving a new baby cousin.

It's gonna be a good one.
This weekend is.

Join me for Insta Friday. It's all the rage.

I saw a lot of this over the last few days...
as I got my sewing mojo back...
making a lot of these...
Thinkin' about opening up the ol' Etsy shop again in the near future.
Just want to build up some inventory first.

We went out for frozen yogurt this week...okay maybe twice this week.
It was delightful.
I had strawberry lemonade and strawberry banana with white chocolate chips.
I discovered this stuff this week.
It's about $4 and lasts all week...
which is great
compared to a $4 single trip to Starbucks.
It's faster too when you make the mad dash to preschool half awake.
I am a person that takes a picture of the screen on my laptop with my iphone
when I find something like this on pinterest
that I need to text to my family group text right then.
I so need an ipad.
Here we are on a family walk.
Mis-matched flip flops and rain boots with shorts is how we roll.
I'm on the hunt for some cowgirl boots for my upcoming pictures.
Somehow, I just don't see myself purchasing these hippie boots for $429.99.
But if I were rich...I could see myself rocking them.
I love egg drop soup.
And chicken fried rice.
And crab and cheese wontons.
And chatting over said goodness with my BFF.
And random trips to get our eye brows waxed.
And getting snail mail.
And chunky babies.
And hilarious you tube videos about instagramers.


Happy Friday!

P.S. I am loving my homemade laundry detergent! It does an awesome job cleaning, and leaves a nice, soft, faint scent on our clothes. I'm pretty stoked about it.

My Latest Obsession

I've been making camera strap covers like crazy the last couple days.

So funky and fun.

They are padded with fleece interfacing
and
have a little pocket for your lens cap.

If you are local and need one for a Mother's Day gift or a birthday or just because
let me know,
and I'll hook you up!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I know.
I'm not gonna lie.

I USED to think that only ultra conservative people that lived off grid in the country
made their own laundry soap.

But I have read several blogs of seemingly normal people
that make their own laundry soap.
So I was a little curious.

And I swear, I spend the majority of my life in that laundry room...
using a lot of detergent.

I've been researching recipes for a few months now, and finally found one I thought I might like.
I wanted something that worked and still made our clothes smell good.

Smell is important to me.

I found my recipe from How Does She.

The Oxy Clean and Purex crystals were optional...
but I have to wash Abby's clothes, so the Oxy Clean was not really optional for me...
and I like fresh laundry to smell good...because smell is important to me.
Like obsessively important to me.

I spent about $40 on this adventure.
Keep in mind my two optional ingredients I opted to include were nearly $20 of that total.
And obviously, the bucket and grater are reusable.

If you do 6 loads of laundry a week, it is suppose to last a year.
It only takes 1 to 2 Tablespoons a load.
A year people!
Is this really possible?!

I would say the hardest part was grating the bar soap.
Although I did feel rather proud, like I was a true pioneer woman doing it,
I would find a sucker to that part for you.
Your arm will thank you.

After that, it is just mixing and mixing and mixing.

I reused the Purex crystals bottle and am using the lid to measure my 2 Tablespoons a load.

I will let you know how this works out for me.
I have always been very brand loyal to Tide...I love the smell of Tide.
So we shall see.

For right now, I am just excited to do laundry, so that I can try my new homemade laundry soap.
Whoa. Back the bus up! Did I just say I was excited to do laundry?!
This stuff is already working miracles.