Little Man's Room: My Inspiration

It's taken much longer than anticipated to clean out the guest/computer room but finally it's just about done. Which can only mean one thing... It's time to shop!!! With a little less than 4 mths until the little man is set to arrive, my cleaning, de-cluttering, planning, and decorating senses have been on overdrive, and you thought there were only five senses. ;) While I have yet to actually order anything here is my inspiration and I can't wait to get started!!

And here is a picture of the fabrics I have picked out and plan to order in the next couple weeks!! Then it will be on to paint!!

BIG Changes

After going back and forth, I finally decided to come back to my original blog.  I feel as though, The Simple Treasures, describes my life much better.  Even on the longest, rainiest day we try find little things to make us smile.  Like finding my most fav author ever, hardback books at the dollar store, what!?

I also finally found a layout I LOVE!!  At least for today anyway ;)  And am super excited for many upcoming blog posts... including, decorating little mister's room, a few updates to Miss Bell's room, lots of fun crafts and DIY's, my learning to sew projects, trying to stay fashionable while pregnant, working with a budget and fun new meal ideas!!!  Stay tuned and expect a sneak peak soon of the nursery, as I am finally ordering fabric this weekend!!!

Baby Log Blog- They grow up so fast

We are in the home stretch.  Baby Bellamie is due in less than 4 weeks and I couldnt be more excited, anxious, overwhelmed, happy and maybe even a little scared.  Little Bella is growing 1/2 an inch each week and will continue to grow a 1/4 inche per week for the first few months of life.  Of course the fist thing everyone wants to know, is how big was the baby when she was born.  All this talk made me realize it was time to make a growth chart.  While I have made charts for friends and family in the past, I was so exicted that the time had finally come to make one for our family.  We cant wait to meet you Miss Bellamie and see how big you are!!

Baby Log Blog- All things baby

While this blog was intended for all things crafty, lately my life has been taken over by all things baby!  Our little girl isn't even here yet and already she is consuming all my "free" time.  From baby showers to maternity shoots, and the nursery to Lamaze class, life has been a bit crazy.  Because a picture is worth a thousand word, I thought it would be best to just show you what we have been up to rather than tell you, don't worry I dont have any pictures from Lamaze class!!
But because there are no pictures, lets review what we learned before we get to the good stuff... First off all the "he he whoooo, he he whoooo," was so last year!  Now it is all about deep calming breaths.  During which time, husband is supposed to say soothing words to keep you calm and breathing.  My husband choose, "breath woman."  This lead to the discussion after class of things he will not be saying while I am in labor.  Next up was massage techniques, which lasted throughout the day and was quite wonderful.  We even had to give our husband a massage, which Rob noted as his favorite part of the class on our sheet at the end of the day.  Perfect, the only thing he took away from the class, was that he likes massages, tell me something I didn't already know.  Now onto the pain medications.  Apparently women in labor are so incredibly scary pain meds are handed out like candy.  And while I was all for the epidural at first, loosing all feeling in my legs, unable to roll over, a needle the size of grandmothers knitting needles and the possibility of my labor lasting hours longer, have started to change my opinion on the matter.  And lastly, I had assumed that modesty kind of went of window when you are in labor, but even I was taken aback when we watched a video of a naked woman down on all fours give birth to a child!  This also lead to the discussion that no matter how much pain I am in, please do not let me deliver our child like this!!
Are you still with me?  Or have you skipped down to pictures of happier times? I don't blame you!!  All that said, here is what we have been up to lately. 
Pictures of the shower and maternity shoot provided by my dear friend Miss Sarah Raelle....

 And finally the nearly finished nursery....

Baby Log Blog- Mobile

I knew I wanted a mobile for miss Bellamie's room, but found the overpriced, yet cheap looking ones you can buy from the store rather tacky.  So yet again I turned to the internet.  When I first started looking I found some cute ones on Etsy but at $50 a pop, decided to keep looking.  It wasnt long before I forgot entirely about the mobile, I blame it on the preggo brain, as I do with everything else, when my gal Martha stepped in yet again.  While I absolutely LOVE the way my mobile turned out, and it matches the room perfectly, I do NOT recommended making one!!  It took forever!!!!  But if you dont like your fingerprints much anyway (hot glue is best friend and worse enemy) and you want to blow an entire Sunday afternoon, here is how I made it...

Miss Martha told me to use armature wire to make branches... I still dont know what armature wire is but I found some wire in the flower section at Jo-Anns and covered it with brown floral tape.

I made three different branches and hooked them all together.

Next (and you will have to go to her website to download the template) cut out your birds from heavy scrapbook paper.

Now you can waste a good hour of you Sunday using your cricut cutter to cut out a billion little flowers, or buy a flower punch at your local craft store.  The only bonus to using the cricut, you can cut flowers in various sizes.
Then, glue your flowers to your branches.

Finally, (and once again not in Martha style cuz one Martha isnt married and two I am sure she used some fancy-mancy wire) ask your husband to dig out some of his fishing line he doesnt use and string your birds from your branches...

Stand back and enjoy your work... dont you love how well it matches the tree!

And while I LOVE how this turned out, I bet you are thinking the tacky, plastic mobiles from the store aren't sounding half bad!!

Short and Sweets- Butterfly Cupcakes

This is the first installment of my short and sweets, short blog entries on all my homemade sweets. 

Ask anyone who knows me, I have always had a sweet tooth.  So I jump at any opportunity to make some sort of baked good.  This past week was bittersweet as our Office Administrator but in her notice.  Of course, instantly I thought, what will I bake on her last day.  The first  thing that came to mind, cupcakes!!  Perfect for the office, easy to eat and no utensils required!!  

Butterfly cupcakes are so easy and perfect for adults to kiddos!

All you need is your favorite cake batter. (prepare as directed on box)

Vanilla frosting...

Two pretzels for wings...

Mix some of your vanilla frosting with food coloring, put into a sandwich baggie, cut the end and make a line down the center.  Add an m&m for a head and wallah, butterfly cupcakes!

I recommend making these the same day you plan to serve them, as the pretzels tend to soak up the moisture from the frosting.

Happy Baking!

Baby "Boy"-quet

All girls love a baby shower, and this girl is no exception... And with my own baby shower in the near future, I was even more excited to attend one this past weekend.  However, as the baby shower drew closer, I realized I never ordered a gift from the registry.  As panic set in, I decided making a gift was much more personal anyway.  A few years ago, gifting for another shower, a friend and I came across a website called Baby bunch.  They sell bouquets of fake flowers and onesies rolled to look like flowers.  Too cute and too spendy at $60 a piece, I thought, I could totally make that!!
Instead of plain white onsies like the ones online, I picked out an adorable gift set of little boys clothing.

I bought some fake flowers and had Rob find me some thin wire.

In order to roll the clothing to look like flowers, I found it easiest to fold each piece into triangles.

Then roll the triangles into "flowers"

I added leaves around my "flowers" using the wire.

Then wire the fake flowers to the clothing flowers.

And tada!!

Super easy and inexpensive!!  Lastly, I added some ribbon to cover the stems.

Happy Showering!!