Birthday money - going, going, gone!

So I've been busy since Monday when I talked about my birthday, new curtains, and nesting.  I wouldn't have busy if not for receiving birthday money that was burning quite a hole in my pocket (and is gone now - sob!).  I had SO much fun shopping guilt free and buying items outside of our budget.  And can I just say why can't birthday money magically appear all year long?  Is there a petition for that?

Wednesday I went to Hobby Lobby with my boys and (thankfully!) my Mom met us there.  It was our first trip out of the house as a threesome in two weeks but the sick germs were gone and it was a gorgeous day in Oklahoma so I promised the park after we got stickers.  I picked up some fabric at Hobby Lobby (upper right hand corner) to sew pillows.  I looked a lot of pillows at Target and Hobby Lobby and a local boutique when shopping with Josh on my birthday, but they were EXPENSIVE.  I used the fabric above + two bags of filling to make 2 pillows costing $6 each.  It took 3 hours of my time (not normal -- I was having a lot of problems with my bobbin), but it was relaxing and I have immense pride over the pillows.

The finished product! I really love 'em!  :)  Thanks, Grandma, for the birthday money I was able to use on these cute pillows + some new thread and a cowboy hat for J (because what Mom doesn't end up using a little bday money on a kid?)!

I also made the very difficult decision to use $35 of birthday money on a hair cut.  I thought of all cute things I could get with the money, but it'd been 6 months since I had a trim and I needed it.  So there's that and our ugly green bathroom walls in our hall bath.  ;)

Last night my in laws came into town to stay with us and my MIL and I hit up Target as any good Mother-in-law/daughter-in-law duo do and I walked around with a lamp shade and 3 bases (and another shade for awhile) for a good 15 minutes being indecisive.  I texted this pic to Josh and my Mom.  They all three liked that brown wood-looking base the shade is on and my MIL and Josh preferred a blue shade I had... Everyone was probably thinking, "Why did you ask our advice?" when I got no combination anyone suggested - ha!  But I'm really happy with the finished product and am thankful for the gift of lamp my in laws bestowed on me!  I love lamp! ;)

So here's the lamp on the table! Swoon! I love it and I love how the coral/pinks/yellow tie in with the colors on the pillows I sewed which also happen to have the same blue shade as my chevron throw pillow.  I didn't want to be stuck with all blue and brown and I love these extra colors and want to do more with them... you know, when I save up my allowance and pretend it's more birthday money.  Or get Valentine's day money.  Is that a thing?  Can it be a thing?  Husband? ;)

I DON'T have a cartoon heart in that frame (from Hobby Lobby) but rather a pic of one of my cute sons.  Sorry you can't see it!  It's cute.  ;)  Also up there are two bowls and four plates from Target's super cute new spring dishes set.  I'm in LOVE with these colors/patterns and can't wait to go snag more of these plates/bowls.  In a house of men I'll take some pretty, feminine dishes -- especially when I've spent the last few years using all white dishes (which the chef in me loves, but the lady in me is like, "whaaaa?").

Ambiance, baby!  Thanks, husband for the dishes and hair cut.  ;)

So there you have it!  All in all my gifts/purchases were just under $180 (including curtains, minus the hair) which is more money than I could have put toward our living room in a single week but boy what a difference it made in cozying up the place!  I'm so thankful to everyone who gifted me pretty home things or money to buy pretty home things and I'm still feeling so inspired to purge and clean and love what I have and set aside some of my "allowance" money to invest more in my home.  

Have a great weekend! 

Making a House a Home

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you all had lovely weekends!  My weekend included a major annual event - my birthday!

In the last few years my Mom has taken me shopping for my birthday.  Last year I picked out things I needed... bath gel from Bath & Body, more make up from MAC, a nursing tank... But this year I picked things I really wanted for my home.  We've been here almost 4 years and I'm just now discovering curtains.  They're an expensive investment and Josh and I have never made putting money into our home's decor a huge priority (a consequence of annual Disney World visits).  So this year, I asked for curtains and am so thankful my Mom obliged!

We went to Target Thursday and picked up rods and panels and Josh installed it all for me yesterday.  I'm in love!  I am so happy with how much cozier they make my dining/living room look (open concept home).  I also picked up a pillow cover on Saturday when Josh and I were shopping that is burlap and blue chevron and I LOVE it.  They're $6.99 at Hobby Lobby and only $4 after you use a 40% off coupon.  I love how the look with the curtains.

I spent the rest of my Sunday looking at the curtains and the pillow and the room and thinking about all my decor.  I have my birthday money from Josh and my in-laws left and while I really could use a hair cut I want to take all that money and head back to Target and Hobby Lobby for more cute home stuff.  I even texted my Mom Sunday that the changes "have made my nesting instincts kick in!"  And then I thought that was ironic and I should probably write a blog post about it.

The truth is we've always known this home is temporary.  We'd like to leave Oklahoma eventually and even if we didn't we've outgrown this 1200 sq ft home in more ways than just space.  It was a perfect starter home, but we've gotten to the point where hopefully we'll find a forever home in the next few years.  I don't know why that makes me hesitant to invest in things like curtains and decorating and really sprucing up the place because the rest of the truth is every time I tackle a project - a gallery wall, my mantle, seasonal decor, new curtains, repurposing furniture... - I love how it changes my house into a home and effects my mood, productivity levels, and enjoyment of where I live.

So I think my goal for this next year of my life is to focus more on making my house a home.  I think I do well to make my house a home in our lives but not so much in our decor just because I'm not always focused on it.  I don't want to just fill it with things, I want to be intentional about what comes in and fills the walls and space that needs decorating.  And I want to purge and organize and purge some more.

If I can do this little by little a ripple effect should be more love on this blog because OF COURSE I'll have to keep you all involved in the changes.  ;)

Here's to another year of life and to loving my home and making it happier and cozier each day!  Cheers!

0 Point Weight Watcher Soup

Two posts in one week? It's a miracle. Or maybe a sign of good things to come!

Today I'm posting a recipe for 0 point Weight Watcher soup.  This recipe is all over in various forms.  I've seen it on Pinterest and it's one of those pins that makes me laugh because I remember my parents making this stuff for years!  That being said, I can't take all the credit for this at all!  My parents made this soup a lot throughout my childhood when they'd diet.  At one point their resolve was to eat it before every meal to help them feel it up and make it harder to over eat on the good portion of the show.  

As I mentioned, we've been so sick here lately and it hit Josh and I toward the middle of the week.  I know I wanted buckets of hot, spicy soup and that I wanted to be indulgent with the saltines.  So I made this soup which is not only very healthy and 0 points, it's also super cheap.

0 Point Weight Watcher Soup Ingredients:

1 tiny can tomato pace

4 cans water

1 can chicken broth

1 tsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1/4 cup onion

1/2 head of cabbage

1 zucchini squash

3 brussel sprouts

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

So my Mom told me she actually used tomato juice for this recipe! I didn't have any, so I made my own by mixing 1 can of tomato pace with 4 cans of water and blending.  So FYI, you can do that!

1--> Pour 1 tsp olive oil in a pot and saute diced onion and diced garlic.  I also used brussel sprouts and sautéed these as well.  If I had seen the carrots I had in my refrigerator I would have added those and sautéed them too.  Basically you're just sautéing anything hard and crunchy + the garlic and onion.  I sprinkled it all with a little salt and pepper and ended up sautéing about 3-4 minutes.

2--> Pour in your tomato juice mix and dump any veggies you want! I used cabbage and zucchini squash because it's what I had.  My parents often added green beans and carrots and I think asparagus would be good too!  There are so many options since most veggies are 0 points on Weight Watchers!

3--> Put a lid on that soup and let it simmer up.  I put my kids down for a nap while I did this and then did a few chores... it simmered a total of about 30 minutes.

And voila! 0 point soup!  Now, this soup isn't extremely flavorful unless your veggies are flavorful.  Beef broth would enhance the flavor, but I only had chicken.  Also, spices like oregano and parsley should be considered and might I recommend tossing in a bay leaf while you're cooking?  I didn't do this because I needed the soup HOT to help me with this congestion so I just made sure my salt/pepper ratio was good and then added a ton of Siracha to my bowl!  I thought about cooking in a little cumin and chili powder but I didn't know if I'd want spicy tomorrow and you can always dump this back into a pot, add some seasoning and let it all simmer together again!

So there you have it!  0 point soup that's extremely versatile!  I had 3 cups and was stuffed all afternoon which helped me avoid snacking temptation! 

Oh, and a note... if somehow you ate this whole pot of soup it would not be 0 points since you're using 1 tsp of olive oil and a can of broth.  There's about 3 points total in this whole soup so if you ever have more than 4 cups you may consider counting it as 1 point.  ;)

Valentine's Day Wreath

Well, it's been awhile and we're one house full of sick people feeling quite cooped up!  Consequently, I've taken some (of the little) free time I had this weekend between wiping snotty noses and snuggling sleepless, coughing babies to make a little wreath.  I posted the picture on Instagram and a few friends asked if I planned to blog it.  So I decided, why not?  My blog needs a little love and maybe your door needs a little Valentine's day pizzaz.

So this is my wreath!  It was pretty simple, just time consuming.  You'll need what's listed/identified above plus a styrofoam wreath, plenty of hot glue, a glue stick, and tape!

1 --> Start by wrapping the twine around your wreath.  This takes me close to two hours and fortunately when I set about to decorate the wreath I already had the wrapping done.  I highly suggest getting cozy on your couch and wrapping while watching some good TV during nap time or after bed time.  To hold my wrap I actually don't glue the start point, I just tie it to the wreath.  This is mostly because I'm sitting on the couch and feeling lazy.

2 --> When you're done wrapping, hot glue your finally twine wraps in place and check for open spots.  I wrap quickly, so I always notice a few places were styrofoam is peeking out at me mocking after.  So I take those spots, rewrap them and glue them.  

3 --> Next, I made the banner.  This part was so easy.  I just cut a few triangles until I got the size I liked.  Then I used it as a template to cut 3 more.  Then I cut another bigger triangle and used it as a template.  I wrote "L" "O" "V" "E" on each small triangle in my cursive handwriting and then used a glue stick to glue them to the big triangles.  

4 --> Then, I cut a big piece of white ribbon I had on hand from Christmas and centered the triangles on the ribbon.  I flipped them over and then just taped the ribbon to the top of the triangles toward their tops.  I use tape because I tried glue and just made a mess of things.  Tape is easy and you can cut off any overhang.

5 --> Next, lay your ribbon on your wreath and figure out how you want it to hang.  Then glue and snip!

6 --> Almost done! Now, the roses.  I made these using red felt that was 3/$1 in the craft section and I didn't even use a whole sheet.  I just cut strips (long ways), glued, and twisted and voila - felt flowers!  Now, I've been doing felt flowers awhile.  They're the only fabric flower I've figured out thanks to a few tutorials I watched/read in the past.  I have no idea which tutorials I used so I made one for you that's nice and short if you are interested.  My husband said I should not use this video because I shot it on my iPhone reverse cam so it's bad quality and my kitchen counters are dirty and did I mention my kids were sick so I look a little terrible... but I'm going to anyway.  Mostly because I just don't want to refilm.  Please don't laugh at me.  ;)

...And I was going to put the video here in an embedded format, but it's not working on my blog for some reason!  So here is the LINK to YouTube ---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcK9wU9k49g&feature=youtu.be

7 --> Finally, using loads of hot glue, glue your flowers onto your wreath.  I practice placement before gluing so I know kind of what the finished product will look like.  :)

So there you have it!  A Valentine's Day wreath of love!  I really like it and am enjoying knowing it's on my door.  Now if only we were leaving the house more often so I could actually see it...