Guest Room Reveal

Our guest room has been done for a couple of weeks now. It has even had it's very first residents. I was so happy to even have an extra room to hold guests. Then I was even more excited when it became a possibility to redo the room into it's very own special and beautiful space.

I hemmed and hawed forever about exactly what to do with this room. My choice in how to redo the room finally came down to one major thing-WHAT DO I ALREADY HAVE? Basically what can I do to make the room cute by mixing what I already had and what I could find that was affordable.

Everything fell in to place when I decided to use this homemade quilt that Hubby and I got 10 years ago as a wedding present.

Then we found the black iron bed frame at IKEA. $149 people!!! I got all the rest of the bedding at The Mart. Really if you can overlook that you are actually at The Mart, it is one of the cheapest places to buy things for home decorating. Especially if you can think outside the box.

I had the black and white pillows from a previous couch. Then I just bought some fabric that I thought looked vintagey and farmhouse fresh, and I made some extra throw pillows.

I can't go without adding some plates to a wall. I know it is a sickness. Alas, I love how it looks so there will probably always be plates on my walls.

The curtains are two white flat sheets hemmed and hung on a simple white curtain rod.

I gathered up a lamp and clock we already had. Added the simple white teapot that I found at Ross. I spray painted an old TV stand a sunny yellow and turned it into a nightstand. I wasn't super thrilled with the paint coverage on the top so I used some scraps and sewed a tiny cloth covering for the top.

I added one simple frame that we had to the wall. Painted yet again another plate...that we had and hung that up. Then We hung up a mirror, again that we already had.

I am just about in love with this room.

Seriously, it is nicer than any or our master bedrooms have EVER been.

I could seriously just walk in this room and stare at it all day. Love. Love. Love.

Sunshine: The Perfect Cure All

Between illnesses, late-stage pregnancy, and all of life's normal stresses that seem to come up when we least need them to, it has been a rough couple of weeks.

I have really been trying to grin and bear my way through it, but being large and super uncomfortable with this pregnancy has made it a little hard. I have not been the perfect example of cheer and delight lately.

On Friday, the perfect cure all came in the form of a bright and sunny day. A pretty rare treat for these parts.

I decided to gather up all the boys (Oldest had the day off of school), make some picnic lunches, and head out to a local park.

Funny enough just getting everyone to the park proved a difficult task and fit right in with the week we had been having. BUT I am happy to say we persevered and after a quick park relocation and some tears (mine and the boys) we finally got out of the car and got to playing in the glorious sunshine.

Yes a good sun-shiney day really can fix anything.

Now if the sun could just encourage Bean to come...okay so I am not 100% ready, so I guess he can stay in a couple more days...

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

So you know how I said in my last post how one of the things I loved at the shower was the chicken salad...well I loved it so much I just had to make some more for myself this week.

I have always enjoyed a good chicken salad. However, in my opinion it really is hard to find a recipe that is just out of this world good. I have had a stand-by that I have used for years and it is wonderful, BUT I don't always have one of the main ingredients. So whipping it together doesn't happen often. It takes some planning and you all know how I fly by the seat of my pants.

I decided to look up the recipe that my friend made at my shower this weekend. Again, I didn't have exactly all the ingredients. However, I again went by the seat of my pants, used the recipe for a building block and went from there with what I had.

GLORIOUS.

Simply glorious.

I threw the chicken salad in between some rolls and added a side of homemade pita chips. The meal was so yummy and so refreshing. It was a perfect answer to the over kill of heavy winter meals that we have been having. I could almost imagine myself sitting on a red checkered blanket, surrounded by green lush trees, with the sun cheerfully shinning down on me. Ah picnic weather...I am starting to get excited for you.

I hope you enjoy this meal as much as I did.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches
adapted from The Pioneer Woman

2-3 chicken breast, cooked shredded ( I used homemade canned chicken)
2 celery stalks, diced
3 green onions, sliced
2 cups red and green grapes, cut up
1/2 cups slivered almonds
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup milk
juice from 1/2 a large lemon or 1 med lemon
1 TBS brown sugar
1 tsp dried dill weed
salt and pepper

Shred chicken and place in a bowl. Add in celery, green onions, grapes, and almonds. Mix. In a separate bowl combine mayonnaise, sour cream, milk, lemon juice, and brown sugar until well combined. Then mix in the mayonnaise mixture with the chicken mixture. Mix well. Add dill and salt and pepper to taste. Stir gently till all combined.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve on rolls. Here is a link for the recipe for the homemade pita chips I make.

Are you guys ready for spring too??? Maybe some of you already have spring weather...jealous much!

Have a great day everyone!

Baby Shower for Bean

Some super sweet friends threw me and Bean a baby shower this last weekend. They planned the whole decorating scheme around my nursery...which yes is still in the works. SO close!

They did an awesome job. I had such a good time. It was a much needed break from our family sickness saga.

They even used some of the decorations I had made for Bean's room. They went so great with everything else that the girls came up with. Everything coordinated so well...you all know how much I enjoy me some coordinating decorations!

They provided a dinner and it was SO divine. Some of this pregnant lady's favorites--the chicken salad, the fruit salsa and cinnamon chips, the celery and dip, and the gumballs...yup I said gumballs!

I am so grateful for all of their hard work. Every detail was thought of.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the party. This lovely green beverage in a quaint mason jar with an ever so sweet gray and white paper straw just about made my night.

ignore my Ruldolph nose, it is due to the cold that will not go away 

I am so grateful for everyone who came and celebrated Bean with me. I have so many wonderful women in my life. My mom and sisters were there. My mother-in-law was there and some of my sister-in-laws were there in spirit. My very oldest and dearest friend was there...she was also the photographer since I forgot my camera. Tons of my neighbors and friends were all there...and on a Friday night no less. I am a pretty lucky girl.

It was such a lovely evening and made me feel so loved and special. Thanks to everyone's generosity my fourth Little Man will not have to wear a sad string of hand-me-downs. He will be able to wear his very own little duds.

We are getting close over here. 37 weeks officially today. Sometimes if still feels too far away, but then I remember the things I need to get done and it feels too close. Hahaha...oh well.

Harry Potter Firebolt Tutorial

Another Harry Potter Party installment today.

One of the classes we had at Hogwarts was our flying class. Of course to be a legit Wizard or Witch one must have a broom and know how to fly that broom.

So I made up a broom for each party guest. They were really easy to make and fairly inexpensive. I was glad I made them when I saw seven excited wizards flying excitedly around my house.

So do you want to make your own?

Easy peasy.

Here is what you need to gather up-

5/8" dowels (found mine at The Mart)
brown spray paint
packing brown paper or brown paper bags
heavy duty tape...either duct or packing tape
yellow felt
hot glue

I had originally planned on using brown paper bags, which are free at a lot of grocery stores. Then I remembered we had tons of this brown packing paper left over from moving so I used that instead.

I gathered my dowels and spray painted them. You will have to do it in shifts in order to get each side of the dowel and also complete coverage.

I cut strips out of the brown paper.

Since I used the packing paper I had really long strips, so I cut them into shorter strips about 12-14".

I started about 3-4" up from the bottom of my broom. Then I layered several strips all the way around the stick twice. I taped the top of the strips securely in place.

Then I went up just a little and repeated the layering paper process all over again until it was full enough. Then I taped that layer in place. Make sure all the strips are completely secure. It can be hard to catch all the strips.

Repeat with all the brooms.

Plug in your hot glue gun and git 'er warmin' up.

Then cut out strips of yellow felt 2" wide and however long. It won't really matter because you will wrap and cut as you go.

Wrap and glue the felt in place making sure to cover the tape.

Repeat with all the brooms.

There ya have it. You have a firebolt for each of your guests.

Get ready for some flying and wizarding fun!

Have a great Tuesday Friends!!