Hannah Mae is WELL on her way!

My very dear friend, Emily, and her husband are expecting the first extra addition to their family within the month.  Miss Hannah Mae has been growing away for about 36 weeks, and is blessed to be joining a pretty spectacular family.

*BEAUTIFUL Photos are copyright of KB-McElmurry Photography*

Now, this dear friend of mine married into the Marines and is currently stationed in North Carolina.  Of course, we had to devise a plan to get her home to Arkansas for a shower of love and PRESENTS. :)  Not only did I get to play a key role in the transportation part of the plan, *Which will be discussed in a post to come*, but I also had the pleasure of being in charge of sweet treats for the shower.  YAY!

I was extra excited to get baking, because Emily requested something I have never made - whoopie pies.  Ever heard of a whoopie pie??  I had not.  I have been told that they are a bit of a northern tradition.  Hannah's daddy is from Maine and LOVES them, so I hear.  Well, a quick google search gave me the general idea of what a whoopie pie is, which set me on a recipe search.

I chose two recipes and smashed them into one product.
First I chose a red velvet recipe for the cookie/cake part of the pies.  You can find it here at Better Homes and Gardens:
Red Velvet Whoopie Pies
Once I chose red velvet, what other kind of filling could I choose besides a sweet cream cheese filling?!?!  So, I pressed on in my search and settled on this yummy filling from Martha Stewart:
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

Not only where these little guys just adorable, but they were also VERY YUMMY!  I was very happy with the texture and flavors of both parts.  These are a bit more work than simple cookies or cupcakes, but not horribly complicated.  Especially if you bake fairly often.  Em loved them and I'm sure Hannah was delighted, as well. :)

As with just about any baby shower, we were a bit unsure about how many people would show up for the festivities.  Well, if you've been around my family at Thanksgiving or Christmas, you will know that we firmly believe it is better to have leftovers for a week than to run out at the party.  Em and I decided that we should also have some cupcakes.  BUT, I didn't stop at cupcakes.  If you read my last post, you know that I'm on a decorated sugar cookie kick.  Sooo....we had some of those, too.

These cupcakes are some that I wanted to try for a while.  LOW FAT!  From skinnytaste.com:

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pumpkin Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

AND I finally got up the nerve to concentrate and really try my hand at a 

houndstooth design with Royal Icing.  Not to brag, but I LOVED IT!!!

Yes, Miss Hannah's baby shower was quite a success!  Everything was beautiful and tasty, and this sweet little family received some much needed items....and a few FUN things, too!  

If all goes as planned, my next post will center around my road trip to North Carolina with Em to get all of these gifts home and work on Miss Hannah's nursery.  It was an adventure, for sure, and provided some really great time spent with a beautiful friend.  Congratulations, again, to Tim and Emily for the sweet little blessing who will be stealing their hearts and a lot of their sleep very soon. :)

Adventures in Cookies

*Please excuse the poor picture quality in this post*

A few months ago, I tried my hand at making iced sugar cookies for the first time.  *Cute, themed cookies...not just icing and sprinkles*  It all started with the request for Minnie Mouse cookies for Lily's 3rd Birthday Party.

They were far from perfect.  HOWEVER, I was fairly impressed with the results of my first adventure in this type of cookie decorating.  AND THEY WERE DELICIOUS. :)  Great party favors for Lily's friends.

The first step in this  endeavor was finding the perfect sugar cookie recipe.  Well, that part was pretty easy...and lead to my obsession with the blog I found the recipe on.  -  Recipe for the Best Sugar Cookies EVER
Please look around this talented lady's blog for a few minutes.  I'm willing to bet that you are impressed with her in no time.  It is cookie art.  I will only ever dream of being as good at decorated cookies as Sweet Sugarbelle.  Instead, I will simply continue to draw inspiration from her posts.

After making semi-pretty cookies once, somehow, word spread.   This past week, a very sweet friend asked if I could make some cookies for a baby shower she was hosting.  I must admit, I was very nervous about making something for somebody outside of the family. *My family HAS to continue loving me and thinking I'm awesome.  They are the guinea pigs.*  Despite my anxiety, I agreed to take on baby cookies.

I had a bit of a practice session while my sister was over one evening.  So, the next picture of cookies is not to be taken very seriously.  ESPECIALLY the one that I am so "proudly" holding up for display.  It was the only picture I took of the practice session, and as you can tell, it was meant to be sent to Jeff  *my wonderful boyfriend* as a bit of a joke.  The Jeff cookie is totally ugly, but look around at the cookies in the background.  It's so much fun to experiment and see what you can do with them!

I fell in love with the two patterns just behind the Jeff cookie.  I even tried my hand at a houndstooth print!!  It was cute, but I would need some serious practice before actually making them for anybody.

A few days later, it was time for the real deal.  *Again, these are not high quality pictures, but they are what I have*

I had so much fun making these!  My friend was so pleased with the finished product.

Hopefully, I will only get better with a bit more experience.  Practice makes perfect!!

Time for a BIG GIRL bed!

The thing about kids...they grow REALLY fast.  Every time I see my niece, Lily, I can't help but notice how tall she looks or how long her hair is!  This means, she is ready to move out of her first bed and into a BIG GIRL BED.  Her mom told me that she has asked for a pink bed. *Because pink is her FAVORITE color.  Just ask her.*

Lily's mom has been on the lookout for the perfect new bedding for the big girl bed.  We searched through IKEA...looked at quilts...talked about making quilts....you name it.  Finally, she found EXACTLY what she was looking for.

This tutorial for a twin size duvet cover is so great!  You can also alter it to standard measurements for a full, queen, or even king size cover.  I'm including the link for the tutorial, just in case you want to give it a try.
http://sew4home.com/projects/bed-linens/357-stylish-baby-nursery-twin-bed-duvet-cover

Lily's mom didn't want to go with such bold colors for the big girl room, so off to the fabric store she went.  You should also know that she took my Interior Designer sister along to help make choices.

I'm not gonna lie, when they showed me the fabric they picked, I got SO excited!

Do you love it as much as I do?  I think it is completely precious and oh so stylish.  I've been working on it over the past couple of days and think I will be finishing up very soon!
I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished product.


In a mostly unrelated note....Have you met Margo?!  My second, sweet little niece was born September 29!  She was 7 lbs and 2 oz. and such a healthy baby.  She is beautiful and I can't help but just stare at her when I hold her.

I could just eat her up!  Maybe someday I'll get to make her big girl bedding, too!

Giving etsy a try

Have you ever been to etsy.com???  If you love unique, vintage, or handmade items, I suggest you take a peak now.  I apologize in advance if I start any time-consuming or money-burning addictions.

I have wanted to attempt selling items through this type of website for quite some time now.
So, this is a bit of a test "go" for etsy.

Wish me luck???  Here's what I'm selling:

Just a fun little baby/child size blanket created from remnants I grabbed at Hobby Lobby.  It is fun and funky.  The Oh So Sweet pink Minky fabric backing makes this little blanket cozy and warm.

If you are curious...here is the listing :)

http://www.etsy.com/listing/82201635/cozy-baby-blanket-fun-bright-color?ref=sr_gallery_1&ga_search_submit=&ga_ref=auto&ga_search_query=baby+blanket&ga_order=date_desc&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

Let's see how this goes!!!

Margo's Room

I made this blanket to incorporate more
of the elephant fabric into the bedding set.

My sister is about to POP!  Margo Elizabeth has been growing in the Belly for 37 weeks and Leanne is READY for her arrival.

This lovely sister of mine has a degree in Interior Design.  She has a wonderful eye for color combinations and organizational design.  Can you imagine how adorable Margo's nursery is???  Well, you don't have to imagine for long!  Most of this post will be showing off my sister's talents.  However, there are a few of my own pieces included as gifts for my sister and my sweet little niece.

The first fabric Margo's mommy chose was this precious elephant print.  One swatch was mostly pink, while another swatch was blue and brown.  I'll give you one chance to guess how she made the final decision on this pink. :)

Margo's elephant :)

I also told Leanne I would make her an elephant themed...well...something... to use as artwork but might also be able to be used elsewhere as Margo grows.  The end result was this soft, cushiony elephant that now hangs over Margo's changing table.  I have never cut a piece of thick foam into such a specific shape before this elephant came along.

To make this little elephant lady, I drew and elephant outline onto a piece of newspaper to use as a pattern.  It really worked out nicely, and I became proud of actually being able to draw an elephant just from look at the fabric.  *I will never claim to have a talent for drawing.  NEVER*

Then, I just sewed her together, adding a border to give her some depth.  I attached the ear using fusible web.  It is very cheap and very easy to use if you ever want to do an applique.  She may not be perfect, but I was very happy with how cute she turned out to be.  :)

Now, explore Margo's room.  I hope you all appreciate Leanne's wonderful talent, put to use with MUCH love for this little blessing of a girl who will be joining us very VERY soon.

I really love this shelf unit Leanne found at IKEA.  It's very cute and very functional.  As for the "MARGO" letters, she and I spent about 30 minutes in Hobby Lobby putting together multiple combinations of their selection of paintable letters.  The awesome pink and white clock was also a Hobby Lobby find.
The green pillow with the brown elephant is one of Leanne's custom creations.

Margo's elephant in her new home.
Leanne covered an old table we've had forever to use for the changing station area.

This is Margo's cozy little bed.
Leanne made the bumpers, the bag that ties onto the front of the bed, and the awesome elephant pillow.  

I think her bed corner is so adorable.  Leanne made the curtains AND the awesome mobile you see hanging from the ceiling.  She talked about the mobile idea so much.  I knew it would be cute, but goodness, the finished product is so beautiful.  I wish I had a closer picture of it.  She is definitely one talented little pregnant woman. :)

I hope you enjoyed your tour through Margo's room!  I just decided today that I am going to make a wreath for her birthing room.  We'll transfer it to her bedroom door when she comes home.  I'll put up pictures once I get it finished.  I just can't wait to meet her!!!  She most definitely has a wonderful place to come home to.

Start a book club. :) OR follow along with ours.

I have a little something extra to share with you today.  I am in a book club!  It's my first book club and I absolutely LOVE it.  I really started to love reading good books during my college years.  I'm not sure why I hadn't found a love for books until then, but I have gotten to where I want to be involved in a book at all times.  I will admit that there are times when I'm reading nothing....then when I start something new, all I can think is "Why haven't I been reading something DAILY?!?!  I would scratch so many more books off of my wish list!" *Which is honestly a list I mostly keep in my head...I should really write some down...*

One thing I love about our book club is the group of women it is made up of.  We are all young, intelligent women with common bonds, but also diverse interests.  Any time you become part of a group, it is so neat to figure out the strengths each individual brings.  Besides this, we have food with our book discussions!  Most of us are bonded together through a background in Family and Consumer Sciences or Nutrition, so of course food is an important part of our gatherings.  We draw inspiration from our books and each contribute something to the meal.  It is FABULOUS!  

We have read 2 books:

 Yes.  The Help.  Have you seen it everywhere yet?  You know why?  Because IT IS WONDERFUL.  This was our first book club read and I absolutely did not want to put it down.  It will make you laugh out loud and a few minutes later, your heart is broken and tears are rolling down your face.  

I have since seen the movie, which is also great.  So, read the book.  See the movie.  In whichever order you choose.  Just do it.  You will thank me.

The Paris Wife.  This was a suggestion from the lovely lady who started our dear book club, Amber Bobo.  I'm not sure I would have picked this up at the bookstore to read on my own, but it was also very good.  It takes you through the relationship between Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley.  *Again, not something I would have picked*  However, I was pleasantly surprised.  You get wrapped up in their relationship from Haldey's point of view and then experience extreme frustration at times, when Ernest is the Hemingway people often think of.  I might just read some Hemingway after this one....maybe.

Our next book is Murder on the Orient Express.  I've always wanted to read this, but never quite got there.  So, I was excited when others in our group were keen on the suggestion.  

So, there's a small peak into our book club.  I'd like to encourage you to check out my friend Amber's blog -   http://amberbobo.com/ 

She is a wonderful cook and I always enjoy here blog posts and recipes.  She also has a section devoted to our book club, if you would like to see pictures of our yummy food and fun meetings.

This makes me want to post about my own favorite blogs to follow...maybe in the near future.  

Now, go grab a book and get to reading!

Project Brycen is coming along!

Remember that really great stack of fabrics I was so excited about a few weeks ago??  Well, some of those fabrics have morphed into precious things for Brycen's room!

My favorite end product in this set is the blanket.  It's somewhat of a re-creation of a blanket made from actual bandanas.  We chose to use our own custom material, and I must say, it turned out SO great.  It was truly one of those things that you KNOW is well thought out before you start working...then, as it comes to being it's even better than you imagined!

The other pieces I've completed for project Brycen are curtains (from the blue material), bedskirt (from the red material), and a hamper bag (from the yellow material).  I must say that I am very proud of the hamper bag.  Brycen's mommy brought me the original bag that fits into the hamper and I got to figure out how to "make it work" (I hope some of you are Project Runway fans).  All of these pieces will have to be photographed in the room when it is all set up, otherwise they don't make a lot of sense.  So, watch for them in the near future!  

For now, I HAVE to finish up the bumpers.  I have almost everything cut out and ready to piece together...now it's time to SEW!