New Year's Resolution...Breaker

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year's season.  It was a wild and crazy time around here what with a newborn, surgical recovery, and the hustle and bustle of the season.

I'm relieved that we're easing back into our regular schedule, the decorations can come down (notice I didn't say they were down yet, hmmm), and I can get back to the blogging business that I love.

Moving on, I just thought I'd share some of the goodness we enjoyed on New Year's Eve.  We've made our own low-key tradition of staying in, gorging on appetizers, and watching a movie or t.v.  This year we watched the Big Bang Theory marathon.  Are my husband and I the only ones who laugh our rears off at this show?  Yeah, I know we're a couple of nerds so it may resonate with us more than others. :)

One of the appetizers I decided to do this year (or last now) were some sausage stuffed mushrooms.  These are so good that my hubs who usually hates mushrooms, shoots these down the hatch one after the other.  Not only are they great tasting but they are easy to make too.  We also enjoyed some spinach artichoke dip which you can check out here.

For all of the above reasons, I thought I'd share the recipe with ya'll. Your welcome. 

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms:

1 package (16 oz) of sausage

8 oz. cream cheese

40 large button mushrooms

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 c. of onions

Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped for garnish

Crumble and brown the sausage.  Finely chop the garlic and onions and throw them in with the sausage.  Drain onto paper towels if you are afraid of the fat...I'm not so I skip this step.  Cut the cream cheese into pieces and stir it in over low heat until melted.

Wash, and dry mushrooms.  Remove the stem to create a spot for the filling.  Place the sausage mixture in the mushroom and bake on 425 degrees.  Then turn the oven to broil until the tops of the mushrooms turn golden brown.  I then chop up some of the parsley and sprinkle over the top of my mushroom plate to make things pretty.  Now enjoy!  (Try not to think how many minutes on the treadmill these will buy you.)

Linking to:

Home Stories A2Z
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Sassy Sites 
Tip Junkie 
I'm Topsy Turvy 
Today's Creative Blog 
Blessed With Grace 
Sugar Bee Crafts 
Savvy Southern Style 
Blue Cricket Design 
Lady Behind the Curtain 
The Thrifty Home 
Someday Crafts 
At the Picket Fence
The Shabby Creek Cottage
The 36th Avenue
Somewhat Simple 
House of Hepworths 
French Country Cottage 
Stuff and Nonsense 
2805 
Addicted 2 Decorating 
Delightful Order 
The Shabby Nest 
Tidy Mom 
Tatertots and Jello 
Positively Splendid 
The DIY Showoff 
DIY Home Sweet Home 
Between Naps on the Porch 
A Southern Fairytale 
Boogieboard Cottage

Holiday Comforts

 
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I've mentioned before on this blog that there are certain holidays that I love and others that just aren't my favorite.  I have no problem with Christmas, or at least the true meaning of Christmas.  I'm all about remembering Christ's birth.  However, the commercialism, decorating, and need to buy gifts that often surround this holiday just really becomes overwhelming.  Especially when I have a 3 week old baby to take care of.

For this reason, I've decided  to make my living room decor simple and more natural.  This is a look that makes me feel cozy and warm and really happy with my life.  There are a lot of pictures in this post just because I love how the room turned out so enjoy, hehehe!

Here's my front door with a wreath that I bought a couple of years ago and still love.  Add a little ribbon and I'm done!

 

I made a trip to Costco and found cedar garland for trimming out my Christmas decorations.  Even better, a huge amount of it was only $15.

I started with a centerpiece made from a white poinsettia and pine cones that I spray painted last year.  Simple white candles and clear glass finished the look.  Also, I didn't replace the green foil on the poinsettia because, again, I'm keeping things simple and it didn't really bother me enough to change it.

Next came the stairs.  I have a short banister that was helped out by more cedar garland, pinecones, and gold ribbon that I got some year previous to this one.  I love how elegant it looks.

I used the same cedar and a few red berries to lay in among my nativity.  I like this whole vignette and the reminder of Christ's birth.

Of course, the top of the piano had to get some dressing up.

More garland, poinsettias and various other things I had hanging around the house.  I also added some sheet music for Silent Night which is my favorite Christmas song.  Plus, my husband can play this one.

The whole room is now finished and warm feeling.

There are just a few more things that make this time of the year special...Hershey's Kisses Mint Truffles (These are actually a substitute for Mint M&M's which can't be found any.where.  Grrrr!)

Homemade hot chocolate.  Mmmmmm.

And finally, nice cushy pillows, a fuzzy, warm blanket to snuggle under, and my Kindle with a good downloaded book to enjoy.

Oh and if you wonder how I keep my boys out of the room, it's pretty much impossible.

My two year old has already been caught pulling branches out of the garland to smack things with.  The dog has been caught doing the same thing, only she chews the cedar boughs.  That's just life around the Black house though which is why these pictures were taken immediately after the decorating was done!:)

However, the boys do have more kid appropriate decorations in the family room which I hope will keep them distracted from this more adult, serene space done just to my taste.

What things bring comfort and joy to your holiday season?

Linking to:

Just a Girl 

The Shabby Nest 
Thirty Handmade Days 
Tatertots and Jello

Comfort is the perfect gift for everyone on your holiday gift list, so be sure to take advantage of Tempur-Pedic's Buy 2, get 1 free pillow offer! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective

My Morning

This is just a brief run through of the typical morning around my house lately (this is a step by step account for this morning):


Put boys clothes away downstairs.

Find Tommy's reading book from over a week ago under the clothes that were on his bed.

No wonder he wasn't bringing home reading books, since he had never taken this one back!

Get Jack dressed.  

Jack pees more than a grown man all down the wall and all over the changing pad. 

Wipe down wall.

Give Jack a bath instead of just a clothing change.  

Put Jack in a new outfit.

Jack spits up on the clean changing pad cover I just changed.

Go dig a cough drop out of Max's mouth.

Jack spits up again all over his cute outfit. 

Change Jack's clothes again.

Change Max's diaper and get him dressed.

Clean up kitchen.

Finally, eat some breakfast.

Whew!

I'm sure all of the moms out there have had the same experience and I get ya.  It's all worth it when I look at the cute little faces like this one though. :)

He's Here!

You may have noticed that I've been off the map for the last two to three weeks.  Well, I have a beautiful baby boy that is the reason for that.  Yes, the fourth and final has arrived!

He caused a bit of stress for me before his arrival though.  He ended up being head up or breech with a cord wrapped around his neck that wasn't helping him get in the right position.  Yeah, you guessed it, I ended up needing a c-section after three previous vaginal deliveries.  Figured.  My practical self also decided it was a good time to get an umbilical hernia repaired.  Why not, my deductible had been met so it was a free surgery?!

Honestly,  I was a bit scared.  I'm a former Labor and Delivery nurse so I knew everything that would be happening.  That may or may not have been a good thing.  Plus, I H.A.T.E being the patient!  Despite all of that, he, of course, is and was totally worth it!

Here I am soon after his delivery but still being operated on.  Thank goodness for great anaesthesia!

The surgery went quickly and smoothly and you can see by the following picture that I was doing ok about 30 min. after being rolled back to my room.

I'm still sore and not quite back up to speed yet.  Plus, I'm your typical sleep deprived new mom.  Jackson is thriving and eating constantly.  It looks like he may have avoided the heart problems that my other three boys have too.  Poor kiddo did get my round face though. ;)  

I know it will take me awhile to fully recover, and I fully intend to enjoy my new baby boy so you may not see quite as many postings for a bit.  

Now I just have to figure out how to do all of the Christmas decorating and everything else that comes with this busy time of year!

My Babies LOVE Loveys

Ya'll are going to get seriously sick of the baby sewing projects that are making up my life right now! 

Oh well, this is the first time I've ever been able to sew cute little baby things for one of my kids.  I used to depend on my mom for all of this kind of stuff.  Plus, this is my last little one so I've got to spoil him rotten!

Around this house each one of my babies has had a lovey.  Or snuggly, blanky, whatever you call it in your house.  In ours it's the lovey.  It is invaluable for us in providing comfort and helping us get little ones to sleep.

Don't worry, I don't put this in with my newborn.  I'm a  little neurotic about avoiding the whole accidental suffocation thing.

Ok, moving on....I used a bit of the tree fabric I had leftover from the diaper bag I made (why not keep the theme going?), some minky fabric, and then a solid satin-like fabric for the back.

I couldn't resist adding multiple different types of ribbon that I sewed into the edge of the lovey for "tags".  For some reason every one of my kids has loved to play with the tags on blankets and all other kinds of things, so why not give this baby a ton to play with and rub against his faces?

I added a zigzag stitch around the edge to further secure the ribbons and edges.  These get washed soooo much that I've had them fall apart on me before.  I'm hoping to avoid that this time.

Anything that works to distract and sooth is golden in my book!

The reason I made two is 1. You can wash one while the other is being used.  2. They LOVE to carry around more than one. My two year old carries his two or three and his older brother's old loveys.  A pile of these things follow him everywhere he goes.

Did your kids use loveys when they were little and obsess over them like mine have?

Linking to:

The Shabby Creek Cottage
Delightful Order 
Fingerprints on the Fridge
504 Main 
The Shabby Nest 
Jane Deere 
Passionately Artistic 
Just a Girl 
Tatertots and Jello 
Funky Junk Interiors 
Positively Splendid 
I Heart Nap Time 
Between Naps on the Porch 
Dittle Dattle

Sprucin' It Up

You may remember that awhile back we switched my two oldest boys from an upstairs room to the basement.  This left a really horrendous starting point for the new guest room.

Here are the shelves that looked pretty cute in a boy's room.  Not what I had pictured for a more neutral guest room though.

 

Here's the kicker.  There was no money for this spruce up.  NONE.  All of my project money was budgeted for baby stuff.  A new baby is a bit expensive even when you have a lot of hand me downs from previous kids.  

I had to decorate on the cheap and mostly with items I already had.

Here's what I came up with.  Keep in mind that it is still a work in progress and may be redone for my toddler in a few months.  My husband and I haven't agreed on where we're putting him when he's kicked out of the crib by the fourth and final kiddo.

The shelves got a nice heirloom white coat of spray paint.

I found some empty frames at the local thrift store and gave them a quick coat of spray paint too.

I added a transformed suitcase side table that I showed you all last week here.

Some bright pillows on the bed give the space a little life.  I had the pillows already and just slip covered them with leftover material and a couple of fat quarters.

I added drapes to the no sew cornice.  The drapes are made out of a $10 drop cloth from Walmart, but I think they give the boring window just a bit more oomph.

Here's another view.  It's coming along but I still need something for above the bed.  I'm thinking about it, but I have a feeling it might be a little while until inspiration strikes.  

I'm out of ideas for anything unless it goes along with having a newborn.  Nesting is a condition I'm suffering very badly from right now.

Feel free to help me out!

The room is cleaned up and I'll continue to add to it, I'm sure.  That is unless it gets another makeover for a certain 2 year old.

Linking to:

A Bowl Full of Lemons 
Today's Creative Blog 
Not Just a Housewife 
Savvy Southern Style 
Blue Cricket Design 
The Thrifty Home 
Someday Crafts 
House of Hepworths 
The Shabby Creek Cottage 
The 36th Avenue 
Somewhat Simple 
Delightful Order 
Fingerprints on the Fridge 
504 Main 
The Shabby Nest 
Passionately Artistic 
Just a Girl 
Tatertots and Jello
Funky Junk Interiors 
Positively Splendid 
I Heart Nap Time 
Between Naps on the Porch 
Dittle Dattle

Cute Little Bit o' Junk

The guest bedroom is about done.  I'm sharing another piece that became part of it today.  There is one more area that needs a little work but I think I'll show you the rest of the room by the end of the week, since I'm still waiting for inspiration on what to do with it.  That inspiration may not come until after #4 arrives.  We'll see.

I actually shared this first over at Three Boys about a week and a half ago.

This project repurposes a piece of junk. Honestly, I'm impressed that this crazy creative project worked!

Here's what I started with:

An old suitcase I payed $3 for at an estate sale.

...and a T.V. tray I've probably had for 10 years.

I needed a bedside table sooooo, suitcase meet T.V. tray.

Some spray primer and a coat of spray paint were put on to create my base and make the two pieces more cohesive.  One day my husband is going to lose it with me because I get over spray on the garage floor all.of.the.time.  Hasn't lost it yet though, so I'll stick with  my poor floor coverage technique.;)

Next, I did a little stenciling.  The stencil comes from Home Depot's Martha Stewart line.  I used this great orange color to play off my accent fabrics.

Distress ink was added all around because a little more of a worn look never hurts, right?

I mod podged book pages to the ends and handle of the suitcase...just cause I love the look and had all of the stuff to do it.

 

Here is what my new bedside table looks like.

I adore it!  Yes, I do want it to look very worn and shabby.  The guest room it is sort of shabby sheek.  I gotta keep the theme going, ya know?

 I'm jumpin' up and down excited to be revealing the whole room here pretty quick.  I can't decide if the excitement comes from the look I've created or just the relief to have it DONE.  Hmmmm.

 

Here's a view of my table's pretty backside.

And finally, a sneak peak of the corner it calls home.

 This whole project probably put me out about $12.  A lot better than anything I could have found on Craigslist and definitely cheaper than new.

Linking to:

Home Stories A 2 Z 
A Bowl Full of Lemons 
Savvy Southern Style 
Blue Cricket Design 
Not Just a Housewife 
The Thrifty Home 
Someday Crafts 
The Shabby Creek Cottage 
Somewhat Simple 
Creations By Kara 
Miss Mustard Seed 
The Shabby Nest 
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating 
Thrifty Decor Chick