DIY Nursery Letter Canvases

Last summer, I found the perfect project for Luca's nursery. Although, when I originally made these fabric-covered canvases, I thought we might name our son Joey, and luckily Luca has the same number of letters!!

This is so easily customizable for your baby's room colors!

These letters make me so happy when I walk into his nursery :)

Supplies I used:

-- Fabric in coordinating grays, from fatquartershop.com (I bought 1/2 yard of each and had plenty to complete this project as well as the bunting project seen here: http://bit.ly/1gyVwcs)

-- wooden letters, from Michael's

-- blue acrylic paint for the letters (Martha Stewart brand)

-- coordinating blue ribbon

-- 8 x 10 artist canvases - I bought the bulk four pack to make it affordable, with a Michael's 40% off coupon too!)

-- Mod-Podge and paintbrush

-- iron

-- hot glue gun

How I Did it:

1. Iron fabric, then measure it against the canvas to cut the right size.

2. Mod-Podge the front of the canvas and lay the fabric over the front and smooth it out.

3. On the back of the canvas, use the hot glue gun to secure the fabric to the back.

4. Add painted letters and ribbon, hang and enjoy!

Nursery decals from etsy shop NurserydecalsNmore, shop here: http://etsy.me/No8FJZ

The customized canvases and bunting I made will also double as decor at little guy's baptism in a few weeks too!

What's Cooking? Easy Thai Style Chicken Curry

We have a freezer full of meat. Between participating in a cow share in December (20 pounds worth!), and our Costco run last week (chicken and pork for days!) we are good to go for....months. Joe has also purchased a food saver so we have meal sized portions vacuum sealed.

Today, I tell a story of some of the chicken we froze.

I took out some chicken to make one of our favorites, Thai Style Chicken Curry.

This recipe isn't really a recipe, but more if an inspiration to use with Trader Joe's Red Curry Sauce. I used to make red curry sauce on my own, but this is a great time saver and tastes pretty much the same!

I cut the chicken in bite size pieces, stir fried it in vegetable oil and garlic. Then I removed the chicken to put back when the veggies were done.

I chose a variety of veggies to cut up and stir fry next. I used asparagus, celery, snow peas, and green pepper. I chopped them up and stir fried them with a little vegetable oil.

Next I added the entire bottle of sauce and the chicken.

Then I let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.

I served it over basmati rice. Yum yum!

Enjoy! 

What do you like to put in your stir-frys?

DIY Bunting for Baby's Room

One of the easiest projects I made in preparation for baby was this bunting project. I had leftover fabric from a project I made for baby's room, and thought for a long time before I stumbled upon some bunting in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog - hi, I can make that!

So, I embarked upon a no-sew version.

I gathered my four fabrics, some poster board, scissors, some iron-on bonding tape, ribbon and my trusty glue gun.

First, I used the iron-on bonding to make my fabric double sided. I just folded it in half, really, and bonded it together.

Next, I used my poster board to cut out a triangle shape to my liking, and used this to cut out all of my triangles. I ended up with about 20 triangles per fabric, enough for two strips of bunting (there are two walls available to decorate in baby's room) and a small one for his door. 

After I cut out my triangles, I used the glue gun to glue each piece to the ribbon. I ended up gluing on both sides and folding the ribbon so it looked the same no matter how it got hung up.

Once I finished, Joe helped me hang up the bunting in the baby's safari themed nursery.

I think all the colors worked out so well together!

Once baby was born, I was able to finally put the letters (I found them at Michael's Craft Store and painted them a blue to match the ribbon) on his bunting for the door. We were between Joey and Luca, but as I will tell in a future post, this boy is definitely a Luca!

Our Newest Adventure

I have been meaning to write this blog since this summer, but better late than never!

Joe & I are on to our biggest adventure of our lives: we have a little boy due to arrive in 8 days!

We found out in late February, and let me tell you how fast the last 9 months have flown by....I cannot believe we will be parents any time soon.

I have been working on some projects for the baby's room that I am excited to share with you, but for now, I will leave you with a few pictures from the last 9 months.

Surprise!

Me and the baby's first photograph :)

We took our parents out to dinner to reveal Baby G's gender.

I'm still not sure if Joe was happier he was right about the baby being a boy or that he was a boy!

At the beach for Joe's birthday - 25 weeks.

Our little pumpkin at full term - 37 weeks.

So, there's nine months of growth in a few pictures :)

We can't wait to start our next adventure as a family of three! When will that be, little guy?

Two become three :)

Easy Christmas Craft!

Want a super easy crafty ornament to hang on your tree this year?

 Have I got one for you! 

Last year I was inspired by this post and created a keepsake ornament for us, our parents and grandmas to commemorate our wedding.

Wedding invitations, almost as pretty as when I sent them out!

And then had leftover glass ornaments hanging around for the last year.

I then saw some inspiration in the target Christmas section....clear balls with garland inside. Inspired!

Headed over to the dollar store, picked up some garland, cut some pieces, inserted into the empty glass ornaments and voila!

Glass ornaments, dollar store garland, scissors - that's it!

Open up the ornament, insert garland.

Easy! And gorgeous!

Halloween Pumpkin Style!

Every holiday that rolls around, Lo gets crafty!

A couple of years ago, I made these awesome be-dazzled pumpkins from foam pumpkins and jewel stickers, and of course, glitter!

This year, I was introduced to my new friend, Mod Podge. How have I never used this before?!! It's awesome!

I was inspired, of course by Pinterest, to transform a boring foam pumpkin to...a timeless, classic-book page masterpiece!

I collected my materials: mod Podge, foam paint brush, foam pumpkin, and a book I was ready to tear apart (enter library book sale and a falling apart copy of DRACULA was $0.30!) How fitting for a Halloween pumpkin!

All the supplies ready over newspaper :)

The beautiful result! You can even tell the pages are from Dracula!

I love the result. Don't you?

What's Cooking? Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce!

On a whim a few weeks ago I bought the latest issue of Food Network magazine. There were a few recipes that looked yummy and I was determined to actually cook one. How many times have I bought a magazine only for it to sit there with no recipes cooked from it? Not this time! 

I'd never made an alfredo sauce from scratch, but oh my goodness, it was so easy! (And tasty too!)

Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce 

(adapted from Food Network Magazine, also accessible here. Mostly I changed portions based for 2 and what I had in the house).

What You Need:

• salt
• 1 9-ounce package cheese tortellini
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
• Pinch of nutmeg (the original recipe had freshly grated nutmeg, but that's not practical for me!)
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
• Freshly ground pepper

So few ingredients, so much yum!

What You Do:

1. Cook tortellini according to directions on package..

2.  Heat butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pumpkin and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Stir in the cream and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat to medium low; simmer, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in parmesan cheese and cook until thick, about 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Butter and pumpkin smell so good together while cooking.

The sauce is coming together!

3. Add the tortellini to the skillet and toss with the sauce. 

It smelled amazing.

4. Serve with a yummy Cesar salad! And, dinner. Delicious.

This is fall goodness on a plate!

We will definitely be making this recipe again this fall. It was so easy and fast (about 20 minutes total) and so delicious. Joe was also a fan.  Later in the week I made a plain alfredo sauce to go with some other pasta with the leftover cream. I think I prefered the pumpkin version. Thanks, Food Network!

Full Text:

Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce 

(adapted from Food Network Magazine, also accessible here. Mostly I changed portions based for 2 and what I had in the house).

What You Need:

• salt
• 1 9-ounce package cheese tortellini
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
• Pinch of nutmeg (the original recipe had freshly grated nutmeg, but that's not practical for me!)
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
• Freshly ground pepper

What You Do:

1. Cook tortellini according to directions on package..

2.  Heat butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pumpkin and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Stir in the cream and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat to medium low; simmer, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in parmesan cheese and cook until thick, about 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Add the tortellini to the skillet and toss with the sauce. 

4. Serve.