Game Day Wreath

May I present The Momma’s 2012 birthday present, compliments of unemployment:

9010c046485511e19896123138142014 7 Game Day Wreath

It’s so super-easy to make & she LOVED it.

Get a vine wreath from your local craft store (they usually sell for $4.99 + 40% off coupon) & some plain wooden letters (these were $2.99 apiece).  Paint the letters in school colors using one of those $0.30 foam brushes then make the polka dots with a qtip (it took three coats of each color using basic craft paint).  Tie a coordinating ribbon to the top.  I used two different colored ribbons to really set the colors off & create more detail.  Secure the letters with hot glue or wire – I used wire that I had leftover from an old project because I thought it might hold up better in the elements.

The whole project cost roughly $12.00.

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HeirtoBlair500x150 v41 Game Day Wreath

Don’t worry, it’s not all sad-sad-unemployed-sad-sad-dramz around here.

So today, I hit up the dentist because HELLO, insurance runs out in one week & I’m making all the popular pit stops.  Dentist, eye doctor, birth control, & of course, the psychiatrist who desperately needs me to bitch on her couch for an hour.  I dropped Harrison off with his auntie for two hours while I got my teeth scrubbed (he had been asking for her & considering she was a daily fixture in his life for two years, he needs some Auntie time).  Then we hit up the craft store because a) it’s time to get my Pinterest on & b) The Momma’s birthday is coming up & I’m on a budget.

Let me just say that I can stand in a board room or jet across the country, but I turn into a complete wuss once I step through Michaels.  All those women with glue stick burns on their fingers, willing to cut a bitch over the last vial of Martha Stewart glitter?  THEY TERRIFY ME.  Same thing with fabric stores.  Also, the strangest thing happens that once I hit the first aisle, I completely forget what I was there for.  Confidence takes a crash & burn so I stand there in the aisles, completely overwhelmed by the choices in felt.

In short:
Before Michaels:  BIG SPARKLY INSPIRATIONAL UNICORNS OF HAPPINESS!

After Michaels:  I WILL NEVER ACHIEVE ANYTHING GOOD IN MY LIFE.

yeah.

I’m standing in line with Harry in the push cart & a matronly lady turns to me.

“Is your mother’s name Karen?” she asks.

“No,” I say politely.

“You look like my friend Karen, so I figured you must be her daughter,” she explains.  I shrug.  Raleigh is a pretty decent-sized city.

“With two children, I figured you had to be her,” she persists.

Is this lady drunk?  I only have one child in the seat & I’m pretty sure the firstborn’s that were traded for Christmas Cricuts weren’t eligible for the 40% off coupon.  Like I said, I’m on a budget so if it’s not on sale, it’s not in my cart.

“You know,” she says.  ”With your boy & the one on the way.”

oh.

shit.

Awkward silence abounds.

Does this lady not know Rules of Feminism #253: Don’t ask a woman if she’s pregnant unless the fetus is 75% down the birth canal with a hand waving?

I am having a serious love affair with Pinterest & houses.

Since the house is on the market, I cannot stop dreaming about our next home.

(You know how I like to jump the gun.)

I spend my free time perusing the houses available in the neighborhoods we love, calculating mortgages & downpayments, wishing that our house would sell RIGHT THIS INSTANT BECAUSE DOUG! COME LOOK AT THIS HOUSE!  & then I hop on Pinterest & decorate the entire thing in my head.

Of course, my head doesn’t have a budget in mind which is a very lovely thing when I’m pinning Anthropologie & Amy Butler fabrics.

I’m in this awful stage right now of having so many ideas & dreams for decorating, but not wanting to “waste” them on the house we are selling.  Especially since the goal is to keep our current house as sparkling clean & sparse as possible. 

Sell, house.  Sell!

 
 
 
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4574037091245580 scGJaGC7 c I am having a serious love affair with Pinterest & houses.

Source: bhg.com via Beth Anne on Pinterest

 

Source: bhg.com via Beth Anne on Pinterest

 
 
 
 
60306082479856943 14A1PsjD c I am having a serious love affair with Pinterest & houses.
60306082479823760 l358JmMV c I am having a serious love affair with Pinterest & houses.
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Recipe: Life Changing Oatmeal

untitled Recipe: Life Changing Oatmeal

This recipe is the village bicycle whore.  It gets around & everyone’s had a turn.  But it’s just so darn tasty.

The first person to introduce it to me was Jenny, who perfected it for breastfeeding perks & then was adopted by Kathleen, who changed it up a bit for convenience.  It is such a plain yet delicious statement for the cold winter mornings & can be a fantastic way to secretly squeeze in fruits & veggies if you have an insanely picky toddler or husband (or both, like me).

Ingredients
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 banana, mashed
pinch of kosher salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions
Combine oats, mashed banana, salt, milk & water in a saucepan.
Heat on medium until bubbly, stir until it reaches desired consistency.
Stir in vanilla.

Stir in pumpkin puree, berries, raisins, nuts…whatever you wish!  (I add 1/2 can of pumpkin puree to mine when I stir in the vanilla extract.)

This refrigerates beautifully, so separate the oatmeal into serving size dishes, store in the fridge, & pull out throughout the week for a hot homemade breakfast!

add a perk:  chocolate chips!  I’m a big fan of white chocolate chips when I add pumpkin, or sometimes mixing both white & semi-sweet chips.  yum!

p.s. did I mention this makes a ton & is super-economical?

Reality in the most magical time of year.

holidaymess Reality in the most magical time of year.

This is real-life, friends.  Please notice the drooping garland, random golf clubs, & the pizza boxes on the kitchen table where we’re using the formal dining room chairs because oh yeah, I sold our kitchen chairs & haven’t replaced them yet.  Also the Matchbox cars, strategically placed to ensure that my kid’s first real words to anyone in public will be “DAMN IT ALL TO HELL.”

& so begins the week of yuletide cheer!

 

HeirtoBlair500x150 v41 Reality in the most magical time of year.

Stealing is for losers. Copyright 2011 Beth Anne Ballance