Rosette Headbands

I've had my eye on a few different really cute headbands on Etsy. I needed (or wanted) to add them to my photography prop stash. I just couldn't make myself spend $10 on one headband to use a few times a year for pictures. Well, I finally found an Etsy seller that would just make the flowers. I had her do a custom order and received the flowers last week. The quality of her flowers are awesome. She stitched each row in every flower. Anyways, I spent $8 on four flowers. I spent another $1.36 on elastic. Grand total $9.36 for four headbands.

I used my hot glue gun to glue the elastic to the flowers. I did end up making one for myself. I'm still in love with all mustard colored products this year.

I had a feather flower that I took apart to add to this one. I think it turned out cute.

I decided to try to make one myself. I used some fabric scraps I had on hand. I didn't hand sew the flower so the quality isn't near as good. I used my hot glue gun to make the flower and then I attached it to a fabric base before gluing the elastic on.

I can't wait to try these for a newborn shoot.

My Yarn Wreath

I'm in love with my newest craft adventure. I stumbled upon the idea of a yarn wreath on Etsy. I was immediately enthralled by all the versions available. I put quite a few on my Esty wish list. Finally, I decided to make one myself. I picked a mustard color yarn and decided to do white and gray flowers. I love how it turned out.

Slow Cooker Stew (From Taste of Home Magazine)

I am so thankful that I had this on the menu this week. It was quick to pull together and tasted wonderful. With Greyson being sick, I really enjoyed having a nice and easy meal. We have tried a few other stew recipes, but have not found a keeper.

My mom makes a really good stew, but it takes her two days to do it. The first day, she cooks a roast with potatoes and carrots (which is a meal I despise). The second day, she uses everything leftover to make stew. I just can't make myself cook her recipe, because it would be a complete waste of time if you didn't eat the roast the first day.

Back to the recipe we just tried.

Here it is:

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 7 1/2 hours

Yield: 5 Servings

1 lb beef stew meat

2 medium potatoes, cubed and peeled

1 can beef broth

1 can V8 juice

2 celery ribs, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

1 sweet onion, chopped

3 bay leaves

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp cold water

1/2 C frozen peas

1/2 C frozen corn

1. In a slow cooker, combine the first 12 ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until mean is tender. Discard bay leaves.

2. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into stew. Add corn and peas. Cover and cook on high for 30 min.

3. Serve

** I doubled the recipe and put it in my big crockpot. It fit great. I also did not use the cornstarch/water mixture. I thought the consistency was perfect without it. Next time, I am going to cook it on low 8-10 hours and add the peas and corn in on the 7th hour. I think the peas and corn would be better if they were cooked on low with the rest of the stew for a few hours.

Tip: Bay leaves freeze really well. Buy a fresh package in the produce section and use for this recipe and then freeze the rest.

Neighborhood Park

We decided to go to the neighborhood park on Sunday and play. Luke was excited because he keeps missing out on going to the park. I grabbed my camera and we were off. I didn't get any great pictures, but I definitely documented the day.

Randomness

Do you want to peek at what I've been up to this week? Don't be jealous once you do. =)

I headed to Gerbes after taking Greyson to Little Swimmers. For those of you who don't know, Little Swimmers is Baby-Toddler swimming time at a local indoor pool. The pool has a lazy river, slides, sprinklers and more. He loves it. Anyways, I got a few good deals while I was at Gerbes. Total cost $-2.35. They paid me $2.35 (in cash) to take this stuff home. Crazy? Yes, I think so.

The flowers are going to go on a special project that I'm doing. Stay tuned for more.

The highlight of the post: Brownie Covered Oreos! Can it get any better? These were definitely good. To be honest, I love love love brownies. I am probably alone here, but I think brownies by themselves are one best things ever. So, I liked these, but didn't love them. I think most people would love them.

Crazy Crawler

Greyson has been cracking us up lately with his new technique for crawling.

I'll let the video speak for itself. =)

Happy Valentines Day (Part Two)

I have to say that I didn't realize Valentines Day was on Monday. I woke up on Monday and Luke wished me Happy Valentines Day and I looked at him like he was crazy. I then went on to inform him that VDay was on Tuesday. LOL. My mistake. So, I had nothing ready for VDay. I wanted to do a small little something for Greyson and for Luke.

For Greyson, I ended up making Jello hearts. He was totally weirded out by the Jello for quite a while. He loved it once he gave it a chance.

After we put Greyson down for bed, Luke and I finished making the Creme Brulee that I had started earlier in the day. Oh my goodness, it was so good. To be honest, it was really easy to make as well. I just had to put in in the slow-cooker for 3 hours, then let it chill for 3 hours and then torch it. Love love love it!

Happy Valentines Day: Part One

I took these pictures about a month ago. I had hoped to mail out Valentines photo cards. I had them made and gave a few out while I was in Springfield. Between, Springfield and Columbia I lost the rest of them. Sorry to those you who didn't get the printed cards. If I come across them, I will mail them out.

Happy Valentines Day!