S'mores are the New Black

Dang! S'Mores recipes all the rage in the blog baking world, huh? I'm finding tons of recipes! I even found one recipe for Toasted S'more-Stuffed Strawberries over at 1 Fine Cookie. Those look so yummy, but a little too time consuming for me. But that homemade marshmallow looks A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!

pic via 1 Fine Cookie

What about some fancy schmancy S'more Petit Fours?

pic via Bakers Royal

 or S'more Thumbprint Cookies...

pic via Bakers Royal

I'm In Love...

and want to marry this fabric! Okay, that's a little extreme, but I am really excited to use this in some projects.

I picked up a few yards at Joann's yesterday. I have BIG plans for this beauty. It's called AC Madeline Aqua and it's in the premium quilting material aisle. The sku is 10700490.

Run Fat Girl Run!

A few weeks ago, with a vitamin B buzz and coffee jolt, I  decided to play Wii Just Dance with my 4-year old. In the middle of my first song/dance choice (Step by Step by NKOTB) I became a wee bit too winded. It was somewhat pathetic. I have a 5 month-old and 4 year-old to keep up with so this lack of endurance ain't gonna cut it. 

Besides being out of shape, I still need to lose a lot of pregnancy weight. I gain too much during pregnancy and I'm naturally "fluffy" to begin with. My normal weight is at the higher end of what is considered normal/average according to the nifty body fat index chart in the doctor's office. I used to comfortably hover between a single and double digit dress size.

I live in Florida. It's hot as hell this time of year. I tried the whole walking bit with the kids and it hasn't worked out so well. I tried running, again with the kids in tow, and it was stressful. One kid was screaming while the other running away from me or begging me to carry him (he's 45 pounds!). So finally, something dawned on me - I deserve 20 minutes a day to myself! I mean, I EARN it.  I take care of the needs of 3 people for at least 18 hours a day.

I came across this article titled "The Couch-to-5K Running Plan". If I can do this anyone can. It basically helps build running stamina little by little. For example the first week, you run for 60 seconds then walk 90 seconds and repeat until you've ran/walked a total of 20 minutes. I'm only in week two but my biggest payoff isn't losing weight - it's the 20 minutes I have just me and my ipod.  I suggest making some high energy playlists to help stay motivated. Here's one of my playlists titled "Run Fat Girl Run".

A Promise to my Daughter

You’re probably expecting to read something sappy and sentimental, but not today folks!

One fine day when I was just about 40 weeks pregnant with my little girl, my facebook status read: “Dear Baby Girl, I promise to never put gigantic, tacky bows or flowers on your head if you come join Daddy and I in the next few days.” Well, guess what? She came the next day!

I held up my end of the bargain and she was free of the “bigger than the baby’s head flowered headbands” for a good 5 months. I mean seriously, I've seen some headpieces on babies that rival the hats worn to the recent royal wedding.

But then it happened! I came across the site How Joyful that had tutorials for beautiful, non-tacky, felt flowers perfect to adorn my little lady’s head. The first tutorial I tried was the Camelia Flower.

In my version, I used two cheap felt squares and the green center is a button I found a Joann’s. I’m thinking of making a much smaller one on a clip for myself.  The colored elastic is from My Sunshine Supplies an Etsy shop and is very affordable. The cost of the elastic is $1.50 for 5 yards. This project was very affordable and quick.

New take on a Taggie

My baby girl is just about to get some teeth. She loves to chew on anything and everything. So like any good, craftin' mamma - I made her a taggie. But no traditional taggie would do, so I made her this star-shaped version using a simple tutorial. I used scraps of fabric and ribbon that I already had. I prewashed all the materials including the ribbon in super hot water several times since I'll likely be throwing the finished product in the washer lots.

I promise to get better at taking pics :)

Sweet Baby Play Mat

We recently had wood floors installed and baby blankets just aren't cushy enough for my little lady to roll around on. I came across a tutorial for a children's play mat at Sew4Home. I found the tutorial extremely helpful. I did make some changes to the materials list. The biggest change was that I used the thickest batting I could find (be sure to use your walking foot if you choose this option) and I used soft flannel fabric on the top and bottom instead of the designer cotton/chenille. I bought my fabric at Joann's with 40% coupons so I spent very little - maybe $20 at most to complete the project.