A Baseball Baby Shower

2 Bottle Blondes throw a baby shower!  Hooray!  A good friend of ours is expecting her first little boy any day now, and she is decorating the nursery with a Minnesota Twins baseball theme.  It's too cute!  So.....we decided to stick with the baseball theme to honor the momma and her little bundle.

Everything actually turned out great!  I have to share with you that our favorite find for the shower was Dough Mommas Cake Pops and Bakery , who made some adorable cake pops decorated like baseballs!  The business is locally owned and operated and their products are DE-Licious!  The lovely owners are fantastic to work with and were quick to return phone calls and emails.  I was able to choose from several types of cake and icing flavors (we chose red velvet cake with cream cheese icing) and each pop was individually wrapped and ready to go when I picked up my order.  The price was reasonable too!  These ladies also offer some fabulous arrangements for their cake pops and make some of the most adorable cakes I have ever seen!  If you have an event coming up, PLEASE check out  Dough Mommas Cake Pops and Bakery site on Facebook!  You won't be sorry!

Let's DO THIS THING!

So we've decided that we're going to have our own little monthly (or even weekly??) Pinterest challenge.  Did you SEE those curtains Tyson just whipped up??  I need to make them for our kitchen - the afternoon sun blinds us daily... and it has for 3 years (I'd say it's high time I fixed that!).

I made some mean pumpkin muffins for a neighbor on Saturday thanks to The Pioneer Woman.  They. Were. Absolutely. Amazing.  I could have eaten the entire batch, but they were for our neighbor ... so I only ate 4...

I followed her recipe except, I did not put in the ginger, I cut the nutmeg in half and used sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated milk.  I also did mini muffins, so I baked them at 360 for about 14 minutes (my oven bakes hot and fast... that's what she said).  They were seriously delicious.

I saved 2 for my hubby

I just purchased 2 drop cloths from home depot for about $10 a piece to use to make curtains for our bedroom, but I've since decided I want to use them to make a tufted headboard for my daughter's room.  Something like this:

http://www.schuelove.com/2011/12/tufted-headboard-tutorial.html

or this:

http://diyshowoff.com/2012/03/29/drop-cloth-headboard-tutorial/

(wish I could use their pics! click on the links!)

I'm also trying to pick out some fabric for some pillows on our couch - anyone else have trouble mixing fabrics?  I love Jenny's fabric mixing formula from the Little Green Notebook.  (She's hosting a giveaway right now if you're interested!)


















A few random things:

 Can anyone recommend a child's bicycle seat?  We're thankful for the hand-me-down that we have, but it's missing a few pieces (no doubt lost in our garage somewhere) and is being held securely on by bungee cords :). (not to worry, our daughter is safe)

Did you know that if Publix scans an item and it rings up the wrong price (a price higher than that on the shelf) that they will give you that item for free???  With the coupons and store deals and the wrong price on the scanner I got both of these products for $1.29!!  Cheapest laundry detergent and dish soap I've ever bought!

Another pinterest project... the list goes on and on!

20% off AND 1-2 day FREE shipping

I've been on the search for a few Christmas items - only 102 shopping days left, folks.  I was googling some products to compare prices and a link for YoYo.com came up.  It's affiliated with diapers.com,  soap.com and a few others that I've not heard of before.  I clicked on the link and browsed around a bit and I liked what I saw, so I decided to sign up.

First rule of online shopping: if you want a discount, just sign up to get their emails (of course you would want this to be a reputable site and not a Fredrick's of hollywood spinoff site ... I'm not going into details here, it's a family friendly blog).  So, I signed up and immediately there was an email in my inbox.  Woo hoo! A discount, right? Well, sort of.  They sent an email saying thanks for signing up, and if I refer a friend, the friend gets 20% (up to $20) off his/her first purchase on this site.  I mean it's great that I have a discount code to pass on, but I would have enjoyed using one myself.  SO, before you go setting up an account WITHOUT first purchasing something with a discount code, I'm giving you mine.  You're welcome.  The discount code is: KATH683513.

Oh, you get FREE 1-2 day shipping any time you spend $49 or more - now THAT'S service!  And for each eligible friend who orders something, they'll donate up to $25 to one of their selected charities.

They have some great things on the site.  I noticed my son's bike that we just got him (from Target) for his birthday.  He LOVES it!  

Just waking up on his bday

Pin THIS Martha--No Sew Faux Roman Blinds

So, I know that I am WAY behind the rest of the world, but I just joined Pinterest.  My world has changed forever.  I'm not one of those who pins all my hopes and dreams, but rather one who pins things I think I can actually do.  That's where I got the idea to make some faux blinds for my bathroom.  Actually, the idea was to do it in my kitchen in a yellow fabric, but I decided I needed a trial run in a room that is seldom visited by guests.  Smart, Right?

Off I go to Tar-jay with the one and three year olds in tow.  A quick trip to Target + two small children = IMPOSSIBLE.  I quickly grabbed the three tension rods I needed and headed over to the table cloth aisle.  Apparently the three year old throught the tension rods were swords that would be perfect to smack his baby sister with.  I confiscated the Tension Rods, which led to a screaming three year old who kept yelling that I was "a mean 'ol thing."  Yes, yes I am.  Meanwhile the one year old is turned around standing up (while strapped in) from the seat part of the cart and is yelling "Daddy" at the top of her lungs.  I didn't find a table cloth that I liked, but I did manage to find a shower curtain that caught my attention.  Into the cart it went with the chaos.  We loaded everything and everyone into the car and headed across the street to Michael's to find some no-sew fabric clue.  This is when I realized that in his wild fury the three year old had pitched his Rainbow flip-flops out of the cart while we were in Target.  Back to Target I went with the baby on my hip and a screaming, barefooted three year old trotting along beside me.  He was screaming because his shoes were lost,  REALLY?  Then you shouldn't have thrown them out of the cart.  After more than my fair share of weird looks because my kid was walking around without shoes, they were found and we headed for home.  The fabric glue would have to wait until the next day since, by this time, it was time to meet the bus to get my oldest child.

Finally, on day two all supplies were purchased and it was time to make something fabulous.  I have to admit, the actual construction of the blinds wasn't NEARLY as difficult as the shopping.  I seriously just measured, cut, and glued.  Viola!  Fabulous faux shades for the bathroom!  It was so easy I was able to finish one large shade during nap time, and I had so much fabric left over that I was able to make a small shade for another window and a throw pillow cover for our bed.  I didn't double the fabric like the insructions stated, but I probably will when I tackle blinds for the kitchen just to give them a more polished look.

The shower curtain was $19.99, the large Tension Rods were $6.59 each, and the Fabric Glue was $12.99, which I thought was a bit expensive, but I barely used 1/4 of the bottle so I have PLENTY left for future projects.  The smaller tension rods were only $4.04 each.  I followed the directions from this BLOG to the letter to make the blinds.  The only difference is I left our wooden blinds behind the fabric ones so that I can still lower them.  I don't need the neighbors seeing THAT much of me.

For the smaller blind, I took two scraps and glued them together to get the length I needed.  You can't see the seam because it is hidden under the folds. The pillow was a major after thought.   I took the existing cover off of the pillow and used it to measure the length of fabric I would need.  Instead of gluing together two seperate squares, I measured out double the fabric and folded it over, so that I would only have to glue three sides instead of four.  The final seam is tricky since the pillow is already inside, but I just put it on the bottom and no one will ever notice.  Good luck with these!  It is definitely worth a try if you need some inexpensive curtains!

Hairy Coo

This big guy is from Scotland.  When my husband and I took an anniversary trip with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, we came upon a hairy coo.  Also known as a hairy cow - go figure.

He has nothing to do with this post except he's in dire need of a solid trim - how can he even see the grass he's eating??

Too bad he's not a school-age boy or girl ... or, you know, human.  He could have gotten his hair cut for FREE at JCPenney.  During the month of August, kids can get a FREE haircut.

It's not as easy as just getting in the car and going - as we found out when we did that and got there today.  They are SWAMPED.  We did manage to get an appointment for Tuesday morning.  So, call and schedule an appointment asap.

Columbiana Mall JCPenney Salon: 803-781-4465

If you're not in the Columbia area, you can find the JCPenney Salon closest to you at JCPenney.com.

~Kathy

"Better than Botox" - Harper's Bazaar

What's better than botox?  The anti-aging system from Rodan and Fields - the same folks who introduced the world to Proactiv^® .  I should have bought stock in this company years ago... I swear I payed for the good doctors' houses, cars, and children's schooling with the amount of  Proactiv^® I bought and used during the decade I had issues with my goober honkers (what my dermatologist lovingly named the acne on my face... I wish I was kidding).

They have 4 regimens for those of us on this side of our 20s:

The Anti-Age regimen is a four-step system that layers powerful cosmetic ingredients and proven peptide technology to visibly firm skin and reduce the appearance of lines, wrinkles and enlarged pores. 

The Reverse regimen erases the signs of premature aging, including brown spots, dullness, and sun damage by exfoliating, brightening, and protecting the skin for a more even tone and texture.

The Unblemish regimen combats the entire acne cycle by unclogging pores, clearing breakouts and calming your complexion to eliminate pimples, blackheads and post-acne marks.

The Soothe regimen calms the reaction of hyper-sensitive complexions by reducing redness and irritation in as little as 5 minutes. This regimen shields against the biological and environmental aggressors that can trigger inflammation and helps fortify the skin's natural moisture barrier.    

Turning 30 is just around my corner (someone, ahem, has already turned that corner...she might also write for this blog... :)) and I'm fighting these wrinkles and dark spots tooth and nail!

For more information about the products and the company, check out my friend, Rebecca's,  product webpage at www.rebeccapeterson.myrandf.
com and find out how you can get 10% off all products and free shipping by becoming a Preferred Customer. You can also email her with questions at rebeccapeterson.myrandf@gmail.com. Email or submit an order by September 3rd (Labor Day) and you can enter for a chance to win an end-of-summer package give-away including their Essentials Foaming Sunless Tan, Essentials Daily Body Moisturizer, and Essentials Lip Shield to help you maintain a healthy, natural glow all year long!

~Kathy

Just in case

A friend of mine, Anne, was blessed with her second baby, a sweet baby girl not too long ago.  She has some important information on her last blog post regarding signs and symptoms (that they caught early enough so that her precious newborn could be saved) that you CANNOT take lightly.  PLEASE take a moment and read Anne Says So.

Her Link

~Kathy