Hi there fellow homebodies!  Well I have intended to throw a post together about the changes occurring in the blogosphere for a while now but you know me I'm just getting around to it;)  If you follow any blogs I'm sure you've heard the rumblings about Google Friend Connect no longer being an option to follow non "blogspot" blogs.  This happens March 1st people!  Like in a couple of days!  As of now you can still follow "blogger" blogs via GFC but it sounds like that will not be an option much longer either.  So that being said if you do follow this little  blog via the google follower option there on the left you may want to consider following a different way.  I would hate to lose my connection with you in two days!!  


So what options do you have?
Many many blogs are replacing Google Friend Connect with the Linky Followers option.  It works a lot like GFC except you can actually categorize the blogs you follow.  It's a super simple way to follow all of your favorite blogs!  We will all be starting over with our "followers" and I would be tickled if you kept in touch with me by clicking the "follow me" below or under the Linky Followers on the left sidebar.

I would also be thrilled to have you on my facebook page. I actually have a tendency to post a bit more there because it is so quick and easy!

And... of course I have a Pinterest page because every one is an addict right? Would love to have you join me there too!  

There just aren't enough ways to follow a blog these days are there?

She's Gonna POP!

Remember this?

It was the "welcome on in" wreath "thing" for a baby shower a few friends and I threw for the pretty in pink lady below.  That's right she is having a girl!

 We wanted to do it up all girly and fun this time around because she has two boys at home and hasn't had the chance to do the ruffles and pink until now!

The theme for this shower was...

She's going to POP

and we had fun doing all things "popish" for the special occasion.

On the sideboard below we placed the invitation that of course said 

"She's ready to Pop"

To make it festive we placed paper poms everywhere.

There was also a table full of POPS!

It was so much fun to see what kind of pops everyone came up with.  Now not everything was a pop.  You see that salad?  Well it had a poppyseed dressing of course.

Here are the cake pops that I made.  I will talk about these some other time I'm sure.  Pretty yes, time consuming yes, worth it cause it's fun, yes!

There were even all sorts of flavored POPcorn.

Below are the fruit pops that I made.  Seems to be what I do lately as you may remember from the fairy party post a few weeks back.

Oh and check out these delish pancake pops my friend Christy made..yummo!

To continue the theme...these were piggie pops.  I bet these could be stuck on a skewer and be even "poppier".  Are you gagging from all of my pop words yet.  I am a little;)  Oh and I could kick myself because I didn't get a good picture of the homemade mini POP tarts there on the right that my friend Kim made.  They were much better than your basic store bought pop tart for sure.

More tissue poms with a little girly touch on top.  They really make a room feel like a paaartay!

On this table there were lots of Lolli Pops 

and a little place to write a wish list for the sweet girl on her way.  You can find the printable here.

Look how sweet these are.  Can you imagine how fun it will be for mom and daughter to look through these many years down the road?

Oh look...another pom.  This time pretending to be a bouquet of flowers.  Fun right?

 Here is the sweet momma and her sweet momma.

 All of the food labels were made with a free printable from Amy J Delightful's blog.

Here is momma checking out the gift I made for here.  Post coming on that soon....

Love seeing the smiles on these precious friends faces!  Sweet moments in life!

This was so much fun!  It seems the baby showers have slowed down a bit in our group of friends so we had time to really play and enjoy putting this together.  There are so many awesome shower ideas in the blogoshpere.  Have you hosted a fun one lately?  I would love to see!  Share it with me!

Last Minute? Me?

Little dude has his Preschool valentine party tomorrow and guess when we got his valentines all wrapped up.  Tonight of course!  If it were any other way I wouldn't feel like myself.

Last week I decided to start "pinning away" to get some ideas for something that we could make together.

These were a few of my faves:

These are awesome but would have taken some planning and some time.  Both of which I am not good at nor have a lot of  since oh about 2006.  If you want to be ready for next year she does sell the fish bowls in her Etsy shop I believe!

Via: Faboolous

These are so cute and and all over the place but seemed like too much work.  I mean I would actually have to go pick up prints and heaven forbid I add one more thing "to do" to the list;)

 Via: 24-7-365

These are adorable but of course I would have needed to plan ahead and find the mazes.  And...the printer is out of ink.

Via: Jacolyn Murphy

 I thought we might do this but of course we are out of ink and I couldn't find a decent deal on 18 bouncy balls.

 Via: Supermom Moments

This one could get pricey considering how many valentines we needed.  Those are packages of rollo's in the sticks.

Via: Make it Do

These are ALL over Pinterest and rightfully so but I swore I would never play with melted crayons since I made race car crayons for little dudes 4th birthday.  Granted these would be easier since there is no pouring of hot staining wax into a mold.

Via: Chef Messy

These are just smart and fun!

 Via: Life in Wonderland

This one is a little kooky and different which I like!

Via: Family Fun

Super cute!

Via: Family Fun

And BINGO!

There it is.  This looked simple enough and we could improvise since we were out of ink.  Now if only I could find Pop Rocks.

 Via:

I had searched high and low for them recently for another project to no avail but got lucky this time at the Dollar Tree while looking for bouncy balls.  Obviously I didn't didn't find the balls but it all worked out!  The pop rocks came in packages of 3 for $1.

You know what the best part about this one was? Little dude could do them almost all by himself!  Don't get me wrong I wanted this to be something we worked on together but I didn't want it to be my project.  I cut out the strips of paper that we already had with the "fun scissors" that we already had and made a few examples of what we were doing and then he ran with it.  I did most of the cutting so we had some consistency there.

Here is our pile of Pop Rocks.  Of course part of the project was eating some together too.  Who knew candy could be so entertaining but there is something hilarious about the whole popping in the mouth thing!

I think they turned out pretty charming.  Nothing fancy or perfect about these guys.  Just some precious 5 year old handwriting and a memory with mom!

Oh Wait.......

what is a valentines post without something yummy for your tummy?  These lovelies caught my eyes this week too.  Unfortunately I will be at work on Valentines morning and can't do a whole heart themed breakfast but I will have to keep these up my sleeve for someday!

Via: The Paper Mama

Via: Craft and Creativity

Via:Best Friends for Frosting

Yes these could be for breakfast too.  Don't you worry.  I have been known to down a couple of pieces of cake or a bowl of ice cream over my regular fruit and yogurt a time or two.  These could start my day off just right as well!

Via: Six Sisters' Stuff

Hope you and yours have a sweet and memorable Valentine's day!

Thanks for stopping by!  I love to be "liked"!  Who doesn't? 

Jess

Frame Wreath Thingy Majig

Good monday morning fellow DIY fanatics and Pinaholics!  I have been really overwhelmed with all the sweet comments about my Sphere Knockoff project and wanted to take a minute to say THANK YOU for taking the time to say hello and letting me know you liked it!  Seriously it isn't until a week like that that I assume just my mom and a few close friends might be checking in to see what kind of trouble I'm getting myself into on the home front.  By "trouble" of course it's all self imposed "I can't seem to keep up with paying the bills, working, doing laundry, cleaning the house oh and raising three energetic kiddos cause I like to do projects" kind of trouble.  Thankfully I know that I'm not alone! Right?

Anywho....I have at least a couple of posts lined up to feature a few details that went into a baby shower that a few good friends and I threw for our sweet friend that is expecting her first girl!  We are talking...the hey I've had two boys and I'll probably have a third but "WHAT it's a girl?" kind of girl!

Can you tell I'm excited for her!

Well what is a party without an entrance?  An oh so simple entrance I might add.  Actually I was at Michaels the night before the shower picking up some last minute things and I saw these frame thingymajigs!

Pin It

I couldn't help myself!  We didn't have anything for the front door so for 6.99 I had to get it!  Of course then I had to get a little paint and a little ball hangy thing(I'm so bad with words..so if thingy and majig make you want to puke you should probably just look at the pictures;)

Pin It

Look at her!  Isn't she cute? Sorry about the blurry pics..not sure what is going on with that?  Seriously the flower ball "thingy' was 40% off and well you know little bottles of craft paint are like .89.  Can you imagine if I would have actually had my 40% off coupon too.  What a simple wreath for a little money.  I already had the pink  ribbon( I have two girls ya know;)!

So here is the extensive tutorial:

I took this

Painted it with this:

Folk Art acrylic paint in Aqua

and you know what?  I didn't event have to get into all those nooks and crannies because the wood is burnt a little while being laser cut so the edges don't scream out "paint me too or else I'll look half done".

Tacked on the flower ball thingy

Tied on the pink ribbon and used a safety pin to attach the curly ribbon(didn't want to wait on the hot glue gun;)

And Viola!

Minutes I tell ya!

You know what one of the great things about this project it?  Before I bought this I was thinking I could use this in the girls room in the new house.  I have already bought a few good deals for their room so I know the colors we are going for and even as I shopped for things for the Fairy Party I kept in mind what I could reuse for their room.  It makes buying things for parties that come and go a little more bearable because we know we can reuse most of it!

Linking to:

Under the Table and Dreaming

Flamingo Toes

I Heart Naptime

Flamingo Toes

Be Different Act Normal

Tatertots and Jello

Stuff and Nonsense

The Shabby Nest

Remodelaholic

Chic on A Shoestring

At The Picket Fence

Whipperberry

House of Hepworths

Uncommon Designs

Fireflies and Jellybeans

Somewhat Simple

The Shabby Creek Cottage

Savvy Southern Style

Domestically Speaking

Blue Cricket Design

DIY by Design

Home Stories A to Z

Between Naps on the Porch

Sumos Sweet Stuff

Skip to My Lou

Thrifty Decor Chic