20 minute Fall burlap dot banner

I have a small plastic tub in our garage filled with random pieces of burlap...tan, navy, white, pink...oh and even some yellow. Did you know yellow burlap exists?! Well, it does! I actually got a lot of the colored burlap from my granny. She was cleaning out a closet and gave it all to me. Friday afternoon I was opening up our front door and noticed a bare space right above the door. I quickly thought "a burlap banner would look cute there". So I went to my burlap tub, grabbed some burlap, grabbed my glass marker, and quickly made a cute little Fall banner.

What you need:

burlap

twine

white paint

fine tip paint brush

scissors

glass marker with rounded tip

I cut out 4 squares of burlap and laid one on top of the other. I then cut a "v" out of the bottom. You can really make any shape you want! After the burlap banner pieces were cut, I simply took my paint brush and painted a letter on each piece. Since this was a quick little project I chose the word "FALL". When the paint was dry(took about 5 minutes), I took my orange glass marker and stamped on each piece! It was that easy!

I didn't even take the time to heat up my glue gun but just used packing tape to attach the burlap pieces to the twine! And added the tiny clothes pins just for a little something extra. And like the title states...it only took me about 20 minutes from start to finish to make this cute little banner! 

Happy Birthday Sweet Rowen!!

Happy second birthday sweet Rowen! Mommy and Daddy love you so very much. I can't believe you are already 2 and are about to be a big brother!! You bring so much joy and happiness to our lives and to others lives as well. I hope you have a wonderful day today...it will be filled with some of your favorite things! Happy Birthday! 

Halloween pajama party!

I'm linking up with Meredith and Darci for the Little Ghosts & Gobblins Halloween pajama party! I joined in last year and loved seeing all the not so scary little ones in their pjs! 

Here's my sweet Rowen in his cute pumpkin pajamas!

And just a little comparison:

Happy Early Halloween!

Rowen's 2nd Birthday {party}

This past Saturday was Rowen's 2nd birthday party! It was train themed and so much fun. The afternoon was a bit chilly but we still held it outside. Friends and family showed up around 2pm and we snacked, hung out, and watched the kiddos play in the ball pit. 

{DECOR}

I ordered the banner off of Etsy and I made all the signs and trains in the bottom 3 pics.

{FOOD}

Since it was in the afternoon, we served snacks. Donut holes, fruit skewers, train shaped cookies, and popcorn. Fruit punch and water were the beverages. I made the little train car boxes for the food and also made the railroad crossing signs on the fruit skewers.

Rowen loves donuts so Brent had a wonderful idea to get him a massive donut as his "cake" instead of a cake. I loved the idea! There is a place in town that makes this giant donut that they call a "texas donut". It was almost as large as the card table it was laying on!! 

I bought a pool that was on sale and a couple hundred balls and made a ball pit for the kids to play in. It was a hit as I knew it would be. If the weather hadn't gotten pretty chilly towards the end of the party, I think Rowen and his buddies would have been in that thing for the entire party. Oh yea, I said I bought a couple hundred balls...that didn't even make a dent in filling up the bottom of the pool so my mom went out and bought some more bags of balls. We ended up throwing 1000+ balls into that pool!! And I'm not exaggerating.

Rowen got so many nice gifts! He wore himself out yesterday playing with a few of his new toys and I'm sure today will be the same! 

I'm so glad that friends and family could celebrate this fun time with us and Rowen was too!

It was such a fun day and I know Rowen had a blast. I can't believe our little guy will be turning 2 on Thursday. Really can't believe it!

Life Lately

So guess who DOES NOT like pumpkin spice lattes? ME! I had a big sip of Brent's last weekend and it tastes like drinking a piece of pumpkin pie...yuck! I do however love Dunkin Donut's pumpkin donuts. They are tasty and I'm pretty proud of myself for not eating them every single day! 

And speaking of donuts...Rowen enjoyed a donut hole after church 2 weeks ago. There's always a coffee bar set up in our church lobby and that day there was an abundance of donut holes from Dunkin so we grabbed Rowen one! 

Do y'all enjoy Fall flowers? I love mums and the burnt orange ones are my favorite. We got a few a couple weeks ago and I love seeing them when I pull into the driveway. 

R to L-

Rowen and Brent being cute, Rowen and I at the park

Brent and Rowen reading bedtime stories, Rowen and I at the Zoo w/the kangaroos

I bought Isla some cute leg warmers and headbands at Target a few weeks ago and yesterday I bought Rowen some TOMS. It's all so cute!!

It's starting to really feel like Fall around here lately. I hope the cool weather decides to stick around soon. Rowen and I spent Monday morning collecting rocks out in the yard. It felt so nice that we stayed out there for a good while. I have enjoyed walking outside and not immediately starting to sweat. I'm pretty warm everywhere I go being almost 33 weeks pregnant. 

Happy Thursday!

Better late than never...31 and 32 week bump update!

How Far Along: 31 weeks

Size of baby  Baby is the size of a pineapple.. She is 16.7" long and weighs 3.8 lbs. 

Maternity Clothes:  Yes. I bought some regular shirts in a larger size that I am wearing as well.

Gender: GIRL!!!

Isla Wren Easley 

Movement: Yes! She moves around all the time and kicks a lot now a days!

Sleep: I'm sleeping great. No complaints.

What I miss: Nothing really although a spicy tuna roll would be fantastic right now! 

Cravings: Nothing notable. I haven't had any cravings lately like I was a couple months ago. 

Symptoms: I'm moving slower and get out of breathe quickly. 

Best Moment this week:  Feeling her kick around.

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How Far Along: 32 weeks

Size of baby  Baby is the size of a squash.. She is 16.7" long and weighs 3.8 lbs. 

Maternity Clothes:  Yes. I bought a cute pair of maternity skinny jeans that I have been living in the past few days.

Gender: GIRL!!!

Isla Wren Easley 

Movement: Yes! She moves around and kicks constantly. Those hard kicks catch me off guard a lot! 

Sleep: I'm sleeping great. No complaints. Just interrupted by the multiple trips to the bathroom throughout the night.

What I miss: Nothing at the moment.

Cravings: Nothing notable.

Symptoms: I'm moving slower and get out of breathe quickly. I also have had the worst leg cramps the past few mornings. They hurt and don't let up quick enough.

Best Moment this week:  Getting Isla's rag tie mobile made. ( if you want to check out the tutorial on that just go HERE )

Easy Chicken & Broccoli Recipe

If you are looking for a quick and easy recipe that tastes yummy for this week, I have one for you! 

This was a favorite meal when I was growing up and now it's a favorite meal for our family. Rowen LOVES broccoli so it's an instant hit for him! It's really easy to put together and cooks in about 35-40 minutes. 

Here is the recipe:

**Campbell's makes a cream of chicken soup w/herbs that I would recommend using!

Yummy!! You will have to let me know if you try it!

2 {DIY} rag tie tutorials

I've recently made 2 rag tie things for baby Isla's nursery and I thought I would share with y'all tutorials for each thing in case you might want to make one...even down the road sometime. 

I made this rag tie garland a few weeks ago. It will eventually go over her crib. It was actually quite easy to make!

What you will need:

twine

strips of material( I bought 1 yd of each fabric & had extra left over of each one)

...that's it!

My garland is about 4 feet long. You can make it as long or as short as you want. And you want to use at least 3-4 different patterns/colors of fabric. I used 5. You can either cut your fabric lengths all the same or some a little longer than others. 

Step 1:

You can lay your piece of twine on the floor but I found it easier to tie it to our shutters on one of our doors. That way it was tight the whole time and I didn't have to straighten the twine out as I went along. Either way will work though.

Step 2:

Start tying! Start at one end of your twine and start tying the fabric strips on, making a little knot at the top. I really had no order to mine. I just tried not to put the same fabric pattern next to each other. 

And that's it! It's really that simple. It does take a little time and patience but the end result is so cute! 

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And yesterday I made a rag tie mobile...here is the tutorial for that:

What you will need:

2 metal rings or embroidery hoops -one large hoop and one smaller hoop

twine or fishing line

scissors

strips of material-a few different patterns/colors

{My larger hoop is around 10" and my smaller hoop around 6".  I bought my hoops at Hobby Lobby}

Start with your larger hoop and tie your strips of material around the hoop till its all full. I just laid my hoop on the table to work with it. Repeat the same thing with your smaller hoop.

Now comes the tricky part of the project...attaching your two hoops! Lay your larger hoop down and spread the fabric out of the way...as much as you can. Next, lay your smaller hoop in the middle of the larger one. I tied my smaller hoop to my larger hoop with 3 pieces of twine( equally apart from each other ). It took a couple tries to get the smaller hoop hanging right where I wanted it. Just a trial and error kind of thing.

{looking down on the two hoops}

Lastly, tie a piece of twine to the top hoop and hang it where you want it! 

{I'm not leaving mine on our kitchen light fixture!}

Hope these tutorials help if you find yourself wanting to make a shabby rag tie decoration.

What I'm Loving on this Wednesday...

I'm LOVING...

my sweet sweet baby! My "baby" will be 2 in 22 days! How in the world has it been 2 years since he was born? Time has gone by too quickly. He sure does get cuter and cuter with the passing of each day though.

{at the park Monday}

{in front of our house yesterday}

I'm LOVING...

that I FINALLY found a dresser for Isla's room. I was looking for a waist high one to use as a changing table as well. I found a few at the flea market this past Sunday and decided on one and got a good deal on it! 

I decided on Ballerina Gown for the dresser color and I'm loving how it looks. Can't wait to show before and after pics! 

and speaking of paint...

I'm LOVING...

that Brent wants to paint Rowen's room! He even picked out a great color. I don't know when we will get around to doing that but it will look great when we finish. 

It will go great with his bedding.

I'm LOVING...

these Fall items that I have pinned on Pinterest.

{white pumpkin w/gold leaves}

{washi tape bat and orange pom pom garland}

{monogrammed burlap wreath}

{Fall candy rag tie garland}

Happy Wednesday, Y'all!