Bean Bag Toss

I made these bags, beanbags and play mats two years ago for my nephews and niece. They made for great Christmas gifts and I was able to use my scraps without paying for anything excepts the beans! The play mats each had a tic-tac-toe board on one side and numbered circles on the other side (for playing toss). The mats folded up easily to be stored in the bag along with the beanbags. Each child recieved a different colored set, this blue one was my favorite:

 

Max's 1st Birthday Fiesta!

Even though this was over a year ago I thought I'd share anyway. Max's 1st birthday weekend landed right around Cinco de Mayo so we celebrated with a Mexican themed party! I made a streamer backdrop for the photo booth complete with maracas, mustaches and a sombrero. I made flowers for the girls to put in their hair and mini burro pinatas filled with Mexican candy as party favors for the kids! My sister made these amazing invitations for the party! Check out her paper store Orange Paper Shoppe! She is so talented and makes amazing cards! She also made flags for the straws that said 'Max es uno' and cute flags to put in the cupcakes and succulents! Here are just two pictures (which I stole from her). Check out more pictures on her blog beccalovesart!

Max's Nursery Now

My first post of Max's nursery was done before it was complete. Here is his nursery now, with the added decorations from the Baby Shower my sister threw for me. This picture was taken over 5 months ago, but the nursery still looks the same (minus the bumpers because Max is now on the move).

Baby Quilt

I have been in nesting mode lately and have been hurrying to finish up any undone projects before baby Max arrives. I am due in a little over a week and once he arrives I know I will be very busy with little time to complete sewing projects. Here is a quilt that I started months ago that I finally got around to finishing. I used the left over Michael Miller fabrics that I used to make the bedding for the crib.

My mom taught me that it is a must to always put a label on any quilt you make, even if it is for yourself. So I added a simple hippo label to the back for Max so he will always know that it was made for him, who it was made by as well as what year it was created.

Easter Treats

For Easter this year I made some festive treats to share with family that came to visit for the weekend!

I found these cute Bird Nest cookies on Pinterest and thought they were cute for spring! They were so easy to make and tasted so good! Here is the recipe:

Un-Baked Cookie Nests

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• pinch salt
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• mini chocolate eggs and coconut, for decorating.

1. Bring sugar,  milk and butter to a boil in a saucepan. Simmer 3 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients until well incorporated.
3. Spoon into lightly greased muffin cups (or use un-greased silicone muffin cups for easier removal). Using the back of a spoon press the mixture down in the middle and up along the sides, forming a nest. Allow to harden.
4. Using a knife, loosen the edges and gently pop out the nests.
5. Store covered at room temperature for up to two days. Freeze for longer storage.
6. To decorate: sprinkle with coconut and fill with mini eggs.

Makes: 12 large

Max King

I thought I would share the story behind why my husband Jordan and I chose this name for our first son. The name King runs through his family. Just this past year we heard the story of where this name originated….

When Jordan’s great grandmother was giving birth to her 8^th child she did not have a name picked out. When she saw that she just gave birth to a boy she was puzzled on what to name him. The doctor gave her a suggestion by telling her that it was King George’s birthday. She decided that she would name her son who was born on King George’s birthday, George King. This was Jordan’s grandfather who later passed the name to one of his sons (Jordan’s uncle, George King) who later passed it to his son (Jordan’s cousin, George King). His grandfather also passed the middle name King to his other son (Jordan’s father, Michale King) who passed the middle name to his son (Jordan’s brother, Justin King).

My husband has always wanted to pass the name King on to his son, but to hear the story behind it made it that much more meaningful. Jordan also came up with the name Max. When we were thinking of boy names that we liked, he mentioned the name Max and we both agreed that we liked it.

We kept the name a secret until the big reveal at my baby shower. The shower, hosted by my sister and Mom was filled with perfect decorations (designed by my sister), games and amazing food prepared by my Mom and Stepdad. Check out some of the pictures from my sister's blog as well as my friend Heather's blog. We played 7 games during the shower; the winner of each game received a small gift with a letter in it. Once all of the games were played everyone gathered around to unscramble the first and middle name using the letters. It was a fun way to reveal the name, I loved hearing all of the guesses!

Max's Nursery

Having seen so many cute nurseries I have always been excited for the day when I could decorate my own. Now that I am expecting my first child I have that opportunity.  A sewing machine, an empty room and a baby boy on the way gave me the perfect chance to decorate my own nursery just the way I wanted it. Seeing nursery items in stores or online is inspiring but I never find exactly what I want to fit my style so I went with the DIY option and this is what I have come up with so far:

Also, my sister drew me this adorable picture that I can't wait to add to the nursery! It is soo cute!