Free “I’ll Love You Forever” Chalkboard Printable

Hey y’all!

It’s been a long time since my last post (theme of this blog so far) but I created this chalkboard printable and wanted to share with you all! Almost everyone has heard this saying before, and if not, here you go! It’s simple and beautiful!! You can download the free chalkboard printable in either the PDF format or by saving the picture below:

Please note that this is for personal use only. You can share this with others as long as you show credit of who made it or where it came from.

I hope you all love it as much as I do!!! Frame it and show me what you’ve done with it!! 🙂

 

Stay tuned for more sharing!!

Thanks for reading!!! 🙂

Free Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Chalkboard Printable

Last week I posted the twinkle twinkle little star gender reveal scratch off I made for my sister. Today, I am sharing the chalkboard sign I made for her baby shower. I wanted guests to sign their name and/or a message on something that she could keep and use as part of her room decoration. She loved it!

I printed it out on metallic cardstock. I bought a cheap document frame from the Dollar Tree and spray painted the frame yellow (since her colors were grey, blue, and yellow). I put out blue and grey permanent markers for guests to use, and took out the glass frame so guests wouldn’t sign on it. Everyone loved it and wrote on it. She hardly had any space left.

You can have this chalkboard sign too by downloading it here: TTLS Chalkboard Sign

If you want to print it out exactly how I did, with the chalkboard sign small in the middle with a matte-like border, make sure your print settings are like this:

Note the size of my paper was 8.5 by 11 because I had a picture frame for document size paper. If your frame is an 8 by 10, you can change your settings in the properties tab, or you can trim it down to size.

Make sure you click on “Shrink overszied pages” under Page Sizing and Handling and “Portrait” under Orientation. This will give you the look of the matte-like border.

That should do it. I hope you enjoy the free chalkboard printable!

Stay tuned for more sharing!!

Thanks for reading!! 🙂

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Gender Reveal Scratch Off

When my little sister found out she was pregnant, she knew right away she wanted to reveal the gender of the baby to those closest to her by sending them a scratch off. I had done a gender reveal scratch off for my first pregnancy, so I offered her my help with making hers. She told me she wanted it to be stars and that was about it. I did a lot of variations, but she ended up liking this design the most. After she found whether she was having a boy or a girl, she took the file to Office Depot and had them print out several copies of the one page (page 1 for a boy and page 2 for a girl) in a 1 by 2 layout. So every sheet of paper had two reveals on it. Once they were printed and cut, she attempted to do the scratch off part herself, but got frustrated. Then enters the big sister to the rescue. She made me scratch off the card she made so I could still be surprised, then she watched my little man so I could finish them up for her.

Supplies needed:

Card with theme and gender revealed (I’ve only done the scratch off twice and both times I was working with cardstock)

Tape (packing worked best for me because of its width)

Scissors

Acrylic paint (I went with yellow so it would blend in with the star)

Dish soap (I used Dawn)

Small crafting paint brush (the kind that comes several in a small pack)

A small lid or container to hold your paint

 

Steps:

1. Cut the tape to the appropriate size you need. Make sure not to cut the tape too small, you want to cover the gender completely with extra space around the word. Do this for every card before moving on to the next step, it’ll make it easier and faster.

2. Mix 2 parts paint with 1 part dish soap in your container or lid. I used a toothpick to slowly mix it. Make sure you don’t make too many bubbles because they become clumpy when painting.

3. Paint a thin layer of your soap paint over your tape. Make sure you paint over the word completely, I painted a few centimeters passed my word and made a rectangle with it. You don’t want to leave any part of the word exposed. Do this for every card.

4. After the paint has dried, paint another layer. At this point, I put a slightly thicker layer to save time and in fear of too many brush strokes to clump the paint. Brush lightly because you don’t want the previous layer to come off. If you can still see the words after this layer has dried, paint another layer, and keep repeating this step until the word is no longer visible.

5. Make sure the paint is completely dry and send them off to your loved ones. They’ll love the excitement of finding out whether it’s a boy or a girl or both!

 

If you like the design I made for my sister, you are welcome to download it for free by clicking the following link: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Gender Reveal Scratch Off. Be sure to credit my work if you share on other sites. I hope you enjoy it as much as my sister did!

 

Stay tuned for more sharing!

Thanks for reading!!

DIY Graveyard Tombstones

For Halloween this year, I wanted to decorate our yard and spend as little money as possible. I definitely wanted tombstones for our front yard, but didn’t want to spend a dollar a piece on something that will break easily. Even though it was only ONE BUCK per tombstone, I wanted it to last longer than a few days. I told my dearest husband that we should make our own this year, and one day he cut up some scrap wood we had piled up in a corner, and made them into the shape of tombstones. Then we painted two coats of black paint on the front and back of them. Wal-Mart sells small cans of indoor/outdoor paint for about four dollars.

I then started making my designs in Silhouette Studios. Once I was happy with them, I cut out test pieces on printer paper to double-check the sizing. Once I was fully satisfied with the size and placement, I cut out the designs on contact paper from Dollar Tree (because I didn’t want to waste my expensive, nice vinyl). I then peeled off the main design and stuck it on the wood. This part can be tricky because the contact paper is so cheap, it might have a problem sticking to the painted wood. Don’t worry, just press really hard for a short period of time, careful not to move it, and that should help. After my pieces were on the wood, I put a very light layer of gray spray paint on top. Be sure not to spray too close to the stencil because the pressure from the paint may blow off the design or get paint under it. The layer of paint should be just enough to hold the stencil down, let it dry, then spray another layer. You can make it as dark or as light as you want it. I thought mine was perfect the way it was. After they all dried, I turned them over and gave the backs a spray. Make sure to get the edges too. My husband then made stakes that we screwed into the bottom of the tombstone. After that, we placed them where we wanted them, and pushed them into the ground. I was really proud of them. They caught the attention of our neighbors, whom I hoped enjoyed them just as much as we did.

The font is used is called Haunt AOE and can be downloaded for free here.

 

Stay tuned for more sharing!

Thanks for reading!! 🙂

Delay in Posts because..

I’m not a very good blogger, I know this. I just get so busy with Parker and cleaning house and various projects. Not to mention our trips back to our hometown every two weeks or so. Blogging just isn’t something on the top of my list lately, but I want that to change soon. I have so many things to share; from house updates to projects to party planning. I’ve been very hands on and DIY with things lately, and I LOVE it!

So please hang in there with me as I try to become a better blogger. Sharing is caring. 🙂

Stay tuned for more sharing!!

Thanks for reading!!

Oh carpet, I love thee!

So a few months back we finally ripped out the original carpet in the house. There were two different colors and textures.

Doesn’t it just look bad together?

In the hall and on the stairs, there was this shaggy, burgundy carpet, and in the bedrooms, there was this medium blue color. They made the whole area feel dark and choppy and smaller than it really was.

A view of the hallway and its old carpet before we moved in.

 

A different angle of the hallway. We were in the process of taking it all out during this picture.

 

A picture of the master bedroom before we moved in.

We debated for several weeks and months over if we would rather put hardwood floors or carpet upstairs. We thought short-term and we thought long-term. We have these really hard tiles downstairs, and with an infant who is learning how to crawl, pull himself up, and walk, it isn’t an ideal flooring. We knew it would be scary enough if he hurt himself downstairs, and we didn’t want to have to worry about him hitting his head on hard flooring in his room too. We wanted our rooms to look really nice, comfortable and safe, so we agreed carpet would be our best option. If taken care of properly, it can last a very long time.

So now that what type of flooring we wanted upstairs was decided, our next step was figuring out who offered the best price and service. We looked at several different places, both big box companies and smaller businesses. We eventually went with Lowe’s. We wanted a durable carpet that wasn’t too soft and shaggy nor too short and hard. We found our perfect carpet in a shade we both loved. So we ripped out the old carpet and padding ourselves to save some money, and left the old tack strips for a few more savings. It was a very fun and productive way to let out some frustration. You have to pull and yank that carpet out along with all the built up aggression. However, if you do rip out your own carpet, the padding under will most likely have these pieces of tar, and if it has been there long, then it will leave black spots all over the sub-floor. I didn’t think much of it and sat down to take a break and had black tar all over my bottom. It got a bit messy after that since I would accidentally hit my bottom on doors and door frames and the walls. I’m a very clumsy person.

Within a day or two from pulling up our carpet, our new and beautiful cream-colored carpet arrived and was installed in a few hours. We all laid on it and it felt like heaven. It looked great in all the rooms (which were already newly painted), and it was the perfect amount of padding. Now our upstairs looks so much lighter and cohesive. It really feels like a completely different house. It makes it feel more like our home and not someone’s old home. Doesn’t it just look so nice and comfy?

The hall with the new carpet.

The new carpet in the hall at a different angle.

A picture of the master bedroom with the new carpet.

Doesn’t it just look so much better as one carpet color and texture?!

 

I love our carpet and the way it transformed the look and feel upstairs. 🙂  There are a couple more renovation posts coming up soon.

Stay tuned for more sharing!!

Thanks for reading!! 🙂

It’s been so long that I’ve been gone..

It has been way too long since I’ve shared. I’ve written several drafts on different topics while I had spare time, but never finished them. I know, I’m a horrible blogger. Truth is, I just haven’t thought of it much since I’m running after my son and being the kickass mommy and housewife that I am. 🙂

A lot has happened since my last entry. Parker now has 7 teeth, has gone from crawling to walking, had his first Halloween,  Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Easter and birthday. We are having so much fun with him and I am constantly amazed at how smart and sweet he is. He is so outgoing now and is growing so fast.

Our home has gone through a lot of changes as well. We completely gutted the “master bath” and made it into what a master bath should be. This was hands down the longest and most difficult project, so far. We also replaced the old, blue carpet with some nice, soft, stain resistant carpet, put crown molding and pot lights in our bedroom, and made plans and new storage pieces for our closet. We also did a lot of diy projects which include our new bed frame and headboard, matching side tables for our room, a new farmhouse kitchen table, our master bath cabinets (all 3), and a couple of decor items. I am excited to post more details about all these great changes in my upcoming posts, so keep a look out.

Stay tuned for more sharing!!

Thanks for reading!! 🙂

Home is where the heart is

Things have been crazy busy ever since Parker was born. Time just seems to be flying; he is almost 6 months old! His bottom teeth are already poking through, he rolls over all the time, and he is so very close to crawling. While those are big steps in his development, we have taken a huge step towards developing a permanent home. Drum roll please….

We bought a house!!!!!!! It is a 2 story house with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. It also has a two car garage and a multilevel shop, that Louis is super excited about. It has a circle driveway and a great sized, fenced back yard. I always dreamed of running down the stairs on Christmas morning to see all the wonderfully wrapped presents Santa has left us. Since I was never able to do that, I am now thrilled that Parker (and his future siblings) will be able to enjoy it. Louis and I grew up with pretty big yards, and most of my favorite childhood memories were running around and playing in the yard. So I am very fortunate that my children will get to experience the fun of playing football, baseball, or freeze tag in a big yard and not have to worry about disturbing neighbors.

We’ve been living in the house for a little over a month now. It doesn’t feel like that long because we still have a few boxes that need unpacking. We have been making this house feel more like home by renovating a few things here and there. I will blog more detailed posts later on when everything settles down more, but for now, I will give you a short version of what we have done thus far. The first thing we did was tearing out this hideous burgundy shag carpet off the stairs. Louis sanded down the wood and put a few coats of polyurethane. They look 100 times better now! We also took off the popcorn ceiling in the 3 bedrooms upstairs. That project deserves its own post. We painted all three rooms, put crown molding in the two smaller rooms, replaced the ceiling fan in our room, and decorated Parker’s room. Next step is getting new carpet and trying to figure out what to do with the ceiling in the mater bedroom. As of right now, we are thinking about putting wooden pallets up there and then putting a whitewash. Louis is so excited to make things with his new tools in his big shop, and I am so excited to start decorating. I’ve googled so many things and looked up prices for stuff. I’m feeling very thrifty and can’t wait to hit up those thrift stores and have some DIY fun! I’m also excited to share our story of making this house into a comfortable and loving home.

P.S. 5+ months of breastfeeding and going strong. 🙂

Stay tuned for more sharing!

Thanks for reading!! 🙂

 

Parker has arrived!

First off I want to say hello again. It has been a while since my last post but my life has been so hectic. You might be wondering why, so I will tell you. Well our dear sweet Parker came into the world mid-April. My water broke around 5:20 am, which is right around the time when my husband’s alarm goes off for work. Parker must have known that and wanted to stop his daddy from going to work, haha. I called my doctor’s office just to make sure I needed to go to the hospital, and we were off with our hospital bag and car seat! We got to the hospital and it all felt surreal. I did paper work, got settled into my room, and got hooked up to the i.v. We called our parents and siblings to let them know today was the day. It just so happened to be my mother-in-law’s birthday, so Parker now shares his day with his grandma. Soon the contractions began and that was unpleasant, but I think I handled them okay. We were excited and nervous as we waited in the big room knowing our son would be here soon. Our families came and waited and waited as my contractions got stronger. You could feel the anticipation as the clock slowly ticked. Each passing minute felt like an eternity. Finally I got my epidural, but then I began to feel nauseous and run a fever. I threw up like three times, but I hadn’t eaten since about 9 the night before so it was just fluids and dry heaving. I also stopped dilating (even though I was barely dilating to begin with), and after about 14 hours after my water first broke my doctor decided it was best to do a c-section. My husband and mother went into the operating room with me. It was a weird feeling as they cut me and pulled our little boy out, I could feel the pressure but it was not a feeling I’ve felt before. When we heard our little guy cry, we both began to cry as well. It was a wonderful feeling. However, I was freezing on the table, my whole body was literally shaking from being so cold. I tried so hard to control it because I didn’t want to mess up the doctor’s work and I didn’t want to scare my husband even more. Poor thing was so scared and I could see it in his eyes. I was shaking so hard and my lips were blue, plus I was so tired from not sleeping well or enough the night before, on top of the long hours of having contractions. He held my hand up until the doctors gave him our son. I could tell even then that he was worried about me. He’s stated previously that he was scared of what could go wrong, and that he couldn’t imagine losing me. I was concentrating on staying awake and not shaking to ease his mind.  They finally closed me up and brought us into our room. I was still shaking so bad once I was in the room that I was too scared to hold him. I let everyone else have their turn first while I recovered. Apparently I was running a fever again even though I was freezing and had blue lips. They layered on the covers while I chowed down on ice chips. I was so thirsty that I just wanted to drink a gallon of water at once, and those ice chips just made me mad. Haha. Eventually our family members had to leave (even though they really didn’t want to), I got better, and I got to finally hold my boy.

I decided a while back that I wanted to breastfeed instead of formula feed because of the health benefits for him. It wasn’t so bad the first time I tried feeding him because the nurse helped me, but it got difficult because he wouldn’t latch on right and it hurt. He would want to eat when I wanted to rest, so that was draining. It was an exhausting day, but we didn’t go to sleep until about 2 in the morning because we had a sudden burst of adrenaline. The next day was the day I had to get up to pee for the first time since the operation. That was so disgusting and painful. If you are a mom, you know exactly what I’m talking about. I had to get help from my husband and a nurse. A 2 minute activity was now a 15 minute ordeal. My legs and feet were so swollen that it looked like one big piece of flesh. I’ve never seen my leg that swollen before. It was from all the fluids they were giving me. I am so grateful for the nurses, they were the kindest, most helpful nurses I have ever met. Anything we needed, they were there to help. We stayed in the hospital 3 days and nights, then we were finally able to bring our bundle of joy home! Being pushed out of the hospital via wheelchair and waiting for my husband to pull the car up was something I’ve seen in movies. It was finally happening to me, and it was crazy. The weather outside was perfect; sunshine and a light breeze. It was the first time I had been outside in 3 days. I got in the back with Parker as we headed home. It was a scary ride back for a few reasons. One being I was terrified it would hurt my body because little sudden movements killed me. Another being my paranoia of other drivers and the inability to be cautious. I was so happy when we pulled into the parking lot of our apartment complex. Happy to be home at last. I was still sore from the surgery, and I had to walk up stairs to get to our apartment. You can imagine the pain I felt and the time it took for me to walk up those things. After making it up the stairs and admiring our beautiful child, we had to rest. We were so hungry and tired that we ordered a pizza and just slept the day away.

That first week of healing was hell! I cried so much from pain and exhaustion. Every activity took forever to complete. I had to take my time getting up, walking, and moving around. Breastfeeding was so hard to do because I could barely move. It was still new to me and my body that it took me a few weeks to get into a groove (I still have my “what am I doing” moments). Then feeding became so painful that I would cry every time he was hungry. I wanted to quit so bad, but I didn’t. My nips were so raw and cracked that I had to get a nipple shield to protect them and him until they healed. He also had a problem latching, mainly because I couldn’t help him, so the shield helped him get a better latch. We also got a pump so I could give my breasts a break every now and then, and we tried a little bit of formula every once in a while as well. He doesn’t like the formula as much as my milk, but it keeps him fuller a little longer and it gives me a small break. Breastfeeding was harder than the recovery, emotionally and physically. I had to take it hour by hour, then day by day, and now I am almost at month 3. My goal was 4 weeks, then 6, then 8, and now I’m going for 4 months. Although I got frustrated and wanted to give up a lot, I wanted to give my son the best nutrition possible so I couldn’t give up. My husband was there every step. He supported me emotionally, mentally, and psychically so much, and he continues to everyday. I can’t imagine getting through any of it without him.

Parker is at the stage now where he sleeps less during the day and more at night. He sleeps 4-6 hours during most nights before waking up to feed again. He smiles so much!!! It just melts my heart and makes me smile back at him. I love singing and reading to him, and I think he enjoys it too because he smiles at me. Gosh I can just hug him so tight. I love him to death. I love watching him and his dad playing. When they smile at each other I swear time just stops for a few seconds. It is the most precious thing I’ve ever seen. All the crazy things I’ve gone through before, during, and after having him are well worth it.

My guys are both in bed sleeping right now, and I am about to join them.

Stay tuned for more sharing!!

Thanks for reading!!! 🙂

Ultrasound Visit

So a few months ago, I was getting scheduled for another ultrasound by my Ob/Gyn. I was curious as to why I was getting another ultrasound, and she told me because one of his kidneys was a little dilated and she wanted to check on it. The dilation got a little bigger by the next visit, so they scheduled us an appointment with ultrasound specialists. We had our appointment with them, but they were hardly concerned with his kidney. They were more concerned with his weight. They wanted to check on his weight a month later, which was today. According to the ultrasound, our baby boy weighs 7 pounds 15 ounces at 35 weeks and 2 days. Last month the u/s tech told us measuring the weight of a baby via ultrasound wasn’t very accurate, and they can be off by about 25% either way. Meaning he could be bigger or smaller. I’m a little worried that I might have to have a c-section, I’d rather give birth naturally, but if I must have one then I must have one. At least with a c-section, it will be scheduled and our family will have plenty of time to make arrangements to come visit us. We live 2 hours away and our family members don’t have the most reliable vehicles.

I guess I’m just anxious for him to get here, and I have a feeling he will come before the due date. I don’t want to go over the due date, but heard it is pretty common. Everyday things are getting harder and harder to do. I have to scoot to the end of our couch to get up, it is difficult to turn around in the bed at night, and I can’t walk or stand too long without my back killing me. I know it pales in comparison to the precious life inside of me, but I’m ready for him to be here. I can’t wait to hold him, kiss him, and love on him. I always knew I wanted kids, but never really thought of the actual day. Even if I did, it is nothing like actually getting to feel everything, the kicks and the pains. I wouldn’t take back a single moment.

Counting down the days til our Parker gets here!!

Stay tuned for more sharing!

Thanks for reading!! 🙂