Nursery!

Happy (almost) Friday!

Our nursery is almost complete, so I wanted to share.  You can see my inspiration here.
I am a huge Hello Kitty fan and I think everyone I have ever met in my life was sure, upon hearing the words, "It's a Girl!" that our nursery was 100% going to be Hello Kitty themed.
But it's not! I decided to go for a shabby chic look.  Of course, it is highlighted in Hello Kitty stuff...but I figure we have plenty of time for that. :-)

Here are some pictures...

I made this mobile.  I'm not super happy with it...but it's still a work in progress.

Rug and crib from Target//changing table from Babies R Us//all baskets from Home Goods

Baby Girl has been spoiled rotten with several beautiful handmade blankets!

This dresser was my hubby's.  It was dark brown with old fashioned fixtures. I used Zinsser Cover Stain Primer to prime (it smelled horrific and probably was a preggo no-no)

 

I'm still stuck on what is going on the walls and what kind of drapery to go with.  I figure that when I see the wall piece I am looking for, I will know!

To be continued!

My Chalkboard Pictures!

I'm a bloggin' machine today.

Each week, I check Pinterest for some inspiration for my chalkboards.  I try to come up with something a little bit original to my pregnancy when I can.

I just updated my PhotoBucket album...so please use it for YOUR inspiration, too :-)

Here's my link.  It's also listed in my other sites in the right hand column.

Planting and Pancakes

Finally a beautiful Sunday in Northwest Indiana!
We celebrated by visiting local farmer's markets and working in our yard.

I LOVE shopping local..and while it's still too early around here for any good veggies, I still had a few good finds.
I guess first and foremost I should mention that as of last week, this is what I am lookin' like these days:

Getting pretty close to being ready to pop with our baby girl! My due date is June 23 so I am currently and obsessively on the hunt for all things newborn.  Bringing me to my first finds of the year:

I bought these two adorable headbands and our town's plant sale on Saturday.  They're by a girl called Carley Jae and she had the most adorable headbands for babies and grown ups...along with lots of other little things (coffee sleeves, onesies, etc.)  Click this link to check out her etsy shop!
I also found some yummy (apparently) and all natural doggie treats for our fur baby and a few herbs to get my herb garden started (they weren't looking too perky yet...so I'm gonna hold off for awhile). Can't wait for more markets to start opening and the goods to get better!!

On the menu today I made some banana walnut buttermilk pancakes.  I have to tell you, being that I am 35 weeks pregnant, I am not one for counting calories and I AM big into giving in to cravings. 
Here's my recipe

3 c. all purpose flour
3 T white sugar
3 t baking powder
1 1/2 t baking soda
pinch of salt
3 cups of buttermilk
3 eggs
1/3 c melted butter
3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Combine dry ingredients, then add the wet.  Next, I mashed the bananas with a fork.  The ones I used were SUPER ripe, which I think is the best to use.  Quite spotty on the skin but soft on the inside. Next, I tossed in the walnuts and mixed.

This made 14 massive and fluffy pancakes.

 

 

These are perfect for freezing and reheating, too. I let them cool and put them in a big freezer bag.  I separate them with a small piece of parchment paper, just to make it super easy to pull out a serving size when I need to.

To reheat, I just microwave for a minute or two and add (the craving that caused these pancakes in the first place) maple syrup.

 

 

And that's that!

In other news, I have been beginning to obsess over what I need in my hospital bag.  In the next entry, I am going to include that and the results of my current dilemma: what outfit to bring baby home in.

 



When All Else Fails...Add Sprinkles.

This week has been rough stuff. There has been so much going on, I feel like I can barely keep up!!

These Rice Krispie rolls, however, are not rough stuff.   I made them for a baby shower for a girl that I work with and, while they turned out looking NOTHING like Pinterest promised, they still tasted super yummy.

I followed the directions for regular old Rice Krispie treats.  Next, I put the mixture on a big cookie sheet and rolled it out thin (about a half inch).  I spread Nutella on half and vanilla frosting on the other half.  Then just roll and slice! 

Now, the Pinterest one had a perfect spiral of Nutella inside. Mine, as you can see, lacked any patience whatsoever.  The Rice Krispie treats were still warm when I began to roll, which is where I think my problem was. I was nervous they would get too stiff and not roll at all! Learning experience.

Both types were delish.  The hubby liked the frosting one, whereas I loved the Nutella.  The ladies at work seemed to enjoy them as well!

In other news, I am REALLY trying to work on updating more often.  I have been getting very in to reading other blogs and it's something I really enjoy. So check back often. I plan on putting up different crafty things as well as sharing some products that I love.