Football themed diaper cake

One of my bestest friends is a huge football fan and is due any day now.  She and her husband decided not to find out the sex of their soon to be bundle-of-joy, making coming up with a theme for a diaper cake more difficult.  I decided to do football because regardless of the sex, I know they will be a huge football fan like their mama and papa - if it's a girl we'll just add a few bows :)

Her shower was a few weeks ago and this is what I came up with. 

The details - included on this cake are the following: 
69 diapers
Burts' Bees baby wash
Glass bottle
1 Chargers jersey
2 Chargers pacies
2 Chargers bibs
2 pairs white socks
Pacie clip (football)
4 Chargers pennants
2 wood football decor pieces
Knit football toy
Knit football cap
Plush football toy
Brown and white striped football onesie
3 football burp clothes
football leg warmers
$25 gift card to Babies R Us

Thanks for looking!

Diaper Wreaths

I apologize for being MIA - I am trying to get back into the swing of things after a very busy holiday season.  I will be posting a few posts as catch up for what's happened in my absence. 

First, the day after my dear friend Caitlin's wedding I went to another dear friend, Amy's, baby shower.  Due to the fact that I was crunched on time I put together a wreath rather than a cake using diapers.  I had seen this idea somewhere on the internet a long time ago, but basically just created this using supplies I had on hand. 

I had a straw wreath, ribbon and diapers, which I used to create the base of the wreath.  I then added a stuffed pooh softie (the baby's room is pooh themed) and some other baby doo-dads (games, books and hair clips).  I think for my first attempt it turned out pretty well.  I am looking forward to expanding on this idea.  It's a little different then the ever increasing cakes, and I'm thinking it would be easier to ship and therefore may be a better possibility for etsy sales.  I recently purchased some goodies on Zulily - if you've never checked it out you MUST! It's a site that features daily deals for babies and women - up to 90% off! Check it out here.  Anywho, I recently purchased a bunch of clearance items that I hope to use on future wreaths - I'm thinking a Dr. Suess themed wreath would be an adorable gender neutral gift, don't you?

Amy has since had her beautiful baby girl - so congrats are in order to Amy!

Thanks as always for looking, and for staying with my in my absence!

Happy Thanksgiving - Better Late Than Never!

I hope everyone had a marvelous holiday with family and friends.  Please leave a comment telling me how you celebrated. 

We have a tradition of going to my Aunt's house (about 40 minutes away) the day after Thanksgiving for our celebration.  Thanksgiving Friday we call it :) This allows everyone to go to their in-laws to celebrate on Thursday, BUT mine are in Michigan, boo!

Soooo.... Thursday we watch football and lounge around in our sweats.  Timmy went out for Black Friday that night (to a store that opened at midnight) but he won't tell me where he went as it was to get a gift for me I believe.  I went to sleep. haha.

Friday we drove down to my Aunt's for our celebration - 26 people total, our largest yet.  I was in charge of all of the appetizers.  I made sausage and cheese balls with BBQ dipping sauce, cream cheese truffles with crackers, and smoked salmon bites. 

Here is a pic of my spread (minus the sausage balls which were at the other end of the table and I forgot to take a photo of). 

Hope every one's day was great! Tell me about it and whether or not you braved "Black Friday"!

Food
Sausage Cheese balls - double the meat, seriously. 
Cream Cheese Truffles - I would only make the green onion kind rolled in parsley when I do these again
Salmon Bites - these were amazing and gone in like 10 minutes - I JUST realized I forgot the cucumber haha, a tip, cut a hole in the corner of a ziploc bag to apply the sour cream, it just makes it prettier :)

Caitlin's Bridal Shower

Myself and the other bridesmaids hosted my dear friend Caitlin's Bridal Shower at my house on December 12, 2011.  I wanted to share with you some photos of the event.

A side note - I think I will stick to diaper cakes as my "wedding cake" made from bath towels did not turn out how I had in mind.  Overall I think it was a hit.  I sure hope Caitlin enjoyed it :)

A shout out to the FABULOUS Laura for taking all of the photos.  You can check out her blog here.

As well as another fabulous shout out to Lauren from Delicious Dish Events in Riverside, CA for the magnificent food - quiches, sandwiches, and salads - all to die for!

EXCITING NEWS!!!

I posted my first item for sale on my new Etsy store! Check it out here: www.etsy.com/shop/ErraticallyElizabeth

The lovely ladies at MissImagination.com are also hosting a challenge for each member to recruit at least one new member.  So PLEASE check out MissImagination.com.  It is a free online forum for women that I am a co-owner of.  We do have a craft section for those of us who love to craft to chit chat about our hobbies (and for some business).  It's a great place to "meet" other women with similar interests and a great creative and social outlet. 

Hope everyone had a lovely 3-day weekend.  Thank you to my hubby and all other veterans this Veteran's Day Weekend!

PaperCrafter's Makeover Monday Challenge # 1 - Wine Bottle Tag

I have completed Week 1's Makeover Monday Challenge hosted by Paper Crafter's Library.  Each Monday they plan to post a challenge which you can create using your supplies on hand.  I loved the idea of this wine bottle tag - a perfect way to dress up a wine bottle for a birthday or hostess gift, something I regularly give.

Here is my version of the wine tag - I used my scraps from September's Button Farm kit to create this tag - I'm very pleased with how it turned out.  The tag is 3x7 and is scored at the 2" mark with a hole punched in the top to easily slide over the wine bottle's neck.

Thanks for looking at my attempt, and thanks to Paper Crafter's Library for a FABULOUS challenge - I had fun and it's definitely an item I look forward to making again - fast, easy, and cute, what's not to like!?

here is the link to the original challenge

Wednesday's What's Up With That!? - Halloween Edition

Oh Halloween.  Apparently I live in the "go to" neighborhood.  Parents are literally dropping their children off in our neighborhood - I'm not sure why - I live in an average neighborhood, nothing fancy.  Shrug. 

Last year we had two hundred and twenty-something trick or treaters - this year 177.  It take A LOT of candy to feed these people. 

With that said, here are a few things that really grind my gears.

1) Parents with infants with bags for candy - who is that candy really for?
2) Teens who are way to old to be trick or treating anyways.
3) Kids/teens/etc. who are trick or treating and don't even put the effort into dressing up - like NO costume at all.
4) kids who come to my house multiple times.
5) people who step into your house or start asking questions about your house while peering into your house. 

Our front room is STILL empty - you don't know how many people were like, "why don't you have any furniture?" We just ignored the questions, but I wanted to respond with one of the following:
a) Why are you looking in my house?
b) We had to sell it all to buy all of you candy!

I had heard some lovely suggestions for next year.
- you know those signs at Disneyland that say "you must be this tall to ride this ride" - how about reverse that? you cannot be taller than this sign to trick or treat here.
- have two buckets - 1 bucket for the appropriate trick or treaters filled with the good stuff.  the other bucket for the parents, teens, or people who do not even try to dress up filled with used gum and erasers. haha. 

Okay, I won't really do any of that, but c'mon! What's Up With That!?

Halloween Fun

I hope everyone had a delightful Halloween!! Here is a pic of me and the hubs - can you guess who we are? :)

My parents came over to share in some good food and to help give out candy.  This year we had 177 kids - that's down from two hundred and twenty-something that we had last year. 

I made some delicious chili, cornbread, and pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  My girlfriend Jessica also stopped by to get in on the food action. 

We had a lovely time - although I must say that I am disappointed with the lack of effort that some kids put into Halloween these days. 

A few irritations I have are:
a) parents who carry around a bucket for candy with their newborn/infant child - c'mon, we all know who that candy is really for
b) teens who don't even attempt to dress up - I asked one girl what she was (as she was clearly not dressed up) and she smiled and said "a student" then her mom, also not dressed up, came up with her bag for candy.  My dad only gave these people one of the smallest pieces of candy he could find in our gigantic bucket.  A lot of the teenage boys wear their regular clothing and then a scary mask - is that really the best you could do?
c) slutty teens - it makes everyone uncomfortable when you show up in an outfit that leaves NOTHING to the imagination and you're like 12-17.  It's awkward.  Where are your parents!? sigh.

Okay, enough of the irritations, we did see plenty of adorable children, so that made all of the slight irritations worthwhile. 

What did you all do for Halloween?

Tutorial Tuesday - Chinese Chicken Morsels

The hubs and I tried out a new recipe last night and it was too delicious not to share. 

History: the hubs and I are on a budget trying to pay down our debt to secure our future, soooo.... we are trying to figure out ways to save in areas such as groceries.  We found a book at a yard sale called "Once a Month Cooking" which basically is a plan for you to cook one day a month (and shop one day a month), make various foods out of one set of supplies/groceries, and then freeze the food to cook later that month.  I don't want to make large amounts of any recipe we have never tried, so we are trying out a few of the recipes to see if we like them first.

The first recipe we tried was this one, called Chinese Chicken Morsels.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (we use La Choy which is gluten free)
- 1/4 cup dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
- 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 1 cup of regular uncooked rice

Steps:
1) Combine all ingredients except chicken and rice, mix thoroughly. 
2) Cut chicken into one inch cubes
3) a: If you are eating this the same night or the following day, put chicken into marinade bowl and let sit for at least 30 minutes.  b: if you are freezing, put chicken and marinade in a one gallon ziplock and freeze

Cooking/to Serve:
1) If frozen, thaw out marinade.
2) Remove chicken from marinade and place evenly on a broiler pan.  Broil for 7 minutes placed about 4-5 inches from the flame. Remove from oven, turn each piece over and brush with marinade.  Broil for additional 4 minutes.
3) Meanwhile, put marinade into small saucer and heat up (note - this is do at your own risk as it did contain uncooked chicken - I did this step at simply brought to a boil and then simmered for a bit to ensure that it would be safe to eat). 
4) Cook rice according to packaging.
5) Spoon rice onto plate, cover with chicken and pour marinade onto dish for extra flavor. 

This was easy and delicious.  The hubs made me promise that I will make it again.  Here is a pic (courtesy of my super spectacular image quality cell phone - ha!).  Enjoy!

If you try out this recipe, be sure to post a comment and let me know what you thought!

Planning my best friend's bridal shower - photo of invitations

As matron of honor (wow that makes me sound old), part of my task is to throw the bride, one of my best friends by the name of Caitlin, a bridal shower.  Together with the other 5 bridesmaids, we will be throwing a hopefully elegant event at my house next month. 

The first step of course is sending out invitations.  I saw this adorable idea from my dear friend Heather.  As soon as I saw it - back in July when she originally posted it - I instantly knew that this was going to be the bridal shower invitation.  I wanted to add my own flair by creating the bouquet with rosettes rather than punched flowers. 

The rosettes are created by punching a circle (I used a 1" circle punch), then cutting the circle in a spiral from the outside.  You then start on the outside and roll the paper all the way, and voila, a rosette!

Here is the final product (again I apologize for my horrific photography skills). 

I had the pleasure of personally giving this to the bride on Wednesday night and I was pleased that she seemed to like it.  I look forward to posting more about the shower as we continue to plan and create. 

On a fun note - you should have seen the bridesmaids responses (most of whom are not crafters) when I sent them a photo of Heather's card and said "this is what we're making".  haha.  Priceless.  A big thank you to Kim, Kamila, my mother and the mother of the bride for coming over on a Saturday night and helping put together 30 of these bad boys. 

TGIF everyone - we're off to Vegas!

Wednesday's What's Up With That!? - I'm too sexy for this chicken....?

Okay... I get why people are vegetarian - I have seen those horrific films about food and meat, etc etc.  However, it's just not something I could do - I love my meat.

I also understand PETA - animals should be treated ethically.  HOWEVER, sometimes, okay a lot of the times, PETA comes off as just batshit crazy!

This article for example. They're mad because they think the chicken is too sexy? Seriously? And they are accusing the new york times of necrophilia? WHAT!?

I'm sure not everyone shares the same viewpoint as me on this issue, but I just thought this article was absurd.  I'm not trying to pick a fight because everyone is entitled to their own opinions - one of my favorite phrases, although crude, is opinions are like a**holes, everyone has got one.  And frankly, you're allowed to have your own opinions, etc. etc.  That doesn't mean that sometimes I question the sanity of a persons' opinion (lol).

I saw this article last week and just HAD to share.  What do you think - valid complaint by PETA or not? Is this chicken too sexy?

P.S.: PETA may "take offense" to a sexily posed chicken - but if it's a human woman - that's a-okay. In fact, that's part of their campaign! Check it out here.

Threw together some bathroom decor

So I'm having a group of ladies over tonight and my guest bathroom was empty except for a hand-me-down yellow hand towel from my mother and some bamboo bathroom accessories we got for the wedding - there was absolutely no element of decor.

Resources are limited right now as we are working the Dave Ramsey plan of paying down our debt - but I was able to throw together a little bit of an upgrade (last night) for tonight's party by only purchasing new towels and yard sale hunting the past few months for all of the decor.

Here is the best full shot I could get - small spaces are hard to photograph.

Close up of the vanity - the hurricane, small glass jar, shells in hurricane, shells in small jar and white shell came from five (5) different yard sales over the past few months - I did buy the hand napkins.

Close up of the art - my dear friend Stacey found a blue starfish graphic online which I blue up, turned brown, and added 3 different complimentary backgrounds to to create my new bathroom art - I printed each one on cardstock I had in my inventory and framed them in 3 white washed frames I had found at yet another yard sale. 

Thanks for looking - I know its nothing special - but it shows that you too can do a whole new look for your bathroom on the cheap - someday we want to redo the sink, vanity, mirrors, toilet and shower of this guest bathroom.  But that will be a few years from now, or when we hit the lotto! :)

Tutorial Tuesday - super simple pennant centerpiece

Well I am doing a tutorial today (I know I actually crafted something OMG!) - but I forgot to take photos of the steps - so it will be a written tutorial.  My bad!

Well the top of my hutch looked like this (see below) - I didn't love the flowers as I didn't think they went, so I wanted to create something to go in its place, but still utilize the vase - something other than a floral arrangement as fake flowers are not my fave.

BEFORE

I saw a photo online which led me to the idea of pennants on sticks, so here is the after photo below (I did this quickstyle last night).  What do you think, do you like the before or after better?

AFTER

SUPPLIES

- 5 complimentary patterned papers 6x6 or larger will work for this project - keep in mind that if you are using this as a centerpiece rather than against a wall, the papers will need to be double sided

- 5 twigs/sticks - i liked the natural look of the twigs - i purchased a bundle of twigs at michaels, cut off the wire holding the bundle together and trimmed them to the size i wanted them to be

- wire cutters or similar - basically something heavy duty to trim your twigs so they will be the height you desire

- vase

- something to fill the bottom of your face with - i used clear marbles, other ideas are stones, nuts, seeds, moss, etc. 

- cropodile or hole punch

- twine or ribbon

- paper cutter

STEP ONE: cut your paper too be 4.5" by 5.5".  Then mark with a pencil on the 4.5" side a dot at the 2.25" mark - angle your paper cutter to cut from one corner to the 2.25" mark you just made on both sides to create a pennant - I chose this size due to the size of my vase - you may make smaller or larger depending on your vase size - i recommend the width being 1" bigger than the height as I feel that made the proportions look correct.

STEP TWO: use your cropodile or hole punch to punch a hole in both corners of your straight edge

STEP THREE: use your twine to tie both corners to your twig/stick

STEP FOUR: have 3 of your flags point one direction and 2 point the other - trim your twigs to desired varying heights and display in your vase as desired.

VOILA! Easy cheesy :) Hope you enjoyed the super simple tutorial.
** I will attempt to get a close-up photo tonight and add to this post as requested.

Let me know what you think of my hutch - do you like the flowers or pennants best?

Dining Room Table

I am hosting a prospective members Bunco party at my house for my local Junior League on Wednesday.  I will be setting up card tables in my currently empty living room for the event - I guess there are pros to having a completely empty room - ha!

I wanted to showcase some of my china and dinnerware as I never get to, so I decided to set up my dining room table with my china and crystal just to show it off a little at my party. 

It's not in any way perfect, but I am pleased with how it turned out.  We still need to stain and update the hardware on the hutch in the background that we got from Craigslist, and I still am looking for some items to hang on my gate looking thing on the left wall.  I also still need the crystal iced beverage glasses to complete the place setting, but hey, it's a start!  This is our dining room table with all of our leaves in - our $30 garage sale find dining room table :) We also need to stain the table - but that is masked by the tablecloth.

Again, I apologize for the poor photo quality - perhaps I should take some photography classes? 

Happy Monday!

Past Projects - 4th Edition

I made these birthday cards with some spring designer series paper from Stampin' Up.  These cards might possibly be my favorite cards that I have ever made.  I think they are.  Anywho, thought I would share them as I am sharing some of my favorite past projects with you all.  Enjoy!

** I am sorry the photo is such poor quality!

Past Projects - 3rd Edition

More! haha. At least I have an archive of photos to choose from so I have SOMETHING to share. I am hoping to start crafting soon - I swear!

This is a project that I made in 2010 for a Valentine's Day gift exchange - the catch was the gift had to be home-made.  I made this accordion style mini album/display.  It was just a very simple mini album with not a lot of bling as I didn't want to over-embellish it without knowing the recipients style.  I still was pleased with how it turned out :)

Front Cover

Front side

Back side (the white squares were for the recipient to replace with 3x3 photos of her choosing)

Thanks for looking!

Past Projects - 2nd Edition

Yet another post highlighting some of my favorite past projects while I continue to be lazy and not have anything current to post. 

Here are some pinwheel cards I made a while back - they were the easiest things I've ever made - and I thought a great card for a male.  Men's cards are hard to make sometimes, so I was thrilled that I could whip these out quickstyle. 

As always, thanks for looking!

Past Projects

Since I have been a major slacker in the crafting department lately, I thought I would share photos of some of my past projects so that you could have some eye candy despite my slacker status.

This is a set of 10 cards I made all using the same distressed flower idea - all 10 are different and could be given or sold as a card set.  The idea is SUPER simple.  I had fun making them and think they turned out too cute.  I made these back in early 2010 and have since given all 10 of the cards out.  I do obviously need to work on my photo-taking skills still (oops). 

Thanks for looking. I promise I will be crafting soon - I'm almost done organizing my craft supplies that have been packed in boxes in my garage for over a year (when we bought the house).  After I organize I will finally be able to access my tools and junk so I can get started :)

Happy Monday all!

Thankful Thursday - FOOTBALL!!!!

So for those of you who do not know me, I am a HUGE football fan - particularly the Denver Broncos (stop laughing), but a football fan in general as well.  I have played fantasy football for the past 5 years and won 1st place in all years except last year (mumble).  This year, I plan to bring it back!

I am ever-so-thankful that the players and owners were able to work out their ridiculous disagreements so that us fans could enjoy another football season which starts TONIGHT!

Tonight I am rooting for Green Bay - not just because Aaron Rodgers is my starting QB in fantasy, but also because I've liked Rodgers since he took over that position - or maybe I just hated Farve so much that it seems like I like Rodgers.  Shrug.  Either way, GO GREEN BAY!!!!!

Here is my starting line-up for my fantasy team in Week One.  Wish me luck!

QB: Aaron Rodgers - GB
WR: Andre Johnson - HOU
WR: DeSean Jackson - PHI (I had him last year and was pleased)
RB: Peyton Hillis - CLE
RB: Matt Forte - CHI (I had him last year and was pleased)
TE: Rob Gronkowski - NE
TE: Dallas Clark - IND
W/R/T: Brandon Lloyd - DEN (WR)
K: Sebastian Janikowski - OAK (it pains me to have a Raider on my roster, but he's good, so I have to suck it up)
DEF (team): New England
D (individual): DeAngelo Hall (I had him last year and was pleased)
D (individual): Ray Lewis (it also pains me to have him on my team as I despise him, but again, he's good, so I have to suck it up)

Do you play Fantasy Football or watch Football? Who's on your fantasy team or who is your favorite NFL team?

Friday Five - TV Series

My husband and I enjoy watching various TV series on Netflix or the like - we have watched quite a few and have a lengthy list of more that we are looking forward to watching.  Generally we take turns selecting the show.  Here are five of my favorite shows we have watched so far from start to finish (or from start to the current status if the show is still on-air!). 

1) The Office - this show makes me literally LOL. It definitely reminds me of my office's dynamics and I think anyone who works in an office environment would appreciate the humor in this show - and even persons not working in such an environment will appreciate this awkward humor - my favorite kind!

2) The Wire - this is about a police task force in Baltimore focusing on a major drug ring. It's so great! I do suggest turning the sub titles on so you can catch everything.  After watching this show, sometimes just for fun my husband and I listen to the local police scanner - haha.

3) Six Feet Under - as with all HBO shows - this show was a little graphic, so be warned.  I enjoyed the complex relationships and characters created.  I always had trouble picking a favorite character as with real life each character is portrayed with both their good and bad qualities. 

4) Glee - In case you live under a rock, this show rocks! I didn't watch it for a long time as I thought it was going to be some cheesy teenager show but it's not. In fact I don't think I would want my teenagers watching it (if I had any).  I love the singing, and I REALLY love the dancing.  Both mine and Tim's favorite character is Brittney because she's so funny. 

5) Boardwalk Empire - This show is set in the 20's in Atlantic City (during prohibition) and features corrupt politicians and their schemes.  It's terrific.  I had to get past my image of Nucky from when he was in Billy Madison putting lipstick on and creating his hit list, but I've gotten past it and really am enjoying his character.  We love this show and can't wait for season 2 to start soon, EEK!

We are greatly looking forward to the upcoming seasons of The Office, Glee and Boardwalk Empire.  The Wire and Six Feet Under were fabulous.  Actually all 5 of these shows have been awesome and I highly recommend them!

What are some of your favorite TV series? Or have you watched any of the above - what do you think?