Baby Shower Gift Idea

So many of my friends are pregnant right now! It seems like every time I turn around another one is expecting. I'm so happy for all of them, but mostly I'm excited that this all means BABY SHOWERS!!

With my last friend I made a 3 gift baskets each with a theme...and went a little overboard. The first basket had bath toys, a bath book, wash cloths, and soap and lotion. The second basket had a bunch of clothing. The third basket had baby care items such as infant acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil), saline spray and a baby grooming kit. I really liked the idea of the baskets, and the fact that some of the items are useful, not just cute, but I didn't have a great way of presenting it and/or telling my vision of the gift.

So with this next shower, I felt like I really wanted to stick to that idea. I was on more of a budget though so I needed to tone it down a little. So what I did was buy a fabric cubbie (off of her registry) and put 3 bags in it. One is filled with clothing, I got a 5 pack of Gerber onesie's and some other adorable onesies from Target. The Target brand Circo stuff is ADORABLE! I was fortunate to get in some clearance deals so it was even less expensive than it's normal $5.  The second bag has a large thing of Target brand baby wash and a cute owl scrub with some washcloths. Finally, the third bag has the acetaminophen, some saline spray and some chocolate. Cause Mommies of sick kids need some  chocolate!

It took me a while, but I finally came up with the best little poem to present my vision to the future Mom:

A gift for your little one:
Some cute new duds,
Gear for the tubs,
and finally some drugs!

Lots of love and hugs,  Katy

You wouldn't think it would be that hard, but it is nearly impossible to find things that rhyme to represent clothing/looking good, being sick/getting better, and cleaning/shower/bath.  However, I was finally able to perservere and come up with this poem.

Another one, which may be more appropriate for a boy is:

A pretty new sweater,
some meds to help you feel better,
and something so you don't smell like an Irish Setter.

Washer Necklaces

So after stalking a friend's pinterest boards I found this very intriguing idea. Make your own statement necklaces using washers, scrapbook paper and mod podge.

Any variety of washers can be used. So far I've only made the ones shown above. However I recently went to Lowe's and bought all of the ones shown below which have a variety of sizes, width, and weight. 

 However, if I have two contrasting colors or complementary colors hanging them like this would be great!

 This is what the back of the finished product looks like. It's still unfinished. However, when I've worn the necklace it likes to flip around some so I'm considering covering the front and the back. I also need a better chain/rope to tie it up with.

So you basically find a washer that you like and some scrapbook paper that you like. Although the site above has used other paper items like comics, so you could probably use any paper product. Then you trace and cut out the shape and mod podge them together. I bought the matte mod podge, and in hindsight I would have bought the glossy one. However now I think I'm going to buy some enamel spray or something to make it shiny and more finished looking. 

Christmas Card Wreath

Christmas Card Wreath 

I saw this idea from here. It's pretty easy to make. 

Items:

Clothes pins

Green Spray Paint

Red Pony Beads

Ribbon

Wire Clothes Hangars

Hot glue gun.

To make: 

1. Spray paint the clothes pins green. I did it by laying them out on newspaper, but the other article recommended clipping them to an old box you don't care about. Honestly, it probably would have saved some time, but it wasn't that big of a dea. 

2.Make the clothes hangar a circle. This part is actually easier said than done! Mine isn't perfectly round nor perfectly flat, but such is life. 

3. String the clothes pins and pony beads on the hangar, alternating.

4. Attach the 2 ends of the hangar. The other site recommended just lining them up and gluing the heck out of it. My husband had the great idea of just bending the two ends to make hooks and hooking the two sides together. This alone probably would have been enough to hold it together, but I didn't trust it so I glued the hooks together. It also made it so I could fit another couple clothes pins on since I didn't have to rely solely on the glue.

5. Take the ribbon and tie a string to hold it up. Using another piece of ribbon tie a bow. I used some wire ribbon from the dollar tree. It is red with green wire and green flecks. I really like how that ribbon goes with it.  

 An example holding a card. I actually really got a kick out of this card! It says "It's 80 degrees and sunny somewhere" "Oh yeah, that's here. Merry Christmas there." It's fitting and wonderful and we are sending it from sunny Florida to our friends in wintery Maine.

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken

I found this recipe here from Pinterest. Frankly it is amazingly simple and genius! 4 ingredients and a crockpot and viola, a meal.

1 bottle Target's Archer Farms Hawaiian Style Barbecue Sauce
Frozen chicken breasts. Original recipe called for 4-6. I probably had a few more.
1 20 oz can chunked pineapple, drained
Rice prepared as directed

Throw everything but the rice in the crockpot and cook on high for 3 hours, low for 4-6 hours. Shred chicken and coat in sauce then serve over rice.

Easy peasy! Warning though, this bbq sauce is deceptively spicy! If I make it again I'll probably try and cut the heat with either some of the pineapple sauce or some sugar. However, Target makes several other sauces like this that I'm curious to try now.

PinFail? Washcloth cupcakes

So one of my friends...actually several of my friends...are pregnant! Yay! That means that we are just starting on the deluge of baby showers. I always see some of the cute diaper cakes and cupcakes and other amazing things. So I wanted to try it. However I'm not sure that I was very successful.

Here is a picture of the largest two:

 This is a picture of them on the side. The towels are orange/pink stripped (right) and hearts (left). The 'wrappers' are made from scrapbook paper.

This is the four of them together. The container is actually the end of a 12 pack of soda which I covered in pink paper. It was the perfect size to show them off. 

This was the mini gift for my friend at our work shower. For her main shower gift I got 3 baskets and filled them with different goodies (I forgot to take pictures!!)

Basket 1 Baby Bath time:

• Baby Shampoo
• Baby Body wash
• Fun bath squirt toys
• Washcloths
• A water book
• Rubber ducky that tells the temperature

Basket 2 Get Well Basket:

• Infant acetaminophen
• Infant ibuprofen
• Saline nasal spray
• Baby groomer/first aid kit

Basket 3 Clothing:

• Onsies
• Socks

I may be forgetting stuff, but that's most of it. It was a lot of fun buying all that fun stuff for her!

Cheesy Baked Quinoa

So this recipe was billed as 'Cheesy Quinoa Mac & Cheese' and it had a lot of complaints that it wasn't quite as cheesy or creamy as Mac & Cheese. So a more apt name is Cheesy Baked Quinoa. Regardless of the name, it tastes good and is full of healthy ingredients. I also like that you can add pretty much whatever you want to it.

The ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, cooked according to package directions
Sauteed veggies (optional, we used broccoli)
2 cloves minced garlic
2 large eggs
1 pinch of salt
1 cup milk
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (reserve 1/2 cup for top)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Panko or regular bread crumbs for topping
Any other ingredients you think would be tasty or need to be used!

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook quinoa according to package directions.
3. Saute any vegetables you would like to use.
4. Mix eggs, milk, garlic, and salt in large bowl. Fold in quinoa and vegetables and any other additives.
5. Place in greased 9" x 13" pan. Top with remaining cheddar cheese and bread crumbs.
6. Cook until top is golden brown and cheese has melted, approximately 30 minutes.
7. Enjoy!

Comments: As I mentioned before we added broccoli. We had about 1 cup of frozen broccoli that we sauteed with some seasoning salt. Next time I would add more. We also added some leftover tricolor couscous. I don't think this affected the taste or texture at all, it was just a way to use up some leftovers. Besides, we only had about a 1/2 cup.
 

Others really liked the 'crunch' of the panko bread crumbs. I may not have put enough on to notice, but I feel the quinoa gives it enough heartiness. Next time I might put more panko crumbs...I only put enough to lightly cover the top of the pan.

Sweet Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

So I just recently learned about Pinterest Fail blogs and pins...hilarious! Thankfully I have yet to succumb to such a fate. Actually I have been pleasantly surprised with how things have turned out. This next Pinterest copy cat is no different.

You can see I just served it with some salad. It was amazing, better than I had expected. 

*Serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS:
Pork:
2 pounds boneless pork tenderloin
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, finely minced or crushed (I use minced garlic and probably put a tablespoon in, we like garlic)
1/2 cup water

Glaze: 
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce

DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl, combine the sage, salt, pepper and garlic. Rub the spices all over the roast. Place the pork roast in the slow cooker and pour in the 1/2 cup water. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Near the end of the cooking time for the roast, combine the ingredients for the glaze in a small saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce and let the mixture simmer, stirring occasionally, until it thickens.

Remove the pork from the slow cooker, shred and place on a platter or plate. Drizzle the glaze over the pork and serve.

 

I only slightly adapted this recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, so please give her the love.