rain gutter bookshelves

I don't know about you but we have books galore in our house. My husband made some really cool hanging shelves years ago for my oldest son that were passed on to Tanner and they finally called it quits. So, in my haste to find something pronto I started researching shelving units and happened upon these. I loved them and thought they'd be fairly easy. Now, just finding the time for my hubby to do them was another. He hesitantly agreed and up they went. Wasn't hard at all....I mean, you can sit back and watch your handsome hubby put them up all the while telling him....left, right, up, no back down, right, left...perfect. I love him!

I did however change a few things from the above tutorial. Afterall, I wanted this to be affordable! We used L brackets instead of the gutter brackets. The gutter brackets were $8 for 2 sets of them. L brackets....$6 for 4 sets. I also chose not to use end caps as those ran $6 something a piece! With the supplies we used the total project cost was a little over $11. Can't beat that! Oh and I painted mine with a brown wash since the white was too much for Tanner's cowboy motif.


Tanner loves them because he can reach the shelves. I love them because they have sparked his love for reading...oh and they were oh so affordable!

cupcakes with a hunky cowboy

Tanner's class is having a Halloween party today so last night I made these yummy cupcakes. Go over to Stirred Love for the recipe. I like details....no question about it. Sometimes I even get made fun of for being so detailed but to me, details show you care. Last night while making 20 cupcakes and cutting out 20 pumpkins (because I do not have a Cricut, another example to my dear husband that it is needed) my hubby laughed and said "you're so cute cutting out your little pumpkins while threading some funky ricrac to make it look like a leaf and icing those decadent cupcakes". Okay, so maybe those weren't his exact words. Maybe it was more like "you are so cute...you just can't go buy something, can you?". He's right....I can't. Because if I were to go to the store to buy cupcakes that would come with icing that stains your teeth and a skull cupcake topper that turns into a ring. Not for me I tell ya!

While making cupcakes Tanner decided to help. Notice his tongue...it stayed out the entire stirring session.

And then he posed for one last picture all the while telling me he was sick of me taking his picture. I've got cupcakes to cook, he said. Mr. Martha....I love it.

Try these out during this fall season....you'll be glad you did.

christmas blocks

Head over to Martha Mondays to see these cute Christmas blocks. They are so simple and make a great gift.

caramel & miley...i mean hannah

It's fall y'all! Ok, so it's been fall for awhile now but last week here in Memphis we skipped fall and dove right in to winter. It was coooold! The boys and I made some scruptious caramel apples to try and warm us up one afternoon. They are so very easy (which I totally swoon over!). To add a bit of rustic charm to them I added tree branches instead of popsicle sticks for the handle. To do this, without getting nasty tree branch germs inside our apples, I sanded down the branches. Only the part that was going in the apples though. Throw some caramels into a sauce pan with a tbsp of cream and heat. Roll your apples in the mixture and then in nuts. Or no nuts if you are not a nutty person. The boys also rolled them in chocolate chips. We put them in the fridge for awhile to cool.

Then sit down, while watching Hannah Montana the Movie, with a 3 year old and enjoy. Yes, Tanner picked the movie out. Lovely, huh? I have to say...not too bad of a movie. And the dancing, in our living room, was the best! Tanner hearts Miley.

pink party hat

I'm in birthday mode. My baby is turning 4 and I want this to be a really special day for him. I don't know if it's the fact that my hubby and I have decided we are done having kids or that time has literally flown by. I am a little teary eyed thinking about him turning 4. For some reason, 4 is big to me. It's the start of growing up, getting ready for kindergarten, and learning that your mommy can't be with you all the time. Oh tears!

Ok, joyous...let me celebrate in him learning new things and get off the teary eyed psycho momma talk. Yesterday I wanted to do a test run for the party hats I'm making to see what size I needed to cut my paper. So, I just grabbed the first piece of scrap paper I saw and made my hat. I asked Tanner if I could try it on him for size and he told me I needed to finish the birthday hat so he could wear it. Being a good momma, at 8 o'clock at night...I threw some crepe paper and ribbon on it and boy...was he excited. His brother made sure to make fun of him for wearing his pink hat. Bless his heart, it didn't bother him one bit. And so much, he is wearing it again today. Even at naptime.

twenty five

On many occasions I've told you I have obsessions. One of my obsessions costs me alot of money....or should I say costs my hubby alot of money. Children's clothing. I'm Obsessed with a capital O...did you notice? Trunk shows have been my best friend when finding unique, sweet, Southern clothing for my little guys. Since the boys are almost 5 years apart, I only had about a year where I bought them both clothing from trunk shows. Now however, Tristan has grown out of it. Saves me money, right? No. He has aquired a taste for Vineyard Vines. Not the most economical line of clothing.

Anyways, I decided it was time to start pulling their summer clothes so I can store them. I knew Tanner had a lot of shorts but boy, it hit me when I saw them all stacked up. Unfortunately the picture above doesn't include all of them. Some are in the dryer. Would you like to guess how many pairs there are? 25. Yes people...25. I don't even own 25 bottoms much less just shorts.

After I saw it all, the money popped right into my mind. The money I've spent. Oh, I can't even go there. Seeing this just gets me excited because I am now a sewer trying to make the things I love so much with my own hands. I've gotten frustrated with the bobbin/thread/needles on my sewing machine but I am learning. It feels like such a great accomplishment...until your little one wears pants that you made and splits the seat. Yes, one of the first pairs of pants I made is ruined. I'm blaming it on the fabric. Sometimes cheap fabric is just that...cheap. Oh well, at least Tanner has a breeze.

chalkcloth opinions

Calling all my crafty friends....have you used chalkcloth before? I am wanting to make placemats for party favors that will be used by children. I need about 20 of them and am trying to see if buying vinyl placemats and painting them with chalkboard paint would be cheaper and easier than sewing chalkcloth and fabric into a placemat. It would certainly be cute but is it a pain? It seems kind of expensive. What do you think?

fabric pumpkins

I got this great idea from Rachel over at A Little Bit Vintage. It was seriously the easiest project ever. For the tutorial, click here. I did all different sizes and shapes by cutting the toliet paper rolls at differing heights and using less or more shopping bags. I think some really funky fabric would be cute too!

teton trek

Here in Memphis we have a really great zoo! After we were fever free for 24 hrs we decided to make the track out to the zoo. It was a gorgeous day and boy...was I happy to leave the confines of my home.

They have built this huge log cabin where you can go out on the porch and sit in the rocking chairs, watch educational videos about the animals in the exhibit, and view the beauty that really emulates nature.

Behind the boys are the "geysers" and the cabin.

Grizzly Bears

View of where the bears roam.

Tanner did not want to leave this area. He loved just
watching the waterfall.

If you are in the Memphis area and haven't seen it...go!

enough already!

It has been one of those weeks. A week that I want to erase from my ever.so.loving. memory. Last night I told my hubby that I've reached my limit this week. He so quickly and loving reminded me that there were two more days. Heck!

It all started last Friday...with...the...dreaded...FLU. Last weekend we had one of those jam packed, 100 million things to do weekend and don't you know...Tanner caught the flu. Tamiflu we started and wiped most of our weekend clear. Tanner decided to share in his run mommy to get jello, sprite, gatorade, chicken noodle soup, tissues, motrin, vicks, movies, toys, games germs to Tristan on Saturday. My thought was great...at least we will get it over in one fellow swoop. Tristan however decided to get the flu really, really bad. Yacking and all. Me + yacking= more yacking. Plain, simple.

Then the week just slid down the drain from there. Cleaning, coughing, car trouble, other car tire trouble, kid off adhd meds bouncing off the wall, no school, hives...the list goes on. I don't want to bore you and make you feel sorry for me.

In all this glorious time I had ample opportunity to feed a new addiction. Applique time!

Monster madness. Tanner is into all things scary without having to be scared.

Does that make sense? Ha, one of those hard to explain things.

This is his pumpkin monster...or so he says.

FINALLY finished the car applique.

T applique to go with his aqua pants that my mom

says are girlie. Go on...leave that comment for me, mom.

"Oh Chrimas Tree! Oh Chrimas Tree...

How lovely are youuuu branches?"
This is how Tanner sings it so we

can not break tradition.

Polka dots + curly headed boy=lots of

"what a cute little girl" comments

an afternoon in the gardens