gallamore west

Organize your pantry in one hour: 5 simple steps!

2012-02-08T22:53:00.000-08:00

My pantry went from this unorganized chaos...

to this lovely organized, shelf lined beauty...

in just one hour flat today!

And that includes the time I spent lining the shelves with Contact paper.

I have to admit that I am pretty impressed with myself here so I thought I'd share how I was able to do this so quickly. Even my seven year-old said, "Oh Mom, this is beautiful!" He's the sweetest boy ever. Later I heard him open it and sing, "Hallelujah!"

1- Turn off your computer and your phone. Don't stop for one second to check your email, Facebook, text messages, voice mails {does anyone even leave voice mails anymore?} and you're well on your way to whipping through this.

2. Have a game plan before you start. Honestly, I've been wanting to re-organize that mess for a while now, but I ~~was~~ ~~a lazy procrastinator~~ waited until I found the right plastic tubs {Costco: 14 tubs for $19.99}.

I also already knew in my head what was going to work best for each shelf before I started- where the snacks for the boys are accessible for them, and where to put groups of items- pastas, baking products, breakfast foods, etc.

3. Empty one shelf at a time and wipe down the shelf with antibacterial wipes. While the shelf is drying, measure and cut your 1st sheet of liner paper. I saved the backing from the first sheet of liner paper that I cut because all of my shelves are the same size, so when I cut the next 4 sheets I didn't measure them. I just matched up the same amount of liner paper as the backing from the 1st sheet and cut it that same length.

4. Don't feel bad about getting rid of stuff. I actually feel kind of bad writing that, but seriously- we all buy things that we don't use sometimes, right? If it's never going to get used, get rid of it. I found some granola bars that we don't eat {because we pick out the chocolate chip and PB ones, and leave the raisin ones} and some microwaved bagged popcorn that we don't use {because I learned how to make my own kettle corn on the stove top and we'll never go back to microwave popcorn again} so I boxed it up for my husband to bring to his break room at work.

5. Line your shelf with shelf paper and group your items the way that you use them. For me, it works best like this:

-I put canned goods on the top shelf

{oh and hot chocolate/marshmallows too}.

-Baking products and breakfast items on the 2nd shelf.

{I was short a couple of plastic tubs- I'm definitely going back to Costco for another set of 14 soon so I can organize our bathroom supplies next!}

The 3rd shelf is where the snacks are- perfect for the boys to get their own snacks {with permission}. This is genius because I'm not a waitress after all, right?

"Mommm-mmmmy, can you bring me some goldfish?"

My boys inhale Goldfish crackers.

The 4th shelf is for dinner items/oils: Seriously, look how bare it is? I've told you about my lack of talent in the dinner department, right? I'm working on it... popcorn for dinner?

Bottom shelf: A few miscellaneous items, and bulk items from Costco that aren't being used yet.

Hope these easy tips help you conquer your pantry too!

I'm off to stare into mine again :) xoxo

I'm linking up to my favorite party places!

Burlap Wreath Giveaway Winners!

2012-02-05T13:59:00.000-08:00

Wow!!!

I'm blown away by the response and

kind words in regards to my burlap wreath giveaway!

100+ new Facebook likes in 1 week... I'm humbled.

Congratulations to the two winners of

the Burlap Wreath Giveaway

{chosen by rafflecopter.com}...

Gena Castiglione-Holden

and

Elizabeth Harrison Campbell

An email has been sent to both the winners

{with 72 hours to respond or sadly for them, a new winner will be chosen}.

I seriously wish I could send you all a burlap wreath! If you really have your heart set on one, look for an exciting Gallamore West SHOP announcement coming soon :)

xoxo

Cutest Cupids Ever! {looking back}

2012-02-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

The boys and I made these adorable footprint Cupid Valentine's Day cards last year. This was right before I really starting getting into this whole blogging stuff, but it has pretty detailed instructions on how we made these so I thought I'd share it again this year since almost all of you weren't following me when I originally posted it.

So get out that paint and start tickling your kiddos feet with a paint brush! :)

With such adorable little toesies on my boys, I just had to do a Valentine's Day craft with painted feet. Seriously, I cannot stop admiring that chubby little 3 month old cupid foot! I asked my crafty friend Alison at The Fickle Pickles {who is the Queen of painted feet crafts} how she would do a cupid. The one she did was adorable with vellum wings. I thought I had vellum but didn't and really need to get these cuties in the mail asap, so here are our wingless cupids. I made the bow and arrow from the Paper Doll Dress Up Cricut cartridge that I borrowed from my friend, Jenn. {Thanks, Jenn!}

I added a top page {font= cutie pie}. The cupids above are for Daddy so I tied them all together with ribbon and hung them on a nail begging for this cuteness!

I wrote their name and the year at the bottom of each cupid. I almost cried when I saw how big Sam's foot looks on the paper. He's only six, but it's practically a man cupid!

For the grandparents, I punched holes and tied them at the top. It's a little booklet of adorable toes... who wouldn't want that? :) We can't wait for the grandparents to open their Valentine's Day gifts!

I'm linking up at some of my favorite parties!

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Mini Hearts!

2012-01-31T21:39:00.000-08:00

These little homemade White Chocolate Peanut Butter Mini Hearts were a hit! Seriously... you should make them.

They took about 10 minutes to make, plus another 10-15 minutes to set in the fridge, and my family thought I was a professional candy maker.

{I'm also a professional at putting socks on cold little feet... yes, one of my boys told me that the other night! }

Here's what you need:

-6 squares of white melting chocolate

{I used CandiQuik, but Wilton melting candy or white choc. chips would be great too}

- 3 whole graham crackers

- 3/4 cup peanut butter

- sprinkles

-silicone heart mold trays

{I got mine in that $2.50 section at Target that's right next to the $1 Spot- it comes with 2 trays}

I was inspired to make these little cuties when I saw these PB Hearts by PeasandCrayons.com. I pinned them to my xoxo board on Pinterest and have been dreaming about them for weeks! I thought a mini version would be so sweet.

Crush your three graham crackers into fine crumbs. I use my Kitchen Aid, but if you don't have one, just throw them in a Ziploc bag, seal it up and roll over it with your rolling pin, over and over and over until finely crumbled. Add in 3/4 cup peanut butter and mix until thoroughly combined.

Set aside.

Melt 6 squares of your white chocolate in the microwave, stopping it and stirring about every 30 seconds.

Continue until completely melted.

My picture shows 4 squares, but I had to melt 2 more later {see note at the end... 1 more would've been plenty!}

Using a small spoon, fill each heart mold about 1/3 full of melted white chocolate. Scoop about 1/2 teaspoon of your graham cracker/peanut butter mixture on top of the white chocolate.

You really only need a tiny bit of the PB/graham cracker mixture since these hearts are small. If you put too much peanut butter mixture in, they'll look like this when they're done... peanut butter popping out the sides {not really a bad thing though- it just doesn't look as pretty}.

Fill the remainder of each heart with a top layer of melted white chocolate. Decorate with Valentine's Day sprinkles and pop the trays in the fridge until set, about 15 minutes.

I bagged these up for a sweet friend, but all the rest were on a plate in the kitchen and were gone so quickly!

Just a note: this was the 1st time making these so I was guessing on all of the ingredient amounts. I ended up with some extra white chocolate and lots of extra peanut butter mixture. Not wanting to waste it, I put together some quick little graham cracker/pb sandwiches and covered the tops of them with the extra white chocolate and some sprinkles. They were soooo good that I forgot to take a picture of them before gobbling them up!

I'm linking these sweeties up to my favorite link parties! xoxo

Ohhh, I'm SO excited to be starting our 14 Day Valentine's Day Countdown tomorrow for our boys! I've switched some of the ideas that I originally posted... tomorrow is "Whooo's Crazy for You?" Day. Mommy and Daddy, of course :) I hope you'll check back often to see the fun we're up too these next couple of crazy weeks!

And don't forget to enter to win one of my original handmade burlap wreaths here... it's the very FIRST one ever made for outside of our own home and I'm so excited to see where she'll be headed!

Burlap Wreath Giveaway!

2012-01-29T10:21:00.000-08:00

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!

It's been a great couple of weeks here at Gallamore West, and I'm thrilled that my Facebook page recently hit 500+ likes, so I'm celebrating with a giveaway!

You can enter for the chance to win an original, hand-made Gallamore West burlap wreath! I love, love crafting with burlap {it's kind of my thing} so I'm thrilled to have one of my readers have one of these cuties in their home.

The winner can choose either a "Simply Sweet"-- that's one of my originals, with tons of natural colored burlap rags on a straw wreath base, a neutral ribbon for hanging {no embellishments added}. Here's an example:

{an upclose look at how it looks... packed full of burlap beauty!}

~OR~

A "Little Miss Fancy"-- that's one of my originals with tons of natural colored burlap rags on a straw wreath base, a neutral ribbon for hanging, and your choice of up to 3 ribbon colors, and a paper/jute pennant banner with your choice of wording. Here's an example:

And here's just a little personal bit about me...

In the past when I've hit a milestone number on my Facebook page, I've given away something made my someone else. It's a big deal for me to give away something I made myself because it brings out all my self-confidence "issues" if you will...

What if no one likes it?

What if no one wants it?

What if no one enters to win it?

What if it's not good enough?

What if...?

So I did what I always do when I start to doubt myself... I go to my just say it board on Pinterest and read some of the uplifting quotes I've pinned.

Like these...

{lh6.ggpht.com}

{thecollegeprepster.tumblr.com}

{flickr.com}

{lovemademedoitx.blogspot.com}

{bitsotruth.blogspot.com}

{fromupnorth.com}

{weheartit.com}

{bravegirlsclub.com}

{piccsy.com}

and just like that, I feel better :)

So enter away!

I can't wait to see whose home will be the FIRST to own a Gallamore West original hand-made burlap wreath! xoxo

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winner will be announced on this blog and will have 72 hours to claim prize. If prize is not claimed within 72 hours, winner forfeits prize and a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Thank you for entering and good luck!

Valentine's Day Mantel 2012

2012-01-27T17:22:00.000-08:00

"If You're a Bird, I'm a Bird"

It's my very favorite line from my very favorite movie {The Notebook}. I even have an If You're a Bird, I'm a Bird board on Pinterest!

I love decorating with cute little birds and bird houses all year long, but I think they're especially darling for Valentine's Day.

Here's my Valentine's Day mantel for 2012...

{p.s. I hope to get a paintbrush to that hideous rock/oak combo soon! For now, imagine a beadboard mantel in Heirloom White and all those rocks a gorgeous coordinating shade of lighter/fresher neutrals, k?}

When I saw that Kelsey at Tattered and Ink made this adorable Valentine's Day printable {free for her followers!} I was so excited to incorporate it into my Valentine's Day mantel...

I bought the bird houses from Michael's for $1 each, painted them, put them on pedestals I put together and added a burlap ribbon... because if you know me, you know I LOVE to incorporate burlap into just about everything I make.

Hmmm... wonder if my hubs would like some burlap sheets?! :)

And I cut this quick little burlap banner and added on little hearts {the center of a white doily with the center of a red doily taped together} on each pennant, strung together with ribbon I bought on clearance after Valentine's Day last year...

I painted the wood blocks and added another one of my favorite quotes in vinyl {I tried to paint the letters, but it was a major fail so I flipped the blocks over and did vinyl instead!}

And that adorable, vintage, shabby chic birdhouse... it was actually brand new from Michael's {used my coupon} and painted it a quick coat of white paint to look aged. And those cute little white love birds in it are actually our salt & pepper shakers {a genius idea from my 4 year old!}

Sitting on the hearth is the cutest pillow cover ever, from Shabby by Melissa. She's a sweetheart too... a lucky Gallamore West reader just won one of her adorable pillow covers last week!

Besides the fact that the mantel itself is dreadfully outdated with it's colors, another challenge is that the fireplace is in a corner so the mantel goes around on the side too. Here's what I put on the side... my red burlap bubble wreath and some sweets, of course!

Happy Valentine's Day from Gallamore West!

I'm linking up my Love Birds Valentine's Day mantel here...

and at these fun link parties!

Why we celebrate so much {including Chinese New Year}

2012-01-24T10:59:00.000-08:00

Gong Hey Fat Choy!

{That's Happy New Year in Chinese. I googled it- it's spelled a million different ways}

It's no secret that we celebrate just about every holiday here, national "whatever" day it is {did you know that today is National Peanut Butter Day? Oh yeah, you can bet we're celebrating that one here! }

Some people might call it over the top that we celebrate so much here, but I assure you that it's really not. On a *very* small budget, we celebrate so much in our house because these celebrations are all about making memories with our kids.

When our boys grow up, if I hear them tell a single story to their kids about our silly traditions, I'll be a proud Mama. If I see them re-create one of our fun celebrations with their kids, I'll be over the moon and cry happy tears.

I used to be in MOPS {Mothers of Preschoolers}, a fabulous organization that reaches out to Moms with little ones, encouraging them, inspiring them, and lifting up these Moms. I remember one guest speaker in particular who talked about making memories with her family and that stuck with me. She talked about having a pirate dinner night where the food was nothing out of the ordinary, but by wearing silly eye patches, eating on pirate themed party plates, and talking like pirates it transformed their ordinary weekday dinner into something magical. And that is the kind of Mom I knew I already was, but thanks to her I realized that it wasn't about just being silly... it was about creating lifelong memories and family connections through these fun little celebrations.

On a budget of about $20, we had a fabulous Chinese New Year celebration last night that included decorations {some that will stay up for Valentine's Day because I purposely bought plain red rather than the decorations with Chinese characters on them}, special napkins and chopsticks, fortune cookies, dragon cupcakes, and party favors for the boys.

Our dinner was something already on the menu for the week {orange chicken, rice, and salad} so I'm not including that in my $20 total because we would've eaten dinner anyway :)

Red balloons were hung to look like lanterns {leftover from a previous party and will stay up for Valentine's Day}

{Fortune cookies from Target that I dipped in chocolate and red sprinkles that were also leftover from another party... these were so good with the chocolate!}

Our table set-up... I've had the red placements for years, bought the red paper plates, napkins, and chopsticks. The cake stand is new- it's white like most of our dishes so I can use them for many different occasions, and the boys helped decorate with plastic pandas from their toys. The takeout boxes had an orange from our backyard and some chocolate gold coins, both symbols of good luck for Chinese New Year.

I made the dragon cupcakes from a boxed cake mix and frosted them myself. The boys loved them! The idea is from Hoosier Homemade.

Place settings also included real glasses {a rare treat for these boys} with cherry 7-up, a *very* rare treat here! We went around the table and said our goals for the new year and toasted our 7-up.

Cheers! Here are our goals for 2012...

Sam: To learn Karate and Science

Jake: To make great train tracks

Ben: To spend more time doing fun things with us

Me: To have more balance in my life and be better at making dinner

Luke: To continue being the cutest little guy in the world {he'll have some competition come May when his baby brother arrives!}

Ignore that Valentine's Day ribbon on the cake stand... I didn't bother changing it because 1- it was red, and 2- I knew no one besides me would even notice it.

We drew names to see who got to eat the dragon head... Jake won and then decided it had too much frosting :)

I loved this fortune...

For me, life isn't always what I've thought it would be like when I was growing up. As our kids grow up, they will realize that more and more too. Having a strong family unit and fun memories to reflect on will surely help them realize how important they are and how loved they are. I believe it will help them "ride with the waves." And sometimes, even though life doesn't go the way we think it will, sometimes it's even better than we imagined. "Smooth seas lie ahead."

Ohhh, and after dinner we watched a Kung Fu Karate show in the family room {courtesy of Sam and Jake} followed by a family game night of Ker-Plunk. Jake is the funniest because he thinks the goal is to make the MOST marbles fall.

What family traditions are most important to you and your family?

Any fun, different traditions that you

celebrate with your kids?

I would LOVE to read about them! Feel free to leave a comment or a link to a blog post... I'd love to stop by your blog and check it out.

xoxo

Red Burlap Bubble Wreath

2012-01-23T11:17:00.000-08:00

I love making wreaths, especially with burlap. It's like therapy for me somehow. So when I found RED burlap recently, I was thrilled and quickly made two red Valentine's Day wreaths that same day I bought the burlap.

I kind of ran out of burlap on this one because I still need to add some "bubbles" on the sides, but I couldn't wait any longer to show it to you, so here she is... my version of a Bubble Burlap Wreath!

Hopefully will make it back to Jo Ann's to buy more soon

{raise your hand if you wish Target sold more craft supplies... 2 hands up here!}

My inspiration came from this bubble burlap wreath from Today's Fabulous Finds that's been around blog land and pinned a gazillion times, so I searched for the tutorial and followed it.

For mine, I added a little pennant banner on kraft card stock glued on to jute that says "LOVE"

The font is Circus, a free download on dafont.com.. {Every time I type dafont, I think it should be called daBOMB... even though I don't actually say that, I think dafont.com is really just THAT cool.}

And in case you missed it, here's the other Valentine's Day wreath I made with my red burlap {with tutorial}.

Oh, and here's the burlap wreath that started my burlap wreath obsession {cute boy's head not included}.

And here is that same original one dressed up for Jake's Red Scooter Birthday Party. I saw it pinned as a "4th of July wreath" and that got my wheels spinning on all the different ways I could use this baby!

And here's another one that I added seashells to for our Beachy Sun Room.

See what I mean? I love making these little cuties. I love when I find other bloggers that love making them too! We should start a burlap support group :)

Love is in the air here with RED burlap wreaths,

and I'm sharing it at these fabulous Link Parties!

Happy Saturday... and a giveaway winner!!

2012-01-21T09:46:00.000-08:00

Happy Saturday!

I was out and about playing with my boys at the zoo yesterday, acting like monkeys and hanging out with lions

so I'm a little late announcing the winner of the

Shabby by Melissa giveaway winner...

Congratulations to Emilie!! You're the winner :)

An email has been sent and Emilie has 72 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

Thank you to all who entered and a big thank you to Melissa @ Shabby by Melissa!! I adore her creations and I hope you'll keep her in mind for adorable, handmade items.

Also, thank you so much to all of you following Gallamore West! Seeing my number of followers here on the blog and on my Facebook page JUMP the last few weeks has been so exciting for me... I'm truly grateful to have each one of you here following along. Have a great weekend!

xoxo

A cold morning conversation

2012-01-19T12:33:00.000-08:00

It was super cold this morning

{super cold for San Diego= 37 degrees this morning... brrrr!!!}

so Luke was bundled up and this was the conversation with his biggest brother Sam {he's 7}...

"Oh my goodness M-O-M..."

{because when you're 7 you spell M-O-M instead of saying Mommy or even Mom anymore}

"He is soooo cute I could cry!"

"I mean, he is soooo cute I could just eat him up!"

"I mean, not seriously.... you know?"

"Yeah Buddy, I know."

And then it warmed up to 70 degrees and off came the hat!

I hope wherever you are, sunny or snowy, that you have a great day and find a sweet little moment to enjoy today.

xoxo,

Laurie

p.s. I should clean Luke's chair :)

Chocolate Cherry Whoopie Pies

2012-01-17T14:16:00.000-08:00

There are so many delicious looking Valentine's Day recipes floating around blogs and Pinterest lately. Here's one that I came up with yesterday while my boys were home for the MLK Jr. Holiday...

After pinning these cupcakes from Glorious Treats via The Tomkat Studio to my xoxo board...

And seeing these strawberry "oreo" sandwich cookies from Thirty Handmade Days around blogland...

I came up with my Chocolate Cherry Whoopie Pies because I loved the ingredients for the cupcakes and the look of the sandwich cookies.

Here's how I made them:

Have you ever made cookies from a cake mix? It's SO easy! Just mix the dry cake mix {any flavor you choose} with 2 eggs and 1 stick of softened butter.

Your cookie batter will come out stiff like this...

Preheat oven to 350 degrees... then roll cookies into small balls, one at a time and drop them onto your parchment lined cookie sheet {I was out of parchment so you'll have to see my well-used cookie sheets}

Once on the cookie sheet, shape it into a heart {this was the hardest part because the dough is very sticky, but just do your best... you'll be able to fix them a little bit when they first come out of the oven}

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until they are no longer doughy on top, but not browned on the edges. When mine came out they didn't look much like hearts anymore...

So while they were still hot, I gently used a butter knife to push the center of the cookie back into a heart shape like this...

Transfer cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

While they're cooling, make your frosting... by the way this made WAY more than plenty, you could probably just make 1/2 of this...

2 sticks softened butter

4 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3-4 tablespoons cherry juice from your jar of maraschino cherries

15 or so maraschino cherries, chopped into small pieces

Make sure you wear an apron or just not your favorite shirt while chopping those cherries... they're juicy!

Your frosting will look like this... a pretty pink color without having to add any food coloring, thanks to those cherries.

I used my piping thingy {I think it's called a Decorator Pro?} but a butter knife would work fine too...

Pipe {or spread} your frosting onto one cookie, on the bottom of the cookie like this...

Place another cookie, bottom side in touching the frosting to make a little sandwich...

And ta-da... simple and delicious semi-homemade

Chocolate Cherry Whoopie Pies!

p.s. Don't they look pretty on my new cake stand from Costco???

If you have a Costco nearby and a cake stand collection like me,

you'll want to get these too... just $19.99 for 2 gorgeous cake stands!

I'm linking up to some of my favorite places!

Valentine's Day Giveaway!

2012-01-13T09:24:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited about hosting a special Valentine's Day Giveaway here at Gallamore West! In the past I've only done giveaways when I hit a milestone number on my blog or on Facebook, but since I love Valentine's Day so much, this is a perfect giveaway.

You have the chance to win a Shabby by Melissa original Valentine's Day pillow cover! There are three designs for the winner to choose one from:

Shabby String of Hearts

Rustic Lovebird

Rustic Lovebirds

I had the pleasure of ordering a Christmas pillow cover from Shabby by Melissa- it was the cutest thing ever, and her customer service is amazing!

Here's how to enter to win one of these adorable pillow covers... you can do any or all three of the entries, but please leave a separate comment for each thing that you do {it increases your chances of winning}!

*Giveaway is open to followers of Gallamore West only, so please follow my blog via Google Friend Connect before entering*

1. Follow Shabby by Melissa on Facebook {and leave a comment here letting me know you did}

2. Favorite Shabby by Melissa on Etsy {and leave a comment here letting me know you did}

3. Share this giveaway on your Facebook page {and leave a comment here with a link back to your post}

Thank you so much to Melissa at Shabby by Melissa

for sponsoring this giveaway!

That's it... three easy-peasy ways to enter to win! Contest ends on Friday, January 20th at 12:00 PM PST. Entries received after 12:00 PM PST will not count. Winner will be chosen via random.org and announced here on this blog. Please leave a visible email address with your entries as well if your email address isn't linked to your blog. Winner will have 72 hours to claim prize. If prize is not claimed within 72 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

Red Burlap Heart Wreath Tutorial

2012-01-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

Burlap is my #1 go-to craft item these days, so I literally gasped when I saw RED burlap at Jo Ann's the other day. I bought all that was left from the bolt {about a yard and a half} thinking it would be plenty. I used it all that same day and need to go back for more already! Here's what I made with half of it... this "accordian" style red burlap heart wreath.

It was very easy and inexpensive to make. The only supplies were the hanger, red burlap, wire bending tool {what in the world is that thing called?}, and ribbon for hanging.

I pulled and twisted a wire hanger until it was in the rough shape of a heart...

cut the burlap into loooooooong strips, about an inch and a half wide and really long {sorry, I didn't actually measure}

Then I just folded them back and forth, while piercing each piece of the burlap onto the end of the wire hanger.

And I just kept going and going, back and forth until one side was filled with these gorgeous folds of red burlap. Then just repeat on the other side, trim the edges that appear too shabby {I love shabby, but it was a mess when I first finished!}, fluff it up and add a ribbon to hang. I'm loving jute these days so I added this jute webbing with red on it for my ribbon.

Here she is hanging from an old shutter I found at a local antique shop, along with my old framed sheet of music {by the way, I love that thing. It's from an old Spanish monastery and was given to us by my in-laws. And I have no idea what it says.}

Those adorable little mailboxes {from the $1 section at Target and I added red vinyl to them} will be used during our Valentine's Day Countdown starting on February 1st. They're perched on top of handmade cupcake stands made for me by my friend Jen at Twiddler House.

Also on the piano {that I really should dust more often... oops} is this Valentine's Day print from Beth Proudfoot and that sweet little bird tiered dish that holds some heart candy. I love that candy dish, even though it's really supposed to be a jewelry holder :)

I have a few more Valentine's Day posts coming up {I know I'm early here, but I LOVE Valentine's Day and once we get going on our Valentine's Day Countdown starting on February 1st I'll be posting some of those crafts/activities/sweet treats then!}

But be sure to check back tomorrow for a special Valentine's Day giveaway from one of my very favorite Etsy sellers!! I would love for you to follow me on Facebook or here on this blog via Google Friend Connect {on the right side of this page} so you don't forget to come back tomorrow! xoxo

Valentine's Day Countdown Calendar!

2012-01-11T13:02:00.000-08:00

I told you the other day that I LOVE Valentine's Day, right?! It's over a month away still, but we're ready for it here already. This year instead of trying to squish a ton of stuff into one day, we're spreading out the love over the weeks of February leading up to the 14th by doing a Valentine's Day Countdown Calendar!

This huge vintage chalkboard that I found from an adorable new little craft boutique {stitched.} was a bargain at just $22 and I'm loving it. I already used it for our Christmas Countdown Calendar and it's all ready to go for the Day of Love now too.

I used "Chalk Ink" pens to write because I'm horrible at writing with real chalk. Those pens are amazing!

Then I just cut out some little hearts on my Silhouette and clipped them onto a piece of jute wrapped onto the chalkboard. Some of the little hearts are flipping around so I taped them down {and they're still flipping around... oh well!}

Every day starting on February 1st and leading up to February 14th, each heart will have something written on the back- a fun activity, craft, special treat, love note, heart shaped meal... and more!

Here are the things I'm planning on for our 14 day Valentine's Day Countdown {The order of these activities will change around for sure because I'll probably write the next day's activity on the back of the heart the night before once I decide if that activity, craft, meal or whatever will actually work into our schedule for the next day...}

#1: Enjoy Valentine's Day Chex Mix while listening to one of their favorite Valentine's Day books

{photo via my xoxo board on Pinterest}

#2: Make Valentines to send in the mail to grandparents. Here's what we made last year... I love looking at Luke's little Cupid foot. We made one for Daddy too, and it's already hanging on our wall this year.

#3: Surprise someone special with flowers, like their teacher, classroom helper, or Mom :). We're fortunate to have gorgeous pink and white flowers blooming in our front yard... not peonies like this, but still very pretty.

{photo via my pretty in pink board on Pinterest}

#4: Surprise neighbors with a little treat... maybe something sweet like these cupcakes topped with heart shaped brownies that we made last year.

#5: We're going to make a hanging heart birdseed craft to hang from our trees.

{photo via my xoxo board on Pinterest}

#6: A special little treat with a heart shaped chipboard mini book I'm making for them will be waiting in their mailboxes.

#7: A special dessert, like maybe these peanut butter blossoms with heart shaped Reese's on top like we made and loved last year.

#8: Decorate sugar cookies

{using my very favorite sugar cookie recipe!}

#9: Make "Love Shacks" like these we made last year.

{Look at that crazy sugar-filled smile!}

#10: Surprise the boys with a heart-shaped lunch, something like this adorable lunch...

{photo via my xoxo board on Pinterest}

#11: A special heart shaped breakfast on a weekend day before Valentine's Day {since the actual day is on a Tuesday and that's one of our early mornings here, there's no way we'd have time for a fun breakfast that day!} I'm thinking the menu will have some goodies like this on it...

{these 3 breakfast photos with sources can be found on my xoxo board on Pinterest}

#12: Make Valentines together to hand out to classmates. Here's what we made last year... we're still deciding on what to make this year!

{idea from Seasonal Expressions}

{printable from How Does She?}

#13: You've Got Mail!
Mailboxes will be filled with love notes from Mommy and Daddy, along with lots of little sweets. I'll post a separate post about my piano decorations soon, including instructions to make your red heart burlap wreath... I'm in love with it!

#14: It's Valentine's Day!!!
This day will be filled with goodies and sweets, along with our annual quiet, romantic dinner for 5 {minus the quiet, romantic part!} We also give the boys a gift, festively wrapped, each year on Valentine's Day.

{photo via my it's a wrap board on Pinterest}

Whew!! I told you we love Valentine's Day around here, right? EVERY morning already my boys are asking if there is something waiting for them in their mailboxes. We're excited to get started here on February 1st!

I'm hoping by listing out our 14 activities here that I will be much better about actually doing them than I ended up doing with our Christmas Countdown... oops! I'd love to see your ideas and decorations for Valentine's Day too. Feel free to leave a comment with a link to your blog! xoxo

I'm linking up to some of my favorite places!

I {heart} Valentine's Day!

2012-01-09T09:39:00.000-08:00

It's official... Valentine's Day is my favorite. I'm pretty sure I say that about EVERY holiday, but there is just something special about Valentine's Day. I love that it isn't crowded by other holidays and it's months away from any birthdays in our family too, which means my brain can focus on this one special day without thoughts of rushing off to the next holiday.

I'm already busy crafting away on special projects that I can't wait to share with you soon {I'll share them all once they're completed} but for now, here's a look back at some of our Valentine's Day fun from the past few years.

Idea from Seasonal Expressions

Printable from How Does She?

Free printables from Magnolia Creative Company on Catch My Party

For the past few years, the boys and I have hosted a little Valentine's Day party for them and their little buddies. This year we hosted a little Christmas party instead {but ALL of the pictures accidentally got deleted before I got them off of the camera... yes, I cried a little} so I'm skipping the party this year and going to focus on some fun, quality family time activities instead.

Here's a little peak at what I'm pretty sure is going to be a big hit with the boys... a Valentine's Day countdown calendar!

I can't wait to share our Valentine's Day activities and crafts soon! I'd LOVE to see your Valentine's Day activities, crafts, food, ideas... anything! Leave me a comment with your link and I'll come check out your blog too! xoxo

I'm linking up to some of my favorite places!

Organized Craft Corner for a small space!

2012-01-06T12:06:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to show you all {finally} my little "Craft Corner!" At our other house I had a whole Craft Room, so I was anxious about how to consolidate all of my supplies into one corner when we moved here this summer.

I use this area for EVERYTHING from paying our bills, blogging, crafting, and supervising our kiddos {the other half of this room is the boy's playroom!}

I love the area above the desk where I have easy access to all kinds of supplies, while having inspiring quotes to keep me going when I feel like being grouchy :)

Quotes are from Sprik Space, Target, Mom & Wife, Kiki Creates, and myself. Galvanized tin storage is from Ikea.

Between the desk is a boring little file cabinet, but it's in the corner mostly out of view and it's there because it also acts as a table for the printer.

It also holds a tiered wrought iron basket that holds all of my rubber stamps and stamp pads.

The main part of my Craft Corner is this HUGE TV/Media Cabinet that we already had and weren't using {purchased from a Pier 1 Clearance Store about 7 years ago} to store all of my supplies.

By adding two inexpensive shelves from Target, I was able put that huge "TV" area to maximum use while keeping it organized.

I used wooden crates that I bought at Harry & David years ago for 97 cents each {yes, I did buy every single one they had!} and made labels to keep the crates organized.

I took advantage of all the space on the inside of the doors by converting them to bulletin boards where I can quickly pin up ideas for my blog, crafting supplies I have my eye on, pretty things {thank you, Allison!} and project ideas.

I also took advantage of the space on top of the cabinet by filling old formula cans that I covered in burlap and ribbon with more crafting supplies. My favorite cake stand holds containers of paper straws leftover from parties and cupcake liners {and I love those adorable little cupcakes stands- thanks, Jen!}

See that little scooter by the straws? I love that little thing because it reminds me of Jake's Scooter Party, which was one of my favorite parties I've hosted to date.

The best part is that the doors on the cabinet close so that all of my goodies are very easily accessible to me, but hidden from view by just closing the doors! And since my Craft Corner is in a highly visible area in our home, that is a MUST.

Here is the entire area... there are so many crafting supplies neatly stored out of view in this picture!

And directly across the room behind the computer desk, I have all of my ribbon organized {along with glitter, paint, other crafting supplies, and ummm... more glitter!} right above my sewing machine. My husband had that little black table that the sewing machine is on in the pile to go to the curb for trash when we moved, but I saved it from it's oak-like plywood by spray-painting it black. It's special to me because it belonged to my grandmother {and it was also originally for a TV like my craft cabinet}.

I never imagined I would love this area as much as I do, but I have to admit that I love it MUCH more than I loved having a whole Craft Room, which always felt so shut off from the rest of our house. Now I can craft away {or blog or pin or whatever} while keeping an eye on my kiddos.

Thanks for checking out my Craft Corner! I'd love to hear what you think of it, and if you have a Craft Area, I'd love to check out yours too. You can leave a link in the comments section and I'll stop by your blog!

Have a great weekend!

xo

I'm linking up here!

Democracy for Dinner!

2012-01-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012!!!

I'm so thankful for each of you who follow this blog, leave sweet comments, and make my day all the time :) I'm excited for all that 2012 has in store... most importantly the upcoming arrival of our fourth and final baby boy! And here is something I am super excited about too..

* * *

Democracy for Dinner was by far one of my most favorite things I've done with my boys. On Election Day in 2008, I made a Special Election Ballot for my then two little guys to vote on what they wanted to eat and drink for dinner while watching the election results.

Even though they were super young, my then 3 year old has remembered who our President is ever since that dinner, and he learned a little about the election process while having so much fun!

Since the opportunity to do this only presents itself once every four years, I'm showing it to you nice and early in this Presidential Election year!

First we decorated a little for the special day...

I made a Special Election Ballot with two choices for each category: main dish, vegetable, drink and dessert.

Sam got to vote for one in each category, except for the dessert category where both "candidates" were voted into our bellies :)

Here is his completed ballot...

Excuse the blurry old picture... once his selections were made, he got a special "I voted" sticker {oh, and how cute is it that he chose to dress in his "Daddy work clothes" for this special event?!}

Then we got to work making our main dish dinner winner, Presidential Pizza.

I cut the pepperoni into little stars using a cookie cutter.

For the Bipartisan Salad, half was covered in cheese and the other half was covered in bacon, with a clear division right down the middle, just like Congress.

The desserts were a tie so we ate both!

I loved, loved doing this with my boys! I chose food options to vote on that we already had the ingredients on hand to make, and the decorations were all made from supplies on hand, so this cost us nothing really to do, but the memories from it are priceless.

Now that our boys are older and will surely understand more, I am so excited for later this year when it's time for this year's Democracy for Dinner!

Merry Christmas 2011!

2011-12-24T23:07:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating, filled with family, friends, food, and time to reflect on all of your blessings.

Christmas always seems to fly by in the blink of an eye, doesn't it? It's been quiet around here on my blog because I've been busy trying to soak it all in.

Just yesterday my boys looked like this...

Now these two look like this...

Plus they now have a little brother

who squirmed away from the camera...

and another little brother squirming away inside my belly!

Don't you wish you could just slow down time? Yeah, me too. But since I can't, I'm trying to soak in all the memories I can with these sweet guys. I cannot wait to see the excitement in their eyes and their cute little squeals when they see what Santa brought them!

Merry Christmas everyone!! xoxo

Rudolph Cake Pops!

2011-12-16T19:25:00.000-08:00

When I saw Rudolph cake pops on Pinterest, I knew I wanted to make them for my son's 1st grade classmates!

I thought they came out pretty cute :) I attached a little tag from The Tomkat Studio {it was a free download last Christmas and I still had some...perfect!}

Here's how I make my cake pops:

1 box Betty Crocker cake mix

2 spoonfuls frosting

1 box Wilton candy melts

For these Rudolphs, I also used a small batch of royal icing for the eyes, and mini m&ms for the noses.

Bake the cake as directed in a 9x13 pan. Let cool completely. Crumble it with a fork and stir in a couple spoonfuls of frosting. Form into a big ball {it should stay in a ball, but not be too mushy}.

Roll into 1-inch balls and place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Once you've made all your balls, freeze for about 10 minutes. Melt your candy melts and dip one lollipop stick in your melted chocolate, just about a half-inch or so, then stick it into a cake ball. Repeat with all of the balls. I put them back in the freezer for a few minutes here because if they're too soft, they'll fall right off the sticks when you dip them. Once hard again, dip one ball in the chocolate, tap it gently on the side of the chocolate bowl to remove excess. If using m&ms, put it on right away. Royal icing can be used for decorating once the cake pop is dry.

Note: I used to use a very popular recipe that calls for an entire can of frosting, but my cake pops were a mushy mess. Just a couple of spoonfuls of frosting with a moist cake is plenty! :)

I'm linking up to tatertots & jello!

Salt Dough Christmas ornaments

2011-12-16T19:04:00.000-08:00

My boys and I made Salt Dough Christmas ornaments recently. We made some for Valentine's Day and loved it, so we were excited to make them again. We made snowflakes, and the boys chose their favorite shapes, plus they made a few initial ornaments for the boy's cousins that they're exchanging gifts with this year.

Salt dough ornaments are one of our favorite crafts around here because they are fun, easy and inexpensive to make! Here's the recipe I use:

Salt Dough Ornaments

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1/ cup warm water

Combine all ingredients in Kitchen Aid and mix with bread hook until well-combined. Knead in mixer for about 5-7 minutes until a smooth ball forms. Sprinkle counter and rolling pin with flour generously, then roll it out and use your favorite cookie cutters to shape. Use a plastic straw to poke holes for threading ribbon later. Bake in preheated 250 degree oven for 2-3 hours, until hard but not browned. Once cooled, paint and glitter your heart out! :)

I'm linking up to tatertots and jello!

December...

2011-12-11T21:21:00.000-08:00

in San Diego.

There's nowhere else we would rather be!

Easiest Christmas Toffee!

2011-12-09T09:50:00.001-08:00

Long before it was pinned like mad on Pinterest, my sweet friend Melanie made this "toffee" and I went crazy for it! It is so delicious, and also happens to be one of the easiest and least expensive Christmas treats out there. I made some for a friend last night and sure enough, it got rave reviews.

Saltine Cracker "Toffee"

It's almost embarrassing how easy this is...

Ingredients:

About 1 and 1/2 sleeves of Saltine crackers

2 sticks butter {I used one stick salted and one unsalted}

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips {although next time I think I'd use 1 and 1/2 cups of milk chocolate chips instead}

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a jelly roll pan {cookie sheet with 1 inch sides... it's GOT to have sides!} with foil and spray generously with non-stick spray. Cover entire sheet with a layer of Saltine crackers; set aside. Bring butter and brown sugar to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour over crackers, spreading to coat. Bake for 5 minutes {it gets all gooey and bubbly}. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Wait about 5 minutes and then spread the melted chocolate chips to cover the whole pan {I popped mine back in the oven for a couple of minutes to melt them quicker}. Cool completely, then break into pieces and try not to eat it all yourself!

I'm linking up here! :)

Christmas Trees: A Link Party!

2011-12-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

Last week was my 1st Link Party I've hosted and it was so fun to see some great Advent Calendars out there... so many different ways to make them (or even store-bought ones) and I love seeing what activities and goodies they're filled with! I honestly was hoping that if maybe 5 people linked up, that would be a success so I was thrilled to see more than 5. Thank you to everyone who took the time to link up!

This week we're linking up Christmas trees.

To start, let me say that I seriously should NOT be showing your our tree this year because it's hideous! :)

I used to have a fancy tree- a "Department store tree"- full of beautiful, shiny, color-coordinated ornaments. And I loved it {even if the star wasn't straight in any of these pictures!}

2007

2008

2009

Where, oh where is our 2010 picture? I have no idea :(

But as our boys starting going to preschool, they were so proud of their handmade ornaments they brought home and I love seeing their excitement as they decorated the tree with their gorgeous creations.

So now our tree is a complete ~~mess~~ hod-podge of homemade ornaments, broken garland and our ornaments are all slowly making their way UP the tree {because a 1-year old and Christmas trees are a lovely combination, right?!}

These "elves" love to decorate the tree and seeing them admire their work is precious.

So I tell them it's beautiful and I don't move a single ornament, except for moving them up higher to save them from Luke. Even though Jake pointed to a big clump of ornaments bunched together the other day and said, "Look, there's a candy cane party over here!"

But if I didn't let the boys put up their handmade ornaments, we wouldn't get to smile every time we see this little fish. Jake made it when he was in the Ocean Room at preschool last year, and it's my favorite ornament on the tree.

You know your tree is sad looking when your Elf toilet papers it and it actually improves its appearance :)

Soooo, on that note... show me your beautiful tree and/or some of your favorite ornaments, tree from past years, whatever you'd like really :) The party will be open for a week... next week we'll show our mantles and/or favorite shelf and tabletop decorations!

Have a GREAT weekend!

xo,

Laurie :)

Our Elf on the Shelf Adventures: Part 1

2011-12-05T09:26:00.000-08:00

Do you have an Elf on the Shelf?

This is the first year that Senor Elfie has come to our house, and ohhhh, do the boys love him!!

Here's what Senor Elfie has been up to so far this season...

{day 1: He showed up at a special breakfast!}

{day 2; Senor Elfie loves to read Christmas stories}

{day 3: Oh, Senor Elfie! He toilet papered our tree!}

{day 4: Senor Elfie was driving Santa's sleigh pulled by reindeer}

{day 5: Senor Elfie made chocolate chip cookies, but was so busy sneaking chocolate chips that he burned some cookies... lucky boys had cookies for breakfast!}

{day 6: Senor Elfie was keeping watch over Baby Jesus and the manger}

{day 7: Senor Elfie was eating popcorn and m&ms while watching his favorite movie. What's his favorite movie? Elf, of course!}

What has your Elf been up to? Leave a comment or you can link to a post on your Elf! :)

And thank you to those of you who have linked up your Advent Calendars... it's still open if you'd like to link up. This Thursday will be Christmas trees & favorite decorations!

Advent Calendars & Favorite Traditions {A Link Party!}

2011-11-30T22:47:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my 1st Link Party! I'm super excited that you're here... long or short, lots of photos or just one, I'd love to have you link up at the bottom of this post!
{p.s. Next week will be all about Christmas Trees!}
* * * * *

I love Christmas Time... I mean L.O.V.E. it.

the lights...

the sweets...

the celebrations...

the decorations...

the food...

the anticipation...

the gifts our boys pick out for us from their Christmas shop at school...

the traditions, old and new...

and of course, the real reason for the season.

Luckily for me, I have three little boys who L.O.V.E. it all just as much as me {and one Grinch of a Hubs... seriously, I bought him a Ba-Humbug shirt one year. He wears it to hang our lights outside! But he's a pretty good sport.}

And since one of my most important goals as a Mama is to fill my boys with traditions that remind them of who they are and how loved they are in our family, I eat up every second of the season enjoying the magic of the holidays through the eyes of my boys. I also eat up every last bit of fudge, but that's another story.

One of our favorite traditions for the past few years has been our Advent Calendar. But since the month of December is packed full of sweets every day, try not to give them more candy "just because." So I fill our Advent Calendar with slips of paper that list different family activities for each day of the month.

In past years I've used a store-bought Advent "Chalet" with cute little doors, but this year I wanted to switch it up so I made my own {printable numbers from The Crafting Chicks taped onto letter-sized envelopes cut in half then turned sideways like a little pocket, and a little slip of paper tied with a ribbon inside of each for the daily activity to be written on... I don't write them ahead of time because I sometimes change up the plan depending on how our day is going. I wrapped twine around the chalkboard and used mini clothespins and double-sided tape to attach the daily envelopes}

{I LOVE our "new" vintage chalkboard... such a fabulous find recently from the brand new shop Stitched. for just $22 and it's HUGE,but I should've tried harder to erase Sam's writing on it before taking these pictures... whooooops}

Here's some of our favorite advent activities...

Family movie night {which basically means we watch Elf... over and over and over... and even in July, long past "the season" has ended}. Here are my own little elves.

Making and decorating sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies...

Doing Christmas crafts...

Going somewhere fun like Knott's Berry Farm...

{2010}

Or Jungle Bells at the Zoo...

{2008}

Or sometimes even a fun family vacation, like the time we went to Yosemite...

{2007}

Or to the Polar Express by the Grand Canyon...

We were totally that family who ALL wore matching pajamas... what was I thinking?!

{2008}

Our boys wearing cute new pajamas that they get to open every year on December 1st

{on the 2nd this year, darn you UPS!}

{2009}

Making gingerbread houses

{2007}

And one of my very favorite traditions... driving around looking at Christmas lights. Every year we vote on our favorite house, then leave that family a treat on their doorstep with a note telling them that our kids voted their house as the BEST of the neighborhood! Seriously, how fun would that be to get something like that after all that hard work that goes into putting up those decorations? Before we moved, this was our favorite house {mostly because they had a really cool train track set up in the garage that the boys LOVED}.

{2010}

I can't wait to see which house our boys choose this year now that we've moved!

Oh, and sometimes I guess I DO give them a little bit of chocolate!

{Sam in 2005}

I would love to see your Advent Calendar, and read about some of the fun activities you do to celebrate Christmas. As you can see, we're definitely a "celebrate it all month long" kind of family. I can't wait to see what you do in your house to make the holidays special. You can link to a blog post {new or old}, a public Facebook album, or a Flickr acct. And this is my very 1st Linky Party so forgive me if I don't do it just right... I'll try my hardest :) I'll leave this link open for a whole week until we move onto Christmas Trees next week.

Link up below!!

{Pretty please :)}

Holiday Pictures & a BIG announcement!

2011-11-29T15:17:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ours was quiet- filled with popsicles, putting up our Christmas tree, and pajamas. And it's a good thing that we got a jump start on the holiday festivities around here because here's what wonderful memories I've captured so far...

{Making "beautiful" salt dough ornaments}

{Hanging Christmas lights on the front fence}

Take One {of probably a million attempts this holiday season} for a decent picture of all three boys smiling in front of the tree

I'd better get busy getting a good picture of the three of them smiling in front of the tree because next year when there is a NEW BABY BROTHER in the picture, I'm pretty sure it will be impossible to get all four of our boys to smile at once!

If you remember this post, you're probably surprised to read that we're going for #4.

Well, we were too... not surprised to be pregnant actually, but surprised that we both felt that there was one more baby meant to join our family. So, even though Luke and his new baby brother will be our closest two in age {just shy of 19 months apart} we are thrilled! And he is due to arrive on his Daddy's birthday, May 21st, making it extra sweet.

I'm definitely outnumbered, but I've been used to that for a while :) And THAT is why I've been away from this blog more than usual... I've been busy resting and growing our 4th {and final!} Gallamore Baby Boy!

Corn Casserole: A perfect holiday side dish

2011-11-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

Need a last minute side dish to bring to Thanksgiving tomorrow? This Corn Casserole is delicious, and you might just have all of these common ingredients in your house already!

My friend Maggie posted a question on Facebook last week asking friends what their favorite Thanksgiving dish is. I loved reading the responses and got the idea for Corn Casserole from that Facebook thread. When I read it was a Paula Deen recipe, I knew two things right away... 1) It would be packed with butter, and 2) I'd love it. And I was right on both :)

{We had it at our early Thanksgiving/Birthday Party, aka Smurfsgiving, thus the silly label!}

I loved how quick and easy this Corn Casserole is to put together, and it's so much better than regular corn. I'm sure all that butter, sour cream, and bacon might have something to that!

Corn Casserole

{adapted from Paula Deen}

1 can corn, drained

1 can cream-style corn

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, melted

5 strips cooked bacon, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Pour into greased 9x13 baking dish. {I used two pie dishes instead because it looked prettier that way.} Bake for 50 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve warm and enjoy!

Smurfs Party!

2011-11-22T15:17:00.000-08:00

We celebrated an early Thanksgiving/Birthday Dinner for Sam on Sunday since he had his tonsils removed yesterday {poor kiddo!} and while combining his current favorite thing in the world, Smurfs, with Thanksgiving was a little challenging, it ended up being a celebration that he loved. And it is definitely our most memorable Thanksgiving to date!

As much as the idea of having blue food sounded super fun, we LOVE our Thanksgiving Dinner and wanted to stick with the traditional foods. So I decided to give all of the regular Thanksgiving dishes Smurf names instead...

Here are a couple of my favorite dishes from the day...

{It wasn't really a trifle because the birthday boy insisted that Smurf Berries are plain, not with fancy stuff like layered cake or whipped cream!}

And this Corn Casserole is my new favorite side dish! It was delicious and so, so easy to make {I'll post the recipe soon}.

And the drinks were Smurftastic too :)

Napkins from Target, red/blue suitcases originally used for Jake's Red Scooter Party {from Amazon}, Sam's Smurf toys, and the banner & labels made from my Silhouette and scrapbook paper were used for quick and easy decorations.

{eek... excuse the horrible lighting and my attempt at fixing this picture here!}

And of course, I had to dress up a burlap wreath for the occasion.

Sam loved his Smurf cake {and so did Jake!}

And of course there were plenty of presents {including a fish tank that now lives on our kitchen counter... I'm definitely a Mama of boys here :)}

A few more things for our Smurftastic weekend were these cupcakes that Sam brought to school on Friday...

And this Smurf that he made at Build-a-Bear.

It was our 1st time taking the boys there and they loved every second of it!

Happy Birthday to Sam, our big 7 year old!!

Sam's surgery

2011-11-22T08:25:00.000-08:00

He jumped right out of bed yesterday morning

Put on his favorite new pajamas

Grabbed his favorite new stuffed animals

And we headed out the door, before sunrise on a very foggy morning to have his tonsils removed {after countless fevers and missed school since July 2010}

He was so brave heading into the operating room. It was a fairly quick surgery and it went according to plan, but nothing prepares you for how you feel after surgery. Or how I would feel as a Mom watching my son so upset as he awoke from the anesthesia. It was a heart-breaking 10 minutes or so of moaning/crying/rolling around that felt like forever. And then he was calm and dozed off peacefully.

He was home within hours and slept most of the day yesterday. Today he's up and building train tracks with his brothers. The agenda is cleared for the whole week, so we're building lots of train tracks, eating ice cream, and working on a few little Christmas crafts.

We're hoping and praying and crossing our fingers for healthier, fever-free days now.

As seen on Pinterest: Smurf Cupcakes!

2011-11-18T13:33:00.000-08:00

If you follow Gallamore West on Facebook, then you probably already know that we are combining my son's birthday with an early Thanksgiving celebration this Sunday because his birthday is tomorrow {we're going to Legoland!} and he is having his tonsils removed on Monday. And Thanksgiving is the best meal of the year, so none of us want to miss out on that!

And since he loves The Smurfs, it's a

"Happy Smurfsgiving" celebration all weekend long here!

We kicked off the celebration with these silly Smurf cupcakes that we brought to his class at recess to celebrate his birthday. I got the idea here via Pinterest {here are my boards... I'm a crazy pinning Mama!}

They were a hit, although one cute little girl said she wished hers was a Smurfette. Super cute idea... why didn't I think of that?! The funniest part though was when Sam told me last night that one of the cupcakes looked like Grouchy Smurf and he knew which girl was going to get Grouchy. Sure enough when he handed them out this morning he looked for Grouchy and handed it to her with a smile!

Here's a peek of what's to come this weekend...

Hope you have a great weekend!

I'll be posting more pictures of our

"Smurftastic" celebration soon!

I'll be linking up with some of my favorite parties!

The best Banana Bread!

2011-11-12T21:47:00.000-08:00

Have you tried this recipe for Buttermilk Banana Bread from House of Smiths? It is hands-down THE best banana bread recipe I've ever tried.

{recipe card & photo from thehouseofsmiths.com}

It was the perfect thing to bake to warm up our house and our tummies on this cold, rainy day! Mine always makes 8 mini loaves and bakes for exactly 30 minutes.

Turkey Craft Day & Giveaway Winner!

2011-11-11T13:28:00.000-08:00

We're up to our ears over here in...

pine cones

pipe cleaners {I know, I know... chenille sticks}

pom poms

paper plates

markers

crayons

glitter

glitter glue

mod podge

hot glue {supervised, of course}

and oh, did I mention lots and lots of GLUE?

And what's a Turkey Craft Day without a "turkey" sandwich?

Did I mention it's a Turkey Craft day in pajamas?! I realize my turkey is a little less colorful than he should be and I really shouldn't give my boys chocolate chip eyes on a turkey sandwich, but I was using what I had on hand... you know, so I could stay in my pjs and not have to go to the store :)

How cute is this sign Sam {he's in 1st grade} made for our Turkey Craft Day?

Turkeys on plates

Pine cone turkeys

Turkey Cupcakes

I love making these turkey cupcakes because they're so cute, quick and easy! This picture is actually from last year, but I figured I'd throw it in here because it fits the theme and I do have some chocolate cupcakes on hand... you just never know when you'll need them, right? :)

This little Butter Ball pic is also from last year, but I had to include it because how cute is that little turkey?!

Speaking of turkeys, Brittany from Vinyl 'n Things has THE cutest Thanksgiving crafts for sale. Her work is adorable, her prices are affordable, and she is oh, so sweet. And a big congratulations to Elizabeth, comment #13... you won the $20 credit to Vinyl 'n Things!

Congratulations, Elizabeth! I didn't see an email address so I left a comment on your blog. Please email me by Monday afternoon at lauriegallamore@yahoo.com to claim your prize. And a big thank you Brittany for doing this giveaway on my blog!

One last thing... it may be Turkey Craft & PJ's Day here, but why my cuties are home today is hugely important. Thank you Veterans and your families for all that you have done so that we may enjoy one of our greatest blessings... freedom.

{That's my handsome Grandpa!}

I'm linking up to my favorite link party at Tatertots & Jello!

Halloween Candy Recipes

2011-11-04T17:00:00.000-07:00

After a week of sneaking way more than my fair share of my boys' Halloween candy, I was ready to switch it up a little. So rather than just tearing open those little wrappers and devouring mini Snickers and other such goodies, I decided to bake with some of my boys' candy. I know, it doesn't exactly solve the "too much candy in this house" situation, but it did make it sweeter :)

On this rare rainy San Diego day, some M&M cookie bars were just what we needed... maybe "needed" isn't the really the right word, but they sure hit the spot.

My camera is freaking out this week {major sad face here} so I got this picture from my sugar, sugar board on Pinterest. It's from a blog called Lizzy Goes Dutch.

M&M Cookie Bars

2 sticks unsalted butter

2 large eggs

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

12 packages fun-size M&Ms

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 3/4 cup all- purpose flour

Cream butter and sugars. Beat in eggs, one at a time until fully incorporated. Add in baking soda, salt, and vanilla. Slowly add in flour, scraping sides to combine. Stir in M&Ms and chocolate chips. Spread evenly into greased 9x13 glass pan. Bake at 375 for about 35 minutes or so, until lightly golden brown on top. I didn't actually time it so start checking it at about 25 minutes.

Here's another recipe that I'm dying to try with our Halloween candy, Snickers popcorn from cookiesandcups.blogspot.com. It's really homemade caramel corn loaded with Snickers... yummm!

Something about a rainy day makes me guilt-free about baking, eating chocolate, and getting cozy in my Uggs and sweater. I hope it keeps raining all weekend! :)

I'm linking up to Tatertots & Jello!

400 Facebook Likes Giveaway!!

2011-11-02T21:14:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to have 400 super cool people who "like" Gallamore West on Facebook,

and I think you'll be excited about this adorable giveaway!

It's a $20 shop credit to Vinyl n' Things!

Vinyl n' Things is packed full of adorable handmade wood and vinyl creations at amazing prices.

I know a few of things cuties are on my Christmas list!

Plus, how cute are her Autumn/Thanksgiving decorations?

I LOVE this first one sooo much!

Looking for something non-holiday related?

Vinyl n' Things has plenty to choose from... here are a few of my favorites!

Super cute stuff!

Brittany's shop, Vinyl n' Things is a gem, packed full of such adorable handmade creations! If you can't wait to find out if you're the winner, Brittany is also offering 10% off your order during this giveaway: mention Gallamore West when you order for your discount! To place orders, just email Brittany at:

vinylnthings@gmail.com

There are 3 ways you can enter:

1) Mandatory: Like Vinyl n' Things on Facebook, check out her photo albums, and leave a comment here telling me what you would choose if you win the $20 shop credit.

2) Optional: Follow this blog, Gallamore West via Google Friend Connect {that's on this blog where it says "I love these people" on the right side column} and leave a comment telling me you did.

3) Optional: Share this giveaway on Facebook and leave a comment here telling me you did. Let's spread the word about this adorable shop!

That's it... 3 super easy ways to enter to win a $20 shop credit to Vinyl n' Things!

Thank you SO much Brittany @ Vinyl n' Things for sponsoring this 400 Likes Giveaway! And thank you to all of you, my blog and Facebook friends... wishing you all a wonderful, Thankful November.

Winner will be chosen via random.org on Thursday, November 10th at 9 PM PST. Winner will be posted on this blog and will have 72 hours to claim prize. If winner has not claimed prize within 72 hours, a new winner will be chosen. Please leave your email address in all comments if it's not clearly visible on your blog. Due to shipping, this giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

Looking back: Halloweens past

2011-10-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

This is the 1st year my boys don't want to refuse to coordinate their costumes for Halloween. Boo! I'm so sad about it, but I know it's a good thing that they have their own likes as they get older. Even though I'm still going to push for coordinated costumes again next year :)

Who doesn't love looking back at old pictures? It's one of my favorite things to do. Here's a look back at past Halloween costumes in our home...

2005- Sam's 1st Halloween. I LOVED his lion costume, and am still deciding if Luke should be a pumpkin or wear Sam's lion costume this year.

2006- Sam was the cutest, stickiest little puppy dog around! His Easter basket was a plush puppy that matched his Halloween costume perfectly.

2007- We welcomed Jake into our family earlier that year. I was SO excited for our 1st round of coordinating costumes. Every firefighter needs a good dalmation!

2008- One of my favorite years so far... Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. Sam's little waddling duck tail was THE cutest thing ever!

2009- We ALL got into the Halloween spirit that year... definitely my most favorite year so far!

2010- We welcomed Luke home from the hospital ON Halloween Day so I'm surprised we were even able to locate the boys' costumes. And Daddy even dressed up as a Viking. Jake STILL wears that dragon costume at least once a week {thank you soooo much Alison for reinforcing those seams for him!} and he's watching How to Train Your Dragon as I type this :)

Oh man, this year... we have a Smurf, Scooby-Doo, and a pumpkin or maybe a lion. See what I mean?! I miss the coordinated costumes already! I'm so excited to be living in a new house on a street that has more houses decorated for Halloween than our old house though. That will be a 1st for our boys... handing out more than just a few pieces of candy {I should probably stop eating all of it, then!}

I can't wait to see pictures of all of your cute kiddos in their costumes!

Happy Halloween Weekend! xoxo

The path I didn't take...

2011-10-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

When I was in college, I was a business major.

An international business major.

I learned a lot of Spanish {kind of} and even lived in Mexico.

I traveled to Costa Rica twice and spent a month in Chile.

I imagined myself wearing beautiful business suits and black heels that clicked on shiny floors.

And for a short while, I did wear those suits and heels.

My black leather planner {before the days of phones that store every bit of info we could ever need}

was precious to me.

My parking permit to the underground garage at the office building

I worked in made me feel important.

And not only did my sharp black heels click on the shiny floors,

I worked in a shiny building too.

Ah, sweet success!

But not really...

After three different jobs in three different sparkly buildings, the luster was gone.

The jobs were incredibly boring.

The offices all looked the same inside.

The fancy clothes were expensive, and uncomfortable.

I couldn't wait to come home and kick off my heels, tear off my nylons, and throw on a pair of comfy jeans and flip-flops.

I knew that it was not the life for me.

I wanted to get married, and have the most important job I could ever have...

I wanted to be "Mommy."

{Insert going back to college for a year to get my teaching credential here... briefly used it, may someday return to it :)}

Yesterday in the middle of San Diego rush-hour on our way home from Sea World, we drove by one of those sparkly buildings I used to work in. {excuse the poor pic... I was driving}.

"Mommy, you worked in that big, fancy building?" asked Sam.

And as I looked in my rear-view mirror with my three boys buckled up without an inch to spare, I wiggled my toes in my flip flops and I smiled because I knew that THIS is the me I was meant to be.

p.s. I realize I haven't been around much lately and I SO appreciate the emails asking if everything is okay. Yes, I'm doing fine. Really good actually! I've just been busy with my sweet family. Oh, and I'm also working on something big that I can't wait to share with all of you soon. xoxo

Real life with my boys

2011-10-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this picture...

it's framed on the wall in our hall bathroom.

But let's be honest here...

The boys and I were looking through pictures on the computer tonight and there was actually a bunch of little thumbnails that looked similar so we opened them all.

And here is what a bathtub photo session from a couple months back in our house REALLY looks like.

{So cute, but Sam's eyes are closed...}

{Yay Sam, but now Jake's eyes are closed...}

{Sweet moment, but they seem to have forgotten about the camera for a minute here...}

{Don't worry Mom, we're back...}

And that my friends is what REALLY happens.

I love that 1st picture because they're all looking and smiling, but seeing this whole series of pictures together tells the real story... the story of real life.

It's not always a perfect picture,

but I wouldn't change a thing.

Hello, October!

2011-10-08T21:28:00.000-07:00

Whoosh!!!

Did you see those two weeks just fly by?!

After such a mellow summer of hanging out at the zoo, the pool, and wherever else our little hearts desired, the structure of school sure has caught me off guard. I always thought I'd be a really organized mom who would just love scheduled days, but just like so many other things that surprise me about what kind of mom I really am compared to what kind of mom I thought I'd be, I long for lazy summer days of sleeping in again already.

But we're loving Fall.

This is October in San Diego after all... I'll take it!

I'm finally going to start doing some major fall baking {nothing like the Fall Carnival at school next weekend to light that fire for me} so I hope to be back soon with some yummy fall sweets recipes to share with you!

Plus this little guy is sooo close to turning one, so I'm busy procrastinating on his birthday party decorations... geesh, what's wrong with me?! Can't wait to show you his birthday pics after the big day in a few weeks!

I know I'm quite biased, but don't you just want to cuddle him?

Hope you're all enjoying Fall so far too :) xo

Treasuring Time

2011-09-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

I try to be positive, but some days I just look at my to-do list and it's hard to stay sunny. I had one of those days this week. After getting Sam to school, I had to take Jake and Luke to get my Jeep fixed the other day. It was not an errand I looked forward to. In fact, I called my husband at work and begged him,

"Can't you just do it for me?"

"But Luke's going to miss his nap!"

"Do you know how hard this is going to be for me to entertain them for hours and hours?"

Plus, I don't really have a back-up person yet to get Sam from school in case I got stuck and couldn't get back in time. But my whining didn't work and I took the Jeep with Jake and Luke in tow.

And you know what?

Ten minutes after we dropped off the Jeep and were happily munching on our $8 pretzel and lemonade Jake declared it his "Best Day Ever!"

By the way, I'm not cheap, but seriously $8 for one pretzel and one lemonade? Geesh!

I couldn't believe it... the day I dreaded turned out to be so much fun with my two little guys. Sometimes it takes a reminder from my 4-year old to remember to slow down and enjoy the little things. Like sharing an overpriced pretzel on a sunny morning. It probably didn't hurt that we were stuck here while our car was being fixed either :)

And out of all the stores we went to, this is what Jake really wanted me to buy for him...

When I asked him why he wanted it, he said,

"so Sam and I can use it for fake bamboo in our pretend zoo."

Awww, to be 4 again! Well, that's never going to happen, but I can take a break from my grown-up life sometimes and look at life through my 4-year old's eyes.

And being able to take a nap like a 4-year old would be nice too.

Pumpkin Cookies with Caramel Icing

2011-09-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

As sad as I was to say goodbye to Summer vacation, I am equally excited to say hello to Fall because I love baking, and especially with pumpkin {because that makes the recipe healthy, right?}

I had leftover pumpkin pie mix and heavy cream from making these Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Butter Cream, so I went back to my "Fall in Love with Autumn" board on Pinterest and found a recipe for Pumpkin Cookies with Caramel Frosting from Let's Dish Recipes.

Just like with the pumpkin cupcakes, I was using pumpkin pie mix {canned pumpkin with spices already added} so I had to alter the recipe a bit.

Pumpkin Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin pie mix
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups all-purpose flour

Icing
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Stir in pumpkin. In a medium bowl, sift together the baking soda, cinnamon, salt and flour. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Just like recommended on the original recipe from Let's Dish Recipes, I gently pushed down each cookie while they were still warm because they come out so puffy, almost like little cakes. They will still be plenty fluffy and it will be easier to spread the icing.

To make icing: In a medium saucepan, combine butter, cream, and brown sugar over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture just begins to boil; remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool then stir in confectioner's sugar. Spread frosting over cooled cookies.

These pumpkin cookies were a hit! My husband does not have a sweet tooth like I do {poor guy}, so he rarely raves about a dessert, but he loved these cookies. They are so moist and have just the right amount of pumpkin and spice. Topped with sweet caramel frosting, these pumpkin cookies make these a perfect fall dessert. This recipe is a keeper!

I'm linking up to some of my favorite places!

Mama's Gonna Blow!

2011-09-13T19:54:00.000-07:00

Or at least that's how we feel sometimes, right? Like for me... it was this afternoon. And yesterday afternoon too actually, but I'll just focus on today. My mom came over and snuggled Luke so well for his morning nap that he ended up napping for hours and hours. So long that there was no time for an afternoon nap. And oh wow, did I pay for that all afternoon loooong.

Here's what I looked like while making dinner tonight...

{photo via pinterest.com}

Luckily, we have a great new plan around here. My sweet hubs came up with this plan himself, probably on an evening when he came home to something like this...

{photo via pinterest.com}

Um yeah, because that's really what I look like when I'm tired :)

So the plan is that every Tuesday and Thursday night, I get a break to do whatever I want/need to do...

run errands {hello, Ikea ALL BY MYSELF last week!}

exercise

catch up on whatever I need to do

craft

Girls Night Out...

anything.

Even sit on my behind at the computer and blog.

And I love it! But I have to admit, I hear the boys laughing in the tub down the hall right now, and I do hope they ask me to read them their bedtime story {we read every night on the porch, then lay on the grass to look at the stars}.

Tonight, on my break "away" from the boys I want them to need me. It makes me realize how true this quote is...

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” {Elizabeth Stone}