Tissue Paper Decor

I'm a self-proclaimed Pinterest junkie. I'm always amazed at how crafty people are and was determined to make most of the decor for the twins' nursery. The problem with this is that I bought all the supplies to begin my crafting when I left work before the twins arrived. Surprise! They came 8 weeks early, so I'm just now getting around to finishing their nursery and all the crafts I had planned.

This project literally took me about 15 minutes from start to finish and cost under $5 total. I had seen these in a nursery on Pinterest and had to have them for over the changing table. I purchased white, pink, and blue shades of tissue paper and used some scrap white yarn I had on hand and ta da!



So here's the process.

Take 8 sheets of tissue paper and lay it out in a stack on a flat surface. You can do all the same color or mix them for a multi-colored poof. You can also choose to use fewer or more sheets for varied "fluffiness".

Accordion fold the paper in 1-2" sections (fold as though making a paper fan).



You should end up with a 1-2" wide stack of tissue paper.

Tie either wire, string, or yarn tightly around the middle.


Cut the ends in either a rounded pattern or pointed, depending on the result you desire. I prefer the rounded corners.



Now, fan out each side and gently pull each piece away from the stack and towards the center tie.



Scrunch the ends a touch if you'd like it to look a little "fluffier".



Hang up!

So easy, I was able to make them, hang them, and make lunch all in one nap time. Hooray!
craft, decor, easy,
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The Burp Rag Battle

We all know with babies come messes, particularly barfy messes... When you have two babies, that adds up to a lot of yuck. Burp rags are like gold in my house. Not just any old burp rag will do though. We've taken to each hiding our own little secret squirrel stash of our favorite, most absorbent burp rags.

I made these burp rags thanks to some Pinterest inspiration before my kiddos were born. I used a package of Gerber cloth pre-fold diapers and a couple of fat quarters from the fabric section. Silly me, I thought ten would be plenty. Haha! How naive of me...So here I am, making more so the hubs and I can become normal people again, people who don't secretly hoard burp rags.

The tutorial I used was through a lovely little blog called The Thinking Closet and was really easy to follow. You can find it here. These only took about an evening to complete. The longest part was cutting and ironing everything. The actual sewing was easy peasy!


Now that I've solved the great burp rag battle, we can fight about real things, like which way the toilet paper roll is supposed to face. Priorities people... Marriage is awesome.
craft, diy, hoarder,
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DIY Pacifier Clip

Pacifier, binkies, suckers, whatever you call them one thing's for sure... they're forever getting lost/dropped/stolen by the dog, etc. Ugh. The thought of a dirty pacifier going into one of the kids' mouths gives me the heebie jeebies. Maybe it's new mom germaphobia, but I'd rather they not use them than have them become germ-infested.

Whatever it is, I finally figured I'd give these handy little pacifier clips a try. Of course I couldn't just go out any buy them like a normal person, I decided I must have custom cute ones of my own creation.

This was actually a super easy project. All it took was a little velcro, some hot glue, some ribbon, and some suspender clips. The suspender clips were the hardest to find. From what I've been told, you can find them at some big box craft store, but mine are all over an hour away. Thanks to the magic of the interwebs, I was able to purchase a bunch of them from Ebay for about $3 total! Now I can make binky clips until my little heart is content.
baby, craft, diy,
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Whoops! I Forgot About Dinner!

Well, it happened again. The little ones had me up most of the night, so in my sleep deprived state, I forgot to take out something to defrost for dinner. Oops! I feel like I've been relying too much on the hubs to pick something up on the way home when this happens, but today I felt determined to figure it out on my own. Hence, hawaiian pulled chicken.

Are you ready for this uber complicated recipe?


Take two chicken breasts (I used frozen since I forgot to take them out earlier) and put in crock pot.
Add one can pineapple tidbits, drained.
Pour 1/2 cup bottled BBQ sauce on top.
Set on low for 4 1/2 hours.

When done, shred chicken with a fork and stir into sauce.
I served this over brown rice and a side of green beans, but my husband thinks it would be delicious as a sandwich too. He was thoroughly impressed with the sweet and tangy flavors, and I'm pretty sure he has no idea how super easy it was to make. Win!

Do you have any easy go to recipes for days like this?
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Jackets for Nebraska

I mentioned in an earlier post that my brother is getting married in March. While I'm excited for him, I'm not excited for the trip from Georgia to Nebraska with two babies. Eek!

Among the things about the trip that are stressing me out is the fact that we don't have clothing for that type of weather. I'm going to have to squeeze my larger than life "I'm nursing twins" boobies into a too small jacket as it is, but I can't for the life of me find anything jacket-wise for the kids. Heck, my local stores already have swimsuits out in the baby section. Swimsuits! Someone please remind them that despite the fact that we're in Georgia, it's still February.

In comes the crafty momma mode. I know! I'll make them something warm. Their little bottom halves will be covered up under blankets, but I know their top halves will get cold, so I decided to knit them some quick jackets and matching hats. Luckily I already had the yarn and the buttons. In fact, the yarn for Little Man's sweater has been boxed up and moved with us three times. I think I bought it about 6 years ago! Whoops! At least it's getting used up now.

This pattern was a little confusing in regards to the collar, but once I stopped questioning it and followed it as written, it turned out great.

Here's to having warm little ones on our trip!
craft, knitting, mom,
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DIY Nursing Tank

While it hasn't been easy, I take pride in the fact that I'm able to nurse/pump for my twins. They have been exclusively on breast milk since being released from the NICU at 3 weeks old and have been thriving. In fact, at their last doctor's appointment the nurse didn't even believe that they were preemies because they're gaining weight so well.

Any mom who has breastfed in the past will remember the pain in the butt it is to maneuver your clothes every feeding time. Nursing tanks are a fantastic addition to any nursing mom's wardrobe since she can nurse without having to expose her whole stomach. Let's be honest for a second, no one wants to see my twin belly stretch marks, and I sure as heck don't feel like showing them. The only problem is these suckers can be expensive! Even Target sells theirs for $25+! 

I'm already doing a ton of laundry in this house. Between two kids who love to spit up, cloth diapers, a husband who seems to be constantly changing outfits throughout the day, and myself we have quite the pile of dirty clothes. Even if I tried to make due with one or two of these tanks, I'd probably never find them in the mass of laundry at the top of the stairs. 

In comes the little DIY voice in my head and a quick Pinterest search. I bought several camisole tops from Walmart, all at $5.88 each. Then, you simply cut the straps from the back of the top, create a small loop in the front and sew. Trim the remainder of the strap and voila! A new tank that hooks onto your nursing bra! 

Keep in mind you still need a nursing bra to make this work, but now every time I go to feed the kiddos, my whole stomach doesn't have to come out to play too. It helps me to feel a bit more comfortable, so I'd call that a success. 
breastfeeding, clothing, crafty,
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What's for dinner?

The kiddos had a cold last week, so no one was happy in this house. With two sicklings and a sick mom and dad, things like grocery shopping got put on the back burner. It's times like this that I'm glad that I have a well stocked pantry. It's like a game to me to come up with something for dinner from what's in there already.

Tonight's dinner is going to be an easy yet healthy one, taco soup. It also happens to be one of my husband's favorites. I won't tell him that it's also one of the easiest meals I make. I lucked out on that one!

For those who want to give it a try:

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 large can Rotel tomatoes with chilis
1 can low/reduced sodium corn
1 can low/reduced sodium pinto beans
1 can low/reduced sodium kidney beans (dark or light)
Chicken broth
Taco seasoning

Directions:
1. Open all cans (Corn, tomatoes, beans). Drain each and empty contents into crockpot.

2. Place both chicken breasts in crock pot.

3. Add chicken broth until beans and chicken are mostly covered. How much broth is really up to you. If you want it soupier, add more. If you prefer it more like a chili consistency, add less.

4. Sprinkle taco seasoning on top. I have a large jar of taco seasoning that I bought at a local market and usually put about 2 heaping tablespoons into the pot. I eyeball it, so sometimes it comes out spicier than other times, but no one seems to notice but me.

5. Stir everything together.

6. Turn crockpot on Low for 6 hours, or if you forgot to put it on at lunch time like I did, put it on High for 4 hours.

7. When done, take two forks and shred the chicken in the soup.

8. Serve with a sprinkle of cheese and crushed whole grain tortilla chips on top.

Enjoy!

What's your favorite easy recipe?
chef, cooking, crockpot,
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