WW #4

Today's Wedding Wednesday photo is a guest photo that features the ambience of our candle lit tables and our mini wine bottle favors/escort "cards".

<3 Ashley

s'more nachos

So today's post is a sacrifice I'm making for you guys.
{Don't you love how selfless I am?}

I'm going to be talking about delicious s'more creations.

And posting pictures of said tempting treats.

And guess what? 

I can't make or eat any of them right now.

Why, you ask?

Because I'm trying to be a good girl and watching what I eat. 

{I've lost 5.6 lbs so far. Yay!}

But, I'm really struggling with giving up the sweet treats.

I have a sweet tooth the size of Texas, and nothing satisfies it like a big, gooey, sticky, yummy s'more.

So in honor of my sweet tooth, which I have been neglecting, here are 5 delicious s'more creations brought to you via Pinterest:

1. S'more nachos. I made these last week for a get together at my house. They were super tasty, but one tip would be to spray your cookie sheet with baking spray first so your ooey gooey deliciousness does not stick. {Recipe here}

2. NO BAKE S'more Nutella Crunch Bars. I haven't had the pleasure of making these {or eating them}, but I'm pretty sure there is no combination of "s'more" and "Nutella" that is not pure amazingness.

 

Source: blogs.babble.com via Ashley on Pinterest

3. Graham Cracker S'more Candy.

Source: buddingbaketress.blogspot.com via Ashley on Pinterest

4. S'more dip. How dangerous does this look?

Source: tastebook.com via Ashley on Pinterest

5. S'more Cookies.

Source: fahrenheit350.blogspot.com via Our Little Beehive on Pinterest

Hopefully I haven't caused anyone to fall off the bandwagon. I'm going to stand strong, but I'm not going to lie, I'm struggling. I never realized before just how much I love to eat and how intertwined delicious food is with my social life. My goal is to get the extra weight off and get to the point where I can enjoy all of the above in moderation. We'll see.

<3 Ashley

DIY Custom Water Bottle Labels

This is a pretty cheap and easy way to customize any party you throw - big or small.

It is a little time consuming if you're making a 100 or more like I did for our wedding, but for something like a birthday party, you could whip these up pretty quickly.

Supplies:

Water bottles (I bought a 24 pack at Target for $2.47)

Packing Tape ($1.99)

Scotch Tape (on hand)

Printer Paper (on hand)

Scissors (on hand)

Paper cutter (on hand, but can be bought cheaply at Hobby Lobby, Michael's or JoAnn's)

Microsoft Word, Power Point (or whatever program you choose to design your label)

Step 1: Design your label

I used Microsoft Word to design my labels. Here is my attempt at explaining to you how I did it. Sorry if it isn't clear. If you aren't up for designing your own labels, a simple google search will yield you plenty of free printable templates.

• Go to Insert, then Shape and select the rectangle.
• Right click on your rectangle and select Format Shape (there also should be a short cut at the top right of the screen) and change the size of your rectangle. 8.5 inches width by 2 inches length will work for most bottles. 
• Change your shape fill to "no fill", and your outline to a very light gray so you have lines for cutting later. Now you have the basic outline for your labels. 
• You can add in a picture or text of your choosing to design your label. 
• After you have designed your label, you can group the shape, pictures and words together. 

• Right click to copy the entire group. Then, paste several times down the length of the page. You should be able to fit 5 labels per page.  

 My labels, laminated and ready to go.

Step 2: Print, cut and "Laminate"

If you want your labels to be water proof you will need to "laminate" them with packing tape (I do, because mine will likely be in an ice bucket. If yours will be in a refrigerator, you probably can skip this step and simply tape your labels onto your bottles). 

This takes a little trial and error to learn how to do it smoothly and without getting your tape wrinkled, but it's pretty self explanatory. 

Lay a piece of tape over the top of each side and trim the ends as necessary. 

Step 3: Remove old labels, affix new pretty labels

Cut off your old labels and take your custom label and wrap it in it's place, securing with a piece of scotch table. 

 Newly labeled bottles with pile of old labels.

That's all folks! 

It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I found that I actually got a "cleaner" look and didn't mess up as much when I laminated while doing something else (watching TV) because I wasn't over analyzing.

<3 Ashley

deep thoughts and hard cuts

"I love this crazy, tragic, sometimes almost magic, 

awful, beautiful life." - Darryl Worley

Source: five-words.com.au via Lori on Pinterest

That song has been on my mind a lot lately. It rings so true to my life right now. It has been a real roller coaster lately. I have so many wonderful things happening {getting married, my shop, my always beautiful baby Morgan}, but there have also been some rough spots {my mom's breast cancer diagnosis, a sick grandma, and other family troubles}.

It seems so strange because usually when life's good it's good. And when it's bad it's bad. "When it rains it pours", right? But, lately it seems to be more like good thing, bad thing, good thing, bad thing. And it's to the point where sometimes I almost feel bad for enjoying the good thing when there's such sad/tragic thing happening at the same time. Am I making any sense? Clear as mud, right? 

Source: 29.media.tumblr.com via Emily on Pinterest

So anyways, needless to say with all of this life going on around me I've been a basket of emotions. Yesterday was no exception. 


We've been tossing around the idea of cutting Morgan's hair for awhile now, but I just haven't been able to bring myself to do it. I love his messy mop of hair, but it was getting to the point where it was always hanging in his eyes. So, we bit the bullet and bought a pair of hair cutting shears at Walmart yesterday. 

The original plan was to go to a barbershop, but that didn't end up working out. Actually, I'm glad it didn't because it made the experience more special, and more emotional.

After supper we pulled out the scissors, comb, and camera, and the shirt came off. I combed through his long locks and after a little hesitation took the first snip as Frank played photographer. I took a step back and immediately my eyes flooded with tears and my heart hurt. 

With just one snip my little boy went from baby to toddler. I wanted to take it back, undo the cut. I wasn't ready. Well, it was too late. A few snips later and we had a perfectly, imperfect 1st haircut {made with love}.  

Just one of many milestones. Just one of many times my heart will break just a little as my baby grows up. 

<3 Ashley

Wedding Wednesday #3

It's that time of the week again folks! Today's wedding photo is another one of my favorites {one of our 1st looks}. Oh, who am I kidding? Every single one of them are "one of my favorites". 

If you're still debating whether or not to do one, let me just tell you, it really does wonders to help to calm those nerves. And, no it didn't take a single thing away from my moment walking down the aisle.

I'd seriously consider it if I were you, plus the images are priceless.

<3 Ashley

I Heart Mondays

Mondays are my favorite day of the week.

I work every Fri, Sat, and Sun so Mondays are my first day off.

Usually they are spent catching up on housework.

But, every once in a while the mister's off day lands on a Monday,

and that my friends is a super Monday.

{ok, I just made that up. and it sounds really lame. roll with it.}

Today was a super Monday. 

We started the day with Cheerios. 

They taste better when you dump them out and eat them off the floor.

Or so I hear. 

Then we stopped by the post office to mail off some Etsy orders.

And we stopped by Grandmas house to drop some stuff off and visit on the front porch for a bit. Morgan loves her porch swing.

We headed to the park after that for a picnic lunch.

Subway again <3

I ordered Morgan a kids sub. 

He was all about the bread, of course.

That kid loves carbs like his mama. 

Actually he didn't eat much of it. Kind of a waste of money.

But he looked cute eating it so I say whatevs. Memories.

We stopped to watch the deer.

And ducks.

Mama forgot her wallet in the car so no train or carousel today.

Rounded out the trip to the park with some time on the swings.

The rest of the day was lazy, just as a super Monday should be.

Mama even got an hour long nap in. 

Ahhhh.

Why can't every day be Monday?

<3 Ashley

making good on my Pinterest challenge...

So there's no denying I'm obsessed with Pinterest. 

I mean, aren't we all?

I'm huge on pinning, but not always on doing.

Well, this week I continued to make good on my self imposed Pinterest challenge and whipped up this deeelicious Cinnamon Roll Cake. 

I had you at Cinnamon Roll, right?

Thought so. 

It was incredibly easy to make, and most likely you have all the ingredients on hand.

No special trips to the grocery store for me. No sir-ey. 

Now, on to the delicious photos:

You want to make this now, no?

Well, you at least want to eat it.

I'd mail you some, but I fear it would not ship well. 

Actually it might. Did you know they sell baked goods on Etsy?

I know, I was suprised too. 

Still not sure how I feel about it yet. 

Anyways....

This week I also had a fun night in with my friend Brenna. 

There was wine. {Enough said}

And tacos. Yummm.

And crafts. Yay! 

Winning combo, eh?

We had a lot of fun.

And despite it's best efforts to defeat us, 

we conquered Oh Brother the sewing machine

and we made this beauty out of a t-shirt and a ribbon:

{As you can see, she was super thrilled to be my model and have her photo taken}

We're super resourceful. 

Or we were just able to follow these directions here.

Regardless, I think we were both pretty darned proud of ourselves for creating something so cute out of a random old t-shirt and a spool of ribbon I fished out of my craft drawer abyss.

Happy Friday!

<3 Ashley

Hike up your skirts ladies it's Wedding Wednesday

The photo I'm sharing with you today is one of my absolute favorite photos from the wedding. First, because it's beautiful. But, also because it captured the feeling of the day. It was taken just after the ceremony. Frank and I snuck off for a quiet moment together and to cool off in the A/C {hence the hiked up skirt}before pictures. Plus, it features my "something blue", my hand dyed crinoline. 

<3 Ashley

the one where they go to the zoo.

Yesterday we headed to Madison to go to the free zoo there. 

We had so much fun.

As did Morgan, although he may have enjoyed people watching

even more 

than animal watching. 

We all loved the giraffes. They are such a majestic animal.

Morgan wore his giraffe shirt for the occasion. 

He's pretty hard core like that.

 

On the way home Morgan was zonked. 

I read funny blog posts from Cookies and Cups aloud to Frank.

And we checked out the pretty clouds in the sky.

It was a good day.

Really good.

<3 Ashley

cookin' with Pioneer Woman

I decided to make good on my self imposed pinterest challenge {read more about that here} and cooked up not one, but two recipes pinned from Pioneer Woman. 

 Oh yea, I'm an over achiever. I won't brag about it though.

What did I make, you ask?

Some good ole' fashioned, artery clogging, southern comfort food.

Chicken Fried Steak and Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Are you salivating yet? 

You can find the full recipe along with witty commentary here at her site, but I'll share with you an abbreviated version with not as pretty pictures below, if you so desire .

{I know I make it sound sooo appealing}

....

First things first, Ingredients {you will not find chicken on the list. just stop looking now.}

3 pounds cube steak

1.5 cups milk, and additional 2 cups for the gravy

2 whole large eggs

3 cups All-Purpose flour

Seasoned salt {aka Lawry's}

1/4 tsp Cayenne {I didn't have any, I skipped it}

Lots of black pepper

Canola oil for frying

Salt and pepper for gravy

So you start out with your meat:

Then two separate shallow dishes. One with your flour, pepper, and Lawry's. One with your milk and eggs. Mix that dry mix, real good. And whisk the milk and eggs together. I like to use my good whisk, the one with 4 tines. But you can use just any ole' thing... that is if you're not completely committed to the recipe.

Then you dredge that meat first through the milk mixture then through the flour mixture. And repeat.

Stack it all up and set aside.

Then plop it in that pan of bubbly oil.

She says to cook for 2.5 minutes each side. Her steak must have been a LOT thinner than mine because it took at least twice that time each side, if not longer. Play it by ear, my lovelies.

While I was working on the meat, I was also simultaneously making my mashed potatoes. 

Ingredients:

5 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced

8 oz cream cheese

3/4 cups butter {the real kind, this isn't diet food, people}

1/2 cup half and half {score bonus points and use heavy cream, I did}

1/2 tsp Lawry's

1/2 tsp black pepper

Boil your potatoes. {I need a bigger pot}.

Drain and mash them. Then add your cream cheese and butter. Mash again.

Then add your salt and pepper. Mash again.

Add a little green beans. {We're health conscious around here, mmmkay??} And call it supper!

Ooops I almost forgot the gravy. Shame, shame.

Reserve 1/4 cup of the grease from your meat. Heat it back up in the skillet. Add 1/3 cup flour and mix to form a paste. Slowly add 2 cups milk and stir until it thickens. Season with salt and pepper. Lots. Smother your potatoes and meat in it. 

Feel the urge to go for a jog yet? Me either. 

Top it off with this other Pioneer Woman recipe for the best chocolate sheet cake ever. I made it for a cook out and it went over real well. Like we were eating it with forks out of the pan well.

Enjoy

<3 Ashley