Car Love Shirt

I've been searching for something cute to make for my little man that would be easy and fun and Dad-approved. (Ha!)

When I came across the Car Love Shirt by Polly at Helping Little Hands, I knew I'd found it!  Plus, I'd been wanting to try out freezer paper stenciling for a long time.

I wanted to make the shirt in time for Valentine's day, but I had trouble finding a plain shirt.  Finally, I had to buy one at Walmart that had a pocket on it and make use of my handy seam ripper to take it off.  I freaking love that little tool!

Oh well, it's not really that Valentine-y of a shirt -- one of the reasons it's Dad-approved! (I did get the shirt a size bigger in hopes that he can wear it next V-day, though!)

Polly provides stencils to cut out with her tutorial, but I really wanted to use my Silhouette, so I imported her heart shape and bought some of Echo Park's adorable car shapes from the Silhouette store.  I had a lot of fun designing it. :D

Then I cut the shapes out separately (the heart, then the cars) and ironed them on.

The freezer paper was curling, but it still stuck beautifully.

I thought I would be saving myself some work by using the Silhouette to cut out the car shapes... and I suppose I did, but only a little.  It took forever to pull all the little wheels off!

Finally I got them all ironed on.  Looks pretty cute already, doesn't it?

I picked up some acrylic paint from Walmart to do this project, which is what Polly used in order to get the distressed look.  I liked how hers turned out, so thought I'd try it, too (although I did use two coats).

Then I let it dry overnight, just to be safe.  The next morning, I washed and dried it and it was ready to wear!

Bribing him to take pictures by
letting him hold trucks.  Fitting.

I think he likes it!

His favorites:  "Een" (Lightning McQueen),
"Da Da" (Chuck), and "Moo Moo" (Boomer)

Guess it won't be fitting him next February.  Who knew that my 21-month-old could fit into a 3T??  Big boy!

About to try it on.

As you can see, "Mama's" SUV is strategically placed... as is "Daddy's" pickup.

And up close.

The only thing I wish I'd done differently was white paint.  Oh well, guess I'll just have to make him another one! ;)

Yeah... I'm pretty much obsessed with these shapes.  My mind is spinning with all sorts of projects including them... in every medium. :/ I also downloaded Echo Park's cute train shape (which Gabriel also loves).

Uh oh.

Click here to see where I link up!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Some of the most beautiful words to describe love:

Sonnet 116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever-fixèd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

- William Shakespeare

Happy Valentine's Day!

Cranberry Muffins

I posted on Facebook a while ago about making cranberry muffins.  I got requests for the recipe and fully intended to post it before Christmas (because cranberries are kind of Christmas-y), but then Hallie Lou made her appearance and I... kind of fell off the blogosphere.

SO... I decided to share them again for Valentine's Day, since they're, you know... red and all. ;) I even baked them in heart-shaped muffin tins.  How cute and Valentine-y!

You can use fresh or frozen cranberries but, since fresh ones aren't in season, I'd recommend the frozen ones.  I found my frozen berries at Central Market; my local grocery didn't have them.  Seriously couldn't tell the difference!

(Actually, the recipe calls for partridgeberries [lingonberries], so if you're lucky and live in Canada, you should definitely use them rather than cranberries if you can find them!)

Start by creaming the butter and sugar.  This is my favorite part of baking. I always like to sample... yum!

Add egg, vanilla, milk, baking powder, and salt to your buttery-sugary blend.

With flour mixed in.

Then, mix in the flour.  My mom always did two parts white flour and one part whole wheat, but you can use all white (or all wheat) if you like.

Pour in the berries and fold until incorporated.

Mmm!

And the finished product.  Look how cute they are!  And yummy, too.  I am not ashamed to say that I could eat a whole batch of these babies in a few days.

Hey, cranberries are healthy... and they're made with a little wheat flour, right? ;)

Click here to see where I link up!

Cranberry Muffins Recipe

1/3 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups white flour

3/4 cup wheat flour

1.  Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar.

2. Mix in egg vanilla, milk, baking powder, and salt.

3. Stir in flour until blended.

4. Fold in berries until incorporated.

5. Fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Tip:  reserve some berries to add in once you start getting to the bottom of the bowl.  If you don't, you might end up with some berry-less muffins!

Five Years

In some ways, it's hard for me to comprehend that this is my fifth Valentine's Day with Drew.  Yet in other ways, it feels like it's been forever.  In a good way, of course! ;)

Our first Valentine's Day was spent apart.  We'd been dating for almost a year and Drew sent me a package in the mail.  It's sad; I don't remember what it was!  I do remember the most important part, though:  the beautiful card that was included. <3

Our second Valentine's Day was a month before we got married.  I was living with my aunt and uncle in Southlake, Texas.  We had made reservations to go out, but at the last minute, we decided to give the reservations to my aunt and uncle.  Drew grilled some steaks while I made some mashed potatoes and we had a nice romantic dinner while we babysat my five cousins!

Our third Valentine's Day was our first as a married couple.  Drew went all out on the presents!  Then, I made a special dinner for just the two of us.  It was amazing, and I don't mind saying so!

Our fourth Valentine's Day is when Drew surprised me with tickets to go see Phantom of the Opera.  I wrote a blog about it here.

This year, Drew and I celebrated yesterday, as it was more convenient for our wonderful babysitter, Abbey.  We dropped him off at 2 and went put-putting, which is one of our favorite "couple" activities. :) Afterwards, we went to Texas de Brazil.  It's Drew's favorite restaurant, and it's pretty spanky!  We were planning on going to the Melting Pot, which is my favorite restaurant, but when we called to make reservations, we discovered that they didn't have their traditional menu this weekend.  Lame.  Needless to say, we're planning on going there for our anniversary.  The evening was finished off with a movie.

All in all, it was a great way to celebrate our fifth Valentine's Day together.  Sorry, no pictures because I failed hardcore at taking them. :p

Valentine's

I realize that this is almost one week late, however, there is good reason. :) Because of Drew's crazy studying schedule, we were unable to celebrate on Sunday (although he was a great husband and still got me candy and a card).  Instead, we planned to celebrate on Thursday, our weekly "date night."

He woke me up yesterday morning by cuddling close (my favorite way to wake) and whispering "Happy Louis Valentine's Day" in my ear before kissing me.  It was very sweet.  On his way out the door to work, I asked him what we were doing that evening and he said, quite cryptically, "I don't know... or maybe I do, and I'm surprising you."  This statement was accompanied by a wink before he left, leaving me to curiously wonder what he had up his sleeve.

At about two, he called me and told me to be ready by five-thirty and to have our puppy fed and taken out because we'd be out late.  No more details were given and I didn't ask.  Surprises aren't my favorite things in the world, but I like them four days out of the year:  Valentine's, birthday, anniversary, and Christmas. :)

As soon as I hopped (figuratively, I am six months pregnant, after all) into the car, Drew handed me an envelope and wished me a happy Valentine's day again.  Upon opening the envelope, I found two tickets to go see Phantom of the Opera the National Tour.  It had just come to Dallas the previous night and we had talked about maybe going to see it.  I was SO excited.  One of my life's dreams is to see that musical on a London stage... but seeing it in Dallas with my husband (and Gabriel wiggling throughout the whole performance) was so very, very special.

We had just enough time to go eat at Cheesecake Factory before the musical started!  I didn't get cheesecake, because I have issues with acid reflux (and I still have leftover chocolate from Sunday), but it was still a wonderful dinner.

We upgraded our seats after we got there to the twelfth row.  We weren't center stage, but they were still amazing seats.  I could not believe that I was sitting there, so close to the stage, about to see Broadway's longest running musical.  When the music started, I nearly cried (I blame the hormones).

In any case, it was seriously the best Valentine's day and the best date night that I have ever experienced.  If anyone doubts that my husband is the best husband in the world, those doubts should be laid to rest. :)

♥ TL